[PKMN OPEN] Pokémon Spear [M] [IC]

gimmepie · Sep 28, 2021

[PokeCommunity.com] Pokémon Spear [M] [IC]

Inventory:

- ATC
- Expensive PokeGear
- Pokedex
- 800 Poke (On ATC)
- TM Icy Wind
- TM Flash
- Wishing Star
- TM Protect
- TM Rain Dance
- Lure Ball
- Water Gem x2

Badges:

CATHERINE CARLISLE and HALEIGH WINDSOR
A Horizon of Dark Clouds

Hammerlocke was imposing with its enormous walls and stone streets. It was also busy. It was always jarring returning to a big city after spending time on the road, especially coming out of the wilderness of the Wild Area. It always filled Catherine with a strange desire to turn around and run back to the wilds. The people felt oppressive. When she was travelling, she often missed the comforts of a proper bed, reliable internet and a roof over her head. When she got back to civilization, she missed the comfort of being far away from people.

Counter-intuitively to this though, Catherine wasn't rushing back to her hotel room. In fact, she was actively seeking people out - perhaps for the first time ever, it occurred to her. She had asked a nurse at the Pokemon Centre where a good place to train would be since she didn't intend to waste time challenging Raihan before she was ready. After all, being out of the Wild Area didn't mean her work was over. It was only just beginning.

That was why she was en route to the destination the nurse had given her, Indra happily plodding along by her side. Frequently, he would wave at the random people they passed, thoroughly enjoying that he now had the ability to do so. Catherine let him be, ignoring the people who called out in response. She was focused on the task at hand.

So it was that she soon arrived at the training grounds in the southwest of the city, right by the gigantic wall separating it from the hills of the Wild Area beyond. It wasn't far from the famed Hammerlocke Vault either. None of that mattered though. All that mattered was that trainers were present.

Four battlefields were occupied at the time, with other trainers gathered around to watch or do more specific work. An older man coached his two grandkids at one battlefield, their young Yamper facing off against his older Boltund. At another, two trainers dressed in Raihan's gym uniform were engaged in a battle of dragons - that particular battlefield had amassed quite the audience. The third battlefield was a conflict between a Wigglytuff and an Indeedee that was going quite poorly for the pink Pokemon.

It was the fourth battlefield that grabbed Catherine's attention though. A fierce battle was underway between a young man's Timburr and his opponent's Piplup. Fierce in the sense that the poor Timburr was being thrown about even more than the aforementioned Wigglytuff.

It wasn't the battle itself that grabbed Catherine's attention though. She recognised the Piplup's trainer. She was an athletic-looking girl dressed in denim shorts and a tank top, the last remnant of purple fading from her naturally blonde hair: Haleigh.

Catherine hadn't really expected to see any of her classmates, but she certainly hadn't ruled any of them out. A perfect opportunity had presented itself. Once the battle reached its conclusion, Catherine approached.

"Hey, Haleigh."

"Poli!" Indra added his own greeting, waving enthusiastically again.

The girl turned around to the source of the voice, looking surprised to see Catherine. "Ah, Catherine. Saw my battle? I didn't take you as the sort to watch 'em." Though she did her best to keep her tone neutral, there was a note of tension in her voice.

She dropped the tension a bit as she gave a small smile and a wave to her Poliwhirl.

"I've watched every one of your gym battles," Catherine replied curtly, "That guy didn't seem like much of a challenge for you."

Haleigh shook her head. "Yeah, once I got his patterns down, feinting him over and over again with Peck took him down quite easily."

She paused, casting her glance away from the two of them. "Is there something you needed, or did you just want to congratulate me on the win? Given that it's you, I highly doubt it's the latter."

"It's not," Catherine admitted. This was every bit as uncomfortable for her as it was for Haleigh. She didn't particularly want a drawn out conversation with the younger girl, so it was a blessing that she got to the point. "Are you up for a real challenge?"

Haleigh raised her eyebrows. Had she heard her right? She wanted to battle with her? Haleigh's impressions of her had been that she resented even being there on the journey in the first place. Perhaps that outburst against Kabu wasn't just talk after all, but that remained to be seen.

She scoffed. "Yeah mate, I'm always up for a challenge. You honestly think you can deliver? 'Cause I'm not sure if you're up to par either if I'm being honest."

Catherine smirked. "You're going to eat those words."

Catherine didn't waste any more words on pointless discussion. All business, with Indra by her side, she turned away from Haleigh to take her place at the other side of the battlefield. Only when she was away from Haleigh and kneeling down at Indra's level did she soften. "Sorry, but I'm going to use Vessel and Lancer for this one."

"Poli!" Indra replied encouragingly, giving her a thumbs up.

With that settled, Catherine straightened up and selected two pokeballs, releasing her Parasect and Croagunk to the battlefield.

As Catherine released her Pokemon, Haleigh realized that though Reyna could perhaps benefit from the rain that Catherine liked to use, it wouldn't be enough to deal with that Parasect in the way. She said to Reyna, "Sorry mate, I'm puttin' you away too, I got a plan for how to deal with them."

The Piplup sighed, looking a bit disappointed that she wasn't going for another round, but gave Haleigh a small nudge with her beak in the direction of her trainer's opponent.

"Alright, I'll knock 'em flat for you!" Haleigh gave her a pat on the head and walked back over to take her place on the battlefield.

"Corey, Cornelius, it's all on you again!" She took the two Pokeballs and released the two Pokemon, who looked at each other and gave each other a high five; they were long overdue to team up again.

"I hope you don't think the type advantage is going to be enough to save you," Catherine said, "Vessel, Rain Dance! Lancer, hit her Raboot with Toxic!"

Catherine's team leapt into action. Vessel raised their forearms up and began waving them back and forth lackadaisically as storm clouds gathered above their battlefield and rain began to fall. Not to be out done, Lancer dashed ahead of the Parasect and started spitting noxious globs of venom at Corey.

Haleigh shouted to her Reboot, "Corey, get in an Agility and dodge those globs!"

Corey started dashing in a zig zag fashion, his body faintly glowing pink as he sped up and managed to just barely stay away from being poisoned by the globs, though Corey had little runway to start up a Flame Charge.

Haleigh then followed it up with another command. "Cornelius, get that Croagunk back with a Psybeam, keep him as far away from Corey as you can."

Cornelius nodded as he started firing beams of psychic energy towards the Croagunk.

"Take it and use Revenge!" Catherine instructed. If there was one thing she knew about Lancer, it was that he could take a hit, especially in the rain.

Lancer grinned maniacally, running forward and letting the Psybeam hit him so it launched him back at an angle towards Corey at speed. It did some hefty damage, but Lancer didn't let himself balk, the Psychic attack's afterglow giving way to the burning orange of his own attack as he hurtled towards the Raboot to deliver a powered-up haymaker.

Unfortunately, Corey did not have enough room to dodge the attack as he was forced to take the hit head on. Haleigh gasped as he took it, with him sent absolutely reeling halfway across the battlefield.

"Vessel, follow that up with Poison Powder. Let's get this Raboot out of here," Catherine commanded.

Vessel silently obeyed, scurrying towards the reeling Corey as a cloud of purple spores exploded up from their mushroom shell.

"COREY, GET BACK!" Haleigh's shouting managed to cut through the daze he was in after taking the hit, with him managing to step back further just enough to avoid the Poison Powder.

It was clear he was struggling to keep going, but Corey managed to shoot Haleigh a quick salute, showing he was in it until the end.

Clearly simply trying to blaze her way through wasn't going to work, so Haleigh was going to start to play a bit of Catherine's game to get in an inch. "Alright, that's enough with this sodding rain, Sunny Day, Corey! Cornelius, keep him close to you and fend them off with some more Psybeams."

As Corey used the move, the rain forcefully dispersed and was replaced with a blinding sun with radiating heat.

"Vessel, Protect!" A green bubble of energy popped into being around Vessel as Lancer slid behind them, using them as a living shield to defend against the incoming Psychic attacks. The combo wasn't done there though. "Sorry, but the forecast was pretty clear about the rain. Rain Dance, Lancer!"

Still shielded by Vessel's defence, Lancer slammed his foot down and began moving through a series of martial arts-like poses and movements. As quickly as Corey's sunlight took shape, storm clouds began to block it out and droplets of water started hitting the battlefield again.

"Sunny Day isn't going to work," Catherine said, "You can't set it up fast enough to contend with two Rain Dancers. I'd give up on that if I were you."

"Poli!" Indra cheered encouragement from his place at Catherine's side.

"Damn it!" It was evident she was starting to lose her cool given the scowl on her face. On top of rendering her attempt at countering her strategy useless, the timer on the rain had been reset.

Taking a deep breath in an attempt to clear her head, she offered up a new series of commands. "Cornelius, keep that Parasect the hell away from Corey, distract them with a Draining Kiss. Corey, Flame Charge right at her Croagunk!"

Corey did as he was told, immediately lighting himself up and dashing towards the Croagunk in a zig zag pattern and keep his opponent from which direction he'd strike from while Cornelius went to head off the Parasect with a Draining Kiss.

"Lancer, Sucker Punch!" Catherine countered. As Corey shot towards the Croagunk like a flaming bullet, Lancer suddenly moved into the attack instead of away, delivering a single punch in a surprising blur of speed.

Vessel wasn't so lucky, lacking the speed or a priority move to defend with Protect needing time to be back at full strength. The Parasect took the Draining Kiss head on. Typically, Vessel didn't react in any way to indicate they had been struck at all bar being physically shoved back, but Catherine knew the Bug well enough to know the damage inflicted was real.

"Fury Cutter, Vessel." Catherine instructed. If Haleigh wanted to let her Kirlia get up close and personal, she'd make her regret it. "Lancer, regroup."

A vicious red glow started emanating from Vessel's claws as they began laying into Cornelius. Meanwhile, keeping an eye on Corey, Lancer started to move back to get close to Vessel again.

Cornelius was forced to take each hit directly, with each successive blow seeming to take more and more out of him. He retreated as Haleigh called after him, "Stick by me, use a Life Dew real quick and then get back in it. Corey, Flame Charge her Parasect."

For the Raboot, there was hardly a need for any other information as his goal seemed simple as could be. After all, his target made Cornelius seem downright fast by comparison, nevermind that Corey had already had his speed boosted two separate times. With a smirk, he lit himself up again and barrelled right towards the seemingly unsuspecting crab Pokemon.

There was no avoiding that attack. Sure, she could Protect, but the next one would probably hit. That didn't mean Catherine had no options though… even if what was about to happen made her wince a bit to even think about.

Corey's attack struck home, the flames engulfing him surging across to Vessel as he slammed into them. Vessel remained as silent as ever, but it was a hell of an impact. It also put Corey right where Catherine needed him.

"Protect!" Catherine instructed, intentionally leaving it too late to block.

Vessel's protective shield exploded back into existence again… but this time Vessel wasn't the only one trapped inside. Corey was also within the bubble. He had nowhere to run.

"Say goodnight," Catherine said, "Spore."

At her command, the inside of the barrier was filled with an eruption of yellow-gold particles.

After a few vain attempts to break free, Corey could feel a creeping sense of drowsiness start to take hold of him. Before he fully succumbed to it and before Haleigh could utter another command, he decided to open his mouth and let out some Embers that were guaranteed to hit the Parasect. Before he could fully see the results, his eyes started to close as he slumped over and fell into a deep sleep.

Catherine watched with another wince as Vessel's barrier lit up with a fiery light from the inside, dissipating to reveal a fainted Vessel and a sleeping Corey.

"Sorry, that was the best idea I had," Catherine said, returning her fallen Bug. "I'll make it count though. Lancer, Toxic on the Raboot! Then after that Kirlia with Poison Jab!"

Lancer let out a cocky noise before running for Cornelius, lazily spitting a glob of venom at the sleeping Corey before readying a glowing purple Poison Jab for Cornelius.

Despite having knocked out one of Catherine's Pokemon, Haleigh felt ill at ease with the situation in front of her. Corey's peaceful expression turned pained as he started to succumb to the poison unabated. By the time she could wake him up, the poison would surely have gotten to him already.

She didn't have much longer to dwell on it as she refocused her efforts back on the battlefield. Lancer was coming in extremely quickly, and she had mere seconds to think of something to hopefully get him out of the way. "Cornelius, hard right, get up and keep him away with a Psybeam!"

Cornelius started to leap towards the right as Lancer came in for the Poison Jab. He managed to avoid a dead on hit, but still clearly got some damage from a glancing blow as the Croagunk whizzed by. He managed to refocus after the hit and start aiming a Psybeam while Lancer dashed away from him.

"Press the attack!" Catherine instructed, trusting in Lancer's Dry Skin to ward off enough damage if Cornelius managed to connect. "Poison Jab!"

Lancer pivoted on the spot, flexing into his knee as Cornelius fired off his attack. The beam of energy flew for Lancer, and the Coragunk gave a mighty leap up. He soared over the trajectory of the beam and came flying down towards Cornelius, driving his glowing hand into the Kirlia's torso.

Cornelius kneeled over at the impact of the blow. Both he and his trainer were clearly on their last rope.

Haleigh exclaimed, "C'mon c'mon c'mon, get up! Just a little more!"

However, given the damage that Cornelius had been subjected to already and the devastating impact of that last Poison Jab, there was no more to be done as Cornelius crumpled on the ground and fainted.

Indra let out a cheer and started clapping his hands, stopping for a moment as he realised he'd never clapped before, then continued with doubled enthusiasm.

Lancer simply crossed his arms, standing over his fallen foe with a smug expression on his face.

"Nicely done." Catherine nodded at the Poison type before turning her attention back to Haleigh. "I think we can call it there. Your Raboot's just about done anyway and I'd rather not just stand here watching Lancer beat him up while he's helpless."

Haleigh seethed, "Yeah, I can fuckin' see that."

She softened her expression a bit while looking down at her Pokemon while she returned them to their balls before refocusing her attention back at Catherine, glaring daggers at the other girl. "So congrats, you get to lord over me to your heart's content like the smug prick you are. Wonderful."

"Not interested." Catherine shrugged. "You've gotten better. You're thinking more. I didn't think you'd actually manage to take Vessel out. I'll have to keep working and next time I'll grind you into the dust before you can even put up a fight."

Catherine beckoned for Lancer to come back and made to leave so she could get Vessel's injuries taken care of. Before she made it even two steps though, her experience with Haleigh in Hullbury flashed across her mind.

"Don't waste your time on a pity party. Your energy would be better spent figuring out what you did wrong," Catherine said. Then, she turned around again and resumed her exit.

Haleigh looked back down at the ground with a clenched fist. Where the hell did she get off on telling her what to do? Before Kabu, Catherine couldn't give less of a shit about battling. Haleigh had given everything just to be here, only to be bested by some grandstanding bitch that waltzed in there like she was coming at this from a point of authority.

As her thoughts continued to stew on the loss, she realized that more than being angry at Catherine, she was angry with herself. She should be have been able to beat someone like her. She should be able to be strong enough by now to weather anything thrown her way. And yet, even with all of her progress, it was just as her mother had said: she was still weak.

Haleigh gave one last look at the direction that Catherine had exited towards before turning back around to get off the battlefield, taking the dark cloud of thoughts with her.

Songbird · Sep 29, 2021

"And our mystery challenger pulls out a stunning victory over Gym Leader Kabu! Undaunted by her disadvantage and the scorching heat, she snuffs him out in an unforgiving blizzard!"

The raucous cheers from the crowd drowned out all other noise in Motostoke Stadium. Only the staff backstage and a few keen listeners in the audience could hear the muffled discussion coming from the announcers' booth. "Okay but seriously, who is she? What? You recognize her? Why didn't you say something sooner?! 'Contest coordinator'? What the f—"

"You really gave me a hell of a battle, girl." Kabu chuckled as he approached her in the staging room after their gym battle, where she was tending to the Froslass she battled him with. The gym's trainers she defeated were already cheerfully chatting her up. "So where'd you even come from? I know you weren't supposed to be on the ground with us."

"Yeah, haha. Sorry about that."

The young lady went on to explain that she had come to the stadium to watch a gym battle. The man who clipped her ticket never gave her directions to the seating area. Either that, or she didn't listen. In retrospect, they were rather straightforward.

Dazzled by the lights and activity in the entryway, however, she entered the wrong door. Strangely, nobody was surprised by her presence—instead, they were angry that whoever was supposed to be in was late, believing it to be her. They said something about having no time to put on a uniform, and shuffled her into the gym proper. After the lights went on around her, it was too late to fix their mistake.

"It was lots of fun, though! And I've never seen a Centiskorch before, it's so cool!"

"Isn't it? I'm really proud of it. But back to business: how do you feel about taking the Galar gym challenge for real? You got an eye for battle, miss. It wouldn't do to see that spark flicker out before it got a chance to burn."

"You've got a fan in me if you take him up on it," one of the gym trainers interjected.

"Is that okay?"

Another trainer reassured her, "Nobody would question a gym leader approving you. Doesn't matter how it started."

Encouraged by the trainers, the girl looked Kabu in the eye with a smile. "Count me in! I'll be in Galar for a while, so more ways to kill time can't hurt."

"I'm glad to hear it. Either way, you blew out my flame fair and square. This badge is rightfully yours." Kabu handed her a carved metal trinket with a fire motif. "After you take care of your Pokemon, how about we get you registered? So what's your name?"

"I'm Chloe. Nice to meet ya!"

"Miss Challenger, Miss Challenger, would you be willing to answer a few questions?!" Almost immediately after walking out the front door of Motostoke Stadium, Chloe was subjected to the reporter wringer. She wasn't even given a chance to respond before the voices came flooding.

"How do you feel about your win over the third gym leader?"

"Any relation to other challengers?"

"Could you share some thoughts on your opponent today?"

"Do you have any plans to take on the other gyms?"

"Who are you?"

The pile of people out front startled her; she was expecting something, but not quite this much. Even so, her brain quickly caught up, and she met them with practiced ease. "Settle down please! I can't answer everyone at once!" She managed to get through a few of the reporters before Kabu joined her outside.

"Kabu, what's your relation to this new challenger?"

"Does your battle have anything to do with her not challenging the Turffield or Hulbury gyms?"

"What's your opinion on the results of today's battle?"

Kabu similarly brushed them off with all the hard-earned experience and authority befitting his status, and handed Chloe a piece of plastic, featuring a shiny 104 printed on the front in addition to the standard information. He had exchanged her general Galarian trainer card for one that he said matched the rest of the gym challengers. Unlike the general card, it pulled triple duty as a debit card and access pass for challengers.

"She's a family friend from Sinnoh. Consider our battle to be my endorsement for her entry into the gym challenge. No further questions."

Chloe took the opportunity to cut off any more for herself as well amid the rising clamor, claiming she was out of time. She slipped away while Kabu returned to the stadium, and headed back to town.

After she made it free of the reporters' cameras, Chloe retrieved her phone from her bag. She flipped it open, and pulled up her Chatter app. Already her timeline was filling up with people talking about her gym battle, among other things. There were clips of her battle against Kabu; several people talking about the upcoming contest in Hammerlocke, as well as a few of her mutual follows messaging her about it; someone complaining about a Boldore trying to have sex with their car.

She was happy for the reminder about the contest, and looked up when it was happening. "Guess I've got a train to catch."

After taking a moment to check the local departure schedule, Chloe figured it'd be best to head to the station early. She made her way down the main street, passing by a conspiciously devastated building along the way; and behind the wall of police tape, she spotted a hastily made sign.

BATTLE CAFÉ UNDER RENOVATION

Foxrally · Sep 29, 2021

Simon Pearburgh

Spewpa ♀ Tackle | Stun Spore | String Shot | Harden | Poison Powder Friend Guard

Burmy ♂ Protect | Hidden Power (water) | Electroweb Shed Skin

Snom ♀ Powder Snow | Mirror Coat | Struggle Bug | Icicle Spear Ice Scales Nevermeltice (held)

Princess ♀ Electroweb | Spider Web | Fury Cutter | Beat Up | Absorb | Thunder Wave Swarm

Larvesta ♂ Flame Charge | String Shot | Ember | Morning Sun | Flame Wheel Flame Body Heat Rock {held}

Anorith ♂ Dig | Water Gun | Smack Down | Aqua Jet | Rapid Spin | X-Scissor Swift Swim

Spoiler: Inventory

Spoiler: Memories

Hammerlocke

It was eveningtime in Hammerlocke. Simon and Raphael had arrived at the city a few hours ago, the grandiose, dragon-themed entrance of the castle city dwarfing even the massive industrial bastions of Motostoke- and a welcome sight after their weeks of exhausting journey through the wild area.

While Raphael had invited him to come visit the city's exciting summer festival, Strugglecon, Simon had decided to head to the hotel instead. He claimed he was still tired from the day's travel, but frankly, he wasn't in the mood to go anywhere right now- or do anything, really. He just wanted to go back to his bed and rest.

And that's where he'd been for the past couple of hours, laying down on the bed, staring at the phone in his hand. The rest of his team were all outside of their Pokeballs, sitting around the room as well, some sleeping, others squeaking away quietly - Simon didn't care to join much.

The phone wasn't his own, that one had been smashed in the wild area. It was the hotel's, a bulky, old-school-looking thing with physical keypads on the handset itself and no texting function, let alone an internet connection. He'd told them he needed to make a call... and there was only one number Simon always had memorized.

With a shaky breath, he finally mustered the courage to dial the number. He tapped slowly and put the phone to his ear, waiting painstakingly long before a response came.

"Hello?"

"...hey da."

Simon's father sounded as he choked on something. "What the- Simon?!"

Simon couldn't help but crack a smile at the sound of his dad's voice. "Hey, yeah, it's me. I-"

"Ohh th' nerve o' you lad! Th' fuckin' nerve! Doesnae shoot a single call for months now, doesnae answer any of me own, and doesnae even think about his old da's feelin's afore going off on his grand adventure through arceus-knows what kind of danger, and only now, bloody months after Hulb'ry, does he care to check back on his worried-sick faither." his dad began furiously.

"Da, I'm-"

"Hell, lad, if no' for the telly showin' your battle in Motostoke ah would've though yous were fuckin dead! Didnae cross your mind to at least gies a call then?" Simon's father continued on his tirade as several snarls sounded in the background.

"Wait, da, I-" Simon could feel the lump in throat grow and his eyes water.

"Do you have any idea how worried sick your auntie Rita was? You're gonnae give the old woman a bloody heart attack if you's keeping this behaviour up- Ross practically had to hold Grimms back from marchin' over to Motostoke his-self and bring you back. I swear tae Arceus, some bloody rotom better have possessed your phone if-"

"DA!" Simon cut him off abruptly, holding back tears as well as he could. "I w-wanted to call, I… I- I fucked up, da- I really fucked up-" It was all he could say before a sob pitifully escaped his mouth.

"Wha- whoa, whoa, okay." his father switched demeanors almost immediately, realizing what was happening. "I'm 'ere, son. It's alright now. I'm nae actually mad."

"No, da, it's… it's not that…" Simon replied shakily, tears falling onto the bed as he spoke into the phone.

"It's alright, lad. Just take a breath, aye, and let's talk about it."

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

After he'd calmed down a little, Simon told his father everything. From the events in Hulbury, to Blackspear giving him his Scolipede, to his eventual battle with it against Kabu. He told him about the events in the wild area, and the job Blackspear had given there… and how it had led to him losing Scolipede's ball, and… losing Caterpie.

He omitted any mention of the Black Suits, both in the mines or in the Wild Area. This was the kind of secret nobody but him and Raphael could know; one that, if shared with others, would put them in just as much danger. He was lucky that Blackspear thought he was dead, and they probably didn't know about Raphael's appearance… but it wouldn't last long. He had to make sure his family stayed out of all this - knowing his father, the man would personally march down to the Blackspear office and get himself killed trying to strangle Zelkova if he found out about the Black Suits. Instead, Simon had told him the mission in the wild area had gone wrong all of a sudden, and that Blackspear had terminated his contract soon after.

Despite that, even as he described those horrific events, it still felt relieving to tell all of this to someone- to finally speak to his dad again after neglecting to call for months. It only served to help Simon realize how far gone he'd really ended up after Hulbury- that feeling of not being himself, it had grown and festered in him ever since. But not again, never again, would he let that happen.

"...so yeah, that's pretty much all of it. I… I killed him, dad."

"Son. I'm going to tell ye something- 'n' listen closely, because that's what your mother would tell you as well." Simon's father began. "Every choice you make in life, you can call your own, sure. But you haftae remember… you're just one lad in a big, bloody world that's out to get ye. Everything you do, you do because it's th' right thing. And everything th' world gives back… isnae your fault. You just have to keep goin', and do the best you can at doin' the right thing."

Simon paused, taking in the man's words. "I…" he didn't know what to say, his eyes still red from crying.

"And ah know ye expected to hear this, son, but… your partner is still wi' you. I've lost my own Pokemon to the years- you remember Stouts, aye? And Tuca? 'member how Stouts used to chew up th' entire shoe rack every weekend?"

Simon couldn't help but laugh at the memory. "Yeah, and he didn't stop until we built him an entire chewable shoe rack. And Tuca kept trying to steal it from him to build a nest in it or something, heh."

"Ahah, god, I miss the ole bastards- but that's what I mean, Simon. You see those memories? That's what stays with ye. Those times you had together, no force in the world can take that away."

Simon smiled. "Thanks, da."

He looked at the rest of his team, most of which had stopped talking to not-so-subtly eavesdrop on the conversation. He didn't mind, but as they all looked at him, their tiny eyes still filled with trust despite everything they'd gone through… he knew they were the ones worth keeping on for.

Aquacorde · Sep 30, 2021

#111 - Ryan Hahn

► Stage 12 - 01: Etta

A HOTEL IN HAMMERLOCKE

In her hotel room, Ryan stared at the Espurr sitting on the desk in front of her.

The poised Espurr stared unblinkingly back.

The nurse said it- she- was just overworked, or something. Did too much, tried too hard, exhausted all her energy, whatever. Maybe the boost from the incense was too much for her to handle? Ryan didn't really know much about that, even after some cursory internet searches. She was definitely glad she didn't leave the little creature alone and unconscious, but was also a bit miffed that it wasn't anything more serious than that. A few days under Ryan's care and then a fully restorative stop at the Pokémon Center was all she needed.

And now Ryan had an Espurr.

"Are you gonna borrow my voice or make me see things again?" Their interactions thus far had been coated with a heavy dose of suspicion from Ryan, but until now the Espurr had been too out of it for a confrontation. She just ate when prompted and slept otherwise. Zombie-like, almost.

But now the Espurr shook her head, folded ears flapping with the motion. Little blasts of odd pressure smacked Ryan in the chest. "I don't want whatever that is either.." Espurr considered this, then reached up and pinned her ears firmly to the sides of her head.

Wait.

Ryan activated her PokéDex again, and re-read some things. "Oh. That's power leaking out. Okay. That's okay, you can let 'em go. It's not much right now." Espurr relaxed, tiny front paws coming to rest on her thighs instead. She looked like a stuffed toy, sitting like this. Ryan wondered if she would be willing to be cuddled- she seemed standoffish and guarded. But that was to be expected, wasn't it? They hardly knew each other.

"You can't control it, like, at all," Ryan mused. "Too much psychic power in a tiny body."

Espurr crossed her arms and frowned.

"And you're mad about it." Espurr frowned harder. "And you're mad that I'm right." Ryan giggled, though it wasn't lost on her that she understood because she herself often acted the same way. Espurr was less amused though, and tried to scratch at her. "Hey! I won't help you if you're mean."

Espurr sat back, eyeing her suspiciously, and flapped a little paw in a go on gesture.

"Well, I'm a trainer. Obviously. So I train all my Pokémon. Um. I can help you train to control your power if you join the team? I know I already caught you, but that was because I didn't want to leave you there alone and hurt. You still have a choice."

The Espurr put a paw to her chin and tilted her head, wide eyes narrowing as she scrutinized Ryan. Ryan waited, bouncing a leg, weirdly anxious. Probably because she didn't remember the process for releasing a Pokémon- did she have to take it back where she found it? How did unregistering a PokéBall work? Was she really going to have to call Sonia for-

Espurr was suddenly right front of her, on her tiptoes to press her warm, fuzzy forehead against Ryan's. A pulse of energy pressed against the inside of her skull, and a feeling of crisp, businesslike affirmation flooded her mind for the briefest of seconds before the Espurr slumped onto the table.

"Whoa!" Ryan propped her back up, though Espurr batted her away as soon as she was stable. "That takes a lot, huh? But- welcome to the team! I've been thinking about a nickname for you. How does Henriette sound? I'll probably say Etta most of the time, but I think those old names are so cool."

Espurr gave an indifferent shrug, and Ryan grinned. "Awesome! Maybe we'll start training tomorrow. It's kinda late to do anything today…"

Indeed, the summer sun was casting golden light over the historic city. By the time they found a good training spot it would be dark, and Ryan didn't know this place well. Besides, everywhere was sure to be busy, what with so many people in town for StruggleCon.

Well, everyone except Martin. He'd told her, when she called back and walked him through the wild ride Henriette took her on, that he'd wanted to come but hadn't managed to save enough by the time he should have secured plane tickets. It was disappointing- both that he couldn't make it happen, and that he never told her he was trying. But maybe that was okay- maybe if she'd known, she would have been that much more annoyed when it didn't work out.

Sucked, either way.

But StruggleCon itself- that probably wouldn't suck. It was a streamer thing, she knew, and she wasn't into that like Martin was, but other people were. Lots of her classmates, probably. They'd be there. Definitely Valerie, she was actually kind of famous, wasn't she? The Demon Queen thing was really taking off for her, too. She'd probably be mobbed by fans the whole time. Not the best person to just hang out with for a day. Simon? Was Simon into streaming? Haleigh?

Was it weird that she didn't actually know these things about people she hung out with?

Ryan sighed. Maybe just hoping to run into someone she knew at a huge convention wasn't the best plan. A better plan would be to go check out Raihan's gym- not to battle, absolutely not, not if she wanted to commit to no more losses at gyms. But there was bound to be someone who would foolishly try to take him on, and she could… watch their battle. Scope out Raihan's strategies. And maybe hang out with whoever showed up.

Yeah, that was a better plan.

"C'mon, Etta, let's get some sleep. We're gonna see about watching battles tomorrow."

Henriette gave a curt nod. Ryan watched her make her way to the head of the single bed, arranging both pillows in the exact center and tucking herself in atop them.

"Now wait a second-"

art & css by me - sprites from the pokémon database ◄
ryan's profile and post log ◄

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PastelPhoenix · Sep 30, 2021

Achille Béringer and Ryan Hahn
Location: Hammerlocke
Star Chasing

The doors of the great Hammerlocke gym remained shut, not even a light on inside. One of the busiest places in the city was completely dead right now. Hell, the entire area seemed much less busy than Motostoke led him to expect. Achille wandered close to the gym, wondering just where the hell everyone was.

Hammerlocke Gym is temporarily closed.
I'm going to be up at Strugglecon, the gym will reopen after.
Stop by for a battle or autograph!

Raihan

The note on the door was handwritten, and Raihan's handwriting was bad enough that Achille needed his glasses to even make out the words. "Damn it," he said, turning towards Joiuse, who just stared blankly into the building. "Raihan is at that convention but it looks like he's taking practice battles up there. Will you be good with the crowds if I go?"

The right hand sword stopped, pondering this for a few seconds. Achille expected some resistance from this one, he still caught her watching random people in the street when they got too close. Left sword did not need such a debate, she was ready to go. A painting Achille saw in a museum came back to mind, an oil painting of some Kalosian knight dueling a Salamance. Except the knight looked a lot like him? And the sword was Joiuse?

"Okay, so that's a yes?" Achille asked as he banished the illusion from his mind. The left Joiuse chuckled menacingly, obviously still stuck on her own mental masterpiece. Right-side Joiuse looked at her twin with a sigh, knowing this was a fight she would not win.

For his part Achille had been ready to avoid the convention all together and just challenge Raihan. He couldn't shake the image of fancy suits and people one-upping each other all night that lingered from his childhood. They were streamers and trainers, yes, but people were still going to be talking business and jockeying with each other for social status, even if it was just internet cred.

Still, if Raihan was going to be there, then he should probably show up. Some of his classmates were probably already there. Haleigh too, he added mentally, remembering she had gone in that direction after they split up.

"Well, I guess we should go then." He concluded, much to the dismay of one of the Joiuses.

A thud and scuff of shoes hitting the pavement next to him barely preceded: "You really gonna fight Raihan already, Béringer?"

Achille turned to face the new arrival, finding a face he hadn't seen in quite some time. It took a few moments for him to even place the girl, knowing he'd seen her quite a bit, bbut usually while he was off to the sides and doing his old 'I hate Galar and don't want to be here' schtick.

Yeah, she's definitely from the Academy. Her name came to mind a bit after (looking over his class roster again was proving useful!).

"Worst I can do is look like an idiot," he said, crossing his arms. "If I win, I'm awesome and I beat the strongest Gym Leader. If I lose, well…" he cocked his head to the side as he recalled the very first time he was in Motostoke. "A bunch of people lost to Kabu the first time."

When she put it that way, he wasn't so confident now. "I also have an ice-type and two dragon-types, so I'm not the worst prepared?" He offered as a half-hearted defense.

"I'm out here tryna fix my win ratio and you're just goin' at it, huh?" Ryan scuffed her toe into the ground and her face twisted into a pout. "Well, you've got flashier strats and all too, I guess. Dragons on dragons might be a hard time though- hope you've got good ideas for it. I was actually gonna hang around here and see what others thought of, but StruggleCon killed that idea real quick."

Achille did have a pretty clever plan involving some well placed Avalanches, but in retrospect it did rely on Ignace actually remembering to stick to said plan and not get worked up. Ryan didn't have to know about the viability of said plans. "Yeah, I had some ideas I wanted to try. It would have been a nice change of pace from being at a complete type disadvantage like with that monstrous Centiskorch."

He glanced at the door again, eyebrow twitching in annoyance at the unexpected notification and it's poor handwriting. "He's supposed to be at the convention still taking battles, but I doubt he's actually in Gym Leader mode there. Certainly not getting a badge if I win, anyways." The left handed Joiuse shook her hilt in a disapproving nod. The feeling of shamefulness accompanying a mental picture of Raihan appeared. How dare he leave challengers waiting, the sword seemed to say.

"I'm still going to try my luck there," he added, "I can at least scope out his moves a little." And it's high time I earned some fans. Strugglecon seemed like a good place to earn a few.

Ryan scuffed her shoes a bit more. "Good idea," she said, hesitantly. "Um. Maybe I should. Also do that. And since we're both going there we should go together and that way I can see your ideas for real which is what I came here for in the first place, you know?" Her face turns red after throwing all of that out in one breath.

