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alternate-pokemon-next-gen · 3 years

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Alternate Next Gen (Main Cast): Chetari Ketchum

Chetari is the adopted daughter of Ash and Anabel and is Lazarus’ younger sister. Chetari doesn’t remember this, but she used to be a Cyndaquil and was partners with a Totodile named Draco, out of desperation of being forgotten again he had killed Chetari in hopes of keeping her from forgetting him, Arceus had seen what happened and transferred Chetari to a different universe and gave her a soul bond with Ash as he was the Chosen One of the other universe. Ash had officially adopted Chetari after feeling that bond with her. Chetari fit in with the Ketchum family very well, to the point where no one could tell she was adopted. While Chetari is a kind person, she can be very sassy when someone mistreats a Pokemon, another point in which she fits into the Ketchum family. Chetari enjoys taking care of Pokemon and often studies about medicine and Pokemon health. She’s a capable battler but she has no interest in becoming a Frontier Brain like her family, she mostly cares for the Pokemon that Ash and Anabel raised, as well as the Pokemon that Jewel caught and often looks for potential trainers for all the Pokemon Jewel catches for research. Chetari has a huge interest in singing and wishes to be a singer, so far she’s been singing for Pokemon and her family but she hasn’t gone into singing officially yet, she does sing for special events.

Chetari is a shape shifter, it’s for that reason she can understand Pokemon like her family can. She has a Key Stone that’s attached to a necklace that Ash gave her after he adopted her.

Her Pokemon:

Loki the Zorua- Loki was the first Pokemon Chetari had met before she was adopted by Ash. Loki had sneaked into the orphanage and used his illusion ability to pretend to be a child, he played the role of a shy child and chose to name himself Loki so that no one would suspect he was a Pokemon. No one else would talk to him, at least until he met Chetari and the two became close. When Chetari was about to be adopted, he revealed his true self to Chetari and Ash, which surprised Chetari as she never knew he was a Zorua. Feeling the bond Loki had with Chetari, Ash let Chetari keep Loki and even gave her a Pokeball so she could catch him. Loki is a very cheerful Pokemon, he loves playing with others when he gets the chance to. He’s also a bit of a prankster and enjoys using his illusions to turn into a child as Zorua are very rare in the Kanto region, he will use his illusion to play pranks on anyone who happens to be causing trouble and he’ll make himself look as cute as possible so no one suspects that he did it. Loki has no desire to evolve and he mostly stays out of his Pokeball.

Caught in a Pokeball.

Ability is Illusion.

Moves are Fake Tears, Night Daze, Foul Play, Hone Claws, Dark Pulse, Sucker Punch, Burning Jealousy, Lash Out, Copycat and Dig.

Kiibo the off color Gallade- Chetari had found Kiibo injured in the Kanto Safari Zone, after he had recovered thanks to Chetari healing him, he had agreed to be on her team and serve as her knight because of how she saved him. One day after training, Kiibo had spotted a Dawn stone in a store and wanted Chetari to buy it so he could evolve into Gallade. After the purchase, Kiibo took the Dawn stone and evolved. Kiibo was always on the run due to how he was an off color Pokemon, being silver, grey and having icy blue eyes and black marks over his eyes that also run down his cheeks. Kiibo was distrustful of Chetari due to how many poachers and trainers had tried to catch him due to him being an off color Pokemon instead of a normal Kirlia’s color and a shiny Pokemon. Kiibo is very loyal to Chetari, vowing to protect her after she had helped him when he was injured from a group of poachers. Kiibo is polite and loyal to Chetari, being one of her stronger Pokemon. He had received his Mega stone after he evolved and had it fitted into a necklace that matches Chetari’s. Kiibo gets along with Lazarus’ Lucario and the two always spar and train with each other.

Caught in an Safari Ball.

Ability is Steadfast, changes to Inner Focus when Mega Evolved.

Held Item is Galladite.

Moves are Focus Punch, Night Slash, Psycho Cut, Brick Break, Drain Punch, Thunder Punch, Zen Headbutt, Aura Sphere, Poison Jab and Swords Dance.

Vaporeon- Chetari caught her Vaporeon after she was abandoned by her former trainer for evolving into a Vaporeon instead of a Flareon like he wanted, Vaporeon had wandered around for a place to stay at when she had heard Chetari singing and quickly joined in as she loved singing. After spending a lot of time with Chetari, she was caught by her and quickly made herself in with the team. Vaporeon really loves music, especially back when she was an Eevee. Vaporeon would always spend her spare time singing with whatever she remembered hearing last. After evolving, that love for singing never ended and she still loves singing. Joining Chetari, she would always sing with Chetari, Jigglypuff and Swablu while Nuzleaf would play his leaf to their singing. When she’s not singing, Vaporeon loves swimming with the other Water type Pokemon in Ash’s yard. Vaporeon is a very friendly Pokemon, she’s also very good at battling thanks to her previous trainer and she still trains herself so she doesn’t get rusty.

Caught in a Dive Ball.

Ability is Water Absorb.

Moves are Water Gun, Water Pulse, Muddy Water, Aqua Ring, Ice Beam, Scald, Round, Brine, Rain Dance and Hyper Voice.

Jigglypuff- Jigglypuff was caught by Chetari a while after he left his mom, he wanted to find a trainer that liked to sing so he could practice singing and get better at it, he enjoys being with Chetari due to how she teaches him how to sing and he’s glad he doesn’t have to be afraid of putting someone to sleep accidentally by singing a lullaby. Jigglypuff is a nice Pokemon, he enjoys nothing more than to sing for others and to sing with Chetari, Vaporeon and Swablu. Jigglypuff is able to adapt himself to sing any kind of genera of music he knows, which is one reason why he’s able to fit so well with Chetari and the others. He gets along with Swablu and doesn’t mind how strange he may be and he happily raps with Swablu. Jigglypuff gets really annoyed when someone assumes that he’s a female due to the gender ratio of the Jigglypuff family being 3/4th female to male, so he had himself look more like a male to stop the assumptions.

Caught in a Moon Ball.

Ability is Cute Charm.

Moves are Echoed Voice, Round, Disarming Voice, Hyper Voice, Draining Kiss, Psychic, Dazzling Gleam, Tri Attack, Gyro Ball and Attract.

Swablu- Swablu was caught by Chetari after he had plopped himself on her head like a hat, Chetari didn’t mind and started singing with Jigglypuff and Vaporeon, Swablu had joined in, much to the surprise of Chetari, Swablu started rapping. Finding it funny, she caught him and was glad he joined her team. Swablu is very friendly and isn’t afraid of being near humans but he does have a slight fear of Ash’s Pokemon due to how big they are compared to him. Swablu has a habit of landing on someone’s head, which amuses anyone who he lands on. Swablu is also very playful, he’s happy to fly around while rapping which often surprises anyone who happens to hear Swablu, thinking it’s strange to hear a Swablu rap. Chetari doesn’t mind as she thinks it’s funny and a little cute. She still allows Swablu to join in on their singing sessions often adding onto the song with his raps when the others are singing, the Ketchum family, being used to Pokemon that aren’t like their species, have no problems with Swablu rapping and enjoy his raps, even if not all of them can understand him. Swablu is always the happiest when someone doesn’t comment on how he likes rapping and when someone genuinely enjoys his raps.

Caught in a Great Ball.

Ability is Natural Cure.

Moves are Air Cutter, Sky Attack, Echoed Voice, Round, Hyper Voice, Duel Wingbeat, Dragon Pulse, Steel Wing, Cotton Guard and Double Team.

Nuzleaf- Nuzleaf had wandering onto Ash’s yard one day and had seen Chetari, he immediately went to Chetari and wanted to join her team, Chetari allowed it and was happy to have Nuzleaf with her. Chetari doesn’t know this, but that Nuzleaf is the same Nuzleaf that was her guardian back when she was in the Pokemon only world, Nuzleaf doesn’t want to tell her on the account that he may cause her confusion and he was told by Mew and Arceus that no matter what he can’t tell her that he’s her adopted father. Nuzleaf accepted that so long as he could stay with Chetari. Nuzleaf isn’t as much as a prankster as other Nuzleafs but he does enjoy playing the leaf on his head as a flute for Chetari to sing to once he learned she wanted to be a singer. Nuzleaf is supportive of Chetari and respects that she’s happy with her new family, he also gets along with the Ketchum family and their Pokemon, often acting as a father figure to the younger Pokemon and enjoying talking with Ash’s and Anabel’s Pokemon. Despite how he isn’t much of a prankster, he does still set up traps around the outside of Ash’s yard in case anyone tries anything funny, he finds it a lot easier to set up traps than when he was in the other world.

Caught in a Pokeball.

Ability is Chlorophyll.

Moves are Sunny Day, Razor Leaf, Synthesis, Leaf Blade, Sucker Punch, Solar Blade, Rock Slide, Beat Up, Foul Play and Night Slash.

