Tumgik
#and she ended up only being able to pick up flareon
lumenflowered · 3 months
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heyyy, so. the kimono girls said it was fine to record the show and share it with rotomblr as long as I sent them a copy too, so i did! i think its REALLY cool personally. and also we could all uh. use a distraction from The Rocket BS right now
...however. there is open flame due to "there are fire-type attacks used onstage" reasons which is why im putting it under a cut. fluff, this means you, either don't watch this or dm me so i can tell you when to look away and when it's safe to look back
[A video is attached. It's clearly being taken from the back of an admittedly somewhat small theater, though the theater itself seems rather full. It's difficult to pick out any familiar faces in the audience given that the video is being taken from behind, but a dark-haired woman in a pink jacket can be seen beside a Noctowl near the back, and she—unlike many of those in the audience—is watching the stage intently.
The lights dim. It's time for the show to begin.
And begin it does, with a spotlight shining upon a single woman in a black kimono who steps out from behind the curtains, an Umbreon trotting by her side.
"Once upon a time," she calls out, "on a fateful night many centuries ago, two towers stood tall above the proud city of Ecruteak."
The spotlight dims as the curtains open, only to be replaced by artificial moonlight summoned by that very Umbreon. It shines upon the stage, shines upon the painted backdrop of two tall towers, shines upon the woman in the black kimono and her Umbreon partner.
"The full moon shining down upon them both," she continues, "was not to last."
The moonlight fades as the spotlight intensifies once more, another one joining it to shine now on a very brief battle between an Umbreon and... yes, that is an Arcanine, and it certainly looks like Molotov even if Maria herself is hidden somewhere in the wings. He uses Fire Fang once, again in response to an attack by the Umbreon, and the Umbreon is recalled into a Pokéball with a dim flash of red light.
The woman in the black kimono bows her head, and the spotlight goes from her to another woman, bearing a striking resemblance to the first, save for the fact that the second performer is wearing a yellow kimono, and there is a Jolteon by her side.
She speaks. "Along came a sudden storm. Lightning crashed down—"
The Jolteon, as she speaks, turns towards the other side of the stage—yes, there's that Arcanine again, he moved fast—and uses Thunder. As the Pokémon battle, the woman in the yellow kimono continues to narrate.
"—and a great, rolling thunder awoke many of those living within the city of that time. Those who were not wakened by the noise would soon be by their fellows, for that great and terrible bolt of lightning had struck one of their two sacred towers. The Brass Tower, it was called then."
She recalls her Jolteon, and bows her head. The spotlight shifts to a third woman in a kimono, this one red, this one alongside a Flareon.
"And the Brass Tower burned," says the woman in red, as her own Flareon begins to fight against the Arcanine.
Both Pokémon use Fire-type attack after Fire-type attack, but a particularly discerning eye might notice that the attacks are exclusively directed at each other, and that neither Pokémon seems to be taking much damage. Or any damage. Perhaps both have the ability Flash Fire.
"Those living in Ecruteak worked tirelessly to stop the blaze, but by the time that the fire had burned itself out, it became clear that three Pokémon had not been able to escape the tower in time."
The battle ends, eventually, with some sort of physical move from the Arcanine. The woman in red recalls her Flareon, and bows her head, and the spotlight shifts to a fourth woman, clad in a blue kimono, standing beside a Vaporeon.
"It began to rain, then," the woman in blue says, and her Vaporeon throws up a water move that scatters droplets all across the stage before engaging in battle with the Arcanine as well. "It began to rain—too little, too late to save those Pokémon—and Ecruteak itself came to mourn, as it seemed the very world mourned too."
It looks for a moment, if only a brief moment, that the Arcanine will not be emerging victorious against the Vaporeon at all. The Pokémon looks back into the wings, as if being directed by someone there, and then digs his feet in and uses a different move, one perhaps identifiable by a discerning eye as Reversal, one that forces the Vaporeon's trainer to recall her Pokémon as well.
The woman in the blue kimono does so, and bows her head on cue, as the spotlight once again shifts. This time, it is to a fifth woman in a kimono, this one wearing pink, this one next to an Espeon.
"Suddenly," she proclaims, "the rain ceased. The clouds parted. The moon was no longer visible, but legend has it the stars could be seen up ahead, as could the lightening sky of a new dawn."
The Espeon uses Swift, covering the stage in ethereal stars, before engaging in battle once more with the Arcanine. Molotov, at this point, is starting to look very tired—but he emerges victorious here as well, and the Espeon is recalled by her trainer.
The spotlight shifts back to the woman in the black kimono, now alone as she walks toward the center of the stage.
"But it was not a new dawn that the people of Ecruteak witnessed," the woman in the black kimono says. "It was a truly great Pokémon, resplendent in its approach, who heard their cries of sorrow and sought to assuage them."
She steps aside, revealing a pale, silver-haired woman standing so that the golden cape draped across one shoulder catches the light. In the spotlight, the cape shimmers with far more colors than merely the one. An Arcanine sits obediently beside her, his tail wagging.
The woman—Maria, almost certainly—says nothing. A second spotlight returns to the left side of the stage, illuminating the woman in the pink kimono, now also standing alone.
"Ho-oh heard our pleas," she says, "and the lord of the skies had come to answer them. One by one, the three Pokémon who had perished in the blaze emerged from the wreckage. They were alive once more; alive, but not unchanged."
(If the viewer is paying particularly close attention to Maria, they might see her barely flinch at the name Ho-oh. They might see her gaze flick in that direction, but for the most part she remains standing as she has been since she emerged from backstage.)
The spotlight shifts from the woman in the pink kimono, and three spotlights illuminate the other three women one by one, as the three say three names.
"Raikou," says the woman in yellow.
"Entei," says the woman in red.
"Suicune," says the woman in blue.
Two of those spotlights dim entirely. The woman in the yellow kimono continues, "The people of Ecruteak feared the power that could defy death itself. They assaulted what they did not understand; they attacked the three Pokémon reborn."
The spotlight shifts to the woman in the red kimono. "Ho-oh protected them with their own body, allowing the trio to flee. They never retaliated, merely flew off into the early morning skies, never to be seen again by anyone who who stood there that day."
"Perhaps," says the woman in the blue kimono as the spotlight shifts once more to her, "perhaps one day, when the people of Ecruteak—the people of Johto—have demonstrated that we are worthy of that trust and protection again, perhaps Ho-oh will return then. But only then, when a worthy soul is chosen, will that great Pokémon fly our skies again."
Maria turns, walking backstage again, the spotlight illuminating her golden cape. Her Arcanine walks alongside her, and the spotlight—as well as the one illuminating the woman in the blue kimono—goes out.
The lights come up, again, in less than a minute. The five Kimono Girls stand upon the stage, alongside their Pokémon once more, and bow one by one, to quite a lot of applause.
Maria returns from backstage, still wearing the cape, to bow too. She looks... taken aback, by the fact that she receives any applause at all, never mind more than the Kimono Girls did. Or perhaps she's taken aback by something else entirely.
The video ends.]
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maraschinotopped · 3 years
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knockoff pink flareon figure my beloved <3
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starcountesseevee · 3 years
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A Rocket Coincidence (Part 18)
Part 17 / Part 19
     It seemed the weeks were flying by in a blur as Kali settled into a routine. Her and Mara alternated days working at Simply Yoga and on her off days Kali found herself bored again as the days grew chillier. Celadon City was far enough south that it didn’t experience a full winter, part of the reason Kali loved it there, she couldn’t imagine how people lived places like Freezington in the Crown Tundra where it was cold year round. Celadon did, however, get enough of autumn-like weather to make the holidays feel like well, the holidays. So to fill her time on her days off Kali threw herself into decorating their apartment and studio for her favorite holiday, Halloween.  
     "Are you sure this isn't too much?" Kali asked Mara for the hundredth time as she hung another string of cobwebs across Simply Yoga's front display window. 
     "It's fine." Mara laughed as she handed Kali another Spinarak cut out to hang. "Are you sure you don't want to come tonight? Jules really is okay with it." 
     "If I go then who will hand out all the candy?" 
     "I'm sure plenty of other places are handing out so it's not like you have to." 
     "I know but I enjoy it." Kali smiled. "So really I'm fine! You don't have to worry about me. You two have fun." 
     “Alright, alright.” Mara grabbed her keys and headed to the front door. “Save me a few pieces then will ya? Oh, and don’t wait up!”
     “No promises!” Kali finished hanging the last bit of cobweb before getting down from the stool and locking the front door while she headed upstairs to change. As she entered the apartment she nearly tripped over Nero and Rowan as the two came bounding over to her only to spin around just as fast, chasing each other back into the living room. Both their sleek black bodies were decorated with white bones chalked onto them courtesy of another bored morning Kali had. She set her keys on the hall tree next to Aslan’s pokeball. This year Halloween fell on a Saturday and while there would probably be an abundance of kids out that didn’t have school the next day Simply Yoga was also in close proximity to places like Echo so Kali was going to have the large Arcanine downstairs with her. Just in case. 
     She would have preferred to have Cliff there for security, among other reasons, but he had another mysterious work assignment elsewhere that he couldn't talk about. Which was fine, she thought as she pushed open her bedroom door. She knew getting into this he wouldn’t be able to be around all the time but that didn’t make her miss him any less. 
     Her costume, a purple Mismagius hat and dress she had found at the Halloween store, was already laid out on the bed waiting for her. As she changed she took a moment to adjust her bra and snap a quick picture, sending it to Cliff with the caption *What you’re missing.* just to emphasize that maybe he should have been there. She didn’t even get a chance to pick up the dress before she got a response.
     *That’d better not be your whole costume.* Kali bit back a laugh as she toyed with how to answer before deciding on teasing him a little more. 
     *And if it is?* She set her Pokegear down to pull on her costume where it remained suspiciously quiet as she finished dressing. As she reached for the hat she heard the ringtone go off and was only a little surprised to see an incoming video call. She grinned, he was too easy. 
     "Relax I'm just teasing you." She answered, laughing at the relieved look that crossed his face as he noticed how much more covered she was. 
     "Well maybe I just wanted to see more of the other costume." He backpedaled, trying to sound suggestive but Kali had a feeling he was trying to cover a bit of jealous worry.
     "Oh this?" Kali extended her arm holding the Pokegear as far as she could and with her other hand teasingly pulled the bottom of her skirt up to flash him a bit of bare thigh.  
     "You're killing me dollface." Cliff groaned, glancing behind him to make sure no one else was nearby. "If I wasn't at work I'd be having you take that whole thing off."
     "Oh what's that? I think I hear trick-or-treaters?" Kali cupped a hand to her ear like she was listening carefully.
     "Maybe you can call back after the kids go home and we can continue this, hmm?"
     "I dunno, it might be late." She teased.
     "I would stay up till sunrise to get to see you take that off, doll."  
     "I'll think about it." Kali blushed, dropping the hem of her costume.
     "I'll be thinking hard about it too. But right now I gotta go."
     "Alright, mountain man. I'll talk to you later." She blew him a kiss before ending the call.
     Kali put on the final touches of her costume and headed back downstairs, deciding at the last second to grab Ember's pokeball as well so Aslan would have some company. The two got settled on the floor in front of the receptionist desk, the large Arcanine taking up most of the room while Ember curled up on his back.
     Flicking on the storefront light Kali stepped outside to survey her work. She had replaced the lights in the large display window with purple ones and hung cobwebs in front of them to create shadows. Fake Spinaraks were nestled into the webbing and a few fake Zubats hung down in the middle as if flying; it was spooky enough without being over the top scary. Kali wasn't a big fan of bloody and gory Halloween displays meant to scare and preferred to keep things kid friendly, after all Halloween was her favorite holiday partly because of the fond memories she had of going trick-or-treating with her mom when she was a kid. 
     Hearing the unmistakable laughter of a group of kids Kali ducked back inside to grab the basket of candy, turning back to the door just in time to see three young children approach. One of her regular patrons waved at her from behind the trio who were oohing at the window display but when they spotted the large basket of candy Kali was holding their attention quickly shifted. They ran up to her with a shout of 'trick-or-treat' before diving into the basket to pick out their favorites. 
     For the first hour or so there was a steady stream of kids but after the two hour mark it slowed down. Kali was leaning against the doorframe considering calling it a night when she spotted a young man about her age escorting a small girl dressed as an Eevee, his face familiar but she couldn't quite place him. He apparently had the same feeling because he was scrutinizing her as they approached, the girl clinging shyly to his leg. 
     “Go ahead, Dee.” The girl released her grip on his pant leg and took a few cautious steps forward. He looked back up at Kali, recognition dawning on his face. “Oh! It’s you! From the Silver Conference, we tied in the semi-finals!” 
     “Yes!” Kali smiled, racking her brain for his name. “I thought you looked familiar, too. Cole, was it?” 
     "Yes!” Cole laughed nervously. “I'm sorry, I don't remember yours. But I do remember you used all Eeveelutions!" At this Dee’s eyes lit up and she stopped digging through the candy. 
     "Really! All Eevees?"  
     “Yupp!” Kali smiled warmly down at the girl who was staring up at her in wide-eyed awe. “Do you like Eevees? Is that why you’re dressed as one? What’s your name?” 
"I love Eevees!" The girl exclaimed, her shyness gone. "My name is Delilah and I want to be a trainer too! With all Eevees!" 
     “Nice to meet you, Delilah. My name is Kali.” She said mostly for Cole’s benefit. “Have you ever met a Flareon?” 
     “No…” Kali didn’t think Dee’s eyes could get any wider. She glanced back at the street but no one else was coming. 
     “Would you like to?”
     “You really don’t have to-” Cole began but Kali shushed him before calling for Ember who trotted happily to the door.  
     "It's so cute!” Delilah gasped excitedly as Ember approached. She reached a hand out but stopped herself and looked back at Cole. “Can I pet it?”
     "That's up to the nice lady." 
     "Can I pet it, please?" 
     "Of course. But hold your hand out for her to sniff first." Dee cautiously obeyed, crouching down closer to Ember who sniffed the offered hand before trilling and rubbing her head into it. Kali smiled, watching the two before turning back to Cole. “Your…”
     “Niece! Delilah is my niece, my sister’s kid.” 
     "She's cute. I didn’t know you lived in the city.” 
     "I don't, actually. My sister travels a lot so I help out from time to time while she's away so Dee doesn't have to move around." 
     "That's sweet." 
     "So, uh, do you...work here?" He glanced up at the sign. 
     "Yeah, my friend owns the place. I work here in between training." 
     "That's cool. Do you train somewhere in the city? I’m always looking for a new place to practice. Maybe we can train together sometime? I’m, uh, sure Delilah would love to see your Eeveelutions in action.” He glanced down at the young girl but she was paying them no mind. 
     “Oh, yeah, sure! There’s a park a few minutes from here I go to a lot.” They both glanced back as they heard another group approaching. “Well, hey, I don’t work on Tuesday. Why don’t you two meet me here around 10? And we can go?”
     “That sounds great.” Cole smiled before crouching down. “Alright Dee, we’ve got to go.”
     “Aw, okay.” Delilah was obviously disappointed as Cole took her hand.
     “See you Tuesday.” Cole and Delilah waved goodbye and Kali gave a small wave back before greeting the group that had just come up. 
     After they left Kali leaned back against the doorframe, looking up at the night sky as Ember sat down at her feet and began cleaning her paw. Ten more minutes, Kali decided, then she’d call it a night. After all, she had a call to make.
Part 17 / Part 19
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kariachi · 4 years
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Some subspecies 11 pokemon au featuring a smol!Mike and smol!Elena. There’s more too it, but I’m not sure if I’m gonna be able to get the next section postable tonight.