"Woah, remember to breathe!" Achille had never seen someone pass out from talking before, and felt like today was not a good day for the first. "You're more than welcome to join me."

Right-Joiuse flinched at the sound of that. "She's from the Academy, she's fine." Achille scolded the sword. Don't scare off any potential friends.

He turned back to Ryan, slightly rubbing his temple. "Sorry about that. For a living sword she's a little jumpy. Well, half of her is."

"Oh- well. Okay. Cool." Ryan's flush stayed on her cheeks anyway. "Fair warning, then, got a Pokémon coming. Leo! We're going somewhere!"

A Mienfoo dropped down from some part of the building above and hit the pavement next to her, but Ryan was already back on something else Achille mentioned. "Wait, she's- they're?- two halves? Like, independent?"

Achille looked over his partner Pokémon again, trying to find words to even describe what happened. "From my understanding, they're kind of like twins, but the same person, but slightly different? I don't get it all myself. Anyways, she," he pointed out the one on the right, "is the more timid and patient one. I think of her as the Steel-type one. Her sister there is a bit more… brash and ghostly?"

He scratched his head just recalling it. "She evolved while under the effect of Taunt, and it's almost like the taunted version of her stuck around. It sounds impossible to me, but being partnered to a ghost sword is weird enough that I don't question it."

The Kalosian pulled his phone out of his pocket, absentmindedly checking the time. "Ah, merde, it's creeping up to noon. That line is going to be awful if we don't hurry."

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

It didn't take the two long to find the convention either. It seemed like every 1/3rd person in Hammerlocke was headed that way, all they had to do was follow the crowd. In less than an hour they found themselves outside of a roaring sea of people, trying to form what he could very, very loosely call a line.

Merde, this is going to take forever. Couldn't he buy a VIP ticket or something? He pulled out his phone, checking the convention website. Nope, all sold out. Damn.

"I think we're stuck here for a minute," Achille confirmed, looking at the front of the line with longing eyes. "Anyways, back to the team talk. Tell me about Mienfoo there."

"Leonidas? Um, not much to tell, honestly- I think it's been a week since I found him. He's a serious guy but gets mad pretty easily- and embarrassed about it, it's kind of funny." Ryan whispered the last part, hoping Leonidas wouldn't hear over the noise of the convention goers. "It's been a lot different training with him, though. He's fast and hits almost every time but his strikes aren't all that. I wish I could just throw him a technical machine like I did with my Nidos, but he can't learn the one I have."

The mention of a technical machine piqued Achille's interest. A full Technical Machine was fairly rare and expensive now, given their unlimited uses. He'd only seen their fragile Record cousins since actually becoming a Trainer, at least at a price he'd be able to afford with his trainer earnings (he didn't dare try to use his family's card at a trainer store).

"A TM?" He asked, dropping his voice a little just so not as to announce it to the entire crowd. "Where'd you stumble across one of those? Which one?"

"Helped some rich kid out a while ago- dude had a party he had to clean up after fast," Ryan laughed at the memory. "He had some cool ones, but I took Shadow Claw 'cause both my Nidos could learn it."

The mention of Shadow Claw caught the interest of the Ghost-Joiuse. The Doublade left her half of the sheath, floating towards the two trainers.

"Shadow Claw?!" Achille reached for his Pokédex, flipping through his favorited pages as fast as he could. He was 99% sure-yeah! Joiuse could learn it! "Hey… I would pay you for use of that TM." Joiuse nodded in agreement, excited at the prospect.

"Wh- really?!" Ryan's mouth dropped open. "I- sure? What? How much? Um, sorry, that- wait, no, that's not crass in a business setting. Is it? Whatever. How much?"

Achille reached for his bag, remembering something he picked up much earlier and forgotten about until now. He dug through the deepest pocket, feeling nothing but silky fabric until it brushed his finger tips. He took the misshapen lump into his hand and pulled out the Nugget, slyly showing it to Ryan.

"What about this? Did some work for a detective in the old Mines and got this in return."

"Is that an actual Nugget?" Ryan whispered, eyes big and fixated on the shine of the metal. "Yes, then, uh- let me-" Ryan swung her backpack around and spent an agonizingly long moment rifling through before triumphantly procuring the disc. "A-ha! Okay. Here."

Achille passed the lump of metal over and grabbed the disc in his other hand. He entered the TM into the slot on his Pokédex and loaded it up. He scrolled through the information for Joiuse, deciding it was time for Slash to go. The transfer indicator on the device lit up, indicating the transfer was ready.

"Alright mademoiselle," he addressed the Doublade, "are you ready?"

The sword nodded, returning to the sheath now that her twin had joined the group. Achille aimed the Pokédex and the laser made contact with the center of Joiuse. It only took a second for the move to transfer, and then the laser disappeared.

"Did that come through fine?" The creepy laugh in his mind told Achille the move transferred fine, and his partner couldn't wait to use it. Achille ejected the TM, still warm from the transfer but not fragile like the TR had been, and handed it back to Ryan, who tucked it back into her mess of a backpack along with the Nugget.

"Pleasure doing business with you, or whatever people say. Is she happy? I can't tell."

"She's happy in her own way." Achille tried to not sound disturbed. Sometimes his partner scared him. "Let's say she's eager to use it against Raihan."

Joiuse gave a short chuckle aloud. "She usually just kind of laughs ever since she found a way to send images to my head." Achille continued. "That's mainly how she talks to me now. Vague emotions and images. Some kind of ghost thing. I think."

"That's kind of creepy." Ryan squinted at Joiuse. "Can she do it to other people?"

"Sadly no," Achille said with disappointment. "It would be super useful if she could, right?" Joiuse turned around, floating back behind Achille to escape being the center of attention now. "Might be some kind of bonds thing?" He was just throwing out ideas. "Mega evolutions are a thing because of bonds, and some Pokémon need to bond to evolve at all."

"Maybe. My Espurr didn't need a bond to project voices in my head, but she was also under the influence of some incense, so… I dunno. I don't know much about any of it to be honest. All the adventure movies and stuff have different explanations for these things and I don't think they're based in science. It's all pretty cool though! Getting to synch up with your Pokémon like that- that's gotta be nice." Ryan's voice took on a bit of wistfulness before snapping back to standard enthusiasm with: "And helpful! In battle, even!"

By now Achille could actually see the front door. For how many people there were outside, they were making surprising progress at getting inside.

"Incense, huh?" Achille tried to recall what he knew about it. "Speaking of science, those help produce certain Pokémon within eggs, right? That and it strengthens psychic power?" Achille didn't get science either. "I bet you the person with the helmet could explain this." That classmate had unsurprisingly stood out to Achille.

"775? Bet! Dunno why I didn't think of them. Help me keep an eye out for 'em, will you? They're a nerd, I bet they'll show up here at some point. And then we can learn fancy psychic science!" Ryan cheered.

"They shouldn't be too hard to find." Achille could name at least one feature that caused them to stand out in a crowd. "I think they had a website? I can't remember the name of it though."

The last person in front of them reached the check in booth, being waved in by staff. "Shit, we're already here." Achille reached for his wallet, ready to enter the area. "If they're here, just look for the helmet in the crowd. In case there are multiple for some reason, look for the Psyduck."

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

Xan was nowhere to be found though, to the pair's disappointment. Luckily it didn't take much to find Raihan, as the Gym Leader's image had been plastered all over a flyer for the portion of the con set aside for live battles. It looked like there were several streamers Achille had never heard of there as well.

The entire convention was noisy, but none quite as loud as the open battle floor. There were literal sparks in the air as a thundershock went a bit wide, dissipating harmlessly in the air. Several battles were going on at once, and different parts of the crowd roared as the twists and turns of the battles in front of them played out. It felt like the Kalosian trainer clubs he frequented; the ones his father hated. It felt like home.

He took one more moment to soak in the atmosphere then returned to the hunt. "Okay, Raihan is around here somewhere."

"He's tall, right? Should be easy to spot." Ryan stood on her tiptoes, craning her neck to scan the crowd. It didn't make much of a difference for her. "Tall and covered in fans. Or is he battling? Or both- some of these look like both is happening…"

Ryan led them further in, unapologetically barging through thicker crowds around the edges of the arenas. The pair passed by a few battles with large crowds, but Achille could not identify any of those battling. They were approaching the end of the room, but ahead lay the biggest crowd.

The mass of people almost blocked out the battle entirely; everywhere was shoulder-to-shoulder and Achille had to force his way into one of the few gaps to even catch a glimpse. Even from this vantage point he could barely see due to a thick veil of sand that swirled around the battle.

Inside the miniaturized sandstorm fought a large, green Dragon with odd, angular wings and a round, blue rabbit Pokémon. Despite the type advantage, the Azumarill seemed to be on its last legs while the Flygon zipped around seemingly uninjured.

Azumarill opened its mouth and unleashed a stream of tightly-packed bubbles, but the Dragon-type was able to easily outspeed the Bubblebeam by starting a steep climb. Flygon rose up and up, nearly escaping the bounds of his own sandstorm. Suddenly the green Pokémon pulled into a dive, tucking in its wings and suddenly falling towards the rabbit Pokémon.

Purple sparks flew from the Flygon's body as it sped up, the beginning of a Dragon Rush. Azumarill attempted to dodge by running zig-zags along the ground, but Flygon was a guided missile. The two collided a second later, kicking up so much sand that the crowd had to cover their eyes. The crackle of electricity was barely audible within the chaos.

The battle was over when Achille dropped his arms; Azumarill lay on the ground, K.O.ed. The crowd exploded into cheers as the two trainers made themselves known, the sandstorm falling away. Raihan approached and took his place next to the Flygon, smiling as he chatted with the woman raising the Azumarill.

"That's him!" Achille grabbed Ryan's shoulder, pointing out the tall Dragon Tamer. "Quickly, before someone else challenges him!"

Ryan jumped into action- she grabbed Achille's wrist and dragged him through the crowd. She and her Mienfoo might have been kicking ankles, considering the yelps and complaints left in their wake, but it did the trick and dropped them in front of Raihan before anyone else.

"Raihan!" she beamed, shoving Achille forward. "Another challenger for you!"

"Alright! I think there are a few other-" Raihan turned around and spotted the two newcomers, a glint of recognition in his eyes. "Well, well, looks like we've got some of Sonia's kids. Two of them!"

Achille straightened up. About time he was getting more recognition. "I hope you don't mind me jumping ahead a few gyms."

Raihan looked over at the crowd, who seemed surprised at the arrival of two of the gym challengers as well. One of the crew manning the livestream cameras nodded to him, mouthing something Achille couldn't make out. It looked like 'battle them' to him, though.

"I think the people in line won't mind," Raihan said with a grin and a wink, "provided we give them a good show. Now, I have an idea." Achille leaned in, eager to hear more. If this couldn't be a normal gym battle, then a twist was fine by him.

"One gym leader versus two current challengers." Raihan dropped his voice, leaving the audience in the dark about what the pro trainers were whispering about. "I get to mix things up after battling all day, and the audience gets a special treat. What do you think?"

"Let's go!" Achille shouted, reaching for a Pokéball before stopping himself. "Uh, if Ryan is fine with it. That is."

"Hell yeah!" Ryan cheered, then blanched. "Uh. Not an official gym match, right?"

"The chairman wouldn't let me give out a badge here even if I wanted to. Off the record books." Raihan confirmed.

"Then yeah, let's do it!"

"Nice!" Raihan did a little fist bump, apparently excited either by the prospect of facing two challengers at once, or even just having a break from the tide of one-on-one battles. "Okay, quick and easy Doubles rules. I'll get two of mine, and you'll each get one. Deal?"

"Deal." Achille snagged one of his Pokéballs before being stopped by Joiuse. Both halves of the Doublade looked him directly in the eyes. She did just learn Shadow Claw, she should take the field here. "I'll go ahead and stick with Joiuse here."

Ryan pulled a PokéBall from her pocket and inspected it briefly before nodding and revealing her Nidorina. "Genevieve can do it!"

Raihan turned back towards the crowd, who had broken into a new round of whispers after both challengers sent out Pokémon. "Hey Strugglecon!" The crowd snapped to attention, focusing intently on the gym leader. "I've got a special show for you! I know you've all been following this year's gym challenge, and you know it's a good one!" A pause for the cheer. Raihan's smile was becoming infectious, and Achille found a goofy grin creeping across his face. "Well, we've got two challengers here with us now, and they're looking for a challenge!

"How about your favorite gym leader and future-champion battles both at the same time?" The walls of the room shook with the roar of the crowd. The few nervous faces, afraid that Raihan was about to announce he was done for the day, had disappeared. People from the other matches were even looking over, wondering just what was going on. One circle began to dissolve entirely, migrating towards the circle around the three.

"I'll take that as a YES!" Raihan shouted, driving the crowd into another ear-splitting roar. "Well, let's take to the field then: Turtonator and Torkoal!"

The gym leader tossed two Pokéballs, revealing a pair of fire-type turtles on his side of the arena. The crowd parted as a member of the Strugglecon staff came over to act as an unofficial referee for this unexpected event. The purple-clad, blonde woman turned on a microphone and took over the hype-man job from Raihan.

"Alright Strugglecon! Are you ready!" The crowd gave a resounding yes. "Well then, three, two, one, FIGHT!"

"Joiuse, Shadow Sneak on Torkoal!" Achille shouted as soon as the countdown ended.

"Vivi, Poison Tail on Turtonator!"

The left Doublade unsheathed, quickly floating over to one of the spotlights and lining her shadow up with the quadrupedal turtle. Once in position, she plunged towards the ground, causing her shadow to lift up as well. The spear-like pillar of darkness rose from underneath the smoking tortoise, slamming underneath its shell. The move caused the heavy Pokémon onto its hind feet for a second, but failed to flip it like Achille hoped.

At the same time, Ryan's Nidorina dashed on all fours toward Turtonator and spun as she came within striking range to slam her poison-coated tail into its knee. She twisted back the other way upon impact, rolling into a handspring and popping up on her hind legs a few feet away. "Good form!"

Turtonator staggered back from the hit, moving a few paces back to maintain its balance. "You're good!" Raihan shouted encouragingly to the Turtonator. The bipedal turtle looked back towards its trainer, nodding. It definitely could take a few hits like that and be fine. "Nice! Set us up with some Sunny Day. Torkoal, if they want to fight from afar, then Lava Plume them."

Turtonator crouched down, stoking the fire within itself. The Dragon-type then raised its head high and billowed a large stream of fire. The fire began to collect into a ball midair, floating above the crowd like a miniature sun. Said crowd found themselves shielding their eyes again, blinded by the intensity of the attack.

Just a few steps away, the smoke billowing out of Torkoal stopped. The inside of the Pokémon's shell glowed, the air around it becoming distorted by the sheer heat being put off. A burst of lava spew forth, soaring up through the sky in a large arc ending at Joiuse.

"Get out of there," Achille shouted. The two halves of Joiuse went different directions, barely avoiding the splash of the superheated stone. Genevieve, not so lucky as to be a pair of floating swords, made a valiant attempt to duck under Turtonator's hulking form. The massive Pokémon just turned its back to its ally, shrugging off the worst of the Lava Plume with its shell. The action helped to shield Genevieve, but some of the Torkoal's attack still made its way around Turtonator and onto the Nidorina.

"Okay, close the gap," Achille shouted. He really didn't want to be dodging those all match. "Let's try out that new move!" Joiuse darted towards Torkoal, rapidly closing the gap. Phantasmal energy gathered along her blade before forming into a row of small, purple teeth. The teeth began to rotate along the edge of Ghost-Joiuse as she approached, increasing in speed until they became a violet blur.

Unslowed by the sheath, Leftie crossed the gap quickly and lunged at Torkoal. Her foe slightly tilted, protecting its fleshy legs with the broad of its shell. The sound of steel scraping against stone filled the air as small amounts of rocky shell were chipped off by the Shadow Claw.

"You too, Vivi! Right where its armor meets!"

Genevieve's forearm became encased in that same violet color, extending and sharpening ghostly claws that raked across Turtonator's chest in a jumping uppercut. She didn't catch the weak point in its shell like her trainer demanded, but at least the claws still made contact all the way up to its throat. Turtonator, despite just having its entire upper body sliced with phantom claws, looked like it was smirking. The dragon turtle turned around with unexpected speed, facing its shell towards Genevieve. The Nidorina accidentally bumped one of the large spikes on the creature's shell, causing all of the spikes to suddenly glow a bright white. Turtonator lowered its head while Raihan plugged his ears.

Then the shell exploded, launching the Nidorina towards Torkoal.

"Sorry about that," Raihan said, removing his fingers from his ears. "He's a little fast with the Shell Trap. Pretty loud, huh?" Achille heard a light ringing in his ears from the blast. Pretty loud was an understatement. "Oh, and knock them off, Torkoal," Raihan added absentmindedly. "Solarbeam."

Achille knew what was coming from the last time he saw the Sunny Day/Solarbeam combo. The glow inside of Torkoal's shell grew in intensity rapidly, almost hurting to look at. A solid beam of sunlight shot forth from the gap in Torkoal's shell, making contact with Joiuse's blade. The half of Joiuse was blown away by the attack, sent rocketing in the same direction as Genevieve.

"Damn, he turned that around on us." Achille grit his teeth as the sheathed half of his partner reached her twin. Steel-Joiuse scooped up her other half with her cloth hand and resheathed her. "I don't think we're going to get through their defense fighting them alone. We should gang up on Torkoal, then take out Turtonator."

Ryan snapped her fingers and bounced on her toes. "Got it, got it- Vivi! Helping Hand!" The Nidorina looked confused for a split second before Ryan confirmed: "Grab her handles! Uh. Well, I hope that's okay, 'cause it's happening!"

Joiuse looked over at her trainer, mean-eyeing him. "Just go with it, please! Shadow Claw!" The right-hand sword rolled her eye as the left handed sword left the sheath again. The phantom teeth formed along her blade again, revving up to a streak of violet energy again before the blade offered herself to the Nidorina.

"Get that Torkoal!" Ryan cried, and Genevieve stormed towards the slow-moving beast, giving Left-Joiuse all her momentum and a mighty overhand swing to bury her deep into their foe's shell. As soon as the Nidorina grabbed the Doublade, the glow along her edge deepend and grew in size. The added impact from Genevieve's swing alongside the empowered edge drove deep into Torkoal.

The stoney turtle grimaced as a gouge in the shell formed. The fire-type's knees buckled under the pressure, but he didn't fall. Instead smoke billowed out of the Pokémon's shell and nostrils as he built up power. With a mighty shove the Torkoal rolled over, crushing the Nidorina and Doublade in a Body Press as it freed itself.

"That's how you DO IT!" Raihan shouted.

Still, the Pokémon was panting after the two Shadow Claws. That last one did a number on it. "He's about to go down, aim for the weak point on the shell! Aerial Ace!"

"Poison Tail, across the neck!"

Right-Joiuse jumped into action, pulling herself out of the sheath and grabbing it with her hand. She cut a fast and narrow arc through the air, aiming at the gouge in Torkoal's shell. The slam of her edge against the rocky shell of Torkoal could be heard across the room. Torkoal staggered from the attack, stepping backwards and attempting to right itself.

The whip of Genevieve's thick, poison-swathed tail across the dazed turtle's neck was the decisive blow-Torkoal was brought to the ground with a loud thud. The Pokémon shot one last stream of smoke from its nose, then passed out.

"Torkoal is out!" The impromptu ref announced. The crowd let out a massive cheer, obviously not expecting the pair to even take a single one of Raihan's Pokémon. "We're now two verus one. Both challengers still have their Pokémon, and Raihan is down to one. Resume!"

Raihan clapped. "Good job, good job! Now that's how you put on a show." Then his smile shifted. He was still smiling, but Achille suddenly felt intent behind the gym leader's eyes. "Now if you'll allow me to make this even more interesting. You with me, Turtonator?"

"Turrrt~"

"Okay, let's go-Fire Blast."

Oh, MERDE.

A truly dangerous amount of heat began to emanate from Turtonator. The room suddenly spiked several degrees as the attack built up, empowered by the artificial sun still shining above. The flames began to leak out of Turtonator's mouth, no longer capable of being contained inside even the goliath of a Pokémon.

"Joiuse, get the hell out of the way of that." Achille shouted.

"Do it, Vivi!"

"Oh, Turtonator," Raihan added, the Pokémon approaching the critical level. "Pull that punch a little. We are still inside with a crowd."

An inferno spewed from Turonator, enveloping the entire challenger side of the field with flames. Despite the ferocity of the attack, it didn't spill over into the crowd, falling a few feet short. Containing that is more impressive than the attack!.

Turtonator relented after a few seconds, the storm of fire fading right after. Achille looked over at the battlefield in dismay. There was no way Joiuse could shrug that off, and sure enough, the Doublade lie on the ground. Conscious, but just barely.

A ball of charred fur unfurled itself, to the shock of the crowd. Genevieve staggered to her feet, arms wrapped in ghostly purple, and with a ragged cry launched herself at the Turtonator's weak point. But the phantasmal claws raked far below their true target as she fell face-forward at the feet of the triumphant dragon.

"Oh- a-and that's it for Doublade and Nidorina!" The referee said into the mic after taking a second to compose herself following the Fire Blast. "This match goes to Raihan!"

The stunned disbelief of the crowd ended as they exploded with noise. Achille felt several hands slap his shoulders as the crowd rushed forward, eager to try and talk to the challengers.

"Damn, did you see that Fire Blast?!" "I thought I was going to die!" "Raihan just beat two challengers in one move!" "They beat one of Raihan's Pokémon! They're not even halfway through yet!"

Ryan inhaled deeply as she brought Genevieve back to her PokéBall and turned to Achille, eyes sparkling. "Did you see what we did?!"

Achille snapped back to reality, still slightly stunned from the Fire Blast. He snagged Joiuse's Pokéball and withdrew her, letting her have a hard earned rest. "I know right, took out one of Raihan's Pokémon! I stood no chance with that Avalanche strategy, but we still took one. He's the rival of the champion!"

Whatever her response was got lost in the crowd, as new fans moved in to try and talk to the challengers who finally gained a point on Raihan.

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

It felt like it took hours to deal with all the questions, especially after Raihan felt like celebrating the event with several pictures. Eventually the two were freed, though, after finally being rescued by the staff so they could select one of the promotional TRs.

Achille flipped over the Flamethrower TR again in his hands. Studying it as he walked. "I somehow completely missed there was a prize tied to this. I was just going to fight Raihan."

"Same hat," Ryan laughed. "Except I didn't even mean to fight him." Her Thunderbolt TR had already been relegated to the depths of her backpack. "It was cool though! Really cool. We're a good team!"

"Yeah, we should team up more." Achille could really use helping hands when that urge to do something adventurous, but dumb came about. Like chasing after a Froslass as a rookie trainer. Or trying to chase a bank robber. Or climbing a hill that injured more experienced hikers than him. "Just send me a message if you need an extra for something."

"Definitely!"

Sapphire Rose · Oct 1, 2021

Pia McGuire
Poké:

5550 ♦ Pokémon: 4

A trip down memory lane

"I can't believe we still haven't found something." Pia grumbled through the streets of Hammerlocke, the city she grew up in, while wrapping her arms tighter around the egg she was holding. A small Pikachu walked beside her, looking visibly much less annoyed than her trainer was despite their results not yet having bore any fruits. They were at least outside again. Pia was outside again and that was enough for the tiny Milla.

Her tail wiggled at the thought. Sure they have been walking around and asking around for a place to temporarily live for a few days now but was it really that bad? Milla turned around to Pia and gave her the most radiating smile. Pia was far from being herself yet but the little steps were something that gave her a little hope that everything was going to be alright.

Alright… A-L-R-I-G-H-T. right. As alright things could be. Milla knew that her trainer was struggling with hospital bills that needed to be paid and the fact that housing doesn't come cheap. Though as Milla was lost in thought herself, she suddenly noticed that the shadow that had been towering over her was gone. Looking behind her she found Pia in front of a little café, staring at something that seemed to sit behind the store's window. She walked back up to her, only to be met with a short glance from Pia.

"Searching for maids. Interested? Apply inside!"

Pia kept staring at it, sighed and turned around to meet back up with Milla's curious gaze. Rosa and her had split up so that Pia could search for a place to stay. It wouldn't hurt to take on a job for a little while in the meantime… It would make finding a place easier which would in turn make it easier to visit her mother in the hospital. The family home in Wedgehurst was just making her more depressed. Not that… Hammerlocke was making her feel any better.

"Let's just… go…" Pia tried to shrug her worries away and continued her path. Milla was about to follow her until an older lady ran outside.

"Pia!" She shouted. Pia stopped walking and looked behind her. "Pia! Dear, is that you?!"

An old lady stood in front of her. Not some stranger and not any old lady. Pia knew this woman.

"Mrs. Vladia?"

Sitting inside the very same Café Pia tried to walk away from with a cup of tea in front of her and the woman she had called "Mrs. Vladia". That was the current situation Pia had found herself in. Sharing tea time with the old landlord of her mother. It had been quite a while since she had seen her. Almost 4 years now but the woman with slight wrinkles around her eyes and mouth, looking somewhere around her fifties, had not changed. Pia, on the other side…

"Your hair is long again! I always thought it was so very elegant when it was longer. Though I liked your short hair too." Mrs. Vladia laid her hand on her cheek and smiled sweetly with no ill intent in her voice. She didn't know the reason why Pia cut her hair shorter after all. Pia stayed quiet while she listened as Mrs. Vladia rambling about the old times when they still lived in Hammerlocke. What had changed and what not. "I was so sad when you and your mother left Hammerlocke to move to the countryside but I do understand why that was. It was so quiet without you two here and-" It was the typical old people talk who were excited to see their grandkids again, except that Mrs. Vladia was not her grandmother and Pia never had considered her as such despite Mrs. Vladia having seen her grow up.

"But enough about all that, how has it been going?" She finally stopped speaking and allowed Pia to get a word in, waiting eagerly for the girl's response. Pia smiled in return.

"I'd like to say we're doing well but.. unfortunately my mother is currently in a coma in the hospital and fighting for her life." Pia dropped the bomb with the sweetest smile in the world while bearing the most awful news ever showing a glint of her sadness to gain the woman's sympathy. There was a plan to this though.

"Oh no! How awful! What happened?!" The woman's happy smile immediately disappeared from her old-fashioned red lips and was replaced by legitimate concern.

"She had an aneurysm. She hasn't woken up yet and isn't completely in the clear yet. She seems to be recovering though but that could always change." Pia elaborated, showing a little more despair in the smile she was showing Mrs. Vladia. Was she proud of what she was doing? Not really, she'd probably regret it later even but some things were necessary to get the things you want or need. Again, there was a plan to this and she was going to put that into effect now.

"But I haven't been able to find something to live in temporarily. We don't have a lot of money and everything is going to the hospital bills. I'm quite stressed really… I will have to visit Hammerlocke everyday now and go back to Wedgehurst after…" Pia put on the facade she had thought up the moment she had seen the woman and the only reason why she decided to sit down with her for tea despite having no time to waste on something so insignificant with everything going on. Mrs. Vladia was quiet and certainly seemed to be buying into her semi-bullshit but something was still holding her back so Pia pushed a little further…

"Or… I could always sleep on the benches here and-"

"Absolutely not!" Pia tried to continue with another sad quiet smile but was interrupted by Mrs. Vladia who couldn't keep listening to the girl. "I could never allow you to sleep on the streets of all places?" Mrs. Vladia stood up. "I'll show you something you can live in. I'll pay for the tea too!" She declared.

"Oh no.. I couldn't let you do that…" Pia shook her head.

" I insist! Please humor this old lady and allow me to give you a place to at least sleep." The woman gave her yet another smile. Meanwhile she had absolutely no clue that Pia had exactly predicted this from the start. She knew the woman's more charitable side from what her mother had told her. That's how they got their first apartment in Hammerlocke in the first place despite having no job.

" Then… I shall indulge you." Pia replied, holding her hand against her heart and bowed. Mrs. Vladia liked that and the gentleness reached her eyes.

"Let's go immediately! The old apartment you and your mother lived in is still available. I shall show you the way."

"It's still available…?" Pia flinched.

Pia stood in front of an apartment complex. One that she knew all too well and had mixed feelings about… but she was still there. The only affordable option in this god forsaken city and she had to use pity points to get it. The whole building even looked cheap and served as a reminder for Pia why this specific apartment could still be empty after 4 years. The rocks at the service were basically crumbing down and a few windows on the third floor were busted and had a wooden plank in front of it. Would Rosa be mad if she found out that the only place she could find was a broken down apartment…?

"Here are the keys." Mrs. Vladia put the keys in the hand palm of the girl and closed her fingers around it, then put her own hands on top of Pia's in an affectionate manner. "It's good to have you back. Please make use of it for as long as you need." She gave Pia another sympathizing smile, one to which the girl could only grimace. "I wish I could let you stay for free but I simply can't with how business has been going. I hope the reduced price is at least of some help." Mrs. Vladia took her hands back and gave the girl a bow. "Please contact me if there's anything you need." And with a wave she took off, leaving Pia behind in front of the building with Milla beside her.

"Of all places…" Pia grumbled to the point even Milla looked up and wondered why she was being so ungrateful. The girl just had gotten a… little too used to the nice places she visited with Ruben. Though, one look from Milla was enough to make Pia back down and sigh. "Well, it's something at least. I just have a lot of bad memories from this place…" Pia tried to explain herself but the Pikachu only looked even more confused. "… Never mind. Want to see where I used to live?"

"Pika pi!" Milla jumped up on Pia's arm and showed her a more reassuring smile, making the girl smile in return. Pia opened her hand palm again, walked up to the door on the lowest floor and unlocked it. It had the same ugly blue colored door as it had 4 years ago and the hallways was the same ugly cream white as it had back then when. It felt like nothing at all had changed at all when it really should have had with the state the apartment is in.

Though… The moment Pia crossed the hallways and stood inside the living room, the awkward smile had grown dim and her chest tensed up… because among the bad memories that laid to rest here, there was also a mountain of good ones.

She peeked inside the small kitchen and saw a figure of her younger self and her mother stand there while baking homemade cookies. When she peeked towards the corner of the living room, she saw herself and her mother sitting on the couch again and watching a movie while both were hidden underneath a pile of blankets. Pia grabbed her chest.

… And when she walked towards the bedrooms and saw her mother's empty room again, she saw herself cuddled up to her mother with the sounds of thunder echoing inside her mind.

14 years of memories were buried underneath the exterior of a broken-down apartment. 14 years of her life she had lived here, and she could only remember it as a living hell. A tear escaped her emerald-colored eyes, the droplet being so sparkly because it held so much emotion. How much her mother had suffered for Pia's indifferent behaviour the past few years… If she were to die now, that would be the last image Pia's mother would remember of her. Was this truly what she had deserved? She was just a mother trying to make a life for herself and her child.

Pia sobbed inside her sleeve and tears kept pouring down like autumn rain. It was a sound from her old bedroom that eventually made Pia look up again.

"M-Milla…?" Pia called out to her mischievous friend. When she entered the room that was once hers, she saw the Pikachu sitting near pulled off wallpaper. When she got closer, she recognized it.

She knew those cuts on the wall. The tearing of the wallpaper. She remembered exactly when this happened.

"This is when I found out about mom's job…"

Pia's Party

Memories

STAGE 1: Wedgehurst -> Wild Area -> Motostoke

Wedgehurst
I choose you part 1
I choose you part 2
I choose you Final

Wild Area
Train to Wild Area ft. Raphael & Aeliana
Two birds with one stone
Two birds with one stone part 2 + Bird Brain
Wild Area with Arrietty

Motostoke
Double Trouble part 1
Double Trouble part 2

STAGE 2: Route 3 -> Galar Mine 1 -> Route 4 -> Turffield

Route 3
It's the most wine-derful time of the year | Part 1
It's the most wine-derful time of the year | Part 2
A Festive Fight to the Finish
The Mystery of Mew! | Part 1
The Mystery of Mew! | Part 2
The Mystery of Mew! | Part 3
A Two headed reflection

Galar Mine 1
Galar Mine #1 | Part 1
Galar Mine #1 | Part 2
Galar Mine #1 | Part 3

Route 4
Route 4
Coach McGuire
A failed attempt.

Turffield
Bad Company.
It gets worse.
Shopping shenanigans
A challenger approaches!
Gym battle: Turffield
Here and Now
Performance Post: Dreaming Fairy
New Friendships

Route 5
Homecoming | Part 1
Homecoming | Part 2
An eggcelent situation.

Hulburry
Gym battle: On treacherous waters Part 1
Gym battle: On treacherous waters Part 2
Hulburry Part 1
Hulburry Part 2
Hulburry Part 2
The Hypocrites' Waltz
The Hypocrites' Waltz Part 2
Duplicity
Duplicity part 2
Pretty Little Liars

Motostoke
To all beautiful things come an end...
Pray Return

Wedgehurst/Wild Area
Ending unplanned

Pia's journal

Arrietty Maverick
Pia and Arrietty met in the Wild Area although the two have shared classes before. It struck Pia as odd that the girl seemed to have no ambitions or goals at all. Although disappointed upon finding out this girl had no fire burning that would light her path, Pia made it her mission to help this girl get a goal and become a bit more social. Arrietty is the closest Pia can consider a "friend".

As according to their promise, Pia helped Arrietty get ready for her very first contest in Turffield. However, the girl ran off from stage when she was up. Pia has been feeling guilty for "forcing her into contesting" ever since.

Ruben Sancho
Pia met Ruben during Motostoke while on a double date with him, Arrietty and Ainsley. The date went disastrous with both Arrietty and Ainsley running off but Ruben and Pia were able to grow just a tiny bit closer during their search for Arrietty. They have been texting since and are on good terms with each other. They both seem to be interested in just a little bit more...

Ruben and Pia are officially dating since the end of the year festival on Route 3 following their "official second date" that went well. Pia knows about Ruben's ankle and that it's still hurting. They're in close contact with each other through calling and texting. They went on another date on Route 4 where Ruben had a gig for a coaching session with kids with the promise to spend time together after that. Both confirmed their feelings for the other by sharing a kiss. Pia likes him a lot.

Their relationship became public knowledge when a picture of Ruben staring down Pia's shirt was shared on social media and all gossip magazines. Ruben has been hiding it from Pia but as they went shopping, Pia got vocally attacked by a group of girls calling her out for being a whore and having no dignity. Ruben stood up for her and made their relationship public knowledge, no longer wanting to submit Pia to such harassment. Ruben publicly announced he likes Pia a lot and that they have been dating as opposed to what he has been saying before. Pia still doesn't know about the picture that's going around.

