dug around and my post-platinum arc speculation is mostly in the tags so it's not worth resurfacing that post but i do want to reiterate!!!!!

it's still my headcanon that moon is older than platinum and that dp/pt arcs took place between sumo and usum arcs (and all after xy and oras). mostly because i never liked the timeline where sun and moon were 10+ years younger than the sinnoh trio. but also because it's fun to think about!!!

dp/pt takes place over roughly three months and sun/moon were trapped in ultra space for six months. the theory isn't perfect (coughrotomcough) but things do line up for plat to still be considered an only child when she leaves home. and older sister moon is :) very fun to think on. all the implications there.

Jaune knows he's in big trouble for running from home and taking Crocea Mors with him to be a trainer but he know his mom and dad will understand his desire to be a trainer just not his sisters specifically Cynthia who's visiting Beacon as a guest speaker and totally not using that as an excuse to give Jaune the beating of a lifetime.

It was an incredible day in Beacon. Cynthia, the Champion of the Sinnoh region gave a speech on hard work, dedication, and bravery to the aspiring trainers under Ozpin's tutelage. Everyone was excited to see her. Everyone, except...

"JAUNE BUNEARY ARC!" The champion roared from the doorway to the field. Everyone flinched and swiveled their head. First, they looked at the enraged champion, then to the shivering boy in her sights.

"Snrk! Buneary?" Yang held back.

"It's a family name, shut up." Jaune hissed, not taking his eyes off of Cynthia. She stomped across the field like a Tyranitar until she stood over him. He gulped. "H-Hey, Cynthi- ACK!"

"Are you insane?!" Cynthia shouted, holding him to her face by his collar. "You leave for Beacon, in the most dangerous region in the Pokémon world, and the Pokémon you take is the one that is too high level for you to control?!" She shook him for emphasis. "What?! Were?! You?! Thinking?!"

"But I'm really good now!" Jaune defended. "I even have three Pokémon!"

"The matter is not with now." She released him from her grip. "The problem is the past! I've offered you a chance to study under my wing so many times, and only now do you decided to journey on your own? In the region often referred to as the Ghost region?"

"Well, I didn't want to start my journey so far from home." He shrugged. "And sure, I didn't start as young as you or Dad or anyone else did, but I think that's for the better. I actually have a brain on my shoulders, unlike you."

Cynthia held him in a piercing glare. She grabbed him by the collar, pulling him to her face. Her face would have made a Tyranitar run in fear. With a flare of her nostrils, she pushed into him, wrapping him in a hug.

"I'm just so glad my baby brother is okay." Jaune hugged back, rubbing her back. "Hm, I've your hugs, Jaune."

"Thanks, Cyn." Jaune replied, feeling the familar comfort from his family.

Meanwhile, Myrtenaster looked to Crocea Mors, who watched from a distance. He was next to Jaune earlier, but as soon as he felt Cynthia's presence, he fled. Arc's could be terrifying on their own. Females especially so.

"Brother?" Myrtenaster asked.

"Cousin." Crocea Mors answered. "But the two were so close, they might as well have shared the same parentage." He watched them for a moment more, then sighed. "I know you are there, demon. Reveal yourself."

It was then that Myrtenaster had felt the most surprisingly uncomfortable chill come over her. The shadow beneath her rose from the ground until it formed a sphere, and hovered above a small pedastal. It spoke in a language she couldn't understand or comprehend.

"If you have come for a rematch, then you are unfortunate." Crocea Mors said to the sphere, his tone serious. "My time has passed, and I must look to the future generations."

The Spiritomb bellowed a horrible laugh before speaking again. There was a rasp, followed by more unknown words. But there was something the Spiritomb said that even Myrtenaster understood.

"She. Is. Coming."

Comfort in Despair: Chapter 27 - Spiritomb’s Revenge

Leon x F!Reader

Disclaimer: Do not own Pokemon

Summary:

Galar is rich in folklore and tales of the supernatural.

As a Pokemon Researcher who specialises in ghost types, this is a great opportunity for you to investigate and learn more about the paranormal.

Along the way, you meet Leon (in the most awkward way possible) who becomes embroiled in your adventures.

^ Basically this story is about ghosts :/

NOTE: This is a pretty violent/brutal chapter. sorry if it upsets you. The madness of this fic reaches another level. Warnings for blood, torture, violence. 

Rating: General/Teen

@marydragneell​ here is the latest update

Spiritomb’s Revenge

…

…

["I suppose I should be upset, even feel violated, but I'm not. No, in fact, I think this is a friendly message, like ‘Hey, wanna play?’ And yes, I want to play. I really, really do.”

- Dexter]

…

…

Wyndon Police Station.

The station is in uproar. The lines have been ringing off the hook since early morning and have not stopped since. It is now lunchtime, but it looks like no-one will be able to grab a bite to eat.

In Postwick, roughly 11am, a man attacked a woman with her baby as she took a stroll near the Slumbering Weald. The suspect is still at large.

In Turrfield, twenty minutes later, an old couple were robbed at point-blank and subsequently beaten to death. The suspect then fled into Route 5. Searches proved ineffectual.

In Hulbury, half an hour later, a woman had reportedly jumped into the sea. Divers are still searching for her.

In Motostoke, ten minutes later, a middle-aged man fell to his death after he was pushed over the railing of the second level of the city by a young girl. The young girl has been brought into questioning but does not recall any of her actions.

In Hammerlocke, the CCTV of the vault picked up a masked individual attempting to steal the treasures within. The suspect was later apprehended but has no recollection of the incident. It was later revealed he is a kiosk worker at the stadium and he was on his lunch break.

There’s plenty more, at least five to six maximum cases of assault, robbery, suicide, manslaughter, murder or other petty crime per city and it’s doubling as the hours go pass, and Graves rubs his chin as waves upon waves of police officers report to him a startling increase of unrelated, independent events.

This is very strange. This has never happened before in Galar. This is madness. The reporters and journalists have already jumped on this, firing out Breaking News and Shocking Stories of a region overtaken by madness. They call it mass hysteria whilst some people are debating, calling it domestic terrorism.

There are worse reported crimes taking place in bigger cities like Wyndon and Hammerlocke, where concentrations of civilians are higher. Have all the criminals decided to let loose today? Is this some cult movement? Some online, social media movement?

After barking some orders to his colleagues and coordinates, Graves quickly weaves into his office and picks up his phone to call his goddaughter.

“Hello?”

He’s grateful she picked up. “It’s me.”

“What’s up?”

“What’s up? What’s up? Have you not been watching the news?”

“No, I’m outside with Jace. We’re at the airport to send Volkner off.”

He grumbles. “Goddamnit, go home when you’re done, you hear me? Stay home tonight. The whole region’s gone crazy.”

…

Wedgehurst.

The old woman knocks on the front door of the quaint little detached house with her Applin in her hand and waits. A short while later, footsteps can be heard approaching; it opens and a little boy peers through the small gap of the door.

“Hullo,” he says.

It’s Granny Smith. She lives next door and bakes him and his family plenty of apple pies.

She gives him a wide smile, the wrinkles on her face bunching together. “Hello Johnny!” she says in her soft and gentle voice, “is everything alright? I heard some very loud noises…”

The boy cocks his head to the side as she tries to sneak various peeks inside the house; he keeps blocking her, darting his head to the left as she bobs to the right and so forth.

“What loud noises?” he asks, the corners of his lips tugging upwards into a small smile.

“Just some very strange, very loud noises,” she says, “where's your mother?”

“Out.”

“Where's your father?” she asks, before she sniffs and giggles. “What a lovely smell.”

“Yes. My dad is in the kitchen, making lunch.”

“Oh, how lovely. And here I thought you were in trouble for a moment there. Have you seen the news? It’s utter chaos out there today.”

“No, as you can see…everything’s fine.”

She nods in agreement, stroking Applin’s tail. “I’ll be off then. Sorry for bothering you.”

“Goodbye,” Johnny says, then he promptly slams the door shut. It trembles violently in its doorframe with a loud ‘slam’.

“Oh," squeaks granny, a little startled.

She slips Applin into her bag and begins to shuffle out of their front lawn, throwing a glance over her shoulder; she sees him peeking at her retreating back behind the safety of the drawn blinds of their living room and when he’s caught, he ducks from sight.

When she’s away from view, Johnny leaves the lounge and into the kitchen where two chairs stand side-by-side and a man and woman are bound by plastic nylon cable ties, their arms fastened behind their backs and their ankles tied together.

Their mouths are covered by gags fastened securely around the back of their heads and as the boy approaches with a grin, they flail and shake their heads violently, their shouts for help muffled.

…

“Who was that?” Jace asks as you hang up the phone.

“Graves, he said there’s a sudden spike in crime in Galar today and told me to be careful,” you utter.

“That’s weird, I wonder what’s going on.”

You have a bad feeling about this. “Jace, let’s go.”

You are with Jace at Galar International Airport; Volkner has left Galar. He’s already boarded his flight to Sinnoh and should have taken off by now, having thanked you and Jace once again for the hospitality.

With coffees in hand, you and Jace head for the train station that will take you to Wyndon where you will get a Corviknight taxi home.

“I better give Leon a quick call,” you murmur, and Rotom quickly dials the Champion for you.

It rings for a few seconds before it’s picked up.

“Hey,” says Leon, and despite the noisy background, you can hear the excitement and affection in his voice when he greets you. You’re certain you can hear him grinning, too.

“Hey, are you okay?”

“Yep! Everything alright?”

“Graves said there’s a lot of crimes today, he told me to be careful.”

“I haven’t heard, I’m doing a photoshoot for Densoku right now,” he replies. “Where are you? I’ll be done soon; I can come get you when I’m finished.”

“Oh, no, it’s fine, I’m with Jace right now. We’re good. I just wanted to check up on you, that’s all. I’ll check if Hop and your mum are okay when I get back to Wedgehurst.”

“Okay, thanks, that would be great."

As you continue your conversation with Leon, Jace sips his coffee quietly and you hang up. He’s still feeling lukewarm towards Leon, neutral towards your relationship with the Champion.

“Is he okay?” Jace mutters, and you nod.

Whilst you wait with tourists and commuters on the busy platform along with their pokemon, this a perfect opportunity to discuss with Jace about his new job.

“I thought about it for a long time, and I decided to go for it. I’ll be an electrician at Sunyshore gym,” he says, “Volkner’s always tried to get me a job but I didn’t complete my training in time and when I did, all the jobs were gone.”

“Oh, so…you really are going to leave Galar,” you mumble.

A brief silence occurs; Jace glances at you worryingly and you look at him with a thin, watery smile.

“I’ll come and visit you.”

“I know you will.”

Eventually, the tannoy announces the train is approaching and to stay clear from the yellow lines on the platform; the train finally arrives, chugging to a gradual stop and the doors whoosh open.

A mix of tourists, and men and women in business suits with their pokemon pour out and the travellers on the platform, including yourself and Jace, pile into the awaiting carriage. Unfortunately all the seats are swiftly taken so you’re the only unlucky folk who have no choice but to stand, so you and Jace hog a small section near one of the doors, holding onto one of the handles as the train begins to move.

The conversation continues.

“I’m sorry, chuck.”

“Don’t be sorry! You’ve been offered a job you’ve always wanted! You can’t pass up on this opportunity.”

“Y-yeah, I know...I’ll miss you,” he murmurs, and he shifts his gaze to the window, watching the peaceful Galar scenery roll by. It changes from the industrial-looking airport to a highway full of speeding vehicles. Jace says, sighing, “I’ll miss you a lot.”

“Me too, but I’m really happy for you, Jace,” you reply, following his gaze to look outside the window, at the sheep pokemon.

The train enters a tunnel with a loud fwoosh and the peaceful greenery is immediately replaced with an inky black screen; the windows go dark with your reflections and behind you, a tall and shadowy figure suddenly appears.

The carriage grows cold, the temperature dropping and your body begins to tremble. Jace speaks but you can no longer hear him, his voice fading away into the background. In a split second, fear grips you like a vice, your heart grasped and squeezed, your chest about to pop. Your eyes promptly widen when you realise what is responsible for this, yet somehow you are able to move, to whip round to face the entity only to greeted with empty space and the carriage begins moving again, Jace's voice returning.

"-so I know I've always wanted to be an electrician but-"

His words fall on deaf ears as you frantically search the area with your gaze. There was no-one nearby; the seats are all filled with sleepy businessmen whilst a couple stands in the corner near the opposite doors playing with their Pokemon, who aren't affected.

"Did you see that?"

"See what?"

"A shadow," you utter. "There was something standing behind me the moment the train went into the tunnel."

Jace raises a brow and looks around you. "No, I've been standing beside you the entire time and didn't see anything. Are you okay?"

Unsure what to think of it, you hastily clear your throat and force a nod. "Y-yes, I'm fine. Never mind. Sorry, um...I'm probably tired; it was... probably just a trick of the eye," In an attempt to return to the conversation, you say, “You said you've always wanted to be an electrician?”

He nods. “Yeah, I’m really excited. I start in two months. That’ll give me time to get used to the region and find a place to stay. Volkner’s letting me stay with him for the first few months of course, but I should really find my own apartment…”

“You don’t sound so sure.”

He looks at you and smiles widely. “Ah, sorry! No, I am sure, it’s just…maybe I’m getting too attached to Galar. Chuck, would you…ever go back to Kalos?”

“I’m not sure. Probably not. Too many bad memories.”

“Hm, I see."

When the train emerges from the tunnel, the sunshine seeps into the train and the highway disappears, revealing bountiful green pastures full of grazing Wooloos and Dubwool.

However, you cannot shake off what you saw.

Meanwhile, the small TV screen fixed on the train’s walls blasts out news of violent crimes appearing all throughout Galar.

When the train arrives in Wyndon, you and Jace split up and you take a Corviknight taxi to Postwick where you quickly check up on Leon’s family; they are fine, deciding to stay at home due to recent news.

Returning home, Sonia greets you. “Hey, you’re back! Ezra's here!”

"Huh?” you exclaim as you enter the house, slipping off your shoes.

You glance at the conservatory where you see a familiar old man in a black duster with an Absol seated quietly on one of the white sofas. A flowery teacup and teapot sits on the table for him, but he’s left it untouched. The fragile decorum contrasts heavily with his dark, grungy appearance.

“Ezra!” you squawk as you head over. “You're here! I was worried about you, and there’s something I need to tell you-”

His eyes are closed and as you approach, he begins to cough, blood leaking out from the corner of his mouth and as you grab a tissue for him from the box, he shakes his head and wipes it away with his sleeve.

“I’m fine.”

“You need to go to hospital.”

“No, not yet; we need to stop Spiritomb,” he grunts.

“Spiritomb??”

“Yes, those crimes. They’re all Spiritomb’s doing. It’s going on a rampage.”

Sonia exchanges concerned glances between you and the old man.

“It’s possessing people…specifically those with immense evil in their hearts, and carrying out attacks before quickly leaving the host. It’s the work of the one hundred and eight spirits we sealed away,” he mutters, “they are clashing and fighting for control, with one personality taking over at one time… hence why the crimes that have been reported are so varied.”

“Got it,” you reply with a nod, and Ezra shifts to get up and off the couch. “Any leads?”

“Yes. I detected its presence in Wedgehurst. Let’s go now before it escapes.”

“Okay.”

“Wait!” Sonia intervenes at once, waving her hands in the air. “No, don’t go, this is too dangerous!”

“Don’t worry, Sonia. Ezra and I know what we’re doing,” you tell her with a smile.

It’s been a while since you and Ezra have worked together.

…

“The hate is strong in this one,” says Johnny, before he glances at the helpless couple he’s kept tied up in the kitchen, “I guess he has you to thank for that since you're the ones who raised him into such a disrespectful and vile spoiled brat. Let me give you a little taste.”

Sidling to the microwave, the two begin to cry with fear and flail against their bounds as he opens the door and pulls out the crudely sliced and half-cooked body of a Spearow, sliding the slushy, gooey red remains of the bird pokemon onto a porcelain plate before he grabs a fork and returns to the couple’s side.

“Open up,” Johnny says as he steps behind the father’s chair and pulls the gag out of his aching mouth.

His lips are crusted all over with spit, dry and wet, and the man shakes his head fiercely in a futile act of protest, hot tears streaming down his eyes as Johnny grabs a handful of the meat. Mangled flesh and deep red ooze drips over the boy’s small fist before he promptly smears the meat over the man’s mouth, his fingers and nails soaked with rancid blood.

The man fights to keep his jaws clenched tightly together in a desperate bid to refuse, but Johnny counters by gripping his chin tightly and with two fingers, roughly forces his jaw open, allowing him to stuff morsel after morsel down the man’s gullet. He chokes, gagging uncontrollably but Johnny merely picks the pieces up and rams them down his throat once more.

“Don’t waste food. There are starving children in some parts of the world,” he says.

The woman screams relentlessly at the morbid sight, squeezing her eyes shut with fright whilst jerking fiercely against her bonds, shaking and flinging her back against the chair as with as much strength as she can gather, the chair legs scraping an inch across the floor.

When the meat is all gone and the man is left rasping and panting, a few red blobs and chunks of flesh drop to the floor in messy piles, and Johnny abandons the now-empty plate in favour for a plastic bag he’s kept near the microwave, looping it over the man’s head and tying the handles firmly around the front of his neck.

Terrified, the man’s eyes dart left and right, the insides of the bag fogging over from his shaky breaths.

“Johnny! Stop!” the woman screams, and the boy briefly pauses in his actions to slap her harshly across the face with the back of his hand.

Her head snaps viciously to one side, hair strewn over her eyes. She goes silent from shock before she begins to sob, her cheek stinging.

“How dare you hit your mother!!” Johnny's father yells, his shouts muffled. With each word, each laborious breath, the flimsy and thin plastic of bag sucks into his mouth and out.

“Shut up,” snarls Johnny, taking a few steps backwards so he can stand proudly in front of his parents where they can see him properly.

Johnny’s smirk reaches all the way to his ears, his eyes crazed and maniacal. It’s a face not belonging to their son at all but a monster, and it sends them into muted shock.

“…You’re not my son,” the man spits venomously, wheezing as he struggles to breathe.

“You’re right,” says Johnny, “I’m not.”

Nonchalantly, Johnny sidles over to a canister of gasoline he had kept propped up next to the fridge and unscrews the lid, allowing a strong but pungent, sweet smell to waft in the air.

With a hand on the bottom and the handle of the canister, the couple scream and splutter as he douses them, emptying the entire contents over their heads and bodies; the woman continuously shakes her head whilst sobbing and begging. The man howls in terror.

“Now for the grand finale,” the boy says, dumping the empty can to the floor and whipping out a lighter from his pockets, flicking it on with a jerk of his thumb and a little flame springs up and dances in the air, taunting the couple.

Relishing the sound of their screams, Johnny promptly drops the lighter.

A fierce barrage of red and yellow immediately engulf the kitchen in its entirety.

The fire licks at their bodies ruthlessly, and Johnny stands, his eyes dancing with delight. The flames reach his feet yet he doesn’t flinch; lifting his arms into the air horizontally, he throws his head up and closes his eyes and basks in the heat, failing to notice the letter box on the front door squeaking open and a voice whispering, “Prohibere eum.”

A delicate, white paper crane subsequently flits inside, flapping its little wings as it bobs towards the direction of the burning kitchen.

The boy whips his head round to the doorway, eyes narrowing.

“Who’s there?!” he snarls.

Spotting the crane, he stares at it limply for a few seconds until it unfurls, revealing strange symbols painted in red. Brows furrowing, his hand shoots out and he grabs it, scrunching it up tightly under his fist.

Unraveling his clenched knuckles, his palm is coated in patches of the strange red ink and before his very eyes, the ink blots merge together to form the symbols which promptly disappears into his skin like a dampened tissue.

“What?!” he yells in shock and confusion; the symbols soon make their presences known once again, this time, stretching all over his arm.

His body suddenly feels itchy all over. He dares to take a peek at a mirror magnet on the refrigerator to see the red symbols have appeared all over his face.

It’s too late; the exorcists are coming for him – and the boy immediately collapses over the floor, eyes closed.

His mouth is eased open and a purple transparent bubble slinks between the gap of his lips and continues to crawl out. It grows in size until it begins to form a distinct, ragged spherical shape, followed by a stone. A smooth, brown stone with a fissure in the middle. The creature crawls out of the boy’s mouth and slips over the floor in a puddle, just as the front door is abruptly kicked open and you step inside with Ezra.

“Sequimini eum!” Ezra yells, as Spiritomb attempts to make its frantic escape.

The pokemon is heading for the window – Gengar emerges from a shadow and fires a Shadow Ball at it – the attack misses and Spiritomb phases through the glass, vanishing outside.

“It got away!” you curse, but Ezra shakes his head.

“No, not this time. I’ll go after it,” he says, before he casts his dull gaze to the bodies on the floor. "Stay here and call an ambulance and the fire brigade.”

“Understood,” you reply, and Ezra abruptly leaves the house with Absol. “Gengar, follow Ezra, then come back to get me, okay?”

Your pokemon nods and merges with Ezra’s retreating shadow.

Water-type pokemon would be handy here but you do not have any so you hastily grab a blanket from one of their sofas, and with your pokemon’s help, you each grab a corner, soak it under the taps of the kitchen sink and throw it over the burning bodies.

The fire is extinguished at once, smoke fizzing out and into the atmosphere in thick wisps; the unmistakable stench of burnt flesh hangs heavy in the air.

Whilst you call for an ambulance, Mimikyu checks the fire alarm of the house which shows signs of being sabotaged, most likely Spiritomb’s doing. Vulpix slides a paw under the blanket to check the damage and shudders once she’s had a look, she settles the blanket back over their bodies.

Once the ambulance and firefighters are called, you leave the house.

Spiritomb is the most dangerous pokemon you’ve ever encountered.

It’s time to rejoin Ezra.

…

Meanwhile, Graves slows the car to a stop and pulls up at a gas pump outside Turrfield, Route 5. It’s been a crazy, hectic day and he’s on his way back to the police station when his car has run out of gas.

He rolls up his sleeves, pulling open the flap and feeding the nozzle inside. As the car fills up with petrol, Graves stands, whistling, looking around casually when he hears a woman’s earsplitting scream in the distance.

“What the hell…”

He eases the pump out, placing it into the holster and steps out, squinting his eyes at the horizon; a middle-aged woman comes running towards his direction, dishevelled and petrified beyond belief, the expression on her face full of nothing but terror. A short distance away, a familiar old man is limping after her along with an Absol.

It’s the homeless man called Ezra, whom his goddaughter is acquainted with. The ex-convict. The man who was jailed for murdering his wife and kid.

The woman he is chasing is screaming for her life, and when she spots Graves who rushes over, she heads for his direction and clings onto his arm. Her eyes are wide and panicky as she pants heavily, gesturing wildly to the pursuing Ezra.

“Help me, please! That madman is after me!!!” she shrieks. “He's trying to kill me!”

“Absol, attack!” Ezra commands, and the pokemon dashes towards them but Graves immediately reaches a hand behind his waist and pulls out Arcanine’s pokeball, tossing it into the air and releasing the canine pokemon.

“Stop! Take one more step or I’ll command Arcanine to attack!” Graves snaps, as Arcanine readies itself into an offensive stance, growling at Absol threateningly.

Immediately, passerby’s scream and begin rushing for cover, whilst the customers of the gas station run inside the gas station to hide.

Absol comes to a skidding halt, her paws kicking up dirt, but she snarls loudly at Graves and his pokemon and begins to pace back and forth as though ready to pounce at any time should her master willed it.

Ezra growls with frustration as the woman hides behind the Chief Inspector. “Inspector Graves. That woman has been possessed by an extremely dangerous pokemon,” Ezra barks, pointing to the woman. “A Spiritomb. It’s the culprit behind the recent crimes.”

Graves turns to the woman who throw her horror-stricken glance up to him. She blinks at him with widened eyes and shakes her head wildly. “He’s crazy!! Help me, please!”

“Arceus, you’re insane,” Graves utters under his breath, “ma’am, I’ll take you to the station where you can get help. Ezra, stay right where you are. Arcanine, watch over him and make sure he doesn’t move.”

“You’re making a damn mistake!” Ezra growls.

The old man takes a step forwards and abruptly stops, bowling over with a hand clutching his chest. Absol returns to his side, yowling loudly with concern as he enters a harsh coughing fit; his chest is on fire, his lungs pierced by a sharp, throbbing pain. As Ezra splutters and chokes, he drops on one knee, slapping a hand over his mouth in a futile attempt to prevent the uncontrollable rush of blood that’s spilling out.

Viscous red lines seeps through the gaps of his fingers, spilling over the concrete in little splotches. Absol wails with fright at the sight of her suffering master who inevitably collapses over the ground on his front, motionless.

"Ezra!" Graves yells, but he's effectively halted when the frightened woman tugs on his elbow.

“Oh, thank you,” she says, “thank you so much.”

“Ma’am, stay here.” He instructs. Graves isn't on bad terms with the priest though he doesn't trust him in any way, but he cannot leave Ezra like this so he recalls Arcanine, dips a hand to grab his Rotom phone to call an ambulance only to emit a cry of pain; the device falls out of his hand but luckily, the pokemon bobs back up before it completely meets the ground

“Sir, what’s wrong?” Rotom asks, only to witness the woman dropping to the ground as a purple swirl emerges from her mouth which has latched itself to Graves’ back; a purple mist encases his body and seeps into his chest as a purple tendril begins crawling towards his mouth. Horrified, the phone flits in the air helplessly. “Bzzzzrt! Zzztop! Zztop thizzz at once! Oh, Mazzzter, Mazzter Gravezzz! Zzomeone, help!!”

The creature vanishes and Graves’ eyes snaps open, now a bizarre shade of lime green; Rotom stares in horror as the entity grins and pats at his chest and looks at his arms before spotting the bridge that overlooks the Wild Area, connecting Turrfield and Hulbury together.

….

Gengar returns to tell you Ezra is in Turrfield, so you make your way over as quickly as you can and the shadow pokemon leads you to a gas station which is in chaos. Several vans belonging to various TV stations are parked outside along with their TV anchors standing and delivering live news and interviewing witnesses. A few locals stand behind the tape, pointing and whispering, whilst a puddle of blood has been outlined with a yellow chalk.

You manage to overhear the following:

“Yeah, so I saw this woman rushing up to this middle-aged dude, and then this old dude with an Absol came and the middle-aged dude pulled an Arcanine on him. Sick move, man.”

It’s utter pandemonium. Beside one of the gas pumps, you recognize Graves’ car from the license plate and head over, peering through the windows. It’s empty.

An ambulance is also parked closeby where you see Absol outside, howling mournfully with her head raised to the air.

“Absol!!!” you rush over, squatting in front of her. “What happened???! Are you okay? Where’s Ezra?”

Absol stops yowling for a moment to regard you before a voice worms inside your mind: "My father is inside. He’s unconscious."

“…..Cassie?” you breathe out in shock.

Absol blinks at you with her bright blue eyes before she continues howling once more. The doors to the ambulance subsequently open and you’re greeted with a paramedic who jumps out and you briefly see Ezra inside, lying on a stretcher with a breathing mask.

“Ezra!” you yell, “Can I go in? I know him.”

“His condition is stable, you can go in.”

“Thank you!” you climb inside the vehicle and the paramedics within are helping set up heart monitors and IV drips around him. “Ezra, I’m here.”

His eyelids open weakly and he mutters deliriously, “….Spiritomb….it’s taken your godfather…It took the guise of a woman…your godfather thought she needed help…Don’t mind me, go after the fool before he gets himself killed…he was heading for route five…”

“But-“

“Go,” Ezra urges, “I’ll be fine…..”

“O-okay. Take care.”

You nod reluctantly and leave.

…

You find your godfather in Route 5 as Ezra had mentioned, standing precariously on the ledge of the fifty-feet high bridge, overlooking the scenery of the Wild Area below. He’s barefoot and missing his suit, his hair messy, tie undone, shirt sleeves rolled to the elbows and looking very unkempt.

None of the TV crew have arrived yet, which you’re grateful for because you do not want the media to get involved with this fiasco.

However, it’s unavoidable that some people and their pokemon have gathered around, standing at a safe distance several feet away. Whilst some individuals are recording this scene on their phone, others are trying to talk him down but to no avail. Some are actively asking if there are any trainers with ice-type pokemon that can freeze him (no-one has any, unfortunately). Ultimately, no-one seems to know what to do.

“Let me through! I know him, I’m his goddaughter!” you yell, pushing your way through the crowd and making your way to the very front. “Graves!! Graves – urgh, I mean, Uncle Chris! Don’t do it!”

Graves whips round yet you do not see his features, only a grinning mass of purple with green flecks. It’s Spiritomb, who grins maliciously at you.

“Get out of his body!” you growl angrily, gritting your teeth with rage.

“No, I like this body very much. The misery, the regret, the loneliness. He misses Ellen very much, he wants to be with her,” says Spiritomb, “and he misses your family, your father. He regrets not doing enough. You’re sad all the time because of him. He can’t do anything. He’s useless. He wants to die.”

The crowd go quiet, watching your interaction, though a kind-looking woman holds you back.

“Be careful, it’s best not to get too close because he’s very agitated right now. It’s best not to aggravate him or make sudden movements," she mutters.

You can hardly hear what she’s saying, the sheer panic and distress that you normally don’t experience during uncertain and dangerous times like these has suddenly kickstarted in your system.

“No!!!” you yelp in a desperate bid to get through to your godfather, “Stop it! Stop thinking like that!! I’m still here, I survived!!! You didn’t fail!! I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you feel like you’re useless. You’re not! I’m sorry, I’m so sorry! I’ll enroll in the police academy, okay? I won't make you worry for me anymore. I'm sorry!”

And Graves falters slightly, grumbling incoherently under his breath. Spiritomb's visage briefly vanishes as your godfather’s brows scrunch with confusion.

“You’re the only family I have left and I can’t lose you too! Please, Uncle Chris, snap out of it!”

Graves grumbles and groans in response to your pleas, his eye twitching.

You throw a sideways glance to Gengar; he’s lurking in your shadow and giving you a nod, silently travels over towards Graves’ direction.

And Spiritomb snaps, “Shut up!”

Then he turns and jumps, just seconds before Gengar leaps out from the shadow to grab him. Missed.

People scream, whilst a few trainers release their bird pokemon and direct them to go after the fallen man and Gengar buries himself into the shadows once more.

You throw yourself to the ledge, peering over where you see Graves plummeting helplessly in the air. “No!!”

Your pokemon bursts out forth from Graves’ falling shadow but he is not close enough. His eyes glowing, Gengar’s eyes and claws turns red before he spins in the air and throws his arms up, forcibly extracting a purple blob out of Graves body – it’s Spiritomb, whom he’s now trapped in a glowing red forcefield. Spiritomb growls and resists, shooting several Shadow Balls against its confines to no effect. The attack hits the walls of the forcefield akin to cork bouncing against a brick wall.

However, Graves is still hurtling towards the ground despite Gengar’s attempts, and the bird pokemon swooping towards him aren’t quick enough either.

“Wait, what’s that in the air?!!!” someone cries, pointing to the sky.

Everyone follows the direction of his finger and you see a familiar flame pokemon heading for your group. It’s Charizard; he’s zooming towards your way and the crowd begins to cheer.

“It’s Charizard!!! The Champion is here!!!”

“YES!”

“Go, Leon!!!”

Charizard swoops past and dives, folding his wings close to his body to reduce the resistance of the air, allowing himself to barrel towards your godfather's direction in seconds; in his wake, he leaves a gust of wind billowing that blows the majority of the crowd off their feet and to the ground including yourself; as you sit up, slightly dazed, you look around frantically for Leon and there he is, sprinting towards you from the direction of Motostoke.

“Leon!!!” you cry with relief, scrabbling up to stand.

Charizard returns with a massive flap of his wings, shooting up and into the air before he lands on the ground, clutching an unconscious Graves in his arms.

“Charizard!!” you exclaim, “Thank you!!”

The pokemon snorts loudly and gives you a toothy grin as he lays the unconscious man on the ground in front of you as carefully as he can so you can inspect him. You breathe a sigh of relief; Graves is unharmed.

People begin cheering as Leon finally arrives whereas Gengar returns to the bridge with Spiritomb who is still stuck in the forcefield. When the flying pokemon return, the trainers all turn to the trapped pokemon and proceed to divert their fury towards it, using a wide range of fairy-type moves and others to attack it.

You hear Spiritomb croaking out in pain whilst the other flying type pokemon join in, whaling blows and pecking at the pokemon whilst their trainers cheer and pump fists in the air.

With half of the crowd focused on and bemused with attacking Spiritomb, the remaining crowd part ways to let Leon through and you look up at him as he moves to crouch beside you on one knee.

“Hey, are you alright?” he asks gently, but you are so shocked you merely throw your arms around him with gratitude.

“Thank you, Leon…”

He bundles you up in his arms, stroking the back of your head. “It’s okay, everything’s alright. I’m here….” He mutters soothingly in your ear, “I’m here.”

…

Chapter Zero : Elaina

~Part 1~

"It's those fever dreams again … "

I walked among the darkness with my feet falling on cold still water, making small concentric circles with each step. I tried desperately to wake myself up … to escape this recurring dream. 

No matter what I try to do I just can't be fully awake, like something is anchoring me into it. Feeling helpless, I tried walking further ... just to see what happens. 

As I pressed on, I could faintly hear the wet, sloshes of the ground below. For some reason, my feet didn't feel wet only … cold to the touch. 

I tried running, the wet splashes becoming louder as I did. I ran into the nothingness, freezing in my tracks when something in the distance caught my eye - a fire.

I continued running, ignoring the cold touch of the water below on my feet as I desperately reached the flame. Is this real? An illusion maybe? I did not care … 

To my delight I seemed to be feeling warmth as I cautiously approached the flame. The warmth was more than enough to ignore the cold feeling of my feet on the ground. 

I sat down and pondered for a while as the warm feeling of the flame soothed my unease for a little bit. I reached my paw towards the spark just to see if it was indeed real, but just before I could touch it, I heard a soft melody. 

The mysterious sound whispered into my ears, unknown but haunting and calm. It rang like the high notes of a flute, eerily circling my ears like a predator toward its prey.

The melody gradually grew louder … until I could hear it screeching in my ears … I immediately covered them as I just sat there, silently begging it to stop … 

~~~

I woke up drenched in cold sweat as I gasped out a breath and sat upright from my bed. I shot a glance at the sky from outside of my window. The sun had already risen. Wiping the sweat on my face with my paw, I lay down on the bed. 

Stupid dreams … When will it ever stop? … 

I glanced at my digital alarm clock to check the time. 5:45 … I should probably be doing my morning routine by now … Feeling groggy and restless, I decided to get up from my bed. I have classes to attend to after all. 

~~~

Jubilife City has that calming atmosphere whenever I go outside in the morning. There's not much bustling going on and the chilly morning breeze is soothing, exactly the calm before the city's bustling storm at the peak hours of daylight. 

I got an alert on my phone shortly after I walked a few steps away from my apartment. It was Spica, saying she will be commuting with her boyfriend on the way to Sinnoh High. I immediately texted her back saying that I'll just be seeing her there and put my phone away to continue walking towards the train station. 

"Morning, Elaina!" A voice called out from nearby, making my ears perk up as I turned to whoever made that sound. 

"Morning, Ms. Gallius~!" I greeted her back. She was tending to her garden with Vertri, her Trevenant caretaker. He didn't talk much but he did acknowledge my presence as he eyed me and gave me a nod. 

"How's your garden coming along, dearie?" The Lilligant asked, giving me a warm smile as she stopped what she was doing for a moment. 

"It's going swell so far, although the seeds have yet to get fully sprouted. The Oran berry tree though … it's growing steadily and has started to bear fruit." 

"Now that's good to hear! You should be going somewhere, yes? Have a good day. Good luck in your garden." Ms. Gallius called out encouragingly.

"Thanks, Miss. I wish you the same." I gave her a wave as I made my way towards the train station. I still have plenty of time before my first class starts so I have nothing to worry about.

The walk towards the station took me a few minutes, there were quite a few passengers at the moment seeing as it was the early commute hours. I hopped on the train and waited a while before it departed, the usual train music giving me some relaxation as I traveled alone with my thoughts. As the train finally departed, I closed my eyes and let the music soothe me all throughout the way. 

A few minutes into the trip, I noticed the melody change. Instead of the usual tune, I swore I can hear a flute playing ominously in my mind.

What? Something's not right … 

I immediately opened my eyes to the usual bustling tune of the train. Strange … I thought to myself. I just shrugged it off as my imagination, as I went back to closing my eyes. 

To my surprise, I heard the ominous flute melody again. It was as if it was waiting for me to close my eyes again to continue playing its tune. 

Am I going crazy? Please … this better not be a trick. 

I can feel the melody slowly getting louder, as if it was beckoning me to hear it. I had realized just now that this was the same melody I heard in my fever dream this morning.

Please stop … What do you want from me? Please … just leave me alone ...

I tried not to scream out my frustration as I didn't want to cause a commotion and it would be deathly embarrassing for me to scream out like that in public. 

The train doors dinged, signalling that it had arrived at the station, that immediately stopped the flute melody that was messing with my head. I opened my eyes and shook my head a bit, relieved that the sound was over as I got up and walked to the train's exit.

~~~

I entered the school campus feeling a little disoriented, taking steady steps forward though I couldn't really focus on where I was walking. The well lit hallways of the classroom seemed a bit blurry in my vision despite the setting. 

First class starts in 20 minutes … Why am I feeling so groggy at a time like this? Just focus, Ellie … As long as you arrive early it'll be fine ...

Not long into my disoriented walk, I felt a soft thud on my shoulder as I saw a few books fall to the floor. Noticing the commotion I caused, I slowly came to my senses and finally realized what had happened. 

"Oh my goodness … I'm so so sorry!" I say as I picked up the few books that were on the floor, frantically making sure I got a tight grip on them. Just as I looked up, I came face to face with a Lucario , only her eyes were more focused on me than on her books. 

"It's alright … no hard feelings really." She gave me a smile while focusing on my eyes. I noticed her wearing a purple dress under a long-sleeved teal vest, though I also sensed … something different from her. 

"Umm … still … I may have blocked your path and …" 

"Again, it's okay. You might as well just go to your first class. Thanks for picking them up though." The Lucario would immediately walk away to wherever she was going. I was left dumbfounded by the encounter, I checked my wrist watch to see that I have 10 minutes left before the class started.

I feel … something warm all of a sudden … clearly it wasn't her or … maybe it was her? … 

I just walked towards my first class as I can already feel the disorienting thoughts slowly disappear, yet I still questioned those weird happenings that had been going on today. A familiar face greets me as I enter the classroom. 

"Ah! Bonjour, étudiante~" It was Mr. Ptolemus, his fancy black and white butler's outfit made me think I was in a dinner party rather than in an actual classroom. 

"Bonjour, Monsieur~" I responded back, I was expecting Prof. Krantz to be teaching this class but since they were both good at teaching History, I suppose it's acceptable enough. 

"You are quite prompt to be arriving a few minutes early, mademoiselle." He asks, giving a nod of approval. I look around to see only very few students including myself are around. Nodding back, I felt the need to respond. 

"Merci, monsieur le Ptolemus~" I smiled at him to which he gave me a gesture of approval. To tell you the truth, I am actually fluent with French because I grew up in Kalos, which I guess made me one of the professor's most liked students. Moments after the conversation, I heard a familiar face enter the classroom. 

"It's ya boy! Coming in…" Fenris burst in through the classroom doors, only wearing his vest and backpack as he marched towards his assigned seat. His sudden screaming startled me, and he waved to me as he passed my seat.

"Elaina! Good to see you, fellow Brai … how are you doing?" 

"Feeling a bit drowsy honestly … but I'm managing." 

"Haven't had your morning coffee or something?" 

"I'm not a fan of coffee, Fenris. I much prefer tea … though I was running late so I skipped that earlier …" 

"Late? This is late to you? Damn … What kind of standards do you have?" 

"I'm just trying my best to come early every time. You should try it sometime …" I giggled and smirked at him as Mr. Ptolemus signalled the start of his class. 

"Yeah ... I should be going to my seat. I don't wanna get yelled at again …" He quickly paced towards his seat without a second thought. Funny thing is, he actually got reprimanded a week ago for 'speaking foul language' or something like that. 

As my first class started, I just did what I normally did, sit and listen. Honestly, not a really bad start to the day in my book as the drowsiness slowly drifted away from my senses. 

~~~

I roamed the halls again as my first class ended. There was less than an hour until my next class, so I pondered whether I should go to the library or the garden to pass the time. Still, I wondered why the next class didn't start immediately after another but I didn't really mind. I just saw it as an opportunity to get a mental rest or something.

Noticing the lockers, I immediately recognized this was the same hallway where my lockers were. I have to admit it took me quite a while to notice.

Have I really travelled that long aimlessly? I swear I get pretty dazed very often … 

"Actually … I do have some stuff to get anyways …" I said to myself as I approached my locker as I intended to grab a few books though in the process, a few fire stones fell out onto the floor. Shortly after, I hear a yelp coming from behind the locker doors. 

As I closed the locker, I saw a Vulpix looking a bit frightened upon seeing the fire stones on the ground, as if she was afraid to touch them. I noticed that she was wearing a sky blue tank top and denim shorts  "P-Please! I-I … don't wanna evolve just yet!" She exclaimed, cautiously stepping away from the stones. 

"Sorry about that … I'll pick them up for you~" I told her, casting a look at her as I did so. She met my gaze and nodded, trying to keep myself calm. 

"I-It's okay … I was just worried for a bit …"

Shortly after she said that, I could feel two paws grabbing my shoulders from behind. Frightened, I nervously looked behind me. 

"Well well! What do we have here? If it isn't the FireFox!" 

It was a Blue Sylveon, a very familiar Sylveon to be exact. She was wearing a large shawl and a skirt, with a toothless grin to top it all off. Even as I turned around, she still hadn’t loosened her grip on me.

"Ohh it's you … Aren't you that Sylveon who's friends with Cipher? The one who carried him towards his apartment room when he passed out?" 

"Well I sure am! And you must be Coolcat's best bud~!" 

"Well you got me … can you please let me go now? It's getting a bit weird …" 

She immediately obliged and walked over towards the Vulpix as I said that, still having that grin plastered over her face. I have to admit, it was giving me a bit of a weird vibe seeing that, but I didn't really mind that much anyway. "Now since we're here … what are you two doing here?" 

"Ohh you know just … walking the halls until our class starts with my friend over here!." The Sylveon spoke up, pulling the Vulpix towards her.

"Y-yeah … we just happened to walk through the opposite building … which is here." The Vulpix also added, nervously maintaining eye contact with me. 

They both seemed pretty nice, though the Sylveon was a bit too dynamic while the Vulpix was rather shy, though I can understand that. Perhaps I should introduce myself to both of them. 

"Well anyways, my name's Elaina or … Ellie for short. Pleased to meet both of you, especially you again, Sylveon … " 

"Rime, please … call me Rime. Permission to call you Firefox instead?" 

"Sure I guess …" I nod in response as I turn towards the Vulpix. "What's your name by the way?" 

"Sapphire … or Saph … whichever is fine …" 

"Well, glad to be meeting both of you, Saph and Rime." 

I checked my wrist watch to see that my next class starts in 15 minutes. Pretty bad timing to meet some new friends but, I'm sure this won't be the last time I'm seeing them. 

"Ohh dear … my class is starting soon, I guess I'll see both of you around. I'm so sorry this has to be cut short …" 

"It's alright, Firefox! I'll just find Coolcat. I'm sure wherever he is, you aren't that far." Rime responded, as she gave me a wink.

"I-It's alright … wh-whatever she said …" Saph smiles and gives me a wave as the two of them walk away in the opposite direction.

Well, that was something but oh well … new friends are always fine.

With that, I immediately walked towards my next class. 

Cameo List:

Fenris from @fenrisfawkes

Rime from @the-void-between-worlds

Sapphire from @sapphirevulpix

Also, huge thanks to the mod of @crewel-intentions for helping me with some of the text here in the story~

(A self-indulgent little self-insert fic I wrote up so I could maybe stop thirsting over Kabu for five minutes. Hopefully this doesn’t awaken anything in me. Protag is 26.)

“Not on your way to Hammerlocke, Gym Challenger?”

Katla jumped at the sudden voice behind her, her eyes widening when the young woman saw who it was.

“Kabu!” Heat rushed into her face for reasons she didn’t really want to consider as she turned to address Motostoke’s gym leader. “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t expect to see you out here.” She grinned weakly, inwardly cursing how she fumbled over her words. He’s just a man, calm down.

If Kabu was offended, he didn’t show it, his silver eyes seeming to twinkle.

“Likewise...Katla, was it?” He nodded as she did. “I expected you would be well on your way to your next challenge. Your friend seemed very eager to be away.”

She chuckled weakly, shoving her hands in her black trouser pockets.

“Yeah, that’s Hop for you. Running through everywhere at break-neck speed.” She looked over her shoulder at the place she’d set up camp, and the Pokemon that frolicked around it. “I prefer to take my time training and catching new Pokemon. We’ll get to the next gym in time, no matter how many times Hop calls me a Slowpoke.”

“Understandable.” Kabu replied. “It was clear from our battle that you spent as much time as possible training before it.”

A smile pulled at Katla’s lips.

“Figured it was only polite, seeing that you were doing the same in Galar’s Number 2 mine.”

The older man chuckled, a soft, warm sound that made her heart skip a beat.

“That’s very considerate of you,” he said.

There was a loud thrill from their feet, revealed to be a Sizzlipede, peering inquisitively up at the two trainers. Forgetting her company, Katla immediately crouched down to greet the creature.

“Hello sweetheart!” She cooed, stroking the little bug under her ‘chin’. “How’s the baby doing?”

The Sizzlipede replied in a very happy thrill, closing her eyes and starting to curl herself warmly around her trainer’s hand.

“I see you chose to catch a Sizzlipede during the Gym Mission.” Kabu commented, and despite his calm voice, she could hear a smile in it.

“Yeah, and a Litwick too.” Katla glanced briefly over her shoulder at him, still petting the Pokemon snuggling against her hand. “I’ve been trying to catch a Sizzlipede for ages, actually. I spent so much time on Route 3 hunting for one, but I never got even a glimpse. Eventually I decided I best keep moving, and one day I’d come back or find one somewhere in the Wild Area.”

“So when I saw I could catch one for your Gym Mission, well...Almost a dream come true.” She smiled as the Bug Pokemon glanced at her curiously. “Now I have this lovely little one to join me on my adventure.” Katla tenderly stroked Sizzlipede’s ‘cheek’ with her thumb. “A living memento of our battle.”

There was a pause, just a little bit longer than would be normal, and Katla looked back up at the Gym Leader, brows arched with confusion. Kabu wasn’t really looking at her, yet he wasn’t really looking at the Sizzlipede around her hand either, not really. His gaze was far-away and none of his thoughts reflected on his face.

He seemed to notice her looking, however, and he smiled properly. Damn, he looks handsome.

“It was an invigorating battle, for certain.” He lifted his gaze up and away, towards the body of water Katla’s Gyarados was swimming in. “Whilst I may not have anything physical to remember it by, I will treasure the memory.”

Katla felt her face heat up again, and she tried to ignore it, especially when Sizzlipede seemed to become curious about her blush, reaching up with trembling whiskers.

“You’re welcome. Glad I could provide a challenge,” she said.

“You certainly did.” Another pause. “When are you going to tell Hop your secret?”

The trainer’s heart froze in her chest. He’s bluffing, he can’t know. Keep talking.

“What secret would that be?”

Kabu’s gaze bored into her.

“You’ve had prior experience of other Leagues, Katla. I could tell from our battle that you’ve fought competitively before. Perhaps not in the form it takes in Galar, but the other more...’traditional’ Leagues.” Kabu said. “Can I assume that you’ve not told your friend about this?”

Katla looked away, pressing her lips together into a thin line. She tried to ignore the concerned noise Sizzlipede made as she sensed her trainer’s change of mood. Guess he’s rumbled me.

“You’re right on both accounts.” She admitted, soothing the Bug Pokemon. “I’ve done this sort of thing before. Couple of times, actually.” She sighed. “I didn’t want to tell Hop ‘cos...He can be annoying sometimes, especially with all that bloody ‘Champion’ talk, but he’s a sweet kid. Don’t think he’s got a mean bone in him. Just seemed a bit cruel to tell him ‘yeah no I’ve been doing this for years, kiddo’ - just seemed better to make him think we’re both on equal ground, you know?”

“He will find out eventually.”

“If he or I don’t get knocked out towards the end of the Challenge, then yeah. Probably.” Katla lowered her hand to the ground, letting Sizzlipede scuttle off.

“The longer you leave it, the worse a reaction he will have when you finally tell him.” Kabu warned, and Katla bristled.

“Yeah, I know! But I’m in too deep now and there’s never gonna be a good time to dump it on him.” She sighed, forcing her shoulders to relax to release some of her tension. “Knowing my luck, it’s gonna be when he’s boasting about when he’s gonna be the champion and I finally snap at him.”

“All the more reason to do it soon.” There was another brief pause, where Katla expected him to continue pestering her. But when he spoke again, his tack had changed.

“Which League did you start with?”

“League? Uhh, Hoenn. I came of age to get my first Pokemon there, despite growing up here, mostly.“ She rose up from crouching as he knees began to complain. “My first Pokemon was a Torchic. She became the closest companion I ever had. Still is, I think, despite all the other regions I've been to. Wish I could bring her to Galar, but I think that’d be a bit unfair on the other trainers!”

“Ah, Hoenn!” Kabu smiled properly for the first time. “That is where I’m originally from.”

“Really?” Katla’s eyebrow rose. “Dang, you’re originally from Hoenn, come to lead a Galar gym, and I’m originally from Galar, and I started off in Hoenn.” She chuckled, lifting a shoulder. “Weird how these things turn out.”

“Indeed. Torchic is a very good choice.” He titled his head to the side, eyeing the Drizzile about to pelt Gyarados with a water bomb. “But you chose a Sobble to begin your journey in Galar?”

“I’ve always wobbled between Fire and Water starter Pokemon.” Katla said. “I tend to gravitate to Fire and Flying types, but I like to keep a broad team. That and Scorbunny just...we didn’t jive. But Sobble did. She’s a pretty tough girl too.”

“She is. You have trained her well.” Kabu nodded.

“I know it’s par for the course, with you being a Gym Leader and all, but yours are really well trained too.” Katla said. “Definitely gave me and my team a tough challenge.” She started to smile weakly as she realized she was starting to babble. Shut up shut up shut up.

A brief moment of silence settled between them, watching Katla’s Pokemon amuse themselves. Gyarados and Drizzile played together, whilst a Corvisquire preened himself, throwing wary glances at the Boltund play-bowing at Sizzlipede. Despite their obvious size difference, the little bug Pokemon seemed eager to accept the bigger canine’s offer. The only other Pokemon keeping to itself was Farfetch’d, absorbed with cleaning his leek.

“I notice your Carkol isn’t among your team.” Kabu commented.

“No. I keep a big team, I have to keep rotating them.” A smile pulled at the side of Katla’s lips. “After winning your gym battle, I think she earned a bit of a rest. Need to give the others time to shine.”

“Of course. Training them all to the same high standard takes effort, and a lot of time.”

“Yeah. I dunno who runs the Pokemon storage systems, but I think I’m not much liked by them. I tend to catch a lot of Pokemon I caught before in other regions for other Leagues. I have two Roselias now, for instance - one from Sinnoh and one from here.” She chuckled weakly. “One day I’ll have to go through them and see who I can keep and who would be better off elsewhere.”

Katla winced, and she looked away, face heating up in embarrassment. “Sorry, I don’t mean to talk your ear off. You’re, you probably don’t want to hear about that boring stuff.”

“I don’t mind.” Kabu said, which she assumed was out of politeness. “But I have taken up enough of your time.” He turned to her, a small smile on his features. “I wish you the best of luck in your Gym Challenge, Katla. I will be watching your matches with interest.”

Now she was sure she was blushing, with her face boiling up as it was.

“Oh, well, thanks!” She managed to splutter out. “I’ll, I’ll try to live up to your expectations.”

“I’m sure you will.” Kabu replied. “So long as you are true to yourself, and unleash the potential I witnessed during our battle.” He gave a quick nod, before turning away. “Travel safe, Katla.”

“You too, Kabu. Bye!” He lifted a hand in response, before he jogged away, leaving the trainer alone with her Pokemon and her thoughts.

“Si?” Sizzlipede was at her feet again, peering up at her curiously.

“Hey little girl.” Katla smiled, crouching down to the bug again. Seeing its expression, she gave a lopsided smile. “Ah, it’s nothing. I just...I’ve got a lot on my mind.”

Sizzlipede trilled, reaching up to clamber onto Katla’s leg so she could receive some more pettings. Her trainer smiled, watching the Pokemon relax into her hand.

Kabu’s gonna be watching my next matches? Bloody hell, no pressure.

Title;  A Pika-Powered Blast Off! Rating; PG Summary; Abandoned fic. Ash and Skye are having a typical day at Tohjo Ranch when a certain trio of criminals appear to cause trouble.

“How can Misdreavus learn Sucker Punch if they don’t have any hands?” Ash asked the breeder standing next to him. Ash had come to the ranch to see Skye, but he had found his boyfriend in the middle of training a racket of young Misdreavus that Skye had bred for a client. Apparently, Misdreavus could only learn Sucker Punch if it was bred into them, like Volt Tackle. At the moment, Mariah—Mr Hunter’s Nidorina—was showing the Misdreavus how to use the move in question. “Becuz da name is weird,” Skye casually told him, his eyes still on the Pokémon in front of them. “Da actual move is mare eh a. . .” he scrunched up his nose in thought, then he gave Ash a quick, but gentle jab in the side with his elbow. “hittin’ fae oot eh naywhere sort eh ‘hing.” The jab didn’t hurt, but Ash made a show of wincing and rubbing at his side like it did. “Then, why is it even called Sucker Punch if it doesn’t need a punch to work in the first place?” Skye shrugged, and after Mariah punched a large chunk out of a rock, he raised his voice to the racket. “Awright, guys! Try ‘n copy wit Mariah did, den try hittin’ da rocks when yae feel confident enough.” The small group of Ghost types separated. Some of them crowded around Mariah while others went straight to practicing. Ash watched two of them size each other up, then fly at each other, only to end up slamming into each other face first. Ash and Skye went to step forward, but the two Misdreavus quickly shook it off and went straight back to circling each other. Skye shook his head. “Don’t jist ram intae wan anuhduh-! Gather yirselves befur yaes go in tae attack.” From his perch on Ash’s shoulder, Pikachu voiced his support. “Pika pika!” “Mis!” The two youngsters called back. Seeing the Misdreavus being so eager to learn made Ash smile. Whoever ended up as their trainers were going to be lucky to have them. Beside him, Skye scratched at himself underneath the front of his overalls. Ash’s eyebrows knitted together in concern. A few weeks prior, Skye had underwent an important surgery to correct his chest. Ash couldn’t recall the exact type of procedure Skye had gotten done, but he knew that the recovery hadn’t been fun. The last time they had seen each other in person, Skye couldn’t lift his arms over his head or even pick Pika up. That was when he had just gotten out of hospital. He said he was feeling better a few days ago on the videophone, but it shouldn’t hurt to ask if he’s okay. “How’ve you been holdin’ up?” Ash asked. Skye’s hand quickly went back to his side and sighed. “Ah’m awright. Jist itchy.” “Still can’t do much?” Skye sighed again, deeper this time. “Ah hivnae been able tae dae much eh anythin’ since da surgery. Ah cannae train da Pokémon da way Ah want tae. It’s bloody killin’ me.” Ash couldn’t imagine how frustrating it must be, not being able to move properly without being worried about hurting yourself. He just knew that, if he had to go through something like that, he would’ve lost his mind weeks ago. “It’ll get better,” Ash reminded him, offering him a smile. “just you wait.” “Aye, Ah know. It’s no like Ah’ve hid tae deal wae worse ‘hings before.” Skye’s right hand flexed, and his face creased slightly. “Bit, it’s been so borin’ jist sittin’ aboot no bein’ able tae dae anythin’. At least when ma haunds goat bug-” A loud, shrill wailing cut the brunet off. The both of them turned their attention to the racket, spotting a Misdreavus seated on the grass, crying. Two of their siblings floated above them, sharing concerned glances. Together, Ash and Skye ran over to investigate. The breeder was quick to bend down and scoop up the crying Pokémon into his arms. “Hey, hey,” he said softly, brushing calloused fingers through the Misdreavus’ wispy hair. The Ghost type buried their face into his chest to cry, but it wasn’t long until their cries dissolved into choked whimpers.. “Der yae go, yir awright.” Ash looked to their siblings. “What happened?” “Mis misdreavus! Misdre!” The two started chattering, their voices high-pitched. After listening for a bit, Skye nodded in understanding. “Are they okay?” Ash asked, kneeling down. “Pi pika?” Pikachu leaned forward to get a better look at the weepy Ghost type in Skye’s arms. “He’s frustrated dat he cannae git da move right.” Skye told him before going back to cooing at the upset Ghost type. “Yae only jist started. Yae’ll git it eventually.” Ash watched the young Pokémon lift his face away from the breeder’s chest to look up at him with large, wet eyes. “Misdre. . .” he moaned. “Everyone messes up sometimes, especially when you’ve just started.” Ash said to the Screech Pokémon, in hopes of comforting the little guy. “I mess up all the time. Don’t I, Pikachu?” Pikachu nodded a little too enthusiastically. The Misdreavus turned his watery eyes to the trainer. “Mis?” “My point is, messin’ up is a part of life.” Ash said sagely. “If you mess up—so what! Just get back up and try again, and keep tryin’ until you finally get it!” As he grinned down at Misdreavus, he thought that he saw Skye’s eyes darken. But when he glanced up to check, Skye had blinked and started speaking again. “Ash is right. If yae don’t keep tryin’, yae won’t learn fae yir mistakes. Noo, come oon.” Skye carefully got to his feet, letting Misdreavus hesitantly leave his arms. “Let’s try again.” Misdreavus looked at him with a skeptical look in his eyes. “Misdreavus mis. . .” “You can do it!” Ash urged excitedly, jumping to his feet. “Just concentrate, rush in, and-” he raised his fists and punched the air. “Pow!” “Pika!” Pikachu mirrored his trainer, his tiny fists moving in quick succession. Misdreavus didn’t look too convinced. Okay, if that doesn’t work. . . Ash turned to look for Mariah, only to see her supervising Misdreavus’ other siblings as they practiced. Okay, maybe not Mariah. He thought about who could help them until one Pokémon in particular came to mind. He snapped his fingers before looking to Skye. “I’ve got an idea!” He retrieved one of the Pokéballs from his belt, and lifted it up for his boyfriend to see. As much as he wanted to help, he didn’t want to step on Skye’s toes and start doing his job for him. At least, not without asking first. Once Skye gave him an approving nod, Ash threw the ball into the air and in a flash of white, Hawlucha appeared. Skye gave Ash a somewhat confused look before giving the muscular Flying type a small wave. He got a short ‘haw’ in acknowledgement. “Hey, Hawlucha. We’ve got a little someone in need of your help.” Ash told his Pokémon, gesturing to the flustered Misdreavus. “See, he’s havin’ trouble learning Sucker Punch, and I thought you’d be able to help out.” “Why Hawlucha?” Skye asked with a raised eyebrow. “He cannae learn Sucker Punch.” “Yeah, but Hawlucha just learned X-Scissor, so I thought he’d be a good teacher.” Ash explained. That, and Hawlucha loves to show off. “Oh aye, yae telt me oon da phone a couple days ago.” Skye nodded. “Dat’s becuz yir aboot tae take oon da Fairy type gym, right?” “Yeah,” Ash answered as he turned back to Hawlucha. “so, what do you say? Think you can help?” “Hawlu!” The Wrestling Pokémon spread his wings, flaring his feathers. “Great!” Ash straightened up, looking to the trio of Misdreavus siblings. “Guys, this is Hawlucha. He might not look it, but he had trouble learnin’ a new move too.” When the three youngster’s eyes widened in disbelief, he went on. “He was learnin’ to use a move called ‘X-Scissor’, and he couldn’t get the positionin’ quite right, so he kept fallin’ short. But! He kept tryin’ and tryin’ like I said you guys should do, and then-” Ash suddenly pointed towards one of the rock targets that had been laid out. “Hawlucha, use X-Scissor on that rock!” “Haw!” Hawlucha raced forward, crossing his muscular wings in front of him. White-pink energy took the form of a ‘x’ across his wings, and he slammed into the rock. Pieces of rock and dust flew everywhere, and when the dust cleared, Hawlucha stood proudly over the rubble. “Mis mis!!” Misdreavus’ two sisters cheered, zipping over to Hawlucha to marvel over the Fighting type. Their struggling brother stayed put, but he had an amazed look on his face. “You wanna be able to do that, right?” Ash asked Misdreavus gently as Pikachu hopped off his shoulder. Misdreavus paused, then gave the trainer a small nod. “Then, let’s do it!” And with that, Ash ran over to the closest rock target and punched it with wild abandon. Pain shot up his arms, but he beared through it. [...] [...] In the skies above Route 27, a familiar Meowth hot-air balloon lazily flew westward. In it’s basket, Team Rocket were doing the usual—looking for Pikachu. “Uoh,” James hung his head as he looked over his side of the basket. “why did we have to come all this way, Jessie? I wish we just stayed back in Kalos with the other twerps.” “Quit your whining, James!” Jessie past after putting down the set of high-power binoculars she had been peering through. “We need to keep a constant vigil on Pikachu so we can strike as soon as the twerp’s guard is down! Besides, wasn’t this your idea?!” “How about da two eh ya shut yer traps ‘n keep lookin’ fur Pikachu!” Meowth hissed, his ears turned back in irritation. The three stared at each other for a long moment before they all sighed and went back to looking through their binoculars. Sometime during the twerp’s travels through Sinnoh, he had started a disappearing act. He would disappear, then reappear a day or so later to continue on his twerpish way. The trio of thieves had no idea why he started doing it, but whenever he did leave, they kept close to his group of twerps to wait for his return. When the twerp suddenly left for Lumiose Airport the day before, they finally decided to follow him. They had gotten onto the same Kanto-bound plane and stalked him through Saffron City to the train station. Much to the trio’s surprise, they found that the twerp wasn’t heading for Pallet Town like they had assumed. Instead, he got onto a train bound for the south-west coast, towards the Johto border. Despite their burning curiosity, the trio had fallen asleep on the train and in doing so, lost the twerp. Thankfully, they were excellent trackers, honed by nearly a decade of chasing Pikachu and his twerp, so it wasn’t long until they spotted their target. “Pikachu and the twerp at 10 o'clock!” Jessie shouted, bringing James and Meowth to her side of the basket. Using their binoculars, the three leered down at the large expanse of field below them. Sure enough, there was the twerp and Pikachu–walking alongside a boy in dirty overalls. They seemed to be talking to one another. “Who’s that?” James asked with a raised brow. “Who cares.” Meowth huffed. “A twoip’s a twoip. We found Pikachu and dat’s all dat matters.” “I suppose. We should start thinkin’ about a scheme then.” James looked at the magenta-haired women beside him. “You got any ideas, Jess?” Jessie didn’t answer him. She was too busy staring out towards the fields they were hovering over. “Jessie?” “…there’s so many cute Pokémon down there.” She said slowly as if in disbelief. “Look at 'em all!” Looking away from Pikachu, James and Meowth saw an absolute smorgasbord. Pokémon all of shapes, sizes, and types were out in the open, practically begging to be snatched up and given to the boss. They had been so focused on looking for Pikachu, they hadn’t noticed where they had ended up. “We must be over a ranch.” James said. “But, shouldn’t we focus on Pikachu first?” “Pikachu 'n da twoip can’t help themselves when dey hear a Pokémon in trouble.” Meowth mewled with a smirk. “If we go down der and start doin’ our thievin’–dey’ll come runnin’! Roight into our paws!” The two Rockets looked at each other before grinning maniacally in unison. “Let’s do it!” Flash. “Wobbuffet!!” === “So, what’s next on the chore list?” Ash asked, turning to look at Skye as they walked together. They had wrapped up the Misdreavus’ training and were now heading to “Uh,” Skye scrunched up his nose in thought. “Ah’ve goat tae check oon dhose Sunkern eggs. Dey wir pretty active dis mornin’. Ah dunno if dey’re gonnae sprout daday, bit it doesnae hurt tae check.” “Sunkern seedlings? Cool!” Ash said excitedly. “That’s a new one for my ‘Pokémon I get to see hatch’ list I’ve got going.” “Yae’ve goat a list? Really?” Skye threw him a wry look. “Well, yae’ve goat a lot tae catch up oon if yae wanna hiv a list as big as mine.” “Like I’d be able to do that!” Ash playfully shoved him, making Skye snort. “I’d have an easier time trying to catch a Dunsparce-!” Pikachu rolled his eyes as he trotted alongside his trainer with Hawlucha. Skye wheezed out a laugh. Ash smiled at him, his face turning hot. He liked making Skye laugh, even if it meant poking fun at himself sometimes. His ego could take a hit for a good cause. “Ah’m sure yae’ll git dat Dunsparce wan eh dhese days, man.” Skye told him before bringing a hand up to his chin in thought. “Actually. . .ah ‘hink we might hiv a Dunsparce up fur adoption.” “Really?” Ash raised an eyebrow, still smiling. “Maybe I can-” The end of Ash’s sentence was cut off by a loud, heavy boom that vibrated through his chest and made the ground shake. Ash stumbled, then quickly turned to Skye. “What was that?” “A-ah dunno,” Skye said shakily. “Dat didnae feel like somewan trainin’.” Over the nearest hill, several Pokémon had started to run over it. Surprised, Ash watched them run past, then felt his stomach drop as he saw the frantic look on their faces. “Skye-” “Some’um’s wrang.” The breeder breathed. Then, with a shockingly determined stride, ran towards whatever was over the hill, even jumping over a trio of Nidoran that got in the way of his feet. Ash, Pikachu, and Hawlucha followed behind, coming to a stop on top of the hill. Ash’s breath caught in his throat at what he saw. In the distance, there was an oval-shaped robot wreaking havoc upon the ranch, chasing and snatching up the ranch’s Pokémon. The sight was far too familiar. Team Rocket! Seeing the thieves made his feet act on their own. He ran down the hill, more than ready to send them blasting off with a good old Thunderbolt—only to be pushed and sent rolling into a nearby bush instead. After shaking off the sudden impact with the ground, Ash sat up to see Skye on his knees beside him. “Did you just push me?! Skye, it’s Team Rocket! We gotta-” He nearly bit his tongue when Skye’s face was suddenly an inch from his. “Dae yae want tae git yirself kilt?! Dat ‘hing is huge!” Ash pushed Skye back so he could speak to him properly. “It’s nothing we can’t handle.” He said confidently. Pikachu and Hawlucha, once behind the bush also, made their agreement known. “Nothin’ yees cannae-” Skye made a frustrated squawk, shaking his head. “Ash, naw! Yae cannae jist run intae danger like dat!” “You were just about to do the same thing!” Ash retorted, pointedly eyeing the hill behind them. “Just a second ago, you were leading the charge.” Skye gritted his teeth. “Ah didnae ‘hink dat wiz wit we wir gonnae be up against! Ah thought it wiz a thief ‘r somethin’! Ah’ve dealt wae people like dat before, bit nothin’ like dis!” “Well, the people in that robot are thieves!” Ash barked. “They’re Team Rocket! Yanno, the bad guys who follow me and Pikachu around all the time?” “‘N how dae yae know dat’s Team Rocket?” Skye asked through his teeth. Annoyed, Ash threw his hands up. “Giant robots are their thing! They do this all the time!” His annoyance hadn’t been lost on Skye, because he scrunched up his face and raised his voice. “Well, den! If dis is normal, yae must hiv a plan right?!” “I do have a plan.” Ash told him as he pushed some bush away so he could see what Team Rocket were doing. His chest tightened as he saw a Nidoran be scooped up and thrown into the ever-filling net on the robot’s back. “Like wit? Run up ‘n attack ‘em? Don’t be stupit, dude!” Skye spat, his tone shifting into a mix of anger and fear. “Ah mean a proper plan!” “Well, do you have any ideas?” Ash asked, voice strained. Skye didn’t answer him. He had turned his attention to the crime-in-progress, his green eyes filled with horror. His whole body had begun to shake when he whipped his head around to look at Ash again. “Ash, w-wit if dey git tae da egg hooses?! Dey might take da babies! ‘R-r worse!!” He shrieked, clutching his head in his hands. Ash shuddered at the thought. He put a hand on his boyfriend’s shaking shoulder. “That won’t happen. Team Rocket are bad guys, but they won’t do that. We won’t let it.” “Pikachu pika!” Pikachu added, his cheeks sparking. “Hawlu!” Hawlucha puffed out his chest. Ash managed to smile reassuringly. “See?” The brunet continued to shake violently as he looked at Pikachu and Hawlucha, then back at Ash. He was doing his best to keep himself together, but his eyes were beginning to well up in panic. Ash wanted to comfort him, but he knew they didn’t have time. He wished Pika was with them; she could’ve helped keep Skye from being consumed by fear. He squeezed Skye’s shoulder. “You don’t need to come with me. You can stay here and hide or you can help the rest of the Pokémon get away.” That seemed to bring Skye to his senses, because his nose scrunched up and he almost looked insulted by the first suggestion. “Ah cannae dae dat-!” Despite his shivering, his voice had become steady. “Ah cannae jist abandon everywan becuz ah’m scared! Aw eh da Pokémon here depend oon me tae look ether dem! How cin ah call masel’ a breeder if ah jist ran away when dey needed me tae protect dem? Ah widnae be able tae furgive masel’!” Ash was taken aback by Skye’s sudden resolve, but he couldn’t help the flutter in his chest. He was still shaking, but his eyes were serious. Even though he was scared, he wanted to do something to help. That was something Ash admired. Even with all their differences, Ash and Skye shared this one thing. Their love for Pokémon. Ash grinned, giving Skye’s shoulder a firm slap. “Now, that’s more like it!” “B-bit, wit ir we gonnae be able tae dae against dat?” Skye spluttered after recoiling. “It’s a giant robot-!” “So? That robot hasn’t got nothing on what we can do.” Ash patted Pikachu on the head. “We can do this. Trust me.” Skye stared at him for a long moment, then took his hands away from his head. “. . .ah need tae ‘hink.” Ash blinked. “About what?” “Aboot a plan.” Skye squeezed his eyes shut. “We’re no goin’ against dat ‘hing waeoot a plan ‘r some’um. Yae’ve talked aboot Team Rocket befur, so ah’m tryin’ tae remember wit yae’ve telt me.” He opened his eyes. “Dey. . .attack wae der Pokémon, daen’t dey?” Ash nodded. “Usually, yeah.” “Wit kind eh Pokémon dae dey hiv?” “Aside from Meowth, there’s Inkay, Pumpkaboo, and Wobbuffet.” Ash answered, turning to look back at the ongoing thieving. “Meowth and Wobbuffet don’t tend to battle though.” “‘N wit aboot dat robot? Yae sayd dis wiz der ‘hing a second ago.” “It is. At least this one doesn’t look as bad as the mind control one they had a few days ago. . .” “Da. Wit.” Skye drawled slowly. “We don’t have time to chat about this sort of thing!” Ash hissed, gesturing to Team Rocket snatching up another Pokémon. “We need that plan, Skye!” The two sat awkwardly as Skye went back to brainstorming. Ash’s entire body was buzzing. He wanted to rush over and save the Pokémon, but he forced himself to stay put while Skye came up with something. Pikachu had started to knead his paws into the grass impatiently and Hawlucha had snapped off a branch from the bush after hearing a Houndour pup howl in terror. “D-dat robot.” Skye gulped. “Yae ‘hink it’s resistant tae electricity?” “Uhh, I dunno.” Ash shook his head. “I can’t tell from here, but Team Rocket aren’t too consistent about making their robots shock-proof.” “Huh. Den, we’ve jist got tae hope dey didnae dis time.” “You got something?” “Ah ‘hink so.” Skye said, turning his body to scan the rolling fields and hills around them. “Ah’m gonnae need Pikachu.” Pikachu? Ash almost asked why, but he didn’t want to waste any more time, so he nodded instead. “Alright. Pikachu, go with Skye.” “Pika!” Pikachu affirmed, looking a little too happy to finally be able to do something. “What about us?” Ash asked as Hawlucha rustled his feathers. Skye moved to get up, his jaw tightening. “C-cin yae keep dem occupied?” He sounded unsure about his own question. “We can do that.” Ash grinned again. “What are you guys going to do?” Before Skye could reply, an explosion rang out and shook the ground. The both of them snapped their heads towards the sound, seeing a plume of smoke. “A-ah’ve kept us too long.” Skye’s voice trembled. “We need tae go-!” Skye was standing and ready to run off when Ash scrambled to his own feet. “But, what are you going to do?” “A ‘hing!” Skye squeaked breathlessly. And then, he was off, running in the opposite direction of the mech with Pikachu following behind him. Ash watched him go, then turned on his heel to head the other way, towards trouble. “Let’s go, Hawlucha!” “Haw!” === “Come on now. Be good little Pokémon and get into our net!” Jessie demanded as she looked down at their targets. Team Rocket have had a blast, so to speak. They had been picking Pokémon like daisies, and were having a lot of fun doing it. Their net was already nearly full, but it wouldn’t hurt to get even more. Team Rocket was always open to welcome more and more members, even if they were reluctant. They had chased and cornered a group of young Pokémon into a deep sand pit with steep walls. Some had tried to scramble up the incline, but ended up sliding back into the basin. Others had just started to cry. The only thing in Team Rocket’s way from snatching them up was a Sandslash, who stood defiantly between them and the Pokémon. Her quills were bristling and she was hissing hatefully up at the evil trio. She had rudely attacked their mech when they tried stealing the youngsters. Thankfully, Pumpkaboo was there to defend their robot’s rather fragile shell by interjecting the Sandslash’s Gyro Ball with Seed Bomb. “Are you going to stop resisting now? It’s getting rather tiring.” James asked, annoyed. The Sandslash spat at him. “Hmph, no need to be so rude, missy.” Wobbuffet, who had been sitting quietly beside Jessie, saulted. “Wobba wob!” “Yeah, it’s not like yous got a choice!” Meowth mewled, pulling a lever to bring one of the mech’s arms up. “We’re gonna take every single one of yus!” With a push of a button, the arm shot out to grab of the Pokémon. . .only to be smashed into pieces by a green cannonball. The three stared dumbly at the destroyed hand, then started shrieking. In unison, they snapped their attention to what had got in the way of their evil deeds. A Hawlucha landed in front of them and uncrossed his arms, their green X-shaped glow fading away. “Good job, Hawlucha!” A voice called. They turned towards the voice, spotting a familiar face standing on the edge of the incline. The twerp! === Ash stood at the rim of the basin, looking down at the scene he had been kept away from. Team Rocket’s robot was a large thing with pale, green-speckled egg shell armor and two sets of arms; one set with claw grabber hands and another set were like hoover nozzles. On the back, a large net was attached. The top was cracked open, with Team Rocket sitting inside it. Ash never understood why their boss would allow them to create such bad pieces of machinery, especially when they never did their job right. Why couldn’t they make good robots, like Clemont? With their egg-robot, Team Rocket had captured several Pokémon, judging by how full their net was, and they had cornered more. He looked at them, and felt sick to his stomach. The Pokémon that Team Rocket had cornered were all babies, too young to fend for themselves and much too young to fight back against them. Did they have any dignity? Stealing Pokémon was a terrible thing to do, but there was something so wrong about putting baby Pokémon into this situation. He had to bite back his anger. If he was angry, he would only get caught up in his own emotions to actually help those Pokémon in need. Though, that gave him an idea. Team Rocket weren’t as devious when angered. “Hey, Team Rocket!” Ash shouted, before sliding down the incline and rushing over to stand by Hawlucha and the Sandslash. “You looking for me?” James was first to talk. He let out a long sigh. “Thanks for the damages, twerp.” “Where’s our Pikachu?” Jessie hissed, her voice as venomous as an Arbok’s bite. “No idea.” Ash said, shrugging. “Don’t be a wise guy!” Meowth hissed. “We saw yus with Pikachu before we started stealin’!” “No, really. I have no idea where Pikachu is.” Ash threw back. “Even if I did know where he was, I wouldn’t tell you guys!” The Sandslash stepped forward, turning to Hawlucha and chittered a question. Hawlucha nodded, glancing back at the trembling group of youngsters behind them. Ash recognised the Sandslash. Her name was Sandy and she belonged to Skye’s father, Lyle. Ash turned to the frightened Pokémon. “You guys need to get out of here. Me and Hawlucha will cover you!” Over a dozen sets of eyes stared at him, unsure and terrified. Hawlucha pointed a claw to the left side of the egg-robot, towards the cover of nearby shrubbery. “Hawlu haw!” “Sand!” Sandy started to feverishly dig into the sand. “Hey, don’t run away!” James whined loudly. “We just want you to get into our net!” Sandy quickly managed to make a sizable hole, enough for several of the group to jump into. She hopped out and shoved a small Ratatta into the hole with her snout. “Slash sa!” She called to the others. Some of them followed the Ratatta, while others were reluctant to budge. “Pumpkaboo!” Ash turned around just as the Ghost-type floated into position. “Stop them from getting away!” “X-Scissor, Hawlucha!” The Wrestling Pokémon launched himself towards Pumpkaboo, his crossed arms turning bright green. Pumpkaboo managed to fire off a Shadow Ball just as Hawlucha got close enough, sending him flying backwards. Hawlucha backflipped, landing on his feet and posing triumphantly, like a gymnast sticking a landing. “Leave them alone, Team Rocket!” Ash yelled. “They’re only babies!” “So?” Jessie put her hands on her hips. “So? So?!” Ash scowled up at the magenta-haired woman. “You’re trying to take them away from their home- their families!” “They were going to leave someday, weren’t they?” Jessie said sharply. “We’re only speeding up the process! And frankly, I’m insulted, twerp. We’ll give them a better family- with us!” “Who’d wanna be a part of your family?” Ash grimaced. The trio gasped dramatically. “Oh, that does it!” James yelped, fumbling with a Pokéball before throwing it. Inkay appeared in a flash of white light. Meowth raised the mech’s twin hose arms, pointing them directly at Ash and Hawlucha. The trainer tensed as he reached for Goodra’s Pokéball. “Thundabolt!” A heavily accented voice rang out and two bolts of lightning struck the hoose heads, destroying them beyond repair. “Wah! Again?!” Meowth yowled, slamming his paws against the robot’s control console. Ash looked up to see where the bolts had come from. On the basin’s rim stood Skye, Pikachu, and Pika. Skye was panting and flushed in the face. The two Pikachu’s cheeks sparked aggressively. Ash couldn’t help smirking at their arrival. “Oh, come on!” James groaned loudly, slapping a hand to his forehead. “We don’t get insurance for this kind of robot. . .” “I was wondering where you guys went!” Ash shouted as the breeder awkwardly slid down the slope with their Pikachu. The two Electric-types hopped in front of their trainers, flanking Hawlucha on both sides. “A-ah’ve goat da plan set up.” Skye said as he trotted up to stand beside his boyfriend, his voice wavering with adrenaline. “Ugh, not another one to deal with.” Jessie pinched the space between her eyes. “But, look!” James pointed excitedly. “He’s brought another Pikachu!” Jessie huffed, crossing her arms. “What? That old slipper?” “WIT?!” Skye barked loudly, so loudly that Ash nearly jumped back in surprise. Pika glanced over her shoulder at her trainer, looking worried. (ending cliffnotes) It begins to rain as James brings out Inkay, and the four of them have a double battle. Ash is beside himself about battling alongside Skye. The battle goes as follows; Pumpkaboo uses Seed Bomb. Pika uses Dig, and hides from the Seed Bomb with Pikachu. Pikachu jumps out to hit Pumpkaboo with Iron Tail. Inkay uses Foul Play, hitting Pikachu. Pikachu is thrown back, and Inkay goes into the dig hole to attack Pika. Pika uses Return, pushing Inkay out of the hole. Pumpkaboo uses Shadow Ball, hitting Pika. During the battle, the rain continues. The TRio taunt Ash and Skye, but as they take a step forward, the ground under the mech's foot collapses. The mech is unable to move. Jin and Tei appear out of the ground, having dug tunnels under the mech as they battled. The clouds rumble and several Pichu, Pikachu, and Raichu make themselves known. They have surrounded the mech. Team Rocket are taken aback, but Ash uses this moment to save the Pokémon in the mech's net with Hawlucha's X-Scissor. Team Rocket attemtpt to stop them, but all of the 'chus begin to spark including Pika and Pikachu. Skye had used Salem's Rain Dance to set up a Thunder that cannot miss. Hell rains down upon Team Rocket with the power of 20+ electric rats. Team Rocket are sent blasting off. Ash and Skye check the stolen Pokémon for injuries and when they see everyone are unharmed, Skye almost faints from adrenaline and relief. Aaand that's it!        

Selene’s Log, Day One

Update, 7:40 pm. 

“The flight from Sinnoh to Alola took over twelve hours. It was supposed to take eight. Given the shaking in my legs, the unconscious balling of my hands into fists, and the sheer degree of negative thoughts entering my mind, it appears that I may have been more frustrated by the delays than it appears. Further research may be needed to examine the extent of this effect.” Nonetheless, she continues.

“It was past sunset when I touched down in Alola, leaving the bureau on Melemele Island in the middle of the night. Normally at these hours, I would want to take a long bath, enjoy a warm mug of tea and read a good book. However, this flight has left me... now what was that word. Ah yes, restless. Relaxation is not what I need this moment. As such, I have found it wise to begin my studies.”

There is a muffled sound of items being shuffled through a bag and the tell-tale zing of the edge of a spiral notebook rubbing against something hard. “Professor Kukui has recorded data on these nocturnal Ratatta that call this region their home, and I should like to observe them for myself.”    

---

Update, 8:30 pm. 

“Though it may seem odd, I feel a need to apologize to this audio log for not adding to it earlier. It would seem that Alola is as active at night as the city dwellers in Unova. It was not an Alolan Ratatta that I discovered on Route 1, but a Yungoose. These tan and yellow furred mongoose Pokemon are diurnal, so one of them appearing active at night was surely indicative of something gravely wrong. The look in its beady eyes- it seemed frantic, scared. Something capable of scaring even a Yungoos would be trouble. And that something I learned rather soon after was a flock of Spearow. While nature’s course would normally have led to the consumption of this Loitering Pokemon, I fear I could not let it perish, not when I had interfered already in the chase.” 

“As luck would have it, my bow was within easy reach, Drawing its sleek wooden form from its case, I took aim at the lead Spearow, hoping to knock it out of the sky and scare off the others, but I need not have. A determined squawk cut the tension like an Air Slash. A small, screeching, ball of owl careened into the lead Spearow, kicking it in the beak.”

“Between that owl’s attack and the warning arrow I loosed, it sent the flock packing. Though the Yungoos appeared to be scared off as well.”

“Professor Kukui then found me, a bit embarrassed that the surprise had been ruined prematurely. See, he had been intending on giving this owl- Rowlet, to me as a gift for my help in the last paper we wrote together on Grass Type Moves.” A few taps and beeps are heard as an image flashes up on her recording device’s screen.

Name: Strix

Gender: Female

Nature: Bashful

Characteristic: Quick tempered

There is a muted sound of hooting in the background and a dull thud of something weighted landing on a shoulder. “I am sure Strix and I will work well together. She seems to line up well with my sense of justice, what with how she handled the Spearow.” The owl hoots in agreement.

“On Professor Kukui’s advice, we are heading up to Iki Town to talk to the Kahuna-” Her words are briefly interrupted by the dulled sound of an excitable male, happily calling out to the girl and her Rowlet. It would seem that he and the blue sea lion Pokemon walking with her know this owl. Their conversation is muted, but a few small remarks are caught, namely the mention of a battle and a rivalry between the Rowlet and Popplio.

“Leafage, Strix-” comes Selene’s voice clam and clear, just as the recording cuts out.  

---

Update, 9:00 pm.

“Once again, it seems I must apologize. I must admit I accidentally bumped my thumb against the end recording button. I will take measures to ensure that this does not happen again, moving forward.” She pauses a moment to clear her throat. “Having listened back, it appears the recording cut off during my battle with the boy and his Popplio. Hau is...” There is almost a sense of hesitation in the feminine voice, as if trying to find the word that best applies. “...excitable. Perhaps too excitable. But he seems to be a good-hearted kid.” Says the girl only two years his senior. “His attacks left many openings and were poorly planned, but he did pack a punch. The kid has potential, I will give him that.”

“Professor Kukui ran into us not long after our battle ran to its natural completion. Entering the town together, it became quite clear to the locals that the Kahuna was not here. In the meantime, Professor Kukui suggested I head along Mahalo Trail to the shrine of Tapu Koko, to introduce myself to the Island Guardian. It is a custom I am unfortunately not familiar with, but one that he had educated me on prior to my arrival. It seemed more than reasonable, and the walk has given me time to recount the previous-”

The audio recording stutters, the device clacks as it hits the ground. Two different feminine voices mutter apologies to each other, their words unintelligible at first until the device is picked up and handed back to Selene. Both girls suggest that it was her own fault for not paying attention to where she was walking. The distant, tinkling cry of something small, a Pokemon perhaps, is also audible. 

As is the increasingly loud screech of a flock of Spearow.  

“Nebby! Please, can you-” That second feminine voice is heard once more before it is interrupted by the rough squawking, which is in turn interrupted by the hoot of a Rowlet smashing into the side of the smaller bird. Sounds of battle ring out, the device shaking as it is roughly stowed away in a pocket. The clattering sounds of sandal-covered feet clacking against wood can be heard, as well as the telltale flutter of leaves released like darts from the wings of her partner. From amidst the clashing sounds, a whining cry cuts in, and the deep thrum of a shockwave rocks recording, staggering multiple times. 

A shattering snap, like that of splintering wood, and a sudden shriek of fear are all that can be heard... until the ethereal hum of another creature cuts in, sounds of sparking lightning quite nearly cutting off the recording then and there. 

“T-Tapu.. Koko?” Selene’s voice comes in clearer now, though it seems that the damage the device had suffered was making it sound more mechanized. She is left panting, out of breath at the sight of such a lovely creature. If only her device could record video, then she’d really be able to keep a perfect record of sheer beauty of this legend in the flesh.

The device fizzles out.

---

Update, 10:45 pm.

“...And there we go, all fixed up. The device should be picking up my speech clearly enough now.” Selene’s voice seems tired and slightly crackly, but she isn’t wrong; it was far better than the mechanized voice from earlier. “Our encounter on the bridge left the recording device damaged. With the spare parts I had on hand I was able to repair most of the damage, but it may not hold for long. Further investigation into another option to record my experiments or find more parts may be needed.” She clears her throat a moment, seemingly distracted by the onset of sleep.

“Right. An explanation. According to Professor Kukui and Kahuna Hala, it was in fact Tapu Koko that has saved me and that strange space cloud Pokémon Nebby. But before I could say a word to it, much less thank it for saving my life, the legend was gone. But it did leave a gift of sorts. Kahuna Hala refered to it as a Sparkling Stone, and with its smooth black and intricate colored markings, I can see how it would sparkle when held at the right angle in the right light. I have given the stone to the Kahuna, as he has stated that he can make something for me out of it.”

“But I digress. The other girl accidentally recorded on this device is Lillie, she works for the Professor as his assistant. I have spoken with her once or twice, but she had not known that I was coming to Alola in person. It was...” She stops a moment, seemingly thinking better of it, but continues anyway. “She thought it was ‘cute’ that I was making an audio diary. I tried to explain to her that it was to record my research, but she did not listen...” A short pause, the ruffling off hair can be heard. “But I suppose she is not wrong. Alola is a region rich with culture, mythology, and variant Pokemon. Perhaps recording even my daily life could reveal something interesting with further study.”

Now, where was she? Lillie’s words had thrown her off a bit. “Ah, yes. The Spearow that attacked were without a doubt the same ones as before, so I tried to explain to Lillie the fact they all very nearly got hurt was my fault, but... Lillie refuses to let me take the blame. She really is a kind soul. I am not sure I would have been able to say the same. When we returned, Lillie explained what had happened to Kahuna Hala, and that was when I showed him the stone. I am not sure what he could be doing with it, but the thought intrigued me enough.”

“It was rather late by then, so the Kahuna sent us all off. Professor Kukui had prepared a bed for me in the basement of his lab, so I walked with him and Lillie. I had asked why they had not already converted the basement into a larger room for Lillie, but it seemed like the girl actually enjoyed her little loft area. It personally seemed too small in the video footage I had seen, but if it worked for her, I cannot argue.”

“Back at the lab, the Professor was happy to present me with another gift. He would have given it to me earlier, but it had not been ready yet: A Rotom Pokedex. I had read about them in a recent tech magazine, but I have to say they are far more impressive in person. The Professor went all-out in this, I will give him that. He had modified the Pokedex to include a proper camera for taking pictures and video, and the Rotom placed inside it to act as the AI was very well trained. I was able to speak with it briefly before it had to enter a shutdown mode to properly update and install all the programs.” She pauses, the light sound of fingers tapping as she mentally trails off a bit.

“I wonder... Maybe once he is up, I will ask the Rotom if he would help me with my logs...” A longer pause, for a moment it seems like the recording has died, but then she picks it up again. “Fatigue appears to be setting in. I ought to sleep, there is a long day of science and research planned for tomorrow.”

End Day One.

Four’s Company

Makoto heads off to Sunyshore City for university and makes some new friends in his first week, including his slightly enigmatic roommate, Haru. 

ohhhhhh my gosh here it is! This Free! Pokemon AU fic is a gift for @boiishorts for the @tachibanamakotobirthdayexchange that I decided to participate in this year! This is my first time taking part in a gift exchange and I had a ton of fun with it.

Maria, I saw that you had Pokemon on your list of likes, so I immediately jumped on the Pokemon AU train. I really hope you like it!

And just in case it’s a little too difficult to read on my blog, the AO3 link is here!

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 “What do you think, Kawa?” Makoto asked his Pokémon as they both lay on the floor of his bedroom, university brochures spread out before them. He’d been poring over them for hours today, and for some time in the couple weeks prior. The time for applying for schools and their subsequent entrance exams were fast approaching, and Makoto was no closer to making a decision than he was last month.

 He had absolutely no idea what he wanted to study in school. He’d tossed around a few different fields—Pokémon medicine, Pokémon breeding, teaching trainers—but hadn’t settled on any of them as of yet. He thought looking at a bunch of different universities in a few different regions would help him narrow down his decision, but it had done nothing but make the choice that much more overwhelming.

 “Buiiiii,” his Pokémon said, pointing to a brochure of a small university in Hoenn, in Mossdeep City.

 Makoto laughed and took a cursory glance at the unfolded pamphlet. “Hm, you want to go to Hoenn?” he asked his otter Pokémon. It wasn’t a bad choice, though the university’s specialty was the field of astrophysics and the like, which he didn’t have much interest in.

 Unhelpfully, Kawa then slammed his paw down on a brochure for a completely different university, one in Violet City in Johto.

 “Well, there      is    the trainer school there I could intern at if I decide to go with teaching…” Makoto said thoughtfully, rubbing his chin a little. He grabbed the brochure for that particular school and folded it up, setting it in the ‘maybe’ pile along with brochures from Sunyshore University in Sinnoh and Hau’oli University in Alola. There was another one in Johto, in Olivine City, where he could study Pokémon medicine, that made it to the ‘maybe’ pile as well.

 An hour later, and Makoto had whittled down his choices to three: Sunyshore, Olivine, and one in Lilycove City in Hoenn that he had totally forgotten about until he came across the brochure again in his stack.

 “Bui Buizel!” Kawa cried before crawling over to his food bowl, nudging it with his nose and whining slightly.

 “Oh, is it already dinner time?” Makoto said, sneaking a quick glance at his clock. Realizing that it was, in fact, time for dinner, he headed over to his desk to grab the bag of Poké Kibble that he kept underneath. Kawa shrieked happily and jumped around Makoto’s legs as his trainer poured out the food into the bowl. When his Buizel was enthusiastically munching his meal, Makoto thought he’d better head downstairs for dinner himself.

 But before he headed down, he grabbed the three brochures from his ‘maybe’ pile so he could talk over his choices with his parents.

.

 Makoto was helping his mother dry the dishes when the subject of university was broached.

 “Have you made a decision?” his mother asked over the running water, giving her son a loving smile.

 Setting down the plate he’d just tried and picking up another from the rinsed pile, Makoto shook his head. “I think I’ve narrowed it down to a few choices, but...I’m not sure which one to go with.”

 “Which ones?”

 As they continued washing dishes Makoto explained to his mother the three schools he’d narrowed down, making sure to include his possible major for each one. Once the dishes were done, they sat back down at the dining table together and Makoto showed her the brochures. He also brought the websites for each school up on his phone, in case they needed to look anything up.

 At some point, Kawa made his way downstairs and was now curled up asleep in Makoto’s lap.

 “You’re really leaning towards Pokémon medicine, aren’t you?” his mother asked, tucking her olive green hair behind her ear. “At least, all three of these schools seem to have good programs for it.”

 It was kinda funny how it took his mother vocalizing it for Makoto to realize that, yes, all three of his potential schools had the one thing in common.

 “I think Sunyshore sounds like a really good place,” his mother finally said after an elongated silence between the two of them. “Plus, Sinnoh would be a great place for us to come visit you,” she added with a smile.

 Green eyes trailed back down to the brochure of Sunyshore University, their owner still slightly unsure. But if his mother thought it was a good idea…

 Besides, if he didn’t like the school, he could always just transfer after a semester or two.

 Finally allowing himself to smile, Makoto looked back up at his mother.

 “Okay. I’ll apply for Sunyshore University.”

.

 The rest of Makoto’s third year of high school came and went, and before he knew it, he was graduated and packing up his most treasured belongings to bring with him to Sinnoh.

 He still couldn’t quite believe he’d gotten into Sunyshore.

 When it came time to take the entrance exam, his father had flown out with him across the continent to the Sinnoh region. They were there for a few days, and in his downtime when he wasn’t in the exam hall, Makoto urged his father to come around Sunyshore City with him and see the sights. It reminded him a bit of his home of Ambrette Town back in Kalos, both places being located along the coast—which his Buizel would like, Makoto thought as he explored the beach along the east side of the city. Of course Sunyshore was a bit more of a bustling place than the small town Makoto grew up in. But he liked it, and he was excited to hopefully begin making a life here.

 When the results of the entrance exam were posted online soon after, Makoto could have fainted with relief.

 “Oniichan, you can’t leave us!” Ran cried as she clung to her older brother, preventing him from taping up the last of his boxes. Following his sister’s example, Ren also ran up to Makoto and held onto him. Tears leaked out of his eyes, though he was much quieter about his crying than his twin.

 “You guys can always come and visit,” Makoto said with a fond smile, though he couldn’t help the sadness settling into his chest at the thought of leaving his family behind for a while. “Plus, we can video chat at least once a week.”

 “Every day!” Ran said emphatically.

 Laughing a little, Makoto said, “I probably won’t have time      every    day…”

 “Every other day?” came Ren’s shyer voice and he looked up at his older brother with huge eyes that made Makoto melt.

 “That sounds more manageable,” Makoto agreed, ruffling Ren’s hair. He tried doing the same to Ran, but she was wise to his ways and ducked out of the way just in time, sticking her tongue out at him.

 “Come on, let oniichan finish packing,” their mother chided the twins, “unless you want to help.”

 “We’ll help!” they said in unison, each grabbing a roll of packing tape to help Makoto seal his boxes for the movers.

.

 There were more tears a week later when the entire family escorted Makoto to the airport, seeing him off to his new life. Makoto gave Ren and Ran extra long hugs, with Buizel squeezed in between them all.

 “Call us as soon as you land,” his mother said, patting his cheek and bringing his head down so she could deliver a kiss to his forehead. “And be safe, okay?”

 “I will,” Makoto assured her. Kawa clambered up on his shoulder and squeaked in assurance that he’d make sure Makoto was taken care of. Smiling, his mother scratched the Buizel’s snout.

 “We’ll miss you too, Kawa.”

 After one final group hug with his parents and siblings, Makoto shouldered his duffel bag and dragged his rollerboard behind him. His adult life was ahead of him, and he was nervous and excited at the same time. Kawa nuzzled his cheek and together, they headed to the gate where their flight would be waiting.

.

 Many long and tiring hours later, Makoto was finally in Sunyshore City. It was early morning when he landed, and with the time difference, he knew it’d probably take at least a few days to get through the worst of his jet lag. And even though it was late at night back home, he still dutifully rang up his mom when he was off the plane to assure her that he made it safely.

 When he reached the Sunyshore University dorms, he was surprised to see so many students there as early as him. But, he supposed, it was best to arrive early and have ample time to get settled into the dorms. And really, considering his habitual tardiness, it was only thanks to his flight that he’d arrived so early.

 Heck, even his Buizel was still half-asleep, curled up around his neck like a scarf and yawning with a squeak in his ear.

 After speaking with the dorm advisor and collecting a booklet of dorm rules and regulations, Makoto was able to retrieve the keys to his room and he made his way to his assigned room. He was ready to collapse into bed and sleep for a good few hours before he even thought of doing anything else. If Kawa’s continued yawns were anything to go by, his Pokémon felt much the same.

 Makoto stuck the key into the lock and turned the knob, announcing himself before entering the dorm room proper. He didn’t make it even two steps in the door before he was greeted by a Vaporeon at his feet.

 The Vaporeon tilted its head, staring up at him with curious violet eyes.

 “Uh...hello…” Makoto greeted the Pokémon, smiling tiredly and raising his hand in a friendly wave so as not to appear threatening.

 “Saba, let him in,” came a voice from the other side of the room.

 “Vay!” The Vaporeon, apparently named Saba, did as its trainer bade and trotted away from the doorway, giving Makoto space to enter. Looked like his roommate was already here and had chosen the bed along the far wall.

 Shrugging, Makoto made his way to the unclaimed bed and dropped his duffel atop it. He parked his suitcase at the foot of the bed and turned to look at his roommate.

 The other boy was turned away from him, crouching in front of his own bag and setting his clothing on the bed. He had raven black hair and seemed a little quiet.

 “You must be my roommate, then?” Makoto asked in a friendly manner, aware that he was stating the obvious but a tad too tired to care all that much.

 The boy finally turned and Makoto caught sight of the bluest eyes he’d ever seen in his life. Giving a nod, the boy said, “Nanase Haruka. You can call me Haru.” His voice was soft and smooth, like an Eevee’s fur.

 Makoto smiled. “Tachibana Makoto. You can just call me Makoto,” he echoed back in a similar fashion. “And this is Kawa,” he introduced, reaching up to his own shoulder to pet his dozing Buizel. “He’s still sleepy from the flight.”

 His roommate—Haru—finally stood and turned to face him fully, and Makoto felt his mouth go a little dry. Good gravy, his roommate was. Um.

 Beautiful? He couldn’t think of a word that was better suited than that.

 “You met Saba,” Haru said, nodding toward his Vaporeon. “She can be a little too friendly sometimes; sorry if she ends up sleeping in your bed with you.”

 Giggling, Makoto said, “She’d have to fight Kawa for the space.”

 Haru gave him a small smile and set to putting his clothes in the dresser by his bed.

 Well, they seemed to be off to a good start, at least.

.

 In the week before classes started, Makoto learned a few things about Haru in their cohabitation.

He was a swimmer.

 Not professionally, though. When Makoto had asked him that, he got a scowl from the other boy and a curt, “I only swim free.”

He was from Alola.

 If Makoto would have known this first, he wouldn’t have been surprised in the least that Haru loved swimming.

He was quiet, but extremely straightforward.

 Haru didn’t talk a whole lot, which didn’t bother Makoto at all because his roommate was friendly enough. But if he had a particularly strong opinion or thought on something, he wouldn’t hold back and would just say what was on his mind. The bluntess caught Makoto off-guard the first few days, but he got used to it after a little.

 The bluntness wasn’t just reserved to speaking his opinions, either. Haru was also the kind of person, Makoto was learning, to kind of just...do what he wanted. Sometimes he would up and leave the room without much of a word, but not in a rude way. It was something Makoto would have to get used to.

 One day, Haru even asked Makoto if he wanted to accompany him to the beach and swim a little.

 “You can bring Kawa, too, if you want, since he’s a water-type and all,” Haru added when Makoto hadn’t answered him yet, only staring at the raven-haired boy in slight shock.

 “M-Maybe another time. Thank you, though, for the invite,” Makoto said with a genuine smile. He wasn’t sure he was ready to tackle swimming in the sea just yet. Though he did reason he’d have to go sometime soon, because yeah, Kawa would love it.

 Haru just shrugged, not seeming bothered at all with Makoto’s rejection to his invite. “Alright then. Saba and I will be back later.” Then, shouldering his bag with his swim gear, Haru left with his Vaporeon in tow.

 Makoto stared at the closed door for a few heavy seconds before returning to unpack the boxes that had arrived yesterday.

.

 The day before classes started, their dorm building was hosting a dinner-slash-get-together for all the students as a way for them to get to know their neighbors and make friends. Makoto was glad for the opportunity to get to know some of the other people in their building, but Haru seemed a little reluctant to go.

 “I don’t like a lot of noise,” Haru said from where he was lounging on his bed, one headphone in and his phone lying on his abdomen.

 Makoto frowned. “But it would be good to meet some of the other students, right? You might find someone also studying what you’re studying.”

 A shrug was all Makoto got from his roommate.

 Sighing, Makoto held out his arm for his Buizel to crawl up and onto his shoulder. “Do you at least want me to bring you some food?” he offered.

 Haru’s face turned thoughtful for a moment, then he shrugged again. “Only if you want to,” was his passive answer.

 “Alright...I’ll be back later,” Makoto said, remembering to grab his keys from the nightstand before heading out of their shared dorm room. He took the stairs down a few floors to the student lounge, where this gathering was to be held. The second he stepped out of the stairwell, he was greeted with noise of chatter and several Pokémon coming from the lounge area.

 Wow, there were...a lot of people.

 Makoto immediately made a beeline for the refreshments table, which was usually a safe place to go when he was feeling a little socially overwhelmed. He was a really friendly guy, yeah, but large crowds still made him a little nervous. He grabbed a small plate and piled it with snacks, also grabbing a couple Poké Puffs for Kawa.

 He heard a slight whining noise in his ear, coming from Buizel. “Hey, Kawa, what’s the matter?” he asked his Pokémon, following the otter’s line of sight. At the end of the food table, there was a small blue tail poking out from under the white tablecloth.

 Was it a Pokémon?

 Kawa leapt off Makoto’s shoulder to go investigate.

 “Iwatobi-chan! Where are you?!” Makoto heard someone yell from the crowd.

 Putting two and two together, Makoto took a few steps to where his Buizel was poking his head under the table and squeaking. Kneeling down, he lifted the tablecloth to reveal a Piplup hiding under there, flapping its little flappers and chirping excitedly.

 “Are you Iwatobi-chan?” Makoto asked the Pokémon.

 “Piplup!” the little penguin responded, though it remained under the table.

 “Bui?” Kawa said, trying to talk to Piplup.

 Makoto picked up a Poké Puff from his plate and held it out, wiggling it a little to entice the hiding Piplup. “You want this? You have to come out first.”

 Piplup leaned forward a bit, its beak moving up in down in what Makoto assumed was a sniff. Slowly, the little blue penguin waddled closer to Makoto and reached for the Poké Puff. When it was happily munching on the treat, Makoto set his plate on the table above him and grabbed the Pokémon with both hands and pulled it out from its hiding spot.

 “Um...did anyone lose a Piplup?” he called out to the people near him, drawing a few glances his way but not much else.

 A few moments later, though, a short blond boy came barreling toward him.

 “Iwatobi-chan, there you are!” the boy exclaimed.

 The Piplup paused in its eating and looked at the boy, eyes widening in what must have been recognition because it then began squirming to get free from Makoto’s arms.

 “Here,” Makoto said with a smile, holding the flailing Pokémon out to its supposed trainer.

 “Thank you so much for finding him!” the blond said, taking his Piplup and hugging him close. “Iwatobi-chan likes running off, the mischievous little guy!”

 Makoto laughed, squatting down again to let Kawa onto his shoulder. “He seems like a handful.”

 “Oh, he totally is!” The boy pouted at the little Piplup, lips pursed all the way out. But then he changed gears and flashed a sunny smile at Makoto. “I’m Nagisa, by the way. What’s your name?”

 “Makoto,” he introduced himself, holding his hand out for a shake. “Good to meet you!”

 Nagisa took his hand and squeezed really tightly, shaking it vigorously. He was a tiny ball of energy, it seemed. “Nice to meet you too, Mako-chan!”

 “Mako-chan?” Makoto asked, not opposed to the nickname but a little surprised at its usage since they just only met.

 “You wanna come sit at my table? I’ve met a few other people and they’re really nice!” Makoto didn’t really have time to answer before being dragged by Nagisa to a table where two other guys sat—one with maroon-colored hair and matching eyes, and the other with jet black hair and piercing teal eyes.

 “Rin-chan, Sou-chan, I found another friend!” Nagisa announced as they approached, waving enthusiastically. The both of them looked up and the redhead chuckled, showing off his sharp teeth.

 “Jeez, Nagisa, at this rate, you’ll make friends with the whole building by the end of the night.” Despite the slightly chastising words, sharp-tooth guy fixed his red gaze on Makoto and pulled out the chair next to him. “C’mon, have a seat.”

 “Ah, thank you,” Makoto said a little shyly as he sat down in the proffered chair.

 “This is Mako-chan!” Nagisa introduced, waving his hand at Makoto. “Mako-chan, this is Rin-chan and Sou-chan!”

 The raven-haired guy scoffed. “Would you cut it out with the Sou-chan? We’ve barely just met.”

 Nagisa sat down in his own chair with a slight pout, settling Iwatobi-chan in his lap. “But Rin-chan is my roommate, and you already know Rin-chan...so that means we’ve already been friends by association! So      that     means I get to call you Sou-chan!”

 “You little shit, it doesn’t work that way!” Rin said, flicking Nagisa on the nose.

 Makoto shrugged, the action on one shoulder much more subdued than the other due to Kawa perching himself there. “I don’t mind,” he admitted with a friendly smile.

 “See, Mako-chan gets it,” Nagisa said a bit smugly, stealing a piece of taiyaki from Rin’s snack plate and stuffing it in his mouth.

 “Oi, get your own!” Rin yelled.

 Smiling, Makoto was about to slide his own plate of snacks over to the hungry blond, but belatedly realized he must have left it on the refreshment table after retrieving Iwatobi-chan.

 “So, what is your actual name? I’m Sousuke,” the dark-haired guy said, offering a small grin to Makoto that made him look much less intimidating.

 “I’m Makoto, and this is Kawa.”

 His Buizel squeaked in greeting to the table, holding his paw up in a mock wave.

 “So, where are you from, Makoto?” Rin asked, leaning his elbow on the table.

 “I’m from Ambrette Town, in Kalos.”

 Rin gave a low whistle. “That’s pretty far from here.”

 Chuckling Makoto nodded. “Yeah. The plane ride was super long. I had jet lag for three days afterwards.”

 Rin laughed and flashed his sharp teeth. “Jet lag and I are best friends. I’m originally from Alola, but I went to middle school and part of high school in Unova.”

 Makoto’s eyes widened. “Wow, that’s impressive!” And Makoto really was impressed. That had to take a lot of guts to study so far away from home at such a young age.

 Nagisa lit up at Rin’s words. “Unova is where my boyfriend is studying!” he exclaimed, pulling out his phone and thumbing the screen really quickly. Letting out a gasp, he held out his phone to the table. On the screen was Nagisa with another boy, who had purplish-blue hair and red, thick-framed glasses. Nagisa was holding his Piplup and there was a Beautifly behind the other boy. “This is Rei-chan!”

 “You two look happy,” Makoto commented with a soft smile. “It must be hard being so far away from him.”

 Nodding, Nagisa’s smile turned a bit sad. “Mhm, I miss him a lot. But we video chat every day, even with the time difference. It makes it better.”

 “You never video chatted with me while you were in Unova,” Sousuke said to Rin with a light shove to his shoulder.

 “Shut up, you big lump,” Rin said, shoving him back.

 “Can I join you?”

 The four of them looked up to the source of the new voice and Makoto was surprised to see Haru standing behind him with Vaporeon in tow.

 “Haru! I thought you didn’t want to come?” Makoto asked as his roommate pulled out a chair and sat down without waiting for an answer from anyone present.

 “Ooh, who’s this?!” Nagisa yelled, his sunny smile returning.

 “Oi, Haru! Who said you could sit with us?” Rin said, his words sounding harsh but there was a smile on his face that said otherwise.

 “Makoto said it was okay, right?” Haru responded coolly, fixing his blue gaze on Makoto.

 Swallowing, Makoto let out a slightly nervous laugh. “Yeah, sure. I’m just glad you decided to come.”

 “Wait, how do you know each other?” Nagisa said, having caught Rin calling Haru by his name.

 “We knew each other as kids,” Rin supplied, reclining in his own chair and slinging his arm over the back. “Used to be on a swim team together.”

 Haru nodded to confirm Rin’s words. He pulled another chair out and Saba

 “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Haru-chan! I’m Nagisa!”

 Haru scowled. “Cut it out with the -chan.”

.

 When Makoto and Haru returned to their dorm room, it was a lot later than either of them anticipated. Makoto didn’t expect to make such fast friends at this shindig, and he      really    didn’t expect Haru to show up after the disdain for the event his displayed earlier.

 Kawa leapt off Makoto’s shoulder and onto his bed, where he was already curling up for sleep before Makoto even had his jacket off.

 “That was really fun,” Makoto said, sitting down on the bed and slipping his shoes off. “I’m so glad you decided to come down, Haru-chan.”

 Haru stopped in removing his own hoodie, raising a dark brow at Makoto.

 The brunet, realizing his misstep, giggled and clapped a hand over his mouth. “Sorry. I think Nagisa rubbed off on me a little.”

 A hum was all he got from Haru before a comfortable silence descended between them as they got ready for bed. Haru took the bathroom first, since he had class earlier than Makoto the next day and thus needed to go to bed earlier. Makoto took the time he spent waiting for his turn to text his mother, letting her know about the good time he had this evening and the new friends he had made. He liked to keep her updated on the daily so she wouldn’t worry too much about him.

 “Bathroom’s yours,” Haru said as he emerged in his pajamas, which was really just an oversized t-shirt and shorts. He flopped down on his bed and grabbed his phone off the nightstand, presumably setting his alarm for the morning.

 Muttering a small thanks, Makoto gathered his own belongings and made his way to the bathroom. He took a quick shower and brushed his teeth, and almost left the bathroom before he remembered he still needed to take out his contacts. He stowed them in their little case and squeezed some contact solution into each compartment to keep them from drying out. Then he settled his glasses on his nose and left the bathroom.

 He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw not one but two Pokémon taking up the space on his bed, Saba curled up close to Kawa and both sound asleep.

 “Um…”

 “I warned you,” Haru said. When Makoto turned to look at him, his roommate was smirking. “You can wake her up and move her.”

 “But she looks so comfortable…” Makoto said, a slight whine to his voice. It was practically illegal to move a sleeping Pokémon, especially when they looked so cute.

 To Makoto’s surprise, Haru scooted over and fixed him with a serious stare. “Alright, then sleep in my bed tonight.”

 “What…?  No! I can’t do that!” Makoto exclaimed, already feeling himself go red in the face.

 Haru shrugged, though he was still staring intently at Makoto’s face.

 Makoto could have sworn there was a slight tinge of pink to the other’s cheeks.

 Sighing, Haru got up from his bed and picked his Vaporeon up from Makoto’s bed. “C’mon, Saba, don’t hog Makoto’s bed.”

 Stunned, Makoto watched Haru carry his Pokémon over to his own bed with little to no effort. Which was shocking, since most Vaporeon usually weighed around sixty pounds.

 Must be the swimmer muscles, Makoto reasoned with himself.

 “Are you just going to stand there all night?” Haru asked after he’d already laid both Saba and himself back into bed.

 Blinking rapidly to regain some sense of himself, Makoto let out a sheepish laugh. “Ahh...no, I...I’m going to bed,” he said and he padded over to his now vacated bed, throwing his clothes on the floor to be picked up later. He crawled under the blanket, careful not to kick Kawa with his long legs.

 “I’m turning off the light now,” Haru said before the entire room was plunged into darkness.

 “Good night, Haru. Good luck with classes tomorrow,” Makoto said.

 “You too,” Haru said mid-yawn. Makoto heard shuffling as Haru rolled onto his side, facing away from Makoto.

 Makoto just laid there for a little bit, staring up at the ceiling through the darkness with a small smile on his face.

 University was going to be fun.

Fic Prompt: Free Day Thursday

Continued from the last one:

Despite assurances that he would soon forget about Magikarp and look for a stronger Pokemon partner, June and Leo quickly realized that their son was stubbornly sticking to his plan. On the one hand, that was somewhat impressive for a four year old who tended to change his mind about what to eat for lunch three times in four minutes. But on the other hand, a Magikarp really wouldn’t protect him from any wild Pokemon in a foul mood. Or, more likely, from classmates insisting on battles to help their own Pokemon get stronger. 

“I wish you weren’t leaving,” June said without much preamble. She set down a mug of black coffee on the desk.

Leonardo blinked bleary eyes at her for a second, then registered the smell of the coffee.  “Hwwa-? What time is-?”

June snorted with a kind of fond exasperation and reached over her husband’s shoulder to stack his research and slip it back into a binder. “Almost seven. If you still wanted to walk Elliot to the bus stop before your lecture today, you’d better get moving.”

The gangly man made a bizarre sound somewhere between a squawk and a cough, and snatched at the cup of coffee. His lecture notes on Sinnoh’s ancient myths almost fluttered to the floor before he managed to catch them between two fingers with his other hand. As he leapt out of his chair, he nearly tripped over Regent, who had fallen asleep waiting for his human partner to go to bed the night before. Puff, June’s aging Flareon, made a complaining trill as her favorite perch was disturbed. 

Regent stood and shook himself, ignoring Puff’s protests. She would re-settle herself next to the incubators and fall asleep again in a matter of minutes, she just wanted everyone to know that she thought Regent should’ve stayed still a few more hours. Regent stretched and let out a bellowing yawn, then looked pointedly at the humans.

“Oh, Regent!” June leaned over to stroke his mane. “Would you mind getting Lily up?”

With a pleased rumble, the Pyroar ambled out the open door and padded down the hall towards the baby’s room. No doubt he would make sure that Rosy the Lilligant saw him. Their “sibling rivalry” was beginning to get ridiculous.

June crossed the lab to scoop up her still-yowling Flareon. “Aww, poor Puff-Puff,” she teased. “The former Terror of the Battle Frontier demands uninterrupted naps!”

“Well we got her that heated bed,” Leo yawned, “But she only wanted the box.”

“What did we end up doing with the bed, anyway?” June asked as she set Puff down next to the incubators.

“You put it in the shed for wandering Pokemon, I think,” Leo said, squinting as he tried to remember. “Either that, or Thor took it.”

If his Wartortle had indeed taken the Pokemon bed, it was unlikely that they would get it back. Thor liked to horde things. Pacifiers, Pokebeans, socks, picture books. There didn’t seem to be much rhyme or reason to it, but he wouldn’t share any of it with any of the other Pokemon in the house. Not even members of his own team. Only Leo and Elliot could retrieve items from his pile.

Leo followed his wife downstairs with his notes under his arm. He stopped to place his empty mug in the sink and his notes on the table, then headed for the mudroom to find his shoes. Elliot was already there, adjusting the velcro straps on his own sneakers.

“Morning, bud!” Leo smiled down at him. “Ready to go?”

“Uh-huh.” Elliot nodded, but looked a little distracted. “Only I’m not, ‘cause I need a Pokeball, but I can’t find that guy.”

“A Pokeball?” Leo raised his eyebrows. “You planning on catching somebody?”

He leaned over to unlock the door and ushered his son out ahead of him.

Elliot looked up at him with a patient expression. “You said, you said and Mommy said if I find another Pokemon to be our helper guy, I could have a Magikarp friend.”

Ah, now Leo understood. “Oh, no buddy, that’s not what Mommy and I meant! We were thinking you could take Luna or Thor with you when I leave for Snowpoint City.”

He wasn’t supposed to be gone that long. If this portal-sighting turned out to be another dead end, he could very well be back before Elliot’s third week of kindergarten. But all the same, word from other members of the Titan Initiative was that there was another group looking into the Ultra Beasts, and supposedly they did not play well with others. That could complicate the expedition. If he was delayed in getting home for any reason, Leonardo wanted his little boy to be safe.

“But Luna and Thor are your Pokemon friends,” Elliot pouted. “They’re grown-up Pokemon!”

“You want one that’s your age, huh?” Leo chuckled. He reached down and swung Elliot up to sit on his shoulders. “Well maybe one of the eggs in the incubator will hatch before you turn five and they’ll help you take care of the Magikarp, huh?”

Elliot hummed noncommittally and rested his arms on top of his father’s head. “How come I can’t catch one instead?”

They stopped at the mailbox just as the preschool bus appeared at the end of the long road. Leo reached up to poke his son in the ribs playfully before setting him down.

“Remember what Mommy told you? The first time a Pokemon ever lets you catch them is a really special experience when you’re little. We thought you’d want that to be with your Magikarp partner on your birthday.”

“But I gotta wait forever for that!” Elliot sputtered.

Leo shook his head with a grin. “Three weeks is not forever, bud.”

He set Elliot down as the bus pulled up.

“Well how many days is it?” Elliot asked.

“Twenty-one days.”

“Forever!” the little boy gasped indignantly.

“No it’s not,” Leo retorted. He crouched to hug Elliot. “Have a good time at school, Elli. I have to go teach in the city today, but I’ll see you at dinner, okay?”

As he waved goodbye to his son, Leo glanced up at one of the many bird Pokemon that frequented the trees in their walkway. “I don’t suppose any of you would be interested in playing bodyguard to a kindergartner and a Magikarp?” he asked dryly.

A suspiciously red scale on the edge of a Pidgeotto’s beak made him rethink that idea fairly quickly.

okay I am very behind on these and skipping a few for right now because I finished this one first, but I will go back to them. things have been bad for me personally but I am going to do my best to try to do these okay............

this one super got away from me but I’m pretty happy with it, I think?? I have to give @drfennel the credit for coming up with this idea tho!!!

Title: Disaster

Pairing: Prof Aurea Juniper/Fennel (Scientificshipping)

Rating: um pg maybe? but there is nothing graphic at all but it might be implied a bit

Fandom: Pokemon

The professor knew it annoyed Fennel when she set an alarm for their days off, but she didn’t care most days. Fennel didn’t have to get up if she didn’t want to. She slept like a rock as it was, it wasn’t as if it would wake her up, anyway.

Sitting up, the brunette stretched out her arms, throwing the covers over her sleeping girlfriend and picking up her robe from off the floor. She was extremely under dressed for how chilly the room was, despite wearing a t-shirt and pajama pants, not sure why they kept it so cold in the first place. The only reason she could think of was the excuse to use all of the blankets they had acquired for some reason over the years. She counted three on the bed alone at the moment, and it never seemed like enough.

She made her way downstairs slowly, but stopped in her tracks when she heard a quiet chatter. One of the voices was very familiar – her father. What was he doing here? When did he get here? Was he on the phone? Who was he talking to at eight in the morning?

After covering but a few more steps, she realized the other person at their kitchen table was none other than the world renowned Pokemon researcher – Professor Oak. Her father had a habit of showing up unannounced, which she never terribly minded, but to bring a guest, and one that she had nothing but an exceedingly professional relationship with?

“Aurea!” her father called when he finally noticed her, raising his cup of coffee with a broad grin. “Come, join us!”

Aurea Juniper pulled the strings on the robe at her waist to better cover herself, despite being fully clothed. Should she go back to her bedroom and make herself more presentable? Her father and their colleague both appeared to be dressed, groomed, and ready for the day already. She looked like quite a sloppy mess in comparison.

Not only was she a mess, but so was their house. Had she known someone was coming over, she would of cleaned up a bit. Her and Fennel’s laundry was thrown in a pile by the basement steps, there were chip and cookie bags littered throughout the living room that they had left the night before, some of which were probably empty.

“Aurea! I’m cold, come back to bed!” she heard Fennel yell before she could decide what her action plan was, feeling her face lose all its color.

“I, um...” the youngest professor started. How long had the two men been here? Hopefully they had just arrived, and hopefully Fennel would put some clothes on should she choose to come find out what was keeping her.

“My dear, Sam and I were just talking about you. He would love to hear more about the trip you took to the Sinnoh mines looking for fossils,” Cedric Juniper didn’t at all seem phased by how awkward she must of appeared, let alone her girlfriend calling to her.

The younger Juniper chose to ignore her girlfriend for now – perhaps the others didn’t hear her, though she could be pretty loud. The thought alone sent a chill up her spine in really hoping that they hadn’t arrived but a few hours ago.

“When, um, did you get here, Papa?”

“Last night, it was fairly late, around two, I think. I knew you wouldn’t mind the two of us here just for the night. You were both already in bed, I was hoping to have a few beers with you.”

They had arrived a few hours after they had gone to bed, which cleared her of that anxiety.

“Ugh, honey, I’m so cold, would you-” Fennel appeared as Aurea hoped she wouldn’t, draping her body over her and pressing her chin in to her shoulder. Nothing but her robe and a blanket covering her, also stopped in her tracks at the realization of their guests. “Oh, hi!” The scientist waved cheerfully to the two men, both waving back as if they were friends greeting each other on the street. Her tired demeanor seemed to evaporate immediately when she realized they had company, but it didn’t seem to occur to her to get dressed, either.

“Fennel! Ah, so good to see you, my dear!” Cedric held his arms out stretched, Fennel racing down the steps to hug him.

“Doctor Fennel, I didn’t expect to see you as well!” Professor Oak seemed surprised, but not offended in the least by her presence.

“Oh, well, I live here, Professor,” Fennel shrugged at that. “Are you guys hungry? I’ll make us all pancakes!”

None of them seemed to of found this all as weird or awkward as Aurea Juniper had. Fennel was rushing around the kitchen half naked making breakfast. Professor Oak, a researcher whom she had admired for as long as she could remember, was seated across from her father, both of which could of very well heard them messing around night. But, surely they had not, if it were that late when they arrived. The evidence was there, even if only she herself saw it, especially the beginnings of a bruise on Fennel’s neck that was visible if the robe moved off her shoulders the right way.

At some point, Aurea had become brave enough to seat herself at the table with the two guests. Her father poured her a cup of coffee, even placing the cream and sugar in front of her.

“You know, there’s quite a bit of space in the house. You have, what, three extra rooms? You should really consider making this a bed and breakfast place for trainers passing through,” her father seemed satisfied with his suggestion, taking a long sip from his coffee. “Or, at least until you have your own children.”

Aurea gave a small nod yet couldn’t tear her eyes off of her girlfriend, who had longed dropped the blanket once held around her shoulders somewhere between the stairs and the kitchen, clad now only in a robe. She moved effortlessly through the kitchen, mixing the ingredients, humming to herself. On a normal morning, she’d approach her, wrapping her arms around her, Fennel ignoring her advances and continuing her breakfast concoction. She felt as if the other two men noticed her staring at the other woman, tearing her eyes off of her and to the cup of coffee before her. She wasn’t staring for the reason they had probably implied, anyway, but for the fact that she was inappropriately dressed.

Fennel caught her glance for half a second, smiling and raising her eyebrows. Aurea tilted her head in the direction of their room, hoping she would take the hint. She did not.

She truly couldn’t be upset with Fennel in any of it, neither of them knew the senior professors made themselves at home last night with no warning. Aurea found herself in a place of deep regret giving him a house key, it was her own fault for inviting him knowing full well that he would make himself right at home and invite his own guests.

“I, um...wish I had known you both were coming,” Aurea started. “I would of cleaned up the house a bit more.”

“Your father told me that you had purchased a house, but he neglected to tell me that you shared it with the lovely Doctor Fennel,” Oak was ever the professional, smiling, ignoring the statement that Aurea had confessed that their house was in disarray, nor seeming phased that she had a live in girlfriend, if he had even put that together. It wouldn’t have been difficult.

Fennel had turned and smiled at the compliment, winking and continuing to focus on her mixture.

“Aurea can be quite modest and untelling, aren’t you, dear?” Cedric laughed, Oak laughed, and even Fennel laughed, leaving Aurea wondering what was so funny. “You two have been here together for, what, about a year now? She had enough of spending the weekend in your apartment above the lab.”

“Papa,” the younger professor spoke in a hushed tone, “I don’t exactly broadcast that she lives here. Or that we’re together. I wish that you wouldn’t, either.”

“Oh, well, you should,” Professor Oak seemed to address the building tension, laughing, stirring his coffee off handedly. “You and Doctor Fennel have both done quite well for yourselves if you ask me.”

Usually she would of accepted the compliment with poise and grace, but she made it known for a nod for now.  

“You know, I remember when you were...what, couldn’t have been more than ten years old. Old enough to begin your own Pokemon journey, for sure. You and your father were visiting Kanto, and I asked you why you weren’t on a Pokemon journey and offered you a starter. You said you didn’t want to train Pokemon, you wanted to study them.”

“Pancakes are done!” Fennel’s announcement cut off their thoughts, scraping them off the pan and on to the plate she placed in the center of the table.

The brunette gave way to a smile when they met glances as Fennel took the seat next to her. She was still incredibly uncomfortable with how they were both presenting themselves, but for that half of a second, she didn’t mind.

“My darling daughter, I have but one more favor to ask. Can you take us to the port? We need to get a ferry to Virbank.”

“Can’t you just take a taxi?” Aurea visibly rolled her eyes and sighed at this. “You drop in, bring a guest, completely unannounced, might I add, you spend the night, now you need a ride to the docks?”

“Aurea’s just cranky because we didn’t get to sleep until late last night.” Fennel said through bites of her pancakes, seemingly unaffected by any of this. “Let me get dressed and I’ll take you guys.”

“Fine, whatever,” the professor relented. She wanted to at least enjoy her breakfast, the only thing she could enjoy about the morning. She was mostly certain that Professor Oak would never see her the same way again, despite her wanting to share her research notes from Sinnoh with him. It didn’t seem appropriate now. Or maybe it’d be a very good distraction.

Before she could mention it, Fennel rose from her seat, announcing that she was going upstairs to get ready, leaving the three of them.

Cedric must have finally sensed his daughter’s annoyance with the entire morning, bringing up her fossil research again. Professor Oak had not seem at all bothered by anything that had happened, and Aurea was determined that the one thing she would take away from today was his approval on her research theories. Or, at least, give her something to ponder that she might not of thought of already.

“Well, we best be going. The ferry isn’t going to catch itself!” Cedric and Oak had grabbed their luggage from the Jeep, throwing it over their shoulders and making their way over to the dock itself.

“Aw, already? But I barely got to see you guys!” Fennel had followed them close at their heels, which for some reason, wasn’t what the other woman expected her to do. Now she would have to get out of the car and see them off.

“I’m sure I could find something for you do in Kanto if you ever wanted, Doctor,” Professor Oak gave her a wink and a smile, extending his arm for her to shake his hand.  It was harmless, along with the thought that Fennel would return to Kanto at all.

Aurea somehow was able to separate her father from the group, pulling him off to the side of the building while Oak kept Fennel distracted. She would of preferred to have spoken to him over the phone later, but she wasn’t about this eat at her until then, either.

“I don’t care that you come here and stay, I really don’t. But please tell me when you’re coming, let alone when you’re bringing guests! Professor Oak is someone I’ve admired my entire life, and you bring him here, unannounced, tell him I’m living with another very esteemed colleague, that I’m dating her, and to you this is somehow entirely okay?!”

“I simply don’t see what the fuss is, Aurea. I don’t think you need to be ashamed, if-”

“I’m not ashamed!” his daughter cut him off, brows furrowed at the seemingly oncoming accusation.

“Then what?”

“Fennel is a very respected scientist. She has her own lab, her own scientific pursuits…I don’t care that others know that we collaborate often on projects, but I just feel that it is best right now if the entire scientific community didn’t know that we were living together. It...doesn’t seem professional.”

Her father remained calm as ever, giving a slight shrug. “So? Out with it, then. The sooner the better, you know that.”

“Don’t you see how this comes across to other professionals? What would you think if you heard that two well known scientists were dating?”

“Not everyone looks at these things as you do, Aurea. You’re two like minded individuals who forged a relationship based on your interests. There’s lots of fellow scientists that are in relationships, it’s not as uncommon as you may believe,” the senior professor took a seat on the bench they seemed to be hovering over. He certainly wasn’t in any hurry to catch a ferry.

The brunette conceded, taking her place next to him. “This is different.”

“What, because you’re gay?” She wasn’t confirming anything, nor denying it, simply staring at the ground upon how bluntly her father grazed the subject. She didn’t think she ever heard him say it out loud before, though he seemed to be stating it as a fact than anything to give thought to.  “While I’m not able to relate to your plight, you should know that people won’t care as much as you think they will, especially here in Unova. You know how much we pride ourselves on our differences.”

She could feel her body tensing up, her heart racing, and tears stinging her cheek before she realized they were there. Looking up, she caught Fennel’s eye for a second, still engaged in her seemingly pleasant conversation with the other professor. She was too far away to hear them clearly, and hopefully far enough that Fennel didn’t become distracted by her posture as a cry for help when it wasn’t. At that, she pushed her shoulders back, inhaling and exhaling deeply. “I...I just don’t want this to be the thing that defines us. We’ve worked so hard to be where we are, professionally...”

“It won’t be, if you don’t let it. People talk, you can’t stop that. But I don’t want you going through life thinking you need to be secretive about something that has no effect on anyone else besides you and her.”

“Her family isn’t happy...” she wasn’t sure why this was the first thought that came to her, besides that it did, indeed, affect a few others.

“But they know. So who cares.” He pulled his daughter in to a tight hug. “You’re both doing fine. Ask her to marry you already.” At this he pressed a kiss to her cheek, releasing her from his grasp and waving as he made his way to the ticket booth, not allowing her any time to formulate an answer if she had one.

“I hope you didn’t yell at him too much,” Fennel approached her where she stood, blissfully unaware of the conversation that took place, grabbing her hand.

“Not as much as I wanted to,” she admitted.

“I love your dad. He has the coolest friends. You’re so lucky,” Fennel mused. “Did you know Professor Oak invented the Pokedex? You’d never know how important he was by just talking to him. He’s so down to earth, and really funny, too.”

“I guess that’s why he and Papa get along so well.”

The professor became very aware that Fennel was holding so tightly on to her hand as they made their way back to her Jeep. She could of let go a while ago, and Fennel would of followed suit.

But she didn’t.

Ok people this is my first ACS fic so deal with it. Chapter 1: Normal mornings.

Cyrus woke up startled startling Dawn who had been trying to wake him up carefully; the blue haired man really didn’t notice he only noticed that he was drenched: did he have another nightmare? He didn’t think so it hadn’t felt like one… He looked up when he felt a very female hand on his shoulder, his soaked in-gross-sweat shoulder to see Dawn looking at him worried.

“Cy?” Asked Dawn concerned.

“Yeah Dawn?” Was all he asked back once he found his voice again.

“Did you have a bad dream?” Cyrus hated the fact that Dawn would assume that, but it was a logical question because since he had been realized from the psychiatric ward into her care he had a lot of those.

“No.” Was the bluenettes firm answer while he closed his eyes taking deep breaths while he saw flashes of his dream/memory: this was worse that a nightmare, those he could escape…  

“You sure because you’re: sweating, trembling and even crying.” Stated Dawn and Cyrus barked a humorless laugh.

“Crying, huh? Pretty sure that that’s a new one.” Was all the ex villain said before reaching with his right hand to touch his face to confirm what he was being told while his left hand traveled up his torso towards his collar to find his ring missing….At this Cyrus started to panic he couldn’t lose that too. “Where is my ring?” He asked panicking.

“Your wha?” Asked Dawn while she looked how her BF started to take his shirt off before looking for something inside it.

“My ring! My we- My ring it’s a solid band of white gold 18k with a blue line in the center!” Explained the man and after throwing the pillows around the room before looking under his duvet: it was then that Dawn heard the sound of something metallic hitting the wooden floor.

“Gotcha!” Exclaimed Dawn once she held the ring on her palm: it metallic white-ish color to it and by Arceus was it heavy…. This ring must have cost a small fortune!

“Thank Arceus!” Said Cyrus coming out from under the duvet, still shirt less, taking the ring and held it close to his heart.

“So you are feeling better now? No more destroying your bed?” Asked Dawn as she sat down on the bed next to her friend and looked at the mess he made. Oh well it would have been worse if they had lost that ring: small mercies and all that.

“Yes thank you and sorry…” Mumbled Cyrus looking at the ring the same way one might look at a beloved person: yep this was definitively the strangest thing Dawn had lived with Cyrus and she had known him when he was a crazy maniac out to destroy the universe!

“So how come I never saw that ring before?” Asked Dawn feeling curios, she would ask about the dream latter.

“I usually have it around my neck like a necklace with a leather cord: It’s mine, it keeps me sane: it’s my anchor. If I can feel it there I know I’m in the present neither in the past nor in the void.” Explained Cyrus slowly rocking back and forth.

“Why don’t you wear it on your ring finger then? That way you can always see it.” Thought Dawn aloud, but Cyrus started to shake his head violently.

“No! I won’t.” Hissed the man between his teeth.

“Okay…” Said Dawn deciding to leave the ring alone for now. “So what where you dreaming about?” She asked in a conversational tone.

“The past.” Stated the man cryptically and if it wasn’t because they were friends and Dawn knew what he was talking about she would have hit him then and there. When Cyrus said the past it was something Dawn knew not to ask questions about: it was a time between Cyrus late teens and Mid twenties where he had been away from Sinnoh and happy? before he stopped taking his meds which led to his last big crisis and a trip to the mental hospital. Cyrus hadn’t been willing to share more about that moment of his life. “So what were you doing in my room?”

“We have lunch with your gramps and when I woke you were asleep so I came to wake you…” Explained Dawn. “So why don’t you go and enjoy a nice warm shower while I look for something better than a leather cord for that ring.” Suggested the young woman and Cyrus just nodded before thanking her.

After entering the bathroom Cyrus held the ring in one of his clenched fist while he used the door too slowly slide to the floor once he was sitting he could feel the tears fall down his face he looked up, but he didn’t see the ceiling… He saw a pair of stormy grey eyes so dark that they were often mistaken for black looking at him with adoration and love, he saw the big warm hands of the owner of those eyes holding his own and warming them on cold evenings, crazy morning hair that made it look as if the person had just been electrocuted, breath taking smiles that once had been only his: he saw all that and many more memories in mere seconds. After passing a hand over his much shorter hair Cyrus decided it was time to shower.

He left the ring somewhere he knew he wouldn’t lose it before entering the shower he closed his eyes and allowed the memories to come back once again and make him feel worse than a monster… It is your own fault after all that those smiles aren’t yours any longer and that those eyes would be filled with hate if they ever saw you again. Whispered a voice that did sound a lot like his fathers in the back of his mind, not even death would the man leave him. After the shower Cyrus took his meds and after dressing himself for the day he went and cleaned the mess he made from his room.

After a while Dawn stuck her head in and showed him an silver chain for his ring he accepted the chain feeling gratefully after he slipped the ring back in place Dawn dragged him to the living room to have breakfast on the couch and they talked about how shitty day time TV was while they shared jokes only they could get: killing time that way.

Before Cyrus knew what had exactly happened and where the time had gone he found himself thanking his Crobat for the fly and returning it to its pokeball while he stood in his grandfathers back garden, he looked around the place. “Nothing has changed…” “What did you say there Cyrus?” Asked Dawn from her place a few feet away from him. “Nothing, just that this place hasn’t changed at all.” Said Cyrus. “So are you ready to face the music?” Asked his BFF to him (Dawn herself had given her that status) at his blank look Dawn decided to word her question differently. “Ready to see your gramps?” “Would it change something if I said no?” “Nope we already are here buddy: so sorry, but not sorry… Mr. Akagi we are here! And I’ve got him with me this time!” Screamed Dawn at the top of her lungs while Cyrus winced at her volume and allowed himself to be dragged to the backdoor. The backdoor opened while they walked towards it to reveal the smiling face of Mr.Akagi who was happy to see the young people, but most of all to see his grandson something akin to happy. Before Cyrus could say anything he was pulled into a hug by his Grandfather he returned it awkwardly, but he did. What do people have with hugging me?

“Cyrus my boy it is so good to finally see you!” Exclaimed the elder gentleman.

Cask of Imnotspellingthat, Cynthia

The Cask of Amontillado: betrayal, grudge, broken trust. remember the good old days when this one was a meme

so this kind of ties into another longer au fic i’m writing (not THAT long, probably only about 10k at most) and is just here to give cynthia’s pov on the whole mess. whoops.

this turned out far longer than expected.

I remembered that night, as I sat, looking out at Sinnoh’s ocean, how much the League’s waterfall helped calm my nerves. It was inevitable that we’d have to head to Coronet - Not just myself this time, but all the firepower that Sinnoh’s League could provide. I’d heard Flint contacting Volkner earlier, and not long after that, Aaron calling Gardenia. We all knew what kind of fight was coming.

Cyrus Akagi. The person waiting for us at Spear Pillar…At first, I’d thought we could reason with him. I’d thought he wasn’t so far gone that he’d force the League’s hand, but when the darkness had started to swirl around the peak of Mt. Coronet, spreading into the skies across the region, I knew I would be fighting to the death that night. It seemed like even the stars were being devoured by what he had summoned, and all anyone could do was prepare.

What he had done in Celestic Town should have been a telling enough sign.

The sound of footsteps against the grass, which was still wet from earlier rains, had broken me from my trance. I hardly flinched when it happened, but I’d clearly reacted enough for my subordinate to take notice that something was wrong. Then again, I shouldn’t have expected less from Lucian. They were keen, to say the least, keen as a Psychic-type expert had to be. I only smiled at them, bowing as they approached to look out at the ocean ahead before sitting beside me, a thick book in hand. In the distance, even the light from Sunyshore’s lighthouse shone through - A literal beacon of hope, almost as if it told us what would come from Volkner’s involvement.

“Am I interrupting anything?” Lucian asked, adjusting their glasses before looking out towards the lighthouse beam, “If you’d prefer a moment alone, I’m happy to leave you with one.”

“No, not at all,” I replied, “It’s getting lonely up here, actually. I’m more than happy to have you here.”

Nodding, Lucian turned to me.

“I actually came out here to ask for your help,” Lucian admitted, “I’m afraid even I’ve become caught up in everyone’s squabbling.”

Again. It always happened when anything serious befell the League, and this was no exception. I could only imagine it this time. By that point, it had died down, of course - In my mind, I could only see Bertha pacing through her chambers, Flint having retired quietly to his quarters after the last ounce of energy had been drained from him, and Aaron...I could only see Aaron in their chambers, allowing Drapion a chance to go as wild as it could in hopes that it’d calm their nerves.

Even I could feel the dissent between everyone. The tension, whether or not Lucian liked to admit it, was still emanating off them.

I let my attention be drawn to the waterfall once again. It wouldn’t be long, not even an hour, before we departed for Spear Pillar, taking any Gym Leaders willing to fight along, but there we were, fighting while things were still calm.

Whether or not camaraderie would return to the League...Nobody could tell at that point. I needed them, though. My Elite Four...At that point, they were the last four I could turn to. Everyone had been able to tell when I’d returned to the League from Celestic Town, bones aching and a shoulder limp from the fight I’d been in that day.

Nobody knew that it hadn’t been Cyrus who had hit me with such a blow.

Lucian exhaled deeply and opened their book, a place marked very close to the end.

“Out of curiosity,” I asked, “What are you reading?”

Lucian chuckled, closing their eyes in thought. They’d clearly become invested in this book, enough that they could spare a moment, before finishing, to say their piece on it.

“It’s called ‘Coronet Road.’ I assume you’ve heard of one of Unova’s up-and-coming trainers, Shauntal?” Lucian replied, “This was published last year. It’s her first book. I must say, she shows promise as an author.”

Shauntal. The name had been passed around at a recent League conference - Alder had talked about a young Ghost-type expert, twenty years old at most, who had shown immense strength as a trainer. While he hadn’t said anything about taking her in as one of Unova’s Elite Four, everyone in the room could sense that he’d made his final choice.

“Yes, I remember hearing Alder talk about her.” I spoke with a tone just as light as Lucian’s, hoping idle chatter would help to ease the thick tension. “I’d heard she was a trainer, but nothing about her writing career. With the way things are going, it looks like he wants her as one of his Elite.”

Lucian’s entire being seemed to brighten, suddenly.

“If the chance arrives for us to speak, I’d love to meet her,” Lucian continued, “It’s ironic, though. This book is about a woman’s life of seeking Giratina out for her own, unknown purposes. Suddenly, we’ve found ourselves faced with a situation much like this. I can’t help but wonder how she feels about this.”

I let myself fall in that moment, lying down against the damp ground and looking up at the night sky. It hadn’t all gone dark. Sinnoh still had some of its stars left. With my Pokémon by my side, I had no choice but to succeed. For my region...And for those who I could no longer trust and fight alongside.

“...I personally think,” I said, forcing a smile, “She’s already planning the sequel with this happening. If that’s the case, shouldn’t we make sure this world doesn’t disappear on her?”

Lucian let out a soft laugh, standing up and turning back towards the League.

“Indeed, we must.” Suddenly, their voice dropped an octave, taking on a much more stern tone. “...I know what’s been troubling you, Cynthia. Are you certain you’ll be able to fight him?”

I only hummed in agreement.

“If you insist,” Lucian said, their voice laced with melancholy, “I won’t stop you from going ahead. I can’t imagine what that had felt like, though...I’m so sorry this had to end as it has.”

The image formed in my mind, clear as day. My clothes torn above my shoulder and blood staining the wall behind me, splattered against the ancient depiction of our region’s legends. In that moment, three people had stood in front of it, and in a way, we had been those legendary Pokémon.

Mind. The person who stood beside my opponent, awaiting the moment he could leave without another word.

Emotion. The boy I’d watched over dragged to his side with the promise of a new, better world, his massive Empoleon standing with bloodied claws as it waited for its next orders.

And willpower, caught off-guard in that single moment and thrown to the side before their greatest forces could emerge. In the moment Garchomp had emerged and bared her fangs, chasing the two at blinding speeds until they had escaped her pursuit through luck alone, I had thought, through blurred vision and my fade from consciousness, that I could still save him.

I finally stood up, turning to Lucian and shaking my head.

“…Don’t be,” I sighed, “Lucas didn’t know the weight of his actions when he left Celestic with Cyrus.” In the back of my mind, the thought occurred to me that this, coming out of my mouth, at least, was a complete lie. Lucas knew. “He’s my responsibility now.”

A Herd Better Left Unknown – One

---

Hearthome.

The second largest in all of Sinnoh, only bested by Veilstone in population and size. A religious hub – lined with contest halls and apartments that reach heights above the tree lines. With cobbled streets going into alleyways and main roads, lights lining the streets like iron giants.

Hearthome.

It’s where her extended family resides. Or, at least, one side of the family. Hikari had never quite taken the time to contact her maternal grandparents – no, it had ever even been in her mind. Not during her journey, as she frequented the town to bake – to take part in a few contests here and there or to visit the park lining the back of the whole city.

No, they had never been in her mind. Not even after she came back from Hell – to drown herself in activities she had on care for.

… So why was she walking these streets with such intent? With purpose in her strides, uncertain at times yes but with a clear goal in mind.

It had started at Christmas, as she and her mother spent the holiday together for the first time in more than three years. (Because even when Hikari was young, she hadn’t come home for a holiday such as that. It just hadn’t felt the same anymore – without Barry, without her father.) With her team members, acting the part of family and yes – Hikari did consider them family. They had been there for her in her moments of need. When she couldn’t fend for herself. They were family. But it also sparked the question:

---

“Why have we never celebrated with your parents?”

To call them her grandparents, though correct, had felt wrong on her tongue.

They had never been such a thing for her, after all. She didn’t even know their names.

Johanna had paused in her brushing of Constance. With a brush she had gifted the kit herself.

“Well,” she would start, only to pause once more. Hikari found herself ribbons to finger at – to roll over her knuckles and around her palm. “You know that they haven’t been the happiest with me. I’m sure you remember from when you were very little?”

And Hikari did remember. After her father had left, there had been many – many calls from her mother’s family. The exact details of those calls were blurry at best – she had been just four by that time after all. Hardly an age you fully remember things from.

All she knew, was that they seemed pleased in the fact that Koh left his family behind. Overjoyed, almost.

“But what about me?” The question would come, during the time where the line between a lit candle and a put out one becomes blurry. When the hours became nighttime – to match the lack of light outside. “I haven’t done them a thing. Wouldn’t they want to... To meet me?”

---

As February rolled around, Hikari had gotten the ability to do just as she wished. To contact her maternal grandparents, be it with their permission or not.

All she was armed with – was names and an address on a piece of paper.

A paper that she held tight between finger and thumb.

Hikari knew the city – truly, she did. But when it came to finding addresses, she was at a loss. Sixth Street, flat twenty-four. Impossible.

“Sofia and Melor Shishko...”

She rolled the names off her tongue, stopping by yet another apartment complex to read the tags that labeled the post boxes. With a finger, she ticked off each one until – with a skip to her heartbeat – she found a match.

Hikari read it three no- four more times, before she let herself believe it was true.

A torn label, worn by time but whole enough to be able to read.

‘Sofia Shishko / Melor Shishko.’

… So, she found it.

---

Sixth floor of the sixth street, flat twenty-four.

That is where the young girl found herself. The clock had just ticked past four – dinner time, in most homes. --Perhaps an inappropriate time to make a surprise visit.

That perhaps wouldn’t be so appreciated…

That, in the end, may have been pointless.

Her hands found the strap of her bag. Slung across her chest, it dug into her shoulder but it was something she needed to get used to. Her old bag had been torn beyond repair – and so her mother’s old school bag was her only option in replacement.

She wondered, if they would remember it.

Three rolls of her knuckles against the wooden door, enough to make it echo in the empty stairwell, followed by a step back. To make herself visible through the key-hole, if need be. And so she waited. Heard voices from inside – one young, one old. Piercing and unpleasant. When the lock of the door turned, then opened, Hikari hadn’t known what she had been expecting.

A young woman was certainly not one of them. Tall, with a gentle wave to her short blonde hair.

Words escaped her.

After a moment of silence, the woman was the first to break it. Gently, calmly – perhaps a little curiously as her light eyes scanned her over.

“Yes?”

She let her painful hold of her bags strap go. Let her hands fall to her sides, to grasp at the lines of her skirt instead. Much, much better.

“I’m… Uhm-“

“Veronika? Who on earth is at the door – tell them to leave!” Came a voice from within the home. The same shrill voice from before. “I’m not awaiting any visitors.”

Who Hikari assumed was Veronika called back, to hold on for a moment, before her attention once more turned to the stranger at the door.

“Sorry about that. Did you need any help?”

Hikari felt herself shake her head. An action of reflex, rather than will. Again, no words would leave her throat – no matter how hard she tried. … Who was this woman?

Is this the right home?

“Oh, well… Goodbye then?” Veronika went to close the door, a palm to the wood to lighten the sound as she pulled it towards her. Only to be stopped by a tug of the handle on the other side.

“Wait-“Hikari breathed, embarrassment coloring her cheeks. “Wait, wait. I’m sorry I’m- Is this the home of… Of Sofia and Melor Shishko?” Finally, the words spilled out. Awkwardly, clumsily. Like nothing she practiced or hoped for.

The blonde woman gave pause, head turning to look back over her shoulder before turning her attention back to Hikari.

“Of Ms. Sofia, yes... Are you an acquaintance of hers?”

Hikari tugged on the door, to force it open. To invite herself in, one way or another. She didn’t know why – knew it was not a proper thing to do yet she had done it. --The toe of her boot fit in the space between the door and doorway. To make sure, it wouldn’t be shut.

“I’m… I’m her granddaughter.” Desperation colored her tone for – did they not know? They must, they know… They just don’t know her. “I’m Hikari… Hikari Otsu.”

After a breath, two, of silence, she bit out. “Can I please come inside?”

---

A trespasser. That’s what Hikari felt like, as she sat – shoulders hunched and head hung, in a kitchen she never had been to in her short life. Dinner sat served and in hospitality, she had gotten her own plate. A smaller one, upon her request, but a plate nonetheless.

Nothing laid upon it, as she didn’t feel she earned the right to take any for herself.

Before her. Aged, tired and if the bandages around her wrists was anything to go by – sick, sat her grandmother. Sofia Shishko. --With long, silver silk hair set in a fairly old-fashioned bun atop her head. With a shawl to cover her shoulders, perhaps one she knitted on her own.

She ate, without a pause or care for the guest. And truly – she had no reason to stop. Hikari was the one who had invaded their privacy. Had, admittedly, forced her way inside past the helper known as Veronika.

It was surprising, that Sofia hadn’t told her to leave given how adamant she had been about leaving uninvited guests at the door just moments ago. Hikari had no right to be there, after all.

… They had never wanted to see her anyways, had they?

A hand came to rest on her shoulder, startling the young girl out of her thoughts. “Feel free to serve yourself, Hikari. Food is meant to be eaten, after all.”

Veronika disappeared as quickly has she had come. Into the Livingroom of the apartment to have a watch of her TV. Apparently, “Who knows the most” was her favorite show and dinner time was just when it was aired. The host’s voice traveled to the kitchen – asking questions about the highest point in Unova or the population density of Snowpoint.

Very little, would’ve been her own answer to the latter.

The clinking of dinner wear, the gentle padding of a napkin against chapped lips. Meal was had for two but only one ate. Eventually, not finding her words, Hikari served herself a plate of one of every food. Potato, a thin cut piece of Swinub complimented with a rich gravy and a mixture of carrots and peas.

A dish she has had many times at home.

“Does she feed you well?” Came Sofia’s shrill voice, between chews of her own food. “You look too thin to be eating right. I can see the bones of your ribs in that shirt of yours.”

Hikari turned her gaze down, hands reaching to correct the neckline of her shirt. The fine lace lining sat dirty from outdoor activity – the top underneath, not enough to cover herself properly. She felt exposed, and so took to moving her hair over her shoulders to better shield herself.

“She does. I just… Haven’t had that big of an appetite for a while, is all.”

She hadn’t truly felt hungry in months. Ate, simply because it was the right thing to do. Though, admittedly, as she continued to wander the region rather than staying in one place – Hikari had to admit that it was rather easy to ignore dinner. It was more on an inconvenience to get herself something to eat – be it pre-made or cooked.

--The days where she used to cook over a fire, huddled up on a log in a clearing – feeding both herself and her Pokémon – those were long past her now.  

“Well, you should eat more. Would fill out that shape of yours.”

You have no right to tell me what I should do.

“… Yes, Sofia.”

Sofia cut in. “Don’t address me as such. I’m your grandmother, after all.” Followed by a wave of her knife. Playful, perhaps. With good intention behind it.

Yet Hikari did not laugh, did not smile.

Because though it was true, that Sofia was her grandmother – as she sat before her, looked at her – she didn’t feel like one. She felt like a stranger, like anyone else in this world that Hikari did not know. There was no underlying love for this woman, there was no hope, no want for acceptance.

Hikari didn’t feel anything for this woman and perhaps she had hoped that she would.

Carefully, between bites of her modestly gathered plate, Hikari would breach the subject. Ask what she never before could.

“… Why did you never visit us?”

A scoff, a dab of tissue. Shaking hands moving astray strands of hair back over one ear.

“Your father didn’t want us there and so by extension, your mother wouldn’t allow us to come.” Sofia’s posture changed, to sit more relaxed. Her back, now fully pressed against the backrest of her kitchen chair. “Admittedly, it didn’t bother us all that much. She would learn from her mistakes eventually.”

“… Her mistakes?”

“For running off with that man. Terrible, really, for him to prey on such a young girl.” Venom sat at the tip of the aged woman’s tongue. What was once a soft, resting expression, formed into a deliberate frown. A wrinkle to her nose, the corners of her lips drawn downward. “The day he abandoned her was the day she tried to crawl back to us. Shameful, really.”

A pain in her hands, and Hikari realized she had held on to her utensils a bit too roughly. Relaxing her body, she would let her eyes dropped to her food. To think.

How could she say such a thing, about her father?

How dare they mock her mother for loving someone?

The taste of bile formed at the back of her tongue, her already lacking appetite destroyed.

“… You don’t know the reason for why he left.” She would bite out, after a moment of silence. “He… Maybe it wasn’t his choice, maybe he-“

“Oh, please. The day we got the news of the pregnancy, it was only a matter of time before he ran away.” Sofia stood, hands lying flat on the tabletop to properly support herself, before reaching behind her tp opening the door to her balcony. “Come here, child. Unless you’re going to finish that food.”

Hikari wasn’t.

--Following the elder outside, the cold sat prominent. It seemed to be no bother for Sofia, however, as she promptly took her spot in a plastic chair positioned against the home wall. In the pocket of her pants, a package of cigarettes would be brought out.

Hikari sat down next to her, knees together and back straight.

“You don’t know that,” she would amend. For truly, she believed that her father must have had good reason for leaving them.

The alternative was unthinkable.

Sofia rolled her shoulders, shaking hands coming to shield the fag as she lit it. One deep breath after another, the air around them filled with a very, very distinct smell. --Hikari found it in her to shield her nose, whenever possible.

“You don’t either, do you?” Meaning, behind those words. A look of curiosity, almost childlike, gleaming in the old woman’s eyes. “Now, Hikari. Why are you visiting your poor grandmother? I can’t believe that it’s out of love.”

Hikari’s hands knit together into the fabric of her skirt. “No. It’s not.”

“Spit it out, go on.”

“I-“And Hikari felt, that she had no good reason for her visit. Whatever she had had in mind, as she wandered the streets of Hearthome looking for a home she had never been to – it was gone. Perhaps it was a lie that she didn’t come here out of love.

She didn’t love Sofia. She didn’t love Melor. But… maybe she wanted to.

“… Perhaps it is because of love.” Slowly, her knees coming to press up against her chest. Seated as the child that she was, the toes of her socks peeking over the seats edge. “Perhaps I want there to be love between us.”

It was Sofia’s turn to sit quietly, only the gentle roll of the smoke filling the air around them. Hikari finds herself licking her lips, feeling the dry skin there and tries her hardest not to pick at it. It’s not proper.

“Do you think I hold any true affection for you?”

Something takes her breath away. Her hands, coming around her knees and keeping them trapped.

“You’re my grandmoth-“

“I have changed my mind, don’t call me that. I don’t want to be called that – not by a child of that man.”

Anger bubble into her throat. “I’m not my parents, I’m my own person.”

“No, you’re a product of a child molester and a daughter that picked the worst life for herself. Nothing more.” The butt of the cigarette press against the ashtray resting upon the table between them. With the stumped embers, a temper so rare for the young girl flared.

“You can’t say that about him.” She would bite out. Her chin find her knees to rest on. “My dad wasn’t bad. He- He wasn’t the greatest-“

Sofia rolled her eyes. “You can say that again.”

“—He wasn’t the greatest. But, at least he made me happy. He showed me things I didn’t know you could do-“

Without missing a beat, the elder woman let her comment spill free. “He did like them young, after all.”

Silence. And even though naivety was always rather clear with Hikari – a kiss, having been a rare tale within her young life. Much less, talk of intimacy. Of any such matters. --Yet, the implication of her grandmother’s tone made her stomach turn.

Hikari untucked herself – set her feet, firm on the concrete of the balcony flooring.

Her hands found the handles of her seat, gripping them tightly.

“What are you saying?”

No words.

“How- How can you say something like that?” Bewilderment. Disbelief. Hikari rose, a few centimeters off her seat. “That is… That is the most horrible thing I have ever heard.”

“He is a child molester, sick – what’s to say he didn’t let his hands wander on his own ch-?“

“You’re horrible!” For once, taking stage. Cutting her grandmother off – standing, now, with light blue eyes wide and searching. “You’re absolutely horrible! How- I cannot believe you would even suggest that my father would do anything like that!”

--Yet, a small voice I her head reminds her. Forces her to remember, how his hands had found her thighs at the young age of four within the confines of a dimply lit hotel room. How his hands had come to rest, at her chest under a dress clad in strawberry patterns. Yet a small voice in her mind reminds her.

He almost did touch her in that manner.

---

He cupped her baby-cheeks and smiled. His thumbs pull at the corners of her mouth. His breath, wretched. With tear-filled eyes, he bruised her skin and forced a smile upon her.

Sometimes, she wondered who those tears had been for. Was it to show his deeper sorrow within his actions, was it something outside the realm of their hotel room that had upset him – or had he just been… sad?

“How could I get someone as… as cute as you, Hikari?”

He spoke so oddly.

He removed his hands, forgoing her cheeks for her thighs. In the dress she once had deemed her favorite – he touched her. Gently, at first – his thumbs brushing over her bare thighs. Then, up under her dress to cup her chest.

“Someone as cute as you.”

---

The milky eyes of her grandmother brought her back. To here, to the now. Where the cold of February bit at her cheeks – where the food she had been offered, pushed at the gape of her throat.

“I- I I I I know why mom doesn’t talk to you now. You, or Melor-“

Breath had found the aged woman once more. “He is dead.”

And so it was without thought – without regard for her words that Hikari replied. “Good. I’m sure he would’ve been just as terrible as you. I understand why we never visit you now.”

--With those words, with heat meeting the cold of her cheeks and with a stumble – Hikari returns inside. Fumbles, with the handle and is met by the worried gaze of Veronika. One that she ignores. It is quickly that Hikari dresses herself. Slips into her heavy boots – pulls her coat over her shoulders.

The door to the apartment is left ajar as she leaves. Only when Veronika is sure she has left, is it carefully closed.

And locked.

Part III of catching Cresselia!!! @constarlations I’m hoping we’ll finish it and not have a part IV. LOL WE LIKE STARTED THIS AROUND AUGUST 2016 AND LOOK HERE ABOUT A YEAR LATER WE’RE FINALLY WORKING ON IT

Meanwhile...

Rosa: LET US GO

???: Let you go? Why would I do that?

Dawn: we promise not to intrude we swear

Lucas: YEAH WE WILL NEVER GO HERE AGAIN HAHA

The building starts to get warmer

???: Silly humans. I used to be like you... adventurous and kind. One day, one of my enemies burnt my families house for a joke. Let too many Lampent’s in. I never did get to see my family... my Abra... I suppose they are fine now, but you, my dear, you look exactly like the girl who took my life away. 

Rosa then begins to scream

Meanwhile

Nate is still crying and Yancy tries to comfort Nate, but he tell her to leave him alone. He is crying about how he was never able to tell her what he wanted to tell her. 

He decided they should go, but all of a sudden Rosa’s screams are heard from upstairs

Nate: Rosa?!

Yancy: SHE’S ALIVE!

Nate: Wait just a moment! If she is alive, then who’s-

The corpse grabs Nate’s ankle and says, “ Oh Nate-y~ Didn’t you say you loved me?”

Nate: NOT ROSA NOT ROSA LET ME GO LET ME GO

The basement begins to burst into flames on the east side

Corpse: but Nate-y~ we are soulmates. Stay with me forever and ever. You love me don’t y-

Yancy hits the corpse on the back of the head with a book and loses its grip

Corpse: FOOL YOU JUST RUINED MY HAPPILY EVER AFTER

The corpse is about to attack Yancy until Nate finds a peculiar looking shiny feather in the ruckus, which causes the corpse to flinch

Corpse: NO MY LOVE PLEASE -in the Rosa-est voice possible- I love you...

Nate hits the corpse with a nearby lamp and the corpse knocks out

Nate: Come on we have to get Rosa

Nate: -Kicks the door to the main hallway down, and sees that the ghost is lifting up Rosa and trying to stretch out her limbs or someshit-

Nate: Rosa

Rosa: Nate!

Apparently Nate’s makeup came off when it was so humid in the Strange House

???: HOW DID YOU ESCAPE?! No matter, rather than a fake corpse, I’ll just give you a REAL ONE

Rosa: NNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOO

Dawn and Lucas were knocked out during the initial attack so they wake up now

Dawn: What happ-

Lucas: ROSA!!

Dawn: What can we do?

Yancy: I have no idea

Nate calls out his Pokemon and starts to battle the ghost because he thinks it could actually be a Pokemon in disguise. The room gets hotter each minute, but as the Pokémon distract the ghost (possible ghost type), Nate is able to get Rosa free.

Nate: Don’t worry I’ll get you out of here I promise

Rosa: Nate I... I thought you were in Alola... This whole summer you were ignoring me... I thought you didn’t want to be friends anymore... - in tears now - I thought you didn’t care about me... that i would’ve of died without seeing you again... you’re really precious to me please never leave me ever again

Nate: I...

Rosa kisses him and Nate kisses back but the kiss is interrupted by the ghost

???: Such a shame you must die you two simply were a good couple

The ghost levitates Rosa away from Nate, but then the feather in Nate’s pocket begins to glow. When Nate takes the feather out from his pocket as it shines brighter than before

Dawn: IT CAN’T BE

Lucas: IT IS

Dawn and Lucas: THE LUNAR WING

Dawn and Lucas are happy to see the Lunar Wing and Yancy is super confused

The ghost flinches and screams at Nate to get the Lunar Wing away from it. Nate then holds up the Lunar Wing in the air

???: UGHHHHHHHHH NOOOOOOOO

As the ghost is blinded by the light, it lets go of Rosa

Nate: Rosa!

Rosa: Yeah?

Nate passes the feather to Rosa

Rosa: I got you fam. YO GHOST GIRL. IN THE NAME OF THE MOON -Rosa does the sailor moon poses- ILL PUNISH YOUUUUUUUUUU

???: UGHHHHHH THIS LIGHTTTTTTTTT

The ghost vanishes and the house burning for a second

Rosa: HOLY CRAP I JUST DID THAT!!! DID YALL SEE THAT?!

Dawn: We are ok thanks for asking...

Lucas: -whispers- let’s never return to Unova... ever...

Yancy: -whispers- take me with you

Nate: So ugh Rosa...

Rosa: Oh hey...

Nate: Look Rosa I really need to tell you something. I really lov-

Rosa: shhh

Nate: But I-

Rosa: shhhhhuuuuussssssshhhhh

Nate: Rosa please I

Rosa: sssssssssshhhhhhhhhuuuuuuuuuusssssshhhhhhhhh

Nate: Rosa I love you

Rosa: shhh- WAIT WHAT?!

Nate: I love you. It took me seeing your corpse to see that I really need to tell you... before it’s too late. I remember the first time meeting you in the Battle Subway, how we fought together the Battle bosses and went out for ice cream to celebrate your big win. You’re so kind and sweet and always have this big smile on your face and you're so passionate about the things you love and everything. We went around the world together and went to Kalos and Hoenn and all these adventures and I don't want them to stop there. I'm really sorry about ignoring you during my trip to Alola and keeping everything confidential but I did bring you something. It's a Z Ring, just like mine ha ha! Of course the sailor moon colors were crazy expensive but I managed and everything ha ha! 

Rosa: Nate, I can’t believe you did this all for me.. Nate I... Nate wake up

Nate: Huh?

Rosa: wake up

Nate closes his eyes and opens them to wake up in a desert-y field

Nate: FUCK

Rosa: -wakes up- morning already? HUH?! GUYS WAKE UP WAKE UP -she shakes Dawn and Lucas up-

Dawn: Ugh what happened???

Lucas: I feel like I lost 25 years off my life

Dawn: what is is Rosa????

Rosa: CRESSELIA JOINED MY TEAM

Dawn and Lucas: WHAT?????!!!!!!

Rosa shows off her Pokeball containing Cresselia as Yancy wakes up

Yancy: NATE CRAP THE MOVIE!!!!! WE WERE OUT FOR HOURS HOLY CRAP

Nate: YOU’RE RIGHT LETS GO

So Yancy and Nate run back to the set while Rosa, Lucas, and Dawn gather their things and head out. In the airport, Rosa, Dawn, and Lucas exchange numbers and all that stuff. You know say good bye

Rosa tells them how thankful she is for their help and how fun it was even though Dawn and Lucas don’t really remember what happened

All of a sudden Rosa says, “Oh! I forgot!”

Dawn and Lucas are confused. Then Rosa gives them unovan keychains to remember her by

Rosa: Im really happy that you two made my summer eventful... I had a long summer and everything and no one was there to be with me through it all... I'm leaving in a few days to a new region for a internship and I just felt like this summer was the last summer to be a kid again... going on in adventures... but none of my friends cared...

Dawn: Rosa ... I never thought...

Rosa: It’s sappy I know, but I’m just so happy you two brightened up my summer

Then the three hug it out bc of their beautiful friendship. 

Rosa: Well this is goodbye!

Dawn: I’ll message you everyday

Lucas: And I’ll tell you whenever there’s a new moon based pokemon around Sinnoh

Dawn: and Rosa, you have to talk to Nate how you feel

Rosa: ...Nate...

Meanwhile

Nate finally returns to Aspertia City from a long film day and decides to to strangely stop by the outlook

AND WHO IS THERE YOU MAY ASK? It is the one and only Rosa

Nate: Oh hey! I’m back. I got some Pokemon from Alola you might like

Rosa: ...

Nate: I also got some malasadas!

Rosa: ...

Nate: I also got a new hate I thought might suit you! ...Rosa? Rosa, I’m back and here t-

Rosa: You ditched me...

Nate: ...Rosa? Are you o-

Nate tries to put his hand on Rosa’s shoulder but then she knocks it off and faces him, her face is like she’s been crying for an hour like those kinds of faces

Rosa: you ditched me on my birthday... and you knew... you never bothered to call or do whatever. You left me the whole summer almost alone. If it weren’t for Lucas and Dawn pulling off a makeshift birthday party during my week there, no one would’ve cared

Nate: Rosa I tried to come ba-

Rosa: tried to. You never told me where you were. You only told me to stay away from you and you ditched me. You only came back here because of you stupid super hero movie role with Yancy. You’ve been here for the past week and never said anything because of your stupid movie role.

Nate: Well its not like you were here either for the past two weeks

Rosa: Who cares??!!

Hugh hears everything that’s happening and hides in the distance

Rosa: Everyone ditched me, even you

Nate: Well sorry if I had to go but I told you I needed to go

Rosa: Yeah! The day before everyone ditched me so much this summer it made me feel like crap

Nate: well sorry if i did but i’m here now Rosa

Rosa: IT’S AUGUST 31ST YOU SON OF A BITCH IT’S AUGUST 31ST SUMMER IS OVER. Starting next year we will be expected of shit in training season and soon we will be adults and shit and I wanted this summer to be the last summer that we could do something and you

Rosa breaks into tears and says once again that Nate and everyone else ditched her

Rosa: It doesn’t matter anymore. I figured that since you announced your trip to Alola last minute... I would do the same. I got an internship with the Aether Foundation

Nate: YOU WHAT????!!!!!

Rosa: That’s right! You’re not the only one who will get ahead of something. Idk but I leave tonight

Nate: Rosa during my studies I-

Rosa: I don’t need your bullshit. Infant I don’t need your friendship. Dawn and Lucas are better friends than you are

Nate: Rosa listen to me 

Rosa: No, you listen to me. During these almost three months you were MiA. I learnt what good friends are. Dawn and Lucas are good friends. They encouraged me to follow what I want to do and helped me through it. You aren’t a good friend.

Nate: Rosa listen to me please the Aether Foundation is-

Rosa: I’m through listening to you. I cared about you a lot and it seems you care a bullshit about me. I’m leaving tonight to Alola and to the Aether Foundation. And maybe, if i’m good enough, I’ll never come back here. Ever. Goodbye forever, Nate

So anyway Rosa leaves and Nate is so confused

Nate: What just...happened... The Aether Foundation...

Nate then runs home and calls someone from far away

???: Hello?

Nate: It’s me... remember that internship you said I would be perfect for?

???: You up for it?

Nate: Yeah... But sir, the reason I think I'm going through with it is because... I think your “daughter” is in danger...

(Ferriswheelshipping) Awakened Emotions Chapter 5

Hello guys, I'm back with another chapter! I'm very thankful for all the feedback and reviews so far, it means a lot! It motives me to write more, I hope you guys give me some more feedback! Without further ado, enjoy!

N had only made it halfway down the dark alley before the man has loudly slammed the door behind him. He heard the door lock click. The man began to laugh sadistically, his laughter very clear even through the closed door. White's shriek rings throughout his ears again.

"White, no!" N gasps, falling to his knees. How was he going to get in there?

N panics, fretfully running his fingers hurriedly through his hair in stress as he tried to decide what to do.

He wouldn't open the door if I knock… I'm not strong enough to take down that sort of door, it looks made of steel. What do I do? N begins hyperventilating, hating not being able to do anything to help White. She was so close, yet so far. White screams again, in more agony this time. "Get your hands off-" Her sentence is cut off with the sound of her moan of pain and he heard a crunch and then a rip.

White, NO!

An idea comes to N on how to save her, and he tosses out his Zoroark from his Pokeball. "Zoroark, use Focus Blast on the door!" N's voice is trembling, he is so worried about White. About a minute has already passed since she has been thrown in the room, and he didn't want her to be hurt.

Zoroark growls, releasing a huge pulse from its mouth, which travels towards the door and it instantly snaps into a million pieces, all falling in crumbles to the floor. N runs in as fast as possible. He gasps in astonishment as the scene unfolds before his eyes. The man had White pinned below him on his king sized bed, and the man had already torn off her shirt, and the remnants of the black vest and white tank top were the tatters on the carpet. She was wearing only her boots, jean shorts, and a pink lacy bra.

At N's sudden entrance, both her and the man abruptly look over to see who has entered. "N!" White chokes out, relived beyond means. The man growls in rage, frustrated to be interrupted. He swiftly rises from the bed, towering over N. Zoroark hisses behind N, ready to attack and protect his master. N had other plans. He briskly shoves the man away, and he grunts in surprise as he hits his back against the wall. White has fled the bed and went to hide behind N, still in her state of only shorts and a bra. As the man begins to get back up, N quickly tosses out his Vanilluxe. "Valliluxe, use frost breath on him!" Vanilluxe complies, a thick white haze speedily hazing towards the man. The man tries to dodge, but the freezing wind has frozen him solid.

"White, we should flee from him for now! He's frozen, but he will be able to move in about 20 minutes!" N returns his Pokemon to their balls, thanking them under his breath for their help.

White is still in shock from all the crazy events, but she manages a little grunt of acknowledgment. With tears still streaming from her eyes, she grabs the biggest shred of her white tank top off the floor and tries to cover her chest, but to no avail. She drops the shred of the shirt as N suddenly takes her hand, rapidly leading her out of the apartment and back into the alley. He continues to lead her down the alley, till the apartment wasn't in sight anymore. When they had reached the end of the alley, N spins around and grabs her shoulders. "White, White, are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere? Do you-"

White suddenly throws her arms around N. He gasps in surprise, never being hugged like this before, except previously at the castle. He blushes when he feels her breasts against his chest, and his mind marveled at how plump and squishy they seemed. Her sniffles bring him back into reality as he realizes she is still crying. Guilt consumes him as she begins to sob, and he wishes he had gotten into the apartment quicker to save her.

"I- I was so scared." Her tears soak into his white shirt, and she continues so cry. N stands there awkwardly enveloped in her desperate hug, not sure how to make her feel better.

I remember when she hugged me after the battle at the castle… She stroked my head… It felt good, and it made me feel better… Maybe I should do that? Would it make her feel better?

He brings his arm up and begins to stroke her head comfortingly, marveling at how soft and fluffy her hair was. White squeezes him tighter, nearly knocking the breath out of him. "Thank you for saving me, N." She backs away a little bit, feeling shy now that she had emotionally broken down in front of him, and she was wearing nothing but shorts and a bra.

She sniffles and tries as best as she can to cover her chest with her arms, but it wasn't working. N had forgotten her state of undress, and his eyes slowly trail down to her chest. He blushes deeply, and politely avoids his eyes, knowing that he shouldn't stare at her in her undergarments. "White, are you okay?"

"I'm fine..." She says in a hoarse voice, sniffling again. "But I need a shirt..." She is blushing too, not believing what has just unfolded. She was grateful N had rescued her, but she never imagined herself being in a shirtless situation with him.

N clears his throat, promptly turning away from her and begins to unbutton his white button up that he wears over his black turtleneck sweater. White shuffles her feet while waiting for him to unbutton it, feeling awkward but still very jittery. N manages to swing his arm around to hand the shirt to White without turning his body, just so he wouldn't have to see her in her state of undress and make her nervous. Though in the back of his mind, he secretly wanted to a bit. "Thank you." White whispers as she slips it on, blushing again as the scent of N envelopes her. His scent was like evergreen trees. The shirt was still very warm from him, and she begins to button it. The shirt was way too large, since N was around a foot taller than White. The white shirt's sleeves covered over her hands, and the shirt was a bit like a short dress. Unless you really stared, it looked like White wasn't wearing pants at all since the shirt covered slightly over her short shorts.

"I'm done dressing." White murmurs. N turns around, still feeling nervous at the situation. His lips curl up in a little smile as he sees White in his shirt. A little chuckle escapes, and White puts her hands on her hips. "What's so funny, N?" She moves closer to N, having to crane her neck to look up at him. He doesn't say anything, continuing to chuckle to himself. "Yeah, I know it's too big, you're just so damn tall!" She fumes at how short she was, and probably was always going to be.

She looks so cute…

It really was too big on her, but he thought she looked quite endearing in it. Something about her wearing his shirt excited him for some reason, and he didn't quite understand why.

More pressing matters make their way into N's mind. "White, we should probably get out of here before that man wakes up… We should at least make our way to the other end of town."

White nods, and her mind begins to travel across various subjects as well.

I can't believe this all happened… But why was N there? How did he know I was in trouble? Was he… Following me?

Once they had walked much farther away from the apartment and were beginning to reach the nicer part of town, White speaks up. "N… I'm grateful and all that you saved me, but how did you know where I was?"

N's face reddens, he knew this part would be coming eventually. "Um..."

He really didn't know what to say. N didn't want to creep her out, he knew she didn't like people following her. Moments pass, and White was growing impatient. "N?"

"I found out after leaving the castle that Team Plasma is rebuilding… They said they wanted revenge on you, so I went to your home town to look for you and warn you and make sure you were safe. Your friend told me you went on vacation to Sandgem Town in Sinnoh, but I was still worried. Team Plasma is capable of many things, and I wanted to make sure you were safe… But I didn't want to ruin your vacation, since you probably didn't want to see me or hear about Team Plasma, since they probably couldn't reach you in Sinnoh anyways..." N is rambling now, his face growing hotter as he continues to disclose all his secrets. "I… I thought I'd watch over you while on vacation, just to make sure Team Plasma wasn't going to harm you. I thought I could keep you safe from afar without bothering you with my presence or news of Team Plasma… I didn't want to ruin your vacation, and I planned on telling you everything once you returned… I'm sorry..." N covers his face with his hands, mortified. He knew exactly how White felt about people following her, she had made it clear in Chargestone cave. She thought it was creepy.

She is probably disgusted by me…

White blushes, letting out a little laugh. "I'm happy you looked out for me, but you could have just told me! I'm not too worried about Team Plasma anyways, they have weak grunts, and they're probably weak right now." She looks over to N, seeing he is still looking a bit down. She awkwardly ruffles his hair, hoping to cheer him up. "I mean, you could have told me and then joined me on my vacation if you wanted! It's been lonely and I would have enjoyed your company!" N looks up from his hands, his cheeks flushed.

She would have liked to have me around?

She continues to ruffle his hair, and N closes his eyes, marveling at how good it felt, lowering his head a bit more so she would do it more. White smiles to herself, thinking he reacted just like the Pokemon Purrloin when it was petted. "So, N, would you like to travel with me?" White says out of the blue.

He looks up in surprise. Travel with her? She wants me to go with her?

A big happy smile grows upon his face. "Yes, I would like to travel with you, if you don't mind."

She grins again, ruffling his hair one more time. His hair really was so soft and fluffy, she loved touching it. She suddenly drops to her knees, beginning to dig through her bag for something. N was a bit disappointed she was going to keep touching his hair, he thought it had felt really good.

"Ah, here it is!" White exclaims, pulling out the Zorua doll she had bought earlier in the day. "I got this for you, N! Well, you probably saw it earlier anyways if you were following… But here you go! It made me think of you, since you have a Zoroark!" She hands over the cute doll to N. He opens his hands hesitantly, never receiving a present before. He takes hold of it, liking how soft the fur on the Zorua doll was. He hugs it tightly, his eyes beaming in happiness. "Thank you, White!"

White grins. He really is adorable. "You're welcome."

After a few minutes of staring and marveling at his present, he carefully tucks it away into his bag for now. When he looked up, he realized the sun was setting. Surprisingly, it was growing pretty cold out despite it being only early evening.

White had noticed the cold too, the cold breezes brushing against her exposed legs. She shivers, holding her arms against her chest. "N, we should get to a hotel for the night, it's already getting freezing outside!" N nods in wonder, since he has never been to a hotel before. She leads him down the streets of the city, keeping her eyes peeled for any hotel signs. She only sees one. It was a rather small building with a big red hotel sign. She hopes they have a room with more than one bed for them. "Over there." She murmurs, and N follows. They head inside the hotel building. The inside of the building was stark white, with marble floors and white wallpaper. They head to the counter, and an overly eager worker greets them. "Hello you two, are you guys looking for a hotel room?"

White nods.

"Lucky for you, we still have one room left! You got lucky, it's the last room! It's a couple themed room, so it's perfect for you two lovebirds!" The worker seems to swoon over them, and White feels awkward.

They only have a love hotel room left? Great… This can't get any weirder between N and I. He saves me and I'm in just my bra and shorts, and I have to wear his shirt! Now we have to stay in a love hotel together!

"Um, that's fine." White hands over some cash, and N is staring at the exchange with a confused expression.

Couple themed room?

The worker hands over their keys and room number, and White leads them up the stairs to where their room was supposed to be.

She takes a deep breath, and opens the door.

Inside, it was worse than she imagined. The room was themed with bright pink wallpaper, pink fluffy carpet, and all the furniture she could see was a hot pink color as well. At the end of the hotel room she was able to see the bed. The bed was tiny, and barely enough for two people. She scanned the room, looking for another bed, but she couldn't find any.

Oh my god.

White's face is tomato red, coming to the realization that she and N would probably have to sleep in the same bed.

She notices a little package on the wooden end table by the entrance of the apartment. She hesitantly takes it, curious as to what it was. It was a small item, about the size of her hand and was packaged in plastic. A little sticker on the front of the package reads, 'Free gift for couples of the love room!' White rips open the bag as N peers curiously over her shoulder to see what the present was.

A little pink vibrator rests in her palm.

Oh. My. God.

"White, what's that?" N reaches to grab the vibrator in wonder, but White quickly stashes it away in her bag before he can touch it and start with more awkward inquiries.

"Don't worry about it..." White takes another step into the love themed hotel room, knowing the night was only going to get crazier than before.

Hehe… Cliffhanger… Please review! It means a lot to me and motivates me to write more. Anyways I hope you enjoyed and please stay tuned for the next chapter! Have a nice day~~~

I have a mighty need for Guzma Wedding/Honeymoon hc x'D (just kill me now /wHEEZE)

I wanted Ty to do this one and to egg him on to make this blatantly about Ariel buuuuut I wanna get more done so I’m gonna do it in a general sense.

- Guzma totally got cold feet and needed his “best man” (Plumeria) to smack some sense into him… literally. His s/o was confused as to why his cheeks were red and in some of their wedding photos you can see the hand prints.

When Guzma gets scared he gets angry and somewhat mopey more than jittery. He paces, rants and raves and throws his hands in the air and yells and swears up a storm. Mostly ranting about what kind of idiot actually wants to marry him and how stupid he looks in a tux and how much of a fancy schmancy bore weddings are.

- He opens his tux, loosens his tie and opens his shirt a bit to feel more natural. Plumeria nugees his hair back into his former glory and he exhales and starts to feel better about this whole ordeal.

- Feels shitty about the engagement ring he bought. They deserved better but they wouldn’t want him to obtain it through illegal means but he wanted better for them and he tells Plumeria this. He wishes this was the kind of wedding where he could break shit because he’s about to break his damn skull on the wall to make this bitch ass anxiety fucking stop already.

- Plumeria whips out a flask. “Some, not all of it. Don’t even think I’m letting your sloppy ass get to that altar while you’re bombed to shit, ya hear me?”

She lets him have a drink and makes damn sure his breath is sweet and the alcohol is rinsed away because she’s not wishing no booze monkey on the honey who scored her dumb brother figure. They deserve better than that but they also deserve for him to show up and in one peace.

Grabs his shoulder, hard as fuck, enough to bruise even and makes him look her square in the eye. “You made like thirty of the cotton candy crew happy. No scandals but you made me happy too when I didn’t even figure how far I was from happy in the first place. You’re gonna be fine.”

- “… yo, but hear me out, Plums. What if they wind up wanting kids? I’m pretty sure they do.

”… if you finish that sentence with your fucked up father I really will sail in you, Boss.“

"I ain’t fuckin around here, Plums! What if some of that shit rubbed off on me, huh? Wake up one day and look around and come down off this rampage and realize my (spouse) is battered to shit or even my fuckin kids! I don’t wanna turn into that piece of shit, I’m fuckin bad enough already!”

She literally does wind up smacking him.

“Fuckin STOP IT, Guzma. You talked now it’s my turn. You know we fucked up with Team Skull, I know we fucked it, the whole region knows that shit was a hot mess of hell on wheels right? It’s done. You got yourself straight. That cute little dumbass out there who wants you? They know you’re more than Bjg Bad Guzma. Whatever you haven’t got right yet they’re gonna help you. They did a damn good job already. You oughta be proud. I fuckin am.”

- He didn’t cry and Plumeria wasn’t at all close to crying but she definitely warned him not to show up looking like a wet ratata to his wedding.

- … there were a few tears. Fine. No one needs to know.

- Except seeing his S/O when the time comes actually makes him stop and clutch his chest. He’s so rigid and tense and his face is red and he manages to smirk but it’s an odd hybrid of awkward smile and trying to hard to be smug smirk.

- Golisopod is the ring bearer. He’s just so happy and blissfully unaware of how messed up his trainer is. He’s just standing there all happy trying balance two rings on a pillow.

- While putting on one another’s rings he cracks and dies get slightly choked up. He plays it off but he’s trembling and his gaze is intense.

- He goes to far when the loss comes. He can’t stop kissing, he deepens it more than he should and he needs a prick from Golisopod and a rough smack on the back from Plumeria to get back to reality.

- The lesbian grunts caught the bouquet together. The gay grunts griped loudly in disappointment and when everyone stared at them they were super embarrassed. There had always been rumors but that was confirmation that they were in fact a thing. akonididntcatchrhebouqetbuthecaughtastrayflowergronit what?

- In between the wedding and the reception he pulls his s/o away with him for awhile. Conversation is sparse. He just needs a breather because the whole day has been heavy so far and he just wants some time alone with them before he has to share again. Before he has to slip back into his usual persona and not crack under pressure as he has been.

Admittedly the next part is inspired by “To The Moon” and it probably won’t be the last time I use this bit of influence but…

He asks if they feel any different now. If being married changed anything. How they look at things, how they feel… and will it change them?

He feels… well burnt as fuck after the wedding but being their husband and the blessed he made makes him feel somehow stronger. It’s pretty lit actually but it’s still a lot to wrap his head around.

- Plumeria roasted the fuck out if Guzma. Then Kukui who Guzma wound up inviting personally. Then Nanu who just seemed to show up because. He didn’t say to much but what he did say had the room ROARING. Guzma contemplates his life choices on the toilet right after this for half an hour.

- Busts it wide fucking open for the first dance with his s/o. Makes up for it by revealing he actually. An dance wonderfully for a little while. He may or may not have begged Kukui to help him. He wanted to dance like he did with Burnet. Kikui hadn’t even known he was at his wedding but Guzma couldn’t not go and wound up leaving an unsigned present for them.

They reconnected while teaching Guzma to properly dance but both kept calling the other gaaaaaay which Burnet also did because why would she not.Both dan ed with Guzma during this time.

- He’s not going to rough. He didn’t fuck them for the first time in their honeymoon because of course they fucked before marriage what are ya but he was still especially gentle (as much as Guzma can be). He’s terrified and feels guilty over any little bruise or mishap. He squeezes too hard when they snuggle up for sleep and when told to stop hugging so tight or let go he says

“Nah. Never.”

- They travel the regions together. He didn’t have a favorite and missed Alola but he really had no love for Kalos at all. Sinnoh was actually pretty fun because of how cool and high tech Sunyshore was but the moving sidewalks fucked him up more than once.

- He caught SO many bugs. He wanted to find a cute buggy honey for Golisopod because gotta hook ya boi up. I’ll leave it up to you if he was successful or not but imagine how happy Guzma would be to hold an egg while a cute little pre evo bug pokes its head out.

- There got so many sex toy “gag” gifts that saw SO much use let me just tell you that much.

I’m bad with honeymoons. Again, I’ll leave it up to the incredibly striking Mod Gruntcle to add more if he see for. This is his friend asking after all.~

~ Mod Opal enjoyed the fuck out if this

~ ModGruntcle approved of ALL of this well done Mod Opal you've outdone yourself. owob