~~
By the time Elena and her father woke up Mike had already gotten dressed, headed across the street from the hotel with Elissa chattering reprovingly at him the whole way, and returned with some bagels, some pastry, and enough bacon, egg, and cheese sandwiches to make a Munchlax take pause. Mr. Validus and his Luxray eyed him groggily as Elena automatically tucked into a sneaselclaw.
“You, are as bad as your father.”
He chose to just take that as a compliment.
Despite Mr Validus’s attempts at keeping everything nice and calm and orderly, the early morning was frantic. They were in the best hotel in Jubilife City, courtesy of Mike’s father, and were expected in Sandgem Town by dinner to pick up their starter pokemon. The very idea that a situation like that called for calm and order and not rushing out the door as soon as breakfast was eaten and shoes were on was unthinkable to the two ten-year-olds. They’d been willing to walk there in the dark overnight and all but had to be carried indoors into the nice warm bed that had already been paid for. So it was no surprise that nine’o’clock saw them on the road, with hardly enough time to stop and buy some food and water to keep them for the day, the children chomping at the bit to start their adventure.
“Okay, our options are going to be Piplup, Chimchar, and Turtwig.”
“Oh Piplup, definitely.” As they lead the way down the path, flanked by Elissa and her father’s Luxray, Elena turned a curious look on Mike.
“I’m not surprised, I just don’t know why.” He shrugged.
“Have you seen Empoleon? They’re the most regal pokemon ever.” And he had a legacy to uphold. His grandfather’d had a Polteageist, his father had a Serperior, he couldn’t just get any pokemon. Elena didn’t look convinced by the argument though.
“But Piplup are so… don’t you have enough pride for three people already?” she asked. “Why would you want a pokemon that’s even worse? They don’t eat, you know. They’ll just, refuse to be given food for days on end.” She shook her head. “You should get a Turtwig, they grow food and stuff when they evolve.” As if on cue, he felt a starting pang of hunger, despite having eaten only a short time ago and about his own weight. This did not deter him.
“You sound like my uncle.”
“Your uncle is right.”
“Anyway, Empoleon have one of the best defensive typings and an awesome movepool- if you’re going to be battling you should go for it.”
“Yeah,” Elena countered, “but Torterra’s not a slouch either. It’s just as bulky and it’s a better defensive wall, with about as good a movepool.” She paused to take a sip of water. “It’s what I’m going for. They’re relatively easy to take care of, they’re good battlers and pets, and I really don’t need a pokemon that’s going to get all huffy when I’ve already got you.” Mike took a quick glance around, making sure there were was nobody who wasn’t all but family there to see, before blowing a raspberry at her.
“I do not get huffy.”
“Liar.” He rolled his eyes, pulling a bag of pretzels out of one of Elissa’s pockets. Okay, maybe, she had a point about food-producing pokemon being a good idea. Maybe.
“What about Chimchar,” he asked. “Not easy to get fire-types around here.” Sinnoh wasn’t exactly known for it’s high fire-type population. Ice-types sure, which was part of why he wasn’t too excited about Turtwig, but fire-types, no. Elena just shook her head.
“Actually-” she leaned in, lowering her voice, and Mike did the same “-I’m kinda hoping to get a Flareon. I heard Mr Backlot has some in his garden, and everyone knows he lets trainers catch stuff back there if they ask!” Mike did know that. He also knew, through his father, that Mr Backlot hardly had anything in his garden, actually, and that he just had a handful of whatever random species he wanted brought in from time to time to liven the place up. But he certainly wasn’t going to tell Elena that, not when she clearly had a plan.
The holidays would come and go before they got that far.
“Flareon are cool,” he said instead, and meant it. “I was thinking of getting a Rapidash, or maybe a Drifblim if I can find a Drifloon.”
“Oooo, Drifblim would be useful!”
“A lot of pokemon are useful.” The two jumped as Mr Validus stepped up behind them. “But you shouldn’t be planning so far ahead. Your journey is an adventure, you’re supposed to be seeing what happens.” They gave him a disbelieving look he really should’ve expected, saying something like that to Michael ‘Research Nut’ Morningstar and Elena ‘Future Champion of Sinnoh’ Validus. He shook his head at them. “You’ll see, trust me.” They looked at each other, still clearly not believing, and shrugged.
“If you say so.”
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theladydrgn · 5 years
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Thanks in no small part to @icibue I just spent the last day crafting RWBY/Pokemon AU headcanons. Please keep in mind that this is 50% funny, 50% serious and 100% self-indulgent!
·         Ozpin gives each new student an Eevee egg to hatch and train as part of their course work.
·         All the schools give different particular pokemon, Ozpin is just very fond of Eevee because of how much it can ‘change’.
·         Mythical and God-like pokes cannot be captured and instead ‘choose’ trainers. Being chosen by such a Pokemon is considered a very high honor but also puts that trainer at risk of being targeted by Salem.
·         Xerneas and Yveltal take the place of the God of Light and God of Darkness.
·         Celebi chose to be Oz’s partner centuries ago and is always the first to find him again after reincarnation.
·         The Xiao-Long family have raised the Kommo-o line of Pokemon for generations and it is customary for a Jangmo-o to be their child’s first Pokemon.
·         The Roses were known for raising Roselia and Roserade for show.
·         The Honchkrows Ozpin and Qrow have are from the same clutch of eggs.
·         Ozpin owns and cares for many pokemon but keeps two teams at the ready. One is a public team that is well known. The other is a private team that contains pokemon he has had through many lifetimes.
·         Because of the presence of Pokemon on Remnant, the world is a little safer for everyday citizens, though Grimm ARE attracted to pokemon just like humans.
·         The Huntsman Academies teach how to hunt Grimm and how to raise Pokemon.
·         Beacon Academy focuses on living in harmony with Pokemon and working together with them. Using pokeballs is optional for Huntsmen who have demonstrated close bonds with their Pokemon.
·         Atlas Academy focuses on Pokemon’s use in military tactics and has an extensive breeding program focused on breeding the strongest Pokemon. Pokemon are not allowed to be out of their pokeballs without military sanction.
·         Haven and Mistral are well known for their Pokemon Contests and shows. Battling is taught at Haven but definitely takes a backseat to the ‘art’ of raising Pokemon.
·         Since law and order is rare in Vacuo, almost anything goes. Having a strong team that can protect you and yours is what gets taught at Shade Academy. Since pokeballs are easily stolen they are very rarely used.
Now for Team Headcanons along with my personal reasoning for why I chose the teams I did. I was getting very tired towards the end of the team building, so I apologize if some teams aren’t as ‘fleshed-out’ as others.
STRQ
Summer Rose
1.      Shiny Roserade – Obvious choice honestly
2.      Alolan (Menagerie) Cubone – Summer having a poke that lost it’s poke-mom and human mom was too entertaining to not do.
3.      Sylveon – Summer being the ‘heart’ of team STRQ
4.      Blissey – Since Yang described Summer as ‘super mom’ having a pokemon described at ‘nurturing’ seemed fitting.
5.      Gardevoir – The entire Gardevoir line is very sensitive to emotions and I headcanon Summer as being fairly bubbly.
6.      Altaria – I didn’t have any super specific reasons for this one. Just seemed like a poke Summer would have ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Taiyang Xiao-Long
1.      Jolteon – Jolteon fits Tai’s color scheme. Sue me.
2.      Pangoro – A fighting type that doesn’t like it when the weak get picked on
3.      Kommo-o – The only fighting dragon pokemon and it just so happens to fit Tai’s color scheme
4.      Herdier – I mean, it’s obvious isn’t it?
5.      Bewear – Another fighting bear but this one loves hugs
6.      Drampa – A dragon that protects kids
Raven Branwen
1.      Mandibuzz – Specifically said to hunt ‘weak’ prey
2.      Salazzle – Rules over similar pokes and fits Ravens color scheme
3.      Weavile – Hunting in small groups to take down larger prey sounds a lot like the Branwen tribe
4.      Umbreon – The only Eeveeloution that fit ravens color scheme ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
5.      Hydreigon – Brutal and destructive
6.      Bisharp – Rules over packs of similar pokes and is called ‘pitiless’
Qrow Branwen
1.      Honchkrow – Do you have to ask?
2.      Absol – A pokemon said to bring misfortune/bad luck.
3.      Umbreon – Fits Qrows aesthetic and the twins having the same Eeveeloution is funny to me.
4.      Alolan Marowak – This is actually Summers Cubone evolved and I felt like Summer wouldn’t have brought a young untrained poke on a possibly deadly mission. Also seems fitting that Qrow would take to raising it since Tai would have his hands full raising his own team and the kids.
5.      Staraptor – A loner birb that leaves its flock after growing up fits Qrow pretty fucking well.
6.      Scrafty – A poke that comes off as rude and actually cares about its loved ones.
RWBY
Ruby Rose
1.      Scyther – It has scythes for hands, what’s not to love?
2.      Roselia – Wanting to keep Ruby’s family legacy going, Tai gives Ruby a Budew as her first Pokemon
3.      Shiny Eevee – I mean silver Eevee… silver eyes… Also, it hasn’t evolved yet cause Ruby and Eevee are unsure of what they want it to be.
4.      Rockruff – A pup that turns into a wolf, nuf said (it will probably turn into the midnight form…).
5.      Electrike – A speedy boi that gives of showers of sparks as opposed to Ruby’s showers of petals
6.      Zigzagoon – Another speedy boi
Weiss Schnee
1.      Glaceon – Obvious is obvious
2.      Alolan (Atlesian) Vulpix – Pretty snow fox for the pretty ice queen.
3.      Dratini – Of course the rich kid would have something really rare
4.      Furfrou – Fancy dog for the fancy girl
5.      Brionne – A pretty poke that sings? 100% Weiss’s aesthetic.
6.      Braixen – You can only have so much blue and white before you need a splash of color and a poke that uses a wand like how Weiss uses her weapon seemed fitting
Blake Belladonna
1.      Litten – A cat that like to be solitary and doesn’t often display emotion… sounds like Blake to me!
2.      Umbreon – Somehow Umbreon just fits for way too many people but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
3.      Purrloin – Cute purple cat
4.      Litwick – Blakes shadow clones kinda remind me of a ghosts sooo purple ghost poke?
5.      Frogadier – Blake is a ninja. She absolutely needs a ninja Poke
6.      Noibat – It’s purple and has great hearing ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Yang Xiao-Long
1.      Jangmo-o – It’s a punchy dragon and fits her color scheme ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
2.      Makuhita – Yellow, punchy, never gives up
3.      Flareon – Yang’s hair literally lights on fire. I would be dumb to NOT give her Flareon
4.      Combusken – I mean it’s fire, it’s fighting, and warn when hugged!
5.      Rufflet – Ok SO Rufflet and it’s eventual evolution into Braviary fits Yang really well. Rufflet starts out feeling like it needs to prove itself and fighting everything it can (including it’s own parents). After evolving it still fights like a champ, but for more ‘noble’ reasons, aka to protect friends and loved ones.
6.      Corphish – JuST hear me out on this one. Corphish are said to be REALLY hardy and able to survive in the worst conditions. They also like to fight a lot.
JNPR
Jaune Arc
1.      Growlithe – Friendly and loyal ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
2.      Eevee – His Eevee eventually becomes Sylveon because Jaune is a cinnamon roll
3.      Buneary – Won the egg from cereal box tops
4.      Riolu – Riolu and Lucario are described as loyal and having a very strong sense of justice
5.      Honedge – This one has been in has family for a long time
6.      Skarmory – Jaune only had a team of 5, but when Pyrrha died her Skarmory was the only survivor and Jaune took it upon himself to raise it.
Nora Valkyrie
1.      Jolteon – What did you expect?
2.      Rhyhorn – It has the lightning horn ability for obvious reasons
3.      Flaaffy – Happy, fluffy, pink, and electric
4.      Teddiursa – Cute, loves sweet things, and it’s evolution is a rage bear. Nuf said.
5.      Munchlax – They both have bottomless stomachs
6.      Woobat – If Nora’s heart cannons are anything to go by, she would love this Pokemon
Pyrrha Nikos
1.      Magnemite – Polarity… Magnetism… Magnemite… I’m not very original
2.      Eevee – Pyrrha’s Eevee would have become a Jolteon if she were still alive.
3.      Skarmory – Steel types really are obvious choices.
4.      Nosepass – It’s nose is literally magnetic
5.      Victini – With all of the talk of Pyrrha being ‘fated’ for victory, it would be silly to not give her the pokemon that makes that true.
6.      Buneary – Pyrrha ended up being given one of the Pumpkin Pete mascots
Lie Ren
1.      Espeon – When I think of Ren I think of psychic pokes so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
2.      Natu – Calm and cautious like Ren
3.      Nincada – Only other ninja poke that isn’t Froakie
4.      Espurr – Another calm psychic ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
5.      Joltik – A cute little critter to remind him of Nora
6.      Zorua – Can hide it’s self which is closeish to Ren’s semblance
Misc.
Ozpin – Public Team
1.      Espeon – Espeon’s tail fork is said to be able to sense danger so it makes sense Oz would keep one around.
2.      Klinklang – I mean, the gear aesthetic it obvious isn’t it?
3.      Mimikyu – I headcanon that Oz can very easily see the worth in literally anyone so giving him a poke that thinks it can’t be loved was a no-brainer
4.      Shedinja – Pokemon with no soul VS man with too much soul
5.      Honchkrow – Oz having a ‘dark’ pokemon and people think he’s shady? No way! (also, I’m a shipper shhhh)
6.      Ninetales – Of course Oz would have a stupidly long lived Pokemon
Ozpin – Personal Team
1.      Celebi – Of course the one person who can be found in almost any time period ever would be chosen by the literal time travel Pokemon… Also, Green.
2.      Dragonite – Dragonite’s are kind, altruistic, and long lived.
3.      Magearna – Man-made poke that has a gear aesthetic ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
4.      Metagross – Made from fusing two Metang together.
5.      Aegislash – Despite Ozma being a ‘wizard’ he was also a ‘warrior’
6.      Zoroark – Uses illusions and would even sacrifice its life to protect loved ones.
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11jj11 · 5 years
Text
A Visit - Marisson Family (One-Shot)
“And then at recess we were play trainers and I got to be the gym leader and I was a fire gym leader with a Fennekin and a Charizard and a Flareon and they were super strong and they could all mega evolve!”
“Really? And what does mega Fennekin look like?” Alain asked, an assumed smile flickering over his face.
His eyes glanced up at the rearview mirror, watching as the dark haired girl in the backseat pressed her lips together in thought. “Mega Fennekin... is really big! Big enough to ride on! And she has wings and can fly just like a Charizard!”
“Mega Fennekin sounds like she’d be really strong in battle,” Alain said. “Was anyone strong enough to beat the gym leader?”
“Nope!” Faith said proudly, puffing up her chest. “I won all the battles in our game! Gym leaders are the strongest, that’s why. But Michael says he wants to be the gym leader next time so that means he gets to win the battles...”
Faith rambled on, happily telling her father about her day at school in great detail, a huge grin spread across her face the entire time. Alain smiled as he listened, though a tiredness hung about him as he drove through the crowded streets of Lumiose. His work schedule was anything but constant, trying to balance between Faith’s time in school, sleep, and still being able to spend time at home with her. Of course Professor Sycamore was nothing but liberal with the hours Alain worked, allowing him to change his schedule from week to week and even day to day.
Moving to Lumiose had most certainly helped, while he missed the more peaceful environment that had been back in Coumarine City, living in the same town as his work was just simply much easier. And an apartment was easier to manage than a house and a yard... and in the end a fresh start had been what he needed.
“And then our teacher had us write a letter to someone special in our lives,” Faith said, digging through her backpack. “She says that my handwriting is looking so pretty and that my spelling is super-duper good!”
“And who did you write your letter to?”
“Mom,” Faith said happily, oblivious to the way her father tensed up slightly, pulling out an envelope out of her backpack. “See? It’s right here! And I really really want to give it to her, so I was wondering if we could go visit her today?”
Alain didn’t say anything for a moment, stormy blue eyes locked straight ahead as he drove. He barely seemed to hear his daughter’s words. Faith watched him for a moment, tilting her head in confusion.
“Daddy?”
“Uh– yeah,” Alain said, blinking slightly as he was pulled from his thoughts, voice quiet. “I guess we could... but we need to go home first, okay? Get all cleaned up from school, eat, and then we can go visit Mom.”
“Yippee!” Faith said excitedly, throwing her hands up into the air. “Can we bring them a gift too? Ooo! Flowers! Let’s do flowers!”
“Of course, sweetie,” Alain said quietly.
“Kadey! We’re going to go visit Mommy today!” Faith declared loudly the moment Alain unlocked the apartment door, the young girl bursting in excitedly. Her eyes immediately locked on the couch in their front room, pouncing onto the Flareon that was fast asleep. Dark eyes widened as he was scooped up into the young girl's arms.
“F-flare?” The fire type let out a cough of smoke, being turned around in Faith’s arms so she could look him in the eyes. The Pokemon’s demeanor completely changed as he took in her words, tail thumping happily. “Eon!”
Most of Alain’s Pokemon lived at Sycamore’s lab now days, a majority of them being much too large to comfortably to live in the tiny apartment. Kade and Lucas happily spent their time indoors, sometimes joining him on his trip to the lab, while Weavile’s Pokeball he kept on himself when traveling about. Sometimes Charizard joined him as well, though she seemed to prefer to stick with her mate and son at the lab.
Lucas let out a happy yip, the Electrike running into the room upon hearing Faith’s voice. He was a hyper little Pokemon, and absolutely adored the young girl. Even though she had quite a few years until her journey, Alain had a feeling that the electric type would be joining Faith once she became a trainer. And with her interest in mega evolution, he’d be a good pick as well.
“You can come too, Lucas!” Faith said happily, sitting on the ground so the canine could crawl into her lap, while Kade laid across her shoulders. He was much too big to comfortably sit on one, so he kept himself balanced across two.
Alain’s picked up Faith’s backpack, which she had left on the floor like usual, hanging it up on the coat rack near the door. He stiffened a yawn, having worked a late shift the night before, stumbling towards the kitchen. He found a half empty pot of coffee from this morning sitting out on the counter. He didn’t even blink, grabbing a cup from the stack of dishes in the sink, pouring himself a mug of the cold brew. He shuddered at the taste, but honestly didn’t care, just trying to wake himself up.
“Can we go now, Dad? Can we, can we?” A voice chirped from behind him, and he let out a sigh.
“Why don’t you get yourself an afternoon snack, then we can go,” Alain replied. “Dad’s really tired right now, so just give me a minute.”
“Did you work last night again?” Faith asked, and Alain couldn’t help but notice that all eagerness from her voice was gone– a much more serious tone taking its place. He turned to look back at her, those amber eyes watching him in concern. She was only six, she shouldn’t have to worry about such things...
“Yeah, I did,” Alain said quietly, taking another sip of the cold coffee. “Don’t worry, I’ll be more awake in like twenty minutes, just need the coffee to kick in.”
Faith crinkled her nose. “I don’t like the smell of coffee.”
“...Mairin was the same way.”
Faith tilted her head to the side. “Well, you better make sure you don’t smell like coffee when we go to visit her then,” She turned to leave the kitchen, Kade still in her arms when she paused. “Why do you have to work at night, Daddy?”
“So I can be with you after school instead of working,” Alain replied.
“Why can’t you work after school– and I can come to the lab with you,” She nodded to herself as she said this. “Yeah– I can play with all of the Pokemon and the Fennekins, and then that way you can sleep at night. You know you’re not a Noibat, right Daddy?”
“Why not? I think I’d make a pretty good dragon.”
Faith let out a giggle. “No you wouldn’t– Charizard and Kaj are the dragons!”
“Trike!” A voice barked from the other room– Lucas demanding his playmates to return. Faith giggled, and ran back into the mainroom with Kade, leaving Alain alone in the kitchen. He let out a long sigh, staring down at his mug.
He couldn’t just drag Faith to the lab every afternoon, she should be living a normal childhood and not waiting for him to finish work. He was fine right now anyways, the coffee was already making him more alert. It was no substitute for sleep, but did that really matter?
He took another long drink, draining the mug.
---------------------------
“Faith, stay by me!” Alain called as his daughter bolted down the sidewalk– not wanting to lose her in the large crowds that filled Lumiose City.
“Okay Dad!” She chirped, pausing by a street light to wait for him. Kade and Lucas were at her heels like usual, all three of them waiting for him to catch up. Faith was bouncing up and down excitedly, her letter clutched in her arms.
“Here, hold my hand,” Alain said as he approached her, and instantly she reached up and grabbed his hand. “Remember Lumiose is really big, and I don’t want you to get lost.”
“We’re not lost, I know exactly where we are!” Faith said proudly, pointing down the street. “The flower shop is over there, remember you said we could buy flowers for them, remember?”
“I remember,” Alain said as they continued forward. “What kind of flowers do you want to buy this time?”
“Hmm... A rose for Mommy and a lily for Vaya!” The girl grinned up at Alain. “Do you think they’ll like those flowers?”
“They’ll love them,” Alain replied, giving her a tight smile.
Faith tugged him forward, clearly wanting to move faster. She let out a giggle as they continued down the street, the floristry they often visited soon coming into view. Before Alain could say a word Faith slipped her hand out of his, rushing into the small shop. A bell rang as Alain slipped in after her, holding the door open so the two Pokemon could enter as well.
She was already at the counter, beaming at the purple-haired woman behind it. “Hi Ms. Cooper! Me and Dad are here to buy some more flowers! We want a yellow rose and a... purple lily!”
“Hello Faith, hello Monsieur Vide,” The woman said, smiling warmly at the young girl, and giving a nod to Alain. “It’s always nice to see you two again, what brings you here today?”
“We’re taking a letter to Mom!” Faith said, holding up the envelope in her hand. “I wrote it today in school and I want to give it to her right away! We get to see Vaya too.”
“How nice,” Ms. Cooper said with a kind smile, searching for the flowers Faith had requested. She carefully laid the rose and the lily on the counter, and Alain’s hand went in search of his wallet. His eyes widened as his hands found an empty pocket though, and he closed his eyes.
“...It appears I’ve forgotten my wallet...” He said quietly, holding back a sigh. “I’m sorry Faith, but it doesn’t look like we’ll be able to do flowers today.”
“But Dad–” Faith began.
“Oh, don’t worry about that today, Monsieur Vide,” Ms. Cooper said, picking up the two flowers and placing them into Faith’s hand. “They’re on me today.”
The little girl brightened up. “Thank you so much Ms. Cooper!”
Alain gave her a grateful smile. “I’ll be sure to pay you for them next time.”
She waved her hand. “Don’t worry about it, like I said they’re on me. Enjoy your visit with your daughter, sir.”
Alain nodded, placing a hand on Faith’s shoulder, and guiding her to the door. One hand held the two flowers, and the other held the envelope. She smiled up at her father, who gave her a small one in return, and soon they were back out on the crowded streets of Lumiose. With no longer a hand to hold Alain was careful to keep his daughter close, but with Faith that wasn’t always possible.
“We’re almost there, Daddy!” She said excitedly, bolting ahead as her eyes spotted their destination up ahead. Alain reached out to try and grab her, but she was already winding her way through the crowd, and orange and green blur at her side.
Fortunately an older woman noticed the fleeing girl and Pokemon, placing a hand out to slow her down as Alain run after them. “Slow down there, dear.”
“Excuse us!” Faith said, trying to dart around her. “We’re in a hurry!”
“Faith, you can’t run off like that!” Alain cried as he caught up to her, flashing a grateful smile at the woman. “Thank you, ma’am.”
“Remember little one, when you run off like that you’re making your father worry,” The older lady said to Faith. “Those are some pretty flowers you got there. Where are you in a rush to?”
“We’re going to visit my Mom and my sister!” Faith said happily.
The woman smiled. “How fun. Do you like to play with your sister?”
“I dunno, I’ve never played with her before,” Faith said, and she looked up at Alain. “Can we go now, Daddy? We’re almost there!”
“Yes, let’s go,” Alain said, careful to keep his hand on her shoulder as they continued on.
Alain always had a hard time coming here, making his way down the long road and looking across the fields. Honestly, it hurt to be here, to be reminded of times that had become so painful– but yet ones he never wanted to forget.
“I found them, Daddy! I found them!” Faith cried, up ahead on the path.
Alain nodded, slowly following after her. The young girl happily sat down on the grass, Kade and Lucas at her side. As he reached her he did the same, sitting down as he looked out at what sat in front of him. It was strange how something could fill him with such sorrow, but yet at the same time a warmth.
The grave sat in front of them, the white stone gleaming in the sunlight.
They always seemed to come here on days like these, with the sun shining overhead and not a single cloud in the sky. The warmth embracing them when it felt that clouds should have covered the skies. Alain’s eyes flickered to Faith, who had a small smile on her face, though the young girl’s eyes seemed distant. His gaze returned to the gravestone taking in the names written on it.
Mairin Floraison Vide Loving Wife, Loving Mother
Vaya Mairin Vide Who Was Taken Too Soon
The years on the headstones were carved beneath the names, the years leaving Mairin as only twenty-five when she had been taken, and little Vaya hadn’t even been with them one day. The death dates for both of them were the same, those horrible numbers representing the day his entire life had been torn apart.
“Hi Mom,” Faith said quietly, kneeling in front of the headstone. “Hi Vaya, me and Daddy came to visit you guys today. I hope you guys are doing well, Dad says that heaven’s supposed to be a very happy place so I hope everything is happy there today.”
Kade slowly approached the stone, a slight whine filling the air. He pawed at the grave, before rubbing himself up against it, as if trying to reassure who laid below. Lucas lingered back, head resting on his paws, letting out a small whine of his own.
“We brought you guys some more flowers,” Faith continued, looking at the two blossoms in her hand. She glanced at Alain, before holding them out to him. “Here Daddy, you can give Mom the rose and I’ll give Vaya her lily.”
Alain carefully took the rose from his daughter, looking down at the soft petals. He closed his eyes for a moment, taking in a small breath, before carefully setting the flower right below Mairin’s name. Dried stems and crumpled petals lingers around the headstone, the remains of the flowers they had brought here before. Faith inched closer to the grave, kissing the lily in her hand, and placing it near Vaya’s name.
“I also have a letter for you, Mom,” Faith said, holding up the envelope she had been so excited about. “And don’t worry, Vaya can read it too,” She frowned for a moment. “But Vaya is just a baby, so she can’t read, can she? Don’t worry– I’ll read it outloud so that way both of you can hear it!”
With that Faith ripped open the letter, pulling out the single paper inside. Words written with a bright blue marker proudly stood on the page in Faith’s handwriting, hearts and small doodles scrawled between the lines. She held out the paper, clearing her throat as she always did before reading something, and began:
“Dear Mom, today we get to write letters to someone very special in our lives, and the first person I thought of was you,” Faith said. “You are very special because you are the very best mom on earth, and even if you aren’t on earth anymore you are still the very best. It’s been a long time since you’ve had to leave, but I still remember when you’d take me out into the garden, and when you’d sing me songs, and when you’d sneak me candy even when Dad said no more treats for tonight.”
She glanced at Alain, clearly him not having supposed to hear this, but he just smiled and waved for her to continue.
“Daddy still doesn’t let me have treats at night, which is something I miss, but me and Daddy go out for ice cream every Friday. I get chocolate with Pecha berries, and Dad says that those were your favorite too and so that makes us twins. Chocolate is the very best and I am going to have a chocolate cake for my seventh birthday. I hope you’re able to have chocolate and birthday parties in heaven, but I’m sure you do because heaven is supposed to be a happy place and chocolate and birthdays are very happy things.”
Alain noticed as he looked over her shoulder that she had spelled heaven as ‘haven’, and chocolate as ‘chacolat’.
“I am going to now draw you a picture of Kadey and Kindle battling so you can see how strong they are. I hope you like it really-a lot! Love Faith,” She then turned the paper around so it was facing the gravestone. “And see? Here are the drawings, this one is Kindle as a mega Fennekin, and here’s Kade.”
The Flareon perked up a bit at the mention of his name, sniffing the paper.
“Can we send the letter to them now, Dad?” Faith asked, and Alain nodded, holding out his hand. She carefully slide the letter back into the envelope, handing it to him, and Kade trotted in front of Alain. He carefully held out the paper, while the Flareon released a gentle Incinerate, the envelope catching fire.
They watched in silence as the letter burned, Alain setting it on the ground as the smoke drifted up into the air. Faith leaned back, watching it rise into the sky with a wistful look.
“There we go,” Alain said quietly. “I’m sure Mairin will be happy to have your letter.”
“Do they have fridges in heaven?” Faith asked quietly. “Because if they do I want Mommy to hang my drawing on it.”
Alain pulled her into a hug. “I know she’s going to treasure it. I’m sure she’s looking down on us right now.”
“...I miss Mommy,” Faith whispered quietly.
“I miss her too, Faith, I miss her every single day,” Alain whispered. “And I know she misses us as well.”
“But we don’t have to worry,” She said, leaning her head back to look up at her father. “Because Vaya and Mom have each other so they aren’t alone. Just like how I have you.”
Alain blinked, and for a moment he didn’t reply, just looking down at his daughter. Then he wrapped his arms tightly around her, bringing her into a tight embrace, placing a kiss on her forehead. Faith leaned up against him, humming a small song as he held her.
“...Have I been a good father, Faith?” Alain asked quietly.
“The best,” She replied with a nod, before tilting her head to the side. “You’ve asked me that before– how come?”
He knew that this hadn’t been the first time he had asked her such, and he knew it wasn’t going to be the last. He pulled her out of the hug, looking into her eyes as he sat her in his lap. It was a question he asked himself everyday, a fear he constantly lived with. Because just like Faith, he too had lost his mother. And just like Faith, he had only been left with his father.
And Alain’s greatest fear was him becoming like that horrible man.
He brushed her dark hair out of her face. “Because, Faith, I only want the best for you.”
“I want the best for me too,” She said.
Alain smiled softly, before again looking at the grave of his wife and daughter. He had never been able to say goodbye to Mairin, she had been wheeled away into another part of the hospital as quickly as possible in an attempt to save her. He had never been able to hold his youngest child, who had been a stillborn. They had been hoping to bring home another member of their family that day, but instead they had lost two.
Faith was all he had left, and his little girl had become the center of his life. She was the light of his day, his only hope in this dark world. She was the reason he got out of bed each day, and pulled himself through work so he could be there when she got home. She was the one thing that never failed to make him smile, even when there was a time he thought he would never be able to again.
“Faith, I love you,” Alain said softly.
“I love you too!” She responded right away, that wonderful smile on her face. Her eyes lit up, an idea crossing her mind. “Hey, Dad, can we get a treat tonight?”
“No treats until after dinner,” He said. “You know that.”
“...Can we buy a treat to have after dinner?” She asked, looking up at him hopefully. He stared into her amber eyes, before letting out a sigh.
“Of course, sweetie,” He said, and with that he pushed himself to his feet, his little girl in his arms.
“Goodbye Mommy!” Faith called, peering over his shoulder and back at the gravestone. “Bye-bye Vaya! We’ll come visit you again real soon.”
Alain looked at the white gravestone as well. “...Goodbye.”
He lifted Faith up onto his shoulders, who giggled happily at this action. Kade and Lucas followed behind Alain as they headed out of the cemetery, the two Pokemon glancing back behind them as they walked. Alain kept his eyes locked straight ahead, his arms carefully holding his daughter in place as they left.
Faith began chattering away excitedly, unaware of the tears streaming down her father’s face.
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stageonmay · 5 years
Text
so let’s talk about this wallace cup thing a repost, purely for organization’s sake.
subject of discourse: who should have won: may or dawn?
disclaimer: now i’m gonna go ahead and acknowledge that we as RPers obviously have our biases for our characters. but what i CAN say is that i didn’t warm up to may until WELL after i watched DP and tbh i’ve held this opinion for some time. believe me or not--i’m going to go through this step-by-step.
what i want to do, to make this as simple as possible, is address the most common arguments (and also maybe some off the dash lol) i see for Dawn’s victory and tell you why they’re bologna.
everything under the cut cause it is LONG.
Exhibit A: Their Parents.
it is REALLY easy to say “well dawn’s mom was a coordinator” and bam. we’re done. but i want to challenge you to not... do that. let’s look at may first.
may is the daughter of a gym leader and a ???? housewife i guess. one would assume that she naturally loves training and is damn good at it. but, not only was she not allowed to watch gym battles (which is why she and max were so excited to watch ash’s battle), but she turned out to be literally afraid of pokemon and only left the house to get away from them. she then ends up falling in love with coordinating because she sees that pokemon can be beautiful, graceful, and fun.
now dawn. dawn is the daughter of a top coordinator, and we know nothing about her dad. she looks up to her mother to the extent that she worried a lot about living up to her legacy, but not so much that it overly crippled her. it’s heavily implied that dawn didn’t actually spend much time training with her mom. johanna really emphasizes dawn’s need to learn on her own--we in fact hardly see her give advice even as she’s on her journey. dawn doesn’t break away from the “family tradition” per se, but over the course of her journey she worries less about living up to “mom” and more about being the best “her” she can be.
the important takeaway here is that these stories have a core theme in common: that your parents do not define YOU. and as such, this argument doesn’t really work. it in fact defeats the purpose of their entire arcs, and, even on a technical level it’s pretty flimsy for reasons i pointed out above.
Exhibit B: Glaceon was a brand new evolution.
honestly there’s not much to say here um. charizard beating aerodactyl. ursula with her flareon & vaporeon appeal. Kkngler in the pokemon league. Swellow to win that tournament. Pignite to beat Shamus.
not only is winning via recent evolution a common pokemon trope, but the very concept is that if you understand your pokémon well, you can easily adapt to this change and succeed.
if you need further proof, just consider when the opposite was the case. ash was so used to winning after evolutions that when turtwig evolved, he got overconfident and misused him because he didn’t consider how his body had changed. So in that case a lack of understanding hurt him.
but given that may explicitly wanted a glaceon, i highly doubt she lacked that understanding of what she was getting into. this is just a really flimsy excuse at best.
Exhibit C: Literally any nitpicking about the battle itself.
you guys. the characters aren’t real. the writers decide how the battle goes. the writers make these choices. and if you felt at all upset when ash lost the kalos league? then you understand.
Exhibit D: Dawn needed a win.
ah, yes. my personal favorite. (which is to say I hate hearing this and from this point forward will demand 10 USD from everyone who says it to me.) first, a reminder: may was participating in the wallace cup because she needed a win herself. this was a high-stakes battle for BOTH of them so honestly I’d LOVE to end the counterargument here but I have more.
the thing is, guys, yes. dawn needed a win. but there’s no reason, at all, plot-wise, that that win needed to be against may.
a better thing to do would have been to give her an opportunity to conquer someone like zoey; someone in her realm of rivals, who is a challenge for her, but who could easily bounce back from a loss.
“But ky, what about the wallace cup??? how would you change it?? wouldn’t may still lose?????”
actually, no. we can do one of two things with the wallace cup:
a) push it earlier. maybe even allow more cameos. this could possibly even be the start of dawn’s temporary downfall rather than the end, which would be interesting because she would write off that loss at first. well it WAS may. no big deal. can’t be mad about losing to someone so nice and experienced. and to paraphrase geoff, it would give sort of a parallel. this is what dawn could become. woulda been nice.
b) push it later. let dawn have her win, and put the wallace cup closer to the grand festival. it could be a BIG DEAL around the world because the wallace cup is considered like a “warm up” for all the festivals and one of the LAST opportunities to get a ribbon. competition is FIERCE. only the best make it through. dawn’s loss is far enough away from her past ones that rather than take it hard, she becomes DETERMINED to train up for the grand festival. woulda been nice.
And lastly, (Exhibit E): I want to address the issue of skill/talent.
may simply showed more growth in a shorter period of time than dawn did. that’s a fact. whether dawn had more experience with her mom or not, she still loved pokemon. was around them. had a sense of what she was doing.
but may went from being afraid to even pick her starter to competing in a grand festival on her first try (this included conquering cheating in that season at least twice). she then went on to travel more regions, become more seasoned and no--i don’t want to discredit dawn at ALL. but it says something about your talent and skill to be able to grow so fast, and may should only have kept going up and up. it doesn’t make sense that dawn would have surpassed her having only started her journey.
and like... is it so bad? to let your old character shine? what’s the point of bringing them back if not to celebrate them?
obviously people are still going to disagree with me. but i think it was a HUGE disservice to may’s character for her to lose. like, if they were going to do her wrong, then just. don’t bring her back.
and that wraps up my hopefully-not-too emotional opinion about the wallace cup results, feel free to like, reblog, reply, whatever you like !
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dontfindyourcenter · 6 years
Text
Chapter Twelve:  In which I accidentally do three chapters worth of things all at once
Rules: https://dontfindyourcenter.tumblr.com/post/177027661290/rules
Previous Chapter: https://dontfindyourcenter.tumblr.com/post/177618516610/chapter-11-running-on-empty
Konikoni City seems to exist just to taunt me for putting in that rule about not being able to exchange money for items.  All around me are shops for TMs, incense, herbs, even evolutionary stones and fossils.  It all makes me feel very hard done by.  The fact that only half of these items would actually be useful to me is irrelevant to this feeling.  Anyway, Olivia’s Probopass hands me a note telling me that I’m to pop over to the Ruins of Life and meet Olivia there.  Is there any reason Olivia couldn’t have told me this a few minutes ago, when I saw her at the other end of Diglett’s Tunnel?  I guess she just wanted me to say hello to her massive-nosed pokemon.  Fair enough; it can’t have many pals with a nose like that.
I swear to god, the closer to full health my party has, the faster my pokemon get hurt.  It’s like a really depressing version of osmosis.  Case in point; on my way through Memorial Hill, a little old lady fights me with a comfey, which - through a combination of the moves wrap and sweet kiss - manages to bring Hedwig from full health down to seven HP.  Seven!  I had to use my first ever hyper potion just to keep my strongest pokemon from fainting against a bloody flower crown!  What’s that about?  Side note: this battle made me think the phrase “lei’d to rest”, and I’m very angry about this.
At the end of Memorial Hill, we meet Aether Branch Chief Faba, the one member of the Aether Foundation that the game doesn’t even begin to pretend is a goodie.  Total creep, this guy.  He’s in an argument with a couple of Team Skull Grunts, and frustratingly, I’m not allowed to join forces with Team Skull and beat him up.  Instead, I have to fight the Alolan Raticate of one of the Grunts, and it’s actually a surprisingly strong one.  I even have to use a revive after it gets a critical hit against Mr Nancy the araquanid.  Luckily, Digit Al the magnemite finishes it off, and gets promoted to Digit Al the magneton as a result.  Score!
Now we’re in Akala Outskirts, where I pick up a T.M. for Leech Life, a very useful move indeed for Mr. Nancy, especially since it takes the strain off those healing items I’m running so low on.  I mess around for a little while making him use the move against anyone who comes too near, until he’s back on full health for the Grand Trial.  Lovely.
Before the Grand Trial, though, is a battle I’d clean forgotten about; Team Skull Admin Plumeria wanders up and tells me to stop beating up her teammates, who she quite correctly points out are cute and as dumb as rocks.  I absolutely adore the fact that her title is “Team Skull Admin”, by the way.  I just have this image of her being really pissed off on a laptop at the back of Team Skull’s base in Po Town, performing mind-numbing data entry tasks while the rest of the team are having a whale of a time trying to eat tide pods and suchlike.
Plumeria is tough, but not too tough.  Digit Al beats her golbat and Donna the marowak beats her salandit.  Her team beaten, Plumie admits that I’m strong, but warns me not to mess with the Skulls again.  Why do recurring characters in pokemon games always wait until after they’ve proven that they can’t beat you before warning you not to do something?  How much of a threat do they really think that sounds like?
Now we’re finally at the Ruins of Hope, and Lillie and Burnet come and heal my pokemon.  Such a lovely pair.  Burnet does that thing I mentioned last chapter where she overcompensates by loudly asking what the Masked Royal looks like under “that mask.”  Interesting that she doesn’t assume male pronouns, no?  Burnet is definitely suspect number one, imho.
And it’s time to face the big Kahuna!  Olivia - oh I get it, she’s called Olivia because olives have stones in them!  That’s cute - sends out a nosepass first, which is quickly dispatched by Mr Nancy with a couple of Bubblebeams.  Next is her midnight lycanroc, who Digit Al beats with a Mirror Shot or two.  Third we have a boldore, who Hedwig beats with a Grass Knot and a Razor Leaf, and… oh.  That’s it.  Not much for a grand trial, was it?  Slightly less grand than every single regular trial on the island, frankly.  She should have sent out a bloody comfey, they cause me way more trouble.
Shan’t complain though - I get a rock z-crystal and a stamp in my passport out of it, and now that there’s no more plot left to uncover on the island, I’ve been invited to go to the Aether Foundation and meet Lusamine.  It’s very exciting to meet the worst mum in a series of games full to the brim of mothers who kick their children out of their houses at age 10.
I do make a quick pit stop in Konikoni City before going there, though, because I know that now that I’ve beaten Olivia, I can have a battle with Trial Captain Lana.  It’s a fun one, too - since Lana has a chinchou (which resists electric types) and an araquanid (which resists grass types), there are no pokemon types with an advantage against all her pokemon, which always makes for a more dynamic match.  Olivia could really learn a thing or two from her.  Anyway, Hedwig beats the chinchou, Digit Al beats the shellder and Wash just barely survives a Hydro Vortex from the araquanid in order to beat that, too, and that’s the end of that.
I would have gone up against Mallow as well, but as I’ve never played Pokemon Moon before, I don’t know where to find her and don’t really care enough to find out.  Instead, I take that trip to Aether Paradise that that one evil guy offered me earlier.  Bye, Akala island!  Thanks for only killing two of my pokemon while I was on you!
When we arrive on Aether Paradise, Faba tells me that I will not be able to use any of my Poké Balls within Aether Paradise, since a jamming signal is broadcast throughout the facility to prevent them from functioning. This makes no sense at all; he’s just told me that the Aether Foundation develop poke balls on site, and while I’m no expert, I’m pretty sure it would be nearly impossible to invent something in a building where that specific thing can’t do anything.  And sure enough, he’s almost immediately proved wrong; the second that a Nihilego comes through an ultra wormhole and attacks me upstairs, I’m able to send out my pokemon from my poke balls to defend myself with no problem whatsoever.  Hey Faba, is your name Selena Gomez?  Because you’re a Bad Liar.  ...No, I know your name’s Faba, it’s a… I was referencing the 2017 hit song, Bar Liar, which was sung by…  actually I don’t think her music is as bad as you’re making it out to... oh, forget it.
I beat the Nihilego with a couple of bonemarangs from Donna.  Fun fact: throughout this word document, the words “Digit Al” have been underlined every time I’ve written them to tell me that I’ve misspelled them, but the word “bonemarangs” has been accepted as a completely legitimate word.  Alrighty then.
At this point, I was going to save the game, so that I could be prepared to travel to the next island on a completely fresh chapter.  That didn’t end up happening, though; I had to button-mash my way through heavy foreshadowing about Lusamine’s villain turn later in the game, get given a T.M. for psychic by Branch Assistant Wicke, watch a weird cutscene of Hau eating his food really excitedly, AND beat Hau in a pokemon battle, all before I was given the chance to take a breather and save the game.  When I finally got out of the waiting room, my doctor wasn’t remotely amused.  
(The Hau battle went fine, by the way.  Donna, Hedwig and Nina beat his raichu, brionne and flareon without any real trouble.   He also healed my team both before and after the fight.  Do you expect anything else from Hau by this point?)
End of chapter twelve.
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quillreflections · 4 years
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Title: Rival Destinies 
Chapter: Bill [1]
Series: Pokemon
Pairing: multiple/reader
Disclaimer: This is a collection; each boy gets his own chapters with his own running storyline, and they don’t intersect. It fits more into Quotev format than tumblr format.
We are together now, friends forever now.
Bill rubbed his strained eyes as he stifled yet another yawn. His Eevee, sat on his desk, nudged his other hand away from the keyboard; Bill just let out a tired laugh, scratched behind his Eevee's ears, and went back to typing. The storage system had been down for far too long already; trainers had been calling and messaging for hours, and it had only ramped his anxiety up way higher than the malfunction had. Something somewhere had gone wrong with his PC system, throwing Pokémon through cyberspace and into the boxes of trainers they didn't belong to. It had appeared to be a scrambling of the ID recognition system, but either way, it had to be fixed immediately.
He typed in another few lines of code, squinting at the screen as the numbers all blurred together in front of his eyes; it looked right, so he hit one more key to initiate the sequence.
The storage system programming blinked on his screen. He held his breath. After a few moments of processing, the box visuals appeared; Pokémon disappearing from the scrambled boxes and returning to their proper trainers.
Bill abruptly stood from his chair and stretched, his muscles sore from how he'd been slumped at his desk for hours. His Eevee leaped down to the floor and began trotting towards the kitchen, and Bill followed with a smile. The coffee on the kitchen counter was freshly brewed, despite being so late at night; even with all the progress he'd made, Bill wasn't going to just stop his work yet, so he poured a bit too much coffee into his favorite mug and turned back to watch his computer screen.
Flareon paced by, brushing its tail against Bill's leg for his attention; he turned, watching Flareon hop up onto the couch and start gnawing at the remote.
"Fine, fine, we can watch somethin' while we wait," he muttered over the rim off his mug. He pulled the sticky remote from his Pokémon's mouth and switched the television on, flipping through a few channels before his Eeveelutions reacted to something on screen. Espeon trilled at a flash of bright colors, so Bill left in on that channel, sinking into the couch next to his Vaporeon as his computer continued enacting its programming.
On-screen, a girl was prancing around on a well-lit stage, the spotlights reflecting off her sequinned outfit and dazzling the live audience. A Raichu danced alongside her, swinging its tail and flinging sparks; across the stage, a Nidoqueen was performing a near-identical routine, occasionally spitting out a fragmented Ice Beam into the air, refracting the stage lights further. The trio moved in perfect sync without a word between them; Bill found himself leaning in closer to the screen, trying to absorb every detail.
An aggressive whirring, followed by metallic clinking, echoed from the back room and snapped him from his trance. It was like someone had shoved an Ice Shard down his shirt; Bill stiffened, slowly turning to look towards the source of the noise, his Pokémon already leaping up and heading in that direction. Suddenly much more tired, Bill hauled himself off the couch and followed, already knowing full well what was going on.
The Pokémon Transporter Machine he'd built was on and crackling with electricity. Poké Balls littered the floor, another one flashing through the machine every few moments. Bill let out a frustrated groan and rushed over to switch off the machine.
"I dunno wha' coulda turned on the darned thing," he mutters as he flips switches and hits buttons. Thankfully, the machine turns off on command. His Espeon and Umbreon used Psychic to lift as many Poké Balls as they could individually concentrate on, and Bill stooped over to scoop up the rest off the floor. He warily eyed the machine in front of him; it could read the trainer IDs, but there's no telling if it would start throwing the Pokémon through the network again. 
Aggressively sighing, Bill sank back into his computer chair; an error message flashed across the screen, but obviously, he was seeing it a bit too late for it to be useful. He scrolled through the programming once more- thankfully, it looked like almost everything had worked right, and this was just one piece of stray code. According to the system, all these Pokémon were from one trainer's box; no name was assigned to it, but the ID was displayed- 42207.
With his transport machine down, the only option would be to call the trainer and have them come get their Pokémon. Bill turned to another monitor and dropped the ID into his personal trainer database; everyone who used his PC system in the Kanto and Johto regions was logged in his computer, just in case of something like this. The page loaded painfully slowly; not even the trainer's ID photo was visible yet, but their phone number popped up on screen.
Rubbing at his sore eyes again, Bill snatched his phone off his desk, dialing the trainer, swiveling in his chair as the phone rang, watching his Umbreon try to juggle the Poké Balls it held.
"Hello-?" A feminine voice on the other end.
"Hiya, ma'am," Bill straightened in his chair, trying not to sound as tired as he was. "Hate t' bother ya, but I'm Bill, I run the box system?"
"Oh, yes, I've heard of you! Can I help you?" Her voice sounded worried.
Bill spun his chair again. "Ah'm sure you've heard, but there was a malfunction earlier today; I seem to've gotten it all fixed, but 'nfortunately, the system dropped most of your Pokémon at mah house, and m' transporter's down."
The girl on the other end let out a relieved sigh. "I'm so glad to know where they are! I was so scared when I checked my boxes just now- oh man, I'm out in Saffron, I won't be able to get very far tonight. Is it okay if I come to pick them all up tomorrow?"
Bill nodded at the phone before remembering she couldn't see him. "'Course, ma'am! Y'know Ah'm out by Cerulean? Ah can jus' meetcha by the Gym, if that's easier-"
"Yes, that works perfectly! Thank you so much!"
The pair said polite goodbyes before hanging up, and Bill spun his chair once more to face his computers. He'd just set some extra programs and scans to run overnight and-
His eyes landed on the now-loaded trainer's page.
"Tha's the girl we jus' saw on TV!"
[lmk if his accent is annoying or whatever lmao]
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Pokemon AU! Based off of @cattlechop and @lyss6a 
Trainer cards were made here (x) (sorry the sprites don’t fit them perfectly, I was using the options the site I used had. If anyone knows where I can customise sprites pls lmk)
Amanda Hess is a trainer dead set on getting out of her parents shadow as two of the greatest Coordinators ever. She hails from Lilycove city and is making her way through Johto (after failing to make it the first time) back when all she had was the Ralts she found out on Route 102 that was getting attacked by two Corphish that had found their way onto land. Look, even she can’t let some little thing get hurt like that, okay?
Hannah Lee is tired of everyone thinking they can push her around and into a box that she doesn’t want to be in. Alright? She knows that she’s going to show everyone that she can make it on her own, she’s going to win the Johto league if it kills her. Thankfully her starter Torchic, now a Combusken and the Hitmonchan that she’s raised up from an egg have got her back. They’ll make sure she gets there safe and sound. 
Check it. Samuel “Sam” “Sammy” “Cool” Beans isn’t your average Coordinator. Nothing about this kid is average (whether it’s above or below is another question), not when he’s got rocking style and confidence (cockiness) that’s going to rock the Johto circuit. Don’t ask him how he ended up with a team that’s 3/5th’s Fairy-type and way more pink than he initially expected. Seriously, don’t ask because even he doesn’t know. 
And then there’s Mike Jaundice. Even he isn’t totally sure how he ended up in Johto with nothing but a denim jacket and a backpack that’s empty more often than it isn’t. He avoided home and went too far to go back, now he’s making his way through doing odd jobs to keep going and take care of the Pichu that had been tossed out of a litter of eggs that were hatched for being too small. Maybe he’ll pick up some more friends along the way. 
More ramblings and world-building under the cut! (Please ignore continuity errors such as Pokemon that are from a different region somehow being in Johto I wished I planned this out better I’m sorry)
Mike was the first person to arrive in New Bark Town, helping some random new kid move into their house as payment for taking him to the new region. He even was able to smuggle his Pichu onto the moving truck. He decides to hang around Violet City once his job is over. He works part time in the gym in exchange for food and a place to stay until he decides it’s time to leave. 
Amanda came through after Professor Elm had just given out two of his starters. After begrudgingly saving him from a rabid Poochyena he gives her the last starter, a tiny little Chikorita that Amanda does not want. Chikorita is a grass type, won’t do well in Johto and she can’t have any dead weight on her team. On the other hand, the little guy seems determined to prove himself so she might as well keep him around and train him up on her way to the first gym.
For five years Sam has been late to each new region. He always runs out of contests to gather ribbons in, but not this time. No way is he going to let it happen again. He’s already in Violet City and he’s stalking the contest hall for Johto’s first ever contest season. In fact he’s so early that he’s actually sorta run out of money and no one will battle him, so, uh, he’s sorta been camping in the forest between Violet City and Cherrygrove. 
Starting her Johto journey in Ecruteak City may not have been the smartest idea Hannah has ever had (especially when at the moment her entire team is fighting-based) but it’s fine. She’s headed to where everyone else starts to train up, catch some more Pokemon, and make her way back through the region. When the infamous Team Rocket pops up in Violet City she refuses to let this team of bullies hurt anyone. 
The four of them run into each other, quite literally, and get dragged into defeating Team Rocket. After that’s taken care of, well, since they’re all planning on going the same way they might as well stick together. Especially when Team Rocket is still on the prowl. 
Their Teams (Before the gang meets each other):
-Amanda-
1. Ralts-Kirlia; found the little thing being attacked on Route 102, saved it and now it’s her partner. Amanda isn’t sure if it’s a girl or a boy so what it’ll evolve into is anyone’s guess. It’s because of Ralts that Amanda fell in love with Psychic types.
2. Eevee-Espeon; If Ralts started her love for Psychic types, Espeon cemented it. Amanda hatched an Eevee after being gifted an egg by her parents before she started her first journey. She had no idea what she wanted her to evolve into, until it happened one early morning while she was making her way to Johto for the second time and just happened to be doing her daily grooming of her Pokemon. Amanda is nothing if not a doting trainer. 
3. Pidgey-Pidgeotto-Pidgeot; Was the first Pokemon Amanda actually caught after going to Kanto (after failing Johto the first time around) and she needed a pick-me-up. Problem is, this particular Pidgeot is deathly afraid of heights and refuses to fly Amanda anywhere outside of battle. 
4. Chikorita-Bayleef; Given to her by Professor Elm and evolves during the gang’s journey. Amanda will not stop until the little guy can beat anything, regardless of dumb type-advantages. 
-Hannah-
1. Torchic-Combusken; Got her as her starter in Hoenn after finally deciding to not follow her parents footsteps to become either a breeder or a Pokemon professor. Knew she wanted a fighting type, Hannah wants something that hits hard and fast. 
2. Egg-Tyrogue-Hitmonchan; The egg was sent to her as an attempt on her parents side to show support after trying to get her to come home for so long (and also remind her of her roots). It lucked out that Hannah got what would become her closest Pokemon from it. Hitmonchan is extremely protective of Hannah and that may be why he evolved so quickly, honestly who knows?
-Sam-
1. Eevee-Sylveon; Was given to him by his dad, who told him to make sure he evolved it into something strong, something that will win him every League he attempts. Well, Mr. Beans was thinking of a Flareon or a Jolteon or an Umbreon. Imagine everyone’s surprise when one day Eevee evolves in a beautiful but horribly -did I say horribly I meant adorably- sassy Sylveon. (Imagine everyone’s surprise when Sam disappears one day leaving behind a note saying he’s going to make something of himself.) Sylveon will only listen to her master, and even not him sometimes. 
2. Caterpie-Metapod-Butterfree; He caught the bug-type in Kanto after booking it away from home. He didn’t expect it to evolve into something more beautiful than it is scary. Bugs are supposed to be scary? Aren’t they? Sam quickly fell in love with Contests after trying both gym-battling and coordinating. They say he fell in love with the spotlight they put on him and his Pokemon. 
3. Mawhile; Caught her while he was sulking after not getting enough ribbons in Hoenn. How was he supposed to know she was a fairy-type? She looked scary from the back! Primarily uses her to battle but is learning how to show off her other side
-Mike-
1. Pichu; He had just realized that he wouldn’t be going back home again when he passed by a random breeder’s house. A litter of eggs (if that a thing?) just hatched out a bunch of Pichu’s, except one was a runt and Mike just couldn’t leave the little guy alone. 
2. Egg- He has no idea how or when he started carrying around an egg, but every once in awhile it shakes so he knows there’s something in there. Pichu likes to sleep up against it so he figures he might as well hold onto it.
I think that’s all for now. If anyone is interested in me making a part two with what happens after the gang meets each other then I’ll make it. Also how all the other Pokemon I put on those cards come into play!
(Also if anyone is interested in a fic I can maybe work on something? I’ve got so many CO198x fics that I want to write already omg)
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chibiwriter · 7 years
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Heeeeey... can I give a prompt or two? :D I'd love to see where you could go with 2, 12, 14, 34 and/or 54... I'd like the characters to be PokéGO, if that's possible? Thank you!
Oh good lord that’s quite a few isn’t it? 2′s already been requested (twice!!), but I’ll do my best for the rest of them!
Also, I do not own Syric - he is a Team Rocket OC with his own Facebook page. Please go check him out!
12.  “She’s hiding behind the sofa.”
It wasn’t often that Candela could genuinely surprise him. Frustrate him? Oh, all the time. But they’d worked together so long he’d gotten used to most of her antics. Which is why, when he saw her standing on top of her coffee table and holding one shoe with a brilliant, an almost manic look in her eyes, his immediate reaction was to turn around and try to leave.
“Charles!” she said, her voice a loud whisper, “There you are! Mind helping me for a moment?”
He sighed, resigned to his fate, and pinned his usual smile on as he turned back around and wheeled toward her. “That is what you pay me for, Miss Candela,” he said calmly, peering up at her, “How can I be of assistance?”
She waggled the shoe in her hand at him. “My darling Flareon has decided these shoes are so last season - which, when I think about it, is actually true, so we’ll need to find time for a shopping trip soon.“ She paused to stare at her single shoe and then wave a hand. “Regardless, they’re the only pair I have right now and if you recall, I have a press release in thirty minutes that I desperately need to get ready for.”
“’Desperately’ is right,” Carl said as he raised a brow and looked her over, “Did you just come back from a workout?”
“An asskicking, actually,” she replied with no small amount of smugness, “Rocket will learn to choose their weightlifting schedule with more caution next time.”
“Right, well, I’ll assume you’ll be feeling it just as much as they will tomorrow and adjust your schedule accordingly,” he drawled, lips twitching at the indignant look she sent him, “Where has your lovely Eeveelution gone to? We need to retrieve your other shoe, yes?”
“Oh, right,” Candela said, gesturing to the couch, “She’s hiding behind the sofa.”
14.  “They’re so cute when they’re asleep.”
The sound of a camera shutter rang out. Amelie frowned and turned her phone’s volume down, continuing to take pictures.
“You know, that’s not very sporting of you,” Syric said quietly, picking up the empty popcorn bowl.
“As if I care,” she shot back, glancing at the two sleeping on the couch. Noire sat in Spark’s lap, their legs thrown over his with their head resting on his chest. It was dark, but she swore there was a small stain of drool on the team leader’s shirt. Spark’s hands were placed appropriately - one supporting their back and the other very happily between their thighs - and his chin was propped up on her boss’ head.
Noire shifted, a small noise rising from their throat as they curled in toward Spark.
“Aww,” Syric said, looking down at them with a grin, “They’re so cute when they’re asleep.”
“Yeah, they’re both surprisingly easy to deal with when their mouths are shut. Who knew?”
The medic snorted and rolled his eyes at her barb, but didn’t even try to deny it. “Should we wake them up?” he asked, looking the pair over, “That’s not gonna be a very comfortable spot in a few hours.”
“Yeah, probably,” Amelie sighed, resigned. “If only because I don’t want to deal with Boss bitching about their neck being stiff tomorrow.”
Before either of them could move, however, Spark’s eyes slid open. They froze instantly, paralyzed in place by the glowing yellow irises that studied them in the dark. The air was suddenly charged, the hair on the back of their necks standing up. Noire shifted again, frowning slightly in their sleep, a hand fisting in Spark’s shirt.
“H-hello,” Syric managed, flinching when it focused in on him, blinking slowly in acknowledgement. “Is there, uh, anything we can help you with?” As his mother had always said: when it doubt, it’s better to be polite.
Who knew he’d one day have to apply that bit of decorum to a supernatural being?
The Titan wearing Spark’s skin said nothing, but its eyes traveled pointedly back toward Amelie. More specifically, the phone she was clutching a little too tightly in her hand. It quirked a brow before pinning her with an intense stare.
“I’ll delete them!” she said quickly, moving to do so only to be stopped when Syric grabbed her elbow. She glanced at him, then looked back to see the dark expression Spark’s face had gained.
“She’ll… send them to you?” Syric offered hesitantly, swallowing harshly when Spark’s lips curled up into a pleased, though honestly a bit unnerving, smile. It huffed, nuzzling the top of Noire’s head and brushing Spark’s lips against their hair before resting his cheek there, golden eyes sliding shut once more as the charge in the air dissipated.
Amelie and Syric shared a look and then wisely beat a hasty retreat.
34.  “You work for me. You are my slave.”
“Boss, it’s time.”
They lifted their head out of their hands to see Amelie standing in the doorway, haloed by the light from the hall. Her face was carefully neutral, but her single eye watched them with heartbroken empathy. That didn’t make any of this easier, not really, but they appreciated the effort.
Noire rose to their feet and passed her, making their way down the hall silently. Normally they’d engage Amelie in some sort of banter, perhaps even rile her up into bickering, both of them trying to shake off the inevitable pre-mission jitters. But not this time, not this mission - the feeling they had pooling in their gut was decidedly not the usual bout of anxiety… but dread.
The ride down in the elevator was deathly quiet. Amelie glanced at them a few times, her mouth pressing into a firm line to swallow what few words she might have thought to say.
They arrived at their destination with a hiss of hydraulics as the doors opened, revealing a deep underground bunker illuminated solely by fluorescent bulbs. The grunts and scientists that stood to attention as they passed had to be of the highest security clearance to come even three floors within this place.
Noire couldn’t meet any of their eyes.
A single cell stood at the end of the last hallway, guarded by the best Team Rocket had to offer. They saluted the two of them as they approached, faces grim.
“Status?”
“Sedation was ceased three hours ago as per your orders, Boss.”
“Good. Anything to report?”
“It…” The guard hesitated, glancing at his partner, then looked back at them.  "It’s expecting you.“
Noire’s jaw clenched and they nodded sharply, eyes hard. They swiped their access card and punched in the code, having to concentrate to make sure their shaking fingers hit the correct buttons. Amelie watched them with an outwardly uncaring look, but they could literally taste the concern that was rolling off of her in waves.
The lights flickered briefly as the door opened, the grunts shifting uncomfortably. Noire held up a hand to halt Amelie from following, then squared their shoulders and entered the dimly-lit cell. They’d had to use the equivalent of industrial glow-sticks to light the space, mounted into the floor, for obvious reasons. The whole setup cast strange and dark shadows and fit its sole inhabitant perfectly.
Bright eyes locked onto theirs. They tried to ignore the way the hair on the back of their neck stood up at the unwavering, intense gaze, then noted that it held no real heat. They almost missed the violent ire, the seemingly bottomless loathing. At least then all this wouldn’t feel so moot.
"I hear you were expecting me,” they began conversationally, disproportionately proud of how steady their voice was, “Did you miss me that much? I’m flattered.”
It blinked dully but did nothing more. Noire frowned, annoyed but not surprised. They moved further into the room and saw there was still a bit of cloudiness to its eyes, a tired, drugged slope to its posture.
Disappointing, but probably for the best.
“Giovanni wanted to keep you sedated until the last possible moment, you know, perhaps even into battle. He has complete faith in my abilities to use you as I see fit - which I can, mind you, but where’s the sport in that?” They paused to check for any sign of, well, anything, and sighed when there was no change. “I argued against it and won, obviously, so consider this your mission briefing.”
Noire walked to a portion of the wall and unhooked the chain that sprawled across the floor and encircled its neck. The links clinked against one another in a discordant melody, scarlet bright enough to burn in such low lighting, thrumming slightly in their grasp as they looped it a few times around one hand.
There was shuffling, nothing more than a shiver, wings dipping briefly to brush against the reinforced steel floor.
“I’m assuming you heard about the raid last week. They almost got to you, you know. There’s no way in hell they would’ve been able to get you out, of course, but it’s the thought that counts, right? Means they haven’t given up - or maybe they’re too stupid to realize they should?” Another pause, another fruitless venture in inciting a response. “Regardless, we’re taking the fight to them this time.”
Noire stepped right up to it, skin prickling from being so close. Their eyes met and they saw the briefest flicker of comprehension, of basic thought, when they said, “We’re gonna knock that Valor bitch right out of her tower.”
The air hummed for the span of a blink, just long enough for their fist to smash into its face. The charge released, a pulse of energy snapping in the air before dissipating, leaving them in silence but for Noire’s suddenly labored breathing. It wasn’t much, not really, not compared to before - but it gave them the smallest, bleakest sliver of hope and they clung to it despite everything else.
If it still had fight in it, then maybe all was not lost.
“Seems you need to be reminded that so long as I have this fucking thing around your neck, you work for me.” The chain rattled as they tugged on the links closest to it, bending the neck of the great beast. It went willingly, no resistance. They sneered, chest compressing as they leaned forward and tried again. “You are my slave.”
It was a mockery of what they actually felt, the anguish settling low in their gut and burning. Words not matching the sentiment, as per usual. They could almost hear a laugh, bright and loud and stupid, echo in their memory.
Yet here and now there was still nothing, no flicker of blue that they missed so much it hurt to breathe-
Noire scoffed and let go of the top part of the chain, tightening the coil around their hand and turning on their heel. They had a job to do, though it was somehow more ironic they would be using this instead of a gun, instead of tactics, even if the principle was still laughably the same: a weapon using a weapon.
“Traitor.”
It came out like a rasp, a hiss of breath emanating behind them from lips that barely moved, the very essence of it making their heart stop, their blood freeze. Every muscle tensed and they had to duck their head to bite back a sob that threatened to crawl up their throat. Calling it relief was too kind, was not enough.
It took every ounce of their strength to tug on the chain, to snap them both back into agonized silence, and the ease with which it received slack was nauseating.
“Shut up, birdbrain.”
54.  “They’re not your kids, back the f*ck off.”
“Sir? I believe we need to discuss your parenting methods.”
Giovanni opened his eyes to glare at the woman standing in front of him. The day was warm and the sun bright so it took a moment for his eyes to focus. She was clean and dressed sharply for someone at a kids’ play area in the park and had the air of someone who was used to getting her way.
He didn’t mind the attitude, of course - he was used to working with people that sort of personality all the time.
What did bother him, however, was the way she had her mouth set in an angry pout, one hand curled around one of the twin’s arms so tightly her long, manicured nails were digging into their skin. The other twin - he still couldn’t tell them apart - stood a few steps back, wringing their hands as a boy that was undoubtedly the woman’s son was sniffling pathetically beside them, a small trickle of blood dribbling from his nose.
“What happened?” he asked, sitting up straighter on the bench.
The woman sneered, her eyes judgmental. He could practically hear her thinking about what a sloppy guardian he was, as though it was his fault Sabrina had dropped the little brats on him at the last possible minute.
“Well,” she said, her voice grating on his nerves, “Your child punched my son!”
“He was being an ass!” the twin protested and, oh, yep, that one was definitely Noire. (In truth, the red headband probably should’ve given it away.) Giovanni had to resist the urge to snort when the woman gasped in horror at their foul language.
“Blanche and me wanted to play on the swings but he told us we had to play in the sandbox,” they continued, stubbornly trying to twist their arm out of the woman’s grasp.
“It’s where the girls are supposed to play!” the boy piped up, as though the local ‘playground rules’ should have any bearing on kids from out of the region.
“We aren’t girls!” Noire snarled, an angry sneer on their face that made the boy immediately cower.
“B-But your hair is so long-”
“Hair length has nothing to do with gender, you imbecile,” Blanche replied coldly, their words slicing through the boy’s blubbering like a knife. His brows pulled together in confusion at the word, knowing he’d been insulted but obviously not knowing how to respond.
Giovanni almost felt sorry for the twerp - having a helicopter mother wasn’t doing him any favors, that was for sure.
“Well, aren’t you going to say anything?” the woman snapped, looking at him with a poisonous expression. She still hadn’t loosened her iron grip on Noire’s arm. “Regardless of what was said, my son has a bloody nose because of your two troublemakers!”
“I only punched him because he shoved Blanche!”
“I did not!”
“Did too! They scraped their knee!”
“That’s ‘cause she’s wearing a skirt like a g-”
“We aren’t girls!” the twins shouted simultaneously, making the boy flinch.
“Sir, you need to control your children or I’ll-” The woman cut herself off when he stood, paling when she realized that his slack posture had belayed his height.
“Or you’ll what?” Giovanni growled.
He had a pretty clear picture of what had happened and his patience was wearing dangerously thin with the woman’s simpering.
“Well, I-I’ll have to get the authorities involved!” she managed, tilting her chin up to glare at him. He had to give it her - she had spunk. Too bad he was done indulging her holier-than-thou sentiments.
“You could,” he conceded, inclining his head, “But you aren’t going to.”
“I-”
“What you are going to do is grab that son of yours and actually take care of his nosebleed before he completely ruins his doubtlessly expensive shirt,” Giovanni said, reaching out the uncurl the woman’s hand from around Noire’s arm. Her grip was limp with surprise and she let go easily. Which was a good thing for her because he wasn’t against breaking fingers. “And then you’re gonna take him for ice cream. Got it?”
“Are you telling me how to raise my child?!” Her voice was obnoxiously shrill.
He sighed, waving for the twins to come stand next him. “Lady, I really don’t care what you do. Just remember the indignation you’re feeling right now next time you try and busy-body your way into making your son look even more pathetic than he already is.”
“Well, I never!” she gasped, straightening to poke a finger into his chest, “I’ll have you know I work for the mayor!”
Giovanni laughed in her face.
“Yeah? Then, here, take some advice from the guy that’s really running the show: if they’re not your kids,” he paused to put a hand on both twins’ shoulders, his smile nothing but teeth and as far from comforting as could be, “Back the fuck off.”
He then gently coaxed Noire and Blanche away from the bench and the sputtering mother with her brow-beaten offspring, leading them out of the park.
“Hey, Gio.”
“It’s Giovanni, brat.”
“Giovanni, then,” Noire said, rolling their eyes, “Can we stop by the drugstore? I wanna get Blanche a band-aid.”
“It’s really not that bad,” Blanche protested, patting at their skirt, “I’ll just remember not to wear this next time we go play.”
“Still! We could get matching ones - like those limited edition Eeveelution ones we saw!”
“But… you’re not hurt, Noire.”
“So?”
Giovanni sighed, rolling his shoulders. “Tell you what,” he said, interrupting their childish antics, “We can stop by the drugstore and get band-aids for Blanche and you each can choose an ice cream.”
“Just one?” Noire tried, blinking up at him innocently, “We were traumatized by that lady back there, Giovanni. Better make it two.”
He quirked a brow at them then huffed and waved them on. “Sure, whatever you want, kid. Just don’t tell Sabrina.”
“Thanks, Gio!”
“It’s Giovan-” He cut himself off with a harsh sigh when the twins ran off, giggling to each other as their shoes made light taps on the concrete. For a moment no longer than a single heartbeat, a memory tickled, a boy with red hair flashing through his mind when one of them turned and waved at him with a large grin on their face.
The ache in his chest persisted until Sabrina came to pick them up the next day.
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withlovingregards · 6 years
Text
PWTU: Cobalt’s Beginning
Sorry, this isn’t edited because I wanted to post it before my lunch ended. I hope you enjoy!
"Cobalt, you're moving the whole truck with your wiggling!"
Said boy, ten years old and sat between his parents in the small truck they had borrowed, stopped for only a moment to look at his mother. He was only able to give her a quick grin before he went back to wiggling in his excitement.
"I'm sorry mom, I'm just so happy! I can't believe I'm about to get my very own Pokemon. I feel just like Red! He was ten when he started his very own Pokemon journey."
"Don't I know it," his father said, keeping his eyes on the road, "I remember watching that boy climb to the top like it was nothing."
"That's gonna be me soon dad!"
Cobalt looked out the window, hoping they would make it to his uncle's lab soon while his parents shared a look over his head. Chartreuse shook her head at her husband, a silent indication that they would save that talk for a later date.
Soon enough, the three of them pulled up to a lab that they had visited many times before, with a familiar man standing outside waving at him. His hair was a mess as it usually was, with his glasses on slightly crooked and his lab coat a little worse for wear, but he was happy to see his family in person none the less.
Cobalt climbed over his mother's lap, not waiting for her to get out before he jumped out of the open door and started running. Elm opened his arms and was able not to be bowled over by the child that threw himself at him.
"Cobalt, you've gotten so big since the last time I saw you!"
The blonde smiled at him, his missing teeth making that genuine smile so much more adorable.  
"I had to grow stronger to become a Pokémon trainer, duh!"
Elm ruffled Cobalt's hair as he laughed, "Of course, of course!"
Cyan and Chartreuse finally made their way over to the duo, giving their own hugs and pats on the back to the man they hadn't been able to visit in a while.
"Thank you so much for doing this brother. Cobalt hasn't been able to stop talking about this moment for the past two weeks."
"It's my pleasure! Thankfully, his birthday seemed to fall around the same time I got a large group of Pokémon. I think it's the largest assortment I've ever received, so he has his choice of many Pokémon."
"Come on, come on! My partner is in there, I just know it!"
Without waiting for any of the adults, the young boy burst inside the lab, scaring some of the Pokémon as well as the interns. The three couldn't help but laugh as they followed after him, Cyan clapping his brother on the back and thanking him again for this opportunity.
Cobalt's eyes were wide as he looked around the large lab, which held spacious pens where Pokémon of all types were either sleeping in or playing around with some toys. Running over to the closest one, he found a napping Flareon, its tail and feet twitching as it dreamed. Unable to resist, Cobalt stuck a couple of his fingers through the bars, successfully able to pet the fluffy tail and his eyes shone with wonder.
"It's so soft and warm! I bet it has really powerful fire moves!"
"Oh no," Chartreuse groaned to herself, "I was hoping he wouldn't pick a fire type. That's going to be interesting."
With a chuckle, Elm moved around and picked up a Pokemon from a nearby table and walked up behind his nephew. "How about this one champ?"
It hopped right on top of the young boy's head, holding on gently but securely. Cobalt gasped and tried to look up, unfortunately unable to see the mystery animal, though he grew even more excited when he heard it squawk at his sudden movement.
It leaned over his head, causing both of them to look each other in the eyes, though upside down. The bird cocked its head to the side, confused at the small person it was looking at.
"Krow?"
"A MURKROW?!"
"KROW!"
Scared and offended by the loud noise, the Murkrow pecked the boy in the middle of his forehead before it flew back to the table it had been resting on before, now weary of all the strangers in the room. Cobalt rubbed at the sore spot on his head, sticking his tongue out at the creature.
"Okay, maybe not that one."
Cobalt nodded his head in agreement before he continued on. It took him a while to look at them all, and while all the Pokemon were cool and had their own unique personalities... none of them really fit with him.  He had gone over the scene in his head a million times on their trip here of how everything would go. They would be able to look into each other's eyes and know without a doubt in the world they were meant for one another.
But none of these Pokemon had been the one. They were all very nice, even if that Murkrow had pecked him, but they weren't meant for him. Their trainer was out there somewhere, waiting for them. He just wasn't that trainer.
Chartreuse saw that sparkle of sadness in her son's eyes and the slump to his shoulders as that excitement left him. Crouching down to his level, she put her arm over his shoulder and pulled him in close.
"Hey, don't worry sweetie. We'll find you your starter, it just might take some time to find the right one."
"I guess," the young boy sighed, giving all the Pokemon another once over, but still, he felt no connection with any of them. He was so sure he would find them here...
"There, uh... there is one more option," Elm spoke up, catching everyone's attention as he pushed himself off the wall, "I just got a litter of Cyndaquil the other day. Rescues from a not so good situation, so I wasn't going to offer them up until I had gained their trust, but just to be sure..."
"Do you want to look at them buddy?" Cyan asked, even though he himself was a little bit curious how his brother had gotten ahold of a litter of rare Pokemon.
Cobalt looked up to his mother, seeming to want her approval of the whole situation. She placed her hand on the crown of his head and looked down to give him a warm, encouraging smile. She wasn't thrilled about a fire type, but her son's happiness was most important.
"Do whatever you think is right, honey."
Taking a big breath and puffing out his chest, Cobalt turned from his mother to look up at his uncle. He nodded his head in agreement, nervously following after the older man as he lead them to a separate room that looked like it lead to an office.
It was an office sized room, and maybe that's what it had initially been used for, but Elm had converted it into what looked like a play area for his Pokemon. Though, right now, it was housing six baby Cyndaquil, all crawling around, making little noises with every step they took. As the door closed behind the two of them, most of the pups turned their attention to the intruders, their little snorts growing louder.
"You're welcome to pet them and pick them up if they'll let you, just make sure to mind their feelings. They're a little scared of people at the moment."
"I will," Cobalt whispered, tip toeing over to them while Elm tried to cover his laughter.
Cobalt sat a foot or two away from the majority of the group of Pokemon, legs crossed over one another as he watched the small animals in front of him. After a couple quiet moments, two started to walk over to him. They gave the boy a single chuff each, quickly decided he wasn't a threat, and immediately started to climb into his lap.
"Quil! Quil~"
"I think they like me!" Cobalt whispered excitedly. His uncle laughed at him once again, but nodded his head as well.
"I'm kind of surprised. They haven't really been interested in interacting with most people."
"Mom says I'm really 'intuned with Pokemon', whatever that means."
"Yeah, I can see that," Elm trailed off, watching as one by one, the rest of the pups started to waddle their way over. They started to nose their way in between his arms, one tried hiding under his shirt, and each one gave him smiles as they played on him like a jungle gym. Well, all except one.
"Why is that one all the way over there?" The blonde boy questioned, blue eyes glued to the small Pokemon trying to hide behind their beds, though unsuccessfully.
"That one's a little more antisocial than the others. He might have been put through a lot before he came here. It could be a while before he gets comfortable around people."
Cobalt continued to pet and play with the babies in his lap, causing them to pretty much purr, but his eyes kept darting back to that lone Cyndaquil. And it continued to hide, peaking its head over the bed every now and again, only to see CObalt looking at it, then disappear with a squeak.
After a couple minutes of this, Chartreuse knocked, opening up the door just a couple inches so she could peak her head inside. Squeaking, the pups grew scared of the new comer, running to the other side of the room to hide with their other sibling.
"I didn't mean to bother you, Honey. How is everything going?"
"It's awesome! All these guys are super fun and loving. I've finally found my partner!"
Elm smiled down at the boy as the boy's mother gasped and gently clapped in her excitement. Used to this part of the job, the professor walked over to to the shelf that held the Pokeballs of each of the pups. His hands hovered over them all as he asked, "Which one is calling to you, buddy? They'll be lucky to have you as a trainer."
Standing up quickly, Cobalt scanned the room, making sure he knew exactly where the one he wanted was. Walking over to them slowly, as not to scare them even more, he walked over to the group and smiled down at the Cyndaquil that was trying to hide harder than the rest of them. Turning back to his uncle, he pointed.
"I want this one."
"Are-are you sure Cobalt? He's very skittish. I can't promise that he'll listen to you as a trainer. One of the others might be a better fit for you."
Cobalt shook his head, turning back to look at the group of Pokemon. "Just because he doesn't look like a good starting Pokemon, he deserves a chance. Being a trainer isn't supposed to be easy. It envolves a lot of work and trust, and I know this one has a lot of potential in him."
Elm looked over at Charteruse, he noted her proud smile as he sighed and nodded his head. His brother and his wife had raised a good child. Taking the Pokeball off the wall, Elm squatted down and handed it to the blonde boy.
"Those other trainers won't stand a chance against you and your team."
Cobalt's smile was blinding as he took the ball and pressed the button, calling the Cyndaquil he had chosen to its ball. Cobalt's eyes went wide as he held the filled Pokeball, holding it tightly in his hands.
"Wow, it's so warm!"
"What are you going to name him?"
Cobalt stared intently at the red and white ball between his hands, rolling it back and forth between his palms as he thought. When it came to him, he held the ball up to his eyes and seemed to be speaking only to the Cyndaquil.
"Treble. Your name is Treble."
"Cyan, it's been a week. I'm really starting to worry about them."
"Honey, the poor thing was obviously abused. You can't just expect him to trust people so quickly."
Sighing, Chartreuse put down the knife she was using to cut some apples and started to arrange them nicely on a plate absent mindedly.
"I know, but you saw how heartbroken he was at Elm's lab. He's got all his hope on this one Pokemon-"
As soon as the woman saw the top of her son's head poke around the corner, Chartreuse put a large smile on her face, motioning Cobalt farther into the kitchen.
"How are you doing sweetie? Making any progress?"
"He let me get a little bit closer to him today," he replied, walking over to grab the apples from his mother, "I think I might be able to pet him soon!"
"Alright, just make sure to be careful! You don't-"
"I won't get burnt, I promise!"
Without another word, Cobalt disappeared around the corner to head back to his room. Chartreuse sighed and Cyan came up behind her, giving her a hug as he rubbed the sides of her arms.
"He's got a strong heart and an iron will, just like you. He's going to try his hardest to get that Cyndaquil's trust, even if it never wants to battle. We've got to support whatever he decides to do."
Back pressed against the wall that lead to the kitchen, Cobalt looked down sadly at the apples in his hands. It was true that this hadn't been what Cobalt had been expecting, but he'd thought he'd made a lot of progress with Treble. The first day they'd brought him home and let him out of his Pokeball, he'd hid under the closest thing he could find and stayed there the whole day. In the end, Cobalt had to return him back to his ball since he'd almost set fire to the ottoman. Now, the Pokemon would allow Cobalt in the same room as him. It wasn't the ideal arrangement, but the young trainer knew he could do this.
Taking a deep breath, he snuck back to his room, being quick to open and close the door so Treble couldn't escape. Thankfully, he was in the same spot Cobalt had left him, on an area rug accompanied by some of his Pokemon figures. Right now, he had a Pikachu in his mouth.
"You'd rather eat plastic toys than the treats I give you?" Cobalt asked, mostly talking to himself.
"Quil," Treble growled, shaking the small toy back and forth.
Cobalt rolled his blue eyes and carefully walked towards the Pokemon, who was giving him the normal weary look. Cobalt just laid the plateof freshly cut apples a foot or so away from the Cyndaquil before going back to lean against his bed.
"I'll get you to trust me one of these days," the ten year old said, resting his head against the mattress and looking up at the ceiling, "We'll be the best of friends. We'll travel the world, and I'll get to show you so many cool things. You'll have more friends than you can count and you'll have more stories than you can tell. And one day, you might even be famous. Just like Red and his Charizard."
"Quil?" Was Treble's muffled reply, mouth still full of the bright yellow toy. Cobalt looked over at his starter, who had somehow gotten a couple inches closer to the plate of food in front of him.
"You've never heard of Red? He was from Pallet Town, just like me. He started his Pokemon adventure at ten, and he's still the youngest person to become a Pokemon Champion. I've always wanted to be just like him. That's why I got you."
While Treble was preoccupied by trying to seem uninterested in the apples in front of him, Cobalt scooted closer. When the Pokemon didn't notice, he continued to move, until the fire type sent him a look. But still, he was in touching range again, so things were looking up.
"Even if nobdy else noticed, I felt that connection to you. I know there's more to you than what most can see. You just need some time and love."
Cobalt leaned down to grab one of the apple slices and held it out in front of Treble's snout. His nose twitched, and Treble gently placed the now ruined Pikachu toy on the ground, then gave Cobalt an uncertain look.
"And since we're Pokemon and trainer, I'll always respect you and listen to you, even if it means you don't want to battle by my side. We're a team, through and through."
The Cyndaquil seemed to take these words in, since a couple seconds later, he quickly took the offered apple slice and began to munch on it. Cobalt held in his shout of victory, but couldn't keep the huge grin off his face.
"That's right buddy. It's gonna be you and me with whatever you're comfortable with. Maybe we could join the circus!"
"Quil," Treble denied immediately.
"Good point."
"Mom, we're going to be fine! You don't have to worry so much. And you can come and check up on us whenever you want."
Huffing, Chartreuse looked over her son, making sure he was completely prepared for the day ahead of them.
"No, you're right. You two will be fine. You're only going to the other end of town. Just make sure not to fall into the water. You don't want to be swept out into the sea and-"
"Mom!"
"Right! Have fun sweetie."
Cobalt gave his mom and grin of reassurance before he walked towards the front door, where he'd left Treble and his pack. Treble was sniffing around it, looking for the snacks he had packed. Cobalt scooped up the bag, much to the Cyndaquil's displeasure, then picked up Treble, the pup filling up both his arms. The Pokemon made a quick noise of protest, but was so used to the simple gesture that he soon just let it go.
"Bye mom!" The young boy said quickly, closing the door behind him right after, so his mother wouldn't try to stop him for the third time.
"Alright Treble, today we're going to go somewhere we've never been before. You might not like it at first, because there's water-"
"Cyndaquil!"
"Oh, don't be such a drama queen, you're not getting a bath!"
The fire type seemed distrustful for a moment, giving his trainer a narrow eyed look, before grumbling under his breath.
"It's gonna be fun, I promise," Cobalt reassured, starting to waddle awkwardly, since the Pokemon was starting to slip out of his arms. Treble said nothing to this, but looked around at the town that he had never seen before. While they had gone outside, it had only been in the family yard. The buildings, even if they were few and far between, were completely new to the Cyndaquil. And while he wasn't happy to be going somewhere with water, Cobalt could tell that he was excited to just see some place new.
By the time they had finally gotten to their destination, Cobalt was barely hanging onto the Pokemon, with his body swinging side to side like a piece in a grandfather clock. Cobalt gently plopped him onto the grass, letting out a tired sigh and wiping the sweat from his brow.
"Whew, that was a long walk. How did you like it?"
"Quil~!"
Treble was almost spinning around in circles trying to take in their new scenery all at once. On one side of them was a patch of tall grass, a lot smaller than it had ever been before, swaying gently in the afternoon breeze. And in front of them was the large expanse of the sea, with waves softly hitting the edge of the bank, spraying up a tiny bit and covering the grass in a sprinkle of water. Cobalt looked down at the awestruck Pokemon and smiled.
"This is Route 21. It's a long water path, but it eventually leads to Cinnabar Island. It used to be this really amazing island that had a haunted mansion, a super cool science facility, and even a Gym and Pokemon center! Not too long ago, though, the volcano there erupted and destroyed everything."
"Cyndaquil!" Treble exclaimed happily, curving his back and showing the young boy the small wall of flames he had produced.
"Yeah, kind of like that!" Cobalt laughed, finally sitting down next to his starter, looking out into the sea.
"I've always wanted to visit that Island, even if it isn't much of anything anymore. It used to be the last place you ended up on your Pokemon journey before you made your way back to Pallet. Then you could challenge the Elite Four, and even the Champion and see if you had what it takes. I wanted to do that in every region, see what they all had to offer..."
Noticing Treble staring at him, Cobalt shook his head to rid himself of those thoughts to paste a smile to his face. He lightly patted the Cyndaquil's warm head, ignoring Treble's grumble as he did so.
"Don't worry buddy. We can always travel the world another way. Maybe we could be historians!"
"Quil."
"True. Are you sure you don't want join the circus?"
"Cynda!"
"What do you mean you don't have a talent? Fire comes out of your back-"
A rustle from the small patch of tall grass next to them cut the young boy off. Both trainer and Pokemon stopped what they were doing to stare, watching nervously as the grass shook angrily. After a second, it stopped, leaving the grass motionless. Cobalt and Treble looked at one another, sweat drops forming on their heads.
"It was probably just the wind?" It hadn't been the wind.
"Q-Quil." Treble didn't believe that either.
"Maybe we should head back to-"
Cobalt didn't have a chance to finish his sentence. From that same patch of grass, a wild Pokemon appeared, cawing angrily as it flew at them.
"Taillow!"
"Quil!" Treble cried, curling up into a ball, awaiting the attack that he could see coming. Acting before he even had a chance to think, Cobalt jumped in front of his starter, startling the bird enough for it to come to a halt. Oh man, this had been exactly what his mother had been worried about. How was he supposed to defend them from this?
"Um, we uh, we don't want any trouble Mr. Taillow. W-we'll leave now."
The bird seemed to take that in for a moment, looking like it was about to turn around, when Treble's whimpers grew in sound, echoing around them. The mere sound triggered the Taillow, and it started to fly again. Higher than it had before, as if it was trying to fly over Cobalt. Straight towards Treble.
"I don't think so!"
As it went to dive, so did Cobalt. He threw his body on top of Treble's, cocooning him with arms and legs as the Pokemon's attacks finally came down. The Taillow started to peck, trying different spots to see if any would grant him better access to the crying Pokemon.
"Ah!" Cobalt exclaimed, trying to tuck away his neck when he felt the bird draw blood.
Feeling something wet on his cheek, the boy was able to open one eye to see his fire type, who was looking at him in concern and had licked his cheek in question. Another peck from the bird made him wince, but he didn't close his eye. He gave his boy another smile.
"D-don't worry about it bud. This is what trainers and Pokemon do. They protect one another. I know you're scared, but you don't have to worry. Trust me to keep you safe."
Cobalt felt claws in his back now, like the bird had landed, and he hissed but wiggled around, trying to dislodge the thing.
"Get off me! You're being-" A squawk, "Very rude!"
Suddenly, Treble was wiggling around in his arms, and Cobalt was losing the structure of his protection. He tried to hold on tighter, but it only seemed to make his starter wriggle more.
"Just stay still Treble! He'll go away soon!"
"Cyndaquil!" Treble yelled, and soon he was free. Cobalt cried out, trying to scramble to get him back before he ran away, but the bird was still trying to attack him. Until it heard a growl from the Cyndaquil.
"Taill?"
Free from the barrage of claws and beak, the blonde was able to turn around to look at the scene unfolding before him. Treble had taken a solid stance in front of his trainer, his eyes narrowed to slits, and from so close, Cobalt could feel the heat pouring off of him as he readied for what seemed like an attack.
"Cynda. Quil." Treble seemed to be giving a warning.
"Taiilow!" And the bird was not having it. It flew straight towards Treble, claws glinting in the sun. Cobalt cried out, trying to reach out to protect his friend, but Treble was quicker.
Faster than lightning, he whipped around, showing the bird his back. And the fire that erupted from him. It completely dowsed the flying type Pokemon, and when the fire stopped, it seemed to hover in mid air for a second, blinking in astonishment, before it shook itself off and flew away in fear. As it escaped, one of its tail feathers, almost burnt to a crisp, fell down and landed in the grass, turning to dust before them.
"Cynda! Cyndaquil!"
It took Cobalt a moment to recover from the shock, but once he did, he gave and opened mouth look of surprise to his starter. Cyndaquil was sitting there happily, smiling at his trainer while a small ember of flame still raged at his back.
"You... Buddy you did it! You were in a real life Pokemon battle! Oh man, that was so cool, and you did such a good job!"
Turning off his fire, Treble jumped into his trainer's arms, laughing along with the boy as he hugged him tight and twirled him around.
"I'm so proud of you! I can't believe that just happened. Wait, does that, does that mean you want to-"
"Quil."
"Really?! I'm not pressuring you am I? I know it was exciting and all, but if you don't want to do it-"
"Cynda. Cyndaquil."
Cobalt quickly stood up, holding his Pokemon high above his head and laughing.
"We're gonna be the best Pokemon team in the world!"
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stageonmay · 7 years
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so let’s talk about this wallace cup thing wow wallace is oddly coming up a lot today
subject of discourse: who should have won: may or dawn?
disclaimer: now i’m gonna go ahead and acknowledge that we as RPers obviously have our biases for our characters. but what i CAN say is that i didn’t warm up to may until WELL after i watched DP and tbh i’ve held this opinion for some time. believe me or not--i’m going to go through this step-by-step.
what i want to do, to make this as simple as possible, is address the most common arguments (and also maybe some off the dash lol) i see for Dawn’s victory and tell you why they’re bologna.
everything under the cut cause it is LONG.
Exhibit A: Their Parents.
it is REALLY easy to say “well dawn’s mom was a coordinator” and bam. we’re done. but i want to challenge you to not... do that. let’s look at may first.
may is the daughter of a gym leader and a ???? housewife i guess. one would assume that she naturally loves training and is damn good at it. but, not only was she not allowed to watch gym battles (which is why she and max were so excited to watch ash’s battle), but she turned out to be literally afraid of pokemon and only left the house to get away. she then ends up falling in love with coordinating because she sees that pokemon can be beautiful, graceful, and fun. 
now dawn. dawn is the daughter of a top coordinator, and we know nothing about her dad. she looks up to her mother to the extent that she worried a lot about living up to her legacy, but not so much that it overly crippled her. it’s heavily implied that dawn didn’t actually spend much time training with her mom. johanna really emphasizes dawn’s need to learn on her own--we in fact hardly see her give advice even as she’s on her journey. dawn doesn’t break away from the “family tradition” per se, but over the course of her journey she worries less about living up to “mom” and more about being the best “her” she can be.
the important takeaway here is that these stories have a core theme in common: that your parents do not define YOU. and as such, this argument doesn’t really work. it in fact defeats the purpose of their entire arc, and, even on a technical level it’s pretty flimsy for reasons i pointed out above.
Exhibit B: Glaceon was a brand new evolution.
honestly there’s not much to say here um. charizard beating aerodactyl. ursula with her flareon & vaporeon appeal. Kkngler in the pokemon league. Swellow to win that tournament. Pignite to beat Shamus. 
not only is winning via recent evolution a common pokemon trope, but the very concept is that if you understand your pokémon well, you can easily adapt to this change and succeed.
if you need further proof, just consider when the opposite was the case. ash was so used to winning after evolutions that when turtwig evolved, he got overconfident and misused him because he didn’t consider how his body had changed. So in that case a lack of understanding hurt him.
but given that may explicitly wanted a glaceon, i highly doubt she lacked that understanding of what she was getting into. this is just a really flimsy excuse at best.
Exhibit C: Literally any nitpicking about the battle itself.
you guys. the characters aren’t real. the writers decide how the battle goes. the writers make these choices. and if you felt at all upset when ash lost the kalos league? then you understand.
Exhibit D: Dawn needed a win.
ah, yes. my personal favorite. (which is to say I hate hearing this and from this point forward will demand 10 USD from everyone who says it to me.) first, a reminder: may was participating in the wallace cup because she needed a win too. this was a high-stakes battle for BOTH of them so honestly I’d LOVE to end the counterargument here but I have more.
the thing is, guys, yes. dawn needed a win. but there’s no reason, at all, plot-wise, that that win needed to be against may.
a better thing to do would have been to give her an opportunity to conquer someone like zoey; someone in her realm of rivals, who is a challenge for her, but who could easily bounce back from a loss. 
“But ky, what about the wallace cup how would you change it wouldn’t may still lose?”
actually, no. we can do one of two things with the wallace cup:
a) push it earlier. maybe even allow more cameos. this could possibly even be the start of dawn’s temporary downfall rather than the end, which would be interesting because she would write off that loss at first. well it WAS may. no big deal. can’t be mad about losing to someone so nice and experienced. and to paraphrase geoff, it would give sort of a parallel. this is what dawn could become. woulda been nice.
b) push it later. let dawn have her win, and put the wallace cup closer to the grand festival. it could be a BIG DEAL around the world because the wallace cup is considered like a “warm up” for all the festivals and one of the LAST opportunities to get a ribbon. competition is FIERCE. only the best make it through. dawn’s loss is far enough away from her past ones that rather than take it hard, she becomes DETERMINED to train up for the grand festival. woulda been nice.
And lastly, (Exhibit E): I want to address the issue of skill/talent.
may simply showed more growth in a shorter period of time than dawn did. that’s a fact. whether dawn had more experience with her mom or not, she still loved pokemon. was around them. had a sense of what she was doing.
but may went from being afraid to even pick her starter to competing in a grand festival on her first try (this included conquering cheating in that season at least twice). she then went on to travel more regions, become more seasoned and no--i don’t want to discredit dawn at ALL. but it says something about your talent and skill to be able to grow so fast, and may should only have kept going up and up. it doesn’t make sense that dawn would have surpassed her, having only started her journey.
and like... is it so bad? to let your old character shine? what’s the point of bringing them back if not to celebrate them?
obviously people are still going to disagree with me. but i think it was a HUGE disservice to may’s character for her to lose. like, if they were going to do her wrong, then just. don’t bring her back.
and that wraps up my hopefully-not-too emotional opinion about the wallace cup results, feel free to like, reblog, reply, whatever, it’s not like i do much here anyway. cx
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dontfindyourcenter · 5 years
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Chapter 23:  You’re Lanakillin’ Me
Rules: https://dontfindyourcenter.tumblr.com/post/177027661290/rules
Previous chapter: https://dontfindyourcenter.tumblr.com/post/178481441120/chapter-22-i-dont-know-about-you-but-heres
After getting a tiny bit lost looking for it, I eventually found that last section of Vast Poni Canyon!  None of the healing items I was hoping for were there, but I did find a rare candy, the T.M for Flamethrower, and an old man called Terry who was practicing karate by himself in the dark. Still a less embarrassing hobby than making up arbitrary rules to make pokemon games harder, if we’re honest.
Then I remember a whole other place I haven’t explored for healing items yet - the Haina Desert!  I skipped over this place last time I was on Ula’ula island because I didn’t think it was worth going into a place where it was constantly a sandstorm if I couldn’t heal my pokemon afterwards, but now I don’t have to worry about that because I’ve got a couple of max repels going spare!  Let’s see what I can be having here!
Nothing.  No healing items here either other than a Max Elixir.  Bit of an anti-climax, but oh well - at least I got the psychic-type z-crystal, which none of my pokemon can use because they don’t know any psychic-type moves.  Yay!
With that done, I pop to the foot of Mount Lanikila, where Gladion is waiting for me.  “I’ve been waiting for you,” he says.  He’s holding his hand in front of his head again, but it looks a bit less melodramatic this time; maybe it’s the camera angle or the fact that he isn’t vibrating slightly, but this time it just looks like he’s having a mild headache.  That’s character development, that is.
Anyway, he tells me that he wanted to thank me for helping out his family in that Ultra Space adventure.  No prob, Bob!  Then he says “the only thing I can offer you in thanks is a great battle.”  You’re being a bit harsh on yourself there, Gladion - I’ll bet you could arrange a really lovely fruit basket if you wanted to.  But no, he wants to show me his full power “with the z-ring that old man gave him.”  I know that he probably means Nanu when he says “that old man,” but my headcanon is that he’s just talking about a random old man that I’ve never met before.  Gladion clearly has a life outside of the game I’m playing, after all.
Loki goes first against Gladion’s crobat.  Instead of actually attacking the crobat, though, Loki’s just there to paralyze it with Thunder Wave and then set a couple of layers of Spikes, so that all Gladion’s other pokemon will get hurt now when they come into battle.  Loki’s a devious little pisser like that.  When Loki has had enough of being hit by the crobat’s Acrobatics attacks, I switch out Digit Al to finish it off with a Volt Switch attack.
Next into battle is Gladion’s lucario, who’ll be fighting Donna.  Surprisingly, the lucario turns out to have a z-move - Corkscrew Crash, which he uses here without much effect.  I would have expected one of the pokemon Gladion’s had for longer to have been given a z-move, but props to Gladion for being original, I guess.  Anyway, a couple of Flame Charges later, the lucario is out for the count.
Gladion sends out his newly-evolved silvally next, but I keep Donna in the fight.  Why not?  It seems a waste to witch her out when her speed’s just been doubled, and she has a couple of moves which are good against fire-types, which I’m pretty sure this silvally is.
Ah.  It turns out Donna still isn’t faster than this guy, and it uses Crunch, which brings Donna down to less than a quarter of her health.  I guess that answers that “why not” question.  I switch Donna out for Mr Nancy, who’s able to finish the silvally off, but not before taking a lot of damage as well.
Gladion’s last pokemon, weavile, then faces off against Digit Al.  Though the weavile didn’t stand a chance of surviving Al’s Flash Cannon attack, it’s able to do an obscene amount of damage first by getting a critical hit with Night Slash.  That’s a pretty good description of the whole battle, actually - Gladion didn’t stand a chance, but he did an obscene amount of damage anyway.  I bloody hope the plot heals my pokemon before I face the elite four.
Then Gladion flashes me a creepily genuine-looking smile and hands me a Max Elixir which Lillie apparently wanted me to have.  Since Lillie once gave me a bag to keep contact lenses in even though my character seems to have perfect vision, I can absolutely believe that she would believe a Max Elixir was a nice gift to give someone.   Then he says “I know we aren’t friends.  But we aren’t enemies anymore either.”  You just described strangers, Gladion.  That’s no fun.  Haven’t you ever heard the term frenemies?
It’s at this point that I never beat that dancer back on the Poni Wilds who would only fight me when I beat everyone else there.  What the heck, I decide; she might give me an item that Loki can hold that’s more useful than the Occa Berry she’s been uselessly gripping for the last three chapters.  And sure enough, the dancer tells me before fighting that her pokemon use Focus Sashes, which probably means that’s what she’ll give me when I beat her.  Nice!
Oh boy, I was wrong.  That wasn’t nice at all.
It turns out that the trainer’s four pokemon are the four different forms of oricorio.  The fight starts off great, with Digit Al beating both the fire/flying type one and the electric/flying type one.  Unfortunately, for the third oricorio, I sent out Hedwig.  I swear there was a reason that I sent my starter pokemon out against a strong bird pokemon, even though he’s vulnerable to flying-type moves and the oricorio was guaranteed to survive my first attack.  I guess I was just pretty sure Hedwig would survive long enough to finish off the psychic/flying oricorio and level up.
No points for guessing that I was wrong, but man, I was really wrong.  See, it turns out the light blue oricorio isn’t psychic type after all; it’s ghost type, and it’s just knocked Hedwig out with a tremendously powerful Revelation Dance attack.  Oopsie doodle.  That means I have to use one of my four max revives.
Anyway, I did manage to beat the dancer and get that Focus Sash in the end.  Will the item end up being useful enough to justify using up one of my lifelines this late in the game?  Time will tell.
I go back to Mount Lanakila now, and considering that it’s this game’s victory road (according to google, Lanakila is Hawaiian for victory), there sure aren’t any trainers about.  I run through and am able to pick up a full restore, a max revive (yes!  Back up to four!) and the ice type z-crystal without seeing anyone at all.  What’s the deal with that?  I can remember the victory road in pokemon Ultra Sun being much longer and full of trainers, just like it is in most other pokemon games.  Maybe they just ran out of time when they were making the vanilla Sun and Moon version.  The hilarious part is the rotomdex saying “Mount Lanakila is famous for being the most impregnable of all of Alola’s mountains.”  I was able to pregn it in about ten minutes, mate.
I take the lift to the very top of the mountain.  I walk past the pokemon center, because that’s the whole point of my challenge, you know?  I don’t even totally know why I even bothered typing that.  If you were expecting me to use the pokemon center at this point then you haven’t been paying attention to my entire journey.
A few steps later, I’m stopped by none other than Hau!  Mate, it’s been ages!  Where’s he been all this time?  It turns out that after the business on Aether Paradise, Hau cleared the rest of his trials and then “went back home to train with Ilima a bit.”  You went back home… to train?  Did you think that through, young man?  Did you really weigh up all your options and think “gosh, the best place I could possibly go to train is the island where the very strongest pokemon around are on level twelve”?
In any case, it turns out Hau came to Mount Lanikala to try out the pokemon league, heard from Gladion that I was on my way up here and dashed his way on up to meet me.  He tells me that it’s the fastest he’s ever moved in his life.  He probably shouldn’t brag too much about that - if Gladion was still at the bottom of the mountain when Hau got there, I had time to fly all the way to Poni Island and all the way back before he caught up with me.
Anyway, Hau challenges me to a battle to work out who should go up against the pokemon league first.  And my god, this is a surprise - he doesn’t heal my pokemon to full health first!  Maybe he did learn something from training with Ilima after all.
As always, Hau leads with his raichu.  Having completely forgotten that Hau would be here, the first pokemon in my party is currently Wash, but that’s ok - his thunderbolt attack misses entirely when I switch Wash out for Loki.  And what did I expect from Hau?  Hell, I’ve faced off against Hau often enough to know how little to expect of him; I decide I might as well lay down a layer of spikes on Loki’s first turn, since there’s no way this raichu is gonna do any significant da -
What the heck? The raichu’s Thunderbolt just did 96 points of damage!  That’s a LOT of damage!  What’s with the power boost, Hau?  Should I have been training with Ilima this whole time?
I switch over to Digit Al to save Loki from death, but it soon becomes clear that even Al’s not safe from the raichu - after Al does a fairly low amount of damage with Tri Attack, the raichu uses Focus Punch, and while the attack misses, it’s clear that it would have done a heck of a lot of damage if it had hit and might even have knocked Al out.  I’m forced to switch over to Hedwig to finally beat the raichu with a Spirit Shackle attack.  I mean, it’s good that I eventually managed it and all, but I had to switch out more than half my team to do it.  That seems like too much.
Next out on Hau’s side is his flareon, which means it’s Mr. Nancy’s time to shine.  But once again, Hau demonstrates an insane leap in power since I last saw him when the flareon uses Flare Blitz, which does so much damage that Nancy (who started the battle with about three-quarters of his health) is left with only about a third of his HP left.  That’s insane, especially since Mr Nancy’s ability is that fire-type attacks do half as much damage to him.  At least Mr Nancy’s able to do an awful lot of damage with his Scald attack, but that won’t be a whole lot of comfort if he gets killed on his next turn.
I consider switching to someone else in my party, but no; the only member of my team with more than half their health left is Wash, and while Wash has a lot of strengths, he also has a lower defense than any other member of my party.  Switching to him, or any of my other pokemon, would be signing their death warrant.  I’m gonna have to use a Max Potion instead.
It pays off; while the flareon’s next Flare Blitz attack does more damage than I’d like once again, Mr Nancy has just enough health left that he should survive his next turn.  And that’s exactly what he does.  He doesn’t get the chance to finish the flareon off, though - the knockback from his own attack knocks the flareon clean out.  Good riddance!
Hau’s penultimate pokemon is a komala, which faces off against Wash.  This, finally, is a much more straightforward battle.  First, after getting hit by komala’s Sucker Punch, Wash uses Beak Blast.  Then, correctly guessing that the komala would use Sucker Punch again, Wash uses Roost and ends up back to near-full health.  Finally, Wash finishes the komala off with a Drill Peck.
And finally, Hau sends out his primarina, and so I let Digit Al out once again.  Al uses Charge Beam, doing a lot of damage and raising his special attack.  That should be enough for Al to beat the Primarina on his next turn.
Unfortunately, Al doesn’t get a next turn.  The primarina uses Hydro Vortex, the water-type z-move, and knocks Al out in one hit.
Damn!  I let out Hedwig and use a Max Revive on Al.  I’m really, really lucky here, as it turns out - the primarina uses Moonblast and Hedwig survives, but with only 1 HP remaining.  Hedwig is able to beat the primarina with Leaf Blade on his next turn, but that battle’s still caused a serious dent in my healing item lifelines.
Hau is a good sport about it to the last, telling me to go ahead and beat the Elite Four so that next time, he can come beat Champion Tori.  Christ - if only the modern Labour Party had half that much determination.
Ooooh, and then he gives me 3 Max Revives.  I always liked that boy.  And he’s even healed my team up before the Elite Four!  What a lad!
I jump back into Mount Lanikala to very quickly give some training to the members of my party who are closest to leveling up, then use the handful of Rare Candies in my bag on everyone else.  And you know what?  That’s enough for me.  No more training - I’m not going to risk heading into the Elite Four with anything less than perfect health.
I step into the Pokemon League headquarters.
End of Chapter 23.
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