Despite the situation that had happened in the mall, Ruben insisted towards Raphael that they're just "friends" while Raphael announced to know more about their relationship due to being uncomfortable with the fact of calling Pia his "girlfriend". He has been slowly getting into the idea of being in a relationship with her throughout Turffield. The two of them visited his home in Wedgehurst during the events of Route 5 where Pia ended up meeting his sister Daija and his little brothers. He told Daija to stop calling her the "G" word but he ended up admitting to her he indeed considered Pia his girlfriend. During all of this Pia has been thinking about their time together and has grown quite fond of Ruben, more than she probably realizes herself as she has to constantly remind herself that she shouldn't be feeling the things that she is feeling. She believes that it will all come to an end but has recently started clinging on to a little spark of hope...

The two of them exchanged Applin's during their Valentine's day date where they also decided to release them, promising each other that they would stay together.

They've proven to be currently in love with both of them starting to show effort in their relationship. However, Pia's big secret that she's trying to keep hidden from Ruben is becoming a ticking time bomb...

In Hulburry things have started to get rocky for the two when Pia found out Ruben lied about not being in Hulburry when he broke into the gym Pia was having a photoshoot at with Aeliana and Nessa. He brought along Ainsley, two new friends Pia didn't know and Simon. The lie upsetted Pia greatly as lying is something she absolutely hated and the reason for it was so that Ruben could hang out with his friends. She hasn't messaged him since Nessa booted him out of the gym.

Pia and Ruben unfortunately broke up during the events of Motostoke when it was revealed that Pia's mother used to be a prostitute and pictures were made of Ruben with another woman.

Raphael Allard
Pia met Raphael during her train ride to the wild Area together with Aeliana. Thinking that he had a lot of potential in becoming a chamption which would benefit her, Pia approached him thinking they could become friends. Their interactions didn't go as smoothly as Pia had hoped. After their argument at the end of her battle with Aeliana, the girl ran off thinking she had blown her chances. Raphael doesn't harbour any ill intend towards the girl and only hoped to give her some advice.

They have resolved their issues in Galar mine 1 and worked together to battle Oleana in which they were victorious. Raphael brought the issues with Pia's overprotectiveness of Milla back up on Route 4 when Pia was refusing Milla from battling. Raphael spoke some sense into her, prompting her to finally trust Milla. Raphael understands Pia better now and Pia has a better opinion of Raphael now too.

They met again during the events of the Turffield contest and spend some time talking to each other while Pia tried to get Ruben to apologize to Arrietty. Raphael said something similar to what he said on Route 4 and confused Pia in her actions. He seems to know more than he lets on.

Aeliana Kekoa
Pia met Aeliana during the train ride to the wild Area together with Raphael. Although her interactions with Aeliana went a little bit more smoothly than with Raphael, Pia still ran off at the end of their battle in an attempt to distract her since Pia owed her money for losing. Although Pia has declared Aeliana her rival, they haven't spoken since and Pia attempts to keep it that way.

Pia met Aeliana again on Route 3 when she was on her way to the end of the year market. Together with Rosa and Valerie they went into an haunted mansion. Although they didn't converse much, Aeliana made some comments that Pia saw as snarky that were meant well by Aeliana. This indicates that Pia still thinks that Aeliana is out to get her.

Their friendship was given a second chance in Hulburry during a photoshoot with Nessa that Aeliana had invited Pia for. Pia saw this as a really good chance to start her own "career" rather on relying on Ruben and his fame. They shared a moment together and seem to be on good terms again.

Ainsley
Ainsley was Pia's date partner during the double date in Motostoke and is Ruben's best friend. Ainsley pretended to be rich and paid for the date with Ruben's money. Pia saw through the charade and called him out on it after Ainsley suggested they'd book a hotel together and make love. He ran off afterwards, angry that the feelings of lust he harboured towards Pia were not returned. Pia doesn't think highly of Ainsley and told Ruben that he needs "better friends".

Pia and Ainsley met again in the Hulburry gym after he and Ruben broke in so that they could ask Nessa's hand in marriage. He called Pia a "gold digging sket" because of her relationship with Ruben and the pettiness he holds towards her for the date that didn't end in the hotel room. They both dislike each other greatly.

Melody Argent
Although Pia and Melody attended the same Trainer school and were in the same class, they never once teamed up for an assignment. Both didn't have a very good impression of the other and avoided them like the plague. It's not until the Festival Fun-time Flurry that they have tried teaming up to win a competition as both of them were interested in the prize. They chased down a cheater together and have a better opinion of each other since their teamwork. They figured out that they're a pretty good team actually. Both of them thinks "the other is not so bad after all".

Valerie Amity
Pia met Valerie on route 3 where they went inside a haunted mansion together with Aeliana and Rosa. They didn't get to converse much but it was enough for them to establish some sort of familiarity. Valerie calls Pia "Lady P" as a nickname. Pia thinks of Valerie as someone with too much energy but not a bad person overall, maybe a little too naïve.

Pia was able to form a friendshop with Valerie in Turffield where she finally managed to catch the girl alone. Pia decided that Valerie's stream and followers could help her towards her goal of becoming rich, one she is trying to head towards to against ever since the events with Catherine. She feels guilty about this though.

Rosa Valdés
Pia met Rosa on Route 3 and went inside a haunted mansion together with Aeliana and Valerie. They were stuck inside a room together where Rosa found golden nuggets and shared one with Pia. Rosa's small moments of kindness seemed insincere in Pia's eyes, someone who is well versed with duality. When Rosa left the end of the year market after they had gotten out of the haunted mansion, Pia followed her and saw her crying. Pia comforted the crying Rosa but as soon as Rosa had gotten herself together again, Pia fell the need to call her out on her duality, telling her that how she was acting now was quite different from before. Rosa denied at first but as soon as Pia had driven her into a corner, she stopped trying. After Jirachi appeared for a brief second, Rosa walked off. They're neither on bad or good terms but both have things they probably need to speak off.

Simon Pearburgh
Pia met Simon in Galar Mine 1. Pia thought nothing more of him than a bug nerd. They partnered up to battle against Oleana and his clever strategies impressed Pia, prompting her to compliment him after their shared life/death situation on Route 4.

Pia considers Simon to be a positive influence and appreciates him cheering her on during the contest in Turffield where he appeared to be the loudest in the room.

Pia met Simon again in Hulburry after he broke into the gym that she was having a photoshoot at with Aeliana and Nessa. She was disappointed in his behaviour but guessed this was probably Ruben and Ainsley's idea as he just stumbled up behind them.

Catherine Carlisle
Yeah.... Pia really doesn't like Catherine but she enjoys getting under her skin.

Kit
Pia met Kit in the Wild Area. Kit had been trying to catch a Pokémon for days but had yet to catch one. He begged the girl to help him in exchange for money and a strange rock that he found. Pia taught him how to catch a Pokémon but after hearing that Kit is in search for his father, she decided to only take the strange rock as her reward and left the pouch with Poké behind for the boy to keep. Kit seems to have developed a crush for her because of that.

Daija Sancho
Daija is Ruben's little sister by 2 years. Pia met Daija during her trip to Wedgehurst with Ruben on Route 5. Daija was wary of the girl at first as she is well aware of her brother's "type". She has given Pia her nod of approval when she found the two being silly in the living room after she had left the house for a little bit to cool off. She thinks Pia is a positive influence in Ruben's life.

Jovian and Livia McMiller and Daniel
Pia met the McMiller couple and their foster son on Route 5 when she took a nap outside in the cold covered in her own Pokémon. Livia McMiller invited her at her home with happened to be the Nursery on Route 5. Pia investigated the Chimecho mystery of how she had suddenly laid two eggs. She appeared to be fostering them as trainer's had left those eggs behind. Chimecho have her a mint-green coloured egg with darker green swirls as a thank you for getting her wishes across to the McMiller couple.

Trainer ID

Pia McGuire:

Pia was born in the town of Hammerlocke in the Galar region and is part of the first graduating class of the Wedgehurt trainer's academy. Despite having lived in poverty, her mother has been able to pay for her tuition in alternative ways. She's quick witted and rather clever but is sometimes a bit "too" honest. Pia dreams of becoming an actress and does almost anything to get more money. When it comes down to it, what she really wants is to no longer live in poverty and live a bit more happily.

Inventory:

4x Pokéball
Galarian Pokédex
Xtransceiver
Broken Flashlight
King's Rock
Sun Stone
Thunderstone
Mint green Pokémon egg with darker green swirls

Outfits:

Daily Outfit:

Spoiler:

Contest outfit:

Spoiler:

Ribbons:

Turffield Ribbon 2nd place:

Badges:

Turffield Grass badge

Hulburry Water badge

Motostoke Fire badge

Sapphire Rose · Oct 1, 2021

Pia McGuire
Poké:

5550 ♦ Pokémon: 4

Sugar, Spice, school girls aren't nice.

"Have you heard? Apparently the only reason Pia McGuire has good grades is because she's sucking the dic's of all the teacher's in the meeting rooms."

"Oh that explains why she's always in there, doesn't it?"

"She's so undesirable though. Who would willingly have sex with that girl."

"Veronika said she's paying them."

"Didn't someone see her with that college guy a few days ago?"

"That guy was pretty hot, yeah. She's poor as fuck, that must be the reason then."

"What a tramp."

A girl with long, wavy blonde hair reaching to her hips and wearing a second-hand school uniform walked past a group of girls talking about her unbothered, carrying the lunch her mother had made for her in the morning. Their laughs were deafening and the words spoken were definitely made loud enough so she could hear them. But even still, the girl walked, ignoring every word that was being said about her and planted her bottom behind the school desk she always sat at. She thought that if she would just sit there in silence, they'd leave her alone eventually. That's what she was told.

She was wrong.

The clicking of heels that started at the door of the classroom stopped in front of Pia's desk, making the girl half look up in the process while holding her lunch. She fixed the glasses sitting on her nose and saw a familiar figure in front of her with long crimson red hair, wearing the same school uniform as her but just a tiny bit fancier shoes than her… a lot fancier seeing as she was straight-up wearing pumps that were definitely not allowed. Her obnoxious chewing on her chewing gum didn't make the sight any better. Veronika Montgommery. The bitch of the school.

"What are you going to eat for lunch, miss piggy?" Veronika smirked at the sight of the blonde girl with hands on her hips but no response from the girl in front of her. She clicked with her tongue and grabbed for the box that she held. "I'll just go check for myself." she said with the worst tone in her voice. She opened the box and found a bunch of lettuce, rice, corn and fish. It wasn't much but it was something. Whoever made this, made this with love.

But Veronika didn't care about any of that.

"Oh wow nice, you got a decent lunch for once." Veronika walked over towards the front of the classroom and held the box above the trash can that stood there. "But we think you're already fat enough as it is so you could probably do with skipping a meal or two." She snarled, laughed and dropped the entire box and its contents in the trash can. The girls in the back group spouting ugly rumors at her earlier joined Veronika in her cackling. Pia could only bite her lip and ignore it as best as she could just like she was told. She clenched her fists but knew that any retaliation she would throw at them would make it even worse. Soon enough the cackling would settle down with the teacher entering the room and Veronika took the seat behind her, still disgustingly chewing all the while.

"And when you add this number to this, you'll get-"

The voice of the teacher sounded in the background of Pia's daydreaming mind. Usually she's the most attentive one in the class but today she just couldn't do it. Her birthday was in two days from now. Her fourteenth birthday… She was wondering if she should take the day off. She hadn't been sick this year once and hadn't missed a single day of school. Surely it would be fine to not have to deal with the likes of Veronika and her measly friends on that day…?

As her mind drifted off to her little dream world, thinking of what she would do on her birthday with her mother, the school bell rang, announcing the end of the class and their lunch period. Not that Pia had any now thanks to a certain someone… Her stomach rumbled and she looked outside the windows while her fellow classmates left, ignoring the whispers that followed them. It was only until she heard a few words clearly that she started to look up,

"What happened to her hair…?"

"What a dirty child… absolutely disgusting."

Pia's eyes widened. Her hair? What was wrong with her hair? She brushed through it and noticed… her fingers were stuck before they reached the bottom. She felt a lump in her throat and all hunger that she felt left her immediately as she ran towards the toilets, pushing some of the girls aside in a hurry to get there quickly but the sight she saw in the mirror turned her face so pale that even white sheets would be jealous.

Her hair… was full of gum. Her long blonde wavy hair… was full of fucking chewing gum.

She was so proud of her long hair. Her mother would always comb through it lovingly… Tears started welling up in Pia's eyes. She was speechless, she breathed heavily and just couldn't believe this was the extent of what they would do to get to her. Her face then turned eerie.

"Waaaahhhh!!!" She clenched her fist once more and punched the mirror, so incredibly hard that her knuckles bled and her reflection was broken. She was so incredibly angry. The teachers told her to ignore the bullies and it just got somehow worse. They'd do anything to get a reaction out of her.

And the teachers would just turn a blind eye.

Pia ran. As fast as she could. She didn't remember what exactly happened on her way home, she was blinded by the mist on her glasses and tears in her eyes. The only thing she could remember was grabbing for the scissors that laid in the kitchen, a comb in the bathroom and lots of oil with which she hoped she could get the chewing gum out. She tried to look for her mother but quickly remembered that she had a new job as a cashier now and would be home late so she had to try it by herself. With no one to help her. She was alone.

She put oil in her hair, tried to pick the chewing gum out and tried to cut out whatever was no longer salvageable. The more she tried to fix it, the worse the results were getting and the more tears would roll down Pia's cheeks. She stopped, sat down and hugged her knees.

She sat there for quite a bit. Howled and screamed as she did until she calmed down somewhat from exhaustion. It was then that she finally heard the door open up, earlier than she expected.

"M-Mom…?!" Pia jumped up and ran towards the door.

"Pia, sweetie! I didn't expect you home yet!" A woman with dark brown, wavy hair and piercing blue eyes stood in the hallways with a bright smile across her face. She hadn't looked up at her daughter yet while she was freeing herself from her uncomfortable heels but when she did she suddenly grew quiet. "Pia… Honey, what happened to your hair…?" She let out carefully.

"Mom…" Pia immediately started crying again. She tried to speak through her tears but anything she said was foreign language. Her mother walked up to her and held her, trying to sush her upset daughter so that she could explain it in words she could actually understand. "T-They p-p-put g-gum in m-my h-hair…" the young Pia sobbed through her tears.

"Then let's see how bad it is…" Pia's mother tried to give her a comforting smile but one look at it was enough to let her know that nothing of this could be saved. "I… I'm so sorry, dear… Were they the same bullies as last time?"

Pia nodded.

"I will have to cut it… But you need not worry, there's a lot I can still fix. We can let your hair grow again after that." The mother explained to her daughter, the latter sobbing again uncontrollably. She lowered herself to meet Pia's eyes and held her face between her still somewhat cold hands from the outside temperature. "You're a beautiful girl Pia, shorter hair is not going to change that."

Pia started quieting down again. Her mother always said that to comfort her, a little more so ever since she found out that Pia was being bullied for her appearance and status. She was led towards the kitchen and put on a dinner chair while her mother did her magic on the Murkrow nest that was now her hair.

"My… birthday is in two days…" Pia spoke softly after a short moment of silence between the mother and daughter. "I.. don't want to go to school that day…" She added to which her mother only smiled and nodded.

"I'll be home as well so how about we make the biggest cake that we can and eat it. Just the two of us." The words of her mother made a small curl appear on Pia's lips amidst her messed up face.

"Yes, let's."

"It's done, what do you think?" The woman held a hand mirror in front of Pia and showed her her new hairstyle. Her once long locks of golden blonde wavy hair was now cut to shoulder length. Her bangs remained unchanged. It wasn't too bad and she had preferred her hair longer but even she knew that her hair had been damaged to the point that this was the best her mother could do. She gave her mother an approving nod and a small smile.

"I'm glad! Then let's ignore the bad happenings of today and have some takeout! Let's order whatever we like!" Her mother flexed her arm, held her arm muscle and winked. Pia blinked and watcher mother go to the phone, wondering if they even had the money to order food…? A big cake was already iffy but takeout…? Wasn't that super expensive? And wasn't this already the sixth time within two months alone? Was being a cashier really that good of a job?

These questions remained in Pia's mind for the rest of the evening. Her stomach had never been so full that night.

The next day, Pia is pushed on the ground by Veronika and her friends in a corner outside of the school. It was clear they had been waiting on her since she didn't reappear in class yesterday. That's what it looked like at least.

"Nice haircut, you stank." They laughed and pushed her an extra time when Pia tried to get up. She was already mad enough and now they were picking on her again. When was this gonna stop?

"Oh POOR poor girl. You looked so much better with longer hair." One of Veronika's friends snickered at the sight of Pia being pushed back to the ground. "Not that any of it looked good to begin with." Another one added on top of the previous insult. Pia tried to get up and grabbed for whatever she could to help her back up but when her fingers felt an arm and something dangling she was pushed right back with much more force than before..

"Get your dirty hands off me, you hobo! I got that bracelet from my dad! It's way more expensive than you could ever afford!" Veronika practically screamed and looked at her with disgust.

"Of course she'd try to steal too…" A whisper behind the crimson haired girl spoke. They kept whispering. Only when the school bell rang to mark the beginning of the day, they ran off but not before kicking some extra dirt on Pia and laughing.

"I hate them…" Pia whispered as she made no effort to get back up while on her knees. "I HATE THEM!" She yelled once more, this time punching the ground as hard as she could, reopening the cuts on her knuckles from the day before..

Late in the evening, Pia finally stood in front of her home again. Absolutely exhausted from what had expired throughout the entirety of the day. She walked towards an ugly blue door on the ground floor and entered her keys to open the entrance to her and her mother's apartment. She was immediately met with a wonderful aroma coming from the kitchen and the humming of her mother. Pia raised an eyebrow to the surprise.

"Pia! Sweetie, welcome back!" Pia's mother happily greeted her with the most radiant smile of them all. Pia shot a glance to the table and a sight she thought she would never see on their dinner table. A feast. Food from left to right. Steaks, potatoes, anything edible and more than enough for the two of them. One would even argue it was too much.

"Mom…? How-?"

"Eat to your heart's content! Who knows when we'll get the chance again." Pia wanted to question but was shut by her mother before she could say anything else. Was this really something a cashier could afford? It didn't make much sense to the young girl but… Her mother was right. Who knows when they'll get the chance again? Pia sat down and ate. Ate to her heart's content.

Pia was laying on her bed with a book in front of her when she heard knocking on the door. The young girl knew her mother would probably open the door but when the knocking got louder she got curious and peeked up. It was pretty late, who was it at this hour?

"I told you not to visit me at my home address!"

Pia heard the quiet sneering of her mother outside of her window. It wasn't often that she heard her mother like that. She left a bookmark on the page she had left on and closed her book to get up and made her way towards the window. She opened the curtain slightly to see what was happening outside.

"And I said that I needed to talk so whose fault is it that I had to resort to this?" The girl heard a man sneer right back at mother but it sounded much more intimidating than her mother had sounded. "I sent you a text message and you didn't reply. I need your servi-" The man got cut off by Pia's mother.

"L-Let's take a walk…" Pia's mother spoke in defeat and threw a glance towards the window leading to Pia's bedroom. Pia saw the eyes glance towards her and hid away underneath her window, hoping her mother hadn't seen her eavesdrop. When she heard the front door close and the clicking of heels leaving the apartment, she knew she hadn't been caught. Not yet at least.

Pia had never seen this man and was worried for her mother's safety. Without another thought, she opened the window of her room and snuck out of it when she saw her mother and the man going around a corner. The girl caught up to them not long after as they hadn't gone too far from their apartment. They stood in a dark alley and again, talked. Pia hid behind a trash bin to listen in.
"You weren't answering my calls." The man immediately accused again once he and Pia's mother were in the clear. "I need you at a party tomorrow night. It should have been in the text message." The guy sounded almost desperate but intimidating enough to not make a difference in his demands.

"I told you yesterday that I am not going to be able to make it. It's my little girl's birthday tomorrow..." Pia's mother almost pleaded. Though her pleads remained unanswered as the man moved in closer and grabbed her chin in his hand and half-squeezed her cheeks.

"I pay a lot of money for your services. You wouldn't want to lose such a dear customer, right?"

Pia got more curious when she heard the man talk about services. She still couldn't clearly see his face and tried to move in closer without making any noise. What services was he talking about? Once closer she saw his face but didn't recognize him at all… Who was this man? What did he want from her mother? Pia grabbed for a stick she saw laying in front of her and clenched it between her fists.

"That's what I thought." The man continued once the woman whose face he was holding did not give him another answer and trembled in front of his intimidating aura.

"The party is held at the conference center next to the Hammerlocke Stadium at 8 o'clock. Make sure you're on time." The man spoke again. "Oh. And introduce yourself as "Mrs. Montgommery". I don't want that annoying wife of mine to find out. I booked us a nice hotel after. Same one as last time. So make sure you tell that lovely daughter of yours that you won't be home for her birthday." He somewhat aggressively let go of the mother's face and just when he was about to walk off, he stopped again.

"I'll make sure your payment will be a nice one for inconveniencing you." He made it sound like he was doing her a favor and left the woman behind.

The next thing Pia remembered was laying on her bed and just staring at her roof. It was difficult to process what she had heard but Pia wasn't stupid. The only thing this looked like and could mean was that her mother had been… whoring herself out. Which would explain everything strange going on for the past few months.

Pia sat up.

"Montgommery... " She repeated through her teeth. What a sick joke. What an absolute messed up world this had become. Her breathing got heavier once more and the blur in her eyes reappeared.

She grabbed the scissors on her desk and jammed those into the wall.

Not once.

Not twice.

But quite a few times.

Pia rubbed the cuts and holes in the wall with a sigh. This was embarrassing. How would Rosa react to it even? Pia honestly didn't know… and she really didn't want to find out either. She'd probably think that Pia was a psychopath.

Pia sheepish laughed at the thought. It was definitely better to attempt to hide those.

Pia's Party

Memories

STAGE 1: Wedgehurst -> Wild Area -> Motostoke

Wedgehurst
I choose you part 1
I choose you part 2
I choose you Final

Wild Area
Train to Wild Area ft. Raphael & Aeliana
Two birds with one stone
Two birds with one stone part 2 + Bird Brain
Wild Area with Arrietty

Motostoke
Double Trouble part 1
Double Trouble part 2

STAGE 2: Route 3 -> Galar Mine 1 -> Route 4 -> Turffield

Route 3
It's the most wine-derful time of the year | Part 1
It's the most wine-derful time of the year | Part 2
A Festive Fight to the Finish
The Mystery of Mew! | Part 1
The Mystery of Mew! | Part 2
The Mystery of Mew! | Part 3
A Two headed reflection

Galar Mine 1
Galar Mine #1 | Part 1
Galar Mine #1 | Part 2
Galar Mine #1 | Part 3

Route 4
Route 4
Coach McGuire
A failed attempt.

Turffield
Bad Company.
It gets worse.
Shopping shenanigans
A challenger approaches!
Gym battle: Turffield
Here and Now
Performance Post: Dreaming Fairy
New Friendships

Route 5
Homecoming | Part 1
Homecoming | Part 2
An eggcelent situation.

Hulburry
Gym battle: On treacherous waters Part 1
Gym battle: On treacherous waters Part 2
Hulburry Part 1
Hulburry Part 2
Hulburry Part 2
The Hypocrites' Waltz
The Hypocrites' Waltz Part 2
Duplicity
Duplicity part 2
Pretty Little Liars

Motostoke
To all beautiful things come an end...
Pray Return

Wedgehurst/Wild Area
Ending unplanned
A trip down memory lane

Pia's journal

Arrietty Maverick
Pia and Arrietty met in the Wild Area although the two have shared classes before. It struck Pia as odd that the girl seemed to have no ambitions or goals at all. Although disappointed upon finding out this girl had no fire burning that would light her path, Pia made it her mission to help this girl get a goal and become a bit more social. Arrietty is the closest Pia can consider a "friend".

As according to their promise, Pia helped Arrietty get ready for her very first contest in Turffield. However, the girl ran off from stage when she was up. Pia has been feeling guilty for "forcing her into contesting" ever since.

Ruben Sancho
Pia met Ruben during Motostoke while on a double date with him, Arrietty and Ainsley. The date went disastrous with both Arrietty and Ainsley running off but Ruben and Pia were able to grow just a tiny bit closer during their search for Arrietty. They have been texting since and are on good terms with each other. They both seem to be interested in just a little bit more...

Ruben and Pia are officially dating since the end of the year festival on Route 3 following their "official second date" that went well. Pia knows about Ruben's ankle and that it's still hurting. They're in close contact with each other through calling and texting. They went on another date on Route 4 where Ruben had a gig for a coaching session with kids with the promise to spend time together after that. Both confirmed their feelings for the other by sharing a kiss. Pia likes him a lot.

Their relationship became public knowledge when a picture of Ruben staring down Pia's shirt was shared on social media and all gossip magazines. Ruben has been hiding it from Pia but as they went shopping, Pia got vocally attacked by a group of girls calling her out for being a whore and having no dignity. Ruben stood up for her and made their relationship public knowledge, no longer wanting to submit Pia to such harassment. Ruben publicly announced he likes Pia a lot and that they have been dating as opposed to what he has been saying before. Pia still doesn't know about the picture that's going around.

Despite the situation that had happened in the mall, Ruben insisted towards Raphael that they're just "friends" while Raphael announced to know more about their relationship due to being uncomfortable with the fact of calling Pia his "girlfriend". He has been slowly getting into the idea of being in a relationship with her throughout Turffield. The two of them visited his home in Wedgehurst during the events of Route 5 where Pia ended up meeting his sister Daija and his little brothers. He told Daija to stop calling her the "G" word but he ended up admitting to her he indeed considered Pia his girlfriend. During all of this Pia has been thinking about their time together and has grown quite fond of Ruben, more than she probably realizes herself as she has to constantly remind herself that she shouldn't be feeling the things that she is feeling. She believes that it will all come to an end but has recently started clinging on to a little spark of hope...

The two of them exchanged Applin's during their Valentine's day date where they also decided to release them, promising each other that they would stay together.

They've proven to be currently in love with both of them starting to show effort in their relationship. However, Pia's big secret that she's trying to keep hidden from Ruben is becoming a ticking time bomb...

In Hulburry things have started to get rocky for the two when Pia found out Ruben lied about not being in Hulburry when he broke into the gym Pia was having a photoshoot at with Aeliana and Nessa. He brought along Ainsley, two new friends Pia didn't know and Simon. The lie upsetted Pia greatly as lying is something she absolutely hated and the reason for it was so that Ruben could hang out with his friends. She hasn't messaged him since Nessa booted him out of the gym.

Pia and Ruben unfortunately broke up during the events of Motostoke when it was revealed that Pia's mother used to be a prostitute and pictures were made of Ruben with another woman.

Raphael Allard
Pia met Raphael during her train ride to the wild Area together with Aeliana. Thinking that he had a lot of potential in becoming a chamption which would benefit her, Pia approached him thinking they could become friends. Their interactions didn't go as smoothly as Pia had hoped. After their argument at the end of her battle with Aeliana, the girl ran off thinking she had blown her chances. Raphael doesn't harbour any ill intend towards the girl and only hoped to give her some advice.

They have resolved their issues in Galar mine 1 and worked together to battle Oleana in which they were victorious. Raphael brought the issues with Pia's overprotectiveness of Milla back up on Route 4 when Pia was refusing Milla from battling. Raphael spoke some sense into her, prompting her to finally trust Milla. Raphael understands Pia better now and Pia has a better opinion of Raphael now too.

They met again during the events of the Turffield contest and spend some time talking to each other while Pia tried to get Ruben to apologize to Arrietty. Raphael said something similar to what he said on Route 4 and confused Pia in her actions. He seems to know more than he lets on.

Aeliana Kekoa
Pia met Aeliana during the train ride to the wild Area together with Raphael. Although her interactions with Aeliana went a little bit more smoothly than with Raphael, Pia still ran off at the end of their battle in an attempt to distract her since Pia owed her money for losing. Although Pia has declared Aeliana her rival, they haven't spoken since and Pia attempts to keep it that way.

Pia met Aeliana again on Route 3 when she was on her way to the end of the year market. Together with Rosa and Valerie they went into an haunted mansion. Although they didn't converse much, Aeliana made some comments that Pia saw as snarky that were meant well by Aeliana. This indicates that Pia still thinks that Aeliana is out to get her.

Their friendship was given a second chance in Hulburry during a photoshoot with Nessa that Aeliana had invited Pia for. Pia saw this as a really good chance to start her own "career" rather on relying on Ruben and his fame. They shared a moment together and seem to be on good terms again.

Ainsley
Ainsley was Pia's date partner during the double date in Motostoke and is Ruben's best friend. Ainsley pretended to be rich and paid for the date with Ruben's money. Pia saw through the charade and called him out on it after Ainsley suggested they'd book a hotel together and make love. He ran off afterwards, angry that the feelings of lust he harboured towards Pia were not returned. Pia doesn't think highly of Ainsley and told Ruben that he needs "better friends".

Pia and Ainsley met again in the Hulburry gym after he and Ruben broke in so that they could ask Nessa's hand in marriage. He called Pia a "gold digging sket" because of her relationship with Ruben and the pettiness he holds towards her for the date that didn't end in the hotel room. They both dislike each other greatly.

Melody Argent
Although Pia and Melody attended the same Trainer school and were in the same class, they never once teamed up for an assignment. Both didn't have a very good impression of the other and avoided them like the plague. It's not until the Festival Fun-time Flurry that they have tried teaming up to win a competition as both of them were interested in the prize. They chased down a cheater together and have a better opinion of each other since their teamwork. They figured out that they're a pretty good team actually. Both of them thinks "the other is not so bad after all".

Valerie Amity
Pia met Valerie on route 3 where they went inside a haunted mansion together with Aeliana and Rosa. They didn't get to converse much but it was enough for them to establish some sort of familiarity. Valerie calls Pia "Lady P" as a nickname. Pia thinks of Valerie as someone with too much energy but not a bad person overall, maybe a little too naïve.

Pia was able to form a friendshop with Valerie in Turffield where she finally managed to catch the girl alone. Pia decided that Valerie's stream and followers could help her towards her goal of becoming rich, one she is trying to head towards to against ever since the events with Catherine. She feels guilty about this though.

Rosa Valdés
Pia met Rosa on Route 3 and went inside a haunted mansion together with Aeliana and Valerie. They were stuck inside a room together where Rosa found golden nuggets and shared one with Pia. Rosa's small moments of kindness seemed insincere in Pia's eyes, someone who is well versed with duality. When Rosa left the end of the year market after they had gotten out of the haunted mansion, Pia followed her and saw her crying. Pia comforted the crying Rosa but as soon as Rosa had gotten herself together again, Pia fell the need to call her out on her duality, telling her that how she was acting now was quite different from before. Rosa denied at first but as soon as Pia had driven her into a corner, she stopped trying. After Jirachi appeared for a brief second, Rosa walked off. They're neither on bad or good terms but both have things they probably need to speak off.

Simon Pearburgh
Pia met Simon in Galar Mine 1. Pia thought nothing more of him than a bug nerd. They partnered up to battle against Oleana and his clever strategies impressed Pia, prompting her to compliment him after their shared life/death situation on Route 4.

Pia considers Simon to be a positive influence and appreciates him cheering her on during the contest in Turffield where he appeared to be the loudest in the room.

Pia met Simon again in Hulburry after he broke into the gym that she was having a photoshoot at with Aeliana and Nessa. She was disappointed in his behaviour but guessed this was probably Ruben and Ainsley's idea as he just stumbled up behind them.

Catherine Carlisle
Yeah.... Pia really doesn't like Catherine but she enjoys getting under her skin.

Kit
Pia met Kit in the Wild Area. Kit had been trying to catch a Pokémon for days but had yet to catch one. He begged the girl to help him in exchange for money and a strange rock that he found. Pia taught him how to catch a Pokémon but after hearing that Kit is in search for his father, she decided to only take the strange rock as her reward and left the pouch with Poké behind for the boy to keep. Kit seems to have developed a crush for her because of that.

Daija Sancho
Daija is Ruben's little sister by 2 years. Pia met Daija during her trip to Wedgehurst with Ruben on Route 5. Daija was wary of the girl at first as she is well aware of her brother's "type". She has given Pia her nod of approval when she found the two being silly in the living room after she had left the house for a little bit to cool off. She thinks Pia is a positive influence in Ruben's life.

Jovian and Livia McMiller and Daniel
Pia met the McMiller couple and their foster son on Route 5 when she took a nap outside in the cold covered in her own Pokémon. Livia McMiller invited her at her home with happened to be the Nursery on Route 5. Pia investigated the Chimecho mystery of how she had suddenly laid two eggs. She appeared to be fostering them as trainer's had left those eggs behind. Chimecho have her a mint-green coloured egg with darker green swirls as a thank you for getting her wishes across to the McMiller couple.

Trainer ID

Pia McGuire:

Pia was born in the town of Hammerlocke in the Galar region and is part of the first graduating class of the Wedgehurt trainer's academy. Despite having lived in poverty, her mother has been able to pay for her tuition in alternative ways. She's quick witted and rather clever but is sometimes a bit "too" honest. Pia dreams of becoming an actress and does almost anything to get more money. When it comes down to it, what she really wants is to no longer live in poverty and live a bit more happily.

Inventory:

4x Pokéball
Galarian Pokédex
Xtransceiver
Broken Flashlight
King's Rock
Sun Stone
Thunderstone
Mint green Pokémon egg with darker green swirls

Outfits:

Daily Outfit:

Spoiler:

Contest outfit:

Spoiler:

Ribbons:

Turffield Ribbon 2nd place:

Badges:

Turffield Grass badge

Hulburry Water badge

Motostoke Fire badge

Sonata · Oct 4, 2021

Poké:

2220 ♦ Pokemon: 5

CHAPTER 11.8 - SETTLING IN
ft. Pia McGuire

Rosa sat at the cafe, feeding the two tagalongs beside her bits and pieces of the croissant she'd bought from the nearby bakery. She didn't have a phone of her own, but people would usually let her borrow theirs if she bought something… and if all else failed, she could always go to the Pokemon Center and use theirs instead. This was the only issue with her running off and leaving Pia to herself - finding the girl again would be a nightmare. Thankfully, she asked for her number before she ran off, so all she had to do was wait here… and she'd been waiting… and waiting… and waiting for nearly an hour.

"I can't be mad at her, though," she whispered, shaking her head slightly. "There's more important things to take care of than picking up the random girl that followed you home."

The girl looked up, wiping the crumbs off of the small napkin into the mouth of the nearby Jangmo-o before folding up the piece of paper and placing it in her pocket. Rosa's eyes scanned the moving crowds, searching for what was likely - and hopefully - the only face she would recognize from among them.