#Pokemon #Next Gen #Pokemon Next Gen #Chetari Ketchum #AbilityShipping #Main Cast #Fan Kids #Pokemon Fan Kids

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igotmysteriousmessages · 6 years

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Pokemon AU: RFA+Mint Eye as Pokemon Trainers

Ok,I’m a sucker for Pokemon almost as much as I am for Mystic Messenger so I had to write this AU... I hope you like it (and sorry to the people in my askbox because this took forever to be made so is the only think I’ve worked on this week)

Credits to shootingstar03 on deviantart for the template for the trainer cards

Warning: This is full of spoilers, like everywhere and from every route

RFA Member Yoosung wants to battle

Since he is still unsure of what to do with his life I don’t think he has a preferred type on his team despite him having quite a few normal types.

His team is mostly composed of cute and energetic pokemon (Lillipup, Buneary, Ambipom, Pachirisu) but in case of needing they can still give a good fight.

He caught a Rockruff because it was cute and with time it evolved into Lycanroc a Pokemon that is loyal and protective like Yoosung is to MC in his route.

Similar he caught Goomy because it was cute and looked like a slime (he is a gamer kid after all) and as they trained together it evolved into his most powerful and beloved Pokemon.

Pachirisu besides the reasons already given is very protective of its food and it reminded me of Yoosung and his HBC bag

Lillipup came into his team after Rika’s Herdier died but after Rika dying not too long after he found himself unable to evolve it till he meets MC. Towards the end of his route it becomes a Stoutland.

RFA Member Zen wants to battle

I do know beautiful is not a Pokemon type but a contest attribute, the reason I chose is because I firmly believe Zen is a contest trainer therefore he hasn’t got a main type.

His family runs a gym and he was expected to succeed his brother as gym leader but he loved acting, singing and pretty Pokemon so he ran away to become a contest trainer.

Lurantis and Vivillion are Pokemon that look pretty and elegant so I think they’d fit him well

Munna is a Pokemon that protects the dreams of its trainer with its psychic powers so I chose it because of Zen’s psychic dreams

Arcanine, besides being a beautiful Pokemon this big dog is loyal and protective; Much like Zen.

For Gallade I have no much explanation, his ace is a beautiful knight on white armor (he probably owns the mega-stone too)

When he was a kid he caught a Feebas and kept it since he felt identified because everybody said it was weak and ugly. After running away and start winning contests Feebas beauty stat raised to the point it evolved into Milotic.

RFA Member Jaehee wants to battle

(Confession time: I was very tempted to give her Meloetta because of her love for musicals but I didn’t want to use legendaries so I had to leave it out… maybe in the future I’ll write about RFA and legendary Pokemon)

I hadn’t planned her to have a defined favorite type but as the Pokemon were chosen the flying type became evidently fitting since flying is associated with freedom and her route is about her freeing herself from expectations and finding her happiness.

Throh is the Judo pokemon so it fits her pretty well

Noctowl, owls are known to be smart and this particular one along his pre-evolution is based on clocks as for most her route Jaehee is running against time also is nocturnal and this poor woman never sleeps.

Fletchinder and Altaria are both known for being beautiful and have pretty singing voice which I bet she’d appreciate in her team since she loves Zen’s musicals.

Swanna is partly inspired in the tale of the ugly duckling and it reminded me of Jaehee forcing herself to wear office oufits, short hair and glasses for her job despite her loving long hair and pretty dresses, probably when she met MC she had a ducklett and it evolved with time.

Oricorio Pom-Pom style (Caught by MC) Knowing Jaehee liked musical Pokemon and that this particular one is known for cheering up depressed trainers MC caught one and gave it to her as a gift.

RFA Member Jumin wants to battle

As you might have imagined this man has mostly cat pokemon

Also his team is not very battle orientated since he is a businessman not a fighter and thought his team can hold a pretty good fight he keeps them mostly as company.

This rational man that is also interested on paranormal stuff screams Psychic type. Thought he only has 1 ghost type I think he might be pretty knowledgeable on the type since he is interested on magic.

Meowstic is the only female on his team (is a white female cat inspired on a domestic cat…so, basically Elizabeth the 3rd)

Alolan Meowth they are the pets of wealthy families so probably Jumin got a Meowth from his father who has a Persian.

Alakazam, since they are incredibly intelligent and with amazing psychic powers I bet Jumin wants one on his team…. Similarly grumping has great psychic power too.

Espeon is cute and thought not exactly a cat is pretty close. I have headcanon that MC suggests him to get and Eevee like hers because they are good friends and could help him open up… he wasn’t trying to evolve it, it just happened.

I already said, this man is interested in magic so a witch inspired pokemon like Mismagius is a need on his team.

It wasn’t on purpose but I couldn’t help but mention most of his team is purple and even in shades similar to his hearts.

RFA member Saeyoung wants to battle

Since he is a hacker he has electric pokemon related to electronics like Rotom, Magneton and Vikavolt.

By the way he said hackers were like cockroaches so it seems fitting he has electric bug Pokemon as Joltik and Vikavolt (sadly there is no Pokemon inspired on cockroaches)

Beheeyem is an alien with the ability to rewrite people’s memories which is both very fitting with his personality at the beginning of the story and useful for a secret agent.

Vikavolt is inspired on a bug, a battery and an alien so is no wonder is his ace.

Plusle is not in his team at the beginning of the story though he caught it on his childhood. The reason is because is a symbol of the past he is hiding. As he and MC head to rescue Saeran Plusle becomes an important member of the team.

When they were kids Saeyoung and Saeran found the eggs of Plusle and Minun and decided to raise them; hiding them from their mother who didn’t allow them to have pokemon. When Saeyoung joins the agency he keeps Plusle but can have him on his team because is part of the past he supposedly erased but he always keeps it close because it reminds him of Saeran.

RFA leader Jihyun wants to battle

This man has such a free and creative soul that I don’t think he’d have a main type

I don’t really think I need to explain why Smeargle is his ace; is a painter after all.

Maractus is quite evident too, this man loves his cacti.

Chansey and Audino are both pokemon who main role is to be healers which is what Jihyun wants to do for his friends, heal their pain and keep them safe… also Chansey is related to good luck which Jihyun needs.

I’m going to hell for giving him a Cubone, I know. But Cubone wears it’s mother skull on its head till it evolves into Marowak when is replaced for its own and since one of the biggest traumas Jihyun carries with is his mother dead he’d probably feel very close to this Pokemon.

He adopted Cubone after his mother dead but it didn’t evolve till his 2 year trip after his route.

Braviary is known for protecting its friends without stopping to consider consequences, very similar to Jihyun.

Mint Eye admin Ray wants to battle

He like plants and beautiful/cute stuff so his specialty would be Grass and Fairy

Roselia, of course flower boy’s ace would be inspired on a rose. Also it has a blue rose (unattainable) and a red rose (love)

Mimikyu hides it’s true self because it wants to be loved and make friends, just like Ray.

His savoir has a Florges so he in his admiration for her, he adopts Flabebé (one with a Blue flower) and raises it to become Floette. He dreams that one day his savoir will acknowledge his hard work and loyalty and will grant him a shiny stone so he can evolve Floette into Florges.

Mareep, it cute and cuddly so he probably would like it, also it produces electricity so it becomes helpful in his job as a hacker; especially on the firsts stages of the building of Magenta when he didn’t have permanent access to electricity (Also sheep are associated with sleeping and this boy needs a nap)

I chose Chespin mostly based on the XY series rather than the game itself. Clemont’s Chespin was really cute and loved sweets which I think suits Ray.

Cherubi, based on the chatroom in which him consideres destroying the stronger branch of his plant to let the weak survive because when Cherubi is ready to evolve the smaller cherry dries up; (Also you know he has no respect for the 4th wall, so Cheritz reference)

Mint Eye admin Saeran wants to battle

I like the idea of his specialities being somewhat the opposite of Ray’s. Dark is contrary to Fairy (which symbolizes light) and Poison (associated to death) is quite contrary to Grass (Plants are the base of life) but despite that the reason is because of how dark his personality becomes and poison for the elixir.

His team in this case is composed of pokemon known to look scary and aggressive but that tend to be very protective of themselves or their master (since he tries to prove he is the stronger by being aggressive to MC yet he keep obeying his savoir) like Houndoom, Liepard and Mightyena.

The choice of Type:Null is rather similar but I wanted to expand a little here. Type:Null was created by humans as a weapon and it resulted to be too powerful so it has to be contained by that helmet or it might lose control and go against it’s trainer…. Which is exactly what Rika does to him with the elixir… in a minor point is very aesthetically fitting.

(I was rather reluctant to choose this one since it falls in a grey area between being and not being a legendary but it fitted too well to leave it out)

Toxapex is also similar to the others but rather than taking the offensive this pokemon hides on a hard poisonous shell.

Zweilous two heads are in constant conflict and the one that gets more food gets to be in control of the body which reminds of the relationship between Ray and Saeran during this part of his route.

RFA Member Saeran wants to battle

He said it. He is both Ray and Saeran so he keeps both of his teams aces and since he reached a new stage on his life so do those pokemon.

Roselia evolves through shiny stone. MC gives one to him after escaping Mint Eye since she knew how much he wanted one. But he is now free from Rika’s influence so instead of evolving Floette (which represents he relationship with Rika) he decides to use it on the Pokemon that represents Ray, thus Roselia becomes Roserade.

Type:Null on the other hand evolves through friendship stopping it’s agresive behavior when it meets a partner it fully trust therefore no longer needing the helmet. So basically when Saeran decides to leave Mint Eye and open his heart to love and friendship Type:Null evolves into Silvally

Skiploom, I kind of cheated here because this is based on something we learn about Saeran on the secret endings rather than on his route but I think it stills applies to him. Skiploom is based on a flower and a bulb and likes to float through the wind similar to how Saeran likes to be able to see the sky.

Lillygant, he caught this one the night on the cabin when he leaves to pick the flowers. Lillygant produces a relaxing smell, gets along with other pokemon pretty easily, is very beautiful and loyal so when he found one he immediately thought of MC and decided to add it to his team.

Swirlix, sweet candy pokemon which reminds of cotton candy and ice cream is perfect for this guy (I know vanillite family is literally ice-cream but somehow I feel swirlix fits Saeran better)

Minun; the same as with Saeyoung. He kept minun with him all time after Saeyoung disappeared but after joining Mint Eye he kept it on its pokeball because the memory of his brother’s betrayal was too painful, yet he didn’t have the heart to get rid of it. When he starts working with the intelligence unit to find Saeyoung Minun becomes part of his team.

Mint Eye Leader Rika wants to battle

When she was in RFA she was a Fairy type trainer because she wanted to be good and didn’t want anybody to notice the darkness within her but when she embraces her demons she becomes more fond of Dark type (even though there is only 1 dark type pokemon on his team)

Vespiquen, this pokemon is the queen of the hive which is the role the savoir plays at Mint Eye.

Solrock, I don’t need to explain this…you all saw that coming.

Shiinotic, it produces powerful spores that Rika uses to make the elixir.

Florges (Yellow Flower) this is based on the chatroom with V on Ray route in which he talks about the daffodil on his garden, Florges absorbs energy from the surrounding plants.

Absol, they are believed to be a bad omen and bring disgrace which is pretty much how Rika lived as a child so it became her closest friend from the day she caught it when she was a child. When she started going out with V she hide it because she didn’t want him to reject her but when she discovers V sees nothing wrong with her Absol it becomes a permanent member of her team

Herdier (based on Sally) died on battle. It was a very traumatic experience for Rika from which she never got over so the spot on her team was left forever empty.

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pokemon-ninjago-world · 7 years

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Hello! It’s time for eevee!Lloyd’s introduction! (i’m really sorry it’s long and will mess your dashboard completely...) You can find the introductions of the other characters from <here>

Full name: Lloyd Montgomery Garmadon

Lloyd is 11 when the first season starts and he will turn 12 during it. Originally, I wanted him to be 7 and turn 8, but after fighting with the timeline of this world for ages, I realized that he must be older for my future purposes. (My headcanon of Lego Ninjago still is that the little guy is 7-8 in the first season though.) He is quite average size to an eevee of his age, about 125 cm. He is a shiny eevee, but not the color that shinies are in the Pokémon World. In PW all shiny eevees are grey, but in PNGo there are two possible colors: the ordinary grey, and then an auburn color. They both may have variation in hue, saturation, and brightness. These are called as ”silver shiny” and ”golden shiny”. Lloyd is a latter one, with glossy, blond fur. His eyes are dark like almost all eevees'. This is because they have a protective pigment on their cornea, that intensifies in bright light (… don't you look at me like that, I have studied biology and I like to use fancy terms!) and work like inborn sunglasses. You can see through this darkening color if an eevee has been in shadow and a light suddenly hits their eyes in the right angle. Lloyd's iris color is bright green, which is a rare eye color for an eevee, even though not an unusual one. However, his eyes turn red when he gets angry or if he's feeling malicious pleasure or plotting something nasty. This again, has nothing to do with biology and is purely based on magic, since red eyes are completely without pigment, like the ones that albinos have. (… What am I, your biology teacher? Uh, anyway,) Lloyd's green pigment doesn't just vanish away when he gets angry, but the hate kind of pours into his eyes, drowning out his eye color. It also shines through his cornea pigment faintly.

Lloyd is not as chubby as he should be for an eevee of his age. He is a bit too thin, but not unhealthily skinny. He is susceptible to sweets and treats, but otherwise he doesn’t eat much. He was left-handed before, but was then taught to be right-handed. He is digitigrade and quite in the middle of animal and human by his body. It’s easier for him to walk on all fours though, and he wears special sneakers that help him to keep his balance while walking upright. He likes all kinds of games: video games, ball games, board games, pretend… He even learnt to like fight games in school.

Lloyd is hasty, imaginative, and quick-tempered. He acts all mighty and is very precocious. He gets easily puffed up if he feels superiority over someone. However, he is actually just trying to hide his insecurity most of time. His inborn nature is timid, thoughtful, and playful. If he had the chance to live safe, normal family life, he would have grown into a polite and a bit shy kid, who still would be jolly and adventurous with the people he knows and trusts and sometimes become proud with his successions. However, destiny had another path for him.

His mother, Misako, left his husband and son when Lloyd was one year old. She was an archeologist and she had to go to explore Ninjago’s oldest secrets. It was vital, she said. So, the family fell apart already before the little boy could understand what happened. He lived with his father and uncle in his grandfather’s monastery. This would have been good enough, but as his dad was affected by a venom of a demon snake, his moral lessons were maybe not the best. He was always gentle with the boy and no physical punishment were ever used at him (not that there would have ever been a reason to), but he taught Lloyd that violence was acceptable, revenge was right and displaying negative emotions was a good way to get attention. Misako could have balanced this, but without her, Garmadon had to rise his son the way he saw best. Wu looked at this from aside. He didn’t want to interfere with his brother’s pedagogical methods, but when he felt like he had to correct the ways Garmadon had taught the boy, he tried to do it behind his back. They had arguments about Lloyds upbringing, but Wu was afraid of losing his brother and nephew, so he usually backed down so that they wouldn’t leave the monastery (the poor man was lonely).

When Lloyd had turned 3, his whole world was thrown upside down. He lost his father. He saw how a lightning struck him, and he fell into a ravine that had opened on the monastery’s yard. He couldn’t comprehend what had happened. All he could do was ask Wu where his dad had gone. He didn’t have a decent answer.

After that his uncle took care of him for a while. Wu was devastated, even though he tried not to show this to the boy. He was also restless, slept very little and prayed a lot. He had sent a word to Misako so she would return and take care of Lloyd because the man needed to do some important maneuvers now that the balance was in great danger and some alarming prophecies were seemingly becoming fulfilled. After a few months Misako came back. She was shocked and terrified, because she knew exactly what prophecy had just come true. However, Wu couldn’t stay put any longer. He made himself sit for one cup of tea so he could tell Misako what had happened and they could share comforting words, but then he dashed off. Lloyd didn’t remember his mother. Even if Wu had introduced her, the boy was a bit suspicious and very reserved with her as she took him with her and left the monastery again.

Misako couldn’t take Lloyd to her expeditions as they were dangerous and boring to a small kid like him. The work also demanded great precision so she could not have taken good care of him and he would have been in the way of the research. Therefore, she had to find a place where Lloyd could live and gain education while she was looking for answers from the ancestors. However, every day-care place, boarding school, and children’s home gave her all sorts of excuses of why they couldn’t take Lloyd in. First, she was surprised but compliant because she thought it was just a coincidence that this happened, but when door after door was closed before them, she started to feel like she was missing something. Finally, she got fed up with this and pressed for a proper reason from a childminder lady who led a big house. The answer made her fall silent in outrage: “Well, to be honest, I would be very surprised if you found a place that would accept that demon child anywhere near their children.” Garmadon’s notoriety had spread wide and rumors had cast an even darker shadow to him and his family. Misako of course argued this and tried to defend her son, but the lady was adamant. After this, Misako was a bit unmotivated to find a home for Lloyd and as expected, all the places she asked turned them down. One possibility was of course to leave him into a public children’s home, but that would have meant that she would have lost custody of him.

The last hope was Darkley’s School for Bad Boys. It was a boarding school for 7-15-year-old boys, and it had a bad reputation, but she couldn’t think of anything else. In this school she got quite an opposite reception. The headmaster was delighted and flattered that Misako asked a place for Lloyd from there. The boy was indeed quite young to be a pupil, but there was a day care system for teachers’ children in the school and many of them even slept in the school for some nights. So, it was settled. Lloyd would learn about life in that miserable place. And unfortunately, it taught him to form his nature towards aggressive and impulsive rather than cautious or polite. He learnt to harden his heart, drown out his timidity and be a loud, fierce character, who wouldn't flinch if he was attacked verbally or physically. He had already learnt from his father that revenge was always rightful and that violence was a very good answer in every situation. In school he had to put those lessons in practice. The only possible good thing about this was that he gained confidence and wasn’t so afraid of social situations anymore. Or rather, he might have still been afraid, but he learned to stand that fear and be confident regardless.

First years weren’t so bad. The other kids didn’t pay much attention to Lloyd, except for the first day, when everyone made fun of him and one kid put fire ants in his bed. They still played pranks on him sometimes, but most of time they ignored him. Yet he managed to befriend Brad, the one who put ants in his bed – or he could almost have called him a friend, at least in the scale of that school. The other kids weren’t yet close enough to start a fight with him and they didn’t consider him as a threat to their prevailing hierarchy (fighting was local form of playing and at the same time the kids were ranked among each other). But as he grew older and the kids got to know him and his background better he was sucked into the violent culture of Darkley.

The first real battle he was in was awful and he got trashed quite badly. Everyone laughed at him later and called him weakling, chicken, and whatnot. Brad, his almost-friend, told him what to do and how to take revenge. Lloyd hated it all at first. But as he found the cruel satisfaction of defeating someone and getting his revenge, he started to get a grasp of the lifestyle. Yet he never felt like he fit in. One essential lesson he learned in the school was to never show tears or fear. If he did, the danger increased radically. On the contrary, if he hid all his “weaknesses” he wasn’t targeted as easily. He had to wait until his roommates were all asleep to cry in peace and sometimes during daytime he escaped to some safe hiding place to regain his mental strength. Even though life in that building during all those long years made Lloyd really grow tougher and more careless, he was still sensitive, and very lonely under his made-up exterior. He hated everyone and everything in the school. He couldn’t see the twisted friendships and alliances between other pupils. For him they were all his and each other’s enemies and he felt alone, scared, and angry. All he wanted was to get away and find his father of whom he had blurry, but happy memories. He had never betrayed him or let him down, unlike the mother and uncle who had abandoned him.

The teachers were hopeful about the son of the famous Lord Garmadon, but they got to come to the realization that he wasn’t like they had thought he would be. This seemingly wasn’t his place. Lloyd rather avoided conflicts than searched for them. He didn’t advance in the hierarchy among the kids in the way they had expected. When he turned eleven, only few of his peers bowed before him, even if most of them didn’t practically walk over him either. They had hoped that at this point he would have showed signs of leadership and thirst for power. But the boy was just a grumpy, hasty, and goofy little thing, and they knew he couldn’t spend four more years in there. Not only for his sake, but they didn’t want to keep a pupil who didn’t have good enough potential. And so, he was expelled.

Lloyd didn’t want to go to his uncle nor his mother. He wanted to go and find his dad. The only thing that had given a glorious halo to the boy, a great reputation even before he started to fight for his honor, was a father whom everyone knew and whose name could silence a room full of noisy brats. He wanted to find him and to become like him. Respected and feared, strong and fearless. The problem was that the headmaster would call his mother to come and pick him up again. To avoid this, he called back to his mother as soon as he managed to sneak alone into the headmaster’s room so he could use his phone. He said that Wu had offered to come and take him to live in the monastery. Misako was relieved as she was in a difficult place and on the verge of very promising discovery. She trusted Lloyd to speak the truth so she never called Wu to check the information.

Lloyd packed his few belongings into a backpack and left. He said his mum was picking him up from the next village. He had no actual plan, but he was excited about his new freedom. Misako had left him some money and she and Wu regularly sent him money into the school. Now he could finally spend it on something! He came to the village and spent some money for food (basically sweets) and a bed. There was also a fancy-dress shop from which he bought a black cape. He also purchased some white textile color with which he painted ribs on his shirt (he had heard rumors about G’s appearance after his fall).

He went intuitively from village to town and to next village, searching for answers. He heard many stories about his father (well, the people who told him the stories kept in mind his young age and didn’t tell the goriest stories and smoothed out the edgiest parts). Most of them were not true, and he heard many mentions of his return. He had been seen here, he had been seen there. So, Lloyd thought he should just follow the flimsy tracks. But eventually he ran out of money. He got some food out of pity, when he asked, but he knew he’d have to get money. He sold almost everything he owned except for his clothes. He thought about stealing and tried it once, but it was too scary and he got a guard Houndour after him (it couldn’t catch him tho). He also tried to avoid police officers in general. He was afraid they would catch him and send into child welfare center.

He kept on wandering and subconsciously drew nearer to the Monastery of Spinjizu. He slept his nights outside, tried to hunt a little during the days, but couldn’t catch anything. Fortunately, it was berry time, so he could gather something from the wilderness. He was still awfully hungry and tried to come up with something to get more food. He had only a small trick box filled with rubber snakes with him and he knew it wouldn’t give him many meals. But then he got a grand idea. He was the son of the fearful Lord Garmadon! So, all he needed to do was scare people into giving their food for him. And the more sugar the food contained, the better.

This was a lot of text again, and you’d deserve a whole bunch of cookies if you made it this far~!

#pokéninjago #eevee!Lloyd #pokémon #ninjago #lloyd garmadon #crossover #hiippart #long post #backstory #childhood #angst #introduction #pokeninjago #PNGo!

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ashiversary · 7 years

Text

Manicure

Summary: A set of circumstances leads to Blanche having their nails done by both Candela and Noire. This really shouldn’t lead to any problems but as Blanche is tired and doesn’t want to be here and Spark is an airhead the twins end up having some feelings they wish they didn’t. Also included:

Sleep deprivation Eevees are cute Don’t hit natu Hangovers Tiny shiny eevees

***

To an outsider the scene probably looked quite endearing: Blanche sitting on a fancy couch with a slight pout, flanked by Candela and Noire, both of whom worked on Blanche’s nails in deep concentration. If you added the fact that all three were dressed to kill you could take the scene for some elaborate photoshoot. You had to know the leaders well for your reaction to be…

‘What the hell is happening?’

Amelie turned her head slowly from the scene she was observing and saw Go, whose face mirrored the slight horror present in his voice and was so pale it created a nice contrast with the smart black suit he was wearing.

‘What do you think is going on?’ Amelie gestured with the glass she was holding; the ice clinked in the yet untouched drink - she was holding off until she was sure there would be no bloodspill. 'Blanche is getting a manicure from Candela and Noire.’

'Is… is this safe?’ he asked.

'Well, a metal nail file is a pretty good murder weapon and they’re both using one.’ Amelie couldn’t help but smile a little seeing the uttermost dread on Go’s face.

'Yes, it’s definitely those small pieces of metal that make them lethally dangerous.’ Carl had no qualms about drinking and was already on his second glass. This wasn’t an achievement of any kind, but given that the red carpet was still going and the actual event wasn’t supposed to start for another half an hour it gave him a pretty good head-start.

Go swallowed audibly.

'How… did this happen?’

***

'Blanche, why aren’t you ready?’

Blanche put down the towel they were using to dry their hair and looked at Annie with confusion.

'I’ve only come out of the pool and was hoping to get a nap. Isn’t the event in well over two hours?’

'Darling, we’re guests of honor, we have to arrive as one of the first ones on the red carpet!’ Candela came into the room with an elegant flourish of her fancy shawl. 'We can find you a place to nap when we get there.’

Blanche made a face. They were scientists, not celebrities. Blanche didn’t understand what was the point of coming early to show up on the red carpet and then waiting a lot of time for the gala to start officially - time that could have been used for research or a nap in private surroundings.

'Can’t you just go without me? It’s not like it’s an event related to pokemon.’ Blanche knew it was a longshot but it was worth to try.

'Blanche dear, research costs money and here we’re gonna meet sponsors that usually don’t appear at pokemon-related events. And your face will probably convince some of them to support our cause.’

Blanche looked at Candela, dressed in a stunning red and gold gown and an exquisite transparent shawl. When the news of the leaders being guests of honor popped up fashion designers flocked to Candela like wild pidgeys to a dropped poffin, each trying to have her wear their outfit. Curiously, the same thing happened to Blanche; apparently a movies-related event was somehow also fashion-oriented? The details were kind of fuzzy for Blanche; all they knew is they had wasted an afternoon trying on different outfits under Candela’s critical eye after helping Candela choose hers - although it seemed to Blanche Candela didn’t need their help but for some reason enjoyed the whole thing.

'I’m pretty sure you are plenty enough,’ they shrugged.

Candela beamed at them.

'Nonsense, darling. Let’s get you dry and ready to go.’

Candela’s efficiency was really impressive when it came to grooming; it wasn’t even ten minutes after she first entered the room when they were already leaving, Blanche dressed and made-up. To be fair, Blanche already had the outfit prepared beforehand - this would have allowed them to nap longer - but Candela made Annie dry Blanche’s hair while she did their make-up, which left for Blanche putting on the earrings and waiting till they are done. This also meant Blanche ended up wearing more make-up than they would normally, but they had to admit Candela’s skill with the eyeliner was superb and the wings she drew were flawless.

Blanche grabbed the purse, which contained their phone with the newest set of reports to check on it, sighed deeply and followed Candela to the car.

Even though they were in the first wave the limousine still waited in a line of similar black limousines, which one by one let out dressed-up people onto the red carpet, straight into the swarms of reporters armed with cameras. Candela checked her make-up in a pocket mirror and looked around at her companions.

Blanche was looking at their phone, reading something in deep concentration. Judging by the wrinkle in their eyebrows they were reading a report from yesterday’s experiment, which ended abruptly with two interns blowing up one of the labs. Spark was telling Carl excitedly about a new batch of unusual eggs which arrived in the Instinct hatchery two days ago; he was wearing a smart dark-grey suit Candela chose to fit the yellow Instinct tie Spark was set on to wear. Go and Annie were listening with polite interest. Annie was wearing a tasteful blue dress and a Mystic pendant Candela knew Blanche commissioned for Annie’s birthday. Go was dressed in the same suit he wore to all official events - probably the only one he owned - but he looked good in it and there was an Instinct pin in his lapel.

All in all Candela approved: everyone could be identified as belonging to the teams and also everyone looked well. Of course, no one in the company could beat how well Candela and Blanche looked. Candela let her eyes fall on Blanche again.

The outfit Blanche chose was a long dress, simple and elegant. It was similar in style to their favorite dress but slightly more flashy, made of Mystic-blue silk with a very subtle Articuno pattern stitched in a thin purple thread. There was no doubt it was custom-designed for them and the designer’s guess was perfect - it was Blanche’s choice the moment they put their eyes on it, although Candela still had made them try on all the other ones. It was a pleasure, seeing Blanche dressed up in so many ways.

The limousine almost got to the red carpet, only two other cars before them. Spark stopped talking and looked in the direction they were going and so did everybody else - even Blanche raised their head from the report. The door of the car just before theirs opened and Blanche froze seeing the pair that came out of it.

'I’m not going.’ Blanche said in such a definite way Candela knew who she’s going to see even before she looked out of the window.

It was worse than she expected, though.

Candela knew of the possibility of Noire appearing, as Rocked was involved in the biggest movie this season and Blanche’s twin was their poster child. The fact that the Rocket representative came just before them was - Candela’s leg twitched - a nuisance. But to make it worse Noire wasn’t wearing a suit this time; they were wearing a dress. Not any dress, no - the dress had almost the same cut as Blanche’s and although the color palette was black and Rocket red, the subtle pattern of umbreon stitched on it mirrored the Articuno pattern on Blanche’s dress.

The dresses made a perfect set.

Candela made a mental note to have Words with the designer after the gala was over. Now, however, there was another problem to solve.

'You cannot stay in the limo, Blanche, they’re hired only to get us here.’ Annie looked pretty desperate.

'I think I have a solution,’ Spark took Blanche in his arms and lifted.

'Put me down you brute!’ Blanche’s eyes and legendary mark glowed blue. Candela jumped to Blanche and smacked them lightly on the head.

'Remember what professor Willow said: no Legendaries at the gala unless faced with a mortal threat!’

Blanche looked at Candela slightly stunned but they stopped struggling and their eyes faded back to green. Spark didn’t put them down, though; he waited until Go opened the door, carried Blanche out and only put them down onto the red carpet. Candela followed suit and she realized Spark had put Blanche down right next to a stunned Noire and put an arm around each of them. Noire was close to punching Spark away but her tiny assistant - bless that girl, she knew how to wear a little black dress - barked something at them and fell away. Candela thought she ought to save Blanche…

…but maybe not sooner than halfway the red carpet, she thought, It was just too amusing seeing them embarrassed and blushing slightly while Spark showed the twins off to the reporters.

'Are you enjoying this miss Candela?’ Carl stopped next to her.

'I was looking forward to appearing with Blanche on the photos. This is going to cause some wild speculations.’

'This is why you’ve let Spark drag them away so easily?’

Candela looked daggers at Carl. Perceptive bastard.

'If you excuse me, I have work to do,’ she adjusted her shawl.

'Just remember, miss Candela, the fact that you are dressed to kill doesn’t mean you are allowed to actually kill Mx. Noire.’

'Carl, are you complimenting me or dissing me?’

'Yes, miss Candela.’

Candela looked at Carl’s innocent expression. He definitely deserved to be Valor Two, as the collar of his flawlessly ironed shirt proudly stated.

She took a step towards the reporters and smiled dazzlingly.

'Let me go birdbrain!’ Noire struggled in Spark’s grip but Blanche didn’t feel like fighting him. It’s not like they weren’t used to being a centre of attention - though it didn’t mean it made them feel comfortable - but this was somehow… overwhelming. It was different in a way that steered up old memories. Maybe it was because of different circumstances, where it didn’t really matter who Blanche was as a person, or the fact that it was inevitable they would be compared to Noire, both wearing similar outfits, but for once Spark’s overwhelming familiarity was reassuring. They would have preferred to have Candela next to them but the priority was to get through this hellhole of weird attention as fast as possible.

Another stop at another nest of reporters and Blanche had to resist the urge to just run towards the building. Yet both Annie and Candela kept reminding them that this was part of the job for the whole past week, and the path was blocked anyway by actors and celebrities posing for the pictures. Blanche tried to look as indifferent as possible while trying to distance themselves from the chaos around and let Spark lead them.

When they felt a characteristically warm hand on their shoulder they couldn’t help but breathe out in relief.

'I thought we were supposed to pose to the pictures together, darling?’

'It’s not my fault you’ve let yourself fall behind.’ Blanche wiggled out of Spark’s grip and went closer to Candela, letting their fingers brush lightly her hips, seeping in her warmth and presence.

'That’s because I couldn’t believe Spark would mix quality with trash.’ Candela put her arm around Blanche and posed for another flock of reporters.

A soon as she saw Blanche pale Candela realized that being with Spark and Noire wasn’t the only thing that made them uncomfortable. Unlike Candela, who blossomed in the limelight, Blanche felt ill-at-ease in situations like this. Maybe it was self-consciousness or maybe some old memories from Cipher; either way Candela didn’t want to torment Blanche in that kind of way. She rushed to Blanche’s side and the relief she saw in their eyes made her feel slightly guilty for leaving them at all.

Candela led Blanche through the crowds, trying to balance letting their photos being taken and making the passage as brief as possible. Blanche was acting like nothing was wrong and they managed to look it, but their hand was gripping a frill on Candela’s back.

When they finally went through the door into the foyer and left the reporters behind Blanche visibly relaxed.

'You can let go now, darling.’ Blanche looked at Candela with confusion; it seemed they didn’t realize they were clinging to her. They let go, looked at their hand, stiff and pale from gripping Candela’s dress tightly, and slowly opened and closed it to relax the cramped muscles.

'Blanche what is this?’ Noire’s scandalised voice made Blanche freeze. Candela felt flames rise in her as Blanche turned slowly towards their twin, face calm but some weird apprehension visible in their eyes. 'What’s with those nails?’

'What?’ The flames in Candela died down as she grabbed Blanche’s hand. 'Blanche, you told me you did your nails in the morning.’

'I… did.’

'And what did you do right after?’

Blanche considered the question.

'Well, I had to take care of lapras and then we had a training with my vaporeon and gyarados in the pool…’

Candela groaned and, to her irritation, Noire did the same. Blanche’s nails illustrated their day pretty well: the half- transparent nail varnish had half flaked off from the water and two of the nails were broken from the force Blanche gripped Candela’s dress with.

'It’s not like anyone will notice…’ Blanche frowned looking at their nails.

'Darling, everyone will notice. Even the trash noticed.’

'Hey!’ Noire barked. Candela knew they looked exceptionally non-trashy at the moment but she didn’t need to admit that.

'Look, it’s not like I can do anything about it now…’

'Nonsense, darling.’ Candela took out a nail file from her purse. 'There is still lots of time. Carl, can you organise Dior’s Alolan Sky?’

'Sure, miss Candela.’ Carl took his phone and went to the side, his expression amused.

Noire snorted.

'I can take care of it instantly; I have my varnish and file with me.’

'Yours is probably some low-quality tasteless one. Blanche doesn’t need something like that.’

'Excuse you, I go for quality, this varnish needs to withstand battle-heavy missions!’

'And why do you even have it with you? Were you finishing your manicure in the car coming here?’

Noire’s face went red. Bullseye. Candela looked into their eyes challengingly; Noire bared their teeth.

'Blanche, dear’ Candela didn’t take her eyes of Noire’s face. 'Don’t run away, we’re gotta fix those nails.’

'I am not going to be a cause of a fight here and a subsequent scandal.’

'Then tell us, darling, whose varnish do you want to use.’

'I don’t want to use any varnish right now,’ Blanche replied flatly.

'Blanche, we’re getting those nails fixed if I have to do it myself.’

'I am not letting you near Blanche with a sharp object, Rocket,’ Candela hissed. It’s not like Blanche would want you to help, do you Blanche?“

'I just want to go home,’ Blanche sighed. Candela pursed her lips; why was Blanche like this?

'Guys, I don’t think this is something you need to argue about,’ Spark came between Candela and Noire, his face sweet ignorance.

'Thank you, Spark,’ Blanche exhaled in relief while Candela looked at him with incredulity.

'See, I have an idea,’ Spark continued cheerfully.

***

'SPARK PROPOSED THIS?’ Go put his face in his hands. 'Why did I think it would be safe to leave him for ten minutes unsupervised?’

Amelie looked at Go with pity and offered him her glass.

'Untouched’ she said. 'I’d rather keep my reaction time as long as Noire, Candela and two potential weapons occupy the same two square meters.’

Go eyed the glass then sighed.

'No, I'm… fine for now.’

'Hey guys’ Spark’s bubbly voice sounded from the direction of the couch. 'Would you do my nails next?’

Go stiffened.

'You know what Amelie? I think I’ll take that glass after all.’

'Honestly, how long can it take?’

'Sit still!’ Candela and Noire said in unison and instantly looked daggers at one another. Blanche sighed. To be honest this wasn’t unpleasant, but they’ve only managed to sleep four hours last night and had been really counting on that nap. Blanche took a deep breath, closed their eyes and leaned back on the couch; the gentle touch on their hands was quite pleasant, maybe this was why Candela liked getting manicure so much…

'Blanche, it’s time.’ Blanche woke with a start and needed a couple of seconds to realise where they were - then they recognised the room Candela and Noire bullied the staff to let them use. When Blanche had closed their eyes the room was full of assistants and leaders; now only Candela was there, glistening in her evening gown and smiling. 'They’re waiting for us,’ she said.

Had this been anyone else Blanche would have tired to talk their way out of going and simply stayed in the room, but they knew they had no chance of that with Candela. Blanche got up, stretched and followed Candela down the corridor.

The party was already in full swing and the room was huge, sprawling to the sides with staircases that led to even more floorspace. Candela was leading Blanche down a flight of stairs towards the main area and Blanche mused at the crowds. Then they remembered why they went away from there in the first place and decided to check out Candela and Noire’s handiwork.

Blanche looked at their left hand; the nails were painted with a slightly glittery black and for some reason filed sharp; it reminded Blanche of the bondeds’ nails when the titans took over. It was really neatly done and didn’t look bad, although it had a very Noire vibe, especially that for some reason there was an eevee nail sticker on their middle finger.

Blanche looked at their right hand. The nails were a beautiful almond shape. Even though Candela asked Carl for the varnish and just gave him the brand and name somehow the color was a perfect match for Blanche’s dress. And on the thumb…

'Candy?’

Candela stopped on the stairs and beamed back at them.

'Yes darling?’

‘Why is there a Valor symbol on my nail? I am not Valor.’

‘It’s a sign of belonging.’

‘I do not belong to Valor.’ Blanche frowned at Candela, who for some reason sighed.

‘You belong to the titans.’ Blanche felt a gloved hand on the nape of their neck and turned to face Spark. Spark’s eyes shone Zapdos’ gold, his smile between a grin and a threat. ‘I can’t fail to notice that between Articuno’s mark on your arm and Moltres’ mark on your nail you seem to be missing one…’ Spark leaned towards Blanche’s naked shoulder, teeth barred.

‘Oi!’ A cherry hit Spark on the head and stuck in his uncharacteristically well-combed hair. ‘Stop blocking the passage, asshole, or I’ll spill this drink on you.’

Spark eyes faded to blue as he turned to face Noire, standing two steps above him with their glass raised and fuming.

‘Wait, wait!’ He raised one hand in a submission gesture while trying to extract the cherry from his hair with the other. ‘What the hell, Noire, why is this so sticky? Just how much sugar is in your drink?’

'Enough to drown out the bitterness of having to be here with you!’

'So it’s just pure syrup there.’ Blanche looked their twin in the eye and the mutual understanding made Blanche hastily turn their eyes away before an uncontrollable smile could appear on their lips.

‘So how do you like your nails?’ Noire asked when Spark left for the bathroom to wash off the sweet stickiness off his hair and gloves. Blanche raised their middle finger at Noire.

‘What is this?’

Noire bristled for a moment, until they realised what Blanche was showing.

‘Oh… what, eevees are cute, aren’t they?’ Noire pouted and showed Blanche their own nails; they were painted with the same varnish as Blanche’s and each nail sported a sticker of either an eevee or an eeveelution. This was a Noire they knew from the past, not the one that did everything they could to destroy them…

'So you wanted to give me something cute?’ The words escaped Blanche’s mouth before they managed to stop them. Noire looked at them with surprise and hesitated…

'Leader Blanche, leader Candela,’ Annie came to them, a little out of breath. 'They’re waiting for you.’

Blanche looked back at Noire, but the accidentally recreated connection was broken again - Noire was glaring at Candela, whose presence they apparently forgot for a moment.

Blanche felt Candela’s warm hand grabbing their arm.

'Let’s go,’ she said with that slight edge Blanche knew meant Candela was suppressing her anger.

The party was in full swing and so far there was not bloodspill, even though Candela and Noire had been close to each other at least five times this evening. So far the only casualties of the Go project members were: two unlucky actors who tried to intrude on Blanche’s and Carl’s conversation and who Spark saw cry in the corner afterwards, wrist of a man who tried to touch Amelie without her consent and a suit of another man, who didn’t understand that when Candela says 'No’ it means no and whose bladder wasn’t ready for the front seat of the Valor Leader’s Anger Show.

All in all, by the leaders’ standards it was as peaceful as it could get.

Spark was enjoying himself immensely, and the fact that people kept thinking he was an actor made this even more fun. He was now standing and talking with Blanche, Carl and Amelie - a combination quite unlikely under most other circumstances and one that probably contained more sass than the rest of the room.

This also meant he was the target for a lot of the sass, but it was actually quite amusing. The only inconvenience was him gradually getting more thirsty; but that could be remedied easily.

'Guys, I’m going to the bar, want me to get you something?’

'God, yes!’ Amelie took her eyes off Noire, who was just intimidating an action movie actor twice their size and succeeding. 'Vodka, double. No, make that triple.’

'Gin and tonic if you could.’

Spark looked at Carl with surprise.

'Taking it easy tonight?’

Carl smiled this smile of his that could mean anything.

'There are some people I might not have another chance to meet here and I’d like to remember it. Besides, the night is young and as the party is made for the entertainment industry people; the bar won’t run out of alcohol too soon.’

'Fair.’ Spark admitted. 'Blanche, you want something?’

'You know I don’t drink during work, Spark.’ Blanche’s icy stare bore into Spark’s eyes.

'You don’t have to treat this as work, Blanche.’

'What would I treat is as, then? Fun?’ Blanche bristled. They looked quite off - well, more off than usual, ever since they left the car. A drink might have helped - but then again with how much of a lightweight Blanche was not drinking was probably the smart choice.

'Then maybe something non-alcoholic?’

Blanche considered that.

'If they have Red Tauros…’

'If they don’t I’ll make them go out and get it.’ Spark grinned at Blanche and Amelie, who both looked like they weren’t sure if he was joking. Carl looked unphased but after all those years Spark didn’t expect anything else from him.

It’s not like anyone could stop him anyway.

'What can I get you sir?’

'Red Tauros, triple Vodka, Gin and Tonic and Guinness please.’ Spark leaned on the bar waiting for the bartender to pour the drinks.

'Are you Chris Beevans?’ A long-legged blond lady asked Spark. He had a vague feeling he saw her somewhere before, but then again many aspiring actresses went for a similar look. He grinned.

'It depends; how much do I look like him?’ The lady hesitated.

'Here are your drinks, sir.’ Spark carefully grabbed the glasses from the bar.

'I have to take those to my friends but if at some point you decide I look similar enough I will be around.’ Spark flashed another smile at the blond lady and walked away leaving her confused and blushing slightly.

'Heeere are your drinks esteemed guests!’ Spark balanced the glasses carefully and handed one to Blanche.

'Red Tauros.’

'Thank you, Spark.’ Blanche took the glass from him and drank from it greedily. 'Oh, cold.’

'For Amelie…’ Spark looked at his hands; there seemed to be a glass missing, but he knew he didn’t drop anything. ’…iiiiis probably left at the bar, uh, sorry.’

'That’s fine.’ Amelie didn’t seem too happy.

'No, no, I will get it in a moment! Carl, Gin and tonic. And if you could also hold my beer, I’ll get Amelie’s medicine.’

Amelie pretended to pout but there was an unmistakable shadow of a smile in the corner of her bright red lips.

'Hello, you seem to have forgotten to give me the vodka.’ Spark flashed a smile at the bartender, who looked at him in confusion for a moment.

'You asked for a Red Tauros Vodka… the drink? With triple vodka?’

Spark remembered the yellow drink on ice he just gave to Blanche.

'Shiiiit!’ he ran back to the group.

Blanche wasn’t there.

'Is this really necessary?’ Blanche followed Candela through the crowd towards a place where photos were taken in groups; they could see a telltale combination of black dress and silvery hair there.

'Look, I’m not overjoyed about being in a photo with Noire either.’ There was an annoyance in Candela’s voice even though she managed to keep it off her face. 'But they want a shot of all the Leaders with their stars and it’s is amazing publicity. I just hope Spark gets to us before either of us starts fighting with Noire.’

Blanche pinched the bridge of their nose. They were underslept, tired and hungry and even the Red Tauros seemed to taste wrong. There was too many people Blanche vaguely recognized from movies, even more people they didn’t recognise but who expected them to and…

And each time they met Noire tonight Noire did their best to pick on Blanche. Which, well, was normal. Honestly, Blanche knew they shouldn’t expect anything else; it was quite unclear to them why it hurt more than usual. Maybe it was because…

Blanche looked at their left hand. A small eevee sticker was smiling cheerfully from their nail. Noire loved everything eevee and it was hard to think they’d separate from any eevee item and yet…

No. They knew where their relationship stand. This wasn’t something up for questioning; they weren’t going to give Noire a chance to hurt them again.

'Blanche, darling, get rid of that glass - I see Spark coming, we’re going to start.’

Blanche looked at their glass and downed it in one go. No, it definitely tasted as if..

'Dooon’t drink that Blancheee…ohshit,’ Spark’s voice came over the noise of the crowd and Blanche froze.

'Spark, what did you do?’ they threw at him in the iciest tone they could muster.

'I’m sorry, there was alcohol in that, I swear it was a mistake.’ Spark flinched from the stare Blanche threw him and recoiled from the expression Candela made.

'Miss Candela, Mx Blanche, Mr. Spark, can you join us now?’ The woman who came over was dressed much too sensibly to be one of the guests and thus had to be part of the photography team.

'Of course.’ Candela put on her best smile, perfectly masking the anger that Blanche could just barely hear in her voice. They themselves felt both angry and confused. Of course the weird taste of the drink was the addition of alcohol; how could they not notice?

'Blanche, are you fine?’ Candela grabbed their arm gently.

'Yes, of course.’ This wasn’t true but they weren’t planning to show any weakness now.

Amelie dabbed the antiseptic into four long scratches that diagonally marked Noire’s face. She had been enjoying the party quite a lot, both because of the good alcohol and ample attention she managed to get when for once she wasn’t easily identifiable as a Rocket employee. Having to abruptly leave the room to tend to Noire’s injuries made her feel pretty vindictive. She put a quite generous amount of the antiseptic onto the cotton pad and quite unceremoniously slapped it onto the biggest cut.

'Holy fuck, Amelie!’ Noire hissed.

'You know, you kind of brought this upon yourself. Why did you think sharpening Blanche’s nails was a good idea?’

'I didn’t expect them to use it as a fucking weapon.’

'You do have experience with what those can do from Spark, though.’

Noire wrinkled their nose.

'Blanche is not a savage like Spark.’

'Your face seems to prove otherwise.’

'That’s… ’ Noire broke off, visibly torn about something. Amelie sighed.

'What did you do boss?’

'I didn’t do anything!’ Noire flinched as Amelie proceeded to clean another scratch.

'Noire?’ she asked sternly.

Noire pouted. They didn’t do anything differently than they usually did with Blanche outside of a fight. Hell, they didn’t really say anything that much different from all the other little nasty comments they kept throwing at their twin all night. It was true that Blanche’s comebacks were pretty weak tonight but Noire didn’t expect such a vivid expression of sadness and betrayal when they told Blanche they must be happy with the Valor bitch as their replacement - it’s not like it was the first time either. Noire was so stunned by Blanche’s sudden outburst that they didn’t even react until Spark grabbed Blanche to stop them from making even more interesting pattern on Noire’s face.

Suddenly Noire caught a glimpse of long silvery hair with the corner of their eye. They were sitting in one of the actual restrooms that led to a bathroom and Blanche just sped past them, visibly distressed their face a weird shade of green. Noire got up, making Amelie jump, and ran after them.

'Noire, what the hell?’ Amelie shouted after them.

Noire found Blanche in one of the stalls, leaning with one of their hands on the water reservoir and heaving heavily.

’…Mon chou?’ Noire asked.

Blanche didn’t turn around; they threw up so violently their knees sagged and Noire caught them before they fell to the floor. Blanche heaved and convulsed some more, but it seemed there wasn’t much to throw up, just their body needed some time to realise that.

Noire held Blanche as they got up, led them to the sink and watched them rinse their mouth. Blanche was a lightweight but still it was completely unlike them to drink until throwing up; Noire wondered what could have happened for them to get this sick. Could it be…

'Blanche, have you eaten anything today?’

'Yes,’ Blanche splashed their face with cold water. 'I ate breakfast…’

Oh for fucks sake…

'Blanche, it’s 9 pm! You didn’t eat the whole day and then decided to drink?’ Noire grabbed Blanche’s arms and turned Blanche to face them. Blanche’s face was pale and they were shaking slightly.

'Of course not!’ They pouted. 'That stupid Spark got me a wrong drink…’

Blanche didn’t try to shake Noire’s hands off; quite the opposite, they took a tiny step to get even closer and put their forehead on Noire’s shoulder.

'He’s a good friend but he can be pretty useless,’ they whispered.

Noire realized they forgot how affectionate Blanche got when drunk. Here they were, one hand lightly holding Noire’s waist, their damp bangs leaving a wet mark on the shoulder of Noire’s dress. Open and defenseless in the face of a mortal enemy.

Noire gently put their hands around Blanche and hugged them tightly. This, this is how it should always be…

'Noire’ Blanche put second hand around Noire’s waist, their voice quiet and soft. 'Do you think we could…’ Blanche’s voice broke and Noire could feel their hands gripping the fabric of their dress. What was Blanche trying to say?

'Blanche, are you OK?’ Spark ran into the bathroom. Noire felt Blanche’s hands loosen their grip and a quiet sigh escaped Blanche’s lips.

Stupid motherfucking asshole birbrain, how could anyone have such a bad timing?

'Spark, the fuck?!’ Noire barked. 'Is this true you got Blanche drunk?’

'I am sooo sorry!’ The fucker had the decency to actually look sorry. 'Blanche accidentally got Amelie’s alcohol.’

Noire froze, considering this for a moment.

'Wait, this could actually kill someone.’

'Boss, I find that quite offensive.’ Amelie materialised next to Spark. 'One drink of mine wouldn’t kill anyone.’

'Well, it’s definitely enough to make someone sick.’ Blanche was still in Noire’s arms, back hunched. When was the last time Noire held them like that? Was it that moment at the airport when Willow took Blanche away from them? 'Blanche needs to go home.’

'I’ll take them…’ Spark took a step forward and Noire glared at him.

'You’ve done enough for one night, asswipe. I think Blanche should be taken care of by someone responsible.’

'Surely you don’t mean yourself, Rocket.’ Great, now even Valor bitch was here. One would think it’s possible to get some privacy in the bathroom.

'And who the fuck you think? You, Valor?’

Candela’s eyes narrowed, a red glint flashing in her eyes.

'You must be crazy if you think I’ll let you be alone with Blanche.’

Two could play this game; Noire could feel the Shadow Corruption rise in them.

'I’m not the crazy raging b…’

'No, don’t argue!’ Blanche grabbed awkwardly a piece of Noire’s dress and a piece of Candela’s, pulling both closer. 'You both did my nails, let’s all be friends tonight.’

The bathroom went quiet.

'Blanche’ Candela said after a moment. 'Do you want me or Noire to take you home?’

’…Yes.’

Noire looked into Candela’s hostile eyes. This was stupid. This wouldn’t last. This wasn’t real. It was obvious Blanche wouldn’t feel like this tomorrow, when they sobered up.

Noire looked at Blanche, who kept looking between them and Candela, their face pale, their expression honest, affectionate and a bit childlike.

Maybe this wasn’t real but holy fuck, they weren’t able to resist it.

'Valor’ Noire extended a hand towards Candela. 'Truce until tomorrow. And no one fucking learns about this.’

Candela hesitated for a moment but apparently she was also unable to resist Blanche’s expression.

'Rocket,’ She shook Noire’s hand. 'I have a car waiting, just give me a moment to let Carl know he’s being left on his own; no use it taking the fun away from him.’

'Uhm, it’s OK, I’ll do that.’ Spark cut in, his face a weird mixture of concern and happiness.

'Boss, we can also take our car.’ Amelie looked concerned, but only slightly.

Noire looked into Candela’s eyes. It was obvious neither of them wanted to stir any trouble when Blanche was like this. They’d be able to control themselves even without Amelie.

'No, you can use it to come back when you want. Officially I’m not going to be there, so it’s better if Rocket drivers know nothing about it.’

'Wow,’ Candela looked at Noire with a surprised acknowledgement. 'So you can think when you want to.’

'They have their moments.’ Amelie smiled.

'AMELIE!’

Nickols adjusted his camera’s ISO to match better the weak lightning on the street. He was a gossip reporter and he usually specialised in actors, but this was just too good of an opportunity to pass: a publicly known enemies of Rocket COO and leader of Go project Valor team leaving the building together, leading along a usually collected leader of the Mystic team, now clearly drunk. This was bound to bring him some good money, but he needed a slightly better shot than the ones he got so far and needed to hurry before the group got into a car. He raised his camera…

And a natu landed on it, staring at him with unmistakable judgement in its eyes.

'Shoo!’ Nickols flapped his hand and hit the natu, which gave an indignant squawk, jumped off the camera and glided to the ground to land next to a wheelchair.

'This is a rather rude way to treat a pokemon,’ a man in the wheelchair said in a most polite tone. Both his hair and his skin were very light, making him stand out in the dim light. 'Then again you seem to be equally rude towards pokemon trainers. It’s not very sporting of you to take photos of such private matters.’

Nickols finally remembered who the man was; it was the second-in command of the Valor leader.

'Public figures in public places can expect to have their photo taken. Why would you, pokemon trainers, be an exception?’

'I believe the reason the gossip press usually avoids getting too close to our teams is that they are afraid.’ The man gently petted the natu that jumped up onto his knees; another natu was already sitting there. Both were staring at Nickols.

What was the man’s name again? Carlos?

'Are you trying to threaten me?’ Nickols laughed. 'I’ve been in this business for fifteen years and so far nobody managed to successfully threaten me. And if you try - well, believe me I know the law very well, I know exactly how to sue your ass off.’

'If you’ve been in this business that long you should have stayed with an analog camera.’ Another man came from behind Carlos, light hitting his eyes in a strange way that made it look like they glowed golden. 'You know those digital ones can lose the data pretty easily.’

The camera in Nickols’ hands grew warm, sparks flying from it and hitting his hand with static so hard he dropped it; the camera hit the concrete, a cloud of smoke rising from the cracks in the plastic.

'I know who you are!’ Nickols shouted, his hands shaking. 'You’re the Instinct group leader.’

The blond man before him smiled. It had to be a smile, all his teeth were visible, along with weirdly long canines.

'No, not right now.’

***

'WHERE ARE THEY?’ Spark ran into the room and stopped sharply, his feet slipping on the floor, almost leaving skidmarks. Blanche pinched the bridge of their nose.

'I swear to Arceus Spark’ they hissed, 'If you don’t keep quiet I’m going to make an icicle out of you and throw you out of my headquarters.’

'Oh, right. Sorry.’ Spark whispered.

'You should be sorry, since this is your fa…’ Blanche stared at a bag Spark pushed at them; it was full of isotonic drinks with an addition of a box of aspirin.

'I really am very sorry Blanche. This should help.’

Blanche gingerly took one of the drinks out of the bag, opened it and started to drink. They knew they shouldn’t drink energy drinks right now, as they could lead to even more dehydration, and they weren’t sure how much of their annoyance was because of hangover and how much was caffeine withdrawal. Spark being so considerate of their condition was…. Comforting.

Downing the whole bottle made Blanche feel slightly better. They took a deep breath and looked at Spark, who could barely contain his excitement.

'Come.’ They took another bottle with them and led Spark out of the room.

'A whole! Clutch! Of shiny eevees!’ Spark somehow managed to make his whisper sound like an excited squeal.

'We’ve kept their shells for you to analyse.’ Blanche opened a door and saw Spark’s face light up even more when he heard the squeals. 'Hands!’ Blanche ordered showing Spark an array of antibacterial substances and they proceeded to wash their own hands.

The eevees were with their mother, a jolteon belonging to Mystic Four, their silvery fur ruffled from the pokemon’s static. Blanche came closer; the eevees climbed over the blanket to get to them. Blanche smiled - for some reason this clutch was afraid of many people but was very fond of them.

And of Spark, as it turned out when he crouched next to Blanche. Blanche wondered if it was his inherent nature or the subtle static electricity he didn’t seem capable of getting rid of which probably reminded the eevees of their parent.

'They are wonderful, oh gosh, I need photos.’ Spark stopped petting the eevees and took out his phone. 'All the photos!’

Blanche carefully took one of the tiny eevees into their hands; it fit just right.

'They are really cute, aren’t they…’

'Oh, you still have the eevee nail!’ Blanche realized that Spark just took a photo of them with the tiny eevee pawing their face.

'I… didn’t have time to wash it off.’ Yes. That was it. It’s not like the nails done by Noire and Candela had any special meaning. Not at all.

'It looks great with the eevee! Can I post it to the Instagram? Please?’

'Spark….’

'Pleeaaaaseeeeee?’

Blanche sighed.

'Just have the location off. We don’t need… people coming here trying to steal them.’

'I WANT THEM!’ Amelie raised her head from the couch. Both she and Noire got a day off after the gala and Amelie was lounging in Noire’s apartment nursing a slight hangover, Ember the ninetales sleeping in the corner while Noire alternated between playing with their eevee and Flashlight, Amelie’s small vulpix, and messing with their phone.

'What do you want this time, Noire?’

'Spark has posted a photo of a whole clutch of recently! Hatched! Shiny! Eevees!’

Amelie sighed; she had hoped not to have to leave the couch today, except for the bathroom or fridge.

'You don’t have to have every shiny eevee in town, boss.’

'Of course I do! There is no location, though, and I don’t recognise this interior…’ Noire swiped the screen and their face froze. Amelie looked at them for a moment, sighed, put her book down and rolled over to grab her own phone. She booted up the browser and navigated to Spark’s instagram, Noire still not making any sound. There it was, a picture of the eevees, cute and tiny next to a jolteon that wasn’t Spark’s. And the next picture…

The next picture couldn’t’ be Noire - the clothes were different and the expression was definitely subtler than Noire's… but Amelie never thought the Mystic leader’s face was capable of such a soft, fond expression when holding an eevee. Thinking about it, they were a team leader, so they had to like pokemon, but as she had only ever met Blanche in the presence of Noire, Amelie knew them only upset or angry. Blanche happy at a small pokemon pawing their face was… unexpected.

'They’re really cute’ Amelie admitted, 'But please don’t tell me you want to go on a search for them.’

Noire frowned at their screen. Blanche’s presence suggested the eevees might be at Mystic headquarters and stealing them might piss Blanche off. This seemed fair, considering the four long scabs covered in healing ointment on Noire’s face. And yet…

When they left Blanche at Mystic headquarters with Candela the previous night it felt so… normal. It was as if there was still a place for them in Blanche’s heart. Of course Blanche was drunk then but… It was visible on the photo Blanche kept the nails, little eevee sticker smiling happily.

Noire bit their lips. Blanche’s face was pale and there were dark circles under their eyes. Noire remembered the times at the lab, on days after some of the worse experiments, when Blanche was hiding their suffering but their eyes still told the tale. Now Blanche was up and working even though last night they were visibly exhausted, leaning on Noire, their judgement impaired enough to allow themselves the level of trust they shouldn’t considering they were now enemies.

And Blanche didn’t properly sleep it off; they were already up and running. Yet they had already been tired enough the previous day to fall asleep on that sofa.

Just how sleep deprived was Blanche?

Noire opened the texting app and started typing.

'I will not attempt to steal the eevees if you send me all the photos of them you are capable of making.’

Spark’s reply came almost instantly.

’I was planning to anyway. Anything other requests?’

Noire stroked the tails of the small vulpix who curled around their eevee, both pokemon looking incredibly cute when resting.

'I hope you guys take better care of them than Blanche does of themselves.’ Noire pressed send and let their phone drop onto the carpet. They rolled over and curled on the floor, making a ring around the now sleeping pokemon. Noire listened to the animals’ rhythmic breathing and nodded off…

A sound of incoming email awoke them from their nap. It was Spark, sharing a photo folder with a comment ’How’s that?’

There was almost a hundred photos of tiny eevees playing, tiny eevees feeding, tiny eevees being cute. The last photo was of Blanche, lying on a couch and sleeping, a tiny eevee curled close to their face.

Spark wasn’t that useless after all.

'Fucking acceptable.’

#Ashiversary #p-the-wanderer #fanfiction #submission #Blanche #Spark #Noire #Candela #Amelie

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