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crystalelemental · 10 months

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Pokemon Team Characterization - Hop

The first request was for Hop, and why did I agree to this? He’s a rival, the starter factor alone triples his team count on Bulbapedia. Thankfully he doesn’t do too much nonsense about switching around his team based on this so I’m going to stick with the Cinderace team, on the grounds I think that’s who he’ll get with the Galar VA.

Starting off with early-game Hop fights, his team is structured as his starter, his Wooloo he also started with, and Corvisquire. I think what’s interesting is that he only picks up one thing, and it’s like...the most common thing. He gets it immediately, having Rookidee by the second fight after Route 2. And it’s all he keeps until after the first three gyms. Hop does not add a fourth until post-Bede Beatdown.

I’d interpret this as his dedication, given that he sticks by his Wooloo and Scorbunny and his first ever catch. But also a bit of like...single-minded attachment? Like, this continues for a long time, in a region with a lot of variety, and the entire Wild Area. Hop goes around talking about catching a bunch of different things, but he doesn’t use them for battling. His battle team are the original, dedicated group. Even when he’s got the options in his back pocket, he doesn’t seem to put them on the front lines. Either this is about being gentle-natured, and not wanting the Pokemon he catches to battle (unlikely given his chosen profession), or it’s a matter of that strong dedication to what’s known, and a resistance to something that’s new. Riiight up until...

The Bede-ening. Following his defeat and Bede’s verbal smackdown, Hop’s team completely changes. Barring his starter, her picks entirely different components, even dropping his Wooloo, which is his very first Pokemon. He had that since before Leon gave you starters, and he’s willing to drop it. Suddenly, he’s bringing in new options he’s picked up before, given Toxel, but also bringing in the new Silicobra. In addition, his team suddenly emphasizes less direct attacking, and more...evasion. Paralysis is a common theme, as are two-turn moves. It’s a lot of getting the opponent not to act, and forcing a dodge.

In the post-Bede-ening, Hop’s still fixated on his goal to surpass Leon and become the best trainer. He’s confronted with the fact that where he’s at won’t cut it, and doing something purely for the enjoyment of it won’t make him a good competitor. He has to adapt. And he’s willing to, but also willing to cut out the things he cares for most to try and pursue that goal. Yet when he does so, his emphasis on two-turn moves, specifically on Dig and Dive which are hiding under the earth and water respectively, implies a sort of...shame to it? Like a second-guessing, a feeling that this isn’t what he wanted. Don’t think about it too hard, don’t talk to me about what I’m doing, I’m following this goal no matter what. The paralysis focus implies a similar thing to Whitney’s Miltank; it’s not about winning, it’s about not losing. “I can’t lose” is the bigger motivator than improvement.

By team 3, it’s a bit better but more of the same. He’s still not using Wooloo, and there’s an appropriate amount of paralysis focus as a result. Stockpile to shore up defenses, and Roar to force out things he doesn’t want to face, are thematically appropriate for this phase of the game. Again, it’s about avoiding loss rather than improvement.

Notably though, this team can contain type overlap. Rillaboom and Trevanent overlap, and Heatmor and Cinderace overlap. Despite his attempts at improvement, Hop’s use of the type matchups aren’t as sound here. This could imply a sort of...chasing the wrong thing. Like, by type and statistics, Trevenant is probably better than Wooloo, so it’s on the team, even if it betrays the fundamentals by overlapping with Rillaboom. Heatmor...look, Heatmor’s just not a great choice, I don’t really know what you’re doing here. I’m gonna call its presence a matter of having Lick for paralysis, and Bug Bite to eat the foe’s berries, to emphasize that “don’t lose” mentality.

That said, once through the slump, Dubwool and Corviknight are back. Snorlax also stays, which causes type conflict with Dubwool. Interestingly, Pincurchin stays. He picks it up after his sulk, and then it stays for the rest of the match. Pre-Legend, his other constant inclusion is...Cramorant. Which is another type overlap if he has Sobble as the starter.

The Lead (Dubwool) As a lead, Dubwool is...interesting. There’s a semblance of strategy, but not the best application. Cotton Guard implies a defensive approach, but Double Edge hurts himself with recoil. The supposed plan, then, might be to improve your bulk so your opponent doesn’t hurt you as bad, so you can spam the recoil move a bit more freely, but it’s not exactly a sound strategy. Headbutt as disruption at least slows things down, but Double Kick as coverage breaks past Rock and Steel that resist Normal, pointing to a concern for offensive coverage.

Dubwool’s presence and strategy doesn’t tell us much, beyond that Hop may not be the most skilled battler out there. What he’s doing just isn’t fully sound. But he’s someone who loves that thing with all his heart, and that’s his buddy so it’s going on the team, and he will find a way to make it work. I think Steadfast as an ability really sells that. Dubwool isn’t a Pokemon he uses to great competitive effect. It’s just his buddy, and he’s not letting go of that.

The Ace (Cinderace) No I’m not going to talk about Zamazenta as his ace, we know it’s the starter. The coverage choices seem odd to me, but that turns out to be because Cinderace doesn’t have much to answer the usual Ground, Rock, and Water types. Intelleon and Rillaboom are much more apt with coverage. So Hop’s ace is raw offense, emphasizing that type matchup focus by covering weaknesses.

I think, in contrast to Dubwool, this solidifies Hop as someone who does know what he’s doing. His understanding of battling specifically may not reach fantastic tactical levels, but he’s fully competent. Moreover, I think it’s interesting to note the contrast here. Hop enjoys battling, but when it comes to his starter, which he got specifically for his adventure, he’s all out offensive and very careful in his crafting of the moveset. When it comes to his best buddy Dubwool, it’s not as fine-tuned. I think that speaks to how Hop approaches things. There’s a level of seriousness to his approach, but it’s the kind of serious that comes with knowing your place. I’m gonna speak personally for a while.

I am not great at actual competitive Pokemon. I just don’t like it. In some ways, I know what I have to do to be better, but in others, I don’t want to do that! I reserve my right to be a bit of a casual about it. And if that means running sub-optimal Pokemon with teams that are fun if sub-optimally designed, so be it. That’s Hop’s mentality. I want to be good enough to have fun with this, but it’s not my central focus. Which is exactly what winds up happening at the end of this arc; he changes his goal from begin a top trainer, to becoming a professor. He still battles well, it’s just not his life focus anymore. He doesn’t want to give up what he’d need to in order to compete.

General Team The rest of Hop’s team is notably slow and bulky. Snorlax, Corviknight, and Pincurchin have like 5 base speed between them, but plenty of defensive merit. Snorlax and Pincurchin have fantastic offensive coverage, while Corviknight emphasizes defensive play in Light Screen, and disruption in Swagger. Swagger in particular is interesting. Previous teams with disruption emphasized paralysis, and if Confuse was applied, it was through Confuse Ray. Swagger is bolder than Hop’s usually been, and implies a sort of coming into his own. He’s willing to take some risks, and is a bit more assured in what he’s doing.

Pincurchin’s presence is legitimately just funny to me, especially with Cramorant. These are, to be frank, goofy-looking Pokemon. But they’re the ones Hop goes back to in his ever-changing teams. I think that’s legitimately hilarious, and implies that yeah, these are things he picked up because he just loves them. He likes weird or unusual Pokemon. Pincurchin is fairly hard to find, so there’s a bit of appreciation for something rare in both, but Cramorant’s oddity as a Pokemon seems to line up with his interest in being a professor. He likes Pokemon that do unusual things, or are hard to find out about. There’s an appreciation for having to put in the effort and overcome something.

I think it’s also worth noting that the majority of these bulky Pokemon are raw offense. Hop is someone whose bulky offense playstyle implies a sort of cautious but consistent progression. He pushes forward, but is thoughtful in his approach.

Summation Hop is someone whose story arc is about being a casual mid-level fan of something. It’s about having the skill to compete, but not quite breaking into professional level play. It’s about being the kind of person who is more concerned with the emotional attachment and investment than the win, and doesn’t want to compromise what’s important to be successful. It’s about being flexible and trying different things, but coming back to what you love. It’s about dedication to friends, and the things you care about. It’s about moving forward thoughtfully, and keeping your values in mind. And it’s about how, if you lose sight of that, the focus often becomes on not losing out, on not making mistakes, rather than growing.

If anyone has an alternate read on his teams, I’d love to hear it. I admit to not being much of a Galar fan, but I can throw your responses at my wife who will absolutely have opinions about it. She loves the Galar.

#pokemon #hop #pokemon team characterization #lilyrighter

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saltnpepperbunny · 1 year

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Till World’s End- 3: Eight Days Remain

PREVIOUS: Nine Days Remain > NEXT: Seven Days Remain >

COVER

Till World’s End is rated Mature. Viewer discretion advised. Content Warnings listed on the Cover.

* * *

Shadow lifted his nose to taste the wind. “I smell an unfamiliar pokemon. Rock-type. They went, uhhh…” He sniffed one more time and pointed right with his snout. “That way.”

“Thank you, Shadow.” Selkie dragged her body forward with her paddle-like flippers, tail swishing behind her. The chains of teeth tied around her flippers clink clinked as she shuffled. Her still-water eyes rippled. “Let’s catch this outlaw.”

Mystifying Jungle was not among Shadow’s favorite mystery dungeons, but that was unfortunately where he found himself today. Selkie had chosen today’s job. The goal was to capture a wanted rhydon who escaped here to evade the law. The crime in question? Stalking and groping teenage girls. Shadow personally wouldn’t mind tracking down petty thieves and vandals, but Selkie insisted on going for the worst of the worst. He supposed she liked the challenge of it.

The jungle canopy stretched high overhead, spindling roots and ferns covered the forest floor. It was easy to get lost in a dungeon like this. Wind whistled through the leaves, carrying on it distant grunts and chirps. The voices of feral pokemon that echoed through mystery dungeons used to make Shadow’s fur stand on end, but not anymore. Selkie would protect him from any danger the dungeon threw at them. And now that he’d been rescue training for years, Shadow could help protect them, too! While Selkie wasn’t looking, he shot her a small, determined grin. Don’t worry, Selkie. I’m here to protect you!

Shadow frowned as he remembered the events of the day before. How Selkie had dashed from the morning briefing, and he found her in the corridor with wild panic in her eyes. Shadow had seen Selkie in such states before, but it was rare, usually only occurring after she had the occasional nightmare. Not much ever seemed to bother Selkie. Before he’d gotten to know her better, Shadow had wondered if the popplio could even feel fear. Now, he knew better. Selkie failed to care about most things, but sometimes, something would rattle her. And the arrival of Lyn the human had clearly thrown her off.

“Hey, Selkie,” Shadow piped up as they ascended a staircase of vines and white stone. “How come we’re running an outlaw capture job instead of, um, dealing with Lyn?”

“Who’s Lyn again?” Selkie said quickly, not turning around.

“The human who arrived yesterday?”

“Oh… right.”

Shadow’s lip twisted up. Selkie could be quite the liar and sometimes failed to understand that she didn’t have to fib to him. No way would she forget Lyn’s name so quickly! She knew exactly what Shadow was talking about!

Shadow prodded her again. “So? The human?”

At the top of the staircase, Selkie paused. A ripple crossed her still-water eyes. Shadow watched her think for a long moment before she finally spoke. “I am… working on a solution, but I don’t have one yet.” She turned and shuffled off into the dungeon’s second floor. “Where’s that damn outlaw?”

Shadow frowned, ears drooping. So, that was it? She was working on a solution, and he would just wait for her to think something up? Did Selkie not want to be helped? Or did she just think he was so useless that he couldn’t? He thought they were a team, in on this together. What was going on?

Selkie turned around when Shadow didn’t follow. She cocked her head at him and quirked a brow. “Coming?”

“Mhm.” Shadow fell into step beside her. Selkie had a short fuse. It wasn’t worth it to poke the ursaring, not unless he wanted to risk the discussion spiraling out of control. Then Selkie would just have more problems to deal with. That wasn’t fair to her. He let his concerns wash away down the river of his mind. He let out a sigh.

He glanced up at Selkie to see if she noticed his sigh. She didn’t.

Shadow’s lip quivered. “Selkie, I—”

“There.”

Shadow stopped short. Selkie’s murky brown eyes were fixed on something in the distance, and he followed her gaze. Up ahead, sitting amongst the underbrush feasting on berries, was a rhydon. The beastly pokemon’s fangs protruded up from his lips, and his snout twisted in a permanent snarl. He was most definitely over thrice their size. Shadow felt his heart start to pulse, but he breathed in and out slowly, kept it under control. Size wasn’t everything when it came to strength. Selkie taught him that.

“Is it a feral?” she whispered.

“No. See from the way he carries his shoulders? He’s no feral,” Shadow whispered back. “He must have hatched in a town.”

“Then it’s our target.” A fire sparked in her eyes. As beads of water crystallized in the air and began to swirl around her, the corner of Selkie’s mouth curved upward into a sharp-toothed grin. She licked her upper lip. “Let’s bring this loser hell.”

“Selkie, wait—”

A jet of water launched Selkie forward like a missile. In a blink, she rammed headfirst into her prey. Rhydon stumbled and choked, chunks of berry fell from his mouth. “What the fuck?!” he spluttered. When his widened yellow eyes fell upon the popplio, they narrowed into a glare.

To Shadow’s surprise, Rhydon didn’t immediately attack Selkie. He lifted himself up onto his haunches and dusted off the spot on his arm where she struck him. “The hell do you want, brat?”

Selkie lifted her head high. The sunlight piercing through the canopy turned the water droplets in her fur to glittering crystals. “I am Selkie of Outlaw Capture Team Tempest. And you are my prey.” Her hackles rose as she lowered into an attack stance. “Prepare for your capture.”

Rhydon’s glare faded. Huffs of laughter escaped his twisted lips. “That’s rich, kiddo. Did the cops from that stupid village set you on me? Why don’t you drop the hero act and come over here so I can tickle your—”

In a blast of water, Selkie rocketed forward, spun in the air, and slapped her tail down on Rhydon’s head.

“Grk-!” Rhydon gagged at the sudden impact on his head and neck. Still in the air, Selkie spun around again and slapped him across the face with her tail, sending him stumbling backwards. She opened her mouth and launched a blast of white water at his face. Rhydon spluttered and coughed. Selkie grabbed him by the face with both flippers, digging her claws into his cheeks. Before he could react, she yanked him forward, reeled her head back, and smacked their foreheads together. Rhydon yelped and stumbled back as Selkie spun to the forest floor.

“Selkie!” Shadow darted forward. That headbutt looked painful! If Rhydon recovered first, she was in serious trouble!

But before Shadow could even reach the fight, Selkie flipped up off her back and launched another white-water blast at Rhydon. He’d already been teetering, clutching the crack in his stone forehead, and the blast sealed the deal. The THUD echoed through the entire forest as Rhydon fell backwards onto the ground. Selkie jumped up onto his belly, readying another blast of water to finish the job—

But before she could fire, Rhydon swung his arm up and punched her straight in the chest.

The force of the blow threw her backwards. Selkie thudded against the ground, and anxiety spiked through Shadow as she gasped for air. Rhydon stumbled to his feet, shaking, face twisted in a ferocious, frustrated snarl.

“You stupid little bitch! Just who do you think you are?!” Rhydon roared. “I’ve beaten pokemon over twice your size! You’re not the first rescue team I’ve taken out!”

Trembling, Selkie lifted her head to meet his glare. Her eyes were alive with fire. “That’s your mistake, fool. Those other rescue teams weren’t me!”

Selkie launched herself with an aqua jet at Rhydon. But this time, he didn’t flinch back. As soon as she was within reach, he raised his arms above his head and swung down to punch Selkie in the back. She screamed as she hit the floor.

“Selkie!”

But she still wasn’t done. Selkie spun like a wheel to knock her flippered tail into Rhydon’s ankles, sending him spiraling. He kicked her in the chest. She blasted him with the sonic screech of disarming voice. He kicked her in the chin. Shadow knew his attacks were hurting; Selkie was shaking, gritting her teeth in pain. But there was a fire in her still-water eyes, a rage that would not be abated until victory was hers. Dammit, she never knew when to stop! Why did this always happen?!

He had to do something. For a second time, Shadow darted forward. Rhydon kicked himself back from Selkie and pounded the ground with his fists. The earth bucked and rippled like a shockwave that sent her spinning into the air. Shadow jumped over the waves of rippling earth and charged Rhydon head-on. What could he do? Scary face? Fake tears? Did he dare attack directly?

“Another one?! I’ll put you in the ground, little mutt!” Rhydon roared.

“I’d like to see you try!”

Shadow knew no fear. His mind contained a single thought: protect Selkie. It didn’t matter if Rhydon was thrice his size. It didn’t matter if he could get hurt. Death? What was that? He heard Selkie shout behind him but didn’t register what she said. Dark energy gathered at his paws, and Shadow zigzagged in preparation for feint attack. He let his illusion magic do the rest, projecting his image this way and that way, and Rhydon’s eyes darted around as he tried to discern Shadow’s position. But he wasn’t fast enough; he leapt into the air, and dark energy trailed behind Shadow’s paws like ribbons as he clawed Rhydon across the eyes.