And soon enough there she was. Pia waved a set of keys around as she walked up to Rosa.

"I got us a place. It's not… great but it's something. It's an old apartment my mother and I used to live in." the girl with hair now reaching just below her shoulders explained. "And… I got a job while at it. Two even." She rubbed the back of her head. "But I'll show you around first. I'm sorry for the wait."

'Two jobs? And so quickly, too? It must really help being cute… but will that really leave her any time to see her mom in between?' Rosa pursed her lips, containing her thoughts as she gathered up her things around her. "No worries, I was just feeding the little ones here. And I'm sure anything is better than having to run back and forth between Wedgehurst every day, right? And how lucky that you get to move right back into your old place! I can't wait to see where you grew up." The girl turned towards the two Pokemon which had yet to actually be captured and motioned for them to follow - once again, the Pawniard found itself most comfortable riding atop the Jangmo-o's back as if it were a tiny horse made just for him.

"Oh I see you got new friends." Pia commented on the new Pokémon beside Rosa. It was honestly a relief to see the girl not having given up on her friendship with Pokémon overall.

"Let's go then, there's quite a few things I need to catch you up on." Pia gestured towards the direction the apartment was in and took the lead. It wasn't a long walk, it was pretty close by from where they already were but the fact she lost track of time really just had to do with the fact that Pia wanted to clean the apartment at least a little before she went to pick up Rosa.

She led the younger girl through the streets of Hammerlocke, somewhere halfway they met up with Milla who had left her trainer to take a stroll around the area and promptly followed her to the apartment as well. It didn't take long before they stood in front of the building with cracked and shivered stone and ugly blue doors.

Rosa looked at the apartment, taking it all in before they took the first steps across the threshold. "It looks cozy," she smiled, taking in all of the cracks of the stones and the paint peeling from the front door. It wasn't the worst looking place she'd ever seen - and of course, around someone else she might have - and did - even call it cozy, but there was still the interior to deal with. "Well, do you mind showing me around?"

"Of course." Pia nodded, trying to muster a smile between the embarrassment she felt over the state if the apartment. She led the girl with the buns further inside and they were met with a mostly empty living room with a small corner with a kitchen. "It's not very big but it should be big enough for the two of us. The kitchen is surprisingly advanced despite what the rest of the apartment may look like. It has its own oven." The older girl opened the door of that same familiar warmth radiating machine. She then walked past Rosa to show her a separate small hallway that led to the two only bedrooms and a bathroom.

"This here used to be my mother's bathroom. It's slightly bigger than the one I used." Pia gestured towards the two bedrooms. "I'll use my old bedroom as I did before." She immediately added, not giving Rosa much of a choice but she couldn't risk Rosa seeing the scratches and cuts on the wall. "The apartment is somewhat on the expensive side even with the rent lowered in half. That's… why I'll be working two jobs. With the hospital bills piling up and all…" The girl rubbed the back of her head again. Of course this meant that Pia would be working most of her time while they remained here.

Rosa pursed her lips as she looked at what she assumed was the larger of the two rooms in the apartment. She didn't have a lot of things, and what little she did have would never come close to filling out an area of this size for however long they ended up staying here. And the fact of the matter was that she wasn't paying anything to stay with Pia. As much as she wanted to say she was there as a comforting shoulder to cry on after a long day of sitting anxiously in the hospital, that was all she was doing. If not for her, Pia might have been able to get a smaller apartment. If not for her being here, Pia might have been able to only work a single job to cover their living expenses. And now the girl was trying to push the larger room of the two onto her when she'd done nothing at all to deserve it?

"Pia, this is too much." Rosa shook her head as she gestured towards the room she'd been offered. "I… I want to be here for you, as a friend. But I can't take the bigger part of everything just because I'm here… and I would love to be able to work and help pay for part of this place, but… I'm afraid if I go into the city too much, then… Simon…" the girl trailed off, biting her upper lip as she started to weigh her options. "It's kind of cute that you got to come back and live in your old apartment, but if I wasn't here it wouldn't have been as hard for you to find someplace to stay… or have been as expensive as this place seems to be. I just don't feel right about it… is all, I guess."

Pia sighed and thought for a little. What to do now? Rosa was declining the bigger room offer but Pia really didn't want her to see those embarrassing lashouts on the wall.

"You don't have to feel so guilty. Even if I was just looking for myself, it probably still would have come to this… it's not easy finding an affordable apartment in Hammerlocke of all places." Pia mumbled. It then hit her. "Then if there's really something you want to do in return, why don't you do the housework? I won't be able to do much of it anyway."

Rosa's mind slowed to a halt as the very recent imagery of the cracked stones and chipped paint all around the house began to resurface - not to mention using the stove to heat the house itself. There was… definitely work that could be done around the place, and if Pia was adamant about working two jobs then she certainly wouldn't have time for the cleaning or maintenance. The girl took a step towards the door to the room she'd been offered and gave it a quick once-over.

"Well… I guess that might be fine. This place looks like it could use a little love, and if I'm cleaning I might as well take care of the cooking too. At least then we'll both be eating something a little more substantial than bread and water." The girl laughed lightly, covering her mouth as she started to walk back through the house again. "Yeah… yeah, that should be fine." She cocked her head slightly, looking up at the closed vents by the ceiling which had been overtaken by what seemed like years worth of Spinarak webs. "And if I'm cooking anyways," the girl muttered to herself as she pulled the napkin back out of her pocket. "Maybe I could put some of my snacks on display there - after I get Pia to see what it's all really about."

Rosa's voice trailed off, being replaced eventually with quiet mumbles and a sinister yet playful laughter which echoed through the empty house. Eventually, the younger of the two girls found herself at a window which faced the street. The girl looked out through the fogged glass, wiping away at the layers of dust as best as she could before abruptly climbing up on the windowsill.

"No… no fuckin' way." The girl scoffed at the sight just outside the glass.

"What?" Pia looked up in surprise as she tried her best to follow the sinister laughing around the apartment.

Rosa immediately turned and started to walk back towards the front door. The girl threw it open, and started to jog around to the back of the building. At the same time, Pia watched through the window as two young girls - seemingly identical twins - passed by into the narrow alley behind the apartment. Moments later, Rosa burst through to the back of the building, muttering loudly the whole way back.

"No fuckin' way. No fuckin' way. No fuckin' way." Rosa continued to march down the alley, having completely lost sight of the girls despite having seen them only a few seconds before. "No fucking chance! What the… how?" The girl jogged on down towards the end of the alley, coming to the end of the road but finding absolutely nothing once again. "How in the…" the girl's attention was drawn upwards as she saw a black puff of a tail quickly retract over the ledge of one of the nearby buildings.

Rosa stared up at the roof in disbelief and confusion. The girl was unsure of what she'd just seen, but she knew that those twins she'd seen from the other side of the window had been the same that she'd met in the Wild Area. She was certain of it… but… maybe she could have been going a little crazy, too. After all, it's not likely that she just managed to completely lose track of a couple of kids like that.

Rosa took a moment to gather her thoughts, and then walked back up to the window of the apartment that she'd initially seen the girls from. The girl looked up at Pia who was still watching her from the other side and shrugged. "Did you see… two little girls? Twins, maybe? Or am I…"

The only thing Pia did was shrug and shake her head.

Rosa's Party

Memories

CHAPTER 1 - WEDGEHURST & ROUTE 2
GOODBYES, AND HELLO TO A NEW JOURNEY
TROUBLE'S ON THE TRACKS
NAMES AND NIGHTMARES!

CHAPTER 2 - THE SOUTHERN WILD AREA
ENTER THE WILD AREA!
NEW BIKING BIKERS!
THE MYSTERIOUS SHINY POKEMON!
RANGER DANGER! PT.1
RANGER DANGER! PT.2
RANGER DANGER! FINALE!
RED-EYES BLACK-HAT!

CHAPTER 3 - MOTOSTOKE
INN FOR A PENNY, INN FOR A POUND
INN FOR A PENNY, INN FOR A POUND PT.2
SHADY SHOPPING
THE OPENING CEREMONY
THE OPENING CEREMONY PT.2
THE OPENING CEREMONY PT.3
INN WITH THE FAMILY
ALL BETS ON BLACK
LATE NIGHT LULLABIES
SNACK ATTACK!

CHAPTER 4 - ROUTE 3
VS SIMON
VS SIMON PT.2
MYSTERY OF MEW
MYSTERY OF MEW PT.2
WINTER FESTIVAL
A TWO HEADED REFLECTION

CHAPTER 5 - GALAR MINE AND ROUTE 4
DAYDREAM OF MINE
DEVELOPMENT AND MISSED CONNECTIONS
BUGGIN' THE COSMOS

CHAPTER 6 - TURFFIELD
GAMBLE FOR A RUSE
GAMBLE FOR A RUSE PT.2
GAMBLE FOR A RUSE PT.3
IS IT TOO LATE TO APOLOGIZE?
TURRFIELD CONTEST PERFORMANCE
PLANNING AND CHALLENGE
VS MILO
GIRL'S NIGHT OUT
FEAR THE BEGINNING

CHAPTER 7 - ROUTE 5
WORK FOR A PROMISE
WORK FOR A PROMISE PT.2
BUDDING YOUTH
BUDDING YOUTH PT.2
FEAR THE BEGINNING PT.2

CHAPTER 8 - HULBURY
FEAR THE BEGINNING PT.3
VS NESS
VS NESSA PT.2
THE HYPOCRITES' WALTZ
THE HYPOCRITES' WALTZ PT.2
DUPLICITY
DUPLICITY PT.2
PRETTY LITTLE LIARS
FEAR THE BEGINNING PT.4

CHAPTER 9 - GALAR MINES NO.2
CIRCLING THE ANSWER
NINE
NINE PT.2
XAN WAS HERE

CHAPTER 10 - MOTOSTOKE
OUT OF THE FRYING PAN
TURN THE PAGE
FIRE AND BRIMSTONE
EACH VERSE TENFOLD
EACH VERSE TENFOLD PT.2
THE LONG WAY AROUND
PRAY RETURN

CHAPTER 11 - WILD AREA
GOING BACK
MUNCHLAX RETRIEVAL
MUNCHLAX RETRIEVAL PT.2
ENDING UNPLANNED
A QUIET STORM
A QUIET STORM PT.2
TIME TO GET CRACKIN

Rosa's Journal

Simon Dansen

My childhood friend. Absolute idiot. Can't ever get a read on him anymore. Buttface. Always there when I need him. Always there when I least expect him. JERK. Showed me up in battle and evolved his Pokemon before me.

He came to "rescue" me after I coerced Ruben into protecting me in the underground casino. I told him off... and then didn't apologize until much later. He came to wish me a late merry christmas after Ruben gave me his spare room. He reminded me of our promise from before our journey started, and gave me my christmas gift which was a traditional Johtoan kimono and fan - all to prepare me for the upcoming contests. He also told me I should call his mom and dad since they're so worried about us both now that we're gone, but... I'll figure it out later.

Jasper

An ex-classmate. He took my bait and threw me for a loop when we were fighting a group of Munchlax together. Not as bad a guy as I thought. Because of him, I have to re-evaluate my notes on everyone else just in case. I'm interested in trying a different approach with him when next we meet.

Helped out a wrongfully arrested girl. Really smart. Observant. Kind, but doesn't like to show it. Isn't a terrible cook.

Charles the Biker

An eccentric, but strong man. Indulges in bad puns. Love for bikes. We left on good terms.

Nat the Ranger

A doting older brother to several sisters. A strong trainer who follows their duty. Only spent a day with them. Not sure if I want to meet again or not since I stole a broken styler from his scene of investigation. We left on good terms, I think? Unless he notices that something's missing.

Budew Girl

Never got her name. Apparently she's a challenger like the rest of my classmates. Comes from a family of Budew fanatics. They breed Budew in their hometown and journey around with all three forms of it. She seems endearing. It might be interesting to meet her again in the future. As long as she's not being accused of theft, that is.

Achille Béringer

Rich kid. Pays his debts. Is keen on rich kid things. Doesn't seem much different from how he was in school, but still need to reevaluate.

Melody Argent

Cute and kind. She keeps to herself kind of like I do. Loves music. Feels similar to Simon. Still need to reevaluate because of interactions with Jasper. Kind of maybe, possibly, a small amount of a badass. Finger guns - super corny. Don't harp on the idea of being in contests. If that culty stuff doesn't get figured out by the time we come back to Motostoke, I'll have to remember to find her around town. She's much more attuned to pop culture than I am.

AAAAAHHH! We did so much in Turffield, and even more just after! I still can't believe that she wont that contest and made it look so... so easy! She's just, like, wow. I still don't know what to do with all of my thoughts, but after that delivery we did together especially I just. Wowee. Jeez.

The Family // Damien(?)

Not the family himself, I don't think. I still haven't got his name or what role he really plays in all this. He's a shady motherfucker - pardon my Kalos. I still don't know how much of the stuff I've gone through in Motostoke has been orchestrated by him, but for the moment I'm not planning to try anything. I still don't know enough about him to make any real guesses. The longer that I stay around this town, the further behind the veil that I see. I'm scared even to go to sleep at night so long as I'm here. They have eyes... everywhere.

Buggy Simon

Some kind of freak of nature. I guess he understands Pokemon in some way that I can't; like, he understands what they're actually trying to say when they speak? Kind of cool, but also weird. Him and Simon used to hang out every once in a while at school. He knows about my "secret styler".

Valerie

An absolute ray of sunshine and happiness. She's also a streamer, and earns enough money from it to show it off. Not put off by literal ghosts. Has some kind of dream of meeting Mew.

Aeliana Kekoa

Alolan dance girl. She's supposed to teach me sometime. Pretty much just how I remembered her in school. I didn't get to spend much time with her when we all hung out. Didn't seem too bothered by the ghosts.

Pia McGuire

Pia... definitely is afraid of literal ghosts. I had a few choice words for her, but... after we saw Jirachi, it just felt like the time had passed, so I gave up. She's seen me without my mask, so next time we meet up is probably going to be awkward.

Haleigh Windsor

A friend of Melody's. I intentionally ran into her after failing to catch up with Melody, due to the addition of Haleigh. We had a short battle, and then made a promise for drinks with Melody after I urged her to drag the girl along with her to the contest in Turffield. She seems quite naive, so I may be able to get some more use out of her as long as I stay true to her persona. She's battle hungry, the same as Simon, but her Pokemon are still a little lacking - that coming from someone who still has no idea what she's doing here herself. She might end up being a good sparring partner in the future since she knows a little of what I've got and we're on relatively equal footing.

Mother Priscilla

The leader of the Turffield Sisterhood. I thought at first she was just an escort, but once we got to their hideout, I slowly started to realize what she really was. She's an incredibly dangerous woman who has no trouble pulling a gun on important people or those that she may need. There's still too much I don't know about what's going on to get a good grasp on what her and Damien's goals are, but given what I've already seen I really could do without finding out.

Ruben Sancho

Truth be told, I hadn't cared for Ruben when we went to school together. I thought he was your average rich celebrity who was forced into something he didn't really want to be a part of. After getting involved with the family and finding myself in that gambling hall, and then finding Ruben there as well, I felt that my suspicions were true. I had no second thoughts about what I was going to drag him in to. But as time went on, I found myself feeling more and more regretful with each time that he said Pia's name. And then because of me, news about him and Pia got out before either of them were likely ready to go public. And after all that, Simon attacked him out of the blue... but even after all that, he still offered me a free room at the local hotel. I already apologized to him about Simon, and about lying to get him to go with me. But, I should apologize again. He's not as bad of a guy as I thought he was.

Outfits

Spoiler: Here be a number of large images

Inventory

Spoiler:

Sonata · Oct 4, 2021

Poké:

2220 ♦ Pokemon: 5

CHAPTER 11.9 - CUTTING OUT
ft. Pia McGuire
TW: Themes of Self Harm

Rosa stood, hovering over the stove as she wedged a tiny spatula down into the muffin tin, doing her best to pry the cupcakes out of the hole without completely tearing it apart. The girl smiled, placing the confection onto the cooling rack with the other few dozen she'd already prepared.

The girl walked over to the sink and started to wash out the tin, looking at the last of the cake mix she'd prepared for the order she'd been given by the bakery she'd visited the day before. Rosa's eyes moved over to her ATC sitting on the counter a few inches away as she looked at the time.

"Maybe I'll make a cake… I can always make more batter later." The girl looked behind her at the rest of the house, noting the progress she'd already made while waiting for the cupcakes to finish. "And then it's back to work." Rosa smiled, gently dropping the muffin tray into the sink before starting the search for a cake tin. "Pia should like that… to celebrate her first day!"

That's what she thought at least but what entered the apartment a few hours later was a completely worn out Pia. The bags underneath her eyes were bigger than the backpack she had brought along to both of her jobs and her wavy hair reaching below her shoulders was in one messy ponytail.The girl literally collapsed on one of the chairs from mental exhaustion.

"I'm really… not… made for this…" She mumbled and smacked her face against the table, not bothering to lift it back up.

"Welcome home," Rosa hummed, opening the oven to pull out the cake she'd put in a while before. The girl quickly set to work freeing the treat from its tin, finding herself running slightly behind now. Pia'd come home early, but it was apparent she was exhausted nonetheless. "Busy day?" She asked as the cake landed against a plate with a muffled 'flump'.

"Yeah… They allowed me to leave a little early since it was just my first day but…" Pia lifted her head and rubbed her temple. "The customers were SO rude and you have to run all over the place." Pia kept whining about the jobs. "The restaurant one was a bit better because they were only teaching me how to take orders but there was this guy that refused to be helped by me." Pia smacked her fists against the table. "And it was only because I was a newbie and he was certain his order would go wrong! Can you believe the nerve of this guy?!" The girl kept on rambling.

"Oh and there was this woman who was absolutely infuriating. Just because she had a kid with her she was demanding her food to be given to her before anyone else. She even called for my manager and tried to put the blame on me! Said I didn't want to listen to her!" The girl dropped her head on the table once more.

Rosa listened to the girl's woes, nodding along and giving small affirmations towards the girl's plights as she pulled out the special icing she'd prepared just for the cake. "Orange soda icing… I never had the chance to try this one before, but if the cake's still hot…" she whispered as she started to slowly spread the thin icing over the top of the cake. "Oh, that's not really spreading as much as it's just… huh," she continued to mumble to herself, her ears perking up at Pia's story.

The girl shrugged, taking a step back as she looked at her own creation. It would do well enough. Rosa grabbed a large knife and cut a decent sized slice out of the round before placing it on a plate. The younger blond in the dirty apron turned towards the table where Pia had chosen to rest her head and smiled wider as she started to walk over, finally having the opportunity not only to get back into baking - but also to give this girl who'd seemingly never snacked, her own, special cake.

"Sounds like you've been busy," the girl whispered as she placed the plate and fork down on the table. Rosa pulled her apron over her head and draped it over another nearby chair before setting to work on giving the tired-eyed working girl a gentle shoulder massage. "Keep your head up, though. People are going to be crappy, but at least when you come home…" the girl reached over, sliding the fork through the small end of the cake - wincing a little as the side of the utensil broke through what was more of a crisp glaze rather than an icing as she'd intended - before lifting it up to Pia's mouth. "There's always sweets to look forward to."

"Rosa… I don't eat sweets. I believe I've told you that before…" Pia sighed, dismissing the fork that was being held in front of her.

Rosa watched the girl's mouth, noting that it was not making any progress towards the fork she was still holding in front of her face. She knew she'd said before that she didn't really snack, but she'd also accepted the crepes that had been offered to her by Val before… "You have enough things to worry about right now without depriving yourself of this sugary goodness for the sake of your figure. Pia, please… I know it'll make you feel at least a little better about your day… I did bake it with lots of love, y'know." The girl smiled, continued to rub the girl's shoulder as the bite of cake hung precariously on the edge of the fork's prongs.

Pia pouted and moved her face away from the fork again.

Rosa sighed, pulling the fork out of the girl's view. "I guess I'll just have to eat this whooooole cake myself then… I sure hope I can still fit into my yukata after all this…"

"I did say I don't eat sweets… Sorry Rosa but I really need to keep track of my fig-"

Rosa smirked, seeing the girl's mouth opening up again. By the time Pia would realize what had just happened, it would have already been too late. The girl had already calculated it all in advance. The angle of the dive, the width of the opening, the speed of her arm, and the size of the bite… perfection. The girl smiled, watching as Pia's mouth instinctively closed around the bite as she pulled the fork free.

"See, my baking isn't all that terrible, now is it?"

Pia's eyes shot open when she realized something was in her mouth and was ready to spit it out but the sweet sensation had already divided itself over her tongue.

And… Rosa was right. It wasn't all that terrible.

Pia looked away from the girl as she kept chewing on it and ultimately swallowed it. She wasn't about to give the younger girl the satisfaction but… another bite wouldn't hurt.

Rosa looked around the apartment, touching up and re-touching up all the corners and the abandoned vents all around the place. She'd had a few days to get accustomed to the little quirks around the house; the thermostat only kicked on if you dropped the temperature first and then moved the stick back up, the oven door sealed better if you slightly lifted one side of it up as you closed it, and the water all throughout the house got hotter if you turned both dials all the way on. Acquainting herself with all these little things had been a bit of an interesting time, but that was all that she had now - time.

She'd already filled her orders today for the bakery. She'd already taken all of both Pia and her own Pokemon out for walks. She'd prepared several days worth of meals for each of the Pokemon a couple of days prior. And of course, she'd already been through the entire house two - and in some particularly troublesome spots - three times over. Now, there was only one room left in the building that she'd yet to touch.

Pia had told her not to worry about cleaning her room, since she wasn't going to likely be spending much time in it while they were here anyways. But that just didn't feel right. Sure, Pia might be busy and she might even be spending every other night still at the hospital after work… but even so, her room should feel clean and comfortable for when she does get to sleep in it. She knew from personal experience just what having a clean space of your own could do for your mental state. Thoughts of the time she spent in the midway house with Elena began to roll through her head as she stared at the knob to the room.

"Well… if she won't take the snacks I make for her… it's only right, after all. I know it'll help her feel a little bit better. I know it."

The girl placed the cleaning rag around the door, wiping it down before turning it, opening the door. Rosa quickly glanced around the room, not really seeing anything particularly out of place or odd. Truth be told, she was expecting something spicy - maybe a body pillow of Ruben, some saucy magazines, a couple of special toys or something - but the room looked more or less normal. Except, of course, the gashes and cuts on one of the walls.

Rosa walked over to the wall and started to run her fingers along the length of gashes, unsure of what she was really looking at. She supposed it could have been done by the people that lived here before the two of them moved in, but wouldn't the landlord have at least tried to clean it up? And on top of that, it was weird that Pia hadn't acted off about the random cuts and gashes in the room… 'No, she did. Maybe she's just embarrassed that she couldn't get us a place without evident damage like this? I mean, not that I really have any reason to complain… After all, Simon's parents weren't able to get that great of a place here either so it's not that weird of a thing.'

The girl shrugged, not knowing what the cuts and gashes were from, she carried on with the cleaning she'd intended to do when she first entered the room. Rosa cleaned the room from top to bottom, only taking a single break of a few minutes to give another cursory glance around for something raunchy when new hiding places whispered themselves into the girl's head. After a few hours, she'd finished what she set out to do. All of Pia's clothes had found their way into a hamper in the corner of the room, and everything that she'd assumed was clean had been properly folded or hung in the closet.

Rosa smiled and nodded, looking down at Milla who'd made her way into the room at some point. "Well, what do you say to an early dinner? I think Pia might be late again tonight."

"Finally home…"

Pia entered the apartment early in the morning after having had to work overtime until late into the night. Wanting to keep up her streak of visiting her mother at the hospital before it's too late, she had decided to give up her sleep to make the trip.

It was early. Very early. Pia still had some time before she was supposed to start her next shift at the café but the thought of sleeping and just skipping had become very tempting. The only thing that kept her from doing so was the fact that she had to pay for her mother's hospital bills so they kept up the treatment… and of course there was rent too. She could probably spare one day tho…

While the priorities in the brain of Pia kept shifting around in the wake of her exhaustion, she entered her room to find a… pleasant surprise? Or less pleasant depending how you'd look at it. For Pia it was definitely the latter seeing she was trying to hide something from Rosa. Her room was all cleaned up and her pile of clothing she had put in front of the cuts and gashes in the wall to hide it was taken care of. Pia felt a mild panic. Every bit of her that felt like sleeping was immediately gone while she hurried to the kitchen.

"Rosa, did you clean my room?"

"Hmm?" Rosa hummed from in front of the stove, still just in the middle of preparing breakfast for the late arriver. "Yeah, it was the last part of the house that hadn't been touched. I hope you don't mind, I just thought it'd be nice if you could come in and not have to think about all the clutter with everything else weighing on your mind."

"A-Ah… I see…" Pia stuttered, coughed in her hand to adjust her voice. "Thank you…" She let out but was worried about what Rosa might have seen. Without another word, she grabbed two plates from the cabinet and a set of utensils and set the table for breakfast.

"No worries. It's what we agreed I would stay here for, anyways." The girl smiled at Pia as she re-entered the dining area and quickly finished up their breakfast, pulling two pans from the stove at the same time before carrying them over to the table. "I figured with you having been up all night, something a little lighter would feel better on your stomach. I've got some things kinda like crepes here in this pan with…" the girl quickly hopped over to the counter, grabbing a bowl of various berries she'd cut up earlier. "Some fruit, tzatziki, and some eggs in this other pan."

Rosa started to dish out the foodstuffs she'd taken the time to prepare, not realizing the expression that was waiting on the girl's face. Rosa smiled, filling out her own plate last before heading back to the refrigerator for the containers of Pokemon food that she'd also prepped before setting them on the floor for all of their Pokemon to share.

"Wooh," Rosa slipped down into the seat across from Pia, wiping a bit of oil from her forehead with a napkin before lifting up her fork to start digging in. "Busy, busy morning."

"Very busy…" Pia agreed. Milla jumped on Pia's lap to push her head above the dining table to get a bit of the crepes Rosa had made. Crepes were essentially just thinner pancakes and nothing of that would go past the Pikachu. Pia really didn't feel like having that fight again today. She'd take a bite of the crepes and give Milla the next bite to keep her at bay, sharing the breakfast. The silence at the table that followed after was a bit… suffocating. So Pia opened her mouth again.

"Have you… noticed anything strange?" She asked carefully.

Rosa continued on with the bite she was taking before stopping for a moment to cover her mouth. "Strange?" She pondered, looking up slightly as she thought about it. "No, not since those girls the other day. Though I have been busy with everything else around the house, so I very well could have-"

"I see so you saw nothing then!" Pia coughed inside her fist again, interrupting the girl with slight rosy cheeks.

"Well, nothing really out of the ordinary." She paused, continuing to chew the bite in her mouth as she pondered whether or not she should let the girl know she saw the markings on the wall. Rosa swallowed, noticing the flushed color of the girl's cheeks as she continued to weigh her options while the words began to trickle out of her mouth. "Y'know, it's nothing to be ashamed about. Really, I'm surprised the landlords didn't just patch the wall up. It's not like it's your fault that the wall was all tore up like that."

Pia was awfully quiet once Rosa had let out her thoughts, the oblivious Milla still eating all the while. Pia patted the head of the Pikachu, enjoying the moments she had with her Pokémon now that she worked all day but Rosa's words kept lingering in her mind. Pia could've perfectly blamed the previous renters but… there were no previous renters.

"... It's when I found out about mom being a prostitute… I couldn't deal with the impact very well. The thought that my father could have been just another client of hers and that she was…" Pia revealed but stopped herself. The thing she was about to say next wouldn't make much sense without context. "I was… bullied. I found out that night that one of my mother's benefactors was the father of the girl who made me suffer." she explained quietly, all the while patting Milla's head who had no idea what was going on.

Rosa started to pick up another bite from her plate when Pia broke the silence between them. The girl's fork wobbled with a large bite of food, waiting to be brought up to her mouth by a shaky hand belonging to a girl who had by no means been expecting such a sudden revelation. The girl waited, listening intently and watching the girl's motions as she spoke about something so personal.

"I had already been bullied so much for our poverty, my figure, my hair, my body… When I found out that my mother was the very thing they bullied me for, I went insane." Pia stared at the table, not looking up at Rosa even once.

"I'm… sorry, I didn't realize you'd gone through that." The girl slowly put her fork down on her plate and wiped her hands on a napkin. Her mind wandered back to her own days of being bullied. "I know things must have been rough for you, but… it's fine."

Rosa slowly rose from her seat and looked over at Pia. The girl flashed a sincere smile at the other as she closed the distance between them and draped her arms over the other's shoulders.

"Even though things were so rough for the little you back then, you managed to stay strong. You never thought to turn those feelings towards yourself. You never thought to make your body into your canvas, rather than your wall…"

Rosa paused, continuing to hold the girl tightly. She was certain now that this was something that she shouldn't have found out about - something that Pia really would have rather not spoken about at all if it could have been avoided. She was sure that the girl had her reasons, but that Pia felt she could trust Rosa enough to let her know something so intimate….

"I know this is a secret that you would have rather kept hidden. And I'm sure that it doesn't really make up for the fact that you felt you had to tell me this, but I can let you into a small secret of my own… just to make us a little closer to even. You see… even as a child, you were stronger than I was… than I am even now." Rosa took a few steps back from Pia and began to roll up the hem of her dress. It took a few seconds, but she'd finally pulled it up far enough to show off the gym shorts that she wore underneath.

And finally, after rolling up those as well - her secret was laid bare. Her legs - only that which was typically covered by the small area of the biking shorts - were completely covered in scars. Raised tissue from cuts long since closed, and still healing slits from cuts only just recently received. The scars overlapped, crossed, and in no particular pattern created a jumbled mound of tissue upon what would otherwise have been some of the smoothest damn legs you've ever seen. Pia's eyes widened at the very sight before her.

"I just want you to know… I've been there too. If you ever want to talk about it, I'm always here to listen." The girl smiled weakly as she looked at the most recent cuts. "It's been nearly a month and it's still…" she whispered, rubbing her thumb over the wound before pulling the shorts as well as her dress back down.

"That's…" Pia stammered. Honestly, what does one say when shown this? Pia looked sympathetic. She felt for the girl. There were so many of them. Some were still healing, others were still open.

But the thought remained, how could Pia show Rosa that she too is strong?

While Rosa said that the last cuts were only a month old, Pia guessed it may had to do with her loss against Kabu. She thought for a bit, then came to a conclusion and nodded her head. She got up from the table, gestured she'd be back in a bit and left Rosa for merely a few minutes before she came back wearing a set of cleaner clothes and her bag.

"I called in sick for work. Let's go somewhere. Just the two of us." Pia threw the jacket she picked up from the coat rack to Rosa.

"I'm going to show you that you are strong too."

Rosa's Party

Memories

CHAPTER 1 - WEDGEHURST & ROUTE 2
GOODBYES, AND HELLO TO A NEW JOURNEY
TROUBLE'S ON THE TRACKS
NAMES AND NIGHTMARES!

CHAPTER 2 - THE SOUTHERN WILD AREA
ENTER THE WILD AREA!
NEW BIKING BIKERS!
THE MYSTERIOUS SHINY POKEMON!
RANGER DANGER! PT.1
RANGER DANGER! PT.2
RANGER DANGER! FINALE!
RED-EYES BLACK-HAT!

CHAPTER 3 - MOTOSTOKE
INN FOR A PENNY, INN FOR A POUND
INN FOR A PENNY, INN FOR A POUND PT.2
SHADY SHOPPING
THE OPENING CEREMONY
THE OPENING CEREMONY PT.2
THE OPENING CEREMONY PT.3
INN WITH THE FAMILY
ALL BETS ON BLACK
LATE NIGHT LULLABIES
SNACK ATTACK!

CHAPTER 4 - ROUTE 3
VS SIMON
VS SIMON PT.2
MYSTERY OF MEW
MYSTERY OF MEW PT.2
WINTER FESTIVAL
A TWO HEADED REFLECTION

CHAPTER 5 - GALAR MINE AND ROUTE 4
DAYDREAM OF MINE
DEVELOPMENT AND MISSED CONNECTIONS
BUGGIN' THE COSMOS

CHAPTER 6 - TURFFIELD
GAMBLE FOR A RUSE
GAMBLE FOR A RUSE PT.2
GAMBLE FOR A RUSE PT.3
IS IT TOO LATE TO APOLOGIZE?
TURRFIELD CONTEST PERFORMANCE
PLANNING AND CHALLENGE
VS MILO
GIRL'S NIGHT OUT
FEAR THE BEGINNING

CHAPTER 7 - ROUTE 5
WORK FOR A PROMISE
WORK FOR A PROMISE PT.2
BUDDING YOUTH
BUDDING YOUTH PT.2
FEAR THE BEGINNING PT.2

CHAPTER 8 - HULBURY
FEAR THE BEGINNING PT.3
VS NESS
VS NESSA PT.2
THE HYPOCRITES' WALTZ
THE HYPOCRITES' WALTZ PT.2
DUPLICITY
DUPLICITY PT.2
PRETTY LITTLE LIARS
FEAR THE BEGINNING PT.4

CHAPTER 9 - GALAR MINES NO.2
CIRCLING THE ANSWER
NINE
NINE PT.2
XAN WAS HERE

CHAPTER 10 - MOTOSTOKE
OUT OF THE FRYING PAN
TURN THE PAGE
FIRE AND BRIMSTONE
EACH VERSE TENFOLD
EACH VERSE TENFOLD PT.2
THE LONG WAY AROUND
PRAY RETURN

CHAPTER 11 - WILD AREA
GOING BACK
MUNCHLAX RETRIEVAL
MUNCHLAX RETRIEVAL PT.2
ENDING UNPLANNED
A QUIET STORM
A QUIET STORM PT.2
TIME TO GET CRACKIN

Rosa's Journal

Simon Dansen

My childhood friend. Absolute idiot. Can't ever get a read on him anymore. Buttface. Always there when I need him. Always there when I least expect him. JERK. Showed me up in battle and evolved his Pokemon before me.

He came to "rescue" me after I coerced Ruben into protecting me in the underground casino. I told him off... and then didn't apologize until much later. He came to wish me a late merry christmas after Ruben gave me his spare room. He reminded me of our promise from before our journey started, and gave me my christmas gift which was a traditional Johtoan kimono and fan - all to prepare me for the upcoming contests. He also told me I should call his mom and dad since they're so worried about us both now that we're gone, but... I'll figure it out later.

Jasper

An ex-classmate. He took my bait and threw me for a loop when we were fighting a group of Munchlax together. Not as bad a guy as I thought. Because of him, I have to re-evaluate my notes on everyone else just in case. I'm interested in trying a different approach with him when next we meet.

