[PKMN OPEN] Pokémon Spear [M] [IC]

LinearAxel · Oct 6, 2021

Melody Argent

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

18 | Female | From Spikemuth

Inventory

Spoiler:

Team

Spoiler:

Constellation Transformation

Melody can't help but breathe a sigh of relief when she's called to the stage. Having to sit in the audience in this rather stuffy outfit has not been the most pleasant way to spend her time. She glances down to the two Pokeballs in her lap and gives a small but determined nod. "Show time."

Nerves flood through Melody's system as she approaches the stage, a combination of excitement and dread flash through her mind. This routine was going to be considerably different from her debut performance; however… she thinks she's come up with something that the attendees of this particular venue will really enjoy.

The punk teen steps onto the dark stage, faces the audience, and gives a proper curtsy as a single, small or of yellow light appears above the stage. Only the smallest amount of light to amplify how dark, small, solemn, and alone the teen looks on the massive stage by herself.

The music begins to play as the trainer takes a Pokeball in each hand and tosses them both into the air. The energy is released in the form of two shining lights, the first taking the form of Celeste, who delicately floats onto the stage, directly below the yellow light, and bows, while the other reveals Ren, the Shiny Rockruff that her brother gave her at the conclusion of their first in-person meeting. Along with Celeste, Ren bows his head to the audience. Upon lifting his head, he closes his eyes and releases a melodic howl. The small, golden light above them grows in size as the music revs louder.

Small, jagged stones float onto the stage as if summoned by the howl. Stealth Rocks begin to slowly spin around the trio like an asteroid belt as the pair of Pokemon leap upwards. Celeste then casts Confusion, making the pair appear weightless as they float backward towards their trainer.

Melody, who had backed away and sat on her knees once her Pokemon were released, opens her eyes and rises as the Pokemon approach her. The solemn expression on her face vanishing and replaced with a look of awe as she holds her right arm out for Ren to gently land on, while Celeste once more floats back towards the ground in front of Melody. In sync, both Melody and Celeste begin to twirl from one side of the stage to the other as Ren leaps from one of Melody's extended arms to the other, twirling freely in the air before making each landing, as if gravity had no control over the wolf pup. Celeste, significantly smaller than Melody and thus not gaining nearly as much distance with her spins, looks like a tiny shadow mirroring her trainer's movements.

A few twirls in, Celeste's eyes begin to glow. The psychic type casts Psychock, and small spears of psychic energy appear around them. As if guided by Melody and Celeste's arms, the small spears strike into the Stealth Rocks. As the small rocks shatter, the psychic energy and the stage light are reflected on the floating particles of geodes that remain floating in the air. The asteroid belt that once floated around the trio has been replaced with small bits of delicately twinkling stardust.

Ren leaps once more from Melody's arms, and with a final spin in the air, lands beside Celeste, which signals her to stop moving. Likewise, Melody stops, her arm outstretched towards the audience as little bits of stardust collect in her opened palm.

The pair of Pokemon turn their heads back to their trainer with a look of excitement. Melody looks down to the pair and then towards the audience, giving a determined nod. With looks of excitement, Celeste begins to float into the air. Ren's eyes begin to glow as he uses Rock Tomb, large stones appearing before him and piecing together to make something of a stairway that the two Pokemon begin to climb upward.

Likewise, Melody takes a step onto the floating stones. She takes a single step upward-- Before the rocks floating above her begin to shudder-- and suddenly collapse; seemingly encasing the teen in a tomb of stone as the pair of Pokemon fall to the ground and the music abruptly stops.

In reality, there is nothing to fear: The rocks had fallen in a circle around Melody, hiding her from view but perfectly unharmed. This took a great deal of practice to pull off without a hitch, of course, and while dangerous-- well, that was half the fun of the routines Melody came up with: The excitement of experiencing her teammate's power first hand. Her time trapped within the rock tomb gives her the opportunity to do a quickchange, unzipping the oversized dress, stepping out of it, and removing the hairpiece that held her bangs in place so the tiara stayed hidden.

The music revs to life once again and a stage light falls onto the tomb, just in time for the stones to shudder and break away, scattering across the arena to reveal Melody's transformation.

Standing in the center of the once dark, desolate, lonely arena was the once dark, desolate, lonely looking girl. The stage now aglow with stardust and decorated with stones, the girl now adorned in white.

The pair of Pokemon look at their trainer in shock before running back towards her, coming to stand on either side of the trainer. Melody closes her eyes and holds her arm out towards the audience, slowly raising it as Celeste and Ren's eyes begin to glow.

The scattered rocks begin to piece together underneath the trio, forming what appears to be an asteroid. Celeste uses her Psyshock to summon shards of psychic energy that collect together in front of the yellow stage light, which fades away, leaving only the glow of the energy crystals and the sparkling stardust to light the stage. The shards of energy form a circle that begins to slowly lower as it grows in size, giving the optical illusion that the trio are floating closer and closer.

The large ball of psychic energy stops its decent right behind the trio, now twice the size of the makeshift asteroid the three are riding on.

The dark, desolate, lonely stage is far behind them. The trio are now riding an asteroid amidst a field of stardust, so close to the moon that she could reach out and touch it.

Melody looks out towards the audience one last time and bows, Celeste and Ren follow suit. As the music stops, Melody lifts her head to cut a glance towards the judges. She briefly meets Lisia's eyes and flashes a brief, if not slightly embarrassed smile before raising her hand above her head and flashing the coordinator's trademark 3 symbol towards her.

When Melody first heard of this particular theme, a feeling of dread had washed over her. What could she possibly use to transform the stage? Her Pokemon had no moves that could do such a thing. In brainstorming and practice; however, she came to understand why they came up with such a theme, and… perhaps the deeper meaning behind it: Pokemon not only transform the terrain around them, but, in perhaps an even bigger way, they transform the lives of those they bond with. Before this journey began, Melody felt as if her life was nearly as empty as the stage she first stepped foot on. This journey, along with the people and Pokemon she's met along the way, have transformed her world just as drastically as tonight's coordinators have transformed the stage.

If nothing else… she hopes that came across.

Songbird · Oct 6, 2021

[PERFORMANCE POST]

"Miss Hayes?"

"Our turn?" she asked the attendant who came to call on her, shortly after another contestant finished their performance. She did a brief once-over to make sure she had everything she needed, but aside from the two Pokeballs at her hip, she didn't need anything else, and her belongings were all secured in a locker. She felt a little silly.

Chloe left the contestants' seating and took to the stage, carrying herself with confidence and a self-assured smile. She was dressed up not unlike an idol, with an off-black base to the outfit's color scheme. Her long brown hair was left untied, flowing free against her shoulders, but she had a temporary dye treatment give her several shimmering silver streaks.

She wore a form-fitting halter top that exposed a part of her back, silver scattered like lightning over the parts of the fabric. Her arms were bare from the shoulders down, save a black and pale blue glove on her right hand and a matching bracelet on her left wrist.

Below, along with the black belt her Pokeballs were attached to, Chloe had a layered skirt that ended above her knees. The top layer didn't weigh much, so it bounced a little with every step to center stage, and was adorned with silver flakes. A pair of stockings stopped just beneath that that matched her glove; and her look was completed by a pair of black ankle boots featuring another lightning strike along the outsides.

Something she requested when she made her submission: there was no music accompanying her performance. The stage was silent except for her breathing.

She detached one ball from her belt, an ultra ball, and brought it to full size in her hand—then she tossed it skyward as she called her first Pokemon. "Luxio! Rain Dance!" Chloe had to keep herself from laughing when she caught no small number of spectators reaching for their umbrellas.

Luxio broke through the light of his Pokeball with a howl, thick gray clouds rapidly dimming the sunny afternoon until it was dark as night. The first drop was followed by rainfall in no time. However, none of it escaped the boundaries of the stage.

Luxio's body began to emit sparks and a modest glow, keeping himself and his trainer in sight, and their second team member was sent out to join them. "Powder Snow!"

Froslass was summoned up on Chloe's other side with a small flourish, gathering much of the falling rain and crystallizing it into several shafts of snow, twelve in all in a circular formation across the stage. Each one was then carved down to a cylindrical frozen pillar made to look as if they were made of brick, allowing Luxio the time he needed to finish charging.

"All you, Luxio," she whispered. The rain, no longer needed, gave way to glittering snowfall that extended to the first few rows of the audience—and he leapt with a flash, landing firmly against the side of a pillar. He jumped to a second, leaving a trail of sparks in the air and a visible mark of lingering electricity on the first.

Over the next couple of seconds, he repeated this process a few times before Snow Cloak activated, Froslass' ability. Leaving Luxio to do his work, Froslass and Chloe disappeared from view, and only the silver in her getup gave away their place.

Pong

At the same time, the first pillar made a sound. A single note that echoed over the stage. Then a second time. Within a few seconds it reached a steady rhythm, gold lightning branching off into the air and along the wet stage floor.

Ping

The next pillar joined in. Every column was marked by Luxio's golden spark in short order, some twice, and immediately they started creating different tones, closely resembling the introductory melody of a pop song that made the charts in Sinnoh a few years back.

The tune faded, and Luxio became invisible like Chloe and Froslass. The lightning died down until the stage neared completely black.

Then the intro played via the arcing electricity again, this time in a combination of gold and violet supported by Hex. Together they transitioned into the song proper, at once acting as the instrument and creating a massive electric light show that reflected off the ice, the stage and even the falling snow.

Once the song reached its end, so did the work they put in setting it up. The clouds began to part, returning daylight to the venue; Froslass' columns of ice slowly crumbled back into the powder snow they were built from and scattered about. And at center stage stood Chloe and her Pokemon, Snow Cloak having lost its effect with the weather cleared. Luxio in particular was undoubtedly exhausted, but he maintained the most confident air of the three as they took a bow.

Sapphire Rose · Oct 6, 2021

Pia McGuire
Poké:

5550 ♦ Pokémon: 4

Performance post: Sea of clouds

"The next candidate is someone native to this city! Give a round of applause for Pia McGuire!"

Pia heard the audience fall into a whispering silence as soon as the announcer called out her name. It must have been weird for some of them that the Pia McGuire, the girl the media currently couldn't shut up about, had disappeared from the face of the earth for weeks but now suddenly appeared on one of the biggest stages of Galar. Some people attempted to still cheer for her but paused when they realised nobody else was cheering with them. The mood was completely different from that of Turffield. In that deafening silence, Pia felt her nerves rising once again and tugged on the hood of the cape she was wearing.

"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!"

Pia heard the voice of Simon ringing through her pretty brain. She knew he was right and it made her feel just a tiny bit more confident back then but now that she was standing here… She was scared. Did she even deserve to be here? What if she messed it up even more for just being here at all… Her panicking thoughts havoced and she could only stare at her unmoving feet.

"Life is too short to dance around what's important." She suddenly heard Raphael's words from a while back ring louder than Simon's words of encouragement. So much so that even she was surprised. "It's good you gave Milla some more credit; do the same with yourself okay? Maybe you'll evolve as well."

Pia's emerald eyes widened. Like sparkling little light's in the dark she was reminded of what was important. "Give myself some credit… huh." the girl whispered to herself. "And… evolve."

As soon as her face shot forward towards the stage and the audience she had to get through, a spotlight was cast upon her and she was in clear sight. There was no sign of the nervous Pia that stood there earlier but instead they saw a radiant lady stepping towards the stage with confidence in every click of her sparkling white heels. She cast aside the cape she was covering herself with and revealed a fresh haircut of long golden blonde locks and a short white dress with ruffles that she borrowed from her mother's closet to complete her well balanced figure. Like a true enchantress, she captivated everyone with her new look.

But of course this performance wasn't just about her. It was about her much loved Pokémon as well.

With the music starting, Pia threw her two Pokéballs up in the air while she still walked towards the middle of the stage, putting her Cottonee and Pikachu in the forefront by doing that and herself in the back. The whispering the girl had heard earlier was completely gone as all eyes were now absolutely and unconditionally on her.

"Emancipate yourselves," Pia sang from the deepest part of her heart. Like a siren enchanting her suitors to come follow her into the depths of the ocean, she took the audience on a ride through her sea of emotions. "From mental slavery." She continued, looking elegantly with every move she made while Soma and Milla recognized her moves as signs of what to do.

Soma unleashed a Cotton Guard to create soft cotton that would usually be used to wrap his body but, in this particular case, he was having them levitate around him. He looked like a snow fairy damning the area with wintery flocks of ice as he kept on creating them until the entire stage was almost filled with them. Milla jumped around in what looked like winter magic and used her thunder shock on the iron stage to make it magnetic. Pia avoided being electrocuted by wearing rubber soils and made a graceful twirl while Soma danced around her. With the cotton orbs rubbing against each other to create static electricity, the stage resembled a sea of clouds within seconds as the soft cotton glued itself to the platform.

Pia ended her twirl with a sophisticated pose. With her arms cross wrapped over her chest, she gave her beloved Pokémon partners the cue to the next segment of their bewitching performance.

Soma and Milla made their way to the back of the stage with charming smiles to the crowd as they were about to prove that their usually damaging attack moves could also create spectacular images. They threw a Razor leaf and an Electro ball at the center of the stage behind their trainer, creating an explosion that left behind a curtain of smoke while Pia kept on chanting her words of freedom.

With the stage transforming with every designation, Soma unleashed a Fairy wind to move the smoke into a sparkly misty backdrop with the castle of Hammerlocke at the center. Milla ran through the field of cotton, pulling a few patches back up to finish the very painting with a few drifting clouds.

They ended their dazzling performance with Milla jumping into Pia's arms and Soma levitating on top of the performing girl's hand. All three of them had their eyes closed to create a dreamy picture.

Two angels and their goddess dreaming away in a world that could have been.

What followed was a thunderous applause and cheering that filled the halls of Strugglecon as Pia, her Cottonee and Pikachu had captivated the souls of everyone who had previously judged her. She opened her eyes to the crowd and let out a sigh of relief as her nerves finally seemed to be at ease. This marked the end of a painful era.

And the beginning of a brighter future.

"Wishes are created by your dreams,
Your dreams are shaped by your values,
Your values are built by your beliefs,
And your beliefs are formed by your self-love.

Take the time to look upon yourself,
And know, that you are never alone,
But in order to achieve love from others,
You must learn how to love yourself first.

Your wishes, dreams, values, and beliefs,
None of that is weak, none of that is a shame,
If you wish to do the things you love,
Or to be the person you want to be,

Take the first step with the love within you."

- From someone who learned

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

Hammerlocke
A trip down memory lane
Sugar, Spice, school girls aren't nice.
Settling in
Cutting out
Make a wish
Common ground

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

Foxrally · Oct 6, 2021

Simon Pearburgh

Spoiler: Inventory

Spoiler: Memories

Tim Thaumatoff

Rij

Henj

Pelj

Spoiler: Inventory

Hammerlocke

"Listen, I know you've been wanting more since Hulbury, but I'm not going to let you have any at night. You bugs get too hyperactive." Simon scolded as he pulled away the bag of treats from his Pokemon's hungry mouths, mentally cursing himself for getting them hooked to cinnamon buns in the first place. He put the bag in the one leg pocket that didn't have a bug in it and zipped it shut.

He'd just left Pia not too long ago after the pair had a pleasant dinner, and was currently on his way back to the hotel- it really did help to chat with someone and get his mind off of things. He'd chosen to take the scenic route, going through the moonlit parks in the castle courtyards, but that seemed to have been the wrong decision, as he had found himself sorely lost on the other side of town. A few confusing street signs later he'd gone back on the right path, but now that the clock was striking ten, he realized it was much later than he'd expected, and he had to get back soon if he wanted to avoid being locked out of his room.

The streets of Hammerlocke were far more pleasant than that of Motostoke's, likely due to the more historical nature of this walled city compared to the industrial bastion that was the other. The streets felt safer to walk through even this late, and other than a few stray Trubbish it seemed fairly clean as well. As Simon continued down the main path, he noticed a narrow alleyway which looked like a shortcut to where he had to go. Being in a rush and not seeing any people skulking in there, he shrugged and turned into it.

Darkness could be such a bizarre thing. Down this alley there were of course no streetlights, and the closeness of the buildings to one another hid much of the sky away behind black silhouettes. It was the same town, of course. It was still Hammerlocke. And Simon knew that. But darkness could be such a bizarre thing. Suddenly, the street wasn't so pleasant. Suddenly, the walls seemed to be looming. Suddenly, Simon's footsteps were overly loud. Almost like there were two sets of feet stomping together.

Still atop his hat, Princess let out an anxious squeak. Simon could feel the joltik trembling as he looked behind him nervously, but there was nothing there. "The night's just playing tricks on you, lassie." he told the Joltik.

"And what a trick it is," said a deep voice, not behind Simon, but beside him. In the darkness of the buildings there was a dumpster that Simon had been walking by, and in the darkness of that dumpster was something that looked kind of like a pile of laundry. "Out for a stroll, Simon?" it asked before unfolding and stretching up and up, taller than him. It was a man dressed in rags and a coat, his face under the hood hidden behind sunglasses and a handkerchief. Even though he was still several feet away, his long arms looked like they might be able to grab the boy anyway.

"Gah, shit!" Simon exclaimed as he instinctively stumbled backwards away from the figure, almost tripping over himself and causing his Pokemon to all duck into his pockets.

"You really should be more aware," the man chided. "I've had a tail on you for four or five blocks now." A little shape rolled up at the end of the alleyway, its little red eye aglow in the dark: a Rolycoly. It wheeled its way closer to the two as the man took a heavy step towards Simon. "What have you been up to in Hammerlocke?"

Simon straightened back up but still stepped away from the individual. Who was this guy and how did he know his name? Cautiously putting his hand inside his pocket to reach his Pokemon, he responded, "Listen, I don't know who you are, but if this is some silly prank I'm really not in the mood for it tonight."

"We're a bit old for pranks, aren't we?" The man put his hands in his pockets and pulled out two Pokéballs. "Just the right age for a proper battle though, wouldn't you say?"

"Wha…" Simon narrowed his eyes. "A battle? Mate, if you're a fan or something, I'm flattered but this is not how you get me to battle you. Cheers." the boy shook his head as he began to walk away, going back where he came from.

Something whizzed past Simon's head and there was a flash of light. With a thud, there was now a Stonjourner standing in Simon's way, catching its own ball as it looked down at him critically in the dark.

"Now, now, now, it's the sporting thing to do for two Trainers to battle when they lock eyes isn't it?" the stranger said to Simon's back.

Simon stared back at the towering Pokemon and gulped. Two rock-types… this already wasn't sounding great in terms of battle odds. And clearly, this guy wasn't asking. Putting on the bravest face he could and hoping to hide the nervousness in his voice, he turned back towards the stranger, "I don't know what your game is, mate… but you're gonna force my hand, I'll show you 'sportsmanship'."

"Simon Pearburgh. You have three badges to your name and, though I regrettably missed your latest bout with Kabu, I hear it was just as explosive as your bouts with Milo and Nessa before him." The man tossed down his other ball and let a Rhyhorn out in the alley too. "I very much believe you could beat me in a straight, common battle, and then you would hardly gain anything from the encounter but some annoyance and lost time. How about a little practice in a Rotation then? You do remember how to Rotation Battle, yes?"

Shit, a third rock-type. This guy may have been a Gordie fan instead. "A… rotation battle?" Simon echoed. "Like those Unova ones?" He'd seen a few of them on the telly over the years, but they weren't too popular of a sport in Galar, and the academy certainly hadn't bothered to teach anyone about them. Still, he had a general idea of what they were like, and he wanted to get away from this freak as quickly as possible. "I get the gist of them, yeah."

The hooded stranger gestured and Stonjourner stepped past Simon to put itself between Hood's other two mons as Hood stepped away down the alley. Stonjourner tossed its ball back to Hood. "Two mons on either side are sitting out. A third mon takes the field alone, and must physically tag out to the flank to allow a flanking mon the field. I'd go into particulars about how yielding works, but we'll keep it a simple three-on-three so that won't be an issue. Remember: only the fielded mon gets to do anything or be targeted, and the flanks can only swap in with a tag. The narrowness of the alleyway will help keep things going as they should." Stonjourner took its place in the center of the alley. Rhyhorn and Rolycoly backed off to either side, back nearer to Hood and up against the walls. "Flanking mons just have to be ready to tag in; they should focus on evading crossfire otherwise. It should make for an interesting exercise, wouldn't you say?"

Simon's fist clenched as he steeled himself, realizing he couldn't refuse now. His team knew how to work together… right? Memories of the wild area began flooding back in his mind, and he desperately pushed them out. No. It wouldn't go like last time. He had to trust them. "Okay then, Spewpa, Princess, Anorith, you're up!" he said, tossing Spewpa onto the field and extending his arm. Seconds later a confused Anorith emerged from his sleeve and landed beside her, followed by Princess who scurried out of Simon's hat. "Spewpa, you're up first. You two hang back till I say so."

He looked at the stranger. "Whenever you're ready."

"Oh, I'm always ready." Hood twirled a finger in the air. "Rock Polish." The big Stonjourner shivered all over and sparkled with whitish gleams in the dark.

"Start off with a tackle to get close, then poison powder!" Simon commanded. Spewpa squeaked as she bravely hopped towards the much bigger mon, before charging forward and exploding in a cloud of purple dust and square-shaped particles.

"Tag right, Smokescreen to dodge that!" Stonjourner skittered backwards abruptly fast and shifted to the wall, tagging Rolycoly with its leg. Rolycoly wheeled sideways, leaving a thick black curtain that shifted forwards and swallowed the center field, both Rolycoly and Spewpa. It was hard to tell, but it seemed like nothing had come of either Trainers' opening gambits except that now they couldn't see their mons. "Trying to double-up on me Simon, give me some credit," Hood's voice came from the other side of the cloud. "They may be Rocks but they aren't that slow now!"

"Not for long!" Simon retaliated, "Spewpa, string shot where that Rolycoly was!" He just hoped the visibility inside the cloud was better than outside of it. He heard his Pokemon squeak in affirmation.

There was a shocked sound from presumably Rolycoly, but then Hood said, "Rock Polish!" The smoke cleared off finally and Rolycoly had apparently negated the String Shot. Some thread sparkled in the moonlight around Rolycoly's base, but it seemed clean enough. "And again!" Rolycoly shivered and started sparkling the way Stonjourner was.

"Hit it with a stun spore, then! You won't be going anywhere!" Simon quickly called out, eager to pin down the Pokemon as soon as possible. Spewpa shuddered again before exploding in another cloud of dust, spraying her particles at Rolycoly again.

"Smokescreen!" The black curtain fell again and it wasn't clear immediately whether or not Stun Spore had managed to connect. Hood didn't wait to see either. "Tag left, Rock Polish!" The Rhyhorn along the wall shuffled into the curtain as Rolycoly zigzagged away to the side, crackling a little: Stun Spore evidently had connected, but Paralysis on an unengaged mon was hardly going to be helpful. The smoke cleared away more quickly this time, and Rhyhorn was glimmering with its own Rock Polish now, fixing Spewpa with an intense look. "I hope you're not waiting for me to make first touch," Hood said, "because I'd rather get my mons into peak condition if you're going to sit there and let me."

Simon was beginning to get frustrated; this little taunting game the stranger was playing was getting on his nerves- and accusing him of stalling only made his desire to get this ordeal over with even stronger.

"So that's the angle you're taking, then? Alright, Spewpa, tag, um-" he looked at where his other two Pokemon were; Princess was standing at the ready on his left, while Anorith was… somewhere on the far right, scratching away at a penis-shaped graffiti on the wall. "Oh for fuck's sake- okay, tag left!"

Spewpa squeaked and hopped backwards, bumping her head against the joltik as it took center field. "Spider Web!" Simon called out, knowing this would last far longer than a string shot. Princess let out a chirp and hopped onto the wall before spitting out a wide web of sticky string on the battlefield, partially draping the rhyhorn as well.

Wasting no time, he followed up with another attack; "Now, jump down and strike it's back with Absorb!"

Rhyhorn was rooted for a moment under the Spider Web and couldn't dodge away as Princess landed on it and Absorbed. "Stonjourner, tag in, everyone rotate right," Hood said. Rhyhorn shuffled awkwardly backwards, befuddled by the Spider Web, and then Stonjourner skittered forward and dropped into a split, its massive leg span punting Rhyhorn away to the wall as Joltik landed on its wide stony foot. Rhyhorn tumbled softly to a stop and lobbed Rolycoly roughly across the alley high so the little Rock landed at the wall opposite. A bizarre and complex maneuver that had succeeded in rotating Hood's mons clockwise, leaving Stonjourner in against Princess.

The biggest mon on the field levered itself up straight, balancing the smallest mon on the field on its foot, held out in front of it. "How about some high Stomping?" Hood asked. Stonjourner lobbed Joltik gently into the air and then brought its giant leg back, ready to kick the little bug like an undersized football.

"Shit- Princess, latch on!" Simon called out. The bug let out a pained squeak as she took the full force of the attack but managed to hang on to the stony leg with her claws. "Now Absorb!" The area around Stonjourner's leg glowed bright again as Princess sapped some energy from it, desperately holding onto it as the rock continued to move with the swing.

Stonjourner made an annoyed grunt and spun about haphazardly. It moved uncannily fast despite its size, its glimmering body streaking in the night as it gave Princess one hell of a ride. "Gravity!" Stonjourner planted its feet and clapped its hands over its head.

Suddenly, the air was remarkably heavier, and Simon's Bug-filled coat dragged down on him. The boy stumbled forward momentarily, realizing he'd felt this feeling somewhere before, but he didn't have time for reminiscing right now.

Destabilized by the sudden shift in weight, Princess fell off the Stonjourner's leg, landing on the ground with a louder thud than normal before shaily righting herself again. Simon tried to capitalize on the slight advantage the spider web gave him. "Thunder wave, then skitter back and tag left!" he called out, making sure Anorith was at the ready.

The little Joltik squeaked as she let out a pulsing wave of electricity at the Stonjourner, hoping it wouldn't avoid this status effect as well, before beginning to skitter towards the now-focused Anorith. Stonjourner took the Thunder Wave with a grunt, crackling now with the telltale sparks of Paralysis, but it still seemed rather lighter on its feet than might be expected. It and Hood both watched Princess fall back, but Hood didn't give an order.

The two bugs quickly high-fived each others' pincers as Princess drew back and Anorith stepped forward, letting out a menacing gurgle at his enemy. "Blast off with Aqua Jet!" Simon called out, throwing his arm forward, and Anorith did the same, shooting forward with his body encased in water.

Stonjourner twitched a little and seized up, unable to dodge the attack as the Paralysis held it still, though it stood up surprisingly well to it. "Block it in and bring it this way!" Despite its earlier stillness, Stonjourner whipped around behind Anorith in a blur, between him and Simon, walling him off from Spewpa and Princess. Stonjourner skittered forward, shoving Anorith back towards Hood and his Rocks. "Come closer Anorith," Hood taunted, "come play with your fellow Rocks."

"Noo, nonono! Anorith, don't listen to that!" Simon put his hands on his head in a panic. If this was any other Pokemon he would've ignored the comment as simple taunting, but there was a real chance Anorith could actually forget they were in a battle.

The confused bug let out a cry as he looked at both Simon and the rocks behind him simultaneously, instinctively backing up in response to the barrier, before his eyes rolled up towards Stonjourner. He lifted a claw and squeaked out a greeting. Stonjourner's expression in return was the very origin of the term 'stone-faced.'

Capitalizing on the distraction, Hood fired off a list of commands and his mons moved in tandem with one another, despite Stonjourner's Paralysis, despite the Spider Web yet lingering in places, despite the Gravity bearing down.

"Stomp high!" Up went Anorith from Stonjourner's nasty kick. "Tag right, Smack Down!" Stonjourner darted up against the wall as Rolycoly zipped in and lobbed a golden stone. Down came Anorith with a hard smack. "Tag left, Horn Lob!" Rolycoly and Rhyhorn passed one another. Up went Anorith on the end of a wicked horn. Hood's Rocks were tagging in between Simon and Anorith, leaving the hapless bug cut off from his own team, roughly juggled like a pebble in a blender.

"HEY! You can't just do that!" Simon yelled out, barely able to see his own Pokemon behind the rocks as it let out a pained squeak of betrayal. This was just turning into a street brawl.

"They're tagging in and out, aren't they?" Hood asked, almost tauntingly.

"You know what, screw this- Princess, tag in! Use Beat Up and help Anorith out!" Simon threw his arm out, and suddenly several spots around his coat began to glow with dark energy, along with Spewpa and Princess herself. Soon the figures of Snom, Burmy and Larvesta emerged from Simon's pockets and landed beside the bug, before all fived charged towards Stonjourner, ready to aid their comrade.

Simon looked at the stranger with disdain, "How's that for evening the odds?"

All the opposing Rocks stopped short as Stonjourner weathered the blows on its big legs. Stonjourner peered at Princess for a moment and then turned away. The Rocks all peered at Hood in silence. "Simon," Hood said darkly, "Anorith didn't tag out." Hood's Rocks turned their gazes over at Simon expectantly, ignoring the Bugs on the field. "Am I to take this to mean you don't give a farthing for the rules here?"

"Yeah, I think I'm done with this." Simon said, as Anorith took the moment of respite to scuttle away between Stonjourner's legs. "I told you I wasn't in the mood to battle. If you wanna do this some other time, hit me up when you're not in some dark alleyway. Until then, we can call it a draw." He gestured for his Pokemon to retreat.

Hood snapped his fingers. "Clear me a path." Stonjourner dropped into a lopsided almost-split and spun like a giant stone compass, knocking bugs this way and that as Rhyhorn and Rolycoly dove into the ensuing melee. Hood strode forward briskly, as if the increased Gravity didn't exist for him, covering ground in wide strides. "Opportunity does not wait until you're 'in the mood.' Chance does not care whether or not you are 'done.' Danger does not beforehand 'hit you up.' If you will not play by the rules then neither will I, but there is no running from a Trainer battle!" Hood broke into a dash through the melee.

"What the fuck-" Simon eyes grew wide in shock, only now realizing the gravity was affecting him too. He attempted to turn away from the man but tripped as he lifted his foot- only for Hood to crash into him as he tackled him to the ground. Both trainers landed on the ground in a heap, Simon taking the brunt of the added impact with the gravity effect as the wind was knocked out of him.

Hood rolled clear quickly, getting to a knee. "When push comes to shove you must be ready, Simon. Aye, you might be the human hive, but you can't rely on your drones for everything." Hood stood up fully and approached Simon, grabbing him by the collart. "If that Joltik is your 'Princess,' then it falls to you to be King!" Hood swiped sideways, yanking Simon off the ground and flinging him like a sack of potatoes clear against the hard wall. "Act like it Simon! Defend yourself!"

Simon coughed and shakily pushed himself off the ground, still gasping for air and struggling under the added weight. All he could think about was to get away from this psycho, but the man's words filled him with rage. "Who… who the hell are you…" he croaked as he got to one knee. "...to tell me what to do?" He slowly got up and tried to swing a fist forward, but missed entirely as the man stepped back with ease.

Hood approached briskly. Simon noticed his team battling the Rocks nearby, but Stonjourner especially was doing its damnedest to keep between him and any backup. "I'm someone who cares, Simon." Hood bent down and grabbed him again. "I'm someone who doesn't want you to be so helpless the next time you find yourself looking down the barrel of a gun in the depths of some dreary mine." Hood levered his body and hauled Simon sideways into the air like on a Pinsir's horns. "I'm someone who's going to hurt you!" Hood dropped Simon down hard, back-first, onto his bony knee and let the Bug Trainer roll off it onto the ground.

The boy coughed, unable to even let out a pained cry as his lungs still grasped for air. This guy was fucking crazy, he really wanted to kill him- as Hood took a lumbering step towards him, he grabbed the man's leg and pulled himself up. He shakily got back on his feet as Hood watched in silence, and threw another punch.

Honestly, it would probably have been just as productive to punch the Stonjourner.

"You must do better than that!" Hood growled. He wound back his own fist, with all the dreadful presence of cocking a gun.

A surprised hum followed by a piercing screech sounded behind them, as the Stonjourner suddenly fell backwards to Snom's attacks and Spewpa broke through, leaping at Hood with all of her strength, fur raised like quills. She slammed into the man's back with surprising force, knocking him aside and away from Simon, latching on to his coat, the particles on her body glistening with light.

"Spewpa…?!" Simon managed to cough out. He watched incredulously as the light slowly took over the Pokemon's body, fully encompassing it, growing in size.

From the light two bright, wing-like shapes emerged and doubled in size, and the entire Pokemon increased in length. Suddenly, Hood found himself being held onto not by spikes, but by two barbed arms.

Spewpa evolved!

Vivillon ♀️
Friend Guard
Tackle - Stun Spore - String Shot - Poison Powder - Gust - Powder

Vivillon let out another battle cry worthy of a much larger Pokemon, flapping her wings once as a blast of wind blew from behind Hood, throwing both of them against the wall away from Simon. Behind them, the rest of the bugs were keeping the Rhyhorn and Rolycoly away, firing off attacks to push them back.

Simon's eyes grew wide and he straightened up. "W-wait-"

Hood reached his long arms back over his head, folding them backwards and closing his big hands on the new Vivillon's wings. "Bad time to learn to fly," he growled, "because with Gravity up you'll find these handholds worthless!" He pulled the Bug off his back and sent her tumbling like a colorful rag across the ground, near where Stonjourner had gone down. Hood called into the melee, "Smack Down this butterfly!"

Hood didn't direct that order at any mon in particular, so both Rolycoly and Rhyhorn broke off from their scuffles to each lob a golden stone of quadruple-effective power into Vivillon where she lay. Before the Pokemon or any of her companions could respond, she was pelted with the rock attacks, both stones throwing her across the field and ironically back towards Simon. The young man had no time to react himself as the bug slammed into his chest and he fell to the ground again, knocking over his bag and spilling his pokeballs onto the street.

Suddenly, the memory came rushing at him again. His life being in danger; his Pokemon evolving; the sudden vulnerability brought on by the evolution. This was the Pinsir mission all over again. Once again, his team was going to be hurt because of him. Another furious cry came from behind Hood, this time from Snom- the Pokemon looked ready to jump at the human herself next.

"S-STAND DOWN!" Simon ordered. "I GIVE UP!" he yelled out at Hood.

He lowered his voice as a ball grew in his throat, "You win, okay! Just, please-... don't hurt my team..."

"Hm. A bit of a rougher battle than I'd wanted," Hood said, recalling Rhyhorn and Stonjourner, "But a battle's a battle I suppose. And to the victor go the spoils." The Gravity subsided finally and Hood's Rolycoly wheeled over to stand at his feet. Hood peered down at Simon expectantly.

Suddenly, the boy realized something. "Wait…" The Rhyhorn and Stonjourner, the un-balled Rolycoly, the gravity… he'd seen this team. "I know who you are. You're Nigel, aren't you? You're a fucking league challenger?!"

The man crossed his arms. "That's a moniker for strangers to call me. I suppose I shouldn't think we aren't strangers though." He reached up and pulled down his bandanna to reveal a thick, black walrus mustache.

"You're… the guy from the mines…" Simon had seen that face in the past- and now he knew why he'd mentioned the gun. Last time he'd met this individual he seemed like a normal, sane person- what sort of game was this man playing?

"I presumed too much of our acquaintanceship evidently, if I'm still just 'the guy from the mines' to you. Granted, I shouldn't have expected to be remembered anyway." Mustache took a heavy step towards Simon. "But enough of this frivolity. I believe my reward is in order."

"Wha…? What the hell do you even want? Money? Seriously?" the boy asked.

"Money would be such a bland prize for beating the illustrious Simon who, I remember hearing, beat out one of his fellow challengers with but a single mon back at Motostoke."

Simon grit his teeth, but said nothing.

Mustache bent down and grabbed one of the mess of pokeballs that were on the ground, just out of Simon's reach. "This ball belong to one of them?" he asked, gesturing to Simon's Bugs.

"You must be on some Team Rocket shite if you think you're going to-" Simon began, but then paused for a moment as he recognized the ball. It was Caterpie's. "N-no, it's not! But it's-"

"Then that should do," Mustache said, straightening up. "One ball, hardly a drop in the bucket for a trainer of your caliber I'm sure."

Rage grew on Simon's face again as he got up and clenched his fists, "No. Give that ball back."

"You just said it didn't—"

"I SAID GIVE IT BACK!" the younger trainer yelled as he lunged at the man again.

Before he could even get close, Mustache's Rolycoly cut in and sent a Smack Down into Simon's head, and he buckled like a reed in the wind, collapsing to the ground from the rock move's effect.

The hooded, mustached stranger looked down at him with some surprise. He shared a look with his Rolycoly and looked out at Simon's Bugs, who were approaching wearily. "I understand someone like Simon must not lose often, but I didn't expect him to be such a sore loser over it. He'll be sorer still for a while but we didn't really hurt him. Stay with him until he awakens- and don't follow us." The man nodded to his Rolycoly and the two of them disappeared in a pillar of Smokescreen, leaving Simon crumpled in the street.

Joint post of Foxrally and Orx of Twinleaf

Foxrally · Oct 6, 2021

Vivillon ♀ Tackle | Stun Spore | String Shot | Poison Powder | Gust | 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: Memories

Hammerlocke

It was a quiet evening in Hammerlocke. The clock was hitting ten and a tired Simon, exhausted by the day's training at the gym, had collapsed onto the bed and promptly fallen asleep. He'd been spending nearly the entire day there now, and rarely coming home. An open bag of cinnamon buns on the table, meant for the Pokemon- but none of them were eating. Instead, the bugs were sat in a circle at the table, in a meeting that had been called by Vivillon.

The largest of the group raised her arm to call for the team's attention. It had been several days since the encounter with Mustache… and they all knew Simon had not taken it well; she shook her head with a sigh. He blamed him own weakness for his loss. Again. Instead of taking out his frustration at the world like before, he was now taking it out on himself. But as his team, it was their responsibility to be there for him- just as much as he was there for them.

Snom let out a hiss, suggesting that they track down Tim and obtain retribution themselves; the feeling of revenge would surely revitalize his spirit. Burmy and Larvesta nodded in agreement.

Vivillon shook her head. This wasn't about the Rock man. This was about Simon. This training he was putting himself through… he wanted to forget what was hurting him, but this wasn't the way to do it. But she had a plan. The winged bug motioned for the others to come closer as they huddled together, and began whispering her instructions.

Under the cover of night, the silhouette of a colourful vivillon, with a burmy in tow, slipped out of the window and flew off towards the city.

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

It was a good day to be a Kadabra. Kass had always been the energetic type, but requiring sleep - even the semi-conscious kind that Abra practiced - for such a large portion of the day put something of a dampener on that. Now though? Well, they did still need some manner of sleep. But so much more of the day was freed up for activity! Xan wasn't the sort to get in the way of the Kadabra's autonomy, and though the human wasn't keen on touching Strugglecon with a barge pole, Kass had free reign to explore it to their heart's content. They kept mostly out of people's way, teleporting about and sticking to rooftops or the tips of lampposts and the like.

There was so much to do and see. Both impromptu and, er… promptu battling. Panels of people Kass was sure were worth listening to for some reason. Technological stuff that the Kadabra didn't fully understand but knew Xan would either appreciate or angrily dismiss as borderline theft. So, so many people! All sorts milled about. It was nice to see so many people together enjoying themselves, and in such variety too. All sorts of humans, all sorts of Pokémon. Kass was pretty certain they even caught the presence of a few of the Froakie who had tailed their group all the way through the Wild Area. And just now, here came two bugs! A Burmy and a Vivillon - something was oddly familiar about the duo…

Oh! These were Simon's friends! Planning a celebration… and they needed Kass to help? Declining would be crazy! Of course the Kadabra would help! They… couldn't actually write themselves, but they knew someone who could… and they could probably bug them into doing it - pun intended funny pun haha… that person (it was Xan, no use beating around the bush it's Xan you guys) also carried the money. Money would be cool. They could use it to purchase goods, and if worst came to worst, services. They should meet up again later today, under cover of darkness! Then they could all enact… their secret plan...

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

Valerie was shining her pokeballs. "I'm walkin' on suuuuunshiiiine-- er well, it's the night, ain't it! Dancin' on the Moonlight! Ooooh I love the NIGHTLIFE! I got to boogie~ On the Disco night rouuuuund--eh?"

Her singing and dancing were interrupted by the two Pokémon that were staring at her. She didn't even notice that they already came in. Valerie could swear she saw Pokémon like that before. She pondered for a bit. "Ummm… Vullaby? Bagon? Giratina? No, no, that's too big...oh! Uhhhh, Vivillon and Burmy! That's it!" The Burmy had a note with it, one that it gestured to Valerie to read.

"Ooooh no way, Si-mey's Bday?!" she beamed. "Yaaaas Queen! Oh! Then you're Little Si' Bro's little buds, aren't ya?! Oh! For his b-day, I should defs write him something! Ah, pen, pen, where is that cute pen… ack, nono Val not THAT pen, get your mind back in PG, hahaha! Ah, here it is!"

The two bug Pokémon watched as Valerie eagerly wrote something on a piece of paper she had around. After she was done, she handed the note to Vivillion. "Give this note to him! Ohhh I should give him something too…. Hm…" then just as quickly, an idea flashed in her mind. "Val, you are some kind of fr-ea-ky genius!" Okay, give this to Simey too!

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

Aeliana stared at the two Pokémon that landed in front of her. Both of them were bugs, a Vivillon and a Burmy, but neither of them seemed aggressive in the slightest bit. She watched as the Burmy began to wiggle towards her, a small note held within its mouth.

Mahina and Tampa gave the trainer a curious look, but Aeliana didn't pay the two of them much mind. The blue-haired trainer gently took the note from Burmy before examining it carefully.

"Simon birthday...?" Aeliana questioned. Her lavender eyes lit up with a flash of recognition, as if she were a child that managed to slide the round peg into the round hole. "You're Simon's Pokémon!"

The Burmy nodded it's small head in response. That at least confirmed the identity of the two Pokémon. The problem was that once again she found herself on the back foot in regards to another birthday.

"Gimme a sec, lil' dudes!" Aeliana exclaimed. She began to rustle around in her trainer's bag, eyes coming to rest on the perfect gift. A smile came to the Alolan's lips as she pulled it and handed it to the larger Vivillion. "Here! Give Simon this and tell him Aeliana said to have a cool one!"

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

Haleigh glanced down at her arms, looking at them with pride, with a black and red abstract flame pattern that swirled around her arms now permanently etched on there. It still stung, her arms were really sore and it took up most of her day, but it was very much worth it to have such a cool design.

As she exited the tattoo parlor and made her way back to the Hammerlocke Pokemon Center, she was suddenly greeted by the sight of two bug Pokemon swooping down and landing in front of her. The blonde stopped in her tracks, gauging the creatures' intentions. They seemed not at all fazed by her presence and upon a closer look, had a piece of paper in their hands.

She read it aloud. "Simon... birthday?"

Haleigh snapped her fingers as she exclaimed, "Ah, you lot are Simon's! Wow, it's his birthday already, eh?"

She looked up in thought as she thought about the sorts of things she had collected since the start of the journey and suddenly remembered the times that she, Mel and Simon liked to listen to music at the academy.

"I think I got just the thing. If you come with me back to the Center, I can give you his gift and I can send him a little note along with it."

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

Melody gave a small smirk as she looks at the note from the Burmy and Vivillon that had landed in front of her windowsill. She wasn't sure who the former was, but Nightshot could recognize the latter from a mile away.

"I thought I was gonna have t' track Si down to give this to 'em. You two are the delivery bugs, yeah?" she tossed her satchel onto the ground and began to dig through it. After a few seconds of digging, she victoriously held out her find. Of course it had sunken to the bottom by now, she'd been carrying it around since the Yule season. "Here," she said as she placed the disk in the butterfly's tiny hands, who promptly put it into a bag the burmy was carrying.

"Hey, can you guys give him a message?" She asked after a brief hesitation. "Can you tell him… he's still the Ultimate Hope?"

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

Winston sat at the desk in his hotel room, hard at work. His body was still heavy and tired from his journey through the Wild Area, but he had to have something to show by Strugglecon. It was an opportunity to get new eyes on his work, after all. Just as he was finishing up inking a page, his phone rang.

He didn't often get calls so he was quick to pick up. It was Isla, who didn't often call either. "I'm at the arts and crafts store. My hands are full so I can't really text. Simon's pokemon came to me and told me his birthday was soon so I'm going to make him a gift. You like him too, right? I'll send you his address if you want to give him something too."

She hung up. Simon's birthday… He'd always been his favorite challenger from their class. His perseverance and creativity were things Winston always admired, and they were just the start of the list. He had his own business, but doing nothing would have felt wrong.

For a moment he wondered if it would be weird, since the two hadn't actually spoken much. He didn't really talk with anyone at the academy, now that he thought about it. But he quickly put those thoughts out of his head. He didn't imagine that sort of thing would stop Simon either.

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

It was late, very late, but even the dead of night didn't keep Pia from wandering through the streets of Hammerlocke. Having just visited her mother at the hospital and working the entire day, the exhaustion had caught up to her.

She decided to walk around for a bit longer, when suddenly in front of her, two Pokémon flew out of an alleyway. Pia almost mistook them for ghost Pokémon and was ready to scream until she saw the figure of a familiar Burmy.

"Oh…" she sighed in relief and held her hand against her thankfully-still beating heart. "You startled me." She stood up straight, only now seeing the Vivillon carrying the Burmy and holding a note. It definitely was still a Spewpa the last time she saw it.

Pia picked up the note as the Pokemon offered it to her, and read the few words inscribed on it.

"Simon's birthday...?"

It was short but effective. So Simon's birthday was coming up? It said an address too but truthfully, Pia had nothing to give the boy or money to spend on anything. Evidence was her still broken, old phone. Still, birthdays were something to be celebrated and having had near nothing in her birthdays herself, she at least wanted to offer the boy something.

"Do you guys have a moment?" Pia asked the two bug Pokémon who nodded in response. She slung the bag off her shoulder and grabbed the piece of paper she had used to mark the page off of her book and wrote on it with a pencil.

"Could you deliver this to him?" Pia held the folded piece of paper to Burmy and Vivillon a few minutes later. "Make sure he has a good one." She smiled.

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

Normally Ryan took the stairs, but since her room was on the sixth floor and she was busy scrolling through Instagran, the elevator served. Someone rushed in as the doors were closing, but she paid them no mind until a crinkle of paper announced the arrival of a note in her face.

"Wha- uh?" Once she maneuvered the paper to an appropriate distance, she could read the scrawl. "Simon Birthday?"

A weird but definitely affirmative noise led her to slowly pull the note from her eyes and finally observe the messenger. No, messengers. Plural. A Burmy and Vivillon, staring expectantly. "Ohh, Simon-Simon. Okay." There were far too many to keep track of in Galar, but she only knew one with such an affinity for bug-types.

Ryan handed the paper back and jumped when the elevator chimed, announcing their arrival at her floor. "Um, okay, you- you're putting me on the spot. Couldn't you have done this while I was shopping? I don't know if I have anything gift-like. Come help me look, I guess."

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

Rosa sighed, but a happy smile stayed spread across her face. It had been a few days since what she now hoped to be her final days in Motostoke, and she'd only just managed to get back to Hammerlocke. The girl looked down at her ATC, nodding her head as she checked the date.

"Just barely made it," she whispered, shoving the device back into her pocket.

Just as the girl entered the city and started to walk back towards Pia's house for a much needed shower, she was stopped by two Pokemon in the middle of the street. The girl looked down at the two bugs, and then at the wrinkled and crumbled paper which they were presenting to her.

"Simon's birthday? I see. Well, as long as it's not my Simon, I suppose it's fine."

The girl smiled, dropping her bag from her back as she began digging through it. After a few seconds, she'd come across the item she'd been looking for. 'This has been in here for months, doing nothing besides poking me and taking up space. I haven't even seen Jasper since that time back in Motostoke… I'm sure I can find something else to give him before we manage to meet up again.'

"Here," she said, holding out the gift to the two Pokemon. "And let him know… to have a happy birthday, and that I can't wait to have a battle against him. I'm excited to show each other how much we've both grown."

Dragon · Oct 6, 2021

Prepping for Strugglecon ღゝ◡╹)ノ♡
Demon x Death
Poké:

1000 ♡ Friends: 23

P1: Valerie!
P2: Melody!

Level 1: Costume World
PRESS START!

It had been an incredibly long time since Melody had been in a room with so many people. It was both nostalgic in the sense that it reminded her of the concerts back at home, and pretty damn obnoxious because… people. Everywhere. People she didn't know and had a feeling she didn't want to.

"Miss Melody!"

Well. So much for not knowing anyone.

Melody looks up to see a familiar, green-haired girl jogging towards her and waving. Somehow, Melody's not at all surprised that Kei is here. Even at the contest, which was supposed to be such a formal affair, she had been wearing multiple buttons in support of Valentine. The corner of Melody's lips raise the slightest bit at the sight of Kei's outfit: The blue robe she's wearing and the sword hanging from her hip are pretty spot on if she's cosplaying Lyndis from Fire Emblem, and that would make the Chikorita tottling along behind her, wearing green armor and a little black bandana… Sain? Okay, she can't deny that's pretty cute. "Long time no see."

"Kyu kyu!" Annabelle greets from behind Melody's legs. She remembers this girl!

After Melody explained to Annabelle what a convention was, the ghostly fairy became very excited and quickly got to work making a new costume. Now; however, she's feeling just a little uncertain about her latest creation… it's not a Pokemon. Is it too much?

Kei peers around Melody to see what was greeting her. The green-haired girl clasps her hands over her mouth in what appears to be an attempt to suppress a squee. "C-can I hug her?"

"Kyyyyu!" Annabelle says as she hops excitedly. Kei is all smiles as she kneels down and hugs the Mimikyu-- or perhaps she should call her a Mono-kyu.

After the confidence-boosting hug, Kei rises back up and hands Annabelle back to Melody. "Ohmygosh, you CAN'T let her outfit go to waste. You HAVE to cosplay too!"

"Uh--" Melody stammers. That really wasn't the plan--

"Come on, there's a store over here that has EVERYTHING you need!" With that, the sunny trainer grabs onto Melody's wrist and quickly begins to drag her towards the cosplay shop. There is no escape.

***

"Looks like you have some free time just before the matches start," said one of the volunteers of the convention, Miss Ashley. She was one of the helpers to guide struggle streamers to their destinations on time. Her appointed streamer just happens to be…

"Hot Poggers!" Valerie. Valerie was strolling through the building, through all the attendees. "Dunno about you cutie, buuuut this gal's got a date in the cosplay store!"

"Just remember the schedule," Ashley inquired. "If you're late, you'll be DQ'd."

"No worries!" Valerie reassured her. "FYI, there ain't noooooo way I wanna lose to that guy. Never. Anyway, lates sis! Oh! BTW, try out the Krispy Krabby donuts. They're sooooo good. Like, aaaaaah, heavenly good!" She trotted away while saying all that, like a kid wanting to escape release from their own parents.

Continuing on her way, Valerie was in thought. She was here to participate in Struggle Rivals, but first, she's gotta look the part! "Val's gonna be the Demon Queen, after all!" She encouraged herself. "I mean my old outfit was pretty dope, but I could go even further beyond! But hmm, what should I get… like, evil horns, maybe? A cool ass robe? Oh! Oh! Maybe high heel boots? Or maybe--" But she didn't notice, from her pratting on, the familiar face that had stumbled almost right in front of her. It's been a while, but she couldn't forget her face.

"...Mel-Mel?"

Suddenly, Kei stops dead in her tracks. Melody looks over her shoulder and nods to Valerie-- she can't… exactly wave since Kei has one of her arms and she's using the other to hold Annabelle. "Hey, Val-Val."

"Kyyu!" Annabelle raises one of her shadowy claws from under her disguise to wave in Melody's place.

Melody's eyes shift between her friend and the awe-struck, green-haired trainer. Is she going to be okay?

"Haaaah, looking cool as always, mel!" Valerie complimented, but then noticed the other girl. She gave them both a warm grin."Oooh? Who's this cutie? A friend of yours? Maybe aaaaaaa... special someone? Eh? Eh?"

"Wha-- no!" Melody takes a step away from Kei as the other girl releases her wrist. "This is Kei. She works with the… whoever puts the contests together, I guess?" Melody shrugs before a thought occurs to her. As much of a fan of Val as Kei is, she's got to be pretty active in the Strugglechat, right? "What's your Struggle SN?"

Shecalledmecuteshecalledmecuteshecalledmecute! It takes Kei's incredibly excited brain a second or so to register what Melody asked. "I'm SunnyDei."

"Hey, hey! Nice to meet ya, and oooh!" She peeped upon Kei's clothing, to see a familiar trinket. "Kyaaaa, that was from the shop! That means you watch the streams?! Never knew Val had such a cute fan!"

… Yeah, Melody remembered that name from when she would occasionally tune in to Val's streams. Suddenly a lot of things make sense. "You on your way to a panel, Val-Val?"

"Oh yeahhhh, I'm actually here to pick out a costume," Valerie replied. "Looooads of things happened, probably have some sort of backstory somewhere, BUT, Val is officially the Demon Queen now, and she needs to look the part!"

Demon Queen? Don't ask. We could be here for hours. Melody reminds herself.

"Kyyyyu-ku?" Annabelle perks her head up at the mention of a costume. For a demon queen? Hmm. A flowing cape maybe. And! And! Flames! Yes, lots of flames! "Mimikyu!" Suddenly, the little ghost leaps out of her trainer's arms and darts into the costume shop. Inspiration has struck! She must act quickly! Quickly!

"'Belle!" Melody calls out as she gives chase to the inspired ghost.

"Looks like they got an eye for this kinda stuff!" Valerie said with a giggle. She turned back to Kei. "Saaaaay, why don't you both join me? It'll be totes fun that way!"

"M-me? Are you sure?" The green-haired trainer asked. Cosplay shopping? With THE VALENTINE?! Is she dreaming?! And is she intruding? These two must be such close friends!

Before Melody can catch up to Annabelle, the little ghost is already scurrying back towards the group with several shades of purple fabric balanced atop her fake head. With her shadowy claw, she holds each out towards Valerie and begins to compare. Mmmm. No, not this one. Too dark. Not this one either, it clashes with her eyes. Maybe this one? Yes, this one! This is a nice royal color, perfect for a queen!

Melody shakes her head, completely unable to stop from grinning at the sheer excitement that's practically radiating off Annabelle.

"I don't think I can say no," she replies as she rests her hand on her hip, tilting her head towards the star-struck Kei. This must be a really big deal for her… sorta like how stoked she would be if she was invited to go guitar shopping with one of her favorite musicians. "C'mon, Sunny, it'll be… fun, and you've… got a knack for this," she motions to the girl's own cosplay.

As for the actual store itself: Fabrics here, material there, and colours everywhere the eye can see. "Oooh, this looks smokin'," Valerie commented to the ghost-type. "I have sweet horns already, so I deeeefintely need a cape or cloak too. Maybe something with flames? Oh! And boots! Something that can spit fire!! Or maybe not because what if kids are watching… hm…" her eyes wondered, until they met with Mel's and Keis. "Are ya' getting something too?"

"I got my stuff earlier. Melody needs something though!" Kei explains. By this point, Melody has accepted that she's a prisoner of two bubbly young ladies… and her own Pokemon, who has once more shot off towards the materials section, royal-purple fabric still on her head. The punk teen can only assume she's using it to make sure the purples match.

"Apparently I need something," Melody repeats.

"Yeah?" Valerie inquired. "What sort of something? Something... Hot n' Cute? Cuz' girl, you would SLAY in something hot pink--"

Melody gives a short, somewhat nervous laugh. "I have no idea. I've never done anything like this before." She's not totally out of her element, there's a lot of similarities between concerts/raves and conventions. Dressing up just for the sake of dressing up, though? With no real theme behind it? Where does someone even start?

"You know what? I'll tell you what. I think you've already got a knack for it," Valerie then reassured. "Saaaay, here's an idea: remember the contest you won back at Turffield? Everyone loved you! That get up, that scenery, your pokemon?" Valerie clasped her hands together. "You should like, embrace it!"

"That's right!" Kei adds with an equal amount of enthusiasm. "They were calling you the Death Princess! Ohmygosh," She looks between Valerie and Melody as if she's been struck with some kind of incredible realization. "The Demon Queen and the Death Princess together?! That's super special awesome!"

This… is gonna be a long day. Still, she doesn't hate the idea. "How do I play into that?"

"Okayokay! Now hear me out on this MelMel," Valerie started. "Two words: Goth. Vampire. Remember that song? I'm a hex girl! And I'm gonna put a spell on youuuuu~ Well that's an old one, but, hey! Like Kei said, a Demon Empress and a Powerful Royal Vampire!! Amirite?!"

This was all incredibly new to Melody, and… what was surprising her most about it all was how much she didn't hate it. She didn't mind admitting to Valerie that she had no idea what she was doing, and she didn't mind asking the girl for advice. Hell, she loves the idea of being a vampire. Her eyes glance between Valerie and Kei, who seems to already be scanning the store for vampiric inspiration. The punk teen smirks. "Sold."

"Hell yeah!" Valerie cheered. "Awwwwright, know what that means? Formation of the Demon Queen and Death Princess is-a-GO!"

Then came the montage - the montage of the girls' many different types of fabric, accessories, and outerwear that may or may not be too big for them. One point, Valerie had jokingly put on a Cynthia cosplay. Obviously the other two might have questioned how that might not be 'demonic' enough, but only Valerie would give them a puzzled look, "But of course she's a demon!" before chuckling that she's kidding before trying more stuff on. A snip there, fabrics as hot as the flames of destiny there later…

"Booyah!" Valerie had most of her cosplay get up together. The houndoom-styled horns she's wearing was complimented by her black cloak that's patterned with crimson red flames, and underneath was a dress the same colour as her cloak, and black tights. She was also wearing black and red high heel boots that fit just right for her. She then carefully slipped on long, black gloves that extended to her arms. "Gotta get me some matching Gym wear too… but this is gonna be lit when I walk down that aisle! Strugglecon, get ready and bow down before your Queen!"

"You look AMAZING!" Kei practically squeals, causing Melody to take a step back.

"You really do look great," the punk teen nods in agreement. For her own outfit, Kei found her a black and grey peasant dress. Wanting to throw in some hot pink (since Valerie suggested it) Annabelle ventured out to find some black flowers with pink, glowing eyeballs that replace the pistils. She hummed a happy little tune while sewing the flowers onto the dress. Kei and Anzu made one of the evil-eye flowers into a hairclip and brought in some pink hair extensions to bring the look together. Melody then found a black, hooded cloak that was frayed and torn towards the end, making it look old and battle worn. Finally, to bring the death motif together, the punk teen found a comically large scythe. Throw in some lace up boots and a pair of torn stockings and she was ready to go.

"Kyaaaa, Mel, you look stunning!" Valerie shrieked. "Ah! Even The DQ is forced to bow before our Death Princess! And look at that scythe! I give 1000000 Val-isfaction points!"

Despite feeling a little silly, Melody manages to give a small laugh at Val's excitement. "Thanks, Val-Val."

"I feel like I'm really in the presence of royalty. Kick-ass, underworld royalty!" Kei swoons. This is totally the best day of her life!

Annabelle excitedly hops onto the blade of the scythe and beams proudly. "Kyyyyu kyu kyu!" She cheers happily. They get to head out now, right? And Val gets to show off her outfit to all her fans?

"Sooo, what do you wanna do now?" Valerie asks. "Ah! Don't answer that, because I know! We strut our stuff. How about you, Kei-deo? Wanna hang out with us?"

Shegavemeanameshegavemeanameshegavemeaname! Kei's been smiling so brightly that Melody swears her face is going to crack-- and yet she shows no sign of stopping. "If you're sure I won't be in the way, I'd love to!"

"In the way of what, walking?" Melody raises an eyebrow. "Just go in a straight line and you're golden."

"Nononono, that's not what I meant. I mean I don't wanna ruin the vibe, ya know? The two netherworld queens vibe."

"Psssh, what are you talking about?" Valerie cheeked. "As the DQ, I must declare: you are already part of the vibe! So, come on!"

"Weeeell, okay!" Kei hops forward to stand closer to Valerie. Annabelle trills out a happy sound and sways her stuffed head back and forth. What a fun day!

Melody looks down to the Pokemon perched on her prop and manages a little smile. When this journey started, she never imagined herself doing something like this-- much less being happy to be a part of something like this. She used to find Valerie so annoying, yet now-- well, maybe trying to make other people happy isn't as obnoxious as she used to think. "Lead the way, queen."

Dragon · Oct 6, 2021

Prepping for Strugglecon ღゝ◡╹)ノ♡
Demon x Death
Poké:

1000 ♡ Friends: 23

P1: Valerie!
P2: Melody!

Level 2: A Secret Revealed
PRESS START!

"Hey, isn't that…"
"It is! It's Demon Queen Valerie!! Oh! And that right there--"
"I-It's Melody, winner of the Turfield's Pokemon contest!"
"You're right! I hear rumors that since then, people have been calling her the Princess of Death!"

"Clear the way, mortals! Demon Queen and Death Princess Melody in d'house!" Valerie, alongside Melody and Kei were casually, or well, in Valerie's case - asserting her reign, throughout the convention's building. After finding the right cosplay for them to wear, they decided to have some more fun. "Get used to this, friends, this is the life of demonic royalty! Fuahaha~!"

"This is so wild…" Melody murmurs to herself. She knew that nickname had picked up some traction amongst Hex Maniacs and some of the people from Spikemuth, but now it seems a hell of a lot less… niche?

Kei giggles happily. "It's great for branding though!"

"I… guess, yeah." Melody nods.

Kei flashes an incredibly sunny smile before trotting a few steps ahead of Melody to walk in step with Valerie. "How much time do you have before your panel? The Valentine Kingdom will kill me if I let you be late for it!"

"No worries, no worries! I've got plenty of time!" Valerie reassured her. "Oh yeah, speaking of which, have you two heard of Struggle Rivals? The Demon Queen is gonna take part in it, of course! It's a full 6 on 6 Pokemon match with a certain unlucky someone! Haaah, it's gonna be sweet! Both the battle, and a chance on knockin' that stupid bloke down!"

"Aaaah! I heard! It's gonna be soooo awesome!" Kei exclaims with a small bounce in her step.

Melody hadn't heard of any such thing, though she's pretty sure Valerie just explained everything she'll need to know. A six on six battle? You don't get a lot of those outside of the championships, so this should be pretty cool. "Who're you fighting? Anyone big?"

"Well, actually--"

"Yoooooooo hohoho! Look who it IS, sucka man!"
"V-Ray?! Daaamn, Snap back to reality, ope! There goes gravity!"

Valerie -- in a rare sight -- cringed. She turned her head towards the familiar, annoying, sound; voices that sounded like they were always a cross between trying to say something funny and laughing at their own so-called 'jokes'. They strolled in all swagger like, with their clothing that makes them look like wannabe hip-hop artists, and those as Valerie would have thought, douchebag-like sunglasses.

The Jameson brothers. While the sight and sound of them made Valerie cringe, some of the other populace, mainly young girls, welcomed the eye candy.

"Ahhh! It's the brothers!!"
"Team Savage for the win!"
"Love you Tate! Micheal!

"V-Ray, V-Raaaay! Aw man, love the outfit, hunny!" The older one, Micheal, was always striving to be better than everyone else, and he himself always proclaimed he was. Alongside the youngest one, Tate, they formed a group called Team Savage, a group who always does pranks and stunts all around their home, and neighbourhood in Unova. But while they were beloved by millions of young teens, they were also hated for their antics. Valerie, speaking of which, was no such fan, to put it mildly. She didn't respond, as Tate lowered his glasses. "Goin' for that -- what did you call it? Demon Queen look, babe?"

"Bra, ease up on the babe stuff," Valerie warned. "Ain't your hunny either."

"Nah, we're just foolin' V-Ray," Micheal said while shrugging. "So uh, who are these two? Part of your training regimen? Fans of Valentine's Day? Kinda dig the costumes too, they bring out your eyes."

"Hey, tell V-Ray to brush up on her arithmetic," Tate addressed the other two. "Mathematics is wild and she needs all the help she can get. Five times six Val. Go."

"Oh, I get it, you're one of those educational channels for kids," Melody muses with an absolutely dry tone. Well, probably not, but between the stupidly out-of-place math question and the way they're dressed-- like someone trying too hard to appeal to what the kids are into these days it's an educated guess. Melody's never seen these faces before, and judging by Valerie's annoyed tone and Kei's sudden, cold glare, she's pretty sure she doesn't want to.

… They're gonna tell her though, aren't they?

"Mel, these are the guys I'm battling against," Valerie informed. "Or er, I should say 'guy' - I'm battling against that guy. Micheal. And no, they're not part of a whacked educational vid."

"Aight, so, V-Ray didn't explain anything much so I'll take it from here," Micheal started. "We're Team Savage, the most dominant and in control party you'll ever see, and tonight, we're gonna show Galar how insignificant everyone else is."

"Yeah… and cuz of your circus antics, your neighbours from Unova seem to think so as well?" Valerie asked in her version of a rhetorical tone.

"Come on V-Rayyyy, you know you love us," Tate said, almost grinning. "I mean people like going to the circus, right?"

"You're serious right now? Tate, people like goin' to circuses, not living in one!" Valerie groaned. She turned to Melody. "Er yeah -- they also like doing a bunch a' stunts and pranks. And drive everyone totally cray."

"Hey, hold up, hold now," Micheal observed the charming, cute woman Valerie was with. "You're that... Dark Torchic from T.V! Melody, I think? You got some moves! Uhh, well you know, maybe you could uh… show some of those moves in Team Savage?"

Dark… Torchic? Is that another nickname she's gotten? … She sorta likes it. A fighty, little, fiery Pokemon? A dark variant of it? -- but that's not the point. The punk teen continues to stare blankly at the pair as if trying to place them. That name sounds familiar, she can see Team Savage in her mind's eye very clearly, on her Rotom phone screen, but the video wasn't about these two.

That's when it clicks into place, and Valerie's annoyance and Kei's clear discomfort make all the sense in the world. Those apology parody videos. This guy, Michael, he's the one that made the original one. The genuine one. A wave of annoyance and anger wash over Melody, yet her expression doesn't change; she appears as expressionless as she has since they appeared. "I'm good, thanks."

"Are you sure? Team Savage is all about the.. life, you know? Ah well, if you change your mind, we're just a phone call away—"

"Cut it out, the woman said no," Valerie pointed out. "And don't even think of asking Kei or me either."

"I mean we alllll know how much you love Team Savage, V-Ray," Micheal said. "And uh, Kei, right? Well, if you love or hate us, we still accept you! We're kinda like Valentines, but you know, bigger and better."

"By the way, about our neighborhood hating us and all that," Tate then started. "For real, it's a serious situation and we for sure do feel bad about it. But, there's really nothing we can do, because the Jameson army's the strongest army out there — dab."

"Did you just—"

"And V-Ray, we love you," Micheal added. "Cause… you know what it's like, being hated in the hood, right?"

Valerie gave them a stink eye. "I ain't the one who's waking everyone up at 3 am, cuz I was stupid enough to have my Houndoom flame up a box that spreaded near the damn house," she retorted. "And I didn't purposely give my address, so that my thousands of fans can swarm my neighborhood at once, asking for a big stink. Real talk: did you guys not like… think about how your actions will affect people, before doing it?"

"Why?"

"Wh— Whatdya' mean why?"

"I mean, for every hater, there's two times the lovers to our Team," Micheal replied. "That's the stuff that keeps us going—the love. I mean, you know all about love, right? Like, what's your slogan? Val loves you?

"What's your point here?"

"In Team Savage, the love is genuine, millions strong," Micheal confidently addressed. "You guys in… what do you call it, the Demon Kingdom? It's kinda cute but.. how does a demon… love? I kinda don't get it."

"It's a form of expressing ourselves," Valerie explained. "The Demon Kingdom are toooootally all about the love within the LGBTQ community. And anyone else that needs and wants it. It's so that—"

"So that people won't feel what you felt, right?" Tate was right on this, but it caught Valerie off guard a little. "You know… from Chirchester?"

"...How did you..."

"Yeah, so V-Ray, just putting this out there cause a little Taillow told us," Tate began. "There was once a girl, who became a hardcore nuisance and bother to her family and some of her old friends, right? And then she began to move, and made some new friends, calling it, the 100 adventures, or whatever." Valerie stood on edge.

"So V-Ray, right back at you, how did it feel, being a huge nuisance to everyone around you?" Micheal added on. "Cause, if you wanna be real — If you wanna make people happy, you shoulda finish what you started eight years ago."

"How... You..." Valerie then froze. Her face twisted in despair. The two brothers screamed "Ohhhhhhh!" But, Valerie stood in silence.

Melody's eyes flit from Valerie, to the brothers, to Kei. The green-haired trainer had barely blinked since they arrived, let alone spoken a word. Melody had a feeling she was afraid of what she might say if she so much as let herself speak. As for Melody herself-- she once more found herself totally lost. There's obviously more going on here than just some kind of rivalry between social media personalities, it almost seems personal-- no, absolutely personal.

It was the oohhhhh! that finally took away Melody's neutral expression. She was perfectly content to stay out of this fight and let Valerie handle herself until it became clear these two had found a nerve and stomped on it. Motioning for Annabelle to hop off the toy scythe, Melody then promptly swings it forward and points the jagged end towards Michael's neck. Sure, it's a toy, but it still looks like it could do some damage with enough force and irritation behind it. "We're done here," she explains with a precise tone and a harsh glare. "Beat it."

"It's all good, we're out," Micheal reassured after a light chuckle. "Well, been nice talking with you and catching up, V-Ray, and uh… just in case you ever get those thoughts again, there's numbers for that. Seriously. You are loved! Including from the army of Team Savage, babyyyyy!" A swagger filled peace sign from Tate later, and the two brothers started making their way through the crowd, only for them to be tailed by the teenaged girls that followed behind them. The tense atmosphere died down, as soon as the two were no longer in sight.

Valerie, Melody and Kei were finally left behind, worse for wear. A moment of silence was etched between the three girls, to be broken by Valerie who finally let out a sigh. When the pair turned their backs, Kei launched forward, only for her wrist to be grabbed by Melody. The furious trainer whirled around to see Melody's face had fallen back to neutral, and the punk teen shakes her head. "It's not worth it," she mutters. "Big reactions are what they want. They were probably streaming that whole thing on a hidden phone or something."

Kei takes a deep breath before giving a small nod. "Yeah… you're right. I just…"

"It's okay," Melody shakes her head before turning her full attention to Valerie. "Are you okay?"

Valerie smiled then nodded. But this time, it wasn't a smile she could genuinely hold. Her head quickly hung down, her expression turned dark. "Umm, can we chat somewhere for a bit?"

Dragon · Oct 6, 2021

Let's talk. Idk.
...
Poké:

1000 ♡ Friends: 23

P1: Valerie!
P2: Melody!

Level 3: The Ballad of the Dark
PRESS START!

Leaving the aggravation that was their brief confrontation with those brothers behind, it was easy to see that there was still an incredible tension between the three of them-- well, more so Kei and Valerie. Melody wanted to punch those two jackasses in the throat; however, that wasn't exactly a new sensation. After a minute of walking in near silence, it was Annabelle that caught sight of the cafeteria and attempted to steer the trio towards it. She could smell donuts, and the ghostly fairy had come to learn that donuts could cure an incredible amount of sadness.

"You two find us a table? I'll get in line," Keiko asks before trotting off towards the decent-sized line-- before Melody or Valerie could protest. If she wants a minute alone or wants to give Melody and Valerie a moment alone, it's hard to say.

Melody glances uncertainty towards Valerie before fidgeting with her cloak's hood. Geez, say something. "Those guys were such jackasses," she finally mutters, her gaze now fixated on the wall on the opposite side of the food court, "... sorry I didn't jam his jugular in with a blunt object."

"Nah, it's all good," Valerie tried to reassure. Her fingers were lightly drumming against the table. "I mean. I guess they diiiid caught me a tad off guard. But, internet beef and drama. What can ya doooo… Oh and um, sorry you and Kei-deo had to experience all that nonsense."

Melody waves her hand dismissively. "It's nothing. There's jackasses like that all over the place. They're trying so hard to make themselves something special by being… the most generic cutout of a ****ty person I can think of." She shrugs. "But that's what gets views, I guess." … Her ability to be a comforting presence still needs some work.

Valerie gave a small smile. "Yupyup, guess you can say that," she agreed. After another brief moment of silence, her fingers started fidgeting again. She looked like she was deep in thought. Now, she knew that she couldn't hide it anymore. It was time to address the Copperajah in the room. "...Soooo... long as it's out there, I might as well tell you."

Tell her what? Like, the history she had with those two? There was something there. Melody casts her gaze back towards Valerie and gives a very small nod. "Uh, sure, go ahead."

Valerie made a deep breath and let it out. "So like, before I lived in Wedgehurst, I was living in Chirchester with my rents," Valerie began. "You know how I'm bi, right? When I found out I was bi, I was suuuuper excited. Like, liking boys AND girls, right? That sounded amazing! But mum and dad were always like, Bi people aren't actually people or they can't sort out what they want because they have no true feelings. I started to get a little confused at the whole thing. Like, good-Arceus, why was I born a bisexual then? Maybe… maybe fate was telling me, I wasn't really a person? When those thoughts started to form, things got preeeetty difficult."

Valerie's eyes started to shift around the room. "The pressure just kept piling on. All the stress & anxiety about what people might think and do if they found out, and over just… hiding that part of myself? It didn't really feel good at all, suppressing myself like that. One day, idk… it got too much, and my mind just lost it. Like, poof, melted, self-destructed. I didn't wanna live like that anymore, and I didn't know what to do about it… no one to talk with, no one to listen. So, I decided one day to sneak out to Route 9, with all the frozen lakes and stuff. At first I wanted to like, try and forget about everything, and then another part of me just wanted to just like… stay there. Just sit down, all by my lonesome, curl up in a ball and stay there, no matter how much I freeze. I think some parts of the town were looking for me, but I just stayed quiet. Know what broke me outta it though? It was something called a Lapras -- that found me in that state, and gently carried me across the lake. And then, one of my favourite streamers from back then -- her Struggle name is LunaBeam btw -- she sent me like, 10 DMs."

Valerie started to blush, but managed a sincere smile nonetheless. "I started chatting with LunaBeam and she was like, Embrace that you're bisexual. It's better to be yourself than to put up with people who don't accept you. Or, something like that. So, I finally got the courage to to come out and tell mum and dad and some of my friends about me being bisexual. Mum and dad didn't take it well, but some of my friends did at least! Soooo that was something? Still, eventually they decided, maybe it's better that granny and gramps raised me instead. IDK… maybe they didn't like their pride n' joy wasn't really a person with feelings in their eyes. Or, maybe they just know what to say or do, so they took the easy way out? Eh, either way, when I moved to granny and gramps, things got a heck of a lot better! I found out about the story of Mew n' friends, and got enrolled at the academy! And maaaaan, you have NO IDEA how happy I was to like, freely embrace being bi. I think you know the rest and junk, but yeah!"

Valerie then let out a soft sigh. "Btw, I don't have those bad thoughts anymore, despite what those clown bros might say. Still… I go back and think, what if, you know? And it's kinda scary - if it wasn't for Lapras, and LunaBeam… I'd be six feet under in a frozen tundra by now. So, I guess... they were like, my first true friends! When I read the story about Mew and its 100 friends, I figured, if Mew can do it, so can I, y'know? I can… make a bunch of friends who just accept me for me, and maybe someday, I can meet Mew and be cuddly friends with them too! And gotta say, this journey was hella fulfilling! Got to meet so many brilliant people like Aeli, Simey, Ruby… and of COURSE you as well, Mel-Mel!"

With a light-hearted chuckle, Valerie gave a solemn look. "Soooo… yeah, that's the thick of it. Dunno how the bros found out about that since I never really shared that with anyone, cuz' the past is the past, but… I guess it does help talking about things like that with someone. Gah, I've been talking your ear off, sorry to unload that all on you. It's not really what I had in mind when I saw you."

Melody props her elbow on the table and rests her palm against her cheek as she listens. That's a hell of a lot to digest, and Melody didn't expect… any of it, really. All that **** from her parents because she likes girls and guys? Well, ****, so does Melody. Given, she never really told anyone, especially not her mom. Heavy topics and her own mother just didn't mix. Haleigh figured it out about ten seconds into seeing Melody interact with Rosa, but of course she was cool with it. She's Haleigh.

As for that feeling of sheer desolation that Valerie must have felt in order to be willing to walk out and freeze to death rather than deal… Melody can't say she's ever related. There's only been a handful of times in her life that she's felt anything that strongly. Man, maybe she dodged a bullet there after all. After a few seconds of processing Valerie's story, Melody gives a small shrug. "I don't mind. I mean, it's cool that you're brave enough to talk about heavy stuff like that." It's easy to take one look at Valerie and think that she's never had a bad day in her life, and that she lives in her own little world of sugarplum sparkles and happiness, totally oblivious to the **** that gunks up the real world. Turns out, no, she's aware, she just… chooses to keep shining light on a world that can get pretty damn dark. That's. Admirable. Really.

"Honestly, Mel? I'm kinda jealous of you," Valerie then admitted. "Even from school, you're always so cool, tough and brave - you don't seem that you're like, tied down to what people say or do around you. I meaaaan… I know, Val isn't the easiest gal to be around. People like Xanny, Raph-idash or Cath-turne made that alllll too clear. But hey, I'm still happy just bein' myself! Still, I kinda wish I was braver back then. To like, confront my parents and give them a piece of my mind, I mean. And brave enough back then to say things like, if people who are like me aren't really people, then what are these emotions I have? Why aren't people who are different, as beautiful? Stuff like that. IDK, I thiiink I'd have an easier time with my life, that's all."

Melody glances towards the line. Kei's still behind a few people, so she'll be another few minutes. With a soft sigh, the punk teen tugs down her cloak's hood. "... Here's the thing," she starts. Yep, that sure is a start. It's the part that comes after that's going to suck. "... I'm not brave. I mean, being brave means being afraid of something and doing it anyway, yeah? Well, I don't… feel afraid. I don't... feel things… most of the time. If I'm in a fight or on stage I feel excited, but… most of the time," she shrugs. "Nothing much."

"You don't feel things?" Valerie repeated, while pondering. "Mmm, I don't really get it, buuuut… if it means something comin' from me, I think being brave is more than being afraid and doing it anyway; it's about… ummm… well, like what you did for me; you like, stood up for me! I think that's hella brave. Well what I guess what I'm saying is, I think, from my inner Val's definition of brave -- I think you--Mel--just… being you, is pretty brave. Y'know?"

She's probably not doing the best job of explaining it. It's probably better to say she doesn't feel much. She does feel small things: Enough happiness to curl her lips into a small smile, enough amusement to snicker, but only once since childhood has something moved her to tears. Her brain feels like a dark void that will occasionally let a small glimpse of light peer through. Eh… that sounds so mellow-dramatic.

The punk teen forces a small smile. It's sweet of Val to say, even if she doesn't feel brave at all for telling such a douche bag to sod off. That's not bravery, that's just… annoyance. Maybe anger. They were purposefully trying to hurt Val and Kei, they deserved way more than being vaguely threatened with a pointed object. Still… it's kind of nice that Val sees her that way. Maybe(?) She's onto something. "Thanks, Val-Val."

"Sorry for the wait!" Kei announces as she makes her way back to the table with a tray of donuts and several tea cups (it had been a stressful time, tea sounded nice.) As she sets the tray on the table, Annabelle hops onto the table in front of Val and fixates her gaze on the streamer.

"Kyu-kyu?" She asks. Are you okay?

"Val's A-Okay, if that's what you're wondering!" Valerie replied, giving her a small pat on the head. "In fact, better than okay! Alllllrighty, nuff' doom n' gloom, gals! The DQ's heart needs to pour out! And to do that… she needs to sing, baby!"

Melody had bitten into a donut when Valerie made her declaration. "You wanna shing?" She asks.

"I think that's a great idea!" Keiko chimes happily. As her eyes fall onto Melody, they widen, as if once more struck with a brilliant idea. "You should sing with her, Melody!"

"Uh--" The punk teen mumbles before swallowing her donut.

"You two teaming up and singing a power-ballad would totally show those two jerks! I bet they can't carry a tune in a bucket!" The green-haired trainer encourages.

"Kyuuu!" Annabelle hops happily in agreement.

Red eyes jump from Annabelle to Kei before settling on Valerie. "... I'm game if you are."

A confident nod from Valerie became the signal. She rose up from her seat, and went to the front of the dining area. "Attention, my fellow DEMONS!" Valerie's shouts had grabbed the attention of the customers who had dined there, as well as the people who stood in line at the many food stalls, and some that were even passing by. "Demon Queen Valerie and her buddy the dangerous, deadly, and daring Death Princess are in your presence! You know what that means? No one is safe! None who oppose us is SAFE! We're gonna OWN Strugglecon, and then, we're gonna oooown all of Galar, so if you're against us, challenge us if you dare! But for those of you who are with us? Let us cheer and shout together, as for now on, our kingdoms combined will become a new name! A TRUE name, representing us who claw and scratch through the relenting darkness to gain infinite power… Kids in the Dark!!"

"Mimi-ky!" Annabelle cries to Melody as she dives into the girl's satchel. She rummages around for a second before finding Melody's Rotom-Guitar in its tiny, travel form. Her shadowy-claw peers out of her costume and she happily tosses it to her trainer.

Melody catches the tiny device and presses the switch. With a burst of electricity, the guitar surges to its proper size. Melody smirks to herself as she pulls the strap around her shoulder. "Let's do this."

"Woo! Kids in the Dark! Kids in the Daaaaark…" The onlookers looked at each other, wondering what was going on, while Valerie's voice became harmonious. With no fear, no worry, and nothing to lose… she began to sing her heart out. Here we are at the end of the road! ♪ A road that is quietly caving in! ♪ Come too far to pretend that we don't ♪ We don't miss where we starteeeed! ♪

Melody stands beside Valerie, excitement evident on her face as her guitar strums to the familiar beat. Lookin' back, I see a setting sun ♪ And watch my shadow fade into the floor ♪ I am left standing on the edge ♪ Wondering how we got this far ♪ How we got this far! ♪

Red eyes fall onto Valerie's own as they prepare for the chorus.

They left us alone ♪ The kids in the dark ♪ To burn out forever ♪ Or light up a spark ♪
We come together ♪ State of the art ♪ We'll never surrender ♪ The kids in the dark ♪ So let the world sing! ♪
The crowd was starting to get into it, clapping and humming to the energetic sounds of the beats. What a shame! What a shame! ♪ Beautiful scars on critical veins! ♪ Come together, state of the art! ♪ We'll never surrender, kids of the dark ♪ The kids in the dark! ♪

After locking eyes with Melody, Valerie waved and turned all around the crowd. Here we are at the top of a hill ♪ A hill that's quietly crumbling ♪" She then locked her devilish eyes back to Melody. It's been awhile since you've dressed for the kill ♪ The kill that sent me tumblinggg! ♪

Melody's eyes spark to life as she turns to look at the audience. ♪Looking up, I see a falling star ♪ And watch it's fire burn into the floor ♪ And I am left, standing on the edge ♪ Wondering why we fall so hard ♪ Why we fall so hard! ♪
The punk teen finds herself stepping closer to Valerie and motioning for their growing audience to sing along as the chorus repeats.

They left us alone, the kids in the dark! ♪
To burn out for-ev-er or light up a spark! ♪
We come together, state of the art! ♪
We'll never surrender ♪ The kids in the dark ♪
So let the world SING! ♪
What a shame, what a shame! ♪
Beautiful scars on beautiful veins ♪
Come together, state of the art ♪
We'll never surr-en-der, the kids in the dark ♪
The kids in the dark! ♪

Valerie then motions for Kei, and gently grabs her hand. She brought her side by side with herself and Melody. Because girl, as our dark friend, we want you to sing with us too.

They left us alone, the kids in the dark ♪ To burn out forever or light up a spark! ♪ We come together, state of the art! We'll never surrender the kids in the dark! So let the world sing! ♪

What a shame, what a shame! ♪
Beautiful scars on beautiful veins ♪
Come together, state of the art ♪
We'll never surr-en-der, the kids in the dark ♪
THE KIDS IN THE DARK! ♪

With the song over and the three girls in their collective poses, the crowd applauded thunderously for the trio. The music, the dancing, the cheers… this right here, was worth living for. Worth battling for. And worth having people around you that you care about. Valerie, Melody, and even Kei were living this moment. A moment that etched in their minds, forever.
"Thank you! Thanks a lot! ♡"

Friends lvl up! 23 --> 24

To you, who is watching this stream,
Even if no one else,
Even if things get tough for you,
I am always happy to see you around, giving it your all.
Don't give up. You are loved.
And I will always cheer you on.
Remember that!

-- Yours truly, Valerie, The Demon Queen & my buddy Melody, the Death Princess

♡ 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!

Geras · Oct 7, 2021

Winston Imes - VS Drampa and Turtonator Lake of Outrage

Winston found himself staring down two mighty dragons, angry and eager to obliterate him for interrupting their battle. He'd be terrified for his life if he hadn't been watching them fight for actual hours. He knew even powerful pokemon like them had to get tired. And more than that, he knew what they could do. He knew what he and Isla could do. He knew they could win.

Fighting them probably wasn't the smartest move if he was being honest, but taking on a pair of fierce foes with his rival at his side would be super cool.

Or so he thought. Isla instead stepped in front of them unflinchingly. "We were in the middle of a battle. This is important to me, so can you let us finish? We won't bother you after."

They stared at her for a moment, baffled. And in the next, they opened their maws to unleash a pair of Dragon Pulses. Winston was able to tackle her out of the way just in time, though the force of it still sent the two flying. He loved Isla, but now wasn't the best time for this sort of thing.

"Isla, we're fighting," he said. He recalled Dev and sent out his Wooloo, who immediately began to shake at the sight before it. "Can you protect us for a bit?"

She frowned a bit at her situation, but nodded, calling back her Klink and sending out Woop again. Unlike his fluffy ally, he was raring to go against the two dragons. They unleashed another blast that crashed against Woop's Protective wall. He struggled to hold back two opponents at once, but managed it just the same.

Winston, meanwhile, knelt down next to his frightened companion. "Sol, are you good to go?" he asked. Despite the situation, he flashed Sol a comforting smile. "We've got strong allies this time, so there's nothing to worry about."

Sol looked at Winston, then at Woop, the tiny pink pokemon fearlessly facing down two opponents. He saw the truth in his trainer's words and took a step forward. Winston, meanwhile, was just glad Sol didn't need as much coaxing as he used to. He expected worse in this situation to be honest, and felt bad now for having such little confidence in his partner. But at the same time, he knew that Sol always came through in the end.

Soul of a Hero were the words he'd drawn Sol's name from, in a similar way to Dev's but a bit less cleanly. He was hoped this little sheep could one day steel his heart to face any challenge, like a Dubwool belonging to a certain other hero that faced off against even Eternatus.

Woop's Protect shattered, and the Dragon Pulses collided with his tiny body, shaking the area. The dust cleared, revealing the Fairy pokemon a bit dusty, but none the worse for wear. Much to the annoyance of the dragons before him, who snarled at his defiance. Woop snarled right back.

As the trio made mean faces at each other, another Dragon Pulse crashed into the Turtonator from the side, knocking it right into the Drampa as well. "Another perfect Copycat," Winston praised Sol, who wiggled a bit with joy. He moved next to Isla. "We need to take care of Turtonator first. Sol doesn't do well with fire. Woop has a lot of good moves to lock opponents down, focus on those and I'll try to give you an opening for them."

She nodded. "Okay."

As if hearing his plan, the Turtonator fired back with a Flamethrower, hissing as it evaporated the falling rain. "Sol, do-" In the middle of his command, Drampa sent forth a Twister that swept up both rain and fire, reducing the Turtonator's attack to nothing. The Turtonator wasn't happy, and slammed into its temporary ally.

Winston and Sol were still recovering from being thrown around by the Twister, which was fortunately thrown off course after taking in the Flamethrower. He wasn't going to complain about this sudden chance. "Sol, Guard Split!" The little Wooloo connected itself to the sturdy, shelled Turtonator with a psychic ray that pulsed with energy.

Isla, too, took advantage of this chance. "Woop, Encore!" Woop's clapping hands compelled Turtonator. As it turned its ire back to the little Wooloo, it found its flames sealed away. Against its will, its body leapt forward for a Body Slam, coming down spikes-first. Winston was well aware of what these spikes were capable of, and he wasn't worried

"Defense Curl!" Sol balled his body up to defend against the slam, his sturdy coat of wool already strengthened further by the power it had stolen from the tougher Turtonator. And while sturdy, the wool was still soft. There would be no harsh impact to detonate those spikes. Turtonator rolled harmlessly off of Sol's body.

Sol would not be so lucky against Drampa, who roared its Echoed Voice at both him and Turtonator. It roared again, its voice growing louder, ringing in their ears and threatening to push them back. Another Echoed roar came, this time from Woop, who was slowly approaching Drampa. Drampa shouted back at Woop, its Voice strengthened threefold now. But the attack fell on deaf ears. The Soundproof little mime continued its approach.

Now two of Drampa's moves had proved utterly ineffective against the Mime Jr. It weighed its options as Woop walked closer and closer. And before it could strike- "Hypnosis!"

Drampa had been watching Woop closely, and it was too late to look away by the time Woop's eyes began glowing blue. It fell fast asleep.

Sol, meanwhile, had been literally butting heads with Turtonator, who was growing ever more frustrated at it having its moves sealed away. Its attacks were completely ineffective against this annoyingly tough little sheep, who had gotten an incredible boost of confidence from the situation. Winston took this as an opportunity.

"You're tired, aren't you?" He said. "You can see now that you can't beat us. Your ally is asleep, so it's two on one now. Let us leave in peace."

Turtonator was not amused, and began rushing at Winston himself only to be intercepted by a Take Down from Sol. Normally such an attack would be nothing, but the Guard Split continued to do its work and Turtonator winced in pain. Winston tried to keep his composure, but the whole situation was incredibly amusing to him. He couldn't help but grin.

"Either you listen, or you fall. Make your choice quick, that Mime Jr. over there would be more than happy to finish things."

Turtonator went for a third option, as its flames finally began to well up in its body once more. Woop and Isla rushed in between the two, ready to protect them again. Seeing this, Turtonator reconsidered, and backed down.

"Seems like we're done here," Winston said with uncharacteristic levels of cockiness as the joy of the situation got to him. "Shall we go?"

"No." said Isla.

"What?"

"I want it."

Winston's jaw dropped. Of course. Looking at this Turtonator, it really was just the kind of pokemon that would interest Isla, huh? She pulled out a pokeball and held it out for the Turtonator to see. It knew exactly what those things were, and grimaced, reconsidering its good faith.

"And I also want to finish our battle," she continued.

"We can finish it later, come on," he countered.

"You wanted to do it here in this place, right? So we can't leave yet."

He stopped. She was right about that. An idea occurred to him. "Say, Turtonator. How about another deal? Like, one that's actually a deal this time? You have a battle you want to finish too, right? We should try it, you and her working with me and Drampa so we can all finish things together. And if you like it, maybe you go along with her on her journey."

Turtonator considered it, but still seemed unsure. Even less sure was Drampa, who had finally woken up. Its eyes began to glow red as it began to growl. Winston knew this. Some Drampa were known to go berserk when pushed too far. It opened its maw and fired a Dragon Pulse that put its other ones to shame. It crashed against Woops Protect yet again, but this time it broke the barrier alone. Its jaw opened for another one.

"Isla, let's match it. You ready?" Winston asked. She nodded.

"Copycat!" The pair called in sync.

Woop and Sol unleashed Dragon Pulses of their own to counter Drampa. The blasts met in the middle with a resounding boom, and Drampa reared up for yet another. Woop, though, deepened its mimicry. A Role Play. Its eyes also began to glow red, and it lowered itself into a fierce stance. Or as fierce as a Mime Jr. could be. The trio unleashed their attacks once more, and this time Drampa's Pulse was consumed by Woop and Sol's. Their attacks landed, sending Drampa flying.

It was on the ground, but not out. It rose its head slowly, only to see Turtonator. The two spoke, for once calmly. It seemed that Turtonator was explaining Winston's deal to it. The two rose together, and approached Winston and Isla. They gave a wary nod.

Winston looked at Isla in disbelief. He actually couldn't believe that worked. He actually thought it was kind of stupid now that the adrenaline was fading, but he wasn't going to refuse. Isla, meanwhile, was eager to get things going.

And so, the four took their places opposite each other once again. Winston and Drampa looked at each other in their yet temporary truce, as did Isla and Turtonator. Then they faced their opponents.

***

The battle was short. In the end, Winston and Drampa scored a narrow victory. He and Isla shook hands, then looked at their new allies. They didn't seem satisfied, but they could feel that they'd find greater strength beside a trainer, and agreed to come along with the two. They were captured without a struggle.

Winston let out a deep sigh. "God damn, that was a hell of a detour. Let's get back to the cave and out of this rain."

"No, I think I'm going to leave now," Isla said. "I want to get to Hammerlocke as soon as I can."

"I've been meaning to ask, did something happen?" Winston asked. She'd been acting off all day.

She was quiet for a moment. "Dad's gone."

And now he fell silent. She'd told him before her father had some kind of condition that had him hospitalized. She'd told him she was only going to try the gym challenge once before devoting herself to working and raising money for his treatments. But he didn't know much beyond that. She never really brought it up much.

"Isla, I'm so sorry. How… how are you feeling?" She'd told him about her mother's passing, too. Her feelings about that.

"It's just like before. I haven't cried for him. I don't know why." The rain continued to pour over the two.

"Can I ask what was going through your mind when you messaged me?" Winston's voice trembled, despite Isla being the one who had lost someone.

"I don't know. This whole time I was thinking that I had to win even if I was bad because it was my last chance. Now it's not. But I don't like this. I don't like any of this. I didn't know what to do. All I knew was that you always knew what to do, and that I've always loved battling. So I hoped I could learn something from battling you."

"... Did you?"

"Not really. But what I do know is that the warm feeling inside me grows when I battle. I know those are real, proper feelings like normal people have. I want to reach them. For now I'm going to keep battling. Getting stronger, and fighting stronger people. Maybe then I can feel more, and finally cry for them."

Winston wasn't entirely sure he understood, but he didn't doubt her conviction. And in that moment, he wanted nothing more than to support his friend however he could. "Then we'll battle again, when we've both gotten stronger. I'll make sure you always have someone to battle who can stir those feelings inside you."

"Thank you," she said. "I'm looking forward to it, then." She smiled at him, then waved goodbye. He stared at her back as she walked away, his hands still trembling. He wondered if he'd said the right thing. If he should have said more. If he'd come across as callous in his attempts to seem reliable or confident to someone who'd always relied on him. Who'd relied on him even though he only grew close to her in the first place to study her for his work.

For now, though, he had to get out of the rain.

Fen-Fen · Oct 7, 2021

Haleigh Windsor and Raphael Allard

Piercing the Veil

On the surface, things were as they should be for Haleigh. Despite the setback she had by losing to Catherine the other day, she was back at the same battlefields she was at the day before, having just finished up a training session with Corey and Reyna by having them spar and polish some well established maneuvers of theirs.

"Alright, bring it in you two, you more than earned a break - especially you Reyna, that was one hell of a Peck maneuver you pulled off there!"

The Piplup beamed proudly as she walked back over towards her trainer while Corey sulked a little bit at the one up Reyna managed to get on him.

Haleigh picked up the water bottle she had brought along for the training and pointed back towards a cooler of water that was set up for the various trainers. "I'm going to go back over here and get some more water for us."

As she started making her way towards the water cooler and coming off from focusing on her and her Pokemon's training, Haleigh was struck by an intrusion of thoughts about the previous day's battle with Catherine.

It wasn't televised, it wasn't to a particularly large group of her fans, there wasn't even a single Poke at stake for it. Yet for how strongly she was feeling about it, it might as well have been Nessa all over again. That despair found itself creeping into her thoughts, infecting her mind with negativity. All of that so-called progress she made was only hiding the truth of who lay behind all of that bluster and bravado. There was no changing the fact she was weak inside.

There was no escaping the consequences of that day, no matter how much she ran from it.

Haleigh closed her eyes, a lump growing in her throat that she swallowed to prevent another outburst of emotion. That was the last thing she needed right now.

She should have been a good enough trainer to be past this shit already. She had already come so far by getting past the point where most people would have already been eliminated. So why, then, did it still feel like it wasn't enough?

Before she could ruminate on the subject further, a familiar figure caught her attention at the water cooler. Imposingly tall, dark, long hair, serious blue eyes. He was standing there and getting some water as well. There was no mistaking it as anyone other than Raph.

Needing a distraction from her thoughts, Haleigh decided to call out to him and gave him a cheery greeting. "Oi, Raph! Over here!"

"...?" Raph raised a single eyebrow as he turned to face the voice calling out to him. Galarian accent resonating with a twang, dirty blonde hair with fading tips of purple dye and an excitable edge to her movements. Could have been one of his fans..? No, that wasn't right, he recognized this one. They were from school, they hung out with Melody a fair amount and they were at the ceremony besides. One of the people badgering him for that awful group photo.

"...Haleigh." He mumbled the name, almost sounding bored. This girl was the type to drain his energy rapidly.

He looked different from the last time she'd seen him. His hair, long and messy usually, was pulled back and tied out of his face, his ear was pierced and a small silver loop hang from the lobe and his usual outfit was adorned with a blue, heart shaped pin. "Don't think I've seen you since the first run of Motostoke… right?"

She chirped, "That's right! That and the academy of course. I reckon you're out here for the same reason as I am, yeah? Trying to get some quality training in n' all that?"

"I didn't really interact with a lot of people at the academy, but yeah, I remember." He felt his cold and apathetic face creeping over him, but in light of recent events he decided to try and keep an open mind. "...and yeah, I'm here to train. The only way to stay competitive is to train at every opportunity, can't afford to slack."

Haleigh nodded. "Yeah, I totally understand. Gotta get strong n' all that."

Her eyes lit up as an idea popped into her mind. "Ooh ooh ooh, y'know what? As part of both of our training, do you want to have a battle with me?"

She scratched her head and gave a sheepish grin. "I'm kinda a fan of watching you battle, not gonna lie. When you beat Kabu, it was like, electrifying to see you up there. It made me feel like I could take on the world just seein' it on the telly, so experiencing it in real life would make me real chuffed."

Haleigh smirked confidently and put a hand on her hip. " 'Sides, I reckon I've gotten strong enough to go toe to toe with the likes of you."

Raph raised a solitary eyebrow. She was… a fan of his? It was weird to hear a classmate say that to his face, yet if nothing else she wasn't frothing at the mouth and trying to rip his clothes off. Blessedly, she seemed to be the type of supporter who was impressed by his style of battle, not by his boyish good looks, i.e., the type of fan he actually appreciated.

Still… weird. Maybe he was overthinking things? After all he'd watched Haleigh's battles too and had been suitably impressed. The word fan probably carried a lot less weight when it wasn't coming from his new 'manager's' mouth. In the interim, the momentary silence most likely made Haleigh assume he was considering the best way to turn her down. Truthfully, had this been a month or two earlier he would have done so without a second though. Lucky for her, recent events were making him consider a new perspective.

"I'm game." To the point, blunt and a little tired, but it was an affirmation. "Let's do this Nessa and Milo style, yeah? It's more direct that way. One on one, two pokémon each, how hard do you want me to go?"

Haleigh replied, "Sounds good. I want you to give it your all, no holding back from either me or you."

She nodded her head towards the closest battlefield to the both of them. "Let me just get Corey and Reyna real quick and then we can get started."

While Raph started walking over to the battlefield, Haleigh walked back to where Corey and Reyna were and exclaimed, "Alright, time to get into battle mode, I just got a battle lined up with someone from the academy. He's mad strong though, so I'm gonna need you lot to be on top of your game!"

With an affirmative nod from each of them, Haleigh, Corey and Reyna made their way back to the battlefield where Raph was waiting and took the pitch on the opposite side from him.

Across the field Raphael held a pair of pokéballs, unexpanded between his fingers. Selene and Carmen, neither had been used in battle since the incident with Pinsir back in the wild area, but Raph had spent time with each to reassure them. Carmen in particular had taken the loss hard, despite her contribution to their survival… not to mention her current struggles to adjust to her new form. Even still, she was incredibly powerful now, if Haleigh wanted him to go all out, then..?

The girl in question cut across his thoughts and exclaimed, "Ready when you are mate, I'll let you choose your first Pokemon first!"

Raph turned to face his opponent across the pitch and despite himself a small smirk spread over his lips. It had been a while since he'd gotten to have a proper battle, a friendly match. The past while it was all shadowy monsters and evil organisations, this was an opportunity that had sprung out of nowhere, but one he was ready to relish. "Gotcha, best bring your A-game Haleigh." He took the first of his two pokéballs in hand and launched it onto the field, with a shimmering light it cracked open and a small pokémon bounded onto the field.

Selene's coat shimmered with shining particles as she stood proudly before her trainer, the off-color fur covering her body had a knack for shining in the sunlight. "Vee!" She cried proudly and with a surprising amount of aggression owing to her character. Still, she had the dignity to wait with her trainer for her opponent to appear.

As Raph's Eevee was brought out, Haleigh's mind went to which Pokemon she should start with first. Though Corey was clearly her strongest and her go to Pokemon, this battle was, at the end of the day, all about training - and Reyna was in more need of it than Corey was.

"Alright Reyna, you're up first!"

The feisty Piplup narrowed her eyes at her opponent, punching her right flipper into the other and looked just as raring to go as they did.

"Reyna, Bubblebeams to the left and right, look for an opening to get in there."

Reyna nodded, starting off with a rapid fire barrage of bubbles to her left.

"Selene, roll!" At her trainer's command Selene dropped into the sand and quickly spun to the right, rolling back onto her feet and dodging the majority of the incoming bubbles, though a few did graze her side and elicited a growl. "Now, Quick Attack!" With a burst of speed, she rushed forward despite the hit, surging across the sandy field below and leaping towards her opponent with the intention of crashing into them hard.

"Just like we practiced, dodge the incoming hit and hit 'em head on with Peck!" Reyna dashed forward with her head jutting out prominently, looking for an opening to strike with her beak. She managed to just barely dodge the incoming attack, steered her body towards the Eevee's retreating form and managed to Peck the Eevee right at the side of her torso. Selene growled with pain and irritation but refused to cry out as she was knocked to the side, skidding through the sand a few inches away.

"Hm, not bad." Raph noted, Haleigh was a gym challenger with the same number of badges as he had; after all, he couldn't afford to be reckless. "Sand Attack!" Using the momentum from the knockback of peck, Selene quickly dashed her tail through the sand, launching a cloud of dust into the attacking Piplup's face and disorienting it.

"Now, follow up with Quick Attack again!" Dashing through the smog of sand, taking advantage of the momentary lapse in her opponent's concentration, Selene collided with Reyna and sent her sprawling back with another direct hit.

Reyna stumbled backwards, grunting at being forced to take the hit straight on. She shook her head, trying to shake off some of the sand from her face. "C'mon Reyna, it's just a bit of sand, blast her up close and personal with a Water Gun to send her back!"

The Piplup opened her beak and let out a blast of water to blast the Eevee with, it cut through the sand and struck Selene dead on, sending her sprawling backwards once more. She struggled to pull herself to her feet soon after, but an unfortunate critical hit left her already struggling to get back up.

"Selene, return." The Eevee looked insulted as she turned a frustrated face towards Raphael, but disappeared in a beam of white light before she could complain.

Raphael rubbed a hand over his chin and furrowed his brow. Selene wasn't as fast as his other pokémon, even with a quick attack. He'd have to apologize to her later, as her trainer it was his job to play to her strengths, not the other way around. "Not bad, Haleigh." Raph said, his frustration shifting to a calm smile. "Your Piplup is showing a lot of promise."

Haleigh let out a cheer and jumped up with her fist in the air. "Fuck yeah, that's what I'm talkin' about mate!" Now she was feeling that mojo that she so desperately needed. Now all that was left was to face off against the next Pokemon...

"I did ask though, how hard you wanted me to go, so keep in mind that when you ask for my best I'm going to give it." There was a certain calm to his words, perhaps it was a sense of confidence, or a relaxed attitude owing to his first friendly match in a while, but Raph wasn;t behaving like someone on the losing end of a battle. "Carmen!"

Raph threw his second pokéball high up in the air and it burst with light. The light grew and grew until it shimmered with a burst into the form of a massive pokémon. Her newly blue scales shimmered in the light and her proud countenance gave her an imposing presence on the battlefield. Carmen stared down at the Piplup below her and glared, she had been looking forward to a chance to try out her new power without her life on the line.

"Twister!" With a sudden surge of speed unexpected from a creature so large, Carmen whipped her tail around and slammed it hard into the ground. Blue and red dragon type energy surged into the dust, kicking up a tornado, pulsing with light, that now careened violently in Reyna's direction.

Even Haleigh was taken aback by the sheer force that the Gyarados was projecting. In her moment of hesitation, it was all that was needed for the Twister to connect, sending Reyna pummeling to the ground. She watched anxiously as the winds finally subsided, revealing the crumpled form of her Piplup. Trying as she might to get up, Reyna was down for the count.

She recalled Reyna to her ball, saying to her, "You did great."

Haleigh closed her eyes, exhaling deeply and trying to keep herself together. "Alright, you ain't bad yourself, Raph. N-no worries though, I can do this."

He sensed the hesitation in her voice and his expression shifted slightly. The blue in his eyes almost seemed to glow for a brief moment as he looked at her differently than before.

She gestured to Corey - who had been dutifully watching the fight from the sidelines and said, "Now it's all you. Let's start off strong with Agility, wait for my signal."

The Raboot dashed forward, a pinkish aura glowing around his body as he started to speed up and hop from side to side, seemingly ready for whatever the Gyarados had in mind. Raphael noted Raboot's increased speed, watching as Corey rapidly dashed around the battlefield. Haleigh was shaken by Carmen's power, Corey seemed more confident, but they could quickly remedy that.

"Carmen, Scary Face!" A dark aura seemed to wrap around Carmen, who quickly surged her neck dowards, her face mere inches from Corey as he dashed forward, her eyes full of rage and her fangs shimmering with rage. Even if he wasn't as terrified as he should have been, the moves effects immediately blasted away the pink aura surrounding Corey, nullifying the boost to his speed.

Suddenly, the bravado that Corey had up until that point went out the window at the sight of the large water dragon Pokemon bearing down on him. He stopped in his tracks, losing all of the momentum he had been building up.

Haleigh cast an irritated glance towards the Gyarados and shouted, "Dagh, bloody hell! Sod it, get in some Flame Charges, snap out of it!"

Corey shook his head, letting the fear from Carmen's Scary Face leave him and did as he was told, coming back around and lighting himself up to prepare another attack against her. Wreathed in flames he lunged at Carmen, colliding with the side of her head, a small cloud of smoke bursting out as the fire type attack struck the water type pokémon.

However, as that smoke cleared… Corey would see the irate gaze of the Gyarados boring holes into him without mercy.

"Carmen, tackle!" Raph called out and Carmen responded, quickly spinning her body around in place and crashing her tail into Corey, sending the fire type sprawling backwards from his point of contact.

Haleigh looked on with her brow furrowed tightly as she saw Corey take the hit straight on, her mind starting to get back in that pit it had been in earlier. Was this really the best she could do? Were her so-called improvements not enough?

She clenched her fist as she struggled to think of something coherent to counter Raph with. "A-alright Corey, you still in it?"

The Raboot got up from his prone position, a bit beaten up but still raring to go. He noticed, however, a noticeable shift in his trainer's demeanor and asked, "Raboot?"

Haleigh replied, "Yeah, I'm fine, I'm fine. Just a bit worried about you is all."

Corey looked at her skeptically, but focused his attention back on the Gyarados and awaited his trainer's command.

"Corey, let's get in some Electro Balls, lob as many as you can at 'er."

Electro Balls? But he didn't even-

"Carmen." Raphael calmly spoke his pokémons name and she glanced in his direction. He simply nodded, they had seen enough. Carmen opened her maw wide and a blue, aquatic energy began to surge around her fangs… before bursting outwards. Hydro pump tore upwards towards Corey across the ground, the high pressure water cutting through the sand and leaving a violent gash on the ground where it hit.

Carmen herself had a look of shock enter her eyes at the sheer force with which she attacked, quickly swerving the blast aside, it still grazed Corey in its passing and overpowering, super effective move sent the fire type flying.

As Corey was sent sprawling and knocked back several feet back towards Haleigh, the memories of the first Nessa fight flashed in her mind. The hopelessness, the evisceration, the humiliation.

With her head hung low, she whispered, "I'm sorry."

She recalled the Raboot back into his ball, not daring to look back up at her opponent. With her voice strained with emotion, she said, "So that's that, huh? After all this bloody time and effort, I'm still not strong enough. I'm still just a weak excuse for a trainer."

Even though she wasn't looking at him, Raphael had already walked across the field and was standing just a few feet away from her, Carmen looming behind him. She lowered her head to her trainers level and he gently placed a hand upon her cheek before speaking.

"...that's a really unfair way to behave, Haleigh."

Perhaps Haleigh had been expecting some sort of comfort, or for Raph to walk away and try to leave, he wasn't sure how she expected him to respond to that. What she got was a calm and clear voice, cutting through any emotion, like it was flowing right through her.

He let the silence hang in the air for a few moments, before speaking again. "Calling yourself a weak excuse for a trainer, it really doesn't help anyone. You can't honestly believe that, can you?" His words were somewhat harsh but his tone was surprisingly understanding. "What would Corey think… if after giving it his all, he heard his trainer saying that about herself?"

Even as she felt herself reexperiencing all of the pain she had been feeling, Haleigh let herself focus on Raph's words as something to tether herself to. What would Corey think? It wasn't as if she could ask him and receive a direct answer, but she knew him long enough to know that he really did believe in her. After everything the two of them had been through, Haleigh couldn't imagine that he'd ever leave her side again.

Between a few sobs, she managed to mumble out, "I...he, he probably wouldn't be happy with me."

"Geez…" He rubs the back of his neck gently with his free hand. He hadn't expected her to cry when he won, how did he always end up in these situations?

Then again…

"I don't know what you've gone through recently. I don't know what's hit you when you've been down, I barely even know you." He sighs, but then shakes his head and looks at Haleigh with a degree more understanding. Raphael was known for having a gaze that pierced straight through people, this was no different, but rather than feeling like an afterthought, this look gave Haleigh the impression that he could see the feelings she was struggling with. That he could see them and that he could relate.

"I know what it's like to feel weak… I'm not exactly a strong person myself. That's something I've always struggled with." He turned and smiled at Carmen, who closed her eyes with a small and knowing nod. "That's why I became a trainer. The best trainers aren't strong from the start, people who do well from the get go don't know how important it is to strive to be better. Do you get what I mean?" He closed his eyes as his pokémon did and smiled a little awkwardly. "That's why when we make our pokémon strong, they become our strength… and together we become stronger than we could alone."

His eyes opened again and their crystalline blue shone in the light of the evening sun. "I used to be afraid of losing too, but that fear just holds you back Haleigh. Feeling weak doesn't mean you're a failure, it just means you'll find more opportunities to grow stronger, struggling together with your team. When I saw him on the field earlier, even against someone as strong as Carmen, I really feel like Corey already understood that. He needs you to as well."

From the depths of her woes, Haleigh could feel something in her stir. He really did seem to understand a fair amount of what she was going through. Though he was right that the two barely knew each other, there was something about the way he talked that made it feel like he too had walked some of the same dark roads she did.

Despite herself, she managed a small smile as she said, "I wish I had someone like you back when I was a kid and trying to get this journey started. Maybe things would have turned out a bit different for me but…"

She sighed as she shook her head. "Well, I'm not sure there's much use in thinking about what ifs and maybes. It doesn't really make it hurt any less."

"Nothing does, really." He shakes his head a little in response. "Life isn't about stopping the hurt, it's about working with the ones closest to you to weather it better."

Carmen nudged him gently at that and he gave her an inquisitive look, before realizing what she meant and returning her to her pokéball with a small smile. "I'm going to get something warm in my stomach before the best places close… you're welcome to join me if you like, winners treat?" He smirked a little bit at that.

Haleigh let out a small chuckle as she replied, "I'd love to."

Turnip · Oct 7, 2021

Have You Guys Ever Gone To One Of These Because This Is About To Be Like The Worst Advertisement For One Of These It's Crazy How Bad It Looks
Featuring Xan and multiple antagonists (Ryan is the only antagonist that matters)

Misery loves company, yeah, that was the age-old adage. The one that shed harsh light on Misery's utter narcissism what with its undying devotion to 'company' which by all means may as well have been the exact same thing. Virtually synonymous, the two concepts were. Less well told was Misery's great fondness for exhausting summer heat, for thoughtless dismissals of convenience, for brazen disregard of the existence of deodorant, for obnoxiously loud music and chatter blurring together into roiling waves of audible vomit - weren't some of those just negative offshoots of company? The hell they were, and it didn't matter because the point was that they were all the same - all misery, everything was miserable and misery loves misery.

It was getting towards the evening but it was still too hot. Humidity was up, and even regulating the air flow as much as they could Xan's helmet was supremely stuffy. Everything that existed in the vicinity was an assault on the senses. Tech lovers, cosplayers, groups of friends, couples, sightseers, humans and Pokémon both. All milling about, few walking with any kind of purpose - none scorning their surroundings quite so much as Xan did. If they were at liberty to just ditch the hoodie, ditch the psychic gear and go with something lighter the heat would probably be pretty tolerable. Strugglecon might even have a few events interesting enough to pique the psychic's interest - probably the tech stuff. But no. Of course, Rosa had insisted that she show off Zorro's psychic precocity at a contest. And the next contest happened to be in the least convenient, absolute dreaded hellscape of a setting. Psychic gear was necessary to get all the details, and so it was a public appearance as Gym Challenger 775. Curse the incessant, ravenous masses. It was unbelievably tempting to just turn on a heel and head straight back, but the psychic knew that they had work to do. They'd wasted enough opportunity as it was, and though they acknowledged that it was still very possible that more roadblocks would appear and they'd give up, currently they pressed on through sheer force of will.

Of course, if there wasn't the whole psychic research contest attendance thing going on, they probably wouldn't be out here anyway. They'd still be in the hotel room looking up the important things online, no need for an incognito trip out - Xan considered, for a moment, how amusing it was that going out in public without covering their face was counted as being incognito. They let out a silent chuckle, a brief reprieve within the deluge of compound miseries where humour could shine before some fucking bastard in a t-shirt and blazer ruined everything by sticking their massive nose in where it wasn't the slightest bit wanted-

"Hey, Challenger 775? Xan?" The stranger called out. Xan ignored them, unfaltering in their 'I have somewhere else to be' walk. To the psychic's horror, the stranger matched pace with them.

My position is clear. Leave. Begone. Banish. Get the fuck out of here and off my tail you skidmark-

"My name's Ren, I'm with PSEN - we're gathering Gym Challengers for a meet-and-greet and AMA! We'd love to see you over there, we're set up…"

Human filth. Actual garbage, worthless slime pandering to gibbering, rabid primal sludge with four brain cells to share between an entire fucking crowd-

"No thanks," Xan said curtly. "Bye."

"Are you sure?" The semi-suited cretin had the audacity to ask. What fucking abominable servant of hell did this over-eager piece of shit prick think- "It's a great opportunity to improve your public image, and there's even an Ultra Ball in it for you if you-"

"-I said no, thanks; piss off," the psychic spat. Fucking Ultra Ball - didn't ask. What an empty-

"Okay! Jeez. Have a nice day, I guess…" The annoyance trailed off - both in sentence and in pursuit - wearing a concerned and confused expression. Finally they get the picture enough to fucking back off - it's about time they started using that neglected thinking organ. It was perhaps a little harsh to judge the bothersome stranger so, considering that they were probably just doing their job - but then… no, it wasn't harsh. Something isn't justified just because it's an occupation. And indeed, even if they didn't say it all aloud, mentally processing the vitriol certainly made Xan feel a little better, if only temporarily. It kept them from hurling bricks, at least-

Holy shit that was loud. Xan quickly took action to curve their current route, steering clear of what was probably best described as an exclusion zone. With potent soundwaves and aggressive flamboyance, some crazed disco lunatic was causing a significant portion of the convention to be completely uninhabitable. Some people still seemed to be nearby, the poor bastards - they probably didn't have long left. Maybe after a few years or so, once the catastrophe takes its course, the wild Pokémon will come in and take over the area. Xan figured it would be decades still before humanity felt comfortable moving back in, and certainly the psychic wouldn't be the first. They increased their pace to a jog in spite of their protesting body - even as far away as they were it was likely they'd been exposed to enough to make them ill; they could feel the bile rising in their throat even as they thought as much.

Well, the extra heat they were feeling from exercising wasn't making them feel any less ill. Nor was the reminder that huge crowds of people, in the interest of fun, could act so unpleasantly as to cause them to actually run fleeing. Maybe working on the nature of some of Kass' new defensive abilities could help with that; some kind of less potent psychoconjurative vector that could muffle soundwaves? Incorporeal soundproofing of a sort, an odd application of psychic power but by all means an interesting prospect-

"Ohh, and who do I spy here?" That was a voice, amplified over a microphone. Xan was trying to tune out most of the noise but the intonation sent a shiver down their spine. It was filled with such smug playfulness that the psychic could swear they must have thrown up a little - as they accelerated to try to avoid the source of the voice, the force of it must have somehow kept it down.

"A gym challenger!" The voice continued. Please don't come over here please don't come over here please don't come over here please don't come over here please don't come over here please don't come over here please don't come over here please don't come over here please don't come over here please don't come over here please don't come over here-

Energetic footsteps, carefree skipping motion and a microphone brandished like a weapon. The crowd parted for the source of the voice, and just the same became a wall for Xan as many turned to face the commotion and stood still to watch.

"Excuse me please," the psychic droned. "Need to get through."

"Who could it be other than SEVEN SEVEN FIVE?" The voice trilled like a fucking hyperactive serial killer vapid stupid child- "After a defeat at Kabu, our mystery challenger must have something to prove!"

The voice approached, microphone held out to what should have been an equal distance between the two if Xan had had any interest in speaking into it. Instead the psychic was using their arms to gesture to a portion of the crowd-wall, and though the mass was slow on the uptake it seemed like they were slowly getting the picture and moving aside. The most that Xan gave to the unknowable irritating entity that was the voice was a single word that they called over their shoulder.

"Busy," they said.

The voice in all its otherworldly nuisance was not meaningfully deterred, "I know YOU want to BATTLE! So come over and-"

"You know I want t-?" Xan shook their head, incredulous. "Eat shit."

"-participate in Strugglecon's premiere battle challenge! With- er… hellooo?"

The crowd was persuaded to part as Xan committed fully to driving into the wall like a nail. The voice wasn't desperate enough to follow (and their microphone probably stopped operating at a certain distance) so once more the psychic successfully escaped. Again the heat from exertion weighed down on them, and the tangled sensory signatures arising from close proximity to several members of the public - the smell was probably the worst sensation - had Xan's stomach doing flips and their brain generating virulent acid. Yeah, the voice probably deserved a kick in the nose, sure, yeah, the crowd would probably move a hell of a lot faster if Xan was a moving truck instead of a person - guess people were just unable to extend reasonable levels of thought and courtesy to people who don't have eight wheels and a license plate...

Focus, Xan told themselves. They were almost there. The contest area was just ahead, then… actually, that was probably just a little before the halfway point. It- Arceus, today fucking sucked. There were the fences - crowds still around them, because of fucking course there were - security of sorts managing the entrance. The psychic had looked up what the contest constituted beforehand, so they knew that as a sponsored gym challenger they'd be admitted entrance free of charge. Free drinks and dinner, too - as if they'd be able to keep any of it down at all after the shit they'd waded through to get here. Or indeed the shit that might be present there. The dress code was 'formal' with very little elaboration. Xan still had no idea how lax that was in general, nor whether it was relaxed further for sponsored trainers who were presumably wanted there for whatever reason. In any case, if they didn't already own something on their person that counted as formal, then having to buy something to satisfy the judgemental cockheads rather defeated the purpose of free admission. If push came to shove they could always just call it quits, although they were confident that slipping in somehow would just get them chucked out, at worst…

To the psychic's surprise, when they approached the bouncer to enter, their ATC was accepted with barely a word and they were ushered through. It seemed as though quite a few people in attendance had foregone formal attire also - perhaps with the overlap with Strugglecon the feeling of the contest was laxer than normal, not that Xan really knew what 'normal' for events like this was to begin with. After a relatively tumultuous journey here, the psychic didn't feel like dwelling too much on the nature of a presumed abnormality. There had been many inconveniences and now something was going smoothly, that was it. No need to look a gift horse in the mouth; spend that valuable perception looking for the emptiest, darkest, most secluded corner of this place to hunker down. Or maybe- actually, a halfway house was necessary. The emptiest, darkest, most secluded place that was still at the front. That was what they needed, where they honed in on and made a beeline for, where they took a seat and tried to get as comfortable as it was possible to be in this wretched underworld. It was a slightly nicer circle of hell here than outside, at least.

And yet, despite their painstaking efforts, they found themselves the companion of another patron mere moments after settling into their territory.

"775!" said a short girl wearing a pink button-down and black slacks, kicking her claimed chair to angle it toward them before she sat gracelessly. "Didn't think I'd find you here. Doesn't seem like your kinda place."

Beneath the veil of their helmet, Xan's brows contorted in agony. Who in the fucking-? Wow, really, not my kind of place didn't think you'd see me here it's almost as if that should be some kind of indication that I don't want people coming up and sitting right next to me when there's eighty fucking million other perfectly good chairs-

"It isn't," said the psychic, not bothering to conceal an exasperated sigh. They hadn't bothered to look up yet - after a long pause tracking the intruder in their peripheral vision praying for another inexplicable stroke of luck, they realised that nothing was going to swoop in to save them. Punishment for drawing attention to their previous good fortune, they supposed. "No space."

"It's not that crowded, come on - not like it's standing room only. I'm not even touching you. Be chill." The girl lounged in their periphery, one leg extended toward them as some sort of proof. "What're you here for, if you hate it?"

"Be chill?" Xan echoed, brain boiling in the heat. They raised their palms a little and shook their head as they sat up. "The fuck do you think I'm trying to be? None of your business what I'm here for and I'm not here to talk, so fuck off."

"And how the fuck you gonna talk to me like that?!" The girl kicked their chair - woah. Evidently a confrontational attitude wasn't going to work for Xan here. Unless they wanted a fight, which was out of the question for a good few reasons. "I'm here tryna be polite instead of just comin' at you with all kinds of questions about psychic powers and this weird incense I got and my Espurr and you're just gonna be a dick? Thought you'd be helpful to someone tryna learn psychic science, but if not, then-!" She lashed out at the leg of their chair again. The psychic sighed heavily.

"Please don't kick that," they said. "It's not mine."

"Kick you next time, then," the girl threatened, bringing her knee to her chest with her sole facing Xan.

"That'd be preferable, actually; more straightforward," the psychic admitted, getting a feel for the chair below them. Fucking hell, if letting off some steam wouldn't cause so much more agony - surely psychic air-flow could be upgraded to psychic air-con somehow - okay, confrontation wasn't the solution here. Semi-placate maybe. Something about science- right, Espurr, incense? Arceus, with everything going on they didn't know if they could be bothered with all this right now - especially if it meant they had to deal with some snot-nosed frenzied petulant fucking child who hated chairs, presumably envious of furniture's vast relative intelligence- "I've had a rough day," Xan continued. "I'll do you the favour of assuming you may have had one too. You were right in thinking I'm capable of helping, generally speaking. But right now frankly I'm fucked; it's way too humid and I just got to sit down."

"Fine," the girl huffed, and stomped her foot squarely on the ground instead of into their thigh. Her petulant glare remained, though. "I'll wait."

… Why? Wait? How long do you think you'll have to wait for? Just leave! Leave! Come back a better time! Or never, actually. People with Espurr can't be that rare. Xan leant their head back, taking what precious time they had where they were capable of ignoring the presence next to them to properly ventilate their clothes. Arceus, the air temperature in the helmet was excessive. Felt good to have breathable air in there. Relatively breathable, anyway. They spared the intruder a non-peripheral glance - there was something a little bit familiar, there. Some other gym challenger then, in all likelihood. Maybe one of Sonia's. It'd explain a fair bit. After a good minute of fragile quiet, Xan figured they weren't going to get anywhere with silence. And after another minute to psych themselves up to rip off the conversational plaster, they let out another long sigh and spoke.

"You were trying to be polite?" They asked.

"Yeah!" The girl growled, then apparently remembered how to do just that and softened her tone. "Um, yeah. That's how you talk to people you don't really know, right? You don't just go up and demand they tutor you in the psychic arts or whatever, you get to know them first."

"Decent summary of the theory," Xan exhaled through their nose. "If I were in a better headspace perhaps I'd appreciate the attempt, even if it fell apart completely at… what, sentence four?" They shrugged. "You want to start over, or skip ahead and conduct sour business?"

The girl sighed a long sigh and rolled up her sleeves as she sat up straight in her chair. "Start over. I'm Ryan Hahn," she said with an odd half-bow half-nod. "Gym challenger 111, graduated from Wedgehurst Academy, currently looking into learning psychic science."

The psychic snorted, "Xan, you already know the number, currently focused on not passing out and dying." They paused to breathe a little more. Heat sucked. "I'm out on business right now, so if you're looking to pose some questions please ask another time or leave them with me for later - if you can type them down on a phone or something that's probably most convenient," another deep breath. "Or if it's urgent then sure, I guess I've already been through the wringer today, what's a little more agony to add to the pile?"

"The urgent thing seems like you maybe being about to pass out and die. Are you sick?" Ryan reached out in a brief, aborted movement. "Wait, I can't check your temperature through a helmet. Wait- isn't it hot in there? Is that why you feel like shit? Can't- is it stuck on your head?" she whispered, horrified by whatever imagined scenario she managed to get lost in.

What the-? Of course it's hot in here, are you-? "Yes, it's-" Xan hesitated, deciding to resolve the immediate concern first. "I'm healthy enough, I'll recover, it's hyperbole. Yes it's hot in here, yes that's partially to blame for making me feel crap. Not quite overheating yet. No, it isn't stuck there. Tempted to get one of the free drinks just to appropriate some ice cubes. Need it on to see detail in the psychic phenomena on stage."

"I can get drinks. I can't get any alcohol, though. You should have water anyway. Can you drink through the helmet? Has it got screens in there or something?" Ryan asked, bobbing her head around to see it from as many angles as she could.

"If I decide I want the drink I'll get it myself," the psychic winced. "Enough with the questions; headache's getting worse."

Ryan grumbled something about "just trying to be nice", but blessedly shut up and pulled out her phone to pass the time while they waited for the show to actually begin.

Sonata · Oct 7, 2021

Rosa Valdes Contest Post

Rosa smiled as she looked up at the stage. It'd been a while since she'd been on a contest floor, and she wasn't even sure if she was going to make it this time around despite the time that she'd spent working on a routine. There were so many factors holding her decision back, but now that she was here - now that it felt real - she only regretted that she'd ever felt doubtful. The last week she'd spent in the Wild Area had been partly dedicated to training, but she'd also wanted to try and work some new moves into a routine at the same time.

Of course, the threat of other people messing with her plans was always just around the corner. Although thankfully, this time around it hadn't been anything too serious. It seemed there was a certain company that had been dying to see her in one of their products and insisted that she change her attire for the contest performance to come once they realized she'd be in participating. Thankfully, the outfit they'd chosen for her only took a small adjustment to her prior plans - though it did mean she was unfortunately unable to watch the other performances while she was fitted. But at the same time, maybe that was for the best. As the girl looked up at the stage and continued to walk up towards it for her performance, she felt... calm. There was no stress from those who'd been on before, nothing to judge herself against, no expectations she felt she had to live up to - all she had to do was perform.

And that... that was the easy part. The girl walked to the edge of the stage and looked over at the man controlling the music before giving him a small nod. "Let's do this."

Please Begin Music Selection

As the music began, the girl lurched forward. She took her time making her way to the center of the stage; each laborious step she took was heavy, and exaggerated in its movement as she reached out towards the center of the platform. Her dress was like shingles of ice, and her chest was covered in a veil of frost and snow. Each time that her dress grew close enough to the ground to graze it, a crystalline flower bloomed and began to grow across the platform like ivy. Rosa continued to struggle against the weight of the cold, the pained expression on her face as she reached ever forward towards nothing in particular told a tale which nobody in the audience would have understood. And when she finally reached the center, she fell in tandem with the music's pause.

From within the girl's dress, two Pokemon appeared.

First - a Roserade stumbled out from the sheets of ice, dazed and confused as it looked around. The Pokemon stepped away from the girl with a lunge, shying away from the crystal ivy which was beginning to overtake her as she laid upon the ground. Zorro covered his face with the bouquets on his hands, turning quickly towards the crystal flowers which had been dropped behind the girl. The Pokemon's eyes followed the trail, watching the ivy as it continued to trail towards the girl and wrap around her.

Second - a Froslass. The Pokemon floated out from beneath the sheets of ice and began to look sinisterly at the Grass-type Pokemon before moving her gaze over towards the girl which lay motionless on the ground. The Pokemon began to laugh as its body swayed - the movement of which began to shake free more ice and snow from upon itself, until after a few seconds a small blizzard had formed upon the platform.

The two Pokemon began to dance around the other - their movements exaggerated and made in leaps from point-to-point as the two pieced together a garden of ice and flower. As the grass type Danced around, Petals and Leaves alike fell from his body and Magically pieced themselves together into tiny flowers which began to dot the crystalline vines which covered the stage. And behind him, followed Yzma - coating his creations in a layer of ice and snow.

As the two Pokemon made their rounds, they wound up back by the side of Rosa. Zorro looked out over the frosted field that he'd created and closed his eyes. A small breeze wafted across the stage, cutting a path through the blizzard as it grabbed up all of the flowers that he'd planted and brought them back to him. The grass type looked down at his trainer, and held out a bouquet of frozen roses towards her as the music began to pick up in intensity and pace.

The girl reached out from beneath the layers of ice and snow, grabbing hold of the bouquet before pulling them back into the dome which had been made for her by the Froslass' blizzard piling back on top. The two Pokemon looked down into the hole from which the hand had reached… and then the music paused once more.

In the midst of that second of silence, a sound akin to an ocean's wave echoed from within the mound the girl had been left in. And, as the music started again, that mound began to spin and rise. The girl which had been stuck beneath those layers of ice and snow, twirled her way upright and began to shake off the wreath of snow and the layers of ice which had once covered her.

Zorro smiled, and began to dance around the girl as she spun, mimicking her motions with his own as he rose up high and then fell down low - causing those shingles which made up her dress to follow suit until all the weight of the icy landscape which had at once been attached to her had been shaken free.

And now, she was free. Her outfit was vibrant, and her smile was genuine. The girl held up the two Alolan style maracas above her head as she let the audience take in her new outfit in its entirety for a moment.

Spoiler:

Rosa and Zorro began to dance around the platform, quickly leaping over the iced over flowers that Yzma was struggling to maintain while keeping up her storm of ice and snow. Rosa slammed the instruments against the frozen flowers as she passed them, sending up into the air a mist of ice and petal. Meanwhile, the grass type pieced together more flowers as he stepped along, utilizing the shattered pieces of Magical Leaves he'd summoned before to cut down the snow as it fell while also using it as the glue for holding his garden together.

And finally, as the music began to come to an end, the girl approached the Froslass that they'd left behind - looking at her distressed form as she hovered over the greens, purples, and yellows which had replaced her wintery white wonderland. Rosa reached behind her to Zorro, taking into her cupped hands an assortment of ice, snow, and flowers which the two Pokemon had created just minutes before.

The girl looked back at the audience which was waiting with bated breath to see how the performance would end. As Rosa held out her hands to the Froslass, she smiled. "The winter of our youth will fade, and even if you feel like your spring will never come - know that you can still make something beautiful, even from that ice and snow."

Rosa turned away from Yzma, nodding at the Pokemon after glancing down at the orb within her hands. The girl approached the edge of the platform and leaned out over the audience, stretching the orb in her hands out towards them.

"Expect the spring; and know that your change will come. Expect... your own Bellossoming."

At that final word, a psychic energy surrounded the orb and projected it out of the girl's hands before exploding over the audience - covering them with a rain of petals which had been folded into tiny flowers, as well as the miniature snowflakes which had made up the orb itself. At the same time that this orb was hurled off, the stage erupted into a wall of ice and snow.

And when the wintry mix had fallen, all that remained were two flowers set in the center of the stage amidst rings of frozen ivy - one rose made of ice, and the other of grass.

gimmepie · Oct 7, 2021

Indra (Male, Swift Swim) - Rain Dance, Hypnosis, Bubblebeam, Double Slap, Earth Power, Refresh

Stampede (Male, Poison Point) - Water Gun, Smokescreen, Twister, Focus Energy, Dragon Breath, Icy Wind

Holo (Female, Lightning Rod) - Tackle, Thunder Wave, Spark, Howl, Flame Burst, Flash

Vessel (Female, Dry Skin) - Fury Cutter, Absorb, Poison Powder, Spore, Rain Dance, Protect

Lancer (Male, Dry Skin) - Taunt, Revenge, Sucker Punch, Poison Jab, Rain Dance, Toxic

Inventory:

- ATC
- Expensive PokeGear
- Pokedex
- 800 Poke (On ATC)
- TM Icy Wind
- TM Flash
- Wishing Star
- TM Protect
- TM Rain Dance

Badges:

CATHERINE CARLISLE
The Challenge

Catherine was seething as she continued to try to shove her way through the pungent horde of bodies at Strugglecon to a section of the convention centre with a modicum of breathing room. What the hell had she been thinking agreeing to Valerie's stream thing? Of course, as soon as she was told it was for a charity, she didn't really have a choice. But still, fuck Valerie for dragging her into it anyway and fuck her for being such a bleeding heart that she agreed despite her reservations. Now she was going to be a prop to bolster Valerie's social media presence. Well, the joke was on her, as far as Catherine knew she had exactly one fan to poach.

So it was that she found herself standing on the outskirts of a crowd that had gathered around some speaker. The smell of stale sweat had now bypassed oppressive and was approaching a level more resembling nauseating. The sheer heat produced by all those bodies moving in unison in the enclosed space was like attending an event held inside of a furnace. Catherine was sure the air-conditioning was faulty. She'd been in saunas that had made her sweat less.

The combination of stench and sweltering heat was frying Catherine's brain. So much so that she was barely even cognizant of whatever the speaker was saying. It was only when she heard a familiar name that she realised the man with the microphone was talking about, of all things, the league challenge.

"Yeah, I was worried about 412 at first. I mean, Bugs, am I right? But after Kabu, the kid's a front runner for sure. That Scollipede is a beast. I think I'd even have trouble against that monster."

Even you?

Catherine had battled that Scolipede first hand and it had wiped out her entire team. Lancer and Stampede had been lucky to even move the thing. Who the hell did this random guy on the stage think he was? If he was someone big in the league, Catherine was pretty sure she'd at least recognise him.

Slicked back brown hair, stupid little sunglasses and v-neck that was stupidly deep just to show off his moderately developed musculature? Didn't sound like any of the leaders or challengers she was aware of, that was for sure - and she made a point of studying just about every battle that came before her own at the gyms.

"What about challenger #41?"

"There's a lot of challengers, remind me which one that is," the man on the stage said dismissively.

"She's the one with the purple hair and the Raboot!" Someone else in the crowd called out.

The man theatrically snapped his fingers. "Oh right, her. She's kind of forgettable. Seems to be fluking it, honestly. She's barely improved since Turrfield."

What is he talking about? First he was implying that he was better than Simon's monster Scollipede and now he was suggesting Haleigh hadn't improved? Catherine had battled Haleigh twice and watched all of her gym matches. As flaky and weak as her personality was, she had absolutely developed as a trainer. She'd even been able to faint Vessel just the other day. Who was this guy to be making such bold - false - proclemations?

Wait...

Something clicked in Catherine's mind at that moment. She did know who this was. At least, vaguely. He was one of those Struggle and Mewtube streamers who gave commentary over the top of video from league battles and pretended to know what they were talking about which, clearly, this man did not. This guy was particularly famous for it, now that she thought about it more. He was called Carlton Green or something like that. He had a particularly large following for some reason. She'd never watched his videos. Why would she? But she had come across his name a few times when browsing the internet.

"Okay." This voice belonged to a haggard looking woman with a staff ID dangling around her neck. She must have been the poor soul who was acting as the man's handler or something. "As we said at the beginning, one person from the audience will have the chance to battle Mr. Green himself. Are there any volun-"

The words had barely started to leave the woman's lips before Catherine was calling out from the back of the crowd. "I'll do it!"

Whispers and muttering rose up from the crowd like an insect swarm as Catherine took to the stage. They knew exactly who she was - the bitch who'd shittalked Kabu and the league on live TV - and were eager to see her beaten down by their hero. Some of them even had the audacity to boo.

"Now, now," Carlon waved the audience down, "The poor girl is about to have a rough enough time without you jeering."

"I sincerely doubt that."

"Yeah?" Carlon said with a confident smirk, "You planning to make it rain in doors and ruin the convention for all these nice people?"

Truth be told, Catherine had not taken that into account when she had instinctively issued her challenge. Oh well, it was too late to worry about that then. She had to focus on the battle. There was work to do. "I'm not going to need to."

She selected her pokeball and released Stampede onto the stage. "This guy here thinks he gets to talk like he knows anything about the league challenge and I am offended, Stampede. Let's show him what a real league battle is like."

Stampede's eyes narrowed and he snorted irritably. This man was deriding the hard work of Catherine, the other challengers and all the Pokemon that fought alongside them? That was not going to be allowed.

"Alright Roots, let's show them up." Carlon lazily tossed a ball onto the stage, the flash disappearing to reveal a Nuzleaf, its smug expression matching that of its trainer. He was going to be banking on a type advantage it seemed.

Catherine didn't give a command. She would wait and see what her opponent did.

"Razor Leaf!" Carlton wasn't interested in waiting. Good.

"Dragon Breath."

Stampede reacted instantly, violet flames exploding out of his mouth and engulfing the incoming leaves. The fire wasn't particularly hot like those of Fire attacks, but it was powerful enough an attack to blast them into nothingness regardless.

"Follow up with Icy Wind." Catherine ordered.

As the flames subsided, a chilling wind whipped up in its place, carrying ice crystals on it as it surged from around Stampede towards the Nuzleaf.

"Tank it and use Synthesis!" Carlton instructed.

Catherine scowled. Synthesis was not a defensive move. His poor Nuzleaf was going to lose health faster than it regained it. "Keep it up."

Roots started to glow with a warm sunny light, the damage he had taken from the first onslaught of Icy Wind starting to fade away. Stampede kept up the attack though, chunks of ice started to form over the Nuzleaf's body. The warmth of Synthesis melted some of it away, but it wasn't healing fast enough. Not without the power of direct sunlight to speed up its progress. Soon, there wasn't a part of Roots' body that didn't have a thin coating of ice over it. The Nuzleaf shivered as it kept trying to heal.

"This isn't working, Mega Drain instead!" Carlton said, sounding just a little panicked.

"Too late," Catherine replied, "Twister."

Shakily, Roots started to summon up the health draining green light of his attack, but he was drastically slowed down after taking so much Icy Wind. Before the attack had even left his body, Stampede had called forth a tornado around the Nuzleaf that whipped him around before flinging him down onto the stage unconscious.

"What kind of 'expert' tries to heal whilst their Pokemon is still taking damage?" Catherine's voice dripped with scorn.

"We're just getting started," Carlton spat angrily, "Wires, take them out!"

As he returned Roots with one hand, Carlton released a Dedenne with the other. It was a movement practiced to look flashy. It almost made Catherine laugh.

Stampede remained in the same place he'd been in since the start of the battle. He faced down the Dedenne stoically. If this was the next opponent who would dare slight his trainer and her contemporaries, this was the next opponent that would fall before him.

"Thunder Shock!"

"Dragon Breath."

Wires attacked, a torrent of electricity sparking off its fur and surging towards Stampede in a line only for the attack to be met part way by another violet blaze. The attacks collided, cancelling out explosively enough to stagger people watching from the front row.

"What kind of gym challenger uses a Dragon move on a Dedenne?!" Carlton half-laughed as he mocked Catherine, throwing her words back at her.

"The kind who wasn't expecting the move to reach the Fairy type in the first place," Catherine replied. "I can still cancel out an Electric attack with a Dragon move. I only have to switch to a different type of attack to actually hit your Dedenne. Want to see? Water Gun."

Stampede switched tactics, shooting a piercing Water Gun towards his Electric-typed foe. Instinctively, the Dedenne dashed to the side to avoid it, so Stampede whipped the attack to the side.

Unfortunately, Wires was speedy and had moved towards the audience. Stampede was forced to cancel his attack early to avoid hitting any of the onlookers.

"Thunder Shock!" Carlton commanded again.

"Dragon Breath."

Once again, electricity met draconic flames as the two ranged attacks cancelled each other out, the shockwave blasting hats from the heads of many in the front row.

"You can block me as much as you want," Carlton said, "But it doesn't mean shit if you can't hit me. Nuzzle!"

The Dedenne shot forwards, zigzagging as it ran, its cheeks crackling with electricity. It was too fast. Stampede wasn't going to be able to dodge it. So it was time for plan B.

"Focus Energy!"

Trusting in his trainer, Stampede ignored the incoming Dedenne and shut his eyes. A faint red glow began to radiate over his body. The Dedenne struck him, sparks rubbing from its cheeks onto his scaly body. Stampede was knocked back, but he kept his focus.

"Water Gun!"

Stampede's eyes snapped open and, at close range, he blasted the Dedenne with a surge of water. Actually… quite a lot of water.

A veritable geyser exploded out of Stampede's mouth, slamming into the Dedenne and launching it across the stage with a thunderous noise on impact.

"Or Hydro Pump," Catherine said, "That works too."

Stampede turned back to Catherine and nodded, then refocused on the battle. To his surprise, as well as that of his trainer, the Dedenne had gotten back up and was glaring angrily at him.

Something was off though. It was swaying and it looked sickly. As though it had been… poisoned.

Catherine smirked. "That's enough, Stampede. This battle is over."

"The hell it is!" Carlton snarled. "Wires is still up."

As soon as the words left his mouth, the Dedenne suddenly dropped.

"What?! Wires?! What the hell did you do?!"

Catherine shook her head, still smirking. "Did you know that when Horsea evolves into Seadra, it loses the Swift Swim Ability temporarily?"

"So what?" Carlton spat.

"The Ability it gets replaced with is Poison Point. When your Dedenne paralyzed Stampede, it got poisoned in turn. The battle was over the minute you made contact."

Carlton took that as his queue to not only return his fallen Dedenne but to start launching into a tirade. Luckily for his public image, his handler cut him off.

"That's the battle!" she interjected nervously, taking to the stage hurriedly with her mic in hand. "Congratulations to the challenger. You'll be able to pick out a TM from our selecti - hey!"

Channelling the spirit of a problematic Bug trainer, Catherine had walked up to the woman and snatched her microphone. She tried to grab it back, but found there was a Seadra now threateningly standing between her and his trainer.

"I don't like public speaking, so listen up. I don't want to repeat myself," Catherine said, "Most of you know who I am. I'm not deaf. I heard the whispers. So you know what I think of the establishment. This idiot over there is exactly what I'm talking about. He takes advantage of the fact none of you know any better to trick you into thinking he's some sort of expert. Then he takes hijacked footage from league battles, streams it on his channels and talks over it like his opinion means something. You throw money at him, he profits off your ignorance. He's not the only one. Most of you probably do the same sort of thing to others on a daily basis."

Catherine took a deep breath. "So, just in case I wasn't clear enough during my battle with Kabu, I'm coming for each and every one of you assholes who thinks that's okay. When I'm champion, things are going to be very different."

As the crowd erupted into a confusing mix of noises, Catherine dropped the mic and left the stage with Stampede acting as her bodyguard. She was done with Strugglecon.

Stampede learned Hydro Pump!
TR Thunderbolt obtained!

Kana · Oct 7, 2021

"Please, put your hands together for... ahem, er, the... The Tea Rose Ensemble!"

The stage lights dimmed, and a silence fell over the venue as the final remnants of confused applause died out. The final entrant was due to start, the audience waiting with anticipation for who would end this evening of spectacles.

A sound of heeled shoes walking across the stone floor rung out from the darkness on the stage. They came to a stop, and after a few more seconds of silence, a spotlight suddenly turned on, revealing a masked young woman standing in the midst. She was clad in a frilly outfit in primarily dark colors, with a top hat and a cape - almost as if she were the ringmaster at a circus, or a gentleman thief.

She made a deep, theatric bow. "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls," she spoke, "tonight, I would like to tell you a story."

Spoiler: music

The music began to play. With some sleight of hand, she produced a Pokéball in her left hand, and threw it to the side of the stage. The spotlight above her moved along with it, turning to a blue shade as the Pokémon inside was revealed. Out came a Dusclops, wearing a blue bandana and an eyepatch on the side of its head, as if there were a second eye to block.

"Once upon a time, in the faraway land of Hoenn, an evil man plotted the doom of the region. Obtaining an ancient artefact known as the Red Orb, he sought to awaken Kyogre, the deity of the seas— to evoke tidal waves, raise the water, and engulf the land."

As she explained from the dark, the Dusclops began to move. He struck a smug pose, and with a Will-O-Wisp, conjured a Red Orb in his hand. The blue spot shifted to the backdrop, and on there, suddenly a humongous shadow appeared. Dusclops' Night Shade perfectly emulated the shape of Kyogre, its silhouette appearing as though it swam through the air.

"No sooner did the titan wake, however, than the man lost control. Black clouds filled the skies, to where it seemed night when it was day. Deafening lightning strikes frightened the people on the land, and the rain that started was unrelenting."

Dusclops made Kyogre's shade larger, and it let out a roar as it simultaneously made the "Red Orb" take the form of Kyogre's raging eye. As though it appeared out of thin air, a Smokescreen from elsewhere on the stage filled the air above, and a heavy slamming noise could be heard to recreate the sound of thunder.

"For a full day and night, this hurricane blasted the region, and the people cowered in their homes. That is, until a group of heroes stood up against the threat. Harnessing the power of Kyogre's eternal rival, did they turn the tide…"

The smokescreen opposite Dusclops suddenly swelled, creating a black backdrop to counter the bright Kyogre's. Then, with the loud roar of fire, did the cloud come alive. A Lava Plume erupted from within, burning the large shape of a Groudon, with its arms spread, into the dark cloud.

"One man fought with Groudon at his side, flanked by a young trainer prodigy. A battle of epic proportions ensued, wave-breaking and earth-shattering." The performer's voice seemed to shake a little, be it with nervousness or intentional urgency. The imposing silhouettes of the godlike Pokémon shuddered momentarily, until they suddenly seemed to lunge for each other.

"Until with their power, the titanic encounter was finally brought to an end."

It appeared as though both primals were sucked into a vortex. The lights turned off, and the smokescreen itself vanished in mere seconds, until the stage was enveloped in darkness once more. The stars of the night sky were once again visible, and the audience was permitted a moment for their eyes to adjust. Only then did a dim spotlight turn on to the center of the stage.

There, three figures stood, hands joined together. On the right was the piratey Dusclops, its eye trained on its performing partner. Opposite it stood a Torkoal, wearing a pair of stern glasses, and its shell adorned with red ornaments. Between them, the performer was sat on her knees. Her hat had been removed to reveal a striking bandana of her own... clearly reminiscent of the one worn by the young trainer of legend. Dusclops' floating hand and Torkoal's paw were sandwiched between both of her hands, and her gaze remained fixed on it.

"So was the Hoenn region saved, and does our tale for tonight end." She slowly returned to her feet, and along with her Pokémon made another theatrical bow, holding her hat to her side, to replace onto her head as she stood up. "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, I am the Tea Rose, and I hope you enjoyed the show! For now, I bid you good night... Until next time!"

Looks were exchanged between the Pokémon and their trainer, and with a quick Smokescreen and Confuse Ray combination, the three vanished into thin air as they made their escape from the stage.

Dragon · Oct 7, 2021

Prepping for Strugglecon ღゝ◡╹)ノ♡
Demons, Demons and More Demons
Poké:

1000 ♡ Friends: 24

To my lovable minion... Asuka! Thank you for your support of the Demon Kingdom!
Love, Demon Queen Valerie ♡

"Wow, thank you so much, DQ!" Valerie was signing more autographs in her booth. Her newly met fan was as adorable and nice as all the others that had come before her. After giving her a quick hug, she bid her fan a nice goodbye.

"Looks like that's the last one for now," Ashley, her volunteered helper was by Valerie's side, helping to organize the streamer's busy schedule while in Strugglecon. "Struggle Rivals is in a few hours!"

"Wooo, nead-o, Sudowoodo!" Valerie slammed her palms upon the table. As lovely as it was meeting her Demon Kingdom Little Monsters, her real focus was to utterly humiliate and crush Michael of the Jameson brothers. But thinking on that, there was something else on her mind. It was about earlier, while Valerie was with Melody and Kei: how on earth did the brothers now about Valerie's past issues? Sure, it wasn't something Valerie was struggling with anymore, but outside select others, it wasn't something Valerie really talked about. They said.. a little Taillow told them? Do Taillows even talk? Or maybe...

"Ohhhh yeah! That's right!" Valerie interrupted her thought process with something that flashed in her brain. She turned to Ashley. "Do ya know if LunaBeam is around?"

"LunaBeam? Ah, I think she's finishing up with her Qn'A," Ashley explained, checking her Rotom phone. "Yeah, it should be wrapping up about now. Then I think she'll be in her own lounge."

"Pog!! Finally the time to say 'hi' haaaas arrived!" Valerie quickly rose from her seat, checking out from her booth. "Man, I wanted to see her face to face for soooo long! We always chat here and there, but, I think she's bee busy with her own Strugglecon thing. Val's gonna surprise her!"

"Want me to come with you?"

"Naaaah, I got this! Go have fun, girl! There's a killer cosplay store here; you tooootes should check that out!" Valerie said with a grin. She promptly wave goodbye to her assistant as she ran off. Ashley waved after her, shrugging to herself. Not the first time Valerie suggested she do something, and probably won't be the last.

***

Jolting happily and easily through the crowd, Valerie had a grin plastered on her face, jogging her way towards the inner streamer Qn'A venue of the building. The chance to finally meet her most favourite streamer -- and her very first friend IRL in LunaBeam had finally arrived. LunaBeam, aka. Luna was a streamer who represented the LGBTQ community, like Valerie. She had more subscribers, and more of a fanbase than Val though - as she was considered to be one of the veteran users of streaming. On the surface, Luna is timid and sensitive, but underneath that was a benevolent, kind woman who was one of the leading streaming contributors to the LGBTQ+ community. Not one person had anything bad to say about her - she was one of, if not, the kindest Struggle streamer on the platform.

Even Valerie loved her, for how she helped her all those years ago, and how they've been friends ever since. If no one else, she was the main inspiration for why Valerie started streaming in the first place. Valerie also became successful, but she always referred back to LunaBeam as an example for THE streamer for the community. Valerie and her chatted much over the years, even when Valerie's League challenge began - she offered advice, and support.

Feeling nostalgic, Valerie went through some of her past conversations with LunaBeam:

@VAL-entine: YO
@VAL-entine: LUNA
@VAL-entine: LUNA
@VAL-entine: asdfghjkl;l
@LunaBeam: I'm here, I'm here! Sorry!
@LunaBeam: What's up?
@VAL-entine: I'M LIKE
@VAL-entine: SCREAMING
@LunaBeam: Did you make it to the Wild Area?
@VAL-entine: yea! just made it!
@VAL-entine: POGGERS!
@LunaBeam: Nice! You're gonna get a lot of pokemon, right?
@VAL-entine: damn right, girl! i'll DM you later about em' kay??
@LunaBeam: Looking forward to it! Have fun, Val!
@VAL-entine: lates!

@LunaBeam: Hm? How to get stronger?
@VAL-entine: ding ding!
@VAL-entine: like
@VAL-entine: super super Arceus super super
@VAL-entine: against a Arceus of destruction
@LunaBeam: Oh... well, catching a lot of pokemon can help.
@VAL-entine: eh?
@LunaBeam: By having a lot of different type of pokemon, you can find it easier to have type advantages.
@VAL-entine: oooooh!
@VAL-entine: and i'll have loads of friends!!!11!
@LunaBeam: Yup! Hope this goes well for you Valerie, good luck!
@VAL-entine: lates!

@VAL-entine: lunaaaaaaa
@VAL-entine: uuuugh
@VAL-entine: my BRAIN is frieeeeeed
@VAL-entine: why can't i catch a pokemon
@VAL-entine: what DO
@LunaBeam: Battle it first to weaken it, then when it's time, throw your pokeball at the pokemon.
@VAL-entine: wtf???
@LunaBeam: Sometimes it won't work right away, but keep trying! You'll get it!

@LunaBeam: I saw you on stage! You looked really great!
@VAL-entine: aha, tyyyy!
@LunaBeam: I hope you will do great out there too!
@VAL-entine: will ya continue to cheer me on??
@LunaBeam: Don't even have to ask!
@VAL-entine: oooooh, gurl, you're the best.
@VAL-entine: like, the BEST
@LunaBeam: Aw, no, I'm just doing what I can. YOU'RE the best, Valerie. Remember that!
@VAL-entine: np!

She then flipped to her latest message, the one where she finally gotten back in touch with LunaBeam after her third Gym Battle win.

@LunaBeam: Sorry I didn't contact you sooner.
@LunaBeam: Congrats on your win.
@VAL-entine: eeeep, tyty! soooo cool to hear from you!
@VAL-entine: is everything okay??
@LunaBeam: Yup.
@VAL-entine: aw well that's good. seriously Luna, ty for the support!
@LunaBeam: You've been getting a lot more support lately, right?
@LunaBeam: The... Demon Kingdom?
@VAL-entine: heck yeah! and I'm the Demon Queen, fuahaha
@VAL-entine: >:3
@VAL-entine: my Little Monsters are just amazing too; this has been oodles and oodles of fun!
@LunaBeam: Oh.
@LunaBeam: Well, that's good, glad you're having fun.
@VAL-entine: thankies!! you're coming to Strugglecon, right?? we totes should meet up there!
@LunaBeam: Yeah, maybe. If my schedule is good.
@LunaBeam: I... have a lot of people who wanna meet me too.
@VAL-entine: haha, yeah I know how that is
@LunaBeam: Yeah, I imagine so.
@VAL-entine: Welp, take care of yourself, and I really, really do hope we'll see each other!
@LunaBeam: Mhm.
@VAL-entine: Oh and Luna
@VAL-entine: You know, I never gotten a chance to say, thanks! you know, for what you did
@VAL-entine: you're like, tooootally amazing. I really hope to be like you someday
@LunaBeam: Um, maybe you shouldn't
@VAL-entine: eh?
@LunaBeam: I mean... it's a lot to deal with, and, you'll probably be stressed out with it all.
@LunaBeam: Just saying... you'll probably will be better off as more of a trainer of some profession than a streamer. Like, you're emotional and naïve... the online world might be too much for you overtime.
@VAL-entine: awww, I'll be fine! truly!
@LunaBeam: Okay... well, take care.
@VAL-entine: byyyye! Loves you!!
@LunaBeam: Yeah.

Looking back at the convo, Valerie had a pause of thought. Maybe something was in Luna's mind at the time? Maybe she was stressed out a little bit? Either way, Valerie had a thought. Maybe she should go get a present for her! A little bit of a 'IRL' ice-breaker. Well, that settles things, operation present for a LunaBeam is a go!

The first place to visit was the anime and manga section. Luna once talked about how she liked this one isekai manga, but always was disappointed with the main character and his choice for a love interest, when the best girl was literally by his side, always helping him out the whole time. But what can you do. She picked up a copy for her. Next? A Plush of her favourite Pokemon! She's quite fond of Clefairy, which happens to be the inspiration behind her LunaBeam username. Luckily, there happened to be many copies of Pokemon Dolls just sitting on the shelf in the nearby games and toys store. There were regular ones, and one that had... what it looked like ditto faces on them? While those looked cute, Valerie went for the regular looking ones.

The operation was complete.

Now, it was time to find her.

According to Ashley, she was supposed to be finishing her Qn'A segment at the disclosed venue, so around now, she was going to be around the private lodging area. Luckily, being a struggle streamer, Valerie had access, so going through the area wasn't going to be a problem with her. The trouble in her mind was, what was she going to say? Chatting online was one thing, but actually speaking IRL, face to face... she had no problems doing that of course, but, it a way, it was exciting, but felt kinda weird. She had been chatting with LunaBeam so much that she couldn't even imagine how to begin when they were gonna meet face to face.

Like for starters... maybe Valerie will compliment how good she looks? Or is that too forward? Maybe Valerie could just say 'hi, good to meet ya!' and follow from there? Though... is Luna even good at small talk? Valerie could maybe... talk about all the things she's done? Gah, this was the first time that Valerie didn't even know what to say. Then again, when did she have to think so hard on what TO say? If there was someone you really liked, things just hit off right away. Worked with Aeliana, and all her friends she made. It can definitely work with Luna. With little to no more doubt in her mind, Valerie pressed on.

It was at the actual lounging area that Valerie had remembered: the streamers had their own rooms for themselves, since the hotels and inns in Hammerlocke was sure to be overbooked for today. Ah, now she remembered: Kenny(Marcargo_D00d) mentioned it to her once, and she just forgotten. But then again, with so much going on at Strugglecon, who can even relax, right? Lucky for her, the rooms were all plated - including the room meant for her. She looked around. There was the room for Kenny, SnowArcanine, JirachiStar... but finally. Finally, there it was. The room, marked LunaBeam. She took a deep breath. Even with a smile on her face, it was a little bit nerve wracking. But after mustering up her will, she reached for the door, just about about to knock on it.

"So, like, our collaboration is going to be bonkers, yo."

Valerie stopped. She could of sworn she had heard a voice just now... and it didn't belong to Luna. She leaned in a bit closer to the door.

Aight, so, the money is going to be split how we agreed, right? We'll just follow the script and everything.

Wait a minute... Michael? And Tate?! What are they doing there?! Valerie leaned in even more, pressing her ear against the door frame to listen better. If these two were involved with something, it wasn't something good.

"Like, I gotta say, after Strugglecon, our team is going to be so stacked," Valerie had heard from Michael's voice. "And, you know, after Struggle Rivals? Man, our Team Savage army is going to be so strong."

"Yeah, and honestly, I didn't really think you were gonna agree to this," said Tate. "And help us out, especially since bro is battling against you-know-who."

"Um, well, yeah."

Valerie immediately recognized the next voice. Luna? She was in there, with the Jameson brothers. But why? What do the Jamesons want with her? Valerie can only hope they're not terrorizing her, but if they are, she was ready to step in. In fact, she had a mind to do so right now--

"When you told us about that story with V-Ray, I was ready to flip! That sent me, yo!"

Huh?

"You're like, friends with Valerie, aren't you?" Tate had asked. "Figured you'd be cheering her on and stuff." After that, things were oddly quiet for a brief moment. But, to Valerie, the silence ended, as quickly as it began.

"He... hehe... Pfffft, Ahahahaha! Are you kidding me?! **** no!" Valerie's eye's widened. She pulled her ear away from the door. That voice... was Luna.

Luna?

"Like, you know what happened that day?" Luna could barely hold her laughter in with her explanation. "I heard that some kid from Chirchester was missing and might of been planning gonna off herself, so, I reached out to her -- and lucky for me, she bragged about me to everyone, and it gave me a hero status! People love a millennial who's like a hero, right? People started to sub to me like crazy, it was the best!"

Was this... real?

"I kept her around, she and I chatted here and there, and I was nice enough to be like a 'friend' to her. She was like sooooo obsessed with me, but she was like, a success story that I made, so I kept her around." her words were like poison. "Then she was all like, Imma do some streams too, just like you! Can you believe that? Though I humored her, and did the whole, 'good luck on your stream!' bit, just to be nice, because I was sure she'd be like any other shumk who wanted to sacrifice their life to try and earn some money by playing video games all day. But get this, she wanted to do my shtick! And it was working for her! Like, she was successful because of MY fanbase. That's pathetic!"

But...

"And then! Then she wanted to be a challenger for the Galar League. Like, you're already a streamer from your clout, and now you wanna be a champion? I mean, it was cute that she try to, because she's a total dumb**** - you know what she asked me? lunaaaaaa, wtf, how do I catch a Pokemon?? Ahaha! You CAN'T make that **** up!" Valerie can hear the bothers and Luna laughing out loud. "But SOMEHOW she gotten three badges, and now, is getting more popular. Like, I made you, *****. I can end you. I have the tea."

Valerie's arms deflated. She dropped her presents for Luna on the floor.

"Don't worry, though. She's dumb, and it's gonna be funny. She's gonna lose to you, AND get exposed. Demon Kingdom or whatever the **** she's calling her fans is over, and they'll turn to you and me," LunaBeam venomously pointed out. "Like seriously... and she wants to make 100 friends and meet Mew?? Like, what the ****! Hahaha! Man, who wants to be friends someone who is one, annoying like her, two, stupid as her, and three, as deranged? If somehow people do, they must not have respect for themselves, ahaha! Oh, and, yeah, I'm excited for the collab, you guys! It's going to be fire, like totally..."

Everything went silent for Valerie. She couldn't hear anything else. She didn't want to hear anything else. Instead of knocking, she just decided to turn and walk away quietly. While doing so, she got out her phone. It took her a while to work the command that she had used like... ever, but, it was strangely simple enough to use.

Friends List:
LunaBeam
Message > Remove

Would you like to remove LunaBeam as a friend?
> Yes / No

LunaBeam has been removed from your friend list.

It was then she realized, she had to clean up her Rotom Phone itself.
The screen got wet from her tears.

Friends Lvl Down...
24 ---> 23

Orx of Twinleaf · Oct 7, 2021

Team:

Rij

Henj

Pelj

Tim T
It had been eventful for Tim.

Back at the Wild Area, Tim had just finished dealing with an Umbreon when the sky ripped open. It had been storming the whole time he'd been there, but the force in the air that last night became palpable. Tim had been curious as to its source—even almost drawn to it against his better judgment—but he and his mons had by then been facing down the Umbreon for the better part of four hours. Tim had been faintly aware of the species's reputation among the upper echelons of battlers as a textbook staller, and it had made sure he experienced the full spread of what that meant.

That Umbreon had effectively confirmed to Tim that the Eeveelutions at the lake weren't normal ferals, because no wild animal would have had such a roundly-unpleasant loadout. Henj had been the first to go down as his bulk disallowed him to easily get around the damned thing's Toxic. And then Rij had gone down about an hour later to the same trick. Umbreon hadn't seemed to have an attacking Move at all really, which made it all the more infuriating when it had revealed it had been hiding a Leppa Berry behind its ear just when Tim had thought it was at the end of its rope on Moonlights. Pelj had run out of Smokescreen not long after, and then had slipped up and ate a Toxic of her own. That last unpleasant hour had been Tim grappling the accursed thing, knowing any supposed toxic material out of an Umbreon would at most give him a stomachache. Well, except for its oily sweat, that had hurt Tim's hands, so he had wrestled Umbreon with his sleeved arms instead.

Umbreon had finally tapped out and begrudgingly handed over a Moon Stone when the storm roared out. Umbreon had put its ears back and left in the opposite direction of what must have certainly been an awesome clash and Tim, taking stock of his own condition, had decided he couldn't investigate. More than that, he had decided that whatever it was that had been making such a raucous report had rendered the lake area too dangerous to hang around. A shame, really, but at least Tim had managed to track down four Eeveelutions in the end: presuming there had been one of each in the area that meant Tim had taken down half of them anyway.

Tim had set out for Hammerlocke then, deciding to settle in ahead of the other challengers, and so had eschewed training to walk through day and night. It had been a whim to look closer at a lonely campfire when he had been crossing the snowed-over portion of the Wild Area. On discovering Aeliana at it, Tim had jumped at the opportunity.

Aeliana was a strong Trainer, and her mons had heart in them. She had obliged Tim's request to a Triple Battle quite handsomely and had defeated him. Though Rij had kept his feet in the end, Tim had seen enough anyway. It would do. Tim had even had the honor of presenting Aeliana's Eevee an avenue for Evolution: it had been the right decision to grab those stones after all! Tim was excited to see Aeliana's future Gym battles.

Afterwards, Tim had reached Hammerlocke. To his dismay, the Gym had been closed. Whether or not Tim could have really won against Raihan, he had still wanted to try for the sake of it. It wasn't as if Tim would be financially-undone by a loss there, after all. But Raihan had stepped out for some sort of influencer event that Tim had been deeply unhappy to learn of. Not only did it mean Hammerlocke was stuffed up with out-of-towners, it meant a lot of the murmurs of the street were about inane convention events. Tim had given up attempting to passively glean information on the other challengers: the most he'd managed to gather was that Raphael was in town. And blast it, Tim had already known that!

With the Gym closed to all, the Contest impenetrable to his ragged person, and the streets clamoring with meaningless chatter, Tim had decided Hammerlocke wasn't worth paying much mind to. He'd come in once a day to rummage through the garbage but otherwise he'd stay out in the Wild Area nearby for training until the other challengers moved on. It had been a very convenient surprise then to manage to pick Simon out of the streets in the night. Simon was one of the strongest, most talented Gym Challengers of any of them, and Tim was quick to snap up the chance to catch him. It had been unfortunate that Tim had apparently caught Simon on a bad day.

It had to have been a bad day. Tim could think of no other reason for Simon to have been so thoroughly trounced. In Simon's defense, Rotation Battles weren't exactly the sort of thing most folks could be expected to be very practiced in, but Simon had just ignored the rules outright. And then after that he'd been rolled up in a trice by Tim's grappling! Simon Pearburgh! The Joltik King! The Human Hive! By all rights, Tim should have been sent limping away from that encounter.

So what if Tim had Rocks to Simon's Bugs? Type advantage only accounted for so much, and those Bugs had coverage anyway. So what if Tim outsized Simon? Size wasn't everything, and there was more to strength than mere power. Simon must have just been off his game apparently. As far as that went then, Tim hoped he'd managed to get across to Simon the importance of always being ready. Or if not always, then at least so long as he intended to go walking down back alleys in the middle of the night. Simon was lucky Tim had only decided to take a spare Pokéball.

That had been a practical decision. As much as Pelj liked to roll around at Tim's side, Tim wanted to be able to recall her to safety if something ever happened. But the little Rolycoly hadn't liked the idea: she evidently wanted to stay with Tim all the time and wouldn't hear Tim's reasoning for balling her. He'd resorted then to trying to sneak it at her, but she was a fast little mon and had managed to avoid him so far.

Presently, she was sparring with Henj. Well, sparring as far as their size difference allowed: from the outside looking in it had more the appearance of someone trying to stomp out a fire. A little fire that did donuts. Tim was taking a break with Rij, having finished wrestling with the Rhyhorn for a while. Tim's mons didn't seem to really dwell on their wins or losses much when it came to other Trainers. For some reason they'd always seemed more interested in the outcomes of fights with ferals. Well, Henj and Pelj did. Rij was still rather stoic about everything.

The Rhyhorn was watching Henj and Pelj training, but Tim was examining the ball he'd taken from Simon. Sure, Pelj was fast, but Tim was sure he'd connected the ball on her a few times and the ball hadn't pulled her in. Tim found himself missing his Dex again: the device came with a number of applications for inspecting balls. Without a Dex, Tim had to try and remember how to perform manual inspections.

Tim pinched the ball along the back with his finger and thumb and finally found the spot that activated its hinge. The ball snapped open obligingly and Tim peered inside it at the myriad shiny bits that lined the inner hemisphere. Unfortunately, Tim hadn't cared much more for learning about Pokéball anatomy than he had for learning of Pokémon anatomy. All the same, he peered at the parts in the sunlight and decided that, to his eye at least, the ball was properly intact.

Something about the radial panels seemed strange to Tim though. They reflected the light queerly, like the back of a CD, but in a strange range of colors. It rather seemed like every color in the rainbow reflected back, but in a consistent sequence that, to Tim's surface understanding of ROYGBIV, seemed unnatural. Tim brought out Rij's and Henj's balls and opened them as well. The panels in their balls also bounced the light back strangely, but each in a different way from Simon's ball.

Tim furrowed his brow: that probably meant this ball already had a mon assigned to it. But Simon had said this ball hadn't belonged to one of his Bugs. Tim played the scene back in his head: Simon had shown Spewpa, Joltik, Anorith, Larvesta, Snom, and Burmy. Tim knew Simon had owned both a Caterpie and a Scolipede. Tim had heard Scolipede's ball was remarkable somehow though, so it wouldn't have had a plain ball. But why hadn't Scolipede been deployed? Tim shook his head: maybe Simon had left it somewhere. It was a lot harder to walk around with something the size of Scolipede than it was to walk with Simon's smaller mons.

But what about Caterpie? Tim hadn't noticed its absence at the time, but he remembered having seen it deployed during Simon's Turffield Gym mission. It hadn't come out in response to the Joltik's Beat Up summons though. Tim supposed maybe it might have just ignored Joltik, but …

Tim put Henj's and Rij's balls away and then closed Simon's ball. Tim frowned a little and pointed it at the ground before squeezing it along the top and along the sides of the bottom. Sure enough, the ball issued a red recall beam that shattered against the dirt. The ball already had a mon assigned. It had to have been Caterpie's. But if Simon had had Caterpie's ball on him, where had Caterpie been?

Tim dropped the ball as the realization hit him, springing up in horror. Henj and Pelj stopped training to look in his direction. Rij snorted curiously, raising a brow. Tim looked at them as he gathered his thoughts. "That's enough training for now. I must go back into town earlier than planned. I fear I have done something truly unforgivable."

Tim recalled Henj and Rij and picked up Simon's ball. Pelj wheeled over to him curiously. "This isn't a ball," Tim told her. "This is a keepsake and I stole it. I must give it back." Pelj seemed smug at the notion, likely not gathering how an empty ball could be of any importance to anyone and merely pleased that she wouldn't be balled after all.

Tim wasn't pleased though. He started trudging in Hammerlocke's direction as Pelj followed. Either Caterpie had fled or otherwise been lost, and this ball was a memento. That explained then why Simon had been so incensed when Tim chose to take it. Blast it all! Why would Simon be carrying something like this in the same place he carried around his fielded mons' Pokéballs? Tim shook his head. Far be it from Tim to police what Simon did with his balls, after all.

No wonder Simon had lost: he was clearly still shaken by whatever event had removed Caterpie. For that matter, he may have lost Scolipede too! Tim didn't regret the attack though. Danger, after all, cared not for feelings and, shaken or no, Simon still needed to be able to keep his wits about him. What Tim did regret though was claiming such a macabre trophy. He might have just made an enemy for life.

Whatever the case, there was no helping it now. What was done was done. Reality in its harshness took away precious things all the time from everybody. At least Simon would be getting this one back.

gimmepie · Oct 8, 2021

Indra (Male, Swift Swim) - Rain Dance, Hypnosis, Bubblebeam, Double Slap, Earth Power, Refresh

Stampede (Male, Poison Point) - Hydro Pump, Smokescreen, Twister, Focus Energy, Dragon Breath, Icy Wind

Holo (Female, Lightning Rod) - Tackle, Thunder Wave, Spark, Howl, Flame Burst, Flash

Vessel (Female, Dry Skin) - Fury Cutter, Absorb, Poison Powder, Spore, Rain Dance, Protect

Lancer (Male, Dry Skin) - Taunt, Revenge, Sucker Punch, Poison Jab, Rain Dance, Toxic

Inventory:

- ATC
- Expensive PokeGear
- Pokedex
- 800 Poke (On ATC)
- TM Icy Wind
- TM Flash
- Wishing Star
- TM Protect
- TM Rain Dance
- TR Thunderbolt

Badges:

CATHERINE CARLISLE
Drooping Eyes

It was two in the morning and Catherine was sitting in her bed in the shabby hotel room she had paid for. She had enough money from her recent winnings to afford somewhere a little nicer, but here she was a lot less likely to run into fellow challengers or the press. Besides, you got used to appreciating simpler comforts when you spent most of your time wandering the wilderness.

The atmosphere in the room was peaceful. Indra and Lancer had passed out asleep on either side of the rickety table that stood in the corner. They'd spent several hours arm wrestling after she let them out. Indra had found it a novel use for his new hands and Lancer just thoroughly enjoyed repeatedly winning.

Holo was sleeping at the foot of the bed, occasionally sizzling a little with weak passive electricity and drawing Catherine's attention. She looked extremely comfortable. Stampede was curled up in a similar position, but in front of the door. He tended to insist on being the first line of defence against intruders.

Catherine wasn't sure if Vessel was awake or not. The Parasect had scurried under the bed a while ago. She figured that it felt like being back home in the tunnels. She was content to let them be so long as they weren't damaging anything, and that seemed unlikely.

Catherine herself was focused on her phone. For once in her life though, that wasn't because she was enjoying any of the media she had saved to it. She had her note taking app open and was adding new information to a long series of headings and dot points.

After her battle with Kabu, when she resolved to take the gym challenge more seriously, Catherine had taken the time to review each of her three recorded gym battles and take notes on them. She'd also made a point of recording as much as she could about her previous battles while she was at it and was continuing to keep up the practice for her newer ones.

That was what the first of her new digital notepads was for. She was currently in the second. This one was less focused on reflection and more on innovation. In it was a series of possible maneuvers her Pokemon could perform in different situations. Some, such as "Offensive Protect," were crossed out with notes under them like "too dumb to actually work." Others, such as "Protect Prison" or "Stationary Turret" were left unstruck, with notes such as "actually useful" and subsequent dot points explaining how and in what situation they could be used.

She had taken to going through this ritual every day. It wasn't fun, but she deemed it necessary. Her goals were extremely lofty, and her classmates had gotten a head start on her. She couldn't be content with just catching up either. She had to exceed each and every one of them. It was just like she had said to Haleigh, she had to be able to consistently be able to stomp any adversary into the ground. Her team was putting in the hard work towards that goal, so she had to as well.

The television across from her was on, playing a repeat of the contest from earlier in the day. She hadn't really thought about it before, but contests were supposedly where combination moves originated from. So, naturally, they were going to be a good source of ideas. They were also another way to assess what other challengers, like her classmates, could bring to the battlefield.

As she watched, she jotted or crossed off more notes on her phone. Sometimes, she would tab out to a different notepad where she was making notes of different TMs and TRs she should keep an eye out for and the like. That was a new document that was going to need a lot of refining though. She'd only thought to make it earlier that day after Stampede had broken out Hydro Pump in their battle and she'd picked up that Thunderbolt TR to teach to Holo later. She was considering visiting the local library to do some more research on the moves her team could learn. It would probably be easier on a computer than a phone.

The contestants kept coming and it was starting to get difficult for Catherine to keep her eyes open. She was pretty sure the quality of her notes was dipping too. Her vision was starting to blur, and every now and then she would have to blink heavily to refocus on the task at hand. At the very least, she had to make it through the contest before turning in.

At her feet, Holo stirred, one eye opening and looking at her groggily. Catherine smiled softly at the Electrike. "Don't worry, I'll just finish this up and then I'll be off to bed as well."

She watched as Holo settled back down and then returned to her work. The contest ended and Catherine kept adjusting her notes for another hour, although by that point some of them were tantamount to gibberish.

Her phone still open to her notes, Catherine eventually slumped down and succumbed to sleep surrounded by her companions. There was a long way to go, so much more work ahead of them. In that moment though, such thoughts faded away and Catherine felt strangely content.

Sonata · Oct 8, 2021

Poké:

2220 ♦ Pokemon: 5

CHAPTER 11.12 - THIS STILL COUNTS AS 11:11 SO WISH AGAIN

Rosa was riding her bike through the Wild Area, not really paying attention to where she was going given the excitement of her recent victory was still playing through her head. The sound of the crowd, the fight itself, and everything that followed after Kabu's Pokemon had fallen kept playing through her mind as she went along with a massive smile on her face. She said a few silent prayers every so often for the girl that had saw fit to drag her back to that stadium to get her revenge.

But every so often, another thought would cut through her mental reel. 'What am I going to do for the next contest?' The thought ran through her head a few times, repeating itself after the loop of her battle finished.

"Ugh," she muttered, finally giving in to the thoughts. "What am I going to do for the next contest? What even was the theme supposed to be? I know there's some kind of idol that's supposed to be appearing, but -"

Thunk.

The sound registered on her ears before the abrupt stopping of the bike. The handle quickly twisted in her palms, wrenching itself free from her grasp as the device tilted forward.

"Eh?" Was all the girl could get out of her mouth before she was face down in a puddle of mud. The sludge splattered all over her dress, and coated her bike to boot. Rosa sat there for a moment, not wanting to recognize the situation she was in. After a few seconds, the girl started to push herself up off of the ground and then sputtered as she tried to clear her lips of the gunk. "What… the fuck."

The girl slowly wiped the mud from her eyes as the coldness of it sent a chill down her spine. She looked over at where her bike had stopped, seeing that there was a random pokeball laying on the ground just before where she'd landed. Rosa crawled over like a toddler, doing her best to shake off as much of the mud as she could with each slam of her hand into the damp ground.

Rosa looked at the ball, turning it in her fingers a few times before realizing… it was filled. The girl looked around, not seeing sure what a filled pokeball was doing this far out into the wild area. Although, it didn't really matter. It wasn't her Pokemon, so whether a trainer went out of their way to abandon it, dropped it on accident, or even didn't realize they'd captured it in some kind of frenzy - the best thing she could do was take it to a Ranger station. And as luck would have it, she knew exactly where one was.

"Or even better," the girl whispered, seeing two uniformed women approaching from the corner of her eye.

The two Rangers quickly approached on their skates, skidding to a stop as they launched their pokeballs into the air. "Hurry, use Twister!"

Two Pidgeotto burst free from the balls, immediately flying up to the bridge just above the three girls before creating two powerful gusts of wind that caught a few of the orbs that were continuing to periodically fall. Rosa's eyes followed the Pokemon as they ascended, and then quickly fell back down to the two women that had been left on the ground. The girl looked at the ball in her hands as she watched the Rangers pull some rope from their waist before tossing it up towards the Pidegotto which had begun to descend again. The girl watched as the two Rangers quickly began to rise up to the platform above, lifted up by their two Pokemon and the rope that they'd caught.

"Wow," Rosa whispered, watching the Rangers and their quick action. The girl looked up at the bridge, seeing that despite their best efforts, the overturned truck was still teetering on the edge of the broken bridge.

A cold washed over the girl as she watched the two Rangers disappear onto the bridge. This was a moment where she could shine - where she could put every confidence boost she'd earned in the past couple of weeks to use to do some real good. The girl began to fumble with the balls in her pockets, certain that she had no way of getting up to where the other two women had gone. But, at the very least…

"Come on out," she called, pulling three pokeballs from her pocket as she released Zorro, Yzma, and Wyatt.

The three Pokemon looked up at their trainer, curious about what they were supposed to be doing. The trio followed the girl's gaze upward, catching sight of the current situation and realizing what was expected of them.

"Wyatt, get Zorro up there. Yzma, make a cushion in case he or any more of those pokeballs decide to fall down."

"Loud!" The Pokemon replied, grabbing the small grass type up in his hands before starting up the Echoed Voice which would eventually be the propelling power behind the Roserade.

Meanwhile, Yzma set to work on making a makeshift blizzard to create a cushion big and soft enough for both Zorro, as well as any of the balls that might fall. Rosa watched the bridge as the minutes ticked by, not sure whether or not the situation was actually under control up there since it didn't seem like anything was happening. The girl turned towards Wyatt, seeing that Yzma's job was done.

"Launch him!"

The girl watched as her Roserade flew into the air, his arms tucked in and the petals on his head ruffling like a plastic bag in the wind as he sped through the sky. Rosa watched as her Pokemon disappeared up onto the bridge and waited, patiently. And she waited. And waited. And waited, looking down at her pokedex to check the time that had passed as she anxiously watched for any change with what was going on - or at least a confirmation from the Rangers that Zorro had landed alright at his destination. She slowly began to scan the area around her, looking for something… anything that could potentially be used to reach the top. The girl's hand moved to her styler as she began to look at the various Pokemon which were out and about at this time. And finally, she saw it.

The Rangers were looking at the door to the truck, still uncertain of how best to go about getting the guy out as he continued to scream in terror at them about the lock being stuck and not wanting to die. The other driver that had caused the accident in the first place had already driven off long before they'd arrived, so they currently had nobody to hold accountable for the incident.

"We could always try weighing it down again. Then you could-"

"We a'ready tried that, Darlene. What we need is somethin' to jam in there to wrench the fucker open with."

"Well lotta good that'll do. I haven't seen any crowbars laying around and if we take another twenty minutes to go-"

"No shit, Darlene. I know we cannae be wastin' time on these goose chases, but-"

"Rose!"

The two Rangers looked up, catching sight of the grass type as he well overshot his mark - ending up in a tree far on the other side of the road. The two looked over towards the Pokemon, and then back at their current situation.

"....It'll probably be fine, right?"

"I dunno, Darlene. It had a soft landin' though, I'm sure' it'll be just fine til we figure this sitchiation out."

"Y'know… what could do it for us? An ice type."

"Yeah, too bad it's not the season for 'em, eh?"

The two Rangers went back and forth, looking back in on the trapped truck driver every couple of minutes as they weighed their options and started to talk about potentially calling for another Ranger to fly in. And it was at roughly that time that the two women were surprised once again by a sudden addition to their posse as a Corvisquire rushed up over the edge of the bridge with a young girl in tow.

Rosa hovered over the truck door, looking down at the two women from before as they stood around - accomplishing nothing. The girl looked around, not seeing the Pokemon she'd previously sent up anywhere nearby. Rosa squinted, not really sure what that exactly meant - but it stood to reason that she could still do something in this situation. She looked down at the ground below, seeing the pile of snow that Yzma had made still standing in a massive, fluffy lump.

The girl let go of the Corvisquire's talons, letting herself fall onto the bridge just beside the other two women.

"What're y-"

"What can I do to help?" Rosa cut in, feeling around in her pocket for the balls that were still filled. "I made a big pile of snow down below in case everything falls out the back - at least it'll be easier to find them all then. What else do you need?"

The two women slowly turned to look at each other. "You've got an ice type?"

Rosa nodded in response, pulling out Yzma's ball before releasing her onto the ground beside them.

"Can you freeze the door? We've got some bottles of wat'r here. If we pour it into the cracks an' then freeze it, it should pop enough for us to work widdit then."

The girl looked at the two women and then down at the Pokemon beside her. "Well, Yzma, you're up. And in the meantime… I should find Zorro."

The two women looked at each other again, this time nudging each other in a fight over who should talk first. "Uh, are you looking for a Roserade by chance?"

Rosa, who had already started to turn in the opposite direction of the women in hopes of finding her misdirected Pokemon, slowly turned on her heels back towards the two Rangers. "...Yes? Do you know where he is by chance?"

The two Rangers looked at each other, then down at the Snorunt which was already starting to climb up onto the truck, and then back at the girl. "Uh… well, we thought this situation would require our full attention so we didn't immediately check on him. But… he should be in that bush… back that way."

Rosa looked in the direction that the women were pointing, catching a glimpse of two little green legs jutting out from what had otherwise at one point been a perfectly fine bush. Every so often, the little legs kicked like the Pokemon was still struggling to free itself - only for it to fall still again as though they'd given up.

The girl sighed, and then looked back at Yzma. "I don't think I have to say this to you, but… don't cause any problems."

"Runt!" The Pokemon replied, sliding one hand behind its back as it turned to face its trainer.

The girl narrowed her eyes, curious about what the Pokemon was holding - but nevertheless, there were more important things to worry about. Zorro had been stuck in a bush for nearly ten minutes when he was supposed to have been helping out the two Rangers. Of course, Rosa knew this wasn't his fault, but she couldn't help but feel a tad bit irritated at the waste of time it had proven to be.

"There we go," she whispered, pulling the Roserade out from the thorns.

"Rose." Zorro looked up at his trainer and smiled, swaying back and forth as the girl held onto his legs.

"C'mon, we gotta go help this truck driver. Yzma's already-"

"What in the bloody-?"

Rosa turned back towards the two Rangers, shielding her eyes from the light that was emanating from ahead of them as the truck slowly slid off of the side of the road.

"No!" Rosa cried out, taking a couple of quick steps in the incident's direction. She caught a glimpse of the driver's smile which was plastered fakely over a white-washed face - the look of a man who in just a few short seconds had come to terms with his own mortality.

A cold breeze blew across the bridge, and with it, a small shard of ice. And after that shard, came another - and another, and more and more pieces of ice and snow began to quickly blow across the width of the bridge as the light subsided and the truck finished teetering over the edge. A small Pokemon clad in white stood at the edge of the broken bridge and looked over at the still muddy girl before nodding.