“GAAAAAAAAAGH!” Rhydon grabbed his bleeding eyes and stumbled backwards. Shadow felt wind gust by him, and as the zorua landed on the ground, Selkie rammed into Rhydon’s stomach in a blast of water. Knocked to the floor, Selkie jumped atop his chest, lifted her nose to the sky, and swung her head down to blast Rhydon with a torrent of red water.

Rhydon spluttered and choked. As the blast ended, Shadow thought he heard Rhydon cough, “Stop—” but Selkie blasted him again. And again, and again, and again. He spluttered and struggled from the relentless torrent, screaming and choking as it filled his nose and mouth, limbs grabbing at roots and dirt in desperation. Something in Shadow’s heart seized, and he screamed out.

“Selkie, STOP! YOU’RE DROWNING HIM!”

Immediately, she ceased. Selkie shut her mouth and whipped her head around to stare at Shadow, her eyes wild. Beneath her, Rhydon spun to the side to hack up the water Selkie had shoved into his lungs. Selkie stared at Shadow, and Shadow stared back, a silent exchange between them. She bared her teeth just slightly. Shadow did not lower his head.

Selkie turned her gaze back to Rhydon.

“I hope you realize now that you’ve been bested,” she spat. Rhydon heaved below her, out of breath, exhausted. Wisps of blue light swirled around him as he grew close to fainting. “All you can do now is accept your fate.”

“And what exactly is my fate?” Rhydon’s voice was hoarse from coughing.

“Life in prison!” Selkie said with a bright smile. She leaned close to his face and licked her lips. “Was it worth it? Touching all those young girls? Even animals don’t deserve violation, you know. Not even the weak ones.” Slowly, she lifted a flipper and parted Rhydon’s mouth with her claws. “You’re disgusting. A disgusting, disgusting animal. You deserve nothing but death, but I’m not allowed to kill you. So, I hope this will suffice!”

She wrapped her claws around one of Rhydon’s protruding, curved fangs and pulled.

Rhydon screamed. His limbs flailed in wild, pained panic as Selkie, slowly, pulled the fang from its socket. Blood spurted from his mouth as it came free. As he whimpered and trembled under her, Selkie turned the yellow fang over in her flipper, scrutinizing her prize. “You pokemon have such shit gentle hygiene, y’know? I’m gonna have to clean this one up before I can wear it.” The leather chains of fangs and teeth clinked around her flippers as Selkie tossed the tooth Shadow’s way. He caught it from the air and tucked the bloody thing into their treasure bag.

The spoils of the hunt.

With that, Selkie hopped off Rhydon and lifted the rescue badge clipped to the fur on her chest. The wisps of blue light grew stronger then, became blinding, and in a flash, Rhydon was gone. He would end up at the Guild, beaten and bested, and eventually find his way to the village jail. Such was the fate of outlaws captured by Team Tempest.

But as soon as he was gone, Selkie suddenly pitched forward.

“Selkie!” Shadow ran to her side. He caught her in his paws just in time before she hit the ground. “Selkie, what was that? I thought you weren’t going to just charge into fights on your own anymore! We talked about this!”

Selkie was silent and still in his arms, just breathing. The fur on her back stood on end. Her muscles tensed. Shadow knew that Selkie didn’t like to be held like this. But there was no way he could let her fall. In the past, she would shove him away instantaneously if he touched or held her in a way she didn’t like. More recently, however, she would let it be. For a while, at least.

Still silent. She wasn’t planning to respond, was she?

“Selkie…” Shadow sighed. He took a shaky breath to still the rippling fear in his heart. “We’re so close. I don’t want to lose you to some stupid outlaw for some stupid job.” He wrapped himself closer around her, his hold transforming into a hug, and his eyes stung. “Please don’t be reckless. Please.”

For an extended moment, Selkie remained quiet. Then Shadow heard her murmuring voice. “I’m sorry if I scared you.”

“You did. That was really scary.”

“And we had that whole conversation about it…”

“You p-promised you would stop.”

Shadow remembered the horrors of Team Tempest’s early missions. How Selkie would throw herself at outlaws and heaps of ferals, battling so viciously that half her attacks were self-injurious. She once slapped a feral with her flipper so hard her shoulder dislocated. She wrenched out her claws scratching enemies, lost teeth biting pokemon with scales or rocky armor. Once the thrill of the hunt was in her eyes, once she was drunk on the fight, she’d throw herself into reach of any attack just to get her own blows in. She often failed to dodge. It drove Shadow insane! For a long time, he wondered: Could she just not feel pain, was she above it? So immune to the sensation of fear that she fought like she could never die?

Then one day, Shadow realized that Selkie fought not like someone who was immune to death but rather drawn to it.

Selkie suddenly pushed him back. Shadow didn’t react. Her tolerance for physical contact never lasted long in these states. She turned sheepishly away from him, gaze averted to the ground. “You know I’m never gonna lose,” she muttered.

“Win or lose, I don’t care. I don’t like to see you hurt yourself.” Selkie shot him a startled glance. It was identical to the look she gave him the first time they had this conversation. Wide-eyed, shocked, exposed. Shadow continued, “I know you don’t like getting help, but we’re a team. Can’t you let me help you?”

Shadow looked into the depths of Selkie’s eyes. Searching. It was in moments like these that Selkie felt most like a child. That wide-eyed, stupefied expression that she often gave him when Shadow showed his love. His words never touched Selkie like his actions could. Something would awaken in Selkie, the zombie of a little girl who maybe once believed in love. Her eyes softened. That was it. No wide grin, no happy tears, no laughter, no outward relief. Just a softening of the eyes. Something in those still waters knew peace in that moment. At least, Shadow hoped.

The weight of Rhydon’s tooth in his bag made the skin crawl on his neck. Shadow’s heart dripped with bleeding love.

* * *

Shadow and Selkie arrived back at Spectrum Island Rescue Guild a whiles later, collected their payment for the job, and saw Rhydon off to prison in police company. Officer Houndoom, the chief of the local force, said to Selkie, “I see the good work you do, Team Tempest. I appreciate your going after outlaws a lot of the other rookies don’t wanna touch. But for Moltres’s sake, girl, what’s the deal with the teeth?”

As she spoke, Officer Houndoom eyed the chains of teeth Selkie wore around her flippers. The popplio followed her gaze, stared at her accessories for a moment, and murmured, “It helps me keep count of all the pokemon I’m stronger than. Besides…” Selkie mischievously quirked her brow. “Who doesn’t like a souvenir?”

Officer Houndoom stared blankly at Selkie for a moment, processing that. Then she patted the popplio on the head (causing Selkie to bare her teeth) and said, “I don’t get you, Popplio, but to each their own. Ya little psychopath!”

From the laughing grin on Houndoom’s face, Shadow could tell she meant the comment in jest. But Selkie’s eye twitched. “I am no psychopath.”

Payment collected and captured outlaw taken care of, Shadow tried to convince Selkie to go to the Guild’s infirmary. But at her stubborn refusal, he dropped the issue. Selkie hated the stench of herbs and clearly wasn’t in the mood to be tended to today. Her body sagged from pain and exhaustion, and Shadow didn’t have the heart to argue with her further. So, they retired to their dorm, their safe little haven. Upon entry, Selkie flopped into her nest. A nap was clearly on the evening’s schedule.

Shadow deliberated. He could sit around and watch Selkie sleep, for old times’ sake. When they first became a team and started rooming together, Shadow would stay awake long into the night to watch Selkie sleep. She would frequently complain about how uneasy the behavior made her feel, it was the source of many of their early arguments. But after a particularly explosive argument, he found the willpower to stop. Shadow sighed. He shouldn’t pick up the bad habit again. The last thing he wanted was to push Selkie’s buttons.

So, he turned to the door. “I’m gonna go for a walk.”

“Kay. Have fun.”

Shadow slid out without another word. He ignored the pain in his chest that bloomed from the sudden realization that, despite knowing he had a hard time walking the Guild’s halls alone, Selkie did not want to accompany him.

Whatever. Whatever! Shadow didn’t need her to come when he could bring Selkie along anyways. He took a deep breath to release the emotion tangling in his chest, and as he exhaled, his red paws flickered into blue flippers below him. Though his body felt the same, Shadow looked over his shoulders to see Selkie’s spiky blue fur. Watching her sleep had paid off in dividends: Shadow’s illusory recreation of his partner was near perfection. He could never get the placement of her whiskers exactly right, and conjuring those still water eyes was impossible. But as the artist of the piece, he alone was privy to its flaws. It did the trick.

And so, Shadow aimlessly trailed the halls of the Guild, leaving today’s stress behind in his pawprints. He traced a path up from the recruit dorms towards the mess hall, past the library and up to the main hall. While daylight brought hustle and bustle to the Guild, the evenings brought quiet and peace. Few pokemon were out and about, mainly just recruits running errands or heading to the mess hall for dinner. He caught occasional groups of recruits lounging and chatting, sharing stories of the day’s work. Shadow didn’t mind when no one called out for him to join them. In fact, he was grateful for it. It spared him the anxiety of having to say no.

There were a few reasons Shadow liked to walk the halls as Selkie in her absence. Her poor reputation served as a shield, keeping the other recruits a safe distance away. He had to deal with their side-eyed glares and stares and the occasional shout of, “Watch out for the Psycho!” Shadow didn’t know how Selkie dealt with the animosity; if pokemon treated him like that, he’d have a meltdown of terror! But it was okay when he walked as Selkie. Not great, but okay. She had the power to rarely care when the other Guild members taunted and teased. In borrowing her form, Shadow could borrow her strength.

“Hey! You’re Selkie, right? Of Team Tempest?”

Oh boy. That wasn’t good.

The anxiety swelled through his chest up his throat like a balloon. He could deal with a lot of things, but this? Someone talking to him? Not today, Giratina! Shadow whipped around, his magic thrumming inside him to aid his quick escape, and he met eyes with the pokemon who’d spoken.

It was the human.

Fuck.

Lyn the human-turned-litten stared at Shadow with half-lidded yellow eyes. His expression betrayed nothing but mild curiosity. His long tail swished side to side. As his heart hammered, Shadow tilted his head and stared back.

So, this was a human? A non-Selkie human. Shadow was taken aback by how ordinary he seemed. Selkie was ethereal: she carried herself like something not from this world, too good for this world. It took Shadow’s breath away. But this boy was just… normal. Just a litten. Just another pokemon. Shadow would’ve been disappointed if it didn’t excite him. Of course that otherworldly nature wasn’t an innate quality of humans. His was special! From the way Selkie talked about other humans (when he could convince her to), he should’ve seen this coming. After all, even Arceus themself couldn’t measure up to Selkie.

Arceus wasn’t the one who’d saved him.

Lyn cocked his head. “Did you hear me?”

“Oh! U-uhh!” Shit, he forgot to answer the question! “Yes! I… I am. Selkie of Team Tempest.”

Lyn blinked. “Nice to meet you.” He narrowed his half-lidded eyes just a bit. “Hm…”

Shadow stood there in silence, sweating.

Lyn backed up a step. “Hm, my bad. I thought I sensed something from you yesterday, but I think I was mistaken.”

Shadow’s eyes widened. Had Lyn sensed that Selkie was also human?

Lyn stared at him for a moment, offering a chance for Shadow to interject in the conversation. But Shadow remained quiet as he chased his tail in his own head trying to figure out what to say, and Lyn shrugged and licked his paw. “Anyways, it’s nice to make your acquaintance. I’ve only been here for a day, but I’ve heard a lot about you already. From your demeanor, I would’ve thought the rumors untrue, but…” He glanced down at Shadow’s illusory chains of teeth and snickered. “Those really are the teeth from outlaws you capture, huh?”

“It helps me keep count of all the pokemon I’m stronger than,” Shadow said quickly. That’s what Selkie would say, right? “And, I uh… I like souvenirs.”

Lyn quirked a brow. “What, like a serial killer?”

Shadow bared his teeth. “I’ve never killed anyone—”

“But that’s literally the serial killer thing, isn’t it? Is that just how you turn out when your mommy doesn’t hug you enough?”

“Why’re you being a jerk?!” Shadow barked. He wanted out. He wanted out of this right now!

Lyn’s half-lidded eyes widened ever so slightly. He blinked, then shrugged. “Why’d you snarl at me in the morning briefing yesterday?” When Shadow failed to respond, Lyn slinked past him, back arching downwards as he padded by. “I’ll let you in on a secret, Selkie. I’m here on a very important quest. I was told by the one who brought me here that another would stand in my way.” As he started off down the corridor, Lyn looked over his shoulder to shoot Shadow a black fire glare. “You do not want to be that person.”

With that, Lyn slinked off down the corridor, turned a corner, and was gone. Shadow stood there, silent, stupefied.

What the hell just happened…?

#pokemon #pokemon fanfic #pmd #pmd fanfic #pmd fanfiction #pokemon fanfiction #pokemon mystery dungeon #pmd till world's end #prose #literature #fanfic #popplio #zorua #fanfiction

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enderspawn · 2 years

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Has a jrwi pokemon au been thought up. I need to give this thought to my sister so she can come up w their teams for me she's very good at it but I still wanna know if it's been done before

there hasnt been one to my knowledge, BUTTTTT i did actually. come up w some jrwi teams myself a few months back or so in early july but never shared them. ill put them under a cut for Myself to brag/ramble abt my decisions and thoughts

but also anon: even if there was one pre-established, who cares, yknow? you can make your own either way, thats kinda the fun of it. god knows i love to Make AUs then do nothing w them, bc brainstorming them is the fun for me. even if someone else already did it, you can do it too!

SO. i Attempted 6 person teams for the riptide crew and im p settled w everyones But chip's (i also Attempted to make them feel around the same power level?? you can decide how successful that was)

ALSO,

1. the first pokemon listed is the person's "starter" and 2. everyone other than riptide PCs listed will have teams of 3 bc they're much easier

GILLION ---

shellos: pretzel! she's his starter and also a pikachu situation where she refuses to evolve bc shes Perfect As She Is (and she is right)

altaria: apple! blue bird :]]]]

aegislash: sword and shield for being a paladin! specifically aegislash due to it having defensive shield unlike the previous evolutions, as well as it being either high defense or kinda glass canon feeling fitting

lumineon: by god that is a Fish! thats it

malamar: "oh its a octopus is this pretzel again?" WRONG this is dugon. dark and fucked up aquatic animal time.

cubchoo: ice representation! also being a baby to show his Caring Side as well as teh fact his ice powers are still new/developing since he learned them from caspian (likely in universe got cubchoo as an egg from caspian)

JAY ---

dartrix: jay's starter! its an archer bird, plus i feel like her having an actual Starter Pokemon as a starter is like a privilege thing from her upbringing. i chose dartrix both for balance and bc i think its just a lil cuter

zorua: hey remember the zorua line's Whole Bit. damn thats weird. anyway. zorua chosen over zoroark for balance and Personal Preference man zorua is just cute okay imagine her holding it

fletchinder: represents the ferin family crest! damn those ferins sure can be fire and bird themed

kingdra: i imagine this was Given to her by the navy? like for protection, heres your Max Evolution Water Type. also, kingdra association w hierarchy and "king" and shit.

meowstic: part balancing the team, part Someone here needs the braincells (psychic type). meowstic female chosen not only bc "haha female pc" but also bc female meowstic has a more attack-based movepool where male is support based.

skarmory: Can You Tell Jay's Bird Themed Yet. also, literally made of armor to show being protective and kinda closed off for her Own Safety thing

CHIP ---

mimikyu: chip's starter. both ghost type to represent how hes Haunted but also a poor imitation of pikachu that just wants to be loved and. :)

wingull: he's a sailor man he needs a water type. but also he sucks so its a wingull. like not even a pelipper. cringe.

absol: absol is known to forewarn disasters but bc of that is often associated w Causing Disasters and bad luck and listen i just rlly like chip as my little trauma boy. also absol cool as hell.

ampharos: ampharos is known in universe to act as a lighthouse for sailors! also chip's obligatory Full Evolution to try and balance him out w the others

dhelmise: It's A Sunken Ship Ghost Anchor can i make myself clearer

nidoran: i just think chip has a think for weak little bitch ass pokemon. like i was so tempted to give him so many Shitty Bug Types or whatever. BUT, instead as compromise i gave him a little bastard stubborn baby pokemon... who also has the potential to grow into a Fucking Beast (at least in gen 1) if you give it the time to grow and stick it out.

again, chip's is the one i feel is weakest as a team, but now onto NPCs smile.