Helped out a wrongfully arrested girl. Really smart. Observant. Kind, but doesn't like to show it. Isn't a terrible cook.

Charles the Biker

An eccentric, but strong man. Indulges in bad puns. Love for bikes. We left on good terms.

Nat the Ranger

A doting older brother to several sisters. A strong trainer who follows their duty. Only spent a day with them. Not sure if I want to meet again or not since I stole a broken styler from his scene of investigation. We left on good terms, I think? Unless he notices that something's missing.

Budew Girl

Never got her name. Apparently she's a challenger like the rest of my classmates. Comes from a family of Budew fanatics. They breed Budew in their hometown and journey around with all three forms of it. She seems endearing. It might be interesting to meet her again in the future. As long as she's not being accused of theft, that is.

Achille Béringer

Rich kid. Pays his debts. Is keen on rich kid things. Doesn't seem much different from how he was in school, but still need to reevaluate.

Melody Argent

Cute and kind. She keeps to herself kind of like I do. Loves music. Feels similar to Simon. Still need to reevaluate because of interactions with Jasper. Kind of maybe, possibly, a small amount of a badass. Finger guns - super corny. Don't harp on the idea of being in contests. If that culty stuff doesn't get figured out by the time we come back to Motostoke, I'll have to remember to find her around town. She's much more attuned to pop culture than I am.

AAAAAHHH! We did so much in Turffield, and even more just after! I still can't believe that she wont that contest and made it look so... so easy! She's just, like, wow. I still don't know what to do with all of my thoughts, but after that delivery we did together especially I just. Wowee. Jeez.

The Family // Damien(?)

Not the family himself, I don't think. I still haven't got his name or what role he really plays in all this. He's a shady motherfucker - pardon my Kalos. I still don't know how much of the stuff I've gone through in Motostoke has been orchestrated by him, but for the moment I'm not planning to try anything. I still don't know enough about him to make any real guesses. The longer that I stay around this town, the further behind the veil that I see. I'm scared even to go to sleep at night so long as I'm here. They have eyes... everywhere.

Buggy Simon

Some kind of freak of nature. I guess he understands Pokemon in some way that I can't; like, he understands what they're actually trying to say when they speak? Kind of cool, but also weird. Him and Simon used to hang out every once in a while at school. He knows about my "secret styler".

Valerie

An absolute ray of sunshine and happiness. She's also a streamer, and earns enough money from it to show it off. Not put off by literal ghosts. Has some kind of dream of meeting Mew.

Aeliana Kekoa

Alolan dance girl. She's supposed to teach me sometime. Pretty much just how I remembered her in school. I didn't get to spend much time with her when we all hung out. Didn't seem too bothered by the ghosts.

Pia McGuire

Pia... definitely is afraid of literal ghosts. I had a few choice words for her, but... after we saw Jirachi, it just felt like the time had passed, so I gave up. She's seen me without my mask, so next time we meet up is probably going to be awkward.

Haleigh Windsor

A friend of Melody's. I intentionally ran into her after failing to catch up with Melody, due to the addition of Haleigh. We had a short battle, and then made a promise for drinks with Melody after I urged her to drag the girl along with her to the contest in Turffield. She seems quite naive, so I may be able to get some more use out of her as long as I stay true to her persona. She's battle hungry, the same as Simon, but her Pokemon are still a little lacking - that coming from someone who still has no idea what she's doing here herself. She might end up being a good sparring partner in the future since she knows a little of what I've got and we're on relatively equal footing.

Mother Priscilla

The leader of the Turffield Sisterhood. I thought at first she was just an escort, but once we got to their hideout, I slowly started to realize what she really was. She's an incredibly dangerous woman who has no trouble pulling a gun on important people or those that she may need. There's still too much I don't know about what's going on to get a good grasp on what her and Damien's goals are, but given what I've already seen I really could do without finding out.

Ruben Sancho

Truth be told, I hadn't cared for Ruben when we went to school together. I thought he was your average rich celebrity who was forced into something he didn't really want to be a part of. After getting involved with the family and finding myself in that gambling hall, and then finding Ruben there as well, I felt that my suspicions were true. I had no second thoughts about what I was going to drag him in to. But as time went on, I found myself feeling more and more regretful with each time that he said Pia's name. And then because of me, news about him and Pia got out before either of them were likely ready to go public. And after all that, Simon attacked him out of the blue... but even after all that, he still offered me a free room at the local hotel. I already apologized to him about Simon, and about lying to get him to go with me. But, I should apologize again. He's not as bad of a guy as I thought he was.

Outfits

Spoiler: Here be a number of large images

Inventory

Spoiler:

Shak · Oct 4, 2021

		
Ruben Sancho

​

Eight One Zero

Dawn broke through the curtains of a hotel in Wedgehurst; dishevelled bed sheets, a dark skinned frizzy haired girl donning an oversized 'SANCHO' shirt and an video game engrossed athlete being the scene it shined its light upon. At the head of the bed, the frizzy haired girl angled herself to capture as much of the luxury suite as her phone camera would allow, all while keeping the back of her night partner at the forefront. Empty liquor bottles fell victim to the frustrated kick outs of the gamer seated at the foot of the bed.

"You're ****ing **** mate, delete your account! Who buys Ruben Sancho's base card on weekend league, you scrub." The high-pitch, nasally voice of 'XxTicksh0tz_K1d8xX' croaked through the TV. Of course, it would have played through the headset had Ruben not already tossed it into the walk in wardrobe across the room. In just a breath of time after the venomous insult, Ruben was already plugged back in ready to fire off his retort.

"Give it a rest you virgin. You're running around with ninety seven rated Max Power up front, that you probably got by stealing your mum's credit card and you're calling me ****?" The footballer spat back. All the while, his acrimonious back and forth was leaving a particular third party questioning what she was doing there at all. The picture alone had already inflated her social media numbers and watching a conceited athlete argue with a pre-teen wasn't exactly her idea of fun. She was on her feet, bag full of her things before Ruben even noticed. "You're leaving?" Ruben asked, almost reaching out to the girl as he spoke. The question merely earned a shrug in response. "I can-uh, take that picture if you want." The footballer shrugged.

Hours later, the bedsheets danced to the tune of Ruben's vibrating mobile. The thundering noise played soundtrack until the frizzy haired girl popped her head out.

"How do you not hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"Ruben…" The girl grunted as she pulled herself fully from underneath the sheets. The girl scowled at the phone and turned her animosity toward Ruben as he sat up in the bed himself. "Ummm...Who's Tania?"

"****…"

The weasley voice of Dickey popped through the phone, much to the relief of his client.

"Ruben ****in Sancho! It's been a while my boy. If I didn't know any better I'd say you've been avoiding me. I know that ain't true, cause you're a smart man and you like money."

"Dickey, why are you using Tania's phone?"

"Leverage, my dear boy. Leverage. She's a smart woman. A gorgeous, very smart, who knows how to invoke fear." Dickey's nervous energy was palpable, even through the phone. She was there and she wasn't taking 'no' for an answer. Ruben silently rubbed the bridge of his nose. "You've been off the grid for a mudbray's anus, you gotta get back on its back. I don't know if you know that cry, but that's a pokemon calling, my boy." The moment of hesitation Ruben stole for himself was cut short by the sound of Tania's voice on the other end of the phone. The choice wasn't his to make.

"What have I gotta do?"

*CLICK*

"Ruben, can you tell us any details about your personal relationship with international R&B sensation, Misha Marsha?"

"What? Any relationship I had with Misha was purely profess-"

*FLASH*

"Ruben, Ruben is it true that you were the host of the infamous party Curtis Johnson was leaving when he got his DUI?"

"If I were ever to host an event with my teammates, I'd attempt to promote responsible cond-"

*CLICK, FLASH*

Ruben shielded his eyes from the bright light. This one didn't come from the shutter or bulb of a camera. There was no question that followed it, besides the one in Ruben's own mind - 'why the **** now?'.

The tiny sticky hands on his face warned him of what was to come. The infuriating little blue frog that had just popped out of his pokeball was about to add another layer of chaos to this already draining press conference. He pulled it off his face; the undersized Froakie barely bigger than his hand.

As Ruben looked over his audience again, he could see the stunned and awed faces of the journalists and cameramen. What were they to say now? It almost made Ruben smile. He held the little Pokemon up for all to see and watched as the people melted at the sight of him.

"Well as you can see, I've had a kid," Ruben joked. Faces amongst the crowd that had hardened to stone softened at the sight of the baby Pokemon. "I've had a lot of pressure on because of it. His name's Carbon, cause y'know…pressure makes diamonds." He added with a smile. Although he'd never admit it, the words 'or so I thought' very nearly followed.

*FLASH*

"Ruben, your ex girlfriend is someone known for her skill with Pokemon. Surely her aid would've really pulled you through this pressure situation. Do you regret now that you allowed promiscuity to cause your eventual breakup with Pia McGuire?"

"Do I regre…" Ruben began to respond, losing the words at the tip of his tongue. His head was already beginning to ache from the circus happening in front of him and that question took the cake. "What a stupid question." The press conference fell silent on that response. The hustle and bustle, the wrestling to get the next question in stopped dead. Now, they were hanging on Ruben's every word, his every move. "You guys always ask these stupid questions. What do you want me to say? Yes, I cheated? That's what you want? Or what? You'd rather 'no I didn't sleep with anyone the entire time'? Because she's so pure, I couldn't taint your darling Pia with my Rubeness." Ruben spat back

"So you and Pia didn't have an intimate relationship?"

A tired and ragged Ruben trudged into his hotel room. Turffield. The town where it all started. His mind carried him back to the mall trip. The casino. The contest. The headlines back then were 'Sancho seeks…something' coupled with images of him peeking down Pia's shirt. Now he was about to wake up to headlines like 'Sancho sworn to celibacy' or worse yet 'McGuire maintained leash on lovestruck Sancho'. The thought turned his stomach. He wasn't some heartbroken Lillipup longing for her return.

As he stood before his room door, Ruben slid in the key card. He pushed, but it wouldn't budge. He and Carbon exchanged confused looks. He pushed again. A few moments and a lot of heavy furniture shifting later, the door opened. The head of a girl popped out from behind it. Fair skinned, locks of bright blonde hair hanging from her head. She reached out for his hand and pulled him through.

Before he could even orientate himself, the girl had already darted off into the bathroom. The steam on the mirror did little to cover what wasn't being covered by a towel. He noticed his Froakie peek over his shoulder, and covered the baby pokemon's eyes. He took a moment to look at the girl again. She was pretty. Really pretty. Yet somehow her name escaped him.

"Hey uh, I was thinking," Ruben began as he stepped into the bathroom.

"Ruben!" The girl screamed. "What the hell?"

"Pia What?"

"What is that thing? Ruben, I'm nude for Arceus sake!" She grunted as she did her best to cover what she could of herself.

"I didn't know you were gonna be nude! I'm sorry!" Ruben blurted back, waiting for things to calm before he continued. "I was thinking about doing some recovery pilates and was wondering if you wanted to join me."

"Well I thought we were gonna...y'know." Both of them languished in awkwardness. Carbon climbed up onto Ruben's shoulder before bounding the gap and landing on the blonde girl's bare shoulder. She stiffened like a board. "Get it off. Get if off. Get it off." The profuse apologies and prompt action Ruben took in removing his apparently abhorrent pokemon were not enough to keep the girl in his hotel room. She was gone in a flash, muttering words akin to 'what kind of man' as she fled out the door.

The athlete and baby frog stood at the door as they watched the girl leave, the former much more disappointed than the latter. With a sigh, he looked down at his little friend.

"Well...pilates?" Ruben asked, earning an affirmative salute from Carbon. "And I know I called her Pia. Shut up."

Turffield​

Sonata · Oct 5, 2021

Poké:

2220 ♦ Pokemon: 5

CHAPTER 11.10 - TEMPERED

Rosa walked onto the stadium's field. Her hands were clenched into fists, and she could feel the cold chill of the air as it ran across her skin. She felt nervous, given that this was her first time coming back to re-challenge a gym. But even so, she couldn't help but feel a little bit happy about being back here again. The girl turned her head, looking over her shoulder as she made her way to the end of the tunnel.

Pia smiled at her from the steps, and gave her what seemed to be a cheer of confidence. Though even if she wanted to hear what the girl had called out, the roar of the stadium had already seen to muting it.

Rosa could feel the rumble of the fans in the stadium. Their uproar shook her entire body as she stepped out into the view of everyone. The girl shielded her eyes against the midday sun, and then gave a quick wave to the crowd in general. A smile crept across the girl's face as she stepped out further, turning to look at the fans behind her and saw a few signs with her name and number on them.

Any nervousness she'd been feeling quickly washed away. She'd been so afraid… so afraid that everyone would have just written her off since she'd failed to beat Kabu. But it seemed that had been far from the truth. While she couldn't be certain, given the headspace she was in before, she certainly felt like there were even more people here cheering her on than there had been last time.

She walked quickly to where she was supposed to start, making sure this time that the ball in her hand was the one that she'd intended to throw out. Her smile turned to a small, stuttering laugh as she looked down at the orb, remembering everything that had happened the last time she'd been here. Many of the things which had weighed on her mind then were still part of her reality - but things weren't all bad.

She had no idea of how to even find the guy she was supposed to be looking for, and as long as she could use the styler she felt as though her future encounters with Darkrai would be a little easier to handle. Things were looking a little better through her eyes now. She had no doubt that she'd be able to actually perform the basic duties of a trainer this time around.

Although, even if she won here and now, would she actually be a trainer again in the eyes of both Simon and herself?

Thoughts for after the battle was settled, that much was for sure. The girl looked across the field at Kabu, who'd been taking these last few moments to steal glances at the crowd which had filled his stadium today.

"Looks like you've got quite the following now."

Rosa bowed her head and then looked back at Kabu as she rose back up. "Yeah, it's kind of weird to think about. But I have to say… I'm really thankful for all these people coming to cheer me on. I'm sorry I let you all down last time I stood here… I gave you a poor excuse for a battle because I was mentally weak. But I promise you this, I won't betray your trust again. I will make this a fight worth watching back."

Kabu nodded, pulling out his own pokeball as he looked across at her. "I certainly hope so. I watched your battles against Milo and Nessa, after all. I knew there was no way that was all that you had to offer - and I'm glad to see you've found the strength to stand across from me again." The man's eyes narrowed as he tossed out the pokeball. "And I'm excited to test how far that newfound strength will take you!"

Rosa smiled. Her heart began to race to the point it felt as if it might burst out of her chest. After having thought that her journey was over, to find herself here again was a miracle in and of itself. But to have someone like Kabu acknowledge her before she'd even had a chance to really prove what she and her Pokemon were capable of was beyond exciting. "We'll show you everything that's made us who we are now… everything that's brought us to the point where we can stand here again after so humiliating a display." The girl tapped the center button of the ball, pulled her arm back, and launched the object from her waist. "Me, and the Pokemon that brought me all the way here!"

The two Pokemon burst free from their balls at nearly the same time. Kabu's Centiskorch towers over Rosa and takes a moment to stretch out as it comes to its full height and basks in the sunlight. And just a second after, Wyatt fully forms and lets out a monstrous howl which shakes the air around them. The Centiskorch slowly turns its attention down to the Loudred, and begins to bob its head slightly as it readies itself for the coming battle.

It seemed as though getting out of the ball wasn't the only thing the Centiskorch was going to be quicker at doing. The Pokemon tilted its head up towards the sky and spit a small flame up in the direction of the sun, intensifying its rays.

Wyatt took the opportunity of the Pokemon's head being raised to close the gap between them. The significantly smaller Pokemon lumbered over, already knowing what it had to do. The Loudred opened its mouth and chomped down onto the flaming bug, hoping to stop it before the Pokemon was able to get off its move. However, he was much too slow for this tactic to be effective.

"Give it a shock; bite it back Centiskorch!"

"Skorch!" The Pokemon turned on itself, the pincers on the sides of its head began to crackle with electric energy as it latched around the Loudred below it, shocking the Pokemon as it bit it.

"Loud!" Wyatt cried out, fighting through the pain of the attack as he reached out for one of the Pokemon's many legs.

"Hold on tight, and use Disarming Voice!"

Wyatt smirked, already bracing himself for the attack that was about to come after his own as he let out a massive screech.

The Centiskorch crashed quickly to the ground, crawling around the stadium while letting parts of its body bunch up against itself only to slam back down on the ground in an attempt to shake the Loudred. All the while, several of its arms lashed out at the Pokemon with flaming energy, causing it to take even more damage as it rode along. The Loudred's only response was a few weak and glancing Astonishes which they'd placed in an attempt to stop the Pokemon's movement.

"Get rid of that hanger-on and use Solarbeam while the sun's still out!"

The Centiskorch bobbed its head, and stopped running around the room. The Pokemon instead chose to begin coiling, squeezing its body tight enough together so that Wyatt was forced to let go or be trapped within the rings of its body. The bug's head sat atop the wall of fiery carpace as an orb of green energy began to form between its pincers.

Wyatt looked up at the bug, taking a few steps back to see its head before beginning to rub its own. "Loud…"

Rosa looked at her Pokemon, seeing that its body was covered in scorch marks and reddish welts. She knew that tactic wouldn't work forever, but at least he was only going to manage to get off a single Solarbeam before he'd have to reuse Sunny Day. "Wyatt, beat it back with an Echoed Voice! Just like we practiced!"

"Loudred!" The Pokemon replied, letting its arms drops before bracing itself against the ground. "Looooooooud!"

Kabu smirked, watching as the beam of light pierced through the sound being emitted by the Loudred. The Pokemon's scream was cut short as he was forced back by the sheer force of his own Pokemon's attack. "Quickly, Centiskorch - use another Solarbeam before the sun fades!"

Rosa looked up, watching as the the Centiskorch quickly began to gather up the last of the energy that was available before lowering its head towards her Loudred. "Wyatt, again!"

"L-Loooooud!" the Pokemon quickly tilted its head up, having only just regained its footing after the last attack. The Loudred's voice was significantly louder now, and its increased strength could be seen by the diffraction of the energy beam in the seconds before it crashed back down on him.

"Wyatt!" Rosa called out, watching the Pokemon as it struggled back to its feet.

"Loud," Wyatt replied, waving the girl back as he stumbled forward. The Pokemon took one step, then two, and on the third step the Loudred's eyes began to close. By the time he took his fourth step forward, the Pokemon had fallen to the ground.

A silence quickly filled the arena, as everyone watched as Wyatt fell to the ground. Kabu watched on with a disappointed look, watching on as Rosa's Pokemon had fallen short once mo-

"Loooooud!"

The sound cut through the stillness of the arena as Wyatt's scream pushed himself up off the ground. The Pokemon's eyes were sealed shut, but his breathing was steady - natural, as if he were…

"Sleeping…" Kabu whispered, turning his attention back towards his own Pokemon. "He's using Rest! Make the most of it before one of those attacks hits you!"

"Skorch!" The Pokemon replied, immediately rushing down towards the Loudred. The fiery bug quickly wound itself up around Wyatt, using its many legs to bring him up to his head, all the while lashing out at it with fiery bits.

As Wyatt was moved up towards the Pokemon's head, he continued to snore, making no further unconscious attacks as it had before. The Loudred yawned as it appeared in front of the Centiskorch's head, and then rolled over so that he wasn't facing the sun.

"Looooouooouuuuoud." The Pokemon let out a strange series of sounds with the yawn, which bounced off the Centiskorch's carapace and drove into the bug-type's head.

"Cen-ti...skorch?" The Pokemon tilted its head and then began to bop back and forth. "Cen...ti…" Centiskorch's fiery lashes calmed down, and then slowly began to turn on himself, striking his carapace several times before the Pokemon shook off the confusion. The Pokemon's attention turned back towards Loudred, but looked taken aback as its vision focused on the Pokemon atop its body. "Skorch?"

"What are you doing, Centiskorch! Just attack him!"

"Supersonic," Rosa smirked, happy that Wyatt had managed to pick up such a useful move since their last training session.

The two trainers, as well as everyone else in the arena watched as the Centiskorch slowly loosened its body, letting Wyatt fall back down to the ground before turning its attention in a completely different direction. The fiery bug began to pull energy up to its head, and then unleashed another Solarbeam attack, though this time nobody knew who the attack's target was as the move pummeled into the ground just beside the two Pokemon, hitting absolutely nothing, but sending up a massive cloud of dust in the process.

Everyone in the stadium watched once again in silence, waiting to see what would come out of the smoke. Kabu called out a few attacks to his Pokemon, trying to get its head back in the game, while Rosa waited patiently for Wyatt to wake from his mid-battle nap.

"Looooud!"

The girl smiled, watching with everyone else as Kabu's Centiskorch quickly recoiled up and out of the smoke. The Pokemon's head reared back as Wyatt ran along the massive bug's back, making sure not to grab onto its legs until it reached its destination.

"Skorch!" The Pokemon cried out, sending another plume of fire up towards the sky as it reset its strengthened moment of sunlight.

In the meantime, Wyatt managed to reach the top of the Pokemon's body and steadied itself by grabbing hold of the Pokemon's pincers before letting loose an even more powerful Echoed Voice than any of the ones which had been seen before.

"Skoorooroooch!" The Bug shrieked, forcing a spray of scalding hot water out into the Loudred's open mouth.

"Looooooooud!" Wyatt screamed again, letting the water drip from his lips back onto the Pokemon he was standing upon as his voice continued to grow more and more powerful. The Pokemon escalated its voice yet again, finding a moment to attack while the Centiskorch looked up helplessly at the Pokemon which was holding it hostage.

"Skorch!" In an act of desperation, the Pokemon began to flail about, hoping to shake the Pokemon which was steadying itself with the pincers on its head. "Skorch!" The Centiskorch - having seemingly no other option to rid itself of the parasite - began to bash its head against the ground repeatedly, causing Wyatt to slip just enough that it seemed reasonable to the Pokemon to continue. "Cent. I. Skorch. Cent. I. Skorch. Centi. Skorch!"

"Don't worry about trying to get rid of it, just hit it with a Solarbeam while you've got it where you want it!"

A green beam immediately began to form just in front of the space that Wyatt was occupying, causing the Pokemon to shoot a look down towards Rosa in concern. "L-Loud?"

Rosa shook her head. "No, just use Echoed Voice again! Finish this!"

Wyatt nodded, and then quickly turned back towards the green orb which was quickly turning into a beam in front of its face. "Loooooud!"

The Pokemon's voice was ear-shatteringly loud - much more powerful and full bodied than any of the previous versions had been as the move hit its maximum potential. The lights at the top of the stadium began to shake as the sound of the Pokemon's voice resonated throughout the arena, and then the beam of energy slowly began to push its way towards the Loudred. The two Pokemon locked gazes as their best attacks collided with each other.

The Centiskorch's eyes moved down towards the beam coming from its own body, the look on its face telling of its concern as the beam began to grow unsteady and split off into random and significantly smaller streaks. Wyatt took the opportunity of the beam's weakening strength to force his face closer to the Centiskorch's, forcing the beam back into the Pokemon with the pressure of his Echoed Voice.

The beam exploded as it collided with the Centiskorch's body, kicking up a massive cloud of smoke and then dust as the Pokemon fell quickly to the ground. Wyatt continued to scream at the top of his lungs for several seconds… but received no response.

Wyatt slowly lumbered out of the smoke, and then looked back at the Pokemon he'd left behind. The Centiskorch was strewn out on the ground in the same place that it had fallen - completely still, save for a weak breath every so often. The Loudred turned back towards Rosa and nodded, running up towards her.

"Loud!"

The stadium erupted into cheers as everyone saw that the massive bug had been crushed. The cheers and stomping of feet against the stadium floors shook the air even more than Wyatt's screaming had just moments before. Rosa smiled and looked out over the crowd, waving at everyone around her as she hugged the beaten and bruised Loudred that had brought her to this point.

"I'm so proud of you," she whispered, rubbing the Pokemon's face.

Kabu stepped over to the girl, recalling his own Pokemon with a slight smile on his stern face. "I see now how you were able to muster the courage to come back here again. You're strong, and you've proven that to me here today. You're not so weak as to give up on your adventure just because of one or two little setbacks. Let your fire burn. Ignore the naysayers as well as your own inhibitions and be excited when you hit the floor of the next gym in your challenge. You've bested the first big hurdle of your journey as a trainer, and I commend you with this badge here today - a prize of which you are most deserving."

Rosa struggled to contain the smile which spread across her face as her hand shakily reached out, taking the badge that was extended to her before thrusting her arm into the air. She'd made it.

Rosa's Party

Memories

CHAPTER 1 - WEDGEHURST & ROUTE 2
GOODBYES, AND HELLO TO A NEW JOURNEY
TROUBLE'S ON THE TRACKS
NAMES AND NIGHTMARES!

CHAPTER 2 - THE SOUTHERN WILD AREA
ENTER THE WILD AREA!
NEW BIKING BIKERS!
THE MYSTERIOUS SHINY POKEMON!
RANGER DANGER! PT.1
RANGER DANGER! PT.2
RANGER DANGER! FINALE!
RED-EYES BLACK-HAT!

CHAPTER 3 - MOTOSTOKE
INN FOR A PENNY, INN FOR A POUND
INN FOR A PENNY, INN FOR A POUND PT.2
SHADY SHOPPING
THE OPENING CEREMONY
THE OPENING CEREMONY PT.2
THE OPENING CEREMONY PT.3
INN WITH THE FAMILY
ALL BETS ON BLACK
LATE NIGHT LULLABIES
SNACK ATTACK!

CHAPTER 4 - ROUTE 3
VS SIMON
VS SIMON PT.2
MYSTERY OF MEW
MYSTERY OF MEW PT.2
WINTER FESTIVAL
A TWO HEADED REFLECTION

CHAPTER 5 - GALAR MINE AND ROUTE 4
DAYDREAM OF MINE
DEVELOPMENT AND MISSED CONNECTIONS
BUGGIN' THE COSMOS

CHAPTER 6 - TURFFIELD
GAMBLE FOR A RUSE
GAMBLE FOR A RUSE PT.2
GAMBLE FOR A RUSE PT.3
IS IT TOO LATE TO APOLOGIZE?
TURRFIELD CONTEST PERFORMANCE
PLANNING AND CHALLENGE
VS MILO
GIRL'S NIGHT OUT
FEAR THE BEGINNING

CHAPTER 7 - ROUTE 5
WORK FOR A PROMISE
WORK FOR A PROMISE PT.2
BUDDING YOUTH
BUDDING YOUTH PT.2
FEAR THE BEGINNING PT.2

CHAPTER 8 - HULBURY
FEAR THE BEGINNING PT.3
VS NESS
VS NESSA PT.2
THE HYPOCRITES' WALTZ
THE HYPOCRITES' WALTZ PT.2
DUPLICITY
DUPLICITY PT.2
PRETTY LITTLE LIARS
FEAR THE BEGINNING PT.4

CHAPTER 9 - GALAR MINES NO.2
CIRCLING THE ANSWER
NINE
NINE PT.2
XAN WAS HERE

CHAPTER 10 - MOTOSTOKE
OUT OF THE FRYING PAN
TURN THE PAGE
FIRE AND BRIMSTONE
EACH VERSE TENFOLD
EACH VERSE TENFOLD PT.2
THE LONG WAY AROUND
PRAY RETURN

CHAPTER 11 - WILD AREA
GOING BACK
MUNCHLAX RETRIEVAL
MUNCHLAX RETRIEVAL PT.2
ENDING UNPLANNED
A QUIET STORM
A QUIET STORM PT.2
TIME TO GET CRACKIN

Rosa's Journal

Simon Dansen

My childhood friend. Absolute idiot. Can't ever get a read on him anymore. Buttface. Always there when I need him. Always there when I least expect him. JERK. Showed me up in battle and evolved his Pokemon before me.

He came to "rescue" me after I coerced Ruben into protecting me in the underground casino. I told him off... and then didn't apologize until much later. He came to wish me a late merry christmas after Ruben gave me his spare room. He reminded me of our promise from before our journey started, and gave me my christmas gift which was a traditional Johtoan kimono and fan - all to prepare me for the upcoming contests. He also told me I should call his mom and dad since they're so worried about us both now that we're gone, but... I'll figure it out later.

Jasper

An ex-classmate. He took my bait and threw me for a loop when we were fighting a group of Munchlax together. Not as bad a guy as I thought. Because of him, I have to re-evaluate my notes on everyone else just in case. I'm interested in trying a different approach with him when next we meet.

Helped out a wrongfully arrested girl. Really smart. Observant. Kind, but doesn't like to show it. Isn't a terrible cook.

Charles the Biker

An eccentric, but strong man. Indulges in bad puns. Love for bikes. We left on good terms.

Nat the Ranger

A doting older brother to several sisters. A strong trainer who follows their duty. Only spent a day with them. Not sure if I want to meet again or not since I stole a broken styler from his scene of investigation. We left on good terms, I think? Unless he notices that something's missing.

Budew Girl

Never got her name. Apparently she's a challenger like the rest of my classmates. Comes from a family of Budew fanatics. They breed Budew in their hometown and journey around with all three forms of it. She seems endearing. It might be interesting to meet her again in the future. As long as she's not being accused of theft, that is.

Achille Béringer

Rich kid. Pays his debts. Is keen on rich kid things. Doesn't seem much different from how he was in school, but still need to reevaluate.

Melody Argent

Cute and kind. She keeps to herself kind of like I do. Loves music. Feels similar to Simon. Still need to reevaluate because of interactions with Jasper. Kind of maybe, possibly, a small amount of a badass. Finger guns - super corny. Don't harp on the idea of being in contests. If that culty stuff doesn't get figured out by the time we come back to Motostoke, I'll have to remember to find her around town. She's much more attuned to pop culture than I am.

AAAAAHHH! We did so much in Turffield, and even more just after! I still can't believe that she wont that contest and made it look so... so easy! She's just, like, wow. I still don't know what to do with all of my thoughts, but after that delivery we did together especially I just. Wowee. Jeez.

The Family // Damien(?)

Not the family himself, I don't think. I still haven't got his name or what role he really plays in all this. He's a shady motherfucker - pardon my Kalos. I still don't know how much of the stuff I've gone through in Motostoke has been orchestrated by him, but for the moment I'm not planning to try anything. I still don't know enough about him to make any real guesses. The longer that I stay around this town, the further behind the veil that I see. I'm scared even to go to sleep at night so long as I'm here. They have eyes... everywhere.

Buggy Simon

Some kind of freak of nature. I guess he understands Pokemon in some way that I can't; like, he understands what they're actually trying to say when they speak? Kind of cool, but also weird. Him and Simon used to hang out every once in a while at school. He knows about my "secret styler".

Valerie

An absolute ray of sunshine and happiness. She's also a streamer, and earns enough money from it to show it off. Not put off by literal ghosts. Has some kind of dream of meeting Mew.

Aeliana Kekoa

Alolan dance girl. She's supposed to teach me sometime. Pretty much just how I remembered her in school. I didn't get to spend much time with her when we all hung out. Didn't seem too bothered by the ghosts.

Pia McGuire

Pia... definitely is afraid of literal ghosts. I had a few choice words for her, but... after we saw Jirachi, it just felt like the time had passed, so I gave up. She's seen me without my mask, so next time we meet up is probably going to be awkward.

Haleigh Windsor

A friend of Melody's. I intentionally ran into her after failing to catch up with Melody, due to the addition of Haleigh. We had a short battle, and then made a promise for drinks with Melody after I urged her to drag the girl along with her to the contest in Turffield. She seems quite naive, so I may be able to get some more use out of her as long as I stay true to her persona. She's battle hungry, the same as Simon, but her Pokemon are still a little lacking - that coming from someone who still has no idea what she's doing here herself. She might end up being a good sparring partner in the future since she knows a little of what I've got and we're on relatively equal footing.

Mother Priscilla

The leader of the Turffield Sisterhood. I thought at first she was just an escort, but once we got to their hideout, I slowly started to realize what she really was. She's an incredibly dangerous woman who has no trouble pulling a gun on important people or those that she may need. There's still too much I don't know about what's going on to get a good grasp on what her and Damien's goals are, but given what I've already seen I really could do without finding out.

Ruben Sancho

Truth be told, I hadn't cared for Ruben when we went to school together. I thought he was your average rich celebrity who was forced into something he didn't really want to be a part of. After getting involved with the family and finding myself in that gambling hall, and then finding Ruben there as well, I felt that my suspicions were true. I had no second thoughts about what I was going to drag him in to. But as time went on, I found myself feeling more and more regretful with each time that he said Pia's name. And then because of me, news about him and Pia got out before either of them were likely ready to go public. And after all that, Simon attacked him out of the blue... but even after all that, he still offered me a free room at the local hotel. I already apologized to him about Simon, and about lying to get him to go with me. But, I should apologize again. He's not as bad of a guy as I thought he was.

Outfits

Spoiler: Here be a number of large images

Inventory

Spoiler:

Sonata · Oct 5, 2021

Poké:

2220 ♦ Pokemon: 5

CHAPTER 11.11 - MAKE A WISH

Rosa quickly changed out of her battle attire, extremely excited to see Pia and show off her new badge. She was feeling… thankful. She'd hardly done anything to deserve the courage the Pia had given her by dragging her off to challenge Kabu again. And yet, now… she had a chance again. The girl hurriedly walked out of the changing room and smiled brightly at Pia who was there waiting for her in the reception area.

"I did it!"

"I saw, good job!" Pia gave the younger girl a smug grin, crossed her arms and threw her hips a bit to the side. The typical Pia pose was back.

Rosa smiled, giving the girl a quick once over glance as she pulled out the badge that Kabu had given her. It was good that Pia had some of that former swagger back - though the rest of her appearance was still… well, she looked the part of someone that hadn't slept and who was working two jobs. "I couldn't have done it without your support." The girl started, the smile slowly fading from her face as various thoughts began to invade her mind. "But… this does make things a bit harder now."

Rosa already knew what was going to happen. Once news broke that she'd managed to beat Kabu in a rematch, shit was going to hit the fan. She knew that at some point in the next few weeks, regardless of how much she tried to avoid him, she would be forced to confront Simon. At that point, he'll undoubtedly try to make her go back home - as per their initial arrangement.

"The bigger hurdle still lays ahead… I'll have to go against Simon - not just by hopping into someone else's taxi and riding away before he can stop me…" The girl paused, feeling the balls in her pockets as she started to think of what type of strategy she could even begin to employ against the boy's team. "I'll have to fight him, head-on."

"You did just kick that old man's ass." Pia mentioned. "I'm sure you'll do fine against Simon as well. You're a strong girl. You just proved that."

Rosa shook her head. "No… I don't think it'll be that easy." She paused, thinking back to the few times she'd managed to run across the boy since their journey began. "Simon was always the type of person that could dedicate himself entirely to a task… in that way, we were always kind of similar. He's the type that would listen to the same song on repeat until he'd managed to pull apart individual instruments from the whole of the performance… and then would nitpick on the players' abilities. I know he's strong, and that's followed through to the way he's raised his Pokemon as well. All that he does is train…"

That much was made apparent to her when she lucked out of fighting him the first time they went into the wild area and their opportunity to fight was stolen away by some bike salesman instead. Simon's Aron had evolved back there. His starter. Evolved. Not even a month into their adventure. Since then, it was apparent that he'd only gotten stronger.

"I think I'd rather fight Milo and Nessa at once than have to go against Simon's team… at least they're trying to give you a fair fight. Simon… would just be intent on dragging me back home… to safety."

Pia thought for a moment. Had she ever seen Simon fight actually? The only times she saw him during this journey was on TV when he was battling the Gym leaders, which he did with fair ease she only now realised.

"He does seem a bit the type yeah…" Pia tapped against her temple. She could tell her that that just meant she had to get stronger but she knew those words wouldn't cut it right now.

Rosa nodded. "Not the most helpful for keeping the mood of this victory, I know." The girl laughed lightly, still smiling despite the dawning realization of what it meant to be in her current situation. "I did hear some rumors when we went back home, though." The followup to that being the fact that Pia's mom was still unconscious really helped neither of them though, and she was able to filter it out as the two continued to walk on.

"It seems… Simon's got a following. I mean, all of us on this journey do, but Simon… is different, I guess. His list of followers is just as long as his list of enemies. He gets into fights with anyone that he comes across and beats them down until… until they give up. Not just on beating him, but on their journey as a whole. There were several people I managed to run into back home that just… gave up."

"Like you almost did because of that, excuse me for calling it that, lame promise?" Pia crossed her arms. "I can't seem to determine if he's just dense and oblivious to the fact people stop their journeys because of him or if he deliberately does that to take out his competition for the title of champion. At any rate, he's still kind of a dick."

Rosa nodded, smiling slightly at Pia's words. "It was our promise, when we first moved here and decided to attend the academy. He was worried about me going into something so public - something that could exploit me, especially given…" she paused, still not sure that she wanted to let the other girl know all of what she'd personally been through. "He's not that bad of a person, I promise." The girl smiled, continuing on with their walk towards the train station. "He just wants what's best… and he worries about me, a lot."

"Hmmm…" Pia hummed. "I can't promise I'll take you up on your word on that one but I'll try to give him the benefit of the doubt." She eventually concluded after a short moment of silence between the two. She turned around and stepped forward, gesturing for Rosa to follow. "Shall we head back home?"

Rosa smiled at the girl, her hand over her heart as she looked down at Pia's gesture. She thought for a moment - not of what other people might think if she skipped past properly exploring the second leg of the Wild Area, not at first at least. But her thoughts turned to what would happen if she just went back home with Pia. Yes, the two of them would be able to go back to the way they were, and if Pia's mom did recover they'd both be able to move on together as well… but there was still always going to be the looming threat of Simon weighing on her mind. What if he found her in between her deliveries? What if he found where Pia lived and came to take her back home personally? If she did just get back on that train and go back with this girl who'd she'd grown much closer to in the past weeks…

"No," she whispered, staggering backwards slightly. Rosa shook her head, and then smiled at Pia. "No, I think I'll take the long way back. After all that, I think I could do with a little more training. I won't take too long - just long enough to figure something out. And then I'll come back home - yeah?"

Pia was surprised by the girl's reluctance but understood why that would be. Instead she shrugged. "Well, okay. Just be careful and don't take too long. Otherwise I might end up going to Strugglecon while you're gone."

"Oh, that thing Valerie had talked about before? I don't know if it's really my thing… I've never really been into streamers or stuff like that."

"Oh it's more than that though." Pia smiled. "It's one of the biggest events in Galar. It's also a gaming event, there will be cosplay events, you can meet various guests that aren't just streamers, do and watch battles and most importantly: The next contest will be held there."

Rosa took a second to mull it over in her head. 'I do still want to compete in the contests, now that I'm back on my feet. But at the same time… an event of that size would most likely mean I'd run into Simon at some point. Or, maybe I'd get lucky and run into… Mel. I really need to apologize to her… especially now that some time has passed, and it doesn't look like anyone's out for my head.'

Rosa felt her throat as her thoughts drifted to that night in this same city. The girl looked around, not really certain of who was in charge of things now that the family was gone. She'd managed to get out of that situation, and she didn't really care much about getting back into it. That being said, without knowing who's in charge, she had no idea what kind of business they were into and what they might be capable of. She had hoped that Tavi might step in - given that his character at least had been vouched for by his own employees. But…

"I'll see what I can think up while I'm out in the Wilds. Given how busy you are now, I might actually stand a chance of placing." The girl laughed, walking up beside Pia. "I will see you back the rest of the way to the train station though - don't want anyone getting any ideas of trying to hit on a cute single girl like you."

"You say that but we both know I look like a freaking mess right now." Pia chuckled at the mere idea of a poor soul hitting on her. If Rosa had seen how she had chewed Ainsley out not once but twice she wouldn't worry about trivial matters like that. "I think I need to be more worried about someone trying to fetch you away while I'm waiting at home all lonesome." Pia teased with a wink and a stuck out tongue.

"Oh, well they can try, but…" The girl smiled as the two got to the entrance of the station. Rosa wrapped her fingers gently around the pendant on her neck. "I'd be more worried about what Melody would do to them than anything they might try with me."

Pia stopped right in her tracks. "Wait, what?"

Rosa's Party

Memories

CHAPTER 1 - WEDGEHURST & ROUTE 2
GOODBYES, AND HELLO TO A NEW JOURNEY
TROUBLE'S ON THE TRACKS
NAMES AND NIGHTMARES!

CHAPTER 2 - THE SOUTHERN WILD AREA
ENTER THE WILD AREA!
NEW BIKING BIKERS!
THE MYSTERIOUS SHINY POKEMON!
RANGER DANGER! PT.1
RANGER DANGER! PT.2
RANGER DANGER! FINALE!
RED-EYES BLACK-HAT!

CHAPTER 3 - MOTOSTOKE
INN FOR A PENNY, INN FOR A POUND
INN FOR A PENNY, INN FOR A POUND PT.2
SHADY SHOPPING
THE OPENING CEREMONY
THE OPENING CEREMONY PT.2
THE OPENING CEREMONY PT.3
INN WITH THE FAMILY
ALL BETS ON BLACK
LATE NIGHT LULLABIES
SNACK ATTACK!

CHAPTER 4 - ROUTE 3
VS SIMON
VS SIMON PT.2
MYSTERY OF MEW
MYSTERY OF MEW PT.2
WINTER FESTIVAL
A TWO HEADED REFLECTION

CHAPTER 5 - GALAR MINE AND ROUTE 4
DAYDREAM OF MINE
DEVELOPMENT AND MISSED CONNECTIONS
BUGGIN' THE COSMOS

CHAPTER 6 - TURFFIELD
GAMBLE FOR A RUSE
GAMBLE FOR A RUSE PT.2
GAMBLE FOR A RUSE PT.3
IS IT TOO LATE TO APOLOGIZE?
TURRFIELD CONTEST PERFORMANCE
PLANNING AND CHALLENGE
VS MILO
GIRL'S NIGHT OUT
FEAR THE BEGINNING

CHAPTER 7 - ROUTE 5
WORK FOR A PROMISE
WORK FOR A PROMISE PT.2
BUDDING YOUTH
BUDDING YOUTH PT.2
FEAR THE BEGINNING PT.2

CHAPTER 8 - HULBURY
FEAR THE BEGINNING PT.3
VS NESS
VS NESSA PT.2
THE HYPOCRITES' WALTZ
THE HYPOCRITES' WALTZ PT.2
DUPLICITY
DUPLICITY PT.2
PRETTY LITTLE LIARS
FEAR THE BEGINNING PT.4

CHAPTER 9 - GALAR MINES NO.2
CIRCLING THE ANSWER
NINE
NINE PT.2
XAN WAS HERE

CHAPTER 10 - MOTOSTOKE
OUT OF THE FRYING PAN
TURN THE PAGE
FIRE AND BRIMSTONE
EACH VERSE TENFOLD
EACH VERSE TENFOLD PT.2
THE LONG WAY AROUND
PRAY RETURN

CHAPTER 11 - WILD AREA
GOING BACK
MUNCHLAX RETRIEVAL
MUNCHLAX RETRIEVAL PT.2
ENDING UNPLANNED
A QUIET STORM
A QUIET STORM PT.2
TIME TO GET CRACKIN

Rosa's Journal

Simon Dansen

My childhood friend. Absolute idiot. Can't ever get a read on him anymore. Buttface. Always there when I need him. Always there when I least expect him. JERK. Showed me up in battle and evolved his Pokemon before me.

He came to "rescue" me after I coerced Ruben into protecting me in the underground casino. I told him off... and then didn't apologize until much later. He came to wish me a late merry christmas after Ruben gave me his spare room. He reminded me of our promise from before our journey started, and gave me my christmas gift which was a traditional Johtoan kimono and fan - all to prepare me for the upcoming contests. He also told me I should call his mom and dad since they're so worried about us both now that we're gone, but... I'll figure it out later.

Jasper

An ex-classmate. He took my bait and threw me for a loop when we were fighting a group of Munchlax together. Not as bad a guy as I thought. Because of him, I have to re-evaluate my notes on everyone else just in case. I'm interested in trying a different approach with him when next we meet.

Helped out a wrongfully arrested girl. Really smart. Observant. Kind, but doesn't like to show it. Isn't a terrible cook.

Charles the Biker

An eccentric, but strong man. Indulges in bad puns. Love for bikes. We left on good terms.

Nat the Ranger

A doting older brother to several sisters. A strong trainer who follows their duty. Only spent a day with them. Not sure if I want to meet again or not since I stole a broken styler from his scene of investigation. We left on good terms, I think? Unless he notices that something's missing.

Budew Girl

Never got her name. Apparently she's a challenger like the rest of my classmates. Comes from a family of Budew fanatics. They breed Budew in their hometown and journey around with all three forms of it. She seems endearing. It might be interesting to meet her again in the future. As long as she's not being accused of theft, that is.

Achille Béringer

Rich kid. Pays his debts. Is keen on rich kid things. Doesn't seem much different from how he was in school, but still need to reevaluate.

Melody Argent

Cute and kind. She keeps to herself kind of like I do. Loves music. Feels similar to Simon. Still need to reevaluate because of interactions with Jasper. Kind of maybe, possibly, a small amount of a badass. Finger guns - super corny. Don't harp on the idea of being in contests. If that culty stuff doesn't get figured out by the time we come back to Motostoke, I'll have to remember to find her around town. She's much more attuned to pop culture than I am.

AAAAAHHH! We did so much in Turffield, and even more just after! I still can't believe that she wont that contest and made it look so... so easy! She's just, like, wow. I still don't know what to do with all of my thoughts, but after that delivery we did together especially I just. Wowee. Jeez.

The Family // Damien(?)

Not the family himself, I don't think. I still haven't got his name or what role he really plays in all this. He's a shady motherfucker - pardon my Kalos. I still don't know how much of the stuff I've gone through in Motostoke has been orchestrated by him, but for the moment I'm not planning to try anything. I still don't know enough about him to make any real guesses. The longer that I stay around this town, the further behind the veil that I see. I'm scared even to go to sleep at night so long as I'm here. They have eyes... everywhere.

Buggy Simon

Some kind of freak of nature. I guess he understands Pokemon in some way that I can't; like, he understands what they're actually trying to say when they speak? Kind of cool, but also weird. Him and Simon used to hang out every once in a while at school. He knows about my "secret styler".

Valerie

An absolute ray of sunshine and happiness. She's also a streamer, and earns enough money from it to show it off. Not put off by literal ghosts. Has some kind of dream of meeting Mew.

Aeliana Kekoa

Alolan dance girl. She's supposed to teach me sometime. Pretty much just how I remembered her in school. I didn't get to spend much time with her when we all hung out. Didn't seem too bothered by the ghosts.

Pia McGuire

Pia... definitely is afraid of literal ghosts. I had a few choice words for her, but... after we saw Jirachi, it just felt like the time had passed, so I gave up. She's seen me without my mask, so next time we meet up is probably going to be awkward.

Haleigh Windsor

A friend of Melody's. I intentionally ran into her after failing to catch up with Melody, due to the addition of Haleigh. We had a short battle, and then made a promise for drinks with Melody after I urged her to drag the girl along with her to the contest in Turffield. She seems quite naive, so I may be able to get some more use out of her as long as I stay true to her persona. She's battle hungry, the same as Simon, but her Pokemon are still a little lacking - that coming from someone who still has no idea what she's doing here herself. She might end up being a good sparring partner in the future since she knows a little of what I've got and we're on relatively equal footing.

Mother Priscilla

The leader of the Turffield Sisterhood. I thought at first she was just an escort, but once we got to their hideout, I slowly started to realize what she really was. She's an incredibly dangerous woman who has no trouble pulling a gun on important people or those that she may need. There's still too much I don't know about what's going on to get a good grasp on what her and Damien's goals are, but given what I've already seen I really could do without finding out.

Ruben Sancho

Truth be told, I hadn't cared for Ruben when we went to school together. I thought he was your average rich celebrity who was forced into something he didn't really want to be a part of. After getting involved with the family and finding myself in that gambling hall, and then finding Ruben there as well, I felt that my suspicions were true. I had no second thoughts about what I was going to drag him in to. But as time went on, I found myself feeling more and more regretful with each time that he said Pia's name. And then because of me, news about him and Pia got out before either of them were likely ready to go public. And after all that, Simon attacked him out of the blue... but even after all that, he still offered me a free room at the local hotel. I already apologized to him about Simon, and about lying to get him to go with me. But, I should apologize again. He's not as bad of a guy as I thought he was.

Outfits

Spoiler: Here be a number of large images

Inventory

Spoiler:

Foxrally · Oct 5, 2021

Simon Pearburgh

Spoiler: Inventory

Spoiler: Memories

Pia McGuire

Milla

Prim

Soma

Cintra

Spoiler: Inventory

Hammerlocke

Simon was a few days into visiting Hammerlocke now, but he still didn't really feel like going to Strugglecon yet. He knew there would probably be dozens of his old classmates visiting the event as well, ready to chat up a storm and expect him to do the same. It's not that he didn't want to talk to anyone - after months of ignoring his phone he sorely missed catching up on people - but he just didn't want anyone to see him like this. He'd tried to get himself out of the rut he was in for the past few days, but it was of no use. He wanted to feel better sooner, he wanted to bounce back, but… he just felt empty. He knew the words of Raphael and his father were the spark he needed to start again, but he had to give himself time. At least, that's what he kept telling himself.

He was walking through the busy streets of the city, and had been checking out the sights in the hopes of distracting himself - to his disappointment, the Hammerlocke gym was closed for the month; not that he would have challenged it anyway, but getting a look inside would have been nice. There were some familiar faces he'd seen walking around the shops, including a girl who looked like Pia, but with her back turned to him he couldn't really tell. He'd also given the nearest dry-cleaner a visit and managed to wash his coat; though it was far too hot for him to wear it right now. Instead it was tied around his waist as usual, and his Pokemon were either snuggled in the pockets or perched atop his hat.

A clock tower rang in the distance, signalling that it was already 5 PM. Simon suddenly realized he'd completely forgotten about lunch, and immediately, almost as if his body remembered as well, his stomach growled in response.

"Shit, I guess I completely forgot about food today." he said to his team. Spewpa responded with a squeak, mentioning there was a place she'd smelled great food at.

"Oh? Is it close?" Simon asked, as he lifted the bug out of his coat pocket and put her on his hat beside Princess. "Lead the way, then."

A few directional squeaks and cries later, Simon found himself in front of a quaint little restaurant, with a sign at the top which read The Cinnabonsly Cafe. Simon glanced up at Spewpa, "You wanna get lunch here? Doesn't seem like they have Pokemon options though." he said, squinting at the menu beside the entrance, before spotting the desserts at the bottom. "Oh, I see what you mean." he said, cracking a smile.

----------
A sigh left Pia's lips. It had been a week since she started working for this café but she still couldn't get used to having to stand the entire day. Not to forget the ungrateful sneers of the customers as if the waitresses were some kind of machines. Either that or they were uncomfortably flirty. There was no in between. It was no wonder this place was in need of new employees. She adjusted the apron that she was wearing for her work and waited for the next order that had to be delivered.

"Pia, dearie." A large, well-built man with darker coloured skin called out for her from behind the counter. This man was her boss, Bruce. "Table 14 just ordered 50 cinnamon buns and a sandwich combo. Can you go serve it?" He asked with the sweetest voice ever, totally not fitting with the rest of his body.

"50?!" Pia repeated.

"Yes, hon. 50! This boy gots some major appetite. A man to my heart." Her boss repeated with a smirk which earned him a disturbed look from Pia when she realized who might have ordered those. "What? You know that's not what I meannnnn!" He snickered and pushed her shoulder gently. Pia shrugged and picked up the tray, which was quite heavy with the amount of stuff on top of it. At any rate, she went to serve it.

And the person who ordered this ridiculous amount of cinnamon buns was exactly who she thought it was.

"Hi Simon, your order."

Simon's eyes grew wide as he noticed who his waitress was, her face emerging from behind the mountain of cinnamon buns. "Pia? Whoa, it's been a while!" he said, grinning and trying his best to sound cheerful. "Love the hair!"

As the young woman set down the tray all six of Simon's Pokemon jumped onto the pyramid of pastries, tearing into its side ravenously. "It's been a while indeed." Pia replied and put a hand on her waist and gave him a smirk. "How are you holding up?"

"It's been… uhm, pretty exhausting, heh!" Simon said with a forced smile. "Wild Area travel definitely took a lot out of me, so I'm just taking it easy while in town. But other than that, same old, y'know, I beat Nessa and Kabu and stuff..." He glanced around awkwardly, hoping to change the subject, "And how about you? I'm surprised to see you working here."

"Ah uhm…" Pia too showed an awkward smile. "Y-Yeah I've been okay…?" She rubbed the back of her head. It's hard to tell someone you're okay when you're really not but she wasn't about to throw her issues on him right here and now. "J-Just earning something… extra? Here in Hammerlocke…?"

"Oh, that's good!" Simon replied. "I thought you'd be really gutted about the whole prostitute scandal. Glad Ruben was able to look past it." he added a little too loudly.

Pia's heart sank. So he knew the prostitute thing… but not about her and Ruben. She looked around her and saw that a few customers had looked up, she sat down at his table instead in an attempt to hide herself. She would strangle him right now if she wasn't currently working.

"Ruben… and I broke up, Simon." Pia whispered, holding the side of her hand next to her mouth, looking a little peeved over the sudden ball that was dropped.

Simon's eyes grew wide and his cheeks flushed, realizing what he'd just said. "Oh shit, I'm sorry-" he whispered back, flustered. "For the record, I really don't think it should've been as big of a deal as the papers made it-"

He heard a harsh hiss from Spewpa beside him. This was not making it better.

He looked back at Pia who was staring daggers at him. "I… haven't spoken much to Ruben in the past few months, so I didn't know, sorry." he glanced around for a little before lowering his voice. "Was it because of the news?"

"Yes… well, not exactly… mostly… it was part of it…" Pia grumbled underneath her breath and stared at the table in front of her. "Have you seen the pictures of him with the new musician girl? I saw those and got angry… I was the one who broke up with him but I'm sure he would have if I didn't so you could say it was mutual…" Pia spoke, the hostility she was showing dampening as she explained. It was obvious the girl was still upset about it. "People haven't been able to recognize me because my hair has grown and it's back to my original hair colour, but I'd like to ask you to not mention it so loudly." Pia twiddled with her loose ponytail and pouted.

"Shit, I'm sorry!" Simon nervously took a bite out of his sandwich to get attention away from the two. "Figures that Ruben fucking Sancho only cares about his public image…" he muttered under his breath.

"I guess…" Pia rested her head in her hand palm and blew a strand of hair out of her face. "Should've known he couldn't stay loyal to one girl." She sighed. "Or I guess I already did when I saw the kind of messages he would sometimes receive. I wonder how many he met up with while he was with me..." Pia mumbled annoyed, though underneath her irritated words a glimmer of sadness could be heard.

"Well trust me- you can do much better than him." Simon said, both Spewpa and Princess chiming in with a determined nod. "I'd say you were doing him a favour by letting him date the enchantress."

Pia looked surprised, "I've been hearing that nickname a lot. Where did that co-"

"OI, WAITRESS! Are you gonna keep talkin' or can I order somethin' too?'' She was interrupted by a balding, middle-aged man sitting not too far away from them. Pia looked up with an eyebrow raised. "No wonder Sancho dumped ya if you're this slow and easily distracted." The man snickered.

"Excuse me?" Pia shot up from her seat. She felt incredibly offended but was trying to stay calm despite the man's words, though it was evident from her expression that she did not like what was being said.

"You heard me. Now go grab me a coffee, sweetheart."

Pia stood in silence, a bit flabbergasted at the situation. Was this really happening? Was she going to go against this? She might lose her job if…

"MOVE!" He shouted at her, threatening he'd get up if she didn't by half standing and slamming his hands on the table. "Or do I need to wait until tonight to get the better service?"

His laughter filled the café area, his words stinging and belittling her. Man sure thought he was funny, but Pia's expression turned even darker with disgust. There was only so much the girl would take, and that last comment was just the last straw that broke the numel's back.

"Wait until tonight and find out what kind of ditch you'll be found in." Pia hissed through her teeth as she got up and hurled the juice she had just brought Simon all over the rude man. She followed it up with the cup, hitting the man in the face.

"Aw…" Simon pouted a little as he looked at the now-empty cup on the floor.

"WHA-?!" The man was stunned for a moment, before jumping up in rage now that his attire was ruined by the drink. "How dare ya, you fuckin' wench! You're gonna pay for this!" He grabbed Pia's collar and pulled her forward

"Oi, OI!" Simon got up and quickly forced himself between the two, pushing the man's arm away to let go of Pia. "The hell you think you're doing?!"

"Your friend here's a slow bitch, kid, and if ya don't get out of the way you're next!" the man barked, standing over Simon threateningly as his eyes moved from Pia to him.

"The only slow one is you if you couldn't even see that coming." Pia snarled back, further taunting him.

Simon felt Princess crawl on his back and into his sleeve, ready to give this man the Jasper treatment if he laid a hand on him, as he continued to put himself between him and Pia. "You can't talk to my friend like that, so just back off, mate!" he told the angry customer.

"Alright, I warned ya-" the man raised his fist to hit Simon, but was taken by surprise as a much, much larger hand grabbed it from behind him.

"What's going on here?" Bruce, the cafe owner, spoke calmly but sternly as he towered over the three of them, towel in hand. The sheer size of the man dwarfed those around him, and suddenly, the angry customer wasn't so angry anymore.

The man gulped as he tried to pull his arm away, struggling momentarily before Bruce let him go. "W-what does it look like to ya? Your l-little prostitute waitress threw juice all over me! Discipline that chick! Customer's supposed to be king!" He pointed left and right, blaming Pia and Simon. Bruce could only shake his head at him as he glanced at Pia.

"That true?" He asked her, already knowing the answer.

"You should have heard the things he called me…" Pia crossed her arms and looked away from Bruce, not denying what the man claimed at all.

"Yeah, and he tried to hit her!" Simon added, glaring at him.

Bruce sighed. "You. Out of my store. Now." He stared daggers at the bald man, who wasted no time arguing and hurriedly grabbed his stuff, cursing some more on his way out and letting Bruce know that he clearly wasn't going to pay for anything he had eaten. "Don't show your face here again!" Bruce shouted to the leaving man, but the only response he got back was a fat, hairy middle finger.

Once that had been resolved, the owner turned back to Pia. "Pia... " He began. He put his hand in his side and rubbed the bridge of his nose seemingly in thought.

"Yeah, I'll clean that up and get back to work. Sorry you had to interfere." Pia grumbled. She was already exhausted and this was not something she needed on another working day. Still, she picked the cup from the floor while Bruce was hesitating on something.

"You don't have to do that." Bruce sighed. He looked around and lowered his voice. "I'm sorry, hon, but... I'm going to have to let you go. You attract too much unwanted attention and I can't have that in my business." Bruce eventually let out sternly, befitting a boss and a man of his stature.

Pia looked surprised at first, but eventually her shoulder dropped. She took off her apron and nameplate and held them out to him, not saying another word.

"I'm sorry, Pia."

"Yeah, me too." Pia replied, uninterested in any form of apology from her former boss.

Simon opened his mouth to say something, but rubbed the back of his head awkwardly as he looked back at his table, then at the drink on the floor, then Pia herself.

"I'll, uh… take my food to-go." he said sheepishly.

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

A few minutes later both trainers found themselves outside the cafe. Simon looked at Pia, still feeling a bit guilty for the interaction earlier.

"I'm sorry about that, Pia. I shouldn't have held you up or mentioned Ruben so loud, maybe the guy wouldn't have said anything…"

"Nah, don't worry." Pia reassured him and quite literally waved off his worries. "This was going to happen eventually. I was growing more irritated with every Harold and Karen that I had to deal with." Pia shrugged.

"Well if it makes you feel better," Simon said with a sigh, "I also got fired from a job recently, heh."

"Oh that sucks." Pia replied with an awkward grimace. "Want to talk about it?"

Simon paused for an instant. He wanted to mention who it was, or say something about what had happened - but knew that any hint of information could put Pia in danger. Pushing down thoughts of the memory, Simon shook his head, "Ah, it's... nothing to worry about." he replied. "Just sucks that we're not all millionaires like Trevall or fuckin' Sancho, eh?" he added with a smile, hoping to lighten the mood.

"You could say that again." A small curl appeared on the pink lips of the girl. "Speaking of Ruben, what happened between you guys? I remember you were all over him." Pia asked, having suddenly realized that Simon was bad mouthing him instead of praising like he did before.

Simon furrowed his brow in disgust and exhaled sharply out of his nose. "I found out the real reason he ever bothered to talk to me, that asshole. It was all for his bullshit public image." he spat, looking away in anger as he remembered the events of that awful day. "Apparently being with a 'loser' is good for PR."

Pia didn't say the words but her face screamed 'yikes' upon hearing the words of the younger boy. She couldn't image Ruben exactly saying that but… then again, there was more she didn't know about Ruben. They say that you should never meet your hero. This situation was the perfect example as to why.

"Ah, sorry-" Simon shook his head, "I shouldn't be talking about your ex right now anyway."

"I wonder if he'll be watching the contest…" Pia thought out loud, looking at the bright sky above them that was slowly changing into the late evening colours.

"Oh yeah, the contest!" Simon realized he'd completely forgotten about the main event of Strugglecon this year. He noticed Spewpa poking her head out of his pocket as she heard him mention it. "You'll be participating in this one too, right?"

"Uhm…" Pia stopped in her tracks and blinked a few times before giving an answer to his question.. "I… I haven't really decided yet. The media has all its eyes on the situation between me and Ruben and I haven't made a lot of fans with that." She Admitted. "I honestly don't know if I should. I really want to but…"

"Well you should!" Simon piped up. "Don't let whatever happened in the past ruin your future, it doesn't matter what people say- show those bastards that the enchantress is more than some stupid football scandal!"

"Don't let whatever happened in the past ruin your future…?" Pia repeated Simon words quietly to herself. "The enchantress is not just a football scandal…" She glanced away from Simon and was seemingly in thought. It took a short moment of silence before she would open her mouth again with a smile. "You know what? You're right." With a nod she started walking again and stopped again in front of him. "Will I see you there?"

Simon opened his mouth to say something at first- he hadn't realized the date of the contest was the same as another special date… his birthday. Instead, he paused for a moment and grinned. "I'll try my best to be there! But don't worry, no matter where I'm watching from, you know I'll be cheering you on."

"You better be." Pia winked playfully. She turned around to take a last peek at the café she had worked at for the past few weeks. Where to now? She was supposed to have at least another few hours of work before her shift would end but now that she was fired… "Hey, I owe you a drink since I threw yours to that rude balding Slowpoke. Would you humor me with a bit of your time?" Pia looked over her shoulder to Simon, gesturing to come follow her. "I know another good café around here."

Before Simon could say anything, his stomach growled in response for him instead. "Heh, sure! I am starving. Just, uh, nothing with cinnabon buns. Any more and my team are gonna be diabetic."

Joint post of Foxrally and Sapphire Rose

Jay · Oct 6, 2021

Raphael Allard
> StruggleCon
> Networking Trouble

..

....

"I really don't see why I should be here, Himari…" Raphael sighed into his phone to the girl on the other side. He stood with his black hood pulled high up, in the middle of a massive crowd of people. There were plenty of wild looking individuals, some dressed in outfits reminiscent of their favorite anime characters, others wielding foam prop weapons wielded by the red tunic wearing hero from the Legend of Zorua, or the oversized arm blaster from Minior Prime. Sure, Raphael was a bit of a nerd, but he didn't get the whole cosplay thing. So much effort expended for a costume and most of them looked pretty awful.

Though, he had to admit, some of them were pretty amazing. He almost lost his life when he bumped into who he thought was the legendary ex-Sinnoh champion Cynthia… but it was just a really well done imitation.

"Oi, oi, stop whining, Hearto. You've been throwing yourself through the ringer fighting shadow thingamajigs and black suit villains. If you break yourself every other day then you're not even gonna make it to Stow-On-Side." The irate voice of his new 'manager' rang through from the other side of the phone. He had told her she could have that illustrious position as a sign of good faith but he was already regretting the decision.

"...I guess." He frowned. "And stop calling me that, it's still… weird." As he made the request she went quiet on the other end of the line, then shakily made her response. "A-Alright, Raph, then, stop… like, getting yourself killed alright? You've got a lot of people looking up to you and this is the perfect opportunity to expand your brand."

She was correct, but Raph really wasn't feeling up to admitting that. He tiredly sighed down the line in response and he could hear her pout audibly. "Look, remember. Main plaza, fourIwi hours, you have a panel. I'll be there, the press will be there, maybe some of your fellow challengers will be there, but most importantly your fans will be there. Throw them a bone just this once for me okay? And try to enjoy yourself on the show floor in the meantime. I'll see you soon."

She hung up.

With a grimace he slips his phone into his pocket, eyes rising up to glance around the room once more. "Enjoy the show, huh..?" Without much thought he begins to wander across the convention floor, doing his best to avoid being recognized.

"It's this way mate, you've got to see it, those guys are next level!" A young man in his teens, wearing some Spikemuth band hoodie, is dragging his portly friend by the arm towards a sectioned off part of the convention hall. "W-Wha? Who? Where?" The dragee exclaims, almost stumbling over his own feet. "The Silph Co. display mate! You gotta see the tech they're showing off!"

The two bumbled off into the ongoing panel and a few feet away Raphael rose an eyebrow. Silph Co, of course he knew who they were. The biggest tech mogul in Kanto, one of the biggest in the world, had their fingers in every pot so to speak. Televisions, smartphones, household appliances, experimental lab tech, government ordered gizmos and gadgets, they did it all and they did it well. Raphael had considered a future there once upon a time, or with some other industry standard, but in the end he knew it wouldn't have been the life he wanted.

Even still… technology had always been a massive interest of his, especially cutting edge stuff, so if he had nothing better to do? With an expression of mild interest he follows the two teens inside, slipping past the entry gate and into the reserved floor space beyond.

The atmosphere at Silph Co.'s dedicated section was entirely different. Less loud talking and excitement, more quiet awe at the marvels on display. There were a number of glass cases presenting various forms of technology the company was famous for. Rocket parts used at the Mauville space center, pokéball designs and the layout and basic programming concepts for Technical Machines and of course, a larger display for the companies various models of 'Silph Scope™', a revolutionary device that flagshipped the companies massive fortune due to its patented ability to see through the illusions of psychic, ghost and other such tricksy pokémon.

Raphael couldn't really hide the sparkle in his eyes as he examined the history and implementation of the numerous devices surrounding him. He surely wiled away an hour or so just wandering and reading. Perhaps Himari had been correct, there was some merit to this place, maybe it was even worth the hassle of the upcoming panel.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Thank you for visiting!" A voice echoed from a nearby stage and Raphael turned his head to face it. He had noticed the stage before, but only now as he paid closer attention did he realize its purpose. It was an hourly show, dedicated to what was arguably Silph Co.'s most prolific and controversial creation.

An artificial pokémon.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, meet Porygon!"

The announcer called out with glee, gesturing to a nearby screen which quickly blared to life. A stylized graphic of integers, blue and pink, surged downwards over a white background… and as the characters faded away, a similarly colored pokémon was visible. "Behold! For years, we've supported independent developers in the creation of pokémon digitization systems and have spent years reverse engineering the process. Only a few years prior to now have we succeeded and this is the result!"

The man gestured to the screen once more and clearly expected the Porygon on screen to do something incredible, the pokémon displayed however, with a very bored expression on its face, simply lightly tapped one of its spinning, polygon arms to the screen in boredom. A moment of awkward silence followed.

"It seems, ah, our little friend is tired after so many performances today..! Haha…" The crowd laughed politely in response and Raph's expression shifted to one of disappointment. Seems the presenter had forgotten that Porygon was as much pokémon as it was program, how many shows did it have to engage in today, he wondered. Considering Raph was barely mustering the energy to watch one of them, no wonder Porygon seemed bored.

"Porygon is a pokémon often created for the authorities by Sylph Co." The presenter continued to explain. From backstage, attached to the monitor through wires, were two PC towers, at a glance Raphael could tell they were probably being used as servers of some kind based on size alone. "Using software we develop in tandem with various world governments, Porygon can break codes used by hackers and invade hostile devices via the use of signal boosters and connected networks. Let's see how Porygon deals with-"

Porygon was gone.

"...wha?" The presenter was stunned for a brief moment, completely unsure of how to react. Porygon's graphical representation was no longer on the screen. Presumably this meant the data being that actually comprised Porygon had also vacated the premises. Various LEDs on the PC towers began to light up at random, staff quickly moved onto the stage, attempting to factory reset certain functions and software. Their frustrated and panicked expressions inferred they were struggling. "Aha, no need to worry folks, it seems Porygon is feeling mischievous today, we'll have it reeled in in just a sec-"

BEEP BEEP
VRRRRR, VRRRR
TING TING TIN

Things continued to go further and further out of control. In unison, massive portions of the crowd began to reach for their phones. Notifications aplenty, not a coincidence, harsh words began to echo from the onlookers.

"What the hell, I don't have the money to afford this order?!"

"Wait, wait wait, stop! Don't text that to my Mom!"

"EEK! Those are VERY private pictures! Stop, stop, why is my phone sending them to Chatter!"

A geeky looking technician quickly stumbled onto the stage, his plaid shirt slick with sweat born of his very recent panic. "Sir! Sir, Porygon, Porygon is… he got into the venues router, he's accessing all devices connected to the wifi on the show floor…"

"He's WHAT?!" The presenter shouts into the microphone and all the people shouting in panic are silenced as their ears are assaulted. Bashfully the presenter pulls the mic away from his mouth and apologizes in a whisper.

"Bring him back then!"

"Sir we can't just bring him back…"

"Reset him then!"

"Sir he's a living thing, it's not like we can just-"

"Then what are we supposed to do?!"

"Give me a USB to Thunderbolt cable please."

At the sound of an unfamiliar voice, the presenter and techy turn to see Raphael on his knees in front of one of the server towers. They stare stunned for a moment, before the Presenter steps forward in a huff. Ready to admonish the unknown, hooded young man stealing the show. Well, not that there was much of a show left, as the crowd now panicked at the live destruction of their social media clout and dignity. "Whodahellareyou?!" He spoke with a slur when he was angry and Raphael sighed as he placed his phone on the table.

"This is the signal booster right?" He responded with a question and the presenter seemed to get even angrier. "Porygon must have used this to access the network. It's how we'll bring him back." The man blustered a little more, but as Raph hinted at a solution, he deflated just a little. "Go on..?"

A fact few knew about Raphael was his love of technology. Throughout the entirety of the gym challenge, it had never become relevant, not even once. A young man, alone and sick, not able to go outside for most of his life, well… he didn't have things like friends to distract him. Sad as that sounded, he didn't have much else to do besides fiddle with computers, it gave him a sense of accomplishment, let him feel useful. If he hadn't committed to the gym challenge in the end, an IT technician would have been next on the list.

A combination of his two passions seemed like the perfect situation for him to be useful.

"Porygon is a living thing, you can't reset him. That's the problem… but it's also the solution. He can't just propagate his own code and duplicate himself on every device. He's a single entity, so we need to trap him in a single place." He explained as the actual IT guy stepped up beside the presenter, both listening intently now. "My phone isn't connected to the wifi, I was using a data connection, luckily that's what'll lure Porygon in. If I connect my phone to the signal booster, let my phone start screaming out data… and then connect to the floor wifi…"

Realization dawned in the techy's eyes and he finished the point with an appreciated level of excitement. "Porygon wouldn't be able to resist such a powerful signal! He'd zip into your phone as swiftly as he could and then-"

"Then when he's in there we pull the cable and take you off the wifi!" The Presenter finishes with a grin, as if he'd figured out the whole thing himself. Raph grimaced at both of them but gave a small nod of resignation. "That is, in fact, the plan." He continued to look at them expectantly for a few moments, frustration building as they stared at him blankly, then exclaimed with annoyance.

"Well? The cable please?"

With cable finally in hand, Raphael stood behind the presenter, who was now advising everyone in the crowd to quickly disconnect their phones from the venue wifi the second that they regained control of their device, this would limit Porygon's options even further and prevent him from spreading too far away.

With necessary drivers installed with the techy's support, Raphael took a deep breath, then plugged the Thunderbolt side of the cable into his smartphone, connecting to the computer, registering with the booster programme, then blasting his phone's signal across the area. Connection established, signal boosted, all he had to do now was be quick enough to spring the trap.

With a hesitant tap, Raphael disables his cellular data and connects to the venue wifi.

Across the datascape, a mischievous porygon was sending lewd texts to someones girlfriend's sister, when he heard the most delightful sound. Turning his head he noticed a powerful device. 'Raph's Phone' was the devices name, it had just connected to the wifi and its signal overpowered every other mobile nearby.

Who knows what juicy secrets or terrible troubles Porygon could get up to if he zipped his way towards that delectable looking MAC address.

Porygon darted forward quickly, zipping between various phones he had already caused trouble on, physically moving as quickly as he could. He arrived at the device in question and found himself in front of a standard lock screen asking for a pattern based password. Easy for the little digital demon, he'd just connect to the internet and access a codebreaker he could use to overcome-

"...bzzt?"

Porygon couldn't couldn't connect to the internet. His eyes widened with panic, this was bad. Turning around, he attempted to rush back along the connection he had followed to his current location.

Only to find that passageway simply didn't exist anymore… and as he focused on that, the one wired connection he could sense was suddenly, physically removed.

He was trapped.

On a lock screen.

Porygon screeched in upset, flying around in circles and slamming his little head against the buttons on the phone, trying to access something, anything! This was hell! A boring prison of nothingness and emptiness! The wallpaper wasn't even customized, it was just one of the boring stock ones!

"PORYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!"

"...yyyyyyyyyy..!

Raphael looked down at his phone screen and idly twisted the disconnected cable in his hand.

Porygon spun around raging at various aspects of his HUD, trying to access anything he could, but Raphael had shifted the phone into airplane mode. Every form of outward networking was shut off and the controls to enable them were locked beyond Porygon's reach. Crisis averted, just like that.

"Ladies and Gentleman! We have a hero in our midst!" Before he could react further however, Raphael felt his arm being grabbed and raised into the air by the presenter, Porygon infused phone in hand. "H-Hey! Get off!" He resisted but the Presenter shot him a glare with a bead of sweat on his brow.

"Listen kid." He quickly whispered away from the mic. "That little digital dickhead cost us some big bucks today so you're getting a free pokémon out of this, do me a solid and let me try and roll with the punches!" He quickly turned back to the crowd and Raphael felt a burst of panic as his hood slowly started to slip loose…

"This young man has wrangled in our pesky program! That little troublemaker won't be causing anymore trouble today, but surely this is enough to convince you of the power and potential of Pory-"

"IS THAT RAPHAEL ALLARD?!"

...fuck.

Raphael froze as his hood now hung uselessly over his shoulders. Within seconds a girl wearing a gaudy pink Saffron Mew Mew outfit was standing up straight and pointing with excitement and… something else a little more disturbing in her eyes.

"Wait, she's right!"

"Number 810?!"

"HEARTO-SAN?! Please, you have to touch me! Just touch my hand, I'll never wash it again!"

Like zombified drones, they began to approach the stage, leaving the presenter to loosen his grip as he stared in surprise and confusion. "H-Heart… who?" He mumbled, before turning his head to look down at Raph, but the famous challenger had already slipped away and sprinted off the back of the stage.

The last thing he heard as he fled into the crowds, hood pulled back up high, were the regretfully pained screams of the Sylph Co. presenter being trampled into the floor by the over-zealous feet of an army of fangirls.

Spoiler:

Jay · Oct 6, 2021

Raphael Allard
> StruggleCon
> Shades of Blue - Part 1

..

....

- A JP featuring Chloe Hayes -

Raphael slipped between panels and con-goers while gripping his hood tightly over the top of his head. He hated this. He hated every second of this. He could still hear those girls screeching in the distance. Was that the kind of person that frequented Himari's weird forum? That was absolutely horrifying. He wanted nothing more to do with it. His feet pounded against the convention hall floor as he finally broke into a quiet corner. A designated seating area for people to unwind as they ploughed their way through hundreds of struggle users, which Raph quickly realized equated to a sweaty mess.

Still… looking around, it seemed that he'd shaken his pursuers well enough. This was too much, he'd just have to call Himari and tell her to cancel whatever weird panel she'd set up. Lifting his phone out of his pocket, he glanced at the screen and grimaced. Dancing around on his lock screen as a very angry looking computer programme, smashing its graphical head against the 9 number lock screen and mashing in any number of codes it could to try and break in.

Porygon had already hard locked the phone for three hours due to an excessive amount of failed attempts.

"You've got... to be kidding me…" Raph groaned deeply, defeated, before slipping the phone into his pockets and sinking tiredly onto an empty bench. He was sure there were some people out there who'd kill for this level of attention, so why the hell did it have to go to him?

Elsewhere in the convention center, Chloe had been rather enjoying herself for the most part. Aside from the pervasive stench of sweat, and the rare person(?) who probably hadn't bathed in a month at best... the con being a largely orderly affair made it a lot of fun to weave through people and check out the wide variety of booths and costumes.

A man from one of the fashion agencies tried to get her to sign on, which she had to decline several times. He was very insistent until Chloe's Luxio left his Pokeball. She found a friend working at another panel and caught up with them. There was a particularly strange booth about one of the gym challengers, but it left her mind as easily as she passed it by. It was probably better that way.

She tried to watch some of the Struggle streamers' charity battles, but only managed three before the surrounding excitement got a little unbearable. She was used to rowdy audiences, but con-goers were really a beast of their own. It didn't help that some of them wanted to battle her as well. She retreated from the crowd and made for a break area. While usually crowded, many high priority panels had begun to run their events and shows, so it was now almost entirely empty, bar a small handful of people.

One of those people, who had been glad to have his hiding spot become more and more solitary, was Raphael. His hood still up, he wasn't really doing anything, a bored expression on his face as he occasionally glanced towards a nearby clock, content to simply while the hours away until his inevitable and concerning appearance to his wide array of "fans".

If it weren't for the lack of other people present, Raphael wouldn't have noticed Chloe enter, but when everybody seemed to be leaving his secluded corner, it was enough to make him glance when someone entered again. For some reason this girl looked familiar to him, though he couldn't exactly pinpoint why. Racking his brain, he was certain she wasn't a classmate of his. Worst case scenario, she was a fan; best case, he was imagining things.

Seeing no reason to take risks, he turned his eyes away, looking back towards the clock and resigning himself to wait as before. Some thirty seconds of mind-numbing clock gazing later, he checked his phone again. Porygon refused to give up on its failed infiltration. By now it was likely more irritated that it couldn't leave either. With Raphael's phone in airplane mode, it had no access to the device's networking features without unlocking it to re-enable them.

The seats further emptied as people came and went, mostly the latter. Although the girl he felt he knew returned and sat across from him. Turns out she just went to the vending machine for a bottle of water. She seemed happy to watch some of the featured panels on the break area's televisions—understandably so—even if only one had audio.

It was comfortable for the time. Raphael watched a few of the shown panels himself, and eventually it ended up being just the two of them. She struck up a conversation first, tilting her head and looking him in the face.

"Have I seen you somewhere before?"

Raph froze a little as he heard the feminine voice addressing him. His eyes slowly turned to look across the table awkwardly. This was probably the worst case scenario right? Well, maybe not. If she actually was a rabid fan of his she'd not have to ask. Mild interest was a lot better than fervent enthusiasm, but he still waited a moment before an answer. "It's possible, yeah," he mumbled, now facing her properly.

She was striking, the type of person who drew eyes as she walked across the show floor at places like this… and not because of cosplay. Her blue eyes almost seemed to glitter in the light, a stark contrast to the icy pools his own often got likened to. "I'm part of the gym challenge..." Then he raised an eyebrow, considering the feeling of familiarity from before. "Have I seen you somewhere before?"

"So that was it!" the girl beamed. "I knew I recognized those Pancham eyes from somewhere." She knew she'd seen his face before, but she hadn't paid any attention to Galar's gym challenge until recently. She had spent a good part of her time in Hammerlocke just catching up.

"I just started it myself," she continued, then giggled. "Honestly it was kind of an accident. So, I'm Chloe. Nice to meet you!"

"..." Raph stared blankly for just a moment. Pancham eyes? What did that even mean? Still, at least now he remembered where he had seen the girl in front of him. Chloe Hayes, one of the latecomers to the Kabu battle. Raph hadn't watched many of the fights that had taken place after his own, but hers had been a special case. A random contestant from another region, winning against the odds and getting sponsored? Kabu was a strange old man sometimes, but Raphael couldn't disagree that Chloe had performed admirably.

"So that's what it was… you're the Sinnoh girl that wandered onto the pitch, right? I saw your match." He paused. She wasn't a fan but a fellow competitor; that made things slightly easier. Slightly. "I'm Raphael, one of Sonya's sponsored trainers."

Chloe and Raphael briefly fell into a conversation about Galar's sponsor system before he glanced at the nearby clock in a moment of silence. The time it showed filled him with a rising sense of dread, and the realization that he still needed to contact Himari. He pulled out his phone. Porygon was taking a nap on top of the keypad, waiting for the phone's lockout to end. As much as it was getting on his nerves, at least it kept the thing charged.

"I hate to ask this, but can I borrow your phone? I need to make a call."

"Hm? Sure." Thankfully, it took little persuading. Chloe retrieved hers from her purse—a flip phone that had a folding screen on the inside. Was that the popular thing in Sinnoh now? She opened the dialer and passed it to Raphael.

He was glad she had been so ready to accept his request, but he still disliked the act of asking at all, so he made it quick. Dialing in Himari's number as best as he could remember, he waited for a few rings before she deigned to pick up.

"Hello? Sorry this isn't really a great time for me right now." She sounded… stressed, to say the least. Her voice was high strung and she was clearly tired. Raphael felt a surge of guilt wash over him, but not enough to stop him from proceeding.

"Listen, I—"

"Sorry, one second." She cut him off, before engaging in a back and forth with someone else on the other line. He caught snippets, it wasn't a pleasant conversation. She had clearly been dealing with this a lot today. "Listen, sir, I don't know how you got this number, but if this is about getting something signed or a private meeting then I'm afraid you'll be getting the same answer as everyone else."

"No, Himari, it's Raph, as in Raphael? Your client or whatever? I need to talk to you abo—"

"Raphael..? As in Raphael Allard?!"

Uh oh.

Songbird · Oct 6, 2021

Shades of Blue - Part 2

Raphael's view slowly drifted up from the table and saw a pair of girls standing at the edge of the waiting area. They were in their mid-teens and dressed in some sort of ridiculous cosplay that most likely came from something they were too young to be watching. One girl with braces at the forefront, had a sparkle in her eye as she leaned down to see his face underneath the hood, he instinctively pulled it down a little with his free hand.

"Wait, Raph?" Himari's voice echoed from the other end of the phone, finally recognizing the sound of his voice. "The panel starts in a few minutes, I need you to—"

"Yeah, uh, just, reschedule it or something please, I gotta go now." He cut her off and slowly rose from his seat, moving the phone down from his face and hanging up while Himari shouted something irate from the other end.

"I'm… I'm just… I'm your biggest fan! Raph, could you, um, I mean, I need you to..."

The other girl was speaking now, slowly approaching his current position. Behind her a few others were taking notice, men and women were slipping out from between the crowds. Various ages, various expressions, many staring at him. "I'm… really not… I have to go…"

Raph set the phone down on the table and slid it gently towards Chloe before slowly backing away from the approaching crowd, only to bump into something soft behind him. Turning around he saw another woman, a few years older than him, with disconcertingly… eager eyes. "Oh, wow. You're everything they say you are, aren't you… You're not busy, are you?"

"Ugh, no… I mean yes, I am busy, look I'm not…" But his words were mostly ignored as the small crowd of fans were homing in on him like a beacon shining in a sea of people. Despite his efforts to lay low, a misplaced squeal had thrown him to the Houndours.

"Sorry folks, he's with me!" Before he could dig his own grave any further, though, Chloe wrapped herself around one of his arms, immediately dragging him into another one. She had a carefree smile on, undeterred by the growing crowd. Raphael couldn't see from the side, but something about her expression had stopped the women in particular in their tracks. He could swear he heard a few of the men click their tongues. "I would appreciate if you didn't interrupt, okay?"

Raphael could do nothing but play along as Chloe took his hand and pulled him from the rabid fan encirclement. She paid no mind to anyone trying to stop her, nor to the teen girls whipping their phones out and snapping photos at disturbingly extreme speed. One of the older ladies tried to chase them down, but she was immediately rebuffed by one of Chloe's Pokemon coming out on its own accord.

She led him elsewhere in the convention center, although he couldn't help but question whether she knew where she was going. When they made it far enough away, he pointed out another clearing in the forest of bodies for them to stop at. "Think we're safe now," Chloe noted, thanking her Luxio as it returned to its capsule. Then she let go of Raphael.

"You're really popular, huh?"

Raph stared dumbfounded for a moment from beneath the hood. Forcing his face back into its default stoicism, he reached for the back of his neck and rubbed it as he sighed awkwardly. "That's…" He paused for a moment, considering exactly how to respond to that. "...not on purpose, I guess. It just kind of happened. Sorry to get you involved."

"It was bound to happen, don't worry about it." She laughed lightly, as if she expected nothing less. He couldn't fathom where she was coming from to have that kind of confidence.

He let a moment of silence hang between them. This girl had grabbed him and said he was with her to drive off his fans. There were many ways that could be interpreted, and the media would pick the one it liked best. He froze in place.

Had he… Had he just pulled a Ruben? Was that what this was?

His eyes returned to a bewildered state and he zoned out, palm on his forehead. Being famous was such a pain.

"... 'Bound to happen,' huh?" he tiredly mumbled the words. "I mean, not really, right? You could have just ditched me when I gave you your phone back. I wouldn't have held it against you."

"They already saw us together, didn't they?" Chloe tilted her head, leaving the implication in the air that whether they split up or not, it would have made little difference in the media department. In a way, she was right.

The two of them alone, seeing Chloe enjoy herself in Raph's company would have been enough to cause wild speculation after people realized Raphael was... Raphael. That said, she still didn't have to involve herself in his affairs, and their connection would have faded to no more than "fellow gym challengers" as long as they kept some distance.

"Hey, wanna go do something fun?" And yet, she was entirely unfazed by all the trouble she doubtlessly knew was coming for her, looking up at him with a sparkle in her eyes. "I saw an amusement park downtown, but it'd just be weird to go alone."

"... What?" Raph was baffled, bemused, and genuinely confused. They already agreed that being seen together, not to mention the way she spoke to his fans, was about to cause some serious publicity issues. So why did she want to keep pushing the envelope further?

He could not understand what was going through her head. The more he tried to figure out her train of thought, the less she appeared to have one at all. Even as she knew exactly what she was asking, she was starry-eyed and uncaring of the obvious consequences.

Still, his hands were tied. If he stayed the mob would hunt him down again, or Himari would rant and rave for who knows how long. He already told her to reschedule the panel, and he needed to get off the radar. Escaping StruggleCon was a start, but disappearing into a different crowd was a better option than hiding in his hotel room. Plus, he supposed Chloe did save him from his own flailing, if nothing else. She seemed weirdly sincere.

"You know... I guess I could do that. I, have no idea where it is though. You'll have to lead the way." Pleased with his answer, Chloe pulled up a map on her phone, and they moved for the exit.

It took maybe a twenty minute bus ride to the Hammerlocke amusement park. Much to Chloe's delight they had discounts for the gym challengers; with StruggleCon running, the lines were shorter than usual too. She and Raphael paid for a day pass and headed in.

They were quick to dive in at Chloe's insistence, starting with a pendulum ride. Then they hopped on one themed like a Hitmontop, a rotor that kept the park-goers pinned to the wall as it spun and dropped the floor out from underneath.

They cooled off on a log flume before having a go at the park's fastest coaster. It topped 160 km/h, and peaked high enough to see most of the city before a heart-pounding drop. Chloe had her hair tied in a ponytail, but Raphael's was blown completely back and stuck after they got off. She didn't stop laughing until he fixed it.

Then to unwind, the pair grabbed caramel apples from a stall and checked out some of the less intense attractions. Among them, a stunt show from a daredevil on his Salamence took up a good chunk of time, though they arrived in the middle of it.

There was also a shooting game for Pokemon plushies that Chloe tried her hand at. When she had no luck, Raphael thought to call the game rigged. Before he said anything, the clerk gave him the gun; he managed to knock one out on his first shot, so the stand clerk retrieved the Stufful doll he hit and handed it to the girl. The radiant smile she gave as she thanked Raph actually dragged a smirk out of him, but he didn't let it stay for long.

The sun was on the horizon when they finally left the park. Raphael saw Chloe back to her hotel by the time the street lights were coming on.

"Thanks again for coming with me, Raphael," Chloe said to him outside the building, hugging her new plushie a little tighter. "It was so much fun!"

"..." He didn't know what kind of magic she used, but not a soul bothered them in the park. Maybe it's that the crazy fans were all at the convention waiting for a panel that wasn't going to happen. If anyone did know who they were, none stopped them. There were probably plenty more photos taken of them, too—they were in the park for hours, after all. Chloe had an energy about her that made it so easy to just forget about things.

"It was… exhausting, to be honest." He let out a slight sigh, but as he pulled himself back together, he had a small smile again. "But exhausting can be fun, sometimes."

Regardless of the reason for her doing all of this, Raphael thought it was nice to do something normal for once.

In the hotel's entrance lights, Chloe was looking into his eyes, then grinned as if satisfied by what she saw. Suddenly, she rooted through her purse for a notepad and pen. She scribbled something down on it and gave the paper to him. "We'll probably see more of each other for the gym challenge. If you ever feel like it, give me a call—let's do this again sometime. Good night, Raph!"

And… she was gone.

Raphael let out a breath he felt like he'd been holding in since he'd left StruggleCon. He was in no way used to… whatever it was that had just happened. He felt more tired now than he had in ages, which was really saying something considering what he'd been through recently. He checked the paper in his hand—he had barely registered her giving it to him in the moment. It was her phone number.

Wait, her phone number? After today, had she, did they just..? His face turned an uncharacteristic shade of red and he took a moment to shake his head, as if to physically rid himself of those thoughts.

He reached into his pocket to retrieve his phone and turned on the screen, only to find Porygon crying from being neglected for so long. It was looking at him with big puppy eyes and digital tears streaming down its face. He had completely forgotten about its existence, the girl was so full of energy that it was distracting.

"Listen…" Raph sighed, looking down at the screen and getting the little program's attention. "Better or worse, you're stuck with me now… could you do me a favor and cooperate a little? It'll be a lot more interesting than waiting on a lock screen."

Porygon stared out of the HUD for a moment with trepidation, but realizing it wasn't really in a position to negotiate, it reluctantly nodded its head. Raph, with a relieved expression, proceeded to unlock his phone and let Porygon explore the admittedly sparse files and apps therein with glee.

"Now, if you could, I need you to add someone to my contacts."

Dragon · Oct 6, 2021

MewTube

The background crowd cheered on the open venue. One girl in a Pikachu outfit was directly in front of a camera, holding a microphone. "Pikaaa! Welcome everyone, and hello to all of you watching, and of course, this is PikaKira! If you're just tuning in now, we've got a really special game coming up later on, it's going to be a grudge match between the force of destruction herself - that's your Demon Queen, Valentine, going against the King of all the Savages, MichaelJameson. Alright, lemme hear you for Valentine!" Valerie came out towards the venue from behind a dark curtain, greeting the crowd with waves, and blowing kisses everywhere.

Hail the Demon Queen!
Val's got this!
WE STAN!

"Val looooves ya all too, my Little Monsters!" Valerie happily shouts. "And, what's good PikaKira!! Lookin' cute as always - more so in that costume!"

The collective loud cheers from the crowd were telling: Valerie was a fan favourite. Valerie then met up with the crew on stage. "Valentine, you've gotten yourself three badges here in Galar, now you're scheduled to battle on a 6 on 6 match against Michael Jameson, how do you feel? Are you confident that you can pull off a win?"

"Hah! EZ win, girl! Your girl Val's gonna rule this battle, the Demon Kingdom's gonna ownnnnn Strugglecon!" Valerie declared, with the crowd cheering behind her. "I mean for SRS, the DQ ain't afraid of some nonsensical bloody clown! Those two bros, Tate and Michael? Couldn't even beat a babyyyy. Which btw, rumors said they totally did once, but HEY, I'll let Chatter peeps decide that!"

"Good stuff, good stuff! Now then -- who's here to see Michael take it?!" Michael and Tate Jameson both appeared from the entrance next. This time, the crowd's reaction was mixed. A few of them, mainly some girls and some Unovian fans cheered, but most of them booed. Michael Jameson, whether or not you'd like him or not, he was one who commanded attention; of course, that's what having 1.5 million subscribers can do. "Looks like we've got more Valerie fans! Interesting!"

"LETS GOOOOOO! What's good, Galarrrrrrrrr!" As Michael took an extra microphone, the boos only grew stronger. But, it didn't really seem to faze them. "It's so good to see you too! Man, Val fans over there lookin' like a sausage fest, but we appreciate you too!"

"Michael, you're going to be battling Valerie soon in a full match, how confident are you going in?"

"Aw man, I dunno if this girl is even joking!" Michael replied. "GALAR, are you ready for one of the biggest internet matches of the year?! Are you ready for me to beat this girl's ass?!"

"Pssh, beat my ass? Nah man, you're not even gonna satisfy the DQ! That's what your last girl said too!" Valerie cheekily said with a grin. "Val the DQ is gonna OWN you, like a pimp and his hoe."

**** MICHAEL!
**** MICHAEL!
**** MICHAEL!

Now the crowd was getting hostile. "Look, I know how much you guys want to, but I'm too busy! I'm flattered though, thank you!" Michael laughed. "Valerie, this ain't no game, girl! This ain't no game! Your family is watching! They're gonna watch your Pokemon getting BURIED! 6-0 ownage! Oh and hey, hey! You wanna talk about girls? Whatever date you wanna get, you're gonna wanna call that off! Because after this match, you're gonna be my *****!"

"Ah, it's obvious you two have beef with each other," PikaKira observed. "Like, nuclear heat?"

"Actually, we like V-Ray!" Tate stepped in. "And her fans! Like, sure, you haters are a bunch of nerds in costumes, and on Chatter you guys constantly gives us messages defending yourselves on why we should care about you: well uh, actually Tate, I'm a level 65 Dark Paladin, so you better watch your mouth, but that's cute! Like yeah, VIDEO GAMES, right? Yeaaah I love video games too! And then... I lost my virginity, hahaha!"

"Look, the fact is, The Savage army is the strongest army in the world," Michael said, even among all the simultaneous loud boos and cheers. "And at Struggle Rivals, you'll see why first hand, V-Ray! We can't be beat!"

"Don't underestimate the Demon Kingdom!" Valerie warned. "If you do, you're gonna get conquered, like all those before us!"

The crowd - and all of Valerie's fans cheered for her. The bothers cockily nodded. "Oh, by the way, Valerie! I heard you were a big fan of the professor in Kalos, Professor Kuzunoha, right? Did you remember the professor before her? The late Professor Sycamore?" Valerie leered cautiously at Michael. What was he on about? "Wait, wait hold up, I'm a religious man, so I wanna take this opportunity to chat with them. I wanna... ask him something." Michael then raised his head up in the air, his finger pointing upwards. "Mr. Sycamore, sir, if you don't mind? Aw, who am I kidding?" He promptly stomped on the ground, and shifted his head downwards to the ground. "HEY SYCAMORE! WE NEED TO TALK!"

Good lord. Valerie was so stunned, all she can do was shake her head in a cringe. "Don't get me wrong, Mr. Sycamore, I'm a huge fan, and I'm honored by what you guys did years ago; you all are legends..." the crowd was heavily booing him as Michael, with his head down, was chatting away in his own world. "But, were you aware that you, through your teachings, produced the worst excuse of a loose cannon, in Val here? Now she's gonna get schooled, by the one and ONLY, TRUE loose! Cannon!"

Valerie rolled her eyes. She had a lot of things to say then, but the crowd's loud reactions made things difficult. "Alllright, things are getting crazy here! Now remember everyone, to catch these two on the main stage of Strugglecon tonight, and remember, to keep things electrifying, pikaaaaa!"

#Strugglecon #Valentine #Micheal #Tate
Valentine & The Jameson Bros. Square Off!
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Strugglecon
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Valerie and Jameson confront each other in one of the most tense conferences yet!

DQ rules, Jamesons Drool ღゝ◡╹)ノ♡
Poké:

1000 ♡ Friends: 23

P1: Valerie!
P2: Aeliana!

PRESS START!

"Welcome to the Demon Kingdoooom!" After Valerie finally finds back her panel, it was filled with the cheerful wails and shouts from Valerie, Queen Demon of the Valentine fanbase. Some people were lined up, just to see her, and Valerie for them, were signing various things for them, even taking some pictures for free. "Who's this one comin' out to? Mmmkay! To my lovely minion… @NotaSimon56! Aka, Frederick! The Demon Queen loves you!"

Aeliana stood close to the end of the line. As per usual, Mahina on one side with Tampa on the other. The Alolan had never been to a convention before, and coming to Strugglecon just to see her girlfriend in particular had been quite the experience. There were various booths selling merchandise, food stalls, lines and lines of people everywhere… It reminded Aeliana of being in the stadiums for gym matches.

"I didn't know Valerie had this much of a following," Aeliana mused aloud, but to no one in particular. "I guess this… streaming thing she must do is pretty serious business after all…"

"Listen up, my Little Monsters!" Valerie called out to everyone that was hanging nearby."If any of you have the bravado to challenge The Demon Queen, you will be awarded! That is… if you can entertain me, fuahahaha! Challenge me if you dare!" The crowd muttered and mumbled to themselves. Some were interested, but most didn't have much experience.

Aeliana's eyes widened. A battle? She had expected that the line would've exploded with excitement, all of Valerie's fans jumping at the chance to battle her. Not many of them seemed to be moving at the chance, however.

"Well, might as well make it a performance…" Aeliana thought with a small giggle. She took a deep breath before stepping forward. "Oh, I dare to challenge the queen!"

The crowd all turned towards Aeliana. Some of them then muttered more to each other.

That's… Yeah, that's Aeliana, a challenger of the Galar League!
And she wants to battle Demon Queen Val!
Challenger vs. Challenger? Oh man, this is gonna be sweet!

"Hohooo, a hero! And a cutie, at that!" Valerie said with a grin and wink. "Well, honey. Come to challenge the Queen of Demons, luv? Got what it takes to save Hammerlocke from our Demon Kingdom rule, do you?"

Aeliana felt a small blush rush to her cheeks. She took a step forward, followed by a small breath as well. The Alolan had been looking a bit out of place up to this point. While many of the convention goers, both panelists and guests, had been in costumes, Aeliana had been wearing a baggy and oversized poncho… that all changed now.

The blue-haired trainer grabbed hold of the poncho and ripped it off of her form. Underneath was something Aeliana never thought she'd wear by choice. She was clad in a chainmail crop top of sorts, with red fabric underneath. It was offset by a red bikini-like bottom, with a matching chainmail-like skirt hanging off of her right hip. A pair of brown, leather boots were on her feet and matching gloves covered her hands. Hanging off of her left hip was a prop sword, one that she pulled from the sheath before pointing it towards Valerie.

"Your reign of evil ends here, Demon Queen!" Aeliana declared in a loud voice.

"Hah! Claws up, my Little Monsters, your Demon Queen is going to BATTLE!" Valerie's declaration sounded off the many cheers and shouts from the dressed fanbase. "The place of battle shaaaaall beeeee… The HELLS COLOSSEUM!" Which is also known as the Strugglecon Battle Arena. "Alrighty then… since my loyal minions are here for a good show… why don't we make this a Double Battle?"

Aeliana looked down, seeing an eager grin on Tampa's face. The Croconaw looks up at her trainer, her tail swishing back and forth all the while. "We accept!"

****

At the so called...'Hell's Colosseum', the battle arena's stage was spacious enough for Pokemon to move around and fight, while the audience was able to watch from a seating area, or passerbys could walk and watch. The cheering from Valerie's fan club group was as loud and invigorating to her as ever. The grace from their Demon Queen, raising her arms up in the air, waving at each and every one of them was a reassuring and lovable sight. Valerie stood on one end of the stage, while Aeliana stood on the other.

"Righty! You know the rules and stuff, right?" Valerie asked. "First one to KO both of their Pokemon wins the whole thing! Easy peasy, right? Thennnn it's time for the Demon Queen…"

TO SLAY THE HERO!

On cue from the collective chant, Valerie sent out her first friend: of course, being Flame, who was resting comfortably in his Pokeball after his fight against Kabu, but still was geared up for a fiery fight. "Lookin' hot as ever, Flame-bro! Let's light em' up!" He promptly ignited the flames on his back, followed up with a strong battle cry. "And as for DQ's second… I've got a special surprise for all of ya!" The anticipated look from the crowd was telling. Though Valerie didn't move a muscle. No Pokeball… nothing.

That was until… her shadow started to move. On its own. It spreaded out around the floor, then gave a sick, sinister grin on its face, with eyes glowed a crimson red. It was something out of a cheap horror flick… the oo's and ahh's from the crowd resounded the place, as something from Valerie's shadow suddenly popped out. A Gastly. "This is Cuddles, everyone! The DQ's new ally, and trusted buddy! With her, my enemies won't stand… a ghost of a chance!!" Cuddles the Gastly rolled out her long tongue. As she was definitely a trickster at heart, who knows what kind of schemes she has up her sleeve in this battle. "So then, what do you have in store for me and the Demon Kingdom, Hero?"

Aeliana looked down to her left. Tampa stood at the ready, eyeing up Flame with excitement. Her eyes were shining with intensity. Her hips were swaying back and forth as if dancing with glee over the prospect of battling against the streamer's Quilava. She gave the gator Pokémon a nod of approval, who in turn gurgled with glee as she waddled into place before the blue-haired "hero".

"And for my second Pokémon, I pick K-"

Before Aeliana could finish her sentence, a bright flash of light came from one of the poké balls on her hip. She slowly looked forward beside Tampa, but did not see the intended Cubone standing by his side. Instead, it was the small and scrappy looking Tyrogue, Jet. He let out a fierce sounding grunt, staring confidently at both of the Demon Queen's Pokémon.

"Hohoho, no surprise you'd go with Tampa!" Valerie said, beaming. "And a Tyrogue! Looks like a strong lil'mon! But my buddies aren't pushovers either!" Flame let loose another howl, while Cuddles did her own thing and just floated around the place. "Alrighty, hero's rule! You get the first go! You better gimme all you got, like a middle aged office worker woman at an all you can eat bar!"

"What does…" Aeliana paused. Baffling as that statement might have been, this was not the time nor the place to question her girlfriend's… selective choice of similes. She gave the streamer a confident nod before pointing her prop sword forward again. "Tampa, start things off with Dragon Dance! Jet, Focus Energy!"

"Alright! Flame, use Swift on Tempa, and Cuddles, Lick that Jet clean!" Flame fired himself up, releasing a barrage of stars that surrounded himself, before releasing them towards his target. Cuddle's tongue was long and springy - enough for it to extend like elastic towards the smaller Pokemon.

"Tampa, use an Aqua Jet!" Aeliana called out. "Jet, try to dodge the Lick!"

Tampa stopped her dancing, feeling a surge of power rush through her blue body. A blast of water launched out from behind her, which sent her flying towards Flame. The stars from the Quilava's Swift attack pummel into the Croconaw, but Tampa managed to shake the pain off as she sailed towards the target. Meanwhile, Jet managed to just barely dodge the Gastly's Lick. He sent Cuddles an annoyed glare, before attempting… and failing to swat the ghost-type away.

Flame was knocked away by the water-type blow. With Tempa being a water type Pokemon, it was for sure a difficult match up for Flame. He managed to swerve himself back on his feet. "We'll have to strike hard and fast! Give her a Quick Attack!" Flame boosted himself to rush up, attempting to strike the opponent with the full weight of his body, combined with his blinding speed.

Cuddles briskly and nimbly evaded Jet's attacks. Looks like she was having fun out there, despite the intensity of the match. "Alrighty Cuddles, let's go with a Night Shade!" Valerie called out. In response, Cuddle's whole body seemingly warped and turned, creating a horrifying image to her opponent, blanketed with a shroud of darkness.

Tampa recoiled from the sudden blow from Valerie's Quilava. The Croconaw hopped back before rubbing her jaw with her left arm. The Croconaw prepared to counter with a Water Gun, but stopped when a sudden yell gained her attention. Tampa shifted her gaze towards her battle partner, worry evident on her face as she watched Jet curl up in fear.

Jet found himself staring at a shadowy figure, one taking the shape of a young man. The figure glared down at the Tyrogue, eyes glowing red, before suddenly zooming forward towards the small fighting-type. The Tyrogue stumbled back in pain as a result.

"Tampa! Switch targets! Use Bite on her Gastly!" Aeliana called.

"Give her a Lick Attack!"

Cuddles switched her target to the Crocanaw charging right at her. She made her tongue into a whip to swat Tampa away. Tampa evaded the first strike however, and right as Cuddles attempted another strike… Tampa bit her. Right on her tongue. Cuddles wailed and flailed around her tongue, trying to whip away Tampa who bit down hard. She finally managed to do so — and ended up dropping her tongue pitifully on the floor. Turns out if someone bit your tongue, it really, really hurts. Lesson learned, for Valerie.

"Hang in there, Cuddly-sis!" Valerie encouraged Cuddles. Her Gastly looked back at her with a pained, saddened expression, as if someone took away her candy. She floated back to Valerie, sticking out her tongue for Valerie to see where that meanie Croconaw bit her. "Uh oh… guess you got a boo-boo, eh? Aw… maybe no candy for a while—"

Wait. No candy? No… candy…? No candy for her, maybe for days. It resounded in her mind again and again.

No candy.
No candy.
NO…. CaNdyyyyyYYYY???

And that made her irritated. No… it made her mad. Furious She glowed a cartoonish red. Losing her playful expression, she leered down the Croconaw. No more playing around.

"Wait! You wanna use that? It's kiiiinda risky!" But Cuddles turned back at her and wailed a frightful screech. She was serious. No candy, no more lives. "Ooookay! Ready… give her a Curse!" Cuddles suddenly conjured up a large, gaseous creature, using bits of her own form. With a hateful wail that stirred up the crowd, it then turned back to Cuddles, striking her with one of its… perceived limbs. Cuddles looked like she was in pain, as she was blanketed with a hellish-red aura. But after a while of becoming limp, she directed her gaze back to Tampa, her eyes glowed crimson red. The crowd was excited, but on edge, as some of them had looks — they had a bad feeling about this.

"Meanwhile… Flame, keep the pressure!" Valerie shouted. "Use Ember on Jet!"

",Jet, Rolling Kick!" Aeliana countered. "Tampa, hang in there! I've got a feeling we need to finish Cuddles off quick! Use Ice Fang!"

Jet charged forward, leaping into the air to deliver a fierce kick to the Quilava. Flames shot out from the fire-type's mouth, crashing against the charging Tyrogue's foot. He gritted his teeth in pain, but still attempted to connect the attack. Meanwhile, a frosty breath began to exhale from Tampa's mighty mouth. Her teeth took on an icy sheen as she launched herself at the Gastly, only to stop as a sudden throb of pain gripped her chest.

"Quick Flame, move out of the way! Cuddles, let's hit em' back with a Night Shade!" Flame stopped his fire attacks, preparing to roll out of harm's way. Meanwhile, Cuddles took her chance — this time, firing black energy beams from her eyes, straight towards Tampa.

"Tampa, we can outspeed her! Use Aqua Jet on Cuddles! Jet keep Flame busy with a Rolling Kick!" Aeliana called out. Tampa launched herself forward once again being propelled by a blast of water. As the Croconaw launched herself towards the small ghost, Jet sent a spinning kick in Flame's direction.

Cuddles was blasted by Tampa's blow, sending it flying backwards through the stadium. "Don't give up!" Valerie cheered her on. Luckily, Cuddles managed to keep herself floating. Meanwhile, Flame was busy dodging everyone of Jet's strikes. But then, as Flame stumbled backwards, Jet managed to land one, through predicting Flame's movements. Flame was knocked back, but he also remained standing. Cuddles and Flame were left standing side by side. Man, she's as relentless as ever, Valerie thought. "Guess we'll just have to… kick things up a notch! Feast your eyes on the TRUE powa' of the Demon Queeeeeeeen!" The audience -- mostly her fans -- roared in cheers. With a confident flick of her wrist, Valerie was ready for her plan in action.

"On the fields of love and war, we're gonna own em' all!" she chanted. The audience continued to cheer -- it was THE chant. The same chant from Hulbury. "It's time for the DQ's faaaaavourite move!" She made both of her hands shaped together into a heart-symbol, drawing a heart with them in the air. "Tiiiiiime… for ♡♡♡ Attract! ♡♡♡" Flame and Cuddles both winked cutely - this caused many pink hearts to form around them. They played with them and chucked them all right up in the air, covering the area in a delightful pink. They both then released the hearts to their foes, like a machine gun ready to blast their opponents.

The pink hearts slammed into both Jet and Tampa, sending the Pokémon both reeling back in response. Both Pokémon braced themselves for pain… but the pain never came. A look of confusion comes to Tampa's face as she looks over towards her partner. Jet seems equally just as baffled by the attack, offering the Croconaw only a silent shrug. The questions are soon answered however, when Jet watches as Tampa looks back up and locks eyes with Flame. A strange look comes to the Croconaw's face. Her smile… somehow became quite goofy looking. Well, even more goofy-looking than usual.

"Tampa, Water Gun!" Aeliana called out. But Tampa doesn't respond. Rather, she merely waved at Flame, coupled with a silly grin and giggly gurgle.

Flame looked back at Valerie, with a look of a chilled expression. There was something… not right about all this. Valerie only responded with a wink. I ammmm the Demon Queen after all! she whispered. Flame had doubts, but he shook them off. "Cuddles, go handle that Jet!" Cuddles floated in, to try and take the advantage of the confusion. Speaking of which…

"Well boo, if Attract won't work on ya, how about something reaaaally spooky!" Cuddles manically laughed at Valerie's suggestion. "All right, chat! First free subs to anyone who can guess my next move! "

Shadow Ball!!
Lick em' good!
Oh! Poiiiisonous ball of Toxic!!

"So close! Iiiits… Confuuuuuuse Ray!" Cuddles whole body became enveloped by a distinct, yet eerie flash of white light. The light sparkled that illuminated the stadium, sending the audience in awe. "But nice guesses! I'll gift the chat 10 subs later on!"

Jet grunted, the small fighting-type grabbing his head in frustration. He suddenly felt very dizzy, as if the entire room was starting to spin. Aeliana bit her lip as she watched. This was not how she imagined this battle going.

"T-Tampa, Jet! Hang in there guys!" she cheered on. "We need to get rid of one of these guys together! Double team on Flame! Tampa, go for another Aqua Jet! Jet, try Tackle!" Tampa shook her head, as if snapping out of a trance temporarily. She narrowed her eyes in the direction of the Quilava, before launching herself straight at the fire-type. Jet on the other hand, continued to fumble about. He tripped over his own feet, tumbling to the ground with a pained huff. "Tampa, you're covering for two this round! Shift into a Bite!"

"Sweet! Alrighty Tampa, come on down n' join the party! Flame, your hottest Flame Wheel!" Flame curled up into a ball, rolling himself towards Tampa, igniting himself into a ball of fire. The two attacks collided, pushing Flame as it looked like he had gotten the worst of it. "Go and cover Flame, Cuddles! Toxic!" Cuddles then from her mouth released a venomous liquid - one of pure poison. It obviously seemed as though Valerie wanted to keep up the status afflictions.

Tampa quickly craned her neck, staring up towards the Gastly as she began to spew the putrid, purple liquid from its mouth. The gator Pokémon brought her claws to her nose and mouth, doing her best to try and keep some of the vile odor out, but it was inevitable that some of it would get in. Tampa began to feel her stomach churn, but shook her head and tried to stay focused. Meanwhile, Jet slowly glanced up towards the streamer's two Pokémon. Dizziness still lingering in his head, it made it quite difficult to even stand up right. Now he was watching Tampa have to try and fight off these two on her own.

Once again, he was finding himself to be completely useless.

A wave of annoyance and irritation rolled through the Tyrogue's body. He let out an angry yell as he slammed his fist into the ground, only to pause with a look of dread as once more that white light of evolution began to surge through his body and slowly threatened to engulf his form. As if the battle was merely a video game that she could put on pause, Aeliana's focus shifted entirely to the scrappy Pokémon. She watched with a smile as it looked as though his form was slowly starting to change amidst the white light, only for it to slowly try and taper off. Jet grit his teeth. Sweat formed on his forehead. Once again, it looked as though the Tyrogue was trying not to evolve, that he was trying to fight it off. Aeliana just didn't understand why!

"Now's your chance', Flame! Use Swift on Jet! And you Cuddles-sis, use Hex on Tampa!" Meanwhile, Valerie continued the pressure. Flame released bundles of stars, while Cuddles sent out a shade duplica form of herself, hurling its way towards the poison-afflicted Tampa.

"Tampa, Aqua Jet on Cuddles! Do it now!" Aeliana shouted. The Croconaw staggered forward before propelling herself into the Gastly again. Her jaws snapped open, the water-type attempting to snap them onto the grassy ghost.

The gator slammed into Cuddles at full force, her fangs sinking into the gaseous form. A pained grunt echoed out into the room as the attacks from Cuddles and Flame both collided into her. Time seemed to stop for a moment before Tampa finally released her toothy grip from Cuddles. The Croconaw slowly toppled to the ground below. She roughly landed on her feet below, staggering forward towards Flame, only to finally stumble backwards and land on her backside.

Croconaw is unable to battle!

The cheering from the crowd intensified. Chants repeated: Valerie! Valerie! Valerie!, as their Demon Queen raised one arm in the air, signalling her confidence in a victory. "I hear you, Little Monsters! Our fight ain't over yet!" Valerie announced. "This hero's still got a Jet! And Jet's are no joke!" She then turned to Aeliana. "Do ya still have a fight left in you, hero?! Show me your power! The DQ's gonna take your power and CRUSH it in her heels! If you wanna save Hammerlocke, then show me alllllll what you got!"

Flame roared, as his flames on his back intensified. Cuddles was hurt, but still confronted the Tyrogue with a sinister grin.

Lavender eyes shifted to her Tyrogue. Jet's breath was short. The white light still faded in and out. He shot a look over his shoulder as he watched Aeliana recall Tampa, as if he was sending her a message to not even dare to end this battle.

Without waiting for a command, Jet suddenly charged forward. He narrowed gaze towards Flame as he dashed towards him, preparing to unleash another Rolling Kick to the Quilava, but once again stopped and dropped to his knees. The pulsing white light appeared again, this time faster and more intense than before.

"Time for a DQ combo! Flame - Ember! Cuddles - Night Shade attack!" The two Pokemon were preparing their attacks, all coming for the lone Pokemon opponent.

Jet doesn't move as the attacks come closer. His mind is completely focused on trying to fight back the evolution, the light continuing to pulse more and more with each passing moment. Aeliana cannot figure out why. Jet seems like the kind of Pokémon that would value strength. He seems like the kind that would yearn for this power.

"It seems like your Tyrogue doesn't like the kind of Hitmon he's going to become…"

She stopped, eyes widening in realization. She thought about that night she battled Tim in the Wild Area. She thought about the fact it knew Rolling Kick. She thought about the night she met Jet on Route 4. It suddenly all clicked into place.

Jet was scared to evolve. He hated what he was going to become. He thought she was going to hate him for it.

The wailing of her Tyrogue snapped Aeliana from her thoughts. She turned to see Flame and Cuddles' attacks colliding into the Tyrogue, sending the small Pokémon staggering back from the force of the blow. His tiny legs shook, doing everything in their power to keep him standing. Pain was etched on his face, not only from the constant attacks of Valerie's Pokémon but from fighting back his own evolution as well. Aeliana dropped her prop sword to the floor and took a step forward.

"Jet! It's okay!" she called out. The battle was no longer important. She didn't care if it ended or continued at this point. Her focus was no longer on providing a good show for Valerie's audience. All that mattered was the Tyrogue. "You can let go! You don't have to hold it back anymore!"

Jet slowly glanced over his shoulder. A look of surprise was worn on his face as his trainer continued. "I don't care if you evolve into a Hitmonchan or lee or top or bottom or whatever! I don't care if you win every fight or lose every fight! I care about you, not what prizes you can win or what power you can give me! No matter what happens or what choices you make, I'm always gonna be in your corner, Jet! Believe me!"

Jet stared at the blue-haired Alolan with wide eyes. He slowly pulled himself to an upright position, his eyebrows furrowing as he stared intently into the girl's eyes. It was as if he was trying to study her for any chance of deceit, as if it was all some ploy. But… he couldn't find any. All he could sense was honesty and steadfast support. For a brief moment, Jet felt his shield drop. For a moment, he finally let the anger subside, anger at humans and Pokémon. Anger at himself. He had constantly pushed himself so hard, making it to where he wouldn't be a burden and he would never be abandoned again. But this girl… she was so different. Win or lose, she treated her Pokémon all the same. She never pushed them aside and never released them… hit them… made them feel worthless.

Maybe… maybe he wasn't worthless either.

A loud scream echoed out through the room. Jet turned to face both of the Pokémon before him, the white light from his impending evolution engulfed him once more. This time however, he didn't fight back. He allowed the light to completely consume him. As he did so, Aeliana swore she saw the faint traces of a smile on his face. Jet's body grew slightly taller. His hands and feet grew rounder, along with his body. His head seemed to grow to a point, though it became more round in shape as well. Bandage-like wrappings covered his arms and legs, with a blue bodysuit-like covering now on his torso and matching coverings on his feet.

Jet had evolved into a Hitmontop!

Battered and bruised, he stood silently. The Pokémon looked over his new form, taking a deep breath before turning to face both Flame and Cuddles again. He jumped in place a few times, before slowly starting to sway back and forth as if performing some sort of dance. Aeliana smiled at her Pokémon, before mimicking his determined expression.

"Alright! Let's do this, Jet!" she called out.

"Whoooooooa no way!" Valerie said in awe. "Maaaan how much times I see an evolution, it gets me all hyped up! Grats, Jet! But we ain't losin' yet! Let's see what he can do! Flame! Flame Wheel attack!" Flame rushed in for his signature fire type attack, aiming right for Jet.

"Rolling Kick, Jet!" Aeliana shouted.

Jet watched as the Quilava came charging for him. His face remained calm as Flame approached, the Pokémon still "dancing" from side to side as he did so. Just as Flame was about to land his attack, the Hitmontop suddenly spun around to the side and managed to evade the oncoming Flame Wheel. Without missing a beat, Jet then launched his kick into Flame's backside… Only the kick was slightly different this time around. He jammed it into Flame's backside once… twice… three times all in rapid succession.

"A-A triple kick?!" Valerie shrieked. "Flame! Hang in there!" Flame struggled to get back on his feet, but wobbled around, dazed and battered from the beatings. He soon stopped, as a smile on Val's face appeared because she thought Flame had toughen it out… only for her to witness Flame dropping back down, no longer moving.

Quilava is unable to battle!!

The look of shock was on each of Valerie's fan club's faces. Lord Flame… lost? But that's…no way… Wow, Aeliana and that Hitmontop are strong! Among the banter, Valerie went up to give Flame a pat on his head. Flame, disappointed, looked at Valerie with heavy eyes. "Heyyyy, you did good, bro! Just take a rest!" Flame then looks up at Cuddles. He was ashamed to leave Cuddles — someone fairly new to Valerie's team by herself, but Cuddles's playful expression gave Flame enough confidence to nod. He'll just have to leave the rest to her.

"You got this, Cuddles!" Valerie turned to her Gastly. Her Gastly let out her playful long tongue. After all, she's got candy to avenge. The crowd was cheering in the background for both battlers—the last leg was about to start. "Use Lick attack!" shouted Valerie. Cuddles used her tongue to try and put Jet off balance.

Jet watched as the Gastly started to approach him. His dancing came to a stop and his arms crossed over his chest. Aeliana watched curiously as the Hitmontop glanced over his shoulder at her. He wasn't thrilled about doing this, but… he knew there was no choice in this situation.

The audience went silent as they watched. Jet sat on his knees on the ground. He eyed the Gastly and Valerie, giving both trainers a nod, before suddenly reaching out and tapping the ground. The battle was over. Jet surrendered.

The battle is now over! The winner… is Valerie!

Perhaps still processing the moment, the crowd awaited a while until they cheered again. Valerie and Cuddles looked at each other, but Valerie shrugged. "It was a fun battle!" she recognized. With Cuddles nodding in agreement. Though, it was time for her to rest. She retreated back into Valerie's shadow, for another day. "The hero has been defeated, and now Hammerlocke belongs to US, my minions! Get out your claws and let out a roar!" The crowd cheered even louder, as Valerie approached Aeliana.

She gave her a big grin, as reached for her pocket. "Heroes always learn something from defeat right? And they get new power once they do!" She gently grabbed Aeliana's hand, and handed her what looked like a case for a ™. "Keep getting stronger, yes? The DQ waits for your return."

The crowd clapped, cheering for the both of them. Valerie leaned in closer to Aeliana, giving her a gentle, warming hug.

Btw, thanks for playing along, babe. You're the best!

Aeliana felt her cheeks heat up. Jet looked out to the crowd, a small smile forming on his face from hearing people cheer not only for Valerie and her Pokémon, but his trainer, Tampa, and even himself. A smile of Aeliana's own came to her lips as she watched, returning the hug with one of her own.

"Anytime, Val…"

♡ Hiii! I'm Valerie, a 21 year old streamer who streams all sorts of stuff!
♡ RN, I'm a Pokemon Trainer, participating in the League!

I would like this channel to be a positive space for everyone. I see no problem as long as you follow the general rules and are not mean to each other! You can be mean to me instead. :) ♡

♡ Most of the donations will go towards streaming, and to various LGBTQ+ friendly charities!
Don't feel obligated to donate, but every bit helps!

gimmepie · Oct 6, 2021

Inventory:

- ATC
- Expensive PokeGear
- Pokedex
- 800 Poke (On ATC)
- TM Icy Wind
- TM Flash
- Wishing Star
- TM Protect
- TM Rain Dance
- Lure Ball
- Water Gem x2

Badges:

CATHERINE CARLISLE and VALERIE AMITY
A Deal with a Demon

Despite her set of interests, Catherine had never really been one for conventions. They were loud, crowded and the sheer radiating body heat of the masses of people was enough to make her sweat. Besides, any place where people tended to congregate was a place that Catherine typically wanted to avoid.

So, naturally, she hadn't really had much intention of visiting Strugglecon. Most of her preferred Strugglers and Mewtubers were Vtubers anyway. It was easier to enjoy someone's content when she didn't have to put an actual human face to them. So there wasn't really much reason to attend anyway… or so she had thought.

Unfortunately, it had come to her attention that the title was a bit of a misnomer and that the convention would be host to one of the most impressive anime and manga markets in Galar. People or not, trainer or not, Catherine was a weeb at heart and couldn't pass that up. So there she was, surrounded by a horde of people in the market hall investigating a collection of Clefairy Tail volumes. She couldn't even let her Pokemon out for company because of the risk of them getting separated in the crowd.

"This better be worth it," Catherine grumbled to herself, glancing back at the amorphous mass of moving flesh that the crowd had become at this point before refocusing on the merchandise.

"Ladeedoo… dododooo…" Meanwhile having a carefree attitude, Valerie was humming to herself in her own environment, casually easing her way through the crowd, browsing each item that she came across. It had interesting stuff from figurines, to rare collectible editions of manga, to official soundtracks and DVDs... while all that seemed tempting, there was one set of series she always had an appreciation for. All she had to do… was find it.

Even over the collective noise of the masses, Catherine heard the obnoxious chittering and humming and was quick to place the voice to a person. With a looming feeling of dread, Catherine glanced up again and, sure enough, caught sight of Valerie somehow breezing her way through the army of fans in the market as though they weren't even an obstacle.

It would have been an achievement to be admired if the feat didn't come attached to one of the single most irritating presences in the entirety of the Galar region. Catherine groaned and did her best to blend in with the crowd, hoping the ditzy Val wouldn't be paying enough attention to see her.

Please no. Please just keep walking. Even after the hostility of their last encounter, Catherine couldn't shake the feeling that Valerie would approach her if she noticed her anyway. Just go literally anywhere but here.

"Found it!" Valerie gleamed happily through the crowd, picking up a lone, averaged sized manga book. The outer cover was vibrant and colourful, with a group of teenages looking on to the horizon. They looked happy to be around each other in their own little way. Valerie flipped through each of the pages, reading to herself, one of the passages. The name of the manga was quite clear: Clefairy Tail. The glittering look on her eyes was telling; she was enjoying every bit of this.

No. No. Nononononononono. Just go away.

Catherine had become increasingly aware of Valerie's presence at this point. It had become almost impossible to focus on browsing. Her fellow academy graduate had stopped literally only a foot or two away from her and was browsing the same selection. Because of course she was.

Lamenting her misfortune, Catherine decided to cut her losses and leave with what she had already picked up. Trying not to draw attention to herself, she quietly stepped back away from the display… directly into a man in a Machoke cosplay.

"Oi, watch it!" he snapped, continuing on his way through the crowd. They didn't part like the red sea as they seemed to for Val, but by sheer body mass he was also able to cleave through them in a way that Catherine could not.

That left her stuck there in the throng of people. She turned her head to the side with a mounting feeling of apprehension. Had Valerie noticed the brief commotion?

"God damn it, Draco…" the answer was seemingly no. She muttered to herself, while continuing to read. It was the classic, head in the manga look. All kinds can try, but none can distract her. She continuously flipped through the pages. "Maaaan, good ol' friendship power does it again? Hah! Good ol' CT!"

Just when the girl sighed in relief as she was about to fully escape her enemy's line of sight, the enemy inquisition then promptly closed up her manga book, and looked up. "Okay, now let's--- eh?" The two girls were now locked, eye to eye, in an awkward short pause.

Valerie blinked. "Catherine?"

"No." Catherine backed up again, only to once again bounce off of members of the crowd who were passing through. The sudden jolt caused her to drop the book in her hands. She felt a strong compulsion to abandon the manga and flee for her sanity, but couldn't bring herself to leave it. With a degree of reluctance, she bent down to pick it up, delaying her escape yet again. "Shit."

"Here," Valerie offered her a hand to get back up. She then let out a light-hearted chuckle. "My, my, didn't expect to see you here." She shifted her eyes towards the manga Catherine had picked back up. "Wiiiith a good taste in manga too, it looks like!"

Catherine ignored the gesture, standing up with a sigh. "I didn't expect to see myself here either. Not sure why me having good taste is surprising."

"Forgive me for doubting you, queen!" Valerie cheekily grinned. "Saaaay, that's a good series, btw!" Valerie continued on about Catherine's held manga. "The fights are amazing and the characters are really cool! And, and! The bonds between them are beautiful! The moments between then… ah! Even brings a tear to this DQ's eye!"

"Well yeah," Catherine replied, "It's the way the characters dedicate themselves to each other that lends narrative weight to every conflict - everything they do really. There's some shaky writing, but you don't even care because you get so invested in the relationships between the characters."

Wait… crap. She was getting drawn into a conversation. This was the exact opposite of what she wanted. Catherine took a small, subtle step back all the while inwardly lamenting the trouble her unrestrained love of Johto's fiction was getting her into.

"You're sooo right!" Valerie agreed. "And like, it's really inspiring too! Makes us wanna go out and be confident enough to make some friends ourselves, y'know?"

"No."

"...No?" Valerie gave Catherine her classic, 'whatchu' talkin' about?' look.

"No," Catherine confirmed. "That sort of thing is great in fiction, but reality doesn't work like that. People in reality aren't that dedicated to others. It's quite the opposite. I have no interest in putting myself in a position to be used like that. That's why stories are wonderful. They're not reality."

"Mmm, can't say I agree," Valerie simply responded. "There's like, totally a good amount of people who share bonds like that. Met loads of brilliant people myself, in fact!"

"People are inherently selfish. Those brilliant people are using you. You're collecting them to add to your ridiculous friend count. If you don't realise it, it's only because it comes as naturally to you as breathing. That's all there is to it. Are we done?"

Valerie sighed. "Guess we can't really agree, no matter how much we talk," Valerie shrugged. But then… something popped in her head - like a Lanturn's light brightening up. "You know what? I think you're more of a girl of action, right? Soooo… how about a bet?"

"Excuse me?" What was Valerie getting at?

"A bet, sweetie! You know Ballonlea?" Valerie started. "Well, I'm gonna do a super-special-awesomely-amazing stream there, all for a good cause! Here's the kicker: Why don't you join me there? Cuz' I want you to see, once and for all, what you're really missing out." Valerie then gave her a confident , yet… a gentle, caring look, with a small, yet sincere smile.

"And maybe… hopefully you'll start to see the world, and her people in another way. And then! Then finally, you'll--"

"You must be kidding." Catherine couldn't help but be utterly bemused by the offer. She had never really understood Valerie's thought process, but this was taking it to a whole new level. What could possibly happen during one of her classmate's streams that would lead to her getting indoctrinated into her cult? "What cause?"

"Ah, that's right -- you don't really know why I stream, do you?" Valerie asked in turn. "For the LGTBQ, of course! I've done streams before, but this one? This one is gonna be BIG. 100% Val-enteed, Cath-turne! So, what do you say?"

"Cath-turne?" Ridiculous nicknaming aside, Catherine had to admit that was a good cause. Still… being forced to interact with Valerie again, for what ultimately amounted to little more than a vanity project to make the streamer look good… that wasn't exactly something she was comfortable with. Which, unfortunately, was why she had to do it. Helping do some good had to outweigh her reluctance to spend more time with her classmate, otherwise she was as bad as Valerie was. "Fine. But I'm only doing this once."

"Wheeeee! Someone call space for rent, cuz' this girl is usin' Dragon Ascent!" Valerie is... a lot more happy than she should be. "Oh! Yeah, sooo meet me near the Pokémon Center! Eeeep, this is gonna be so pog!"

"You're insufferable." Catherine sighed, "But I'll be there. Apparently."

Desperate to avoid getting roped into anything else involving Valerie, Catherine once again attempted to squeeze through the crowd and escape the conversation. Blessedly, this time she finally succeeded in breaking through.

"Oh! Catherine? One more thing!" Valerie shouted. "Watch out for the Jameson brothers! Trust me on this: You'll hate them! I kinda do myself, but don't worry, I'm gonna wipe the floor with one of them later!"

Catherine heard the shout, but she kept walking. It seemed like they had one more thing in common. But Val definitely did not need to know that.

Dragon · Oct 6, 2021

MewTube

The Strugglecon@Hammerlocke Contest STRAVANGANZA!

The sunset during the afternoon was brilliant, shining across Hammerlocke's contest stage. The crowd muttered and chatted among themselves in their seats. All that ceased when the contest stage's lights went dim. After a while, trio rays of lights shone through the area, dazzling and spinning around the area, even shining through the audience's area. Then, the blaring sounds of the announcer rang.

"Ladies and gentlemen… welcome to the CONTEST STRRRRRAVAGANZA!" The crowd's loud cheers echoed through the area, and was amped up when the trio ray of lights all turned off at once, then the lights all immediately went back on, directing their focus to the center of the stage. The spotlight was now towards a familiar, fan favourite contest idol.

"Haaaaai everyone! Nice to see ya!"

Spoiler:

Lisia was now at stage, waving at the crowd and posing cutely as the crowd continuously cheered. Up above, many flying-type Pokemon hovered around, lightly sprinkling down colourful confetti. At the center of the sky, flew her beloved partner, Ali the Altaria. Lisia was a beloved contest star, who aimed to dazzle her audience in beautiful, awe-inspiring performances. Her passion extended to finding others who shared that same level of passion as her. But, do the contestants of this stage have what it takes to captivate herself and the audience here today? There was only one way to find out.

"Wow! What a crowd here today! Everyone, I am SO excited to be here today, and to see what our shining contest stars-in-making are capable of! The contest in Turfield City was so amazing, but now, things are kicking up a notch! As you guys might know: I started in contests because I wanted to show people that there's this whole other amazing side to Pokémon, more than what you see in battles or whatever. Pokémon are about more than strength! You can raise 'em to be beautiful, or you can raise 'em to be tough as nails! They grow and change, trying as hard as they can to live up to their Trainer's feelings. So, I want the whole world to get it about all the other cool aspects of raising Pokémon!"

For Lisia, this was what contests were all about. "Eek! Sorry guys, I think I'm as hyped as you all!! Okay! So, for this contest? The theme all about stage control! Let's see the coordinators skill on how they change the stage to show us how their Pokémon shine! Also, you'll have to use two Pokémon for this, for an exciting double Pokémon performance! Ahh! I'm more excited than a Munchlax eating a mountain of Sitrus Berries! Let's get this started! Back to the announcer, and now... Let Hammerlocke's Contest Stravaganza… BEGIN!"

#Strugglecon #Lisia #Contest
The Contest STRAVANGANZA!
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The contest in Hammerlocke is ON!

Stinging Bea · Oct 6, 2021

Aeliana Kekoa
Hammerlocke City

Chapter 12-1 | Thaw
Aeliana feels her nerves start to get the better of her. The blue-haired trainer can't believe that she is going first. She begins to wonder if this was some cruel trick of the Pokégods or something of the sort. Maybe when she wasn't paying attention, some stray black Meowth happened to cross her path. Regardless, there iss little she could do about it now. It'ss time to get the show on the road and if they wanted one then Aeliana is going to do her best to deliver. She takes her first poké ball and tossed it out, releasing her Glaceon out onto the stage. She gives the ice-type a silent nod and the performance began.

Elia inhaled deeply, unleashing a Powdered Snow across the stage. She followed this up with several repeats, creating a deep snow storm that seems to coat the stage into a winter wonderland. She completes the transformation with a sharp Ice Beam, coating the floor of the stage with a solid sheet of ice. Deep, frigid sounding music plays throughout the auditorium, before a single spotlight falls onto the left side. As the snow slowly lets up, shifting from a makeshift blizzard into a gentle dusting, the form of a hooded figure walks out. She shivers, gripping her cloak tightly. By her side walks a shorter figure. They too are wearing a cloak, doing their best to keep up with the taller girl and fight off the bitter cold that threatens to consume them both.

The duo reach about halfway out onto the stage, slowly looking around as if trying to locate just where they are. The taller of the two cloaked figures, slowly looks down at her companion. She holds her hand out silently, as if waiting for something to fall into the palm of their hand. There doesn't seem to be anything falling however. In fact, the snow seems to be completely dissipating. As if simulating a growing warmth, the spotlights that tracks the duo begins to glow brighter. It sends a warmth across the stage, as if simulating the sunrise on a bright spring morning. The taller hooded figure brings her hands up, taking hold of the hood which conceals her hair and face and throws it back. It reveals a tanned young woman with piercing lavender eyes and sapphire blue hair that reaches down to just the base of her shoulders. She looks down, offering a nod to her companion. The shorter of the duo follows suit, throwing back their hood to reveal that of a Hitmontop. The cold and bitter music fades, the girl and her Hitmontop coming to stand side by side... hands being placed behind their backs.

A single drum beat plays overhead. The girl looks up.

Another beat. The Hitmontop looks up.

Two more beats together. Both tap their feet in step with the beats.

The beats slowly begin to become more common. They meld together, forming a more common and consistent rhythm. Slowly, Jet begins to rock his body back and forth. Aeliana watches, hands on her hips before she slowly begins to mimic the Pokémon's movements. The Hitmontop pauses, watching curiously as Aeliana begins to thrust her hips, a melody starting mix in with the steady beats as she sways from side to side. She thrusts her hips in tandem, slowly spinning around before pointing down to Jet. Jet smirks, crossing his arms in a huff before he resumes his swaying to the music. He begins to pump his arms in and out, before raising his arms up over his head and thrusting them by his sides.

Aeliana chuckles at the sight, rolling her eyes as the Hitmontop steps off to the side. They both share a glance, before grabbing hold of their cloaks and tossing them to the side. Jet appears as a Hitmontop normally would. Aeliana is dressed in a pair of baggy, dark blue, denim jeans that hang off her hip and a black crop top with a koffing's skull stitched into the chest.

Aeliana begins to gyrate her hips back and forth. She drops to the ground, balancing herself on her hands and toes, before hopping up onto her hands. Her legs spread apart before hopping herself back onto her feet with a grin. Eyebrows raised as she smirks down at the Hitmontop. Jet merely huffs in response. He spins around on one foot, before leaping into the air and landing into a handstand. He balances in the air just like that, before slowly starting to do vertical pushups that end with him hopping and flipping back into a standing position.

The blue-haired trainer seems somewhat impressed, but she quickly waves her dance battle partner off. She swerves her hips back and forth, before dropping back and catching herself on her hands and feet. She begins to kick her legs back and forth, as if she's going before slowly twisting around to pull herself back into a handstand. The music intensifies as she performs a quick 360, before performing a quick backflip that lands her on her feet.

Jet merely shakes his head in response. Hitmontop steps forward, pulling himself into a headstand. He at first uses his fists to keep his balance, slowly using them to help doing a 360 turn himself. However after one complete cycle, he slowly adjusts his wrists slightly. The Hitmontop takes a deep breath, and then uses his hands to unleash himself into a whirling tornado. The Pokémon uses Rapid Spin to unleash so many spins to completely leave Aeliana's on turn in the dust. As if to impress upon the audience more, the spinning Jet begins to travel along the stage. The friction from his spinning becomes so much that the icy path that once coated the stage slowly begins to melt. Mixing in with the heat and intensity of the spotlights on the duo, the snow begins to melt away as well. Curtains behind the duo slowly peel away, revealing another backdrop of a fresh, spring afternoon. The beat then drops completely, coming to an end that all finishes with Jet effortlessly hopping up and landing on his feet, the sound of chirping birds playing over the speakers as the electrifying beat came to an end.

[PKMN OPEN] Pokémon Spear [M] [IC]

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