"Fross." The Pokemon's cry came across with an inhalation, calling the coming storm behind the three women towards it as the Pokemon fell backwards off the edge.

"No!" Rosa cried out once more, rushing forward the rest of the way towards where the accident had taken place. There was a loud crunching sound which echoed up from down below them - and though Rosa had made it to the edge of the bridge, she didn't have the guts to look over and see what had become of the truck. "I only wanted… to help," she whispered, inching slowly closer as she felt the stares of the two Rangers on her back.

"Lass," one of the women began, walking up behind the girl before placing a firm hand on the girl's shoulder. "It's a'right. Ye can open yer eyes now."

Rosa slowly parted her fingers, not wanting to witness the mistake she'd made as she glanced over the edge. Down on the ground below them, what she saw instilled into her… a sense of relief. The truck had fallen safely onto a much larger pile of snow than what she'd left down there at first, and beside the wreckage of the vehicle stood a rather unkempt - but most definitely safe, and unharmed - truck driver who was in the midst of spilling his guts onto the white pillow which had saved his life.

The girl's eyes widened, and then she began to frantically look about for the other Pokemon she'd left over here. "Yzma?" The girl yelled out loudly.

"She's down there, girlie. Yer Pokemon save the day."

"My… my?" Rosa's brow furrowed as she looked back over the edge, seeing the unfamiliar Pokemon down below.

"Froooooooss!" The Pokemon cried out, showing off a few of the dance moves that she'd learned back in their first contest performance.

"Yzma!" Rosa cried out, relieved that her Pokemon was not only okay - but that she'd finally evolved. "Wait, evolved?" Rosa whispered, thinking back to the shady action of the Snorunt just before she'd left the Pokemon to its own devices. "That little…" she whispered, checking her bag but not finding the stone that the Pokemon was so engrossed with. "That little!" She scoffed, shaking her head.

"Well, you save us a lot of work today." One of the Rangers approached the girl, her hand outstretched. "Look… I'll be the first to say it, we weren't prepared for this. I was supposed to be on vacation, Minnie there was supposed to be stationed to the Northern Ranger outpost today - everything's a bit of a shitshow. So… if there's anything we can do to make up for it? Just… keep this between us, yeah?"

Rosa thought for a moment, and then looked down at the skates that the two women were wearing. "Are those…"

"Yeah, essentially Ranger issued heel skates. You kick your heel out, and a set of wheels appear from the heel that lets you move much faster than you normally would. But they're not as bad as having to struggle with pulling skates on and off for when you're in a hurry. I might be biased here, but these definitely feel a bit more sturdy than the kind I ended up buying for my daughter last christmas."

"How is little Ann, Darlene? She grow any in the week you been gone?"

"Nah, she's going to hit puberty soon so I don't doubt she'll shoot right up past me in no time. You know, her dad's six-eight? And that man's hands…. Oooh. Best part of my vacation, right the-"

"Eh-hem." Rosa coughed, not sure that she wanted to hear the rest of this conversation. "I think we could all just go our separate ways from this if uh…"

"Of course," the Ranger quickly agreed, pulling off the pair of shoes from her feet. "They might be a size or two too big for you, but mostly it's all just in the heel there. If you take it to someone in the city, they might be able to work it into your boots for you instead. Make travelling just a little more convenient."

"Mhm," the girl mumbled, taking the shoes from the Ranger. Rosa looked up at the Corvisquire that was still waiting patiently for the girl to direct it once more. "Yeah, I'll just be-" she started, before grabbing onto the Pokemon's talons and taking a step backwards off of the bridge.

As the girl came back down onto the ground and looked over at Yzma, she shook her head. "You and I will have a talk later," she said with a smile before recalling the Pokemon. "But, you did do good, so I won't make it too harsh."

"Miss, ugh… miss, I tell you…" the truck driver struggled to hold himself upright, despite the fact he was putting most of his weight onto the busted up trailer that was sticking upright in the snow pile. "You done saved my life today. I know it ain't much, but I don't often carry much on me to offer to others. So look here - this hat was my daddy's," the man started, reaching into the truck's cab before shuffling a few things around.

"Muh daddy was a truck driver, and he passed this hat on down to me when I first got my trucker license. Now, I want to pass it on over to you, given that it's the single most valuable thing I have on me 'sides the clothes on my back. I been lookin' at this hat every day for the past thirty years, waitin for the time when I could make the words on it become a reality… but after today, I doubt that I'll ever get to retire. But, it's just as well. I been on the road so long… I feel like if I stopped now, I'd just be missin' a part of myself." The man chuckled to himself as he held out the hat by the bill, taking a final longing look at the words embroidered on the cap.

Rosa nodded along, not really paying attention to what the man was saying. Something about his dad, and his dad, and a hat and some trucks. She didn't want any more rewards for just doing what she felt was right in the moment. All she really cared about was putting what part of this snow hadn't been tainted by the man's vomit to use in cleaning the mud from her clothes. "I'll take it and wear it with pride," she replied, holding out her clean hand. She didn't know what this hat meant to the man, but she figured she could respect it enough in front of him to not just take it with a mud-caked hand instead. 'I hope the washer at Pia's can handle this type of muk.'

"Weeell don't be gettin' too eager to live by them words," the man laughed, glancing back at his truck every so often. "Young thing like you's got a lot of livin' before you can make good on that promise."

Rosa looked down at the hat and quickly glanced over the words which adorned it. "Oh. Huh. I see. No Money. No Phone. No Address. No Clock. Retired. I think I could live with that."

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
SETTLING IN
CUTTING OUT
TEMPERED
MAKE A WISH

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:

Turnip · Oct 8, 2021

Swindle Trial Haha You Know Do You Get It It's Like Con Test You Know Because That's Where The
Featuring Xan and also Ryan who survived the antagonist championship to become the surviving champion antagonist

Contests were largely boring, Xan was realising. Lots of wasted time where nothing was happening. Judging by what they'd seen from video thumbnails and video snippets as they tried to figure out what the contest was earlier, when something was happening it wouldn't necessarily be all that appealing either. They were cooling off, but not by a whole lot. Company wasn't oppressive - still not wanted by any means, but not as bad as it could have been. Their cheap phone with the keypad was ready to take notes, tucked away inconspicuously in the folds of the psychic's clothing. They were thinking about bringing up breakout or helicopter to pass the time.

"Do you just know psychic stuff when you see it?" Ryan decided to pipe up in a lull between acts. "They're not up there saying move names or whatever. So how do you tell?"

Did this ignorant little piece of shit really just completely forget everything that was said in the last-

"Didn't say my headache was any better," Xan exhaled, quickly abandoning any attempt to answer the question. Whether it was exhaustion or spite fuelling their lethargy they couldn't be bothered to find out. The two had mixed in their brain into a nasty cocktail - at the end of the day, it didn't really matter which was the driving force and it was probably both anyway. By means of some kind of response, they temporarily brought their phone from its cloth hideaway and tapped it with a finger.

"Yeah, so tell me how to tell what's different about psychic and I can watch the stage for it while you play on your phone. Since your headache's so bad I guess."

Agony. Oh, the agony didn't end. Xan put their phone back and leant over, cradling their poor aching head in their hands as they muttered. "That's it. Yep. I'm dying. I'm gonna fucking die. My head's going to straight-up explode. Bone shrapnel is going to kill a good seventy percent of this audience-" the psychic took a deep breath, organising their thoughts before they spoke again, more evenly. Maybe thirty-five was more realistic. Hospitalisation for the others. "I'll clear this with you again. Really don't feel like dealing with you right now. If you've got questions, note them down on a phone or something else. I am willing to answer them later, but that isn't a promise. It's a favour. I don't do favours for people who callously make my brain hurt, if you catch my meaning."

"If you wanna talk about favors we can talk about me offering you several favors to make this obviously unpleasant experience maybe a tiny bit more bearable for you and you refusing to take them out of, I dunno, a dedication to suffering. Callous, my ass! I've been tryna help you, damn." Ryan stomped her foot as she crossed her arms in a huff once again.

"I- fu- hold on," Xan raised a hand in a calming gesture they didn't feel. Can this… fucking… imp… go two seconds? Without misinterpreting? Half of what- "To clarify. I'm not calling you callous, not yet, the callousness was hypothetical. You've made mistakes, you've rectified the mistakes - if they stop being mistakes, that's where malice comes in. That's if. You understand that, right?"

"Fine, yeah, got it," was the yet-petulant response.

"Good. I don't want you to think I'm throwing out insults for the hell of it," the psychic leant back in their chair again, head lulling to one side so they could pump a bit more fresh air in. "You want to tell me what those 'favours' are that you supposedly offered and I refused to take? I didn't personally catch any."

"You- what? Okay, first off, I'm not pestering you with all the questions I want to ask, 'cause you're busy. Obviously. That's a favor. But then, you said you felt like shit, and that you might get a drink or whatever, and I said oh, I could get drinks, meaning- I can get you a drink, so you don't have to go suffer through that or give up your seat. A favor. Okay? Plus the general concern for your actual health, which is definitely a favor considering how you've been acting." She grumbled the last bit, but didn't give Xan the chance to comment before plowing on. "And then I went back to doing the active favor of not asking you for anything while you sat here oh-so-serious. And then I asked if I could do you the favor of helping you watch for psychic shit because you're clearly not here for anything else and it's gotta be boring to watch whatever else. Get it now?" Ryan was definitely red-faced after her rant, mouth turned down into a pout that might have been more upset than just whiny.

"Okay," Xan laughed through their nose. If it was funny then it was less aggravating! "Let me address these with what waning brain function I cling to yet - the drink thing I was considering, it's not a favour because I decided that I didn't need it. Helping me watch for psychic phenomena - not a favour I can accept, no idea how trustworthy and/or capable you are in that area, can't teach or find out in this limited time frame, even if I had the energy to do so. Plenty energy enough to observe though, so again not necessary, if convenient. The others? Those are common courtesy. Doing them isn't a favour. Neglecting them is malice. Before you say anything: yes, I'm aware I participate in malice."

"Fine. Whatever. But you get that I'm offering help, yeah? In the ways that I can? Because I am trying to make your time here easier?"

"I understand your intentions are fine," the psychic breathed. "That's why I'm still talking."

"Good. Okay. Thanks." Ryan relaxed slightly. "Okay. Um. So-" she hesitated, clearly having trouble formulating a sentence. "If you can't answer questions or teach for real- what about a lecture? Like, just telling me what you're taking notes on while you do it?"

"Simple request," Xan muttered. "Don't want to talk during the performances, but I can hold my phone on your side and you can read my notes as they come up."

Ryan gave them a broad grin for the first time since she had invaded their space. "I'll take it!"

The announcer started speaking and graciously the gremlin quietened again. Another performance - still not Rosa. Xan still had no idea what Zorro was even going to do, but something psychic had been… implied? It had been a while since that conversation. Either implied or explicitly stated. The psychic settled down into polite silence, not bothering to pay a whole lot of attention to the stage until WOAH psychokinesis - Xan had almost forgot that the other performances might have been relevant, too. That was a Gothita - levitating a couple of the others that were still moving about. Synchronised and stable, nice. Just negating gravity, no limitation of movement - though that was probably the intention. Autokinesis in tandem, noted. Psychoconjuration! In concert with kinesis - interesting synergy going on there. Very sophisticated.

Xan's own psychic power tipped and tapped away at their phone's keypad, filling the screen with loosely commentated technical jargon. The psychic didn't expect that Ryan would actually be able to understand it - though that was hopefully a problem for another time. They didn't dwell on that, engrossed in the performance - or rather a single facet of it. The Gothita was filling the display with fascinating examples of psychic power right until the end, and Xan's notes were full up with data in kind. It took until the performance was fully finished for the psychic to lean back in their chair - they hadn't cognised leaning forward, but the fact they had didn't surprise them - and when they did they realised they recognised the co-ordinator. Another Gym Challenger - seemed like everyone was a Gym Challenger - 182. Took note of that too. Name, Melody, but with a question mark because they weren't completely sure on that.

"Yeah, that's Melody," Ryan confirmed, as applause rang out. Xan deleted the question mark. "Um. Can you send me this? It's hard to read on your screen."

The psychic gave the lightest of shrugs, "Not without a lot of faffing about, to my knowledge."

"You can't just copy it into an email?"

"I don't have mobile data on this thing."

"I can set a hotspot quick."

"I also don't use it for email or internet or- look, I mentioned the faffing about?" Xan lifted their phone a smidge. "We've arrived."

"How do you even- whatever. Lemme read it again if there's nothing psychic in this next act, then." Ryan held her hand out expectantly, and the device floated over.

"Go nuts," the owner said with a sigh. The gremlin gleefully grabbed it with her green-polished nails and spent the next psi-devoid act reading and re-reading, falling further into a furrowed-brow frown. Xan paid it little mind, outstretching a hand to psychokinetically waft some cool air in their direction, up into their helmet- whew. No psychic power to be found in that contest entry, but rain and snow? Not a bad consolation prize. Heat? Conquered. More-or-less. Thanks, contestant-they-didn't-recognise.

"I don't get it," Ryan groaned, in the next intermission, shoving the phone back toward Xan.

"Lots of jargon I'm too tired to explain," said the psychic, taking it. "Another time."

Ryan studied them. "Promise?"

"Promise?" Xan almost laughed. "I can promise there's lots of jargon. I can promise I'm currently too tired to want to explain it. Can't guarantee I'll want to when I stop being tired - should that day ever come. I may never recover from today, you know."

"Don't say shit you don't mean, then. Don't tell me "another time" if you aren't ever gonna do it." Ryan slouched down again, pout re-taking her lips. "I wanna learn your psychic stuff. I don't get why you're so against the idea of maybe having help."

"People say shit they don't mean explicitly all the time, that's how our language works," the psychic snapped. "'Another time' is my current intention. I can't guarantee the future - nobody can. If you want to talk in explicits, nobody can promise anything. I figure most people find that a pedantic point of view - but then, I can't guarantee they do."

Ryan rolled her eyes. "Pedantic is fuckin' right. God. Really all I'm asking is that you promise to try- and that's what intention is, and you're saying you have that, so that's good enough. I-"

But whatever she was going to say was cut off by the arrival of another act, because at least she had the good sense to shut up for those. When it was over, though, she was right back on her train of thought.

"You don't have data or internet or anything. How is there going to be another time if we can't talk to each other?"

"That's a note-taking phone. Cheap, physical keypad. PTK doesn't work on touchscreens," Xan rattled off a loose explanation. "Got another phone. Laptop too. If you're serious, I can probably give you an email address. Business only. Or, well- 'business' only, whatever, not strictly but you know what I mean. I said note down all your questions on a phone or something to make it smoother for stuff like that. I can grab a cable, theoretically, but that takes time and effort. Even still, probably isn't all that necessary. We're both gym challengers. Bound to cross paths."

"It's been like, half a year and this is the first time we have," Ryan pointed out, retrieving her own phone.

"Bound to cross paths when I'm not actively avoiding it at every turn, maybe is a better way of putting it," the psychic murmured.

Ryan clicked her tongue. "Spell that email out for me? And- wait, what does PTK stand for?"

"Psycho-Tele-Kinesis - here, use this," Xan held up their phone in a psychic grip for Ryan to see and typed the address in amongst the notes. "Can't promise I'll check it often. Each town or city stop, usually."

"Good enough." Ryan stowed her phone again. "So you- do you call all of it Psycho… Tele-Kinesis or just what you do? Like, is what you do the same… vibe? As what Pokémon do?"

The psychic sighed, "Depends what you mean. You're forgetting what I said again - save it for the email."

It didn't seem like Ryan had anything to say to that - not that she had much of a choice, as the announcer made clear by calling out the next contestant. Xan breathed a hesitant sigh of hesitant relief - Rosa's turn! That meant, hopefully, Zorro. Honestly if that could get over and done with they might just book it back to the hotel during the intermission. Depends how easy it was to bypass the crowd that was the audience. Sure, there might be more psychic stuff waiting in other contestants' shows, but… honestly they'd been through enough today. Hm, they'd been considering their options for a while now. Nothing psychic had happened yet. Zorro was… there? Roserade already, if that was Zorro. Impressive from a training perspective, Xan had to admit, but where was the psychic stuff? Were laser eyes not good contest content? Maybe it was a little unrefined if poorly done, but surely- oh, there was something! A little smidge of levitation. Semi-solid body, not bad per se. Build up, maybe? Oh, scattered. Well, that was all well and good, but-

Uh… it was over? Xan had to remind themselves that Rosa didn't necessarily know what was a good showcase of psychic talent. Just some rudimentary levitation of a light object followed by a point-spread-impulse wasn't exactly stimulating - hell, it was something they were probably capable of a decade back, and they sure weren't capable of laser eyes. They'd probably have to seek Rosa out again at some point - not that this was a change of plans; Xan had asked for notes, anyway. Well, fuck this. At least that Gothita had prevented this evening from being a total waste of time. Jury was still out on Ryan.

Speaking of.

"Is that all you're gonna write for this one?" she asked. "It's not a lot."

"There wasn't a lot," was Xan's reply. They looked over one shoulder and began scanning the shape of the crowd - floor plan, seating, distances.

"Guess not. There's one more, I think- maybe they'll be as cool as the Gothita." Ryan sighed and leaned back in her chair. "But maybe not. Hasn't been a lot of psychic stuff through the whole thing. Maybe you're better off being in the audience for gym matches."

The psychic shrugged, "They don't let you get so close to gym matches. Unless you're participating - maybe I should look into that." They glanced down at their phone to check the time, then back up. After the last contestant had gone might be a less conspicuous time to leave - but after that would be the preparation for announcing the winners, which might draw more eyes? Xan wasn't honestly sure. There were a lot of people out front either way.

"You could probably get about this close to street matches, right? Hang out at one of those parks with fields; there's gotta be a lot of people at them with how many people are here for the con. Actually- have you seen the battle floor here? Raihan was out there, Achille and I fought him. Lots of different battles going on, bound to have some cool stuff happening." Ryan mused.

"Rest assured I'm already seeking out battles as much as I can stomach it," Xan said, letting out a little puff of air through their nose. There weren't a lot of easy ways out now that the seats were populated. They peered around to their right. On the other side of the fence from them looked to be some different kind of area behind other sorts of fences. Still led out onto the street, though. There didn't seem to be anyone there right now… "I might head out, here. I'll try to get back to you on whatever you email over - need anything else for now, or…?"

"Oh, you're- the contest isn't over, but, um, okay? Wait, I guess the only thing I need-need is… what's the best way to keep an incense with me but not affecting my Espurr? I don't think she should have it, 'cause last time she used it she projected voices in my head to get me to take it from her and still blasted us away a few times on accident and then passed out for basically three days?"

Xan hesitated, barely holding back a cough. That was a lot to take in - it sounded somewhat familiar. They meant Odd Incense, right? Oh for fuck's-

"Put it in the email in more detail," the psychic sighed. "But for now, if you mean what I think you mean, it's not easy to deal with. Problem is with the Espurr. If you want to block the incense then - well, first, don't light it - best you can do is keep it with a Dark type or surround it with as dense material as you can manage."

"What do you mean, the problem is with the- fuck it, nevermind, email." Ryan rolled her eyes. "Get going, then, before the next act starts."

"Will do-" Xan shouldered their backpack and rose one foot up to plant it on the chair they sat on. "Yeah, it's complicated, sorry. Anyway bye," they bid Ryan farewell, before with all the grace of a beached whale they stood on their chair and jumped, flopping over the fence and landing, sausage-rolling, on the other side. Then they sprang to their feet and set off at the briskest walk to ever grace this… whatever this area was. It really didn't matter what it was supposed to be, Xan realised, as they continued to book it out of the place as fast as walking made it possible.

Well, the crushing fear that this would all be a waste of time had been lifted from their shoulders. Not that the fear wasn't justified; it'd been kind of confirmed in a certain sense, but surprise occurrences had redeemed their choice at the same time. Swings and roundabouts, they supposed. As they made their way back to the hotel and the concentration of people eased off so they could finally breathe properly again, Xan figured that the worst of it was behind them enough that they could take stock. Really, when they balanced everything out, in spite of the agony, going to a contest had probably been worth it.

They were never going to do this ever again.

Fen-Fen · Oct 9, 2021

Haleigh Windsor
18 | Female | From Circhester

Corey (Male, Blaze) - Flame Charge, Double Kick, Headbutt, Agility

Coraline (Female, Weak Armor) - Tackle, Harden, Astonish, Spite, Ancient Power

Cornelius (Male, Synchronize) - Disarming Voice, Confusion, Draining Kiss, Hypnosis

Orion (Male, Snow Cloak) - Powder Snow, Tail Whip

Cerise (Female, Adaptability) - Covet, Quick Attack, Baby Doll Eyes, Growl

Reyna (Female, Torrent) - Peck, Bubble Beam, Pound, Growl

Dart (Male, Compound Eyes) - Double Team, Sonic Boom, Quick Attack, Detect, Supersonic, Uproar

Captain (Male, Ice Face) - Weather Ball, Amnesia, Headbutt, Icy Wind, Freeze Dry, Mist

Spoiler: Memories

A Turning Point

Despite the emotions the battle brought back, Haleigh was glad that she decided to take up Raph on his offer after it rather than running away. The tranquil atmosphere of the cafe and his laidback presence made for a good environment for her to decompress and settle down.

After Haleigh and Raph parted ways from the cafe that Raph had treated her to, Haleigh found herself restlessly walking the streets of Hammerlocke after getting her Pokemon healed up. She could have called it an early night to satisfy the very strong wave of fatigue that had washed over her. However, even as tired as she was, her mind raced and she didn't feel like sleeping.

There was still a lot for the young trainer to think on. It had been a really rough few months on Haleigh despite the objectively good position she found herself in as a trainer with three badges under her belt. It was no doubt because of the old wounds of the past that contributed to that funk that resulted in her breaking down again in front of Raph.

The journey was long and grueling. Haleigh always knew it wasn't going to be a cakewalk, even back then. After all, she was leaving behind everything she knew with deep scars - without that knife leaving so much as a scratch. Even beside that, Haleigh knew that it took an incredible amount of skill to make it even to where she was now, let alone the very end of the trail that saw her facing off against Leon.

Even still, there was a stubborn doubt lingering about in Haleigh's mind. What was she doing out here? A simple question, but hardly an easy one to answer. Sure, she was passionate about battling and based off of the three badges she possessed had some talent in it as well, but when she searched herself, Haleigh was really unsure of what to actually do if she didn't make it to the top or couldn't cut it anymore and got to a point where she couldn't cut it anymore. The goal of being champion always felt so nebulous and disconnected from the reality of her journey, feeling as if it was some very vague guiding point more than anything else.

It really all seemed to come back to what lay in Haleigh's past. Those years she had spent growing up with her parents, that one horrific day with her mother. She looked at what she was doing now as an escape from all that, an opportunity to forget any of it ever happened. Now, however, it was apparent that her way of coping with the past was not something that was working for her.

Haleigh started to slow down her walking, happening upon a bench with a view out into the Wild Area. Though it was dark, flickers of movement and light reminded her that the great expanse beyond Hammerlocke's walls held a lot of life. She rummaged through the belt that she held her Pokeballs on now that her jacket was too hot to use, found Corey's ball and released him in the seat next to him.

The blonde trainer smiled a little bit and looked down at him as he showed up on the bench next to her. "Hey."

Corey stared up at her. He wasn't an empath like Cornelius, but he could tell that his trainer was thinking about a lot based off of the expression on her face and the glimmer in her eyes.

Haleigh cast her gaze back into the Wild Area and stared at it for a minute before finally deciding to speak up. "Corey, I can never thank you enough for being here with me. You're always there for me through thick and thin."

The Raboot nodded his head. Of course he was always there for her. Beneath all of her issues, she was a very kind-hearted and spirited person who was fun to be around. Even if she didn't always hold herself in the highest regard, he knew Haleigh held a lot of potential.

She sighed. "You deserve to be let in when I'm having a difficult time. And right now, it's probably the most difficult part of the journey I've gone through yet. It's gettin' to the point where I'm not really sure what lies ahead for me. And...it terrifies me. Without any of this, what am I? What do I have left if this all falls through?"

Her expression shifted to one of melancholy, with her eyes cast downwards and a frown on her face. "I just can't help but feel like I'm nothing if I'm not out there and being at my strongest, you know? Then I'm just proving my parents right, I'm letting you down and I'm letting myself down."

The situation that Haleigh was describing might have admittedly been a bit above his pay grade in terms of being able to have a good answer - especially given he lacked the ability to communicate directly. However, he did know some things as the Pokemon that had been with her the longest. Haleigh was someone with a lot of strength to be here with him, blazing the way towards a path of her own choosing and fighting everyday to keep a positive spirit to share with others. It didn't even matter what that path was; as long as she did it with them and chose to believe in herself, even the toughest obstacles she faced could be overcome. She'd done it before, and she could do it again.

Corey scooted in closer and held Haleigh's hand with one of his paws. With the other, he pointed at himself and the Pokeballs on her belt before pointing it back to her. "Rab-oot."

Haleigh looked down at him, thinking of what he might be trying to say. Then, she remembered some of the words that Raph had imparted to her at the end of their battle.

"That's why when we make our Pokémon strong, they become our strength… and together we become stronger than we could alone.

They become our strength. She was strong with them, and they were strong with her.

"I used to be afraid of losing too, but that fear just holds you back Haleigh. Feeling weak doesn't mean you're a failure, it just means you'll find more opportunities to grow stronger, struggling together with your team."

She didn't have to throw it all away because of a bump in the road or even a major shift in the plans fate had for her. As long as Haleigh was there with her team and sharing the highs and lows together, she'd be alright in the end.

Though a few tears had managed to roll down her face, Haleigh was starting to feel better about the whole thing. In fact, it was as if her very spirit started to shine and found that spark that lit up her day and kept her going.

She managed to say through her crying, "C-Corey, we're going to make it. Me, you, the rest of the team. No matter what."

Haleigh looked back at the Wild Area one last time. She really was destined to be with these beautiful creatures until the end of her days. That thought, truly, was what made her happy in this world.

[PKMN OPEN] Pokémon Spear [M] [IC]

That Dream...Make it Come True!

Tonight, the marigolds bloom for her.

Hep

always sprinkle when you tinkle

always sprinkle when you tinkle

lover of milotics

lover of milotics

lover of milotics

Roleplayer

Winston Imes - VS Drampa and Turtonator Lake of Outrage

Me but more fabulous

Piercing the Veil

Magnificent Turnip

Trickling away

lover of milotics

Branch into Psyche

Trickling away

Magnificent Turnip

Me but more fabulous

A Turning Point