OLLIE ---

stufful: they hate him for his Normal Boy swag. also grows into MASSIVE fucking bear w even bigger strength

poliwag: baby boy. small. water type bc they're fucking pirates. (also, can evolve to be a fighting type later)

bonsly: baby boy! again! he's just baby. but like this one cries :(

OLD MAN EARL ---

tropius: haha its the Fruit Pokemon get it

relicanth: obligatory water type plus they're both Old As Shit

swadloon: fucking look at it. they're grumpy friends. they bitch to each other. swag.

GRYFFON ---

pangoro: this is just gryffon sorry.

bisharp: looks the most "bounty hunter"-y, also dark and steel fits his general Aesthetic n vibes

gliscor: actually all of his pokemon were chosen for their power and being Strong and Highly Competent

EDYN ---

mareanie: 1. it looks Like Her in color pallete, 2. its the baby form bc i specifically wanted it to be unassuming and "weak, and 3. it being poison type could be a fun twist depending on how canon goes

goodra: just a Strong fucking dragon type, i wanted the rest of her team to kinda "shock" you w hidden strong pokemon since you'd likely only see mareanie. also haha goo.

jellicent: decent strength water type + ominous ghost typing

MARSHALL JOHN ---

primeape: hes just a fighting type guy to me (i considered the timburr line), plus primeape having the broken shackles around its wrists to symbolize john breaking out of the navy

corphish: this one's like half vibes he just has a little Crab Guy okay <trust me

lairon: strong as FUCK and also tanky, plus steel type in general makes me think of navy and/or combat? it Fits

CASPIAN ---

alolan ninetails: ice type but also design just FUCKS and looks like caspian.

frogadier: this frog is cool as hell and you know it. doesn't he deserve a cool ass chill frog.

shellos: SPECIFICALLY the blue one in a parallel to gillion's shellos! tho i imagine later on it does become a gastrodon.

CAPTAIN LIZZIE ---

salazzle: s-sexy lizard. :]. ALSO bc i feel fire and poison both work as general typings for lizzie, and salazzle being female only is haha girl power

dragonair: i goof'd it in the first one, but in general i wanted a sleek cool look for her team to show how she appears effortless and cool herself.

cubone: naughty blackrose survivors get a Trauma Pokemon for their crimes. anyway remember how cubone is the orphan pokemon? also this is specifically cubone and not marowak to show like the inner child of the trauma

NIKLAUS ---

giratina: niklaus can have a universe controlling god-like being of power. as a treat. mainly i wanted him to be MEGA intimidating, such as the only one w a legendary, as well as the fact giratina (despite its terrifying appearance + power to create dimensions) is technically there to keep balance is a nice nod to how niklaus isn't inherently some Evil Force but instead a neutral party playing both sides.

mega absol: what if i was your "this pokemon causes doom and destruction" theme but Stronger.

espeon: yknow how niklaus kinda comes off as that cat-stroking monologuing villian? this is that cat.

BONUS: PRIME DEFENDERS

DAKOTA ---

hitmonlee: he be fucking KICKIN!!!!

cranidos: headstrong as hell, plus a fossil pokemon (much like bino is part dino!)

monferno: fire type time!! it just Fits Him, plus fire/fighting! i considered combusken instead, since blaziken Kicks but i went w monferno instead bc heehee Monkey (and bobo!!)

VYNCENT ---

morpeko: ignore how this site doesnt have gen 8, morpeko has a Duality feature n shifts forms! also just fuckin look at him

honedge: me when i have a sword and i Fucking Get You. first stage pokemon to represent how untrained the PD are

fraxure: if i didnt give him a dragon id die on the spot. gen 5 just Feels right, as well as a middle evolution since they're kinda the "awkward teen phase" of pokemon

WILLIAM ---

lampent: lichrally ghost fire what do you WANT FROM ME!!!

umbreon: its his emotional support dog. also dark type bc hee hee spooky and its Popular w fans just like william is w fans

abra: psychic type w potential to become very powerful, but rn can only run away or Fucking Die

ASHE ---

spiritomb: ghost spirit tied to a specific item, technically multiple spirits in one item, can be highly dangerous and malicious at times. teehee.

absol: Listen I Just Really Fucking Like Absol's Theming Okay.

alolan ninetails: similarly, this pokemon design just fucks. also i can imagine vulpix as his actual ""starter"" until he found and got stuck w spiritomb and absol started hanging out around him (/threat).

#sorry i went off the rails. also you can tell as you go down the descriptions when i started losing it #i just. hhough i love when curtains are blue okay #jrwi #og post #answered #anon #gillion tidestrider #chip #jay ferin #< theres a lot more but i wont spam the tags #just. a good handful of riptide npcs are there And the pd pcs <3 #(jeb bush voice) please clap #riptide #pd

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lostonehero · 2 years

Text

Chat fic chat fic

Welcome galactic guy

Honorary member: anyone know who that is?

Miner<3: oh thats Cyrus, N

Honorary member: you mean the guy who nearly destroyed the world?

Galactic guy: I am serving my time working for the international police.

Miner<3 has sent pictures

Catman Devon: don't be rude nice wings though

Galactic guy: thanks?

Red: .....

Bluefluff : Red don't be rude I'm not climbing Mt Silver again to get you to be nice again.

Galactic guy: red as in the champion red?

Red:...... yes

Bluefluff: Roark you need to be better at explaining things.

Miner<3: I did explain.

Galactic guy: I only found out that his brother was Maxie when he was about to leave.

Red:....

Bluefluff:....dude come on

Punkrockunderground: you've changed my username again Roark.

Miner<3 : it wasn't me this time Maxie.

Punkrockunderground changed his name to Maxie

Maxie: doesn't matter I am related to Roark yes

Galactic guy: do hisingvthe wings and tail get easier?

Maxie:eventually hey @bluefin you awake water brat you said you heard where Archie is.

Bluefin: I mayhaps

Maxie: you're still a terrible liar

Bluefin: fuck

Roses gal: oh Roark wasn't wrong hello Cyrus, did you get the right binder at least I don't think any of the other dragon guys are up or they haven't evolved to have wings yet.

Galactic guy: the one Roark provided is sufficient

LadyRocket: huh at least I'm not the only former evil person here

Maxie : fuck you Ari

LadyRocket : oh Maxie you never counted, neither did N

Bigbadguzma: what's going on now?

Punkguy: a new person has entered

Bigbadguzma: I can see that also it's like 3am why are you awake

Punkguy: I just finished a concert why are you up we are in the same time zone

Bidbadguzma: I'm visiting Mitchel

Punkguy: oh yeah that's right ghost types don't really need sleep

The darling Kalos ghost : oh Cyrus you have to come by my gym I have the best guy for contacts that can help you.

Galactic guy : Fantina?

The darling Kalos ghost: correct little one oh and I can help with thoues horns too well make a day of it.

Galactic guy: I'm not letting you drag me to enter another contest.

The darling Kalos ghost: oh darn but comet loves them

Galactic guy : leave my pokemon out of this

Catguy Devon: oof don't drag his pokemon into it that isn't a fair fight

LadyRocket: and you Devon need to stop trying to get me to divorce my husband but that doesn't seem to be happening

Maxie: rip

Miner<3:rip

Bigbadguzma:rip

Punkguy:rip

Catguy Devon: fuck you guys, and never you don't need some normal to like you.

LadyRocket: stop talking shit about my husband

Catguy Devon: he's just a human you can do better

Maxie: dude she has a kid with him

Carguy Devon: I'll happily adopt him

Maxie: not the point I was making anyway Cyrus there is a tag for help with hiding your parts and another for clothing and another just for contacts just use the resources in them to get what you need

Galactic guy: thank you Maxie

Maxie: there is also a chat room with our parents if you wish to hear stories for alpha pokemon, not everyone has a name like our mother she chooses not to have name

Galactic guy : so do I just request a Pokémon to talk to.

LadyRocket: basically yeah some are quite bad with technology so be patient.

Galactic guy : noted will keep in mind

Married to electricity: does anyone want to see pictures of the triplets?

Rose gal : how is your wife doing

Married to electricity: she won't let me near our pups, but she is ok, I can take care of the gym without her

Rose gal: is she retired from battling?

Married to electricity: no she is taking a break she is obsessed with our pups so im soloing my gym without her

Galactic guy: your luxray is an alpha pokemon?

Married to electricity: she is she enjoys battling with me at the gym but she just had our pups so she is on the bench for now

Galactic guy: oh congratulations

Married to electricity: and I'm on a building ban until our pups can walk because she considers my machines a "hazard"

Galactic guy: my grandfather lives in Sunnyshore and he woukd agree with that

Married to electricity: you break the power grid twice and you're considered a hazard smh

Spirit of the desert :oh you must be the one my son was talking about

Catguy Devon: lady flygon welcome

Spirit of the desert: don't be so formal Devon welcome Cyrus right? Anyway all of us are happy to welcome you do you have scales fur or just flesh

Galactic guy: uh it's like armor and different color skin

Miner<3 : can confirm so I don't know if he sheds.

Galactic guy: shedding?

Several people are typing......

#half zoroark au #pokemon #magma leader maxie #half flygon au #team rocket ariana #ocs #gym leader roark #gym leader fantina #gym leader volkner #gym leader gardenia #team galactic cyrus #galactic boss cyrus #skull boss guzma #gym leader piers

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kingarmorking · 1 year

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A Familiar Face

so i wasnt planning on writing anything and yet here we are

im not ssssssssssuper pleased with it but for what i was going for it works

little drabble for my feral rei au

He’d been watching this human for a while, she had a pikachu with her that didn’t seem to be listening. He’d been here in the fieldlands for a few days now, it was much different from the icelands, warmer and he found he liked it more than home though he wished he had parted with Dia on better terms, he was sure to get an earful when he eventually made his way back. He couldn’t help it though, his curiosity was too great about where he came from; he didn’t care about the humans that abandoned him but he wanted to see it at least.

Which brought him to the girl with the pikachu, he’d seen her coming and going from what he thought to be the village gates sometimes there would be an larger older man and a smaller older woman. They never stayed with her for long, the woman would go back into the village and the man would stay near the gates to wait for her. The girl would follow various pokemon though she never got close to them which he didn’t understand, from her body language she wanted to observe them but if she was so apprehensive of approaching them she’d never learn anything.

He watched as the pikachu turned its nose up to her and ran off, the girl running after it with a frustrated noise escaping her mouth. His eyes narrowed as they approached the territory of a group of buizel, he’d had a run in with them when he first came back and the alpha of this group unfortunately had a bite to match its bark. He didn’t care about the humans but he didn’t want the pikachu to get hurt, even it if did have the type advantage so he kept up with them, making sure to keep his steps light.

The pikachu didn’t notice how close it was getting and he saw bubbles starting to form from the river, three buizel springing from it moments later. They glared at duo and the pikachu bared its fangs letting loose an electric attack and easily dispatched the three of them, only getting hit twice in the process but a feeling of dread filled his body as more bubbles appeared on the surface of the river. The alpha jumped out and let out an angered shout, causing the girl to recoil from fear as the buizel approached the pikachu and spun, smacking it with its two tails and sending it careening into the river.

He growled low in his throat and jumped in after it, cradling it in his arms as he swam to the surface. The pikachu stared at him in confusion and looked over his shoulder, letting out a surprised shout, frantically slapping him and pointing. He looked over as well and saw the alpha buizel going after the girl next. He gave the pikachu a withering look and it glared back at him so he let out a frustrated sigh and placed it on the opposite side of the river, giving it a motion for it to stay before grabbing a couple of rocks and swimming over to the other side. Once there he chucked the rocks at the back of the alpha’s head, easily getting its attention. A fierce grin appeared on his face as the buizel bared its fangs and water started to swirl around it before it launched itself at him. He twisted out of the way and as the water dissipated, grabbed it from behind and pinned it down, twisting one of its arms behind its back.

The buizel let out an angry shout and spun its two tails, shooting stars out that curved back around and struck him in the back. He shouted in pain and glared down at the water type, rearing his head back and slamming it into the buizel’s, hearing something crack. He headbutted it once more, heard another crack, and the buizel flailed to get him off but he kept his grip strong, baring his teeth to challenge it to try and attack him again, lest he headbutt it once more.

The alpha’s attempts soon started to slow and it glared back at him before letting out an angry huff and stilled. He waited a few more moments before getting off and letting the buizel up, motioning for it to leave. The buizel rolled its eyes before turning and helping its smaller brethren up and jumped into the water, waving for them to follow. The smaller buizel looked back and forth before slowly slunk in after the alpha, though not before letting out agitated barks in his direction.

He waited until they’d all gone before turning his attention to the girl the pikachu wanted him to help. A lot of emotions showed on her face; panic, shock, dizziness and confusion. The pikachu in question took a running leap and swam the rest of the short distance to get back to the girl, letting out concerned noises as it inspected her. He walked over to her as well and crouched earning a surprised jolt back from her. He narrowed his eyes as he looked over for any open wounds and, once deciding she was fine, he stood about to leave when his mask cracked in half.

He let out a surprised shout, scrambling to collect the pieces realizing that that had been the cracking sound he’d heard earlier. The pikachu hopped over to him and tilted his head as he sighed and scratched his head in frustration. He wracked his mind trying to figure out how he’d repair it, he’d have to go to a wurmple most likely, when the girl spoke and snapped him out of his thoughts. It was one word but something about it… was familiar to him.

“…Rei?”

#pokemon legends arceus #pla #pokemon au #legends arceus #pokemon legends akari #pokemon legends rei #pokemon #king writes #dia is for guardian #feral rei au

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ventigh · 1 year

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i rly hate emmets team in pokemon. now unfortunately gamefreaks completely forgotten abt him wc fair but liek rly his team is so bad

pokemon rant under the cut

both his doubles and super doubles team is so aaaaaahgg. ofc back then, even ohkos are like so-so (meaning they're not as viable as now duhh. pokemon power creep much?) buuuuut

i wish his crustle ran a shell smash+white herb set instead. why tf does his crustle have earthquake when his first doubles team composes of the crab, klinklang, garbador and durant??? r u aiming on taking urself down??

whyyy does his klinklang have a steel gem instead of the obv choice wc is leftovers? if it's a steel type sp.att that has protect and toxic, then give that guy a regen! steel is one of the best defensive types n the protect rly leads u to believe it'd benefit as a staller, esp if its doubles where bulk would be better for a pokemon rather than power. outlasting ur opponent is esp good!!! u need all the players u can keep in doubles! nice!!

garbodor's coverage is just blergh. nvm the fact that emmet's team doesnt have a ground cover, he should have at least had a dark type-learned move to go against psychic. other than stab venoshock (an iffy choice for a poison move btw), garbodor has psychic and focus blast wc what? what is ur coverage? whats the psychic for? who r u taking down????

and durant is sorta okay. i mean i love durant duh but again,, what is that item? durant's sp.def is non-existent and atp an occa berry aint doing favors against a quad effective flamethrower lmaooo. give it a life orb and milk that speed for all its worth -- since it's the only speedy boy in the team :')

even his super doubles team sucks bc of mold breaker haxorus running earthquake, effectively decimating chandelure, excadrill, and eelektross (srsly what is up with that ground weakness??) also ofc, i dont rly like the held berries against ice moves -either run focus sash or forget abt it already lmaoo- but two dragon moves when they could have had a fighting one instead? (tho the berry may be better than sash ofc bc doubles....)

exca doesnt even have a steel-stab (or a set-up like come on)! chands is fine,,,,

n i love emmets ace, i rly rly do but i could never viably use eelektross ever :'D his set is especially bad bc yyy have gastro acid when just dont use haxorus to begin w? (i forgot if exca also had mold breaker) y waste a turn and a move slot trying to disarm urself? also discharge and thunderbolt are basically the same im crying. eelektross is useless against ground types -the eel didnt rly have access to water moves like aqua tail and liquidation back in gen 5 but grass knot at least?? :') what abt electric-resistant mons too? :'))) its so ironic that a lot of competitive players ignore the eel seeing as eelektross has virtually zero weaknesses hahah

and in almost all of these, none of them are remarkably fast. they have no synergy or visible flow to follow. it's not remarkably suited for doubles --probs bc he shares his team w a singles master. he looks like he's playing two singles battles at the same time instead of taking advantage of the doubles format (smh after all only one pokemon has protect)

now im not rly letting go the hc that ofc emmet's a good battler [even tho it pains me bc i was vocal abt geeta being a subpar champion! n yet my bias prevents me from seeing emmet as the same?? (⁠＠▽＠⁠)] but im just saying maaaybe dont share pokemon w a singles master emmet!?!??!??????

EQ IS NOT GOOD IN DOUBLES WHEN THE REST OF UR TEAM IS WEAK TO IT DUHHHH.

but who cares if u have eq in singles bc the only hurt ur aiming to give is to ur opponent (wc it will bc eq is an elite ground move)

almost all ur pokemon's moves are there for coverage wc hurts the quality of ur double battles bc it's the format where playing slow, steady, and smart wins over opportunistic single matches. run more protects for pete's sake!!! protect is crucial in doubles esp when u have an earthquake team!!!

it's so simple rly bc imagine if eelektross had protect instead of thunderbolt or discharge or whatever

sigh. emmets team sucks. they'll prob not rectify it. gamefreaks never made a good double battler anyway. probs bc doubles is more complicated than singles. ugh.

at least it could then protect itself while the earthquake happens then emmet could wait for the protect to recharge before choosing earthquake again. but ofc they wouldn't do that bc protect barely does anything in singles if you're not stalling for poison (wc ingo most obv is not lmao. n i dont see him pivoting any time soon after all so why waste a slot and a turn for protect in gen 5 singles right????)

that is all.

#researching pokemon again #i hate it. omg i hate gamefreak's double battles. they make them so straightforward #but have u SEEN good doubles battles before??? a doubles master would run circles against a singles master. esp in teambuilding #anyway its unfair :'DD i actually like emmets sp.a klinklang bc yes i guess it does make sense lol #even tho the shift gear physical att klink set is obv superior lol #sighhhhhh what do i do now

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olivereactsaboutgarbage · 1 year

Text

One Piece Chapters 9-10

Chapter 9 - Femme Fatale Chapter 10 - Incident at the Tavern

Being a woman is FATAL?! And a D&D party is going to meet up for the first time?! Wait, I don’t care about any of that. I’m not a woman and I’m not a D&D character. This doesn’t affect me at al

THE CYCLE IS ALMOST COMPLETE! CALL HER A DEMON, LUFPY! COMPLETE THE PROPHECY! MAKE HER... YOUR ANTI-ZORO!

It turns out the next villain is like if instead of wearing all-black and a scary helmet, Darth Vader was just always thinking about noses 24/7 and let that thought process color his worldview, resulting in needless death. Okay.

Meanwhile, Lufpy and the woman, whose name is Nami, are hanging out in some random person’s house. Uninvited.

Lufpy changes his mind about not wanting to team up with Nami, so Nami changes her mind about wanting to team up with Lufpy. He... he turned her into Zoro... what is this?! Why would anyone who’s rice actively transform their opponents into Zoro? That’d be like if Quaxly, the Water-Type starter from Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, assigned Grass-Type to all its opponents! I hope that’s not what happens! I LOVE Quaxly! I don’t want Quaxly to die! WAHHHHHHH!!!

Wow, she really is a D&D character.

Anyway, Nami decides to be Nose Darth Vader’s friend, and do nice things for him like putting Lufpy in his cage. Lufpy... get this... says he doesn’t want to work with Nami?! This incredible power... this is my first time seeing it in action... It’s... IT’S... Rapid Zoro Oscillation?! I see Lufpy’s game now!!! By putting his opponent in a state of Rapid Zoro Oscillation, he’s instilling a false confidence in them based in the fact that he is always rice and they are often Zoro! However, whenever they aren’t Zoro, he has an opportunity to strike! I’ve rarely seen a strategist so devious...!

Oh, and speaking of Zoro

Well, anyways, let’s move on to Chapter 10.

Nose Darth Vader uses a Special Orb to destroy Many People’s Homes. I think this happened in regular Star Wars too.

Next, Nose Darth Vader decides it’s time for Nami to kill Lufpy. And worse yet, she’s currently in the phase of Rapid Zoro Oscillation where she IS Zoro! Lufpy seems pretty happy though. He says that killing people isn’t what pirates do; risking your life is what pirates do.

Nami decides to beat up all the pirates.

If my full diatribe about Lufpy being similar to Saitama had remained intact, it would be a lot more meaningful when I now said “Oh never mind. Saitama doesn’t eat chunks of iron.”

Nami directly touches fire and gets saved by a Zoro ex Machina. This would make more sense for me to mention if I had talked about the fire previously.

I think another reason Zoro holds very little appeal to me is that right now, One Piece’s greatest appeal is that it’s kinda funny. But Zoro isn’t that funny. He just complained about Lufpy “playing around in a cage” and that’s the only funny thing he’s ever done. I know that One Piece makes people cry sometimes, but hopefully the moments when that happens haven’t happened yet, so FOR NOW its greatest strength is being kinda funny. Maybe later Zoro will make me cry. But honestly I think if the story keeps bringing up palindrome girl I’ll just get irritated all over again rather than getting sad, so Zoro will have to find an alternate method of making me cry.

Oh, while I was busy talking about Zoro, he already cut Nose Darth Vader to pieces. Guess I can move on with my life.

#one piece #is what i'm consuming

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mnstcrbnll-a · 3 years

Text

[ ok but basically kyogre doesn’t even care for most legendary pokèmon he likes lugia, he’s ok with the tapus and has a unhealthy mix of fear and respect for rayquaza

he probably doesnt even know about the creation trio havel cares for his ocean and Thats It ]

#yet again he cares for only water-type pokemon too #and those that arent fishes are already on thin ice #yes hes god yes he makes favorites what of it #|[ α | Havel ☩ about&headcanon | α ]|

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ask-rp-devra · 3 years

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A few more days passed, the whole island was preparing to lose two staff members for a short while so ther was a handful of new Pokemon squads on patrols, and a lot of handing over of work to Professor Grey and Pari who were happy to stay behind for the time being. Seeing as the trip to the Crown Tundra area in Galar was looming, peach had put in special permission to bring along Valka, her age and subsequently monstrous skill made her usually unable to travel, trained to a fine point, putting her in a gym battle or a league seemed very unfair, but the locals seemed to think she’d fit the bill, Professor Magnolia had mentioned the abundance of legendary Pokemon in the area, so it would seem wise to take along a Pokemon that was able to hold its own.

With bags packed and bodies in seats the woman and her apprentice began the trip back to Galar, not only to collect more data on the new areas, but also to gather Devra’s team mates up to bring back to the island. The flight back was fine, Peach slept, drooling a bit, legs tucked up in the plane seat, her single Pokemon stashed for the journey, it felt uncomfortable having Valka in her pokeball, it didn’t happen often.

Devra had spent most of her free time packing for the trip, and the rest of it bonding with the two Pokémon she’d be bringing to the tundra. She had to make sure Aliza and her newest Pokémon Coal were strong enough to hold up in the tundra. Fiona helped her load with training her daughter, trusting her human to take care of Aliza but also wanting to make sure she’d be okay too. Now that they were on the plane Devra sat in the window seat, watching the clouds go buy. As they got closer to landing she gently nudged Peach. “Professor? We’re almost there.” She then looked out again, excited to see her mom again, as well as all of her other Pokémon.

Peach grunted, awoke with a jolt, and looked around, dazed and somewhat still very asleep, looking rather disheveled. Drool sticking hair to her face, squinty tired eyes, and a miserable headache. Water and pills as she waited to get the green light to get off the plane, and finally see her partner again, the ball sat in her pocket, in her hand, waiting patiently.

by the time they had disembarked, got their luggage and had caught a flying taxi towards Devra’s home, they had been able to finally take in the scenery, and enjoy the view as they made their way back to postwick, a quiet little town full of wooloo keepers and families.

“you must be happy to get home, see the family, you’re old Pokemon.”

Devra had given the corviknight a warm hello when they were picked up, being familiar with his taxi team. “I’m super excited. I told mom we were coming the other day. I think she’s going to have tea and cake waiting for us. I think you’ll be happy for the tea. She says my Pokémon have all been keeping an eye out for me. I have a feeling there’s going to be a mob when I get of the taxi.” She laughed as she saw her house come into view, here eyes bright and happy.

The pair thanked the taxi driver, and his delightful Pokemon, watching them fly off, leaving them outside a quaint little home, the front door swinging open in haste, a woman stepping out, presumably Devra’s mother? Peach smiled a bit, trying to come off as pleasant, and let Dev take the lead here. In her pocket she could feel the pokeball shake, Val trying to get out.

“not yet bud, let’s just get settled, not long now.” She murmured very quietly, not drawing any attention to herself.

Devra glanced over at Peach, her own poke balls in hand. “You can let her out now Peach. Most of my guys know to be polite around new visitors.” She let out Coal and Aliza, the young ponyta snorting as she was finally able to stretch out. Devra quickly explained things to them before a loud cry was heard from the side of the house. “Oh boy...give me a second.” She got up and quickly put some space between the little group and the hoard of Pokémon coming at her. She soon disappeared in a mass of excited cries, her laugher still being heard.

This was...expected. Peach had caught Devra chatting on her phone across videos to a lot of these Pokemon, all shapes and sizes, so she took a perch on the fence out of the way, and let the mob rush over and get their affection out of their systems. The poor girl within the crowd was far from unhappy about it all, they seemed like relatively well behaved Pokemon. While the ruckus went on, she release her darling fire type, who shook her whole body thoroughly, hating the feel of pokeballs, sending little embers out of her fine fur, before seeing the group, and scaling a tree to be as far out of the way as possible. Peach looked up to her, a small almost unnoticeable grin on her face. “you’re probably right to get some distance, never been one for socialising hey buddy.” She grumbled, folded her legs up under her and sat like a loaf in the tree.

As Devra made her rounds through the mob, four figures bounded over to the grumpy woman. Two of them were applin, both rolling around at her feet. Then a smaller than normal dreepy floating slightly behind the excited little ponyta that stood happily in front of peach.

The quad of new and quite familiar Pokemon approached, Peach for once had no snacks in her pockets, fresh from the airport with its restrictions, she rummaged to no avail.

“ah sorry guys, I normally have snacks on me, I’ll have to go shopping sometime soon.” Instead holding her hand out to see if they wanted to sniff. The applin had her attention in particular, her trip to Galar was cut short due to a medical emergency back at the labs, so she never had a chance to catch any or observe them. “you’re all certainly very strong looking aren’t you.” The ponyta reminded her of home, in a weird way, growing up with the species just being around, she became use to them from an early age, though this youngster was Galarian and very different in appearance.

Devra looked over at peach and grinned, seeing her with four particular Pokémon. She managed to make her way over to the little group, her Gardevoir holding onto her harm as she went. “Looks like you met your surprise.”

“my what?” She was a little dense at times, head empty. By this point they’d gotten a bit closer to her, she had been able to pet them all a little, besides the Dreepy who was a little more shy from the looks of it. Val stayed high up and observed quietly, she was use to sharing her human, this was not new to her.

“Your surprise! You were so excited when you saw the Pokedex entries for applin, and curious about Dreepy. So I thought I’d get you a gift for all the help you’ve given me. The ponyta is kind of a bonus. The dreepy has gotten kind of attached to him, so I don’t think it would be smart to split them up.” She laughed as she was hugged buy the gallede as well, the two obviously fond of their human.

“wow, that’s really thoughtful of you, you know you didn’t have to do all this right? But thank you regardless.” Peach didn’t think she’d be getting a few team mates so fast, some may have to go home for now, they’d be too young for battling in the Crown Tundra just yet. “‘what do you all think then? You want to see if we get along? Don’t have to stick with me if you gave it a try and don’t enjoy it, but it’d be nice to get to know you all a lot more for sure.” She directed her questions to the Pokemon before her, not focusing on the little ghost type too much to not freak them out. It would certainly be nice to have the company, and there was no other fox pokemon so Val wasn’t bothered by their presence at all. With so many around it really felt a bit more like home.

Devra laughed as the applin bounced happily. “Oh don’t you worry. They’ve been super excited to meet you. I’ve been telling all about you and what you do for Pokémon. The dreepy has been excited too, but he’s just a little shy.”

“oh! So you all knew me before I even knew you, well that explains why you all came over so quickly.” The woman laughed a bit, noticing Val descend from the tree behind them, sitting bout a meter back from the others, there was a shimmer you could almost not notice around her, she was putting up a barrier to give herself some space, but seemed rather calm and not at all in discomfort around these new faces. Peach shifted to the side a bit, gesturing to her beloved partner. “well then everyone, meet Valka, she’s...well, family. hopefully you’ll all get along and learn a lot from each other. If you’re worried or want some advice, please ask me or Val and we’ll try to help.” Her attention shifted to the Dreepy who was still hiding a bit behind the Ponyta.

“‘Ah, and don’t worry little guy-“ her eyes glanced about secretively, trying to be a little less scary with her expressions, softening as she whispered a little to him. “‘you and me can be shy together, I’m not great with big crowds or lots of eyes on me either. If you ever think it’s too much for you, you can hide behind me and I’ll scare off whoever’s bothering ya, I’ll be the brave one when you can’t.” She did laugh, this wasn’t the first shy Pokemon she’d had to handle, and they had a lot of love to give normally, just took time to get them comfortable. Her attention now off of him, she let Val so her usual thing, advance to the group, sit in her lap, and discuss with the others, get ting to know them a bit. One applin seemed happy to crawl up onto the professors shoulder, the other wiggling up next to her leg where she sat.

“‘honestly Dev they’re all darlings, I’m sure we’ll all get along great in time.”

She grinned happily as she watched Peach with the little group. “I’m really glad it worked out. I was a little nervous that they still might be too shy. Well, besides the dreepy. Oh!” She dug in her bag and pulled out an odd looking apple. “I almost forgot this! It’s a Sweet Apple. You can use it to evolve one of the applin into an appleton.” There was a happy rumble from behind her as her own Appleton stepped forward. “There’s another apple called a Tart apple that can get you a flapple like mine too. But I haven’t been able to find one yet.”

The mention of the specific fruits found in Galar caught the professors attention, also noticing the big rounded Pokemon approach upon seeing it. The Appleton was actually surprisingly small for a dragon type, shin height, and possibly the cutest looking thing peach had seen in a while. She accepted the fruit thankfully and had to look it over, sniffing it, and all too tempted to take a bite to figure out what it’d be best suited to, from the name, it’d be a really good eating apple, the tart one however would be a cooking sort no doubt.

“ill have to keep my eye out, I must have missed this all last time I was here, good thing you kept your eyes peeled for this.” She let everyone of the new youngsters around her have a chance at looking over the apple too, even Val took a sniff. It was always good to let them see as much of the world as possible, and all the items it contained.

“Maybe one of the pair will like the chance to evolve one day, they’ve probably had time while staying here to meet your pair of Pokemon who chose to evolve, so who knows.” She looked to the two Applin who she had become very fond of quite quickly, they had surprisingly big personalities for such small species, giving each other grief at any given opportunity, like bickering siblings. “they’ll figure it out when they are ready.”

She smiled as she glanced back at the house, waving to her mom as she came to meet them now that the chaos had settled down. “My moms name is Olivia by the way. Not sure if I told you that.”

“you did not.” She said matter of factly, and stood to greet the woman who looked very happy to see her daughter. The woman herself had a fair bit of resemblance to Devra, they shared a few mannerisms too peach noticed while offering a smile and a handshake, which did slightly throw Olivia, she had intended to go for a hug, but saw the social queue and changed it up.

“it’s really nice to meet you, you’re daughters been a real asset out in Johto, you should come and visit her some time perhaps, see what she gets up to.”

Olivia smiles warmly at Peach as she shook hands with her. “It’s wonderful to finally meet you as well Professor. Devra has told me so much about you and the island. I’ll have to make a trip out some time. I’ve been meaning to take a holiday for some time now.” She then turned to her daughter and gave her a massive hug, inviting both of them inside for a rest before they continued their trip.

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plush-rabbit · 3 years

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Sugar and Spice

Word Count: 2K

A/N: This is set after he passes the gym to Marnie:P I hope that you enjoyed it!! Im sorry for it being so late!! Also, since sunday was a lot,, pokemon related things will go on ao3 like tomorrow!!

Piers is a rather intimidating person. He’s tall and wears dark clothing, a certain look of disdain on his features to anyone who looks upon him. He won’t necessarily be rude to people but he has a rather flippant personality that makes it hard for people to approach him first.

You on the other hand, you try to meet him. You may not enjoy his type of music, but you do try to approach him, wanting to attend his concerts or even just listening to some of his earlier music that is different from the way he sings now. It’s softer, harsh lyrics that are whispered into your ear accompanied by static due to the low quality of the mic but you enjoy it.

Truth be told, he inspired you to start your own musical journey. Different from his genre obviously, but still. It was easy to write the music, to let the flow seep into you and sing with a lonely voice and cute look. If he could keep his dark, gloomy aesthetic, then you could keep your pastel, cheery one.

Yet, despite the hopeful encounter that you wish you could have had with him, ended horribly. He hadn’t exactly called you anything mean and while you were aware of the tone he held, it certainly didn’t prepare you to be on the receiving end of it. It was a heavy feeling that it left, an unmistakable uneasiness that made you squirm and want to leave.

And yet, you still hold a strong admiration to him. You still want to meet him and go against him in a battle even if it isn’t his strongest suit just for the fact that you believe like everyone else that a battle is what people go against, what they put all their might into and see how they can prevail at the end of it. You wanted to see the light in his eyes up close and see how he would fight.

You’re everything opposite to Piers. Where he dresses in dark clothing and has a rather cold demeanor, you dress in soft colors and try to appear friendly to others, often accompanied by your team of fairy and mostly pink colored pokémon. You spent a good portion of your youth hating pink, wanting to go against gender norms but as you grew older, you fell in love with the color and the frills, wanting to be dressed in a cute way that while others may have seen as overbearing, you just liked it and it made you happy. Where as he sang metal and rock, you stuck with pop, you wore your dresses and had even jokingly called the type of music you sang “bubblegum pop”, no real reason behind it- agains, it just made you happy to call it. Despite the differences, you greatly admired the ex- gym leader. He had been able to hold his own in a town that was failing- no fault on his of course- and had been a caring brother from what you have seen. He was an admirable person and while the music he made wasn’t exactly your taste, you could learn to enjoy it.

However, due to your rising fame and the type advantage against him, people around the region- who knew of both of you- had begun to jokingly call the two of you rivals, wanting to see you both battle it out and see who would reign above the other. And while you would have happily accepted the chance to meet Piers, a trainer you strongly admired, he had only sneered at the idea of you and him having a battle. To say it hurt would be an understatement. He’s a personal inspiration and to have him act that way to the mere mention of you left you deflated.

It’s a mere accident that you both are in the same area. Mentions of him of you are sprinkled into your notifications, buildings that match in the background and while you aren’t proud of it, you take to following the buildings and the threads. You walk around, your white tennis skirt paired with a soft, baby blue pullover and pair or white tennis shoes, an obvious giveaway to who you are, a yellow star shaped bag that crosses over your chest, and a bow with trailing ribbons falling and curving around your shoulders, tickling at your neck with every step until you finally seem to be in a surrounding area that he was last seen at. While it left you with an odd taste, you wanted to run into him and express your admiration for him- just for a quick second, to tell him how much you liked the music he put out and how he stuck with the aesthetic- you could understand how expensive it could be to stick with something as money-consuming as clothing.

You find him by accident. It’s a completely stereotypical moment when you do. You both stand at the opposite ends of the fountain decorated with carvings of various water types from the region, the sun shines and you can see in front of you with his sister and the rising champions. You hold onto the straps of your bag, your lips pulling into a flustered line, heat that rises from excitement or general shyness- you aren’t sure yet, and you stare at him with wide eyes. In the pockets of your skirt, you can feel your phone buzz and in the corner of your eyes, you can see people hurriedly take out their phones. And just like that, the serene, very stereotypical moment is over when he turns around and your eyes meet. Where you widen and flush under his gaze, he hardens his stare and grows an annoyed look, brows furrowing and lips pulled into a thin line.

Your resolve is broken. You gasp, and look around, seeing people stare and a small circle forming, whether for the both of you or the rising stars of the region, you don’t know and you don’t find out, choosing to leave the area. You jump a bit, standing on the tips of your shoes and you turn to leave.

You don’t want to stick around and see what he might have to say, the thought of the smallest bit of rejection far too much on your mind. You manage to make your way into a bookstore, the scent of coffee lingering in the air and you greet the employees with a tight smile, wandering deeper into the store, hoping to distract yourself and walk between the aisles and find something to buy.

You stand at the end of the store, against a corner as you trail your finger against the spines of the books. In your peripheral, you can spot a figure, standing tall and you pay no mind. There is no real reason for you to worry- you may not look the part, but you can certainly fight dirty and the store isn’t abandoned so you could always call for help. You hum under your breath, pulling out a book and pursing your lips as you read the synopsis. The figure at the end comes closer and you turn, a soft squeak sounds past your lips. You feel yourself stand straighter, your shoulders squaring and the book held close to your chest, fingers gripping onto it tightly, enough to pale your knuckles.

“You ran away,” Piers muses, his fingers trailing along the spines, his steps quiet against the carpet. “You must be really scared of me,” he says, looking away from you, chuckling lightly. He stands in front of you, his brows raising as he looks down at you.

His dual colored hair is pulled into a loose ponytail, a thick part of it obscuring half of his face and you can only do so much to not cower under his gaze, eventually breaking from his eye contact and looking at the top of your shoes that differ from his.

“‘S not that,” you mutter, biting at your bottom lip. “I just… panicked,” you end, licking at your lips. “I- I didn’t mean to offend you.”

You were kidding yourself if you thought you could talk to him. Much less have a battle against him. Once he showed up, your resolve fell, further than it did before when he looked at you. You take a small step back, your shoes shuffling and messing at the carpet underneath, and your eyes still locked on his boots. Just a second ago, you wanted to proclaim your admiration to him, enough to go and see him and find him and yet, here he is standing in front of you without any distractions or prying eyes and you can’t bring yourself to talk to him with faltering.

“You’re a lot jumpier than I expected, ya know?” His reply to you is done with a simple roll of his eyes. “I mean, fuck, I guess it’s expected for a type user like you.” You stay quiet and you can almost hear his smug grin. “Lots of people comment how you’re a pushover because of your, er, type and all.”

You look up at him, your brows furrowed and frown against your lips. You lean towards him, the book still held in your hands. “It’s- So what? I like pink and fairy types! They happen to be cute and they’re strong!” Your voice starts to raise, slowly raising into a higher pitch, shoulders raiing a fraction to meet the ends of your lobes. “Plus, there are a few fairy that have a dark counterpart and Mimikyu is one that I’m going to add to my team!” Your eyes narrow and you pull away from him, crossing your arms in front of you, a scowl on your lips, face growing hot under anger. “I just happen to be,” you make a small noise of discomfort and bite the inside of your cheeks, “quieter.”

He looks taken aback, eyes wide as he blinks owlishly at you. His down turned lips start to twitch, forming into a wicked smile. He snorts and shakes his head, a pleasant sound ringing through the small corner, and you soften, your arms slowly lowering from their harsh grip.

“You got some fire in you, huh?” He asks, tilting his head “Damn, didn’t think you had it in you to actually stand up for yourself like that.” You meet his eyes and he flashes a quick grin that reveals his teeth. “Nothing bad about it, I swear.” he holds his hands up and brushes a hand through his hair. “Anyways-” he waves a hand and you watch it with careful eyes- “you oughta be more careful about who you yell it at, as all I’m gonna say,” he muses.

“Piers?” He hums in response and you swallow nervously. “Wh- Why did you come here?” You don’t want to accuse him of following you here, for all you know it could be a happy, little accident. “And why did you talk to me?”

His milky complexion turns into a bright pink that fills in his cheeks, a flustered look on his face where his eyes narrow. “Oh, hah, I- Marnie needed a book and I-” his hand swings around at a much faster pace, circling around in front of him with an open palm and you react instinctively.

You make a pained gasping noise, the book dropping onto the floor with a thud as your hands come up to block your face, back hunched as you try to cower under the minimal protection that you offer yourself. You whimper and take a stumbling step back that leads you against the wall, your eyes pinched shut and it’s a second too late that you realize you messed up. You gasp and straighten up, an uncomfortable heat running down your back as you meet his eyes.

He stands frozen, his hand still in midair and his eyes are wide, darting down to the book and back to where your hands still hold a semi-protective barrier against him. His eyes turn from shocked into pitiful and you break away from his gaze, mumbling an apology under your breath.

“Shit,” he hisses out, bringing his hands close to his body. “I didn’t mean to trigger you or-”

“It’s not that,” you respond quickly. “I- Can we not talk about it?” You turn to look at him, your bottom lip trembling ever so slightly, your eyes glancing back to the fallen book. “Please?” He nods slowly and you return it in response. You crouch down to grab the book and pull it close to you only to look back at it with disdain. You turn and place the book back into the shelf, your hands coming down to play with the hem of your skirt.

It’s silent. The soft music that plays from the music is not enough to drown the silence between the both of you and you want to chastise yourself for ruining a moment with your fears. Your teeth bite into the soft part of your cheeks, painful and enough to make tears spring into your eyes. In your pocket, your phone buzzes and you fail to pick it up, too frozen to care about the outside world.

“Do you want to get a coffee?” You look up at him and he gives you a hesitant smile. He jerks his chin to the other side, his hands inside his coat pockets. “I was thinking of getting a cup while I was here,” he clears his throat, “I could get you one if you want. We can drink it here too,” he adds quickly.

You give him a tentative smile, slowly pulling yourself away from the wall and taking a step closer to him. “Do you want to look for Marnie’s book first? I don’t- I don’t mind.”

“Right,” he says slowly, “her book. The uh- you know, let me message her to see what the title was, yeah?” He nods his head and moves to the side, jerking his head to allow you to walk in front of him first. “Let’s just get a drink first, all right?” He gives you a nervous smile, laughing quietly with eyes that come to a close. You come to stand next to him, nodding softly, your hands flexing at your sides in an attempt to calm down. “Neat,” he says. “Let’s get a cup

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rbbalmung · 3 years

Text

Pokemon SwSh GPL AU: Character Analysis P2

Hey all! I was going to call this “Gym Leader Analysis”, but I really wanted to talk about Leon and Sonia too. We’re just keeping this series going! Keep an eye out for P3 (It’ll probably be posted in the same night).

LEON:

AGE: 26

ETHNICITY: Half Hispanic, Half Black

GENERAL HEADCANNONS:

Leon is definitely cool uncle friend. I know he is a hot mess and can barely look after himself, but I just feel like he is so good at taking care of other people.

Leon is a man of many faces. He can pump up a crowd one moment and rid his face of emotion the next. It is definitely jarring when someone first gets to know him.

Leon is pansexual. He pretty much flirts with anyone (within his age range, of course). That being said, he isn’t out to the public yet. He isn’t ashamed of it at all; he just doesn’t want his sexuality to be the only thing he’s known for.

Speaking of flirting, there is nobody he flirts harder with than Raihan ;)

Leon was 12 when his dad died, and it hit him really hard. Since the rest of his family took it even harder than he did, he internalised a lot of his pain and focused on trying to help raise Hop. He doesn’t really feel like he ever got the closure he needed.

Oh boy, is Leon protective over Hop. There is a 10 year age difference between them, so he will always feel like Hop is his “Baby Brother”.

(Fun fact: He develops a similar relationship to Gloria when he becomes her Champion Mentor).

Leon is a bit of an adrenaline junkie. He doesn’t really process the fact that some of the things he deals with are incredibly dangerous, which is a bit concerning to his friends. On a more lighthearted note, this means that he will ride any roller coaster without breaking a sweat.

Cannot cook to save his life.

Leon, like Hop, has ADD. That’s why he’s always getting lost/seems to have trouble keeping focus.

SONIA:

AGE: 26

ETHNICITY: White

GENERAL HEADCANNONS:

Sonia is the smartest out of our gaggle of characters and she knows it.

She and Leon entered the GPL together, but she dropped out before going to Hammerlock. Sonia originally joined the league thinking it was something she wanted to do because she was good at pokemon battles, but she quickly learned that the rigorous lifestyle trainers live wasn’t for her.

Sonia had an uncertain period of her life where her best friends had all become gym leaders and she was stuck in Wedgehurst helping her grandmother. She definitely had imposter syndrome when hanging around them, so for a few years, she kept her distance. Attending University really helped her start to find her footing, though she wasn’t sure what branch of pokemon studies she wanted to focus on (until the game starts).

She has a strong pokemon team, but she doesn’t fight with them anymore. She mostly keeps them around for company and they help her with her research!

Sonia is super close with Hop. After becoming champion, Leon asked her to keep an eye on him. They very much have a sibling relationship (though neither will admit it).

She is the friend that is overly invested in everyone’s love lives. Sonia is constantly trying to set everyone up together because she “just loves love”.

RAIHAN:

AGE: 25

ETHNICITY: Black

GENERAL HEADCANNONS:

Tall boy! Raihan is freaking huge, and being around everyone else in the League only heightens this fact. He jokes that the one thing he will always hold over Leon is their height difference.

You would think Sonia is the biggest gossip, but we all know that Raihan is. You can trust him if it’s something serious, but you have to preface that. If you don’t, you may as well kiss your secrets goodbye.

Raihan is the best person to go to when you need help. He has big Gryffindor energy and will literally do anything you need him to. If he doesn’t, you just have to call him out for “being a coward”. His pride will definitely be the death of him.

Raihan has the biggest social media presence despite not being champion. He is really good to his fans and will try to interact with them as much as possible. Will always sign autographs or stop to take a picture.

He met Sonia, Leon, and Nessa through the GPL (they were all in the same season). He beat out Nessa but lost to Leon in the finals. Raihan took the defeat pretty hard and made it his goal to dethrone Leon, so he fought Hammerlocke’s previous gym leader and the rest is history.

He really wants to impress Leon ;)

Bede once challenged his for his throne, but lost. Raihan always brings this up to him now that they’re both gym leaders just to piss Bede off.

He really likes egging on his friends. Raihan never crosses the line, but he’ll say just the right thing to make you challenge him to a pokemon battle.

Puts on a brave face, but definitely lets negative comments get to him.

The chaotic one in the friend group.

PIERS:

AGE: 22

ETHNICITY: White

GENERAL HEADCANNONS:

Such a pure, soft boy. Literally the nicest, chillest person. He just scares people off with his edgy demeanour.

He cares a lot about the people in his town. Since Spikemuth is small, it definitely feels like everyone there is a family. It was the main reason he refused to move the Dark Type Gym to a different location to obtain a Dynamax hotspot. (That, and he hates Dynamaxing).

Speaking of, he is fairly new as a gym leader! Leon nominated him to participate in the GPL after noticing his raw talent in the GJPL (Galarian Junior Pokemon League). Piers didn’t expect to make it as far as he did, but he was truly the dark horse of his season. He made it all the way to finals and wiped the floor with the gym leaders he went up against. He did end up losing, but he used the newfound fame he received from participating to kickstart his band.

Two years later, Leon approached him again and asked if he was still interested in becoming a new gym leader. It started as a small, non league Gym, but his notoriety quickly gained Spikemuth new attention. He joined the League only one year after debuting.

Despite being crazy talented at being a pokemon trainer, Piers really isn’t interested in it anymore. He likes the freedom that comes with pursuing his music career. (It definitely helped that his little sister shaped up to be an astounding pokemon trainer herself).

Coolest big brother ever. Marnie chastises him for pampering her, but they are definitely best friends. They’re the type of siblings that, if one of them goes to the grocery store, the other will just tag along.

Dad Friend. 100% a Dad Friend. Literally adopts Marnie’s friends the second he sees them. (Who are these twerps? Ok, I guess they’re my children now). Would never admit to this fact.

Vegan.

Piers and Marnie grew up in an artsy family with three other brothers (he is the exact middle child). They weren’t rich, but they are all super close and supportive of each other.

NESSA:

AGE: 25

ETHNICITY: Black

GENERAL HEADCANNONS:

Looks are definitely deceiving with this one. Nessa is good at keeping a serene face, but if she loses, she is definitely seething underneath.

So pretty, oh my god. She was scouted by a modelling agent during her GPL season. Nessa only signed after she lost the Finals Tournament. Her career started as something to keep food on the table now that she couldn’t become champion, but she has grown to respect her craft. She likes to use it to promote small businesses and make political statements.

Nessa was trained by the previous gym leader of Hulbury (another water type trainer), so it was no surprise to anybody when she tried to hand their title off to her. Nessa refused to take it without winning a pokemon battle, fair and square.

She is super athletic! Nessa was on the swimming team throughout school and won several region championships! Sometimes during the off season, she’ll help teach swim classes to younger kids.

Best friends to lovers with Sonia! They met during their GPL but didn’t start to get romantic feelings towards each other until 6 years later. Everyone knows that Nessa has a girlfriend, but she keeps the fact that it is Sonia private because she doesn’t want the crazy fanboys to target her.

Nessa takes on a big-sister-role to all of the new female gym leaders (Gloria, Marnie, and Bea). She and Melody will literally strike down anyone who even looks at their girls funny.

Her relationship with Milo is hilarious to anyone who isn’t them. Nessa is convinced that they are rivals and must constantly train against each other in order to get stronger. Milo sees her as his best friend and will bake her treats for when they meet up. (Also, Kabu is their dad. I’m just stating facts).

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teshamerkel · 3 years

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Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Seekers of Soul

Chapter 13 (23 Pages)

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Nia and Tobias travel to Afon’s Cap in search of the former human, Hazel.

For the first time in two weeks, Nia wakes up before Tobias does.

She’s confused when she realizes it, blinking bleary eyes at Tobias’ tail flame, his curled form fast asleep. She assumes that it must be the middle of the night, but when she rolls over and tries to go back to sleep, she finds that she can’t. She’s meeting Hazel today, after all! Excited nerves thrum under her skin like first-day-of-school jitters. How can she go back to sleep when she’s meeting another human who was turned into a Pokemon? Someone who understands exactly what she’s going through, who can tell her about how she adapted to the strangeness of the Pokemon world.

Giving up on sleep, Nia sits up. She considers reading one of the books she has checked out, but is stopped by a quiet rustling coming from the main room where Maggie sleeps. Nia frowns and pokes her head out of their little alcove, surprised to see Maggie’s out of her nest, stretching. The meganium stops as soon as she sees Nia.

“Oh! Sorry dear, I assumed you two would be gone by now.”

Nia’s heart drops as she glances at one of the small openings in the wall, noting the pale gray light of early morning. It’s past dawn? But Tobias is still asleep! Since the day Nia arrived in the Pokémon world, the charmander had woken up at the crack of dawn almost without fail. Maybe it had something to do with him being a fire type, but his internal clock seemed stubbornly tuned in to go off when the sun rose. And yet today of all days, when she’s planning to go to Afon’s Cap, he’s miraculously asleep later than usual?

Funny how that works.

An unfamiliar wave of anger rises up in the riolu’s chest, hot and choking, and she turns to glare at the still-sleeping Pokemon. He could just be exhausted, sure, but after how many times he’s made it clear he doesn’t care about finding Hazel? She doesn’t trust it. But Nia needs him to lead her to Afon’s Cap, so she kneels at Tobias’ side and roughly shakes his arm. He grumbles and bats her hand away.

“If you don’t get up, I’m leaving for Afon’s Cap without you,” she says, only half-bluffing. She still doesn’t know exactly why he’d decided to come along in the first place, but hopes that whatever reasoning he has is strong enough to get him moving. She doesn’t think she’ll be able to follow a map well enough on her own—and honestly, she just doesn’t wants to make the journey alone. Tobias is poor company, but at least he is company.

Seeing no response from the charmander, Nia shakes her head, grabs their satchel, and moves into the main area to make sure everything is packed. Maggie is busy removing the leaf shades from the crystals to brighten the room, but shoots her a questioning look.

Nia doesn’t think she has the willpower to avoid snapping her explanation (which is the last thing she’d want to do to poor Maggie), so she just huffs and continues organizing their supplies. They aren’t going into a dungeon or anything, but Xander and Andyn had said to be well-stocked for long trips, just in case. So she counts their seeds and berries and apples, carefully tucks away their badges, and looks into the little sack of coins she earned from missions. It’s not a lot according to Tobias, but it’s something. She carefully folds up the map of the area loaned to her by Xander’s team (more specifically Felix, who’d offered it up with an easy smile and another wink).

Nia reaches a soft piece of cloth last: her scarlet attack scarf. For a moment, she considers finally putting it on. Then she thinks of Tobias, sleeping away the one time she really asks something of him, and she’s overcome by anger all over again. Growling under her breath, Nia stuffs it back into the bag.

“Guess I’m going on my own, Maggie,” Nia sighs, standing and slinging the pack over her shoulder. She turns around to see Maggie’s back to her, long neck ducking into the alcove.

Tobias’ voice speaks up, sleepy and muffled. “Maggie? What’re you—hey!”

Maggie backs up, Tobias held in one of her vines like a flailing kitten. She drops him to the ground.

“You said you would take Nia to Afon’s Cap,” Maggie reminds him, hard tone stopping Tobias’ ranting. The charmander, still blinking sleep from his eyes, frowns up at her, then looks over at Nia.

For a moment, Nia wonders if maybe he really did just oversleep, but there’s no dawning recognition on his face. He just snorts and looks away. “I know that. You didn’t have to wake me up so early for it.”

“You’re always up early! Why should today be any different?” Nia snaps.

Tobias actually jumps, head swinging around to stare at her as if she’s grown a second head. Nia immediately feels guilty for her outburst and softens her tone. “You said it was a long walk, right? We need to leave early then.”

Tobias still seems thrown off—whether from being literally picked up out of his bed or from being snapped at by Nia—because he just looks away and mumbles, “Yeah, I guess.”

“Well, I’m ready to go, so...”

Tobias shrugs. “So ‘m I.”

“Right.” Nia nods, trying to sound confident and failing miserably. Her gaze flicks to Maggie.

The meganium simply smiles, all encouragement and warmth, and nudges Tobias forward with a vine. “Go on, then. You two have a long trip ahead of you. You have snacks packed, right?”

Nia nods, smiling gratefully. She meets Tobias’ grumpy gaze before turning and marching out of the room. It feels...weird. Usually Tobias leads them on all of their missions, but he clearly wants no part of this trip, so instead Nia sets a brisk pace through the medical ward, ears picking up the dragging footsteps of the half-asleep charmander behind her. She only hesitates once on directions, and they make it down to the bottom floor without taking a wrong turn, thank God.

If only it wasn’t so uncomfortably silent between them.

Nia hesitates at the many tunnel openings, and Tobias grunts before setting off down one. Hopefully the one that leads them most quickly to Afon’s Cap. In the muted quiet of the tunnels, their footsteps seem unnaturally loud. Nia fidgets with the satchel strap, eyeing Tobias’ back.

She has long since given up on friendly conversation with him, reaching the end of her patience after days of being snubbed and snapped at every time she opened her mouth. Instead of making Tobias happier, though, her silence almost seemed to put the charmander more on edge than ever. If that was even possible. Their last few missions have been filled with suffocating silence, only interrupted by the occasional tense comment.

Maybe the two of them just aren’t meant to work out as a Seeker team. He’s just so...bitter. And she doesn’t know how to fix that.

“You brought my money, right?” Tobias asks. Nia jumps.

“Y-Yeah.”

And back to silence. They reach the end of the tunnel and find an unfamiliar Pokémon waiting there to take them to the surface. Nia was kind of hoping it would be the hippo they’d met on her first trip into the guild.

Instead, the Pokémon that nods at them seems to be some type of...mole? He’s twice as big as her and Tobias, dark brown with red stripes and what look like sharp, drill-like bits as his claws, as well as one “drill” sitting on his head like a helmet. Nia will never get used to Pokemon biology.

“Going up?” The Pokemon rasps, voice deep. Tobias nods, and the mole gestures for them to step closer to his side. When they do, he slams his claws down into the dirt, and the slab of ground beneath them shoots up. Nia tries to keep her eyes squinted open this time, curious even as her stomach flips. It’s dark, but she thinks the earth seems to cave and mold around their group as if they were surrounded by a bubble, moving up to the surface. It’s incredible.

They emerge into chilly dawn air, and Nia immediately relaxes, taking a deep breath. Looks like they’re under the same overhang they’d met the hippo in. Tobias hops out into the forest, and Nia gives the mole a smile and a quiet word of thanks before following. Tobias doesn’t wait for her, immediately setting a course through ferns and dewy undergrowth. Nia follows, pushing aside leaves and shivering as the drops soak into her fur. Tobias’ skin is steaming ever so slightly.

The forest is relatively calm this early in the morning, but the world slowly wakes up around them. As the sun starts to climb into the sky, Pokémon around them begin their days. The riolu catches sight of a particularly beautiful butterfly Pokémon that she notes to find the name of later.

The sounds of Pokémon talking and moving about the forest becomes a comforting background noise. The blatant silence between Nia and Tobias suddenly doesn’t seem as noticeable, and the riolu finds herself relaxing as they continue their walk. Maybe today won’t be so bad after all.

__________________________________________________

The two of them walk for hours through dense forest, occasionally crossing open fields and rocky gullies. At one point they have to cross a low stream, and Tobias cautiously jumps from rock to rock to avoid touching the water. Nia stifles a laugh and, after a moment of consideration, decides to wade through the cool water. Tobias carefully keeps his distance from her, making Nia roll her eyes. She’d read about how dangerous water could be to fire types, especially those with open flames on their bodies. Of course she wasn’t going to try and get him wet.

When she emerges on the other side, fur heavy with water, her body seems to react before her mind. She manages to check that Tobias is out of the splash zone, and then she shakes like a dog, water flying everywhere. It makes her a bit dizzy, and she blinks, surprised by her own action.

Tobias doesn’t seem to think anything of it, just visibly relaxing when his feet touch the grass again. Nia supposes she shouldn’t be too surprised—her body has its own instincts now. Her ears and tail broadcast her emotions, and she periodically finds herself smoothing the fur on her arms or legs absentmindedly. That should probably bother her more than it does.

They stop shortly after that to eat lunch. The sun is high overhead and it’s incredibly warm, so it’s probably around noon. They pick a small clearing in the woods with some boulders to settle down on, pulling out the snacks she’d packed the night before. A few berries, something baked that tastes a lot like a veggie pizza, and a mash of oats and nuts. Pretty tasty spread from the cafeteria.

“So how long until we reach Afon’s Cap?” Nia asks through a mouthful of oran berry. She’s busy spreading out the map of the area, tracing her claw from the center mark of the guild to the east, where Afon’s Cap is visible on the map. The title is written above what looks to be a large lake with a river running east, towards an ocean. She definitely wants to see that someday. She doesn’t thinks she’s ever been to the sea.

Tobias leans over and frowns at the map, finishing his mash. He points at an area just west of Afon’s Cap. “We should be here. Maybe an hour’s walk yet.”

Nia grins. “We’re so close!”

Tobias doesn’t answer, going back to his food, clearly not sharing her enthusiasm.

“So Maggie said there are shops and stuff there, right? That it’s primarily a merchant area and travelers’ crossroads?”

“Mhm.”

“What’s it like?” Nia asks. He seems too familiar with the area to have not been there before. “Pretty busy, I’m guessing?”

“You’ll see it yourself soon,” Tobias growls.

“Well...Yeah, I know, but...”

Tobias doesn’t answer, so Nia just sighs, going back to her meal and their usual silence with a heavy heart. It’d been such a nice day in the woods that she’d almost forgotten who she was traveling with.

Tobias finishes his meal first, and stretches out on the sunbaked stone to enjoy its warmth while Nia eats her berries. She’s excited to meet Hadley’s old friend, for sure, but anxiety blooms in her belly as they get closer. What should she even ask the other human-turned-Pokemon? How does she even bring up that she’s in the same boat? The riolu wishes she could talk with Tobias about it, but she knows better by now.

When Nia’s finished, they head off again without a word between them.

__________________________________________________

It’s maybe another hour of walking when Nia registers the landscape changing around them. It’s not too drastic, but the dry, yellowed forest becomes slightly more...lush. Even a bit swampy, in spots. They are closer to the sea, and they’ve passed more tiny creeks than Nia’s seen in the forest closer to the guild....so they must be getting close to the port. The nervous butterflies in her stomach act up again at the thought.

Sure enough, only a short bit later Nia can see open sky through the thinning trees, can hear something...roaring. A steady rumble of noise. And under that, the distant chatter of voices and movement. The two of them emerge from the treeline, and Nia’s breath catches at the sight of Afon’s Cap below them.

The ground at their feet drops off steeply into the valley before them, and there’s a lake so wide Nia can barely see the edges of it. It’s large enough for it to have waves, clear water rippling and flashing in the sun between a dappling coat of lush green lily pads. It trails off into the horizon, where it likely drains into the river and onward into the sea. To their left, the source of the roaring becomes clear. From the rocky cliffside of the valley walls, a giant, powerful waterfall flows from an underground channel.

But even the beauty of the waterways, framed by expansive woodland and open blue sky, is nothing compared to the life brought to the area by the little town itself. It’s clearly a port, with docking areas and small boats bobbing peacefully where they’re anchored. A scaffolding-like structure of wooden walkways, stairs and tall, stilt-like supports create a boardwalk of small, bright buildings flush against the rocky sides of the valley itself.

And there are Pokémon everywhere! Sure, the guild has a huge number of Pokémon moving throughout it every day, but something about this area is noticeably different, even from a distance. Unlike the organized groupings at the guild, centered around business and exploration, these Pokémon seem like, well...normal people. A crowd.

Merchants travel by one another, pausing to exchange goods from their giant packs, travelers and civilians alike buy and sell, and children chase each other through the walkways, laughing and playing games. Nia catches sight of two bright yellow mouse Pokémon shrieking happily as they weave through the crowd with practiced ease.

Linens hang on clotheslines to dry, small herb and flower baskets sit outside of the tiny wooden huts, shops are labeled by wooden signs detailing their wares, and the scent of heavenly baked goods reaches Nia’s nose. And is that the distant lilt of...music she hears somewhere?

“This is incredible!” Nia breathes, sure that she’s slack-jawed right now and that Tobias is judging her. She doesn’t even care.

Tobias grunts and moves to take the wooden stairs down the side of the valley wall so they can reach one of the bridges leading to the town. Nia hurries to follow him, almost slipping when she’s unable to take her eyes off the lively port. They make it to the bottom after a minute or two, stepping onto the wooden bridgework. It’s warm and sturdy under Nia’s feet.

“So are there like...Pokémon carpenters? Construction workers who build places like these?” She asks. A gorgeous white and red goldfish Pokémon is swimming under the surface of the water nearby, flickering into view between patches of huge lily pads, and it glides under their bridge to follow a blue Pokemon moving too fast for Nia to properly see. Makes sense that lots of water types would flock to this town.

“Duh,” Tobias mumbles, eyeing the water Pokémon as well with a cagey look. “How else would we build things?”

Well, true. The Lexym Guild’s tree is a bit of a different matter, but she’s seen Hadley’s hut and a few other locals homes, all built with a sturdy wooden construction. Still, Nia can’t even find it in herself to be irritated by Tobias’ condescending tone. This place is just so beautiful! It’s breezy and the air smells so nice. She watches as a water type Pokemon slips into the lake from one of the docks, swimming towards the cliffside where a shallow cave is carved into the surface before diving deeper and out of sight. For the first time, Nia notices a couple of small wooden signs jutting up from the water.

Nia gasps and darts to the edge of the bridge, tip-toeing at the railing to stare at the sign. She tries to peer between the lily pads, but can’t really see much from her perspective. “Oh my gosh, no! Are there underwater shops?! That’s so cool! Look at this!”

“I’m good back here,” Tobias grumbles. Nia glances at him over her shoulder but gets distracted by the fact that her own tail is, uh...wagging? Whoa. It slows to a stop with her confusion, but before she can think about it too deeply Tobias speaks up.

“C’mon already. The sooner we get this over with the sooner we can get some food and find a place to stay.”

Nia perks up despite the charmander’s lack of enthusiasm, bouncing back over to him. As they move along the bridge, Nia trails her paw along the wooden railing, happily peering down into the waves and watching the lily pads rock like flat green boats. Something flickers in the water—or in the reflection of it? It’s just a quick flash, huge and dark and almost snake-like, but when Nia blinks it’s gone again. She peers up into the open sky, squinting when she only sees bird Pokémon flying around. Huh.

They continue to the nearest stairway leading up to the open upper level, passing a few groups of Pokémon on the way. Nia’s quick, excited steps pass by Tobias, and she takes the lead as they climb.

“So how’re you gonna find this Pokemon anyways?”

Nia hums, looking around excitedly. “I was thinking we could probably just ask around, right? If she lives here, then surely some of the other residents know her! Being a former human seems to garner a lot of attention.”

“August told you to be careful about broadcasting that you’re a human,” Tobias objects.

Nia falters. “O-Oh. Right. Well...he did say that the area around the Haven is usually pretty safe, right? And I don’t have to tell anyone that I’m a human. Just that I’m looking for one named Hazel.”

Tobias grumbles, but doesn’t argue her plan anymore. “That could still take forever.”

Okay, that comment finally gets under her skin. Can’t he just let her enjoy this?

“Won’t take long if we stop talking and start looking,” She chirps, sickly sweet. The charmander huffs in response.

Then they’re on the main level of the wooden boardwalk. The crowd around them is almost daunting, with so many Pokémon laughing and talking and haggling with one another. Plus, so many of them are huge compared to her and Tobias! A giant fuschia centipede Pokemon walks by them and she swears she can feel their short footsteps shaking the wood under her feet.

Nia frowns, perking her ears and looking one way and then the other. Where to even start?

“We’ll cover more ground if we split up,” Tobias points out.

“Oh.” Nia blinks at him. He’s technically right, and she knows he didn’t really want to come along in the first place, but...it’d still be nice to have a familiar face around in such a new area.

Relenting, Nia nods. “Wanna take left or right?”

Tobias glances both ways before choosing to go left, towards the distant sound of music. “I’ll start on this side. Toss me my money.”

Nia does, but then stops him as he starts to walk off. “Wait! How’re we gonna find each other later?”

Tobias shrugs. “I’m sure we’ll run into each other if we just look.”

Nia doesn’t really have a better solution, so she hesitantly nods. Tobias turns and vanishes into the crowd. Well. Looks like she’s going this alone. Something in her chest sinks, but she tells herself she should really be used to this by now.

Nia takes a deep breath, looking around. It’s hard to see anything with the crowd of Pokémon towering over her, so her best bet would probably be to just skirt the inside of the walkway curving around the valley, near the shops and houses. That’s where she needs to be asking around, anyways. Even if a very large part of her wants to go over to the nearby crowd and watch what looks like a small roadside magic show.

Nia steels her resolve and lets the lively atmosphere of the town wash over her as she weaves between Pokémon and over to the shops and houses lining the cliff face. They’re impressively built, if a bit rustic. Colorful and wooden, with impressively stable architecture. Carved signs hang from hooks in doorways, and most of the front doors sit wide open to invite visitors and customers inside.

Nia spots a shop bursting at the seams with flowers, and peeks into the open front door to find what looks to be, unsurprisingly, a flower shop. Some are live and arranged in beautiful bouquets, some are dried and coated in a sort of plaster to preserve them, and some are pressed between books or decorating other trinkets. Nia resists the urge to run a gentle finger over the petals and wanders through the shop, wide-eyed.

“Can I help you, Riolu?”

Nia jumps, turning to find a round yellow duck Pokemon approaching her with a polite demeanor. She’s small, not too much taller than Nia herself, with a wide beak and a small tuft of hair atop her head.

“U-Um, yes. I actually had a question about this town. I’m trying to find a Pokémon named Hazel? Former human? She lives here.”

Nia is relieved when the duck Pokémon doesn’t react negatively, just humming a thoughtful noise as her gaze trails up to the ceiling. “I don’t know of any Hazels living in Afon’s Cap. And certainly none who claim to be a former human.”

The shopkeeper must see the way Nia slumps at the news, because she offers a sympathetic smile and adds, “Why don’t you ask around the other shops? Maybe it’s just slipping my mind.”

Nia nods, trying to look grateful and not massively disappointed, and thanks the duck before heading out the door. A flash of yellow slips under her feet, and Nia trips forward with a yelp.

“Oh! Sorry!” A high, childish voice says.

“You okay?” A second chimes.

Nia rolls over, surprised to see the two tiny yellow rodent Pokémon that had caught her eye earlier. They both look more curious than concerned, peering at her with wide blue eyes and twitching angular ears tipped in black. They have rosy pink circles on their cheeks, like blush marks. They’re so cute Nia thinks she might explode on the spot. They kind of remind her of the shinx kids, except younger.

The children exchange a look, and Nia hurries to sit up. “Y-Yeah, I’m fine! Sorry for tripping over you. Are you two okay?”

The kids nod enthusiastically, suddenly all smiles again.

“We were playing chase, but we forgot to stay away from the doorways.”

“Nana always tells us to stay outta Pokemons’ way so we don’t get stepped on.”

Nia nods understandingly. “Having a little too much fun, huh?”

One of them giggles, cheeks sparking. “Yeah!”

“You’re nice,” the other one notes, staring up at her. “Sometimes the grown-ups don’t want to talk to us or, or they get mad when we play near them.”

Nia smiles, feeling her chest ache with longing and fill with warmth all at once. She really likes kids. Was she close to some in her human life? “Nah, I get it. You two seem pretty cool to me.”

At that, they both grin. One of them spins, taps the other, and then takes off into the crowd. “Tag! You’re it, Theo!”

“Hey!” Theo bolts after his friend (brother, maybe?), and Nia watches them go, wincing with concern as they scamper under more gigantic, heavy Pokémon. She wishes they’d be more careful.

Shaking her head and noting her uplifted mood, Nia straightens her satchel. Right! She can’t give up after checking just one shop. This place is huge! Surely someone knows who Hazel is, right? There can’t be that many former humans floating around!

__________________________________________________

There isn’t a single Pokémon named Hazel living in Afon’s Cap. The sun is wheeling much lower in the sky than when Nia had first started searching, and she’s just about ready to give up. Sitting under a tented area for customers, she picks at the chesto pie she’d ordered from a cute little local shop, sniffling back tears.

She’d searched for hours through the small port town, wandering through the crowds, investigating shops, and even politely knocking at a few homes’ open doorways to ask about Hazel. If Nia were here just to sightsee, she’s sure she would be having the time of her life. There are stores and merchants for everything—books, food, toys, accessories and cloaks, items that supposedly help with battling, dungeon items—literally anything she could ask for! She’d thought with so many Pokemon around, surely finding someone who knows Hazel couldn’t be that difficult.

And yet, nothing. She really wishes she’d thought to ask Hadley what species Hazel was, but she’d assumed it would be easy enough to ask about a former human. Maybe Tobias was right. Hadley’s nice enough, but he said himself that his memory is going nowadays. Maybe he was wrong about Hazel living here. Maybe she doesn’t even exist at all.

Speaking of Tobias—the charmander is also nowhere to be found. Nia had kept an eye out for his distinct orange coloring and bright red scarf, and hadn’t caught a single glimpse of him. She wants to think that means he’s just hard at work trying to help her, but Nia’s an optimist, not an idiot. She has a feeling that Tobias is likely avoiding her, probably just whiling away his time until they can leave again.

Nia wants to think better of him, but she can’t keep pushing away the truth. Tears finally fall from her eyes, rolling down her cheeks as she swallows back a whimper. There are still Pokémon around. She doesn’t want to have a complete meltdown here. But bottling up her sadness and her disappointment, with both Tobias and Hazel...it’s gotta come out somehow.

She wipes at her eyes and her nose, sniffing wetly and taking deep, shaky breaths. She’s a mess, but she’d had such high hopes about Hazel. She just...she just wants someone who understands what she’s going through. Who can relate to the aching, tearing pain in her chest and the gaping hole in her memory.

“Mama! That’s the nice lady we told you about!”

“Why’s she cryin’? Is she okay?”

Nia lifts her head, blinking away her tears. She knows those voices.

It’s the two yellow mouse children from earlier in the day, tugging at a larger yellow rodent’s paws. The riolu just stares at them, uncomprehending as the children drag the older Pokémon over with them. She’s very pretty, cheeks a darker shade of red and eyes a honey-brown, ears longer and slimmer, and tail in a distinct lightning bolt shape. She looks familiar, actually.

One of the kids hops up on the bench beside Nia, leaning in close and frowning up at her face. “Why’re you crying?”

“Yeah! You seemed happy earlier!” The other chirps, appearing on Nia’s other side.

“W-Well, I, uh—“ Nia stops, casting a nervous glance at the kids’ mother. She looks uncomfortable. Good first impression, Nia. “I was sort of looking for someone, but I couldn’t find them. I-It’s fine, I’ll be okay.”

The little Pokémon perk up.

“Well, we know everyone here! We can help! Who are you looking for?”

“And if we don’t know, Mama does!”

Nia looks back and forth between the two, knowing what answer she’ll get to her question but having a feeling that they won’t let her wallow alone until she satisfies their curiosity.

“I’m, uh...looking for someone named Hazel. But she must not live here anymore.”

The kids slump, ears flattening into a pitiful look.

“Oh.”

“We don’t know any Hazels.”

“Hey, it’s okay. I appreciate you asking. You did your best,” Nia soothes, offering a watery smile.

“Excuse me, but did you say Hazel?”

Nia jumps, suddenly remembering the other adult in the situation. Shoot. She turns back to the kids’ mother, but instead of discomfort, now her soft features are...intense. Focused.

The riolu blinks at the change in demeanor. “U-Um. Yes?”

The rodent stares her down, and Nia swallows, shrinking away ever-so-slightly.

“Theo, Tommy, go back to Nana Alice’s house.”

“What?” One of the kids chirps, sounding indignant. “Why? We wanna stay here!”

“Yeah!”

Their mom turns a familiar look on the two, face stern and eyebrows lifting ever so slightly, as if to ask, Do you really want to test me?

Immediately, the kids quiet down. “Yes, Mama,” they both mumble, hopping back to the ground. They exchange a look, give Nia a tiny wave, then scamper away.

The riolu turns back to the kids’ mom, eyes wide and stomach churning. Did she do something wrong?

“Why are you looking for a Hazel?” The Pokémon asks, voice hard.

Nia flinches, looking down at her paws. “I-I’m, um—“

“Look at me.”

Nia slowly obeys, making eye contact with the rodent and feeling incredibly small despite their similar sizes. “I...I wanted to talk to h-her.”

“About?”

“I...heard that there was a Pokémon who lived here named Hazel, who used to be a, um...” She lowers her voice to a whisper. “A human.”

The rodent continues to stare Nia down, and the riolu’s mind races as she tries to figure out why this Pokémon would have such a reaction to the name when no one else did, even before she mentioned Hazel being human.

Wait.

Nia straightens in her seat. “D-Do you know her? Please, you have to help me find her!”

The rodent’s expression edges towards something defensive. Angry? “Tell me why you want to speak to her.”

So she does know something! Nia stands, desperately clasping her hands in front of her. “Please! I need to talk with her. I’m a human too and—I mean, I was a human—and she’s the only one I know of around here who’s the same!”

Immediately, the Pokémon’s aggressive demeanor falls away, her expression smoothing out to something surprised. There’s a beat of silence, and then, almost suspiciously, she asks, “What’s your favorite movie?”

Nia blinks. “Uh...”

“Favorite movie,” the rodent prompts again.

Nia swallows hard. “I-I’m not sure? Um, I think I liked Disney movies? It’s hard to remember, so—wait, do you even know what a movie is?”

To Nia’s surprise, the rodent’s hard expression breaks as she laughs. When she’s done she meets Nia’s baffled gaze with a warm smile, the expression lighting up her already pretty features. “No, not really. But I do recognize that name. Follow me, I’ll take you to Hazel.”

The Pokémon turns and walks away, and Nia hurriedly gathers her things, stuffing them into her satchel and running to catch up to the rodent.

“W-What—how do you—who—?”

The rodent quirks a smile Nia’s way. “Sorry for the cold welcome. I’m Margot. You are?”

“N-Nia.”

“Mm. Was that your human name?”

Nia casts a quick glance around to make sure no one is listening in before answering. “N-No. Um. Actually, maybe? I-I’m not sure. I lost my memory when I came here. Woke up here?”

The rodent gives her a sympathetic look. “I’m sorry. That must be hard.”

Nia isn’t sure whether to laugh or be embarrassed, suddenly recalling that Margot’s first impression of her was while she was in the middle of an emotional meltdown. “Kind of, yeah. Don’t get me wrong, this world is beautiful, and most people are really nice! But it’s, um...”

“Different.”

Nia nods, eyeing Margot. She has such an easy understanding of Nia’s experience. Like she’s heard all of this before.

“So, um...how do you know Hazel? I tried asking around town but no one else seems to recognize the name.”

Margot hums a contemplative noise. “Hazel...lays low. She doesn’t like to be bothered about where she came from or have to deal with accusations that she’s lying, so the town doesn’t know she used to be human. Where did you hear about her?”

“F-From a, uh, Pokémon named Hadley. Lives near the guild. Giant bug?”

Margot sighs. “Somehow I knew that’s what you’d say. Hadley doesn’t know how to keep his mouth shut.”

The two of them come upon a homey-looking hut that Nia had passed earlier in the day. It’s a shop, but Nia had assumed it to be closed, since its door had been shut tight. But now it’s cracked open and warm golden light spills out to touch the dusk. Margot swings opens the door and motions for Nia to go inside. She does, stopping and looking around in awe.

It’s a...woodwork shop? There are wooden sculptures and figures littered about the room, lining shelves and tables, larger pieces sitting in corners and wherever space allows. There’s a particularly impressive sculpture in the corner that’s twice as tall as Nia herself, with a beautifully carved scene of flowing water and whiskered, crowned fish Pokémon jumping upstream. Many of the smaller pieces look to be elegant carvings and sculptures of Pokémon, too. They’re amazing. Did Margot make these?

The entire front of the shop is crowded, packed to the brim with artwork and warmth, the smell of wood and lacquer filling the air. Nia only takes a few steps inside, trailing behind Margot, before an older, feminine voice calls out from the back room.

“Mar? Why did you send the boys back on their own?”

A moment later, a new Pokémon enters the doorway leading to the back of the hut. She’s clearly related to Margot and her sons, with yellow cheeks and ocean-blue eyes. Her fur is a rich, dark gold hue, her ears a soft fluffy yellow, paws tipped in cream. She’s beautiful, but her fur is streaked with white, her short pelt beginning to hang off her frame with age. Most incredibly, she’s levitating. She’s sat comfortably on the flat of her own wide yellow tail, floating into the room. Is this Nana Alice?

Nia stops, and the older Pokémon does as well, clearly surprised. Margot moves forward to place a gentle hand on the new Pokemon’s arm.

“Mama, this is Nia,” she explains, voice soft. “Former human. Hadley told her to look for Hazel.”

Nia isn’t sure how to read the flash of emotions that pass over the older Pokémon’s face at that news. After a moment, they settle into something solemn and soft, almost sad.

“So you’re a human? My name is Alice. Why don’t you come on back and have a cup of tea with me?”

Nia nods shyly, following the two rodents into the back area and murmuring a quiet, “Thank you.”

Nia’s mind is racing, trying to figure out how these women know Hazel, if maybe she lives nearby. But she doesn’t want to be rude, so she bites her tongue and looks around instead. There’s a tiny cooking setup on one side of the room, with a table and an area to light a fire beneath a makeshift tea kettle. Other pots and bowls sit neatly stacked nearby. On the other side of the room, a simple but startlingly human-like bedframe sits, with woven blankets and a bed of hay laid on top.

“Mama!”

“You brought the crying lady home?”

Nia looks up, startled. Theo and Tommy are peering over the edge of a loft-like structure overhead. They wave at Nia, and she cracks a smile, waving back.

“It’s past your bedtime, boys!” Margot calls up, somewhere between amused and authoritative. She turns a wry smile towards Nia and her mother. “Let me know if you two need anything.” With that, Margot scampers up the ladder to the loft, and the boys shriek with laughter, ducking out of sight.

The older rodent Pokémon, Alice, smiles fondly, turning to the makeshift stove. “Please, have a seat, Nia. Do you like tea? I have Sitrus and Pecha leaf.”

“O-Oh. Um. I think I like tea, but I’ve never had those kinds before.”

Alice hums. “I bet you’d like Pecha. Give me a few minutes.”

Nia takes a seat on one of the cushions, peering curiously at the decorative wooden figures sitting in a group at the center of the table. One of them looks exactly like Margot, a small bundle with distinct angular ears cradled in her arms. One of the others has an impressive likeness to the older Pokemon currently making her tea. The other two Pokémon, however, are unfamiliar to Nia. One of them is a taller weasel-like Pokemon, with two tails at its back and fins on its arms. Elegant age lines are lightly carved into its face. The second is a round rabbit-like Pokemon with a ball-like tail and a bubble pattern on its belly. Another identical bundle with pointed ears is gathered in its arms. They’re all incredibly lifelike, and Nia leans in, turning this way and that to try and see them better without disturbing the arrangement.

“Do you like them?”

Nia jumps back, but Alice is smiling, gaze fond. “Y-Yes! Did Margot make them?”

The older Pokémon laughs, softly. “No, those are my carvings. The shop products are made by the both of us.”

“Wow,” Nia breathes. “They’re beautiful!”

Alice hums again, eyeing the figurines. “I created those when my grandsons were born. The floatzel is my husband. The azumarill is my daughter’s wife.”

Maybe she sees the lost look on Nia’s face, because she adds, “Oh, I apologize. Sometimes I forget what it was like to be here so suddenly. The floatzel is the weasel. The azumarill is the rabbit.”

Wait—weasel? Rabbit? No regular Pokemon would know those terms. Nia’s head snaps up, the puzzle pieces in her mind clicking together. Of course. This is why no one knew who ‘Hazel’ was. This explains Margot’s odd behavior and her knowledge of Nia’s situation, and ‘Alice’s’ reaction to her identity as a human.

Nia stares at the old woman, hardly able to breathe. “You’re Hazel.”

#pokemon mystery dungeon #pmd #pokemon #riolu #pmd seekers of soul #tesha draws #tesha writes

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symphonicmetal101 · 3 years

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OM x Pokémon au!

Trainer HCs

Lucifer: his favourite pokemon are dragon, air, and fire types. In public his pokemon are well disciplined and follow directions perfectly. He has yet to lose a battle, as he has extensive knowledge on what pokemon types are effective against each other. He is often able to produce the pokemon he needs or wants for his team through research and breeding. He understands pokemon behavior very well, and will share any findings with Simeon. Despite being strict with his pokemon in public, behind closed doors he babies them and spoils them, part of the reason they are so loyal to him. He gives them the love he refuses to give to his brothers.

Mammon: Mammon loves electric type pokemon, as many of them share his energy and enthusiasm. He tends to have the roughest encounters out of everyone, often only catching pokemon after it has done its number on him physically. However, Mammon remains patient with his pokemon and they form a deep bond. His pokemon are often there for emotional support, and return the favour of his patience with them through comforting him after rough days. Mammon never has money, because he's too busy spoiling his pokemon. He sometimes makes money by scamming and tricking people into buying Magikarp that he's caught.

Levi: his favourites are water type pokemon, specifically smaller pokemon that may appear to be weak, but catch their opponents off guard. He and Mammon have gotten into heated fights over whether or not Magikarp was worth keeping. Levi was actually the one who sold Mammon a Magikarp first, promising a mighty warrior. Mammon of course, turned around and sold it when he found out how useless it was...at least until he found out where Levi's Gyrados had come from. Levi trains his pokemon almost as strictly as Lucifer. He really wants to be the best, and this time, he thinks he can. He also has an infatuation with shiny pokemon, and will do whatever necessary to catch them.

Satan: He likes plant and psychic pokemon. He uses them in battles sometimes, but mostly enjoys them for companionship. Most of their moves, however, are meant to inconvenience Lucifer in any way possible, invading dreams, stealing his extra pokeballs, and often bribing his pokemon so that they will act out against him. (Though it rarely succeeds). He manages to negotiate most wild pokemon to join him instead of fighting them?? He has taught his pokemon the art of diplomacy, and combined with a couple treats, he manages to convince many wild pokemon to join him without causing damage to either party. It's unconventional, but because of that he is seen as one of the best pokemon trainers.

Asmo: doesn't care what pokemon it is, if it's cute, it's his. If it's not conventionally cute, he can make it cute. He uses his pokemon for fashion and talent shows, and often buys them rather than find them in the wild. Not to say that his pokemon are not well-trained, but they can be divas and refuse to listen to anyone other than Asmo. This is because Asmo has a special way to pet them all, and unless you execute it perfectly, they will not listen. Even if they're in your way. You'll just have to bask in their beauty for a little longer.

Beel: his favorite pokemon are fighting types. He tends to do physical training/excersize with his pokemon, as most of them can keep up with both his routine and metabolism. He is rather relaxed when it comes to training them, however he can always guarantee a win if he promises treats after a match, as the same is pretty much true for himself. He treats his pokemon as his equals rather than pets or warriors. His pokemon are a little less disciplined than most trainers pokemon, but they are just as lethal in combat, and often have more fun than other trainer/pokemon partners.

Belphie: he doesn't care what pokemon he has, but cares deeply about the ones he's managed to catch. Much like Satan, he enjoys them more as company than anything else. Will absolutely cuddle with his small pokemon and sleep next to or on top of his bigger pokemon. (I.E Snorlax, Slaking) As much as he enjoys pokemon that share a similar lifestyle to him, he also likes to ride on top of pokemon that are much more active than him, as it takes the responsibility movement away from him. He only has a few pokemon that he trains really well, so in the event of a battle he's not caught off-guard or unprepared.

Barbatos: again, not much preference here, however he has a soft spot for pokemon that resemble prehistoric animals. He trains them to take care of themselves as well as carry out tasks that will assist him in his day to day duties, and rewards them well every time they complete a task. He is the strictest when it comes to training his pokemon for battle, but the rewards are also the best.

Diavolo: He loves all pokemon. He finds them equally fascinating and is constantly trying to catch anything that moves. He is an excellent trainer; playful and strict measures weave together in order to form a formidable team. He also enjoys the company that pokemon provide. Training them prevents him from feeling bored or lonely, so he is almost always training them. Unfortunately, many people are intimidated by his vast collection of pokemon, level of excellence that they have been trained to, and Diavolo himself because of his position, meaning that he rarely gets to show off. Any pokemon that's big enough to ride, he will ride it. Even if it's not comfortable, he will try riding any pokemon at least once.

Simeon: not so much interested in training. He would rather monitor pokemon in their natural habitats and learn from them. In his time studying pokemon, he has found himself rescuing many and nursing them back to health. While some of the pokemon return to their place in the wild, many linger near Simeon. Although he doesn't catch nor train them, they provide comfort and company for him while he works, as thanks. Simeon is always eager to share new findings with others in order to help them succeed in their training.

Luke: He's 10! He is so ready to start his pokemon journey. In his years leading up to this, he accompanied Simeon whenever he could in order to learn as much as possible before heading off on his own. His favorite pokemon is an Eevee, and tends to like normal types overall. His starter pokemon type is dictated by whatever MC's favourite is, because it's automatically his favourite too.

Solomon: Keep this man away from pokemon. Please. He is not to be trusted.

Ok! I hope this to your liking @yandereskies ! I had a lot of fun writing this.

I was also inspired by the artwork done by @julie-ghouls , who also has OM x Pokemon au stuff.

Requests are open, so don't hesitate to ask!😁

Masterlist

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anastyartist · 3 years

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Cilan x Reader Chapter 2 A Fight For Love

This chapter is a bit short but that's because I didn't want to write out the whole battle between Ash and Burgh because that seemed kinda pointless, I've got the next couple of chapters partly done and should be posting those soon but I set myself a typing limit to get these at a decent length for ya'll.

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Waking up bright and early ready to go and meet up with Ash, Iris, and Cilan for Ash’s battle against Burgh. You had battled Burgh before, it took you a few tries but you did beat Burgh, and you can’t wait to see if Ash can do the same. Thankfully the day before you all agreed to meet up in the city plaza and head to the gym from there. Excitedly running up to a street vendor for a quick snack you wait and look around trying to see the trio arrived yet. Until a very hyper Ash came out of nowhere quickly followed by Iris and Cilan

“(y/n) aren’t you excited! I can’t wait to get my next badge!” pumping himself up along with Pikachu.

“Yeah Ash, it’s been a while since I’ve seen Burgh battle anybody in a while” When you were first getting your badge you would watch other people’s battle with Burgh to study his moves when you weren’t doing that you helped tend the plants in the gym’s garden.

Quickly you all walked over to the gym, you decided to show them around a little before the battle and also to find Burgh, which you did high up in one of the many trees he sat feeding a sewaddle. Ash called out to him claiming to be ready for their gym battle. Cilan and Iris looked around them at all the plants that surrounded the room.

Hopping down from the tall tree Burgh greeted all of you “welcome to the Castillia Gym” looking pleased as Ash expressed his happiness about the battle ahead.

Everyone followed burgh to the battle arena further inside marveling at all the plants around you especially Cilan “ I’ve never seen so many trees indoors before, it’s amazing!”

“We transplanted the trees from the pinwheel forest, for the bug types benefits of course” helpfully stated “There’s nothing better than lots of greenery for a bug-type pokemon lover,” Burgh said it gives him ‘inspiration’ you just liked it for the plants.

“Why, even (y/n) helps with the plants from time to time” Turning to look at you.

“Oh, so you have a green thumb then (y/n)?” Cilan questioned though Burgh interrupted before you could respond.

“More like a green hand, even when a little flower might not make it they always seem to find a way to make it grow back stronger than ever!” You knew Burgh appreciated your help with the plants, you were proud of it, everyone saw you as rude just because of your personality, sure you had few friends from school but that was it most of your time was either training or helping with the gym. Burgh jumped back from that note to Ash checking to make sure he was ready to battle and with that the gym floor revealed itself. You, Cilan, and Iris took to the sidelines to watch. Burgh and Ash standing on opposite ends of the battlegrounds.

Before anything else happened the referee started his speech about the rules that you’ve heard a hundred times over. Burgh took the liberty of showing his pokemon first before Ash chooses him.

Tossing out his deweeble to start, Iris was a little surprised.

“Look at the rock on deweebles’ back, it’s different from your deweebles’ Cilan” Now you wanted to see CIlan's deweeble it’s always neat to see what rocks deweebels use for armor.

"Oh yeah Burgh's deweeble uses a different rock for its shell so it's faster than normal deweebels" you nonchalantly said, though not helpful for Ash's battle it's a fun fact you remember about Burgh's pokemon. But now the question came to what pokemon Ash would use against it.

Ash chose tepig as his first fighter, you went back a bit to sit on the concrete fencing surrounding the tall trees and plants, it’s where you would normally sit when watching people battle burgh, Cilan and Iris joined you both leaning against it. The referee blew the whistle and the battle began.

Not surprising at all Ash went straight for tackling deweeble trying to knock it over but Burghs’ deweeble is fast to dodge and dig below, getting the jump on tepig. It wasn’t that long of a battle between the pokemon what with ash only trying to get direct hits on deweeble and deweeble dodging quickly because of the light rock material on its back not weighing it down though you will admit ash did get a few good hits on deweeble. But it’s all for not as deweeble quickly knocking tepig out making burgh the winner of the first round.

Cilan commented on Burgh’s technique noting how he used the move rock wrecker so close to tepig.

“Do you think he lured tepig in closer to him?” Iris was quick to pick up on the sneaky move.

“That’s how burgh battles everyone and it helps with how straightforward Ash’s style is on the battlefield makes him easier to get a surprise attack” jumping in on the conversation, after watching so many battles and hundreds of people falling for the same thing you figured ash would too.

“ I take it you’ve seen this a lot (y/n)?” Cilan cocked his head to look at you

“Yeah I’m surprised Ash managed to get that far with tepig” looking over to see Ash call tepig back into his Pokeball, “So Cilan what other pokemon does Ash have, he’s gonna need something good to beat Burgh”

Cilan contemplated it for a moment “ Well he’d either have to go with his oshawott with its water type moves or Pikachu with his iron tail”.

Ash got ready to try fighting deweeble again. The three of you turn back to face the arena only to see Ash call out for his sewaddle, now you have seen a lot of weird combinations in the past but this was crazy enough that you actually fell back on the fence and into the garden behind you out of shock. Thankfully Cilan turned around and hopped over to help you up.

“I guess nobody is ever ready for Ash’s battle style!” Cilan offered as he pulled you back into the concrete fence.

“No kidding, I’ve seen a lot of battles but I think this takes the cake” regaining your balance while holding onto his shoulder to not fall.

With that Ash took direct attacks against deweeble, having far better luck this time, when rocks got thrown his way sewaddle could use its silk to throw them back. Sewaddle was much faster than tepig and got the jump on deweeble knocking its shell off leaving it open to attacks. So with one good tackle deweeble was knocked out. Honestly, this was one of the better battles you’ve seen. Ash was all over the place with his battle style and it was entertaining to watch. The battle went on for a while but to your amazement, Ash won getting his 3rd gym badge and his sewaddle had evolved into a swadloon leaving him more than happy afterward. Though now is when you realized that the three of them would be moving on to the next city soon and the thought of not getting to go out and adventure with them made you sad.

After the battle, you all walked back to their hotel, you got to point out some of your favorite spots and buildings around the city, cilan ask questions about them. Then when you actually got to the hotel Ash and Iris headed in immediately wanting to get a good night’s rest. You and Cilan stayed outside talking.

“So where do you guys think you’ll be going next?” It did matter to you where they went, you just wanted to come with them.

“I’ll take it Ash wants to get to Nambasa city as soon as possible so that’s where will set off to” Cilan remembers how pushy Ash was about getting to Nambasa before, “You know, you could always come with us I’m sure Ash and Iris wouldn’t mind!”

You did consider coming with them, your mom might not be the biggest fan of it. If you could convince her to let you travel but it’s going to take a lot of negotiating with her.

“I might just take you up on that offer, if I’m able to come along I’ll be waiting here for you in the morning” You couldn’t make any promises but you were going to try your best to go.

“Well then I’ll see you in the morning” cilan gave with a soft smiling reaching down to grab your hand bringing it to his lips with a soft kiss “ma chérie”

Your heart stopped for a moment, more out of surprise, this was the most affection anyone had ever shown you outside of your family.

“Well aren’t you mister fancy?” it was honestly the only thing you could think of.

You both shared a laugh and said your good nights before going separate ways. You kept your composure together until you turned the corner and out of sight at which point you ran back to your house with the fattest grin on your face. Mothers anger be damned you were going with them. Besides it isn’t that crazy for someone your age to be traveling the region. Look at Ash, he’s from a different region entirely. When you actually got home your mom was waiting for you, asked how everything went and that's when you told her your idea.

“You want to travel? But what about your dream of being a gym leader surely Burgh could help you with that” putting down her glass of water on the table, she moved the conversation from the living room to the kitchen.

“I know I still want to be a gym leader but how can I be a good gym leader if I don’t see what else the region has to offer?” It was a 50/50 chance of working, and you weren’t that wrong there were still so many pokemon to see.

“I don’t know, after the whole venipede attack the other day I don’t want you to get hurt” a hint of desperation in her voice.

“But mom I handled it! And I had my new friends with me. Cilan had my back that whole time!” You can take care of yourself. You grew up running around the woods facing whatever it had to throw at you and you would be traveling with a group. It couldn't be that bad.

“Stubborn as always huh? Just like your father, okay I’ll cut you a deal you can travel but you have to message me at least once a day so I know you are safe” Giving you a soft smile, things would go either of two ways you would run off in the night without saying anything, or you would stay in the city and pout about it forever.

“Wait really!? Like I can actually go?” Your mom has always been protective of you, you thought for sure that she would never let you.

With a small chuckle, your mom got up from the table walking to her office room down the hall. You followed closely behind. In her office was a little closet that you were told to never open, this was the first time you have ever seen the inside and when she opened it you saw travel packs and sleeping bags,

“Like I said just like your father, we first met while traveling, when we decided to settle down here in Castillia we kept out old packs” Your mom grabbed one of the packs, it was a little worn and made of dark green fabric with patches all over.

“This was your father's and I’m sure he would want you to have it for your adventure” turning to hand it to you.

You ran your fingers across the front and over the many patches scattered across “So dad collected patches too?” You weren’t as close to your dad as you wished, he died when you were young just after giving you your first pokemon, he said he couldn’t wait to see you become a great fighter and have your own gym. At this point you were trying not to cry.

Your mom stepped forward standing in front of you, she raised her hand to caress your cheek and pulled you into a tight hug.

“All he ever wanted was for you to have your own adventure, and that's all I want for you sweetheart, I’m still going to worry about you but that shouldn’t hold you back” hugging you tighter. Whispering ‘I love you’ to each other she handed you the matching sleeping bag. It was starting to get darker out and she wanted you to get enough sleep for tomorrow.

Though you couldn’t get much sleep, you were too excited about getting to travel and see everything. Though after much rolling around and pillow flipping you drifted into a dreamless sleep.

When you woke up it was just before sunrise, your mother came in to get you up and ready with the pack full of everything you would need for a journey even putting an ungodly amount of snacks and a lot of both her and your fathers' old gear. After getting everything ready to go your mom insisted she walks you to the hotel to see you off. You definitely needed it, your nerves were jumbled up and as much as you were excited it was still scary this would be the first time you left Castillia City. Your mom told you stories from her travels with your dad sharing a laugh over the memories. Arriving in front of the hotel you turned towards each other and and shared one last hug, pulling apart she handed you one final object, it was a pocket watch, made out of black metal and a thin silver chain the words ``Time stops for nobody” were carved across, opening the watch showed to be a normal watch though it had blue and white highlights.

“It was a gift your father gave me when we first got together, I want you to have it and take care of it okay?” her voice was quiet and her eyes were glossed over.

"I will mom and thank you for letting me do this" giving a cheeky smile back at her.

Not long after Cilan, Ash, and Iris came out, ready to get back on the road. Cilan was exceptionally happy to see you there waiting.

Hey (y/n) glad to see you could make it" ash ran up to you. Cilan and Iris close behind.

"Ah, so this must be that boy Ash you said was challenging Burgh?" Another reason your mom tagged along to see you off was so she would know what the others looked like, still ever protective.

"That's right ma'am, I even won my battle first try!" Guess Ash was still riding his high from yesterday's battle, pikachu giving a little cheer of its own.

She laughed at his enthusiasm “Well I must say I haven’t seen anyone that excited after a battle! I’ll have to catch up with Burgh and ask”. Your mom turned to face everybody.

“Please watch each other back, I still worry about my little ball of fury here and I want them back safe” she could tell they were just a group of kids, they reminded her of herself when she was younger.

“We’ve had each other back this far, we'll be even stronger with one more to the team!” Cilan stepped up wanting to ease your mothers' nerves.

Giving a hefty sigh your mother let go of you “Okay, make sure you take care of that pocket watch and message me, please? I love you” Kissing your forehead, you hug her and saying ‘i love you’ too.

With that everyone set off to leave, waving goodbye to your mom one last time as you lost sight of her. A new bigger adventure ahead, bigger than you could have ever hoped for.

Iris the tease she was “So, little ball of fury? What's that all about”

“Oh uhh, I use to be a bit of a fighter when I was younger, still kinda am, but I would get in fights because when other kids in school would get picked on I jumped in to help them get away which would end in a fight with the bullies” little bit of a fib, you would jump in without a thought and everyone knew it so people would bait you into fight.

“Wow really? What did your mom think about you getting into fights all the time?” Iris questioned further.

“Eh she wasn’t that happy with me, said I’d get myself into a big mess one of these days if I couldn’t cool my attitude, but around that time is when Burgh let me help in the gym and tend to the plants helped keep me out of trouble” thinking back your mom is probably the one that asked burgh if you could go to the gym, considering you wanted to be a gym leader one day.

“Glad to know that you found a good outlet for your anger, being able to concentrate emotions into a single thing can do wonders!” Cilan chipped in.

It was nice getting to talk about this stuff, everyone started talking about their favorite thing to do, everyone had something different even Pikachu and Axew started making noise no doubt trying to share their thing. It was a great start to the journey and it could only get better.

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Done and Done, hope ya'll enjoy this. Again if there are any errors in the chapter let me know, I try my best to triple-check but things slip through the cracks sometimes.

#Cilan x reader #AFightForLove #Cilan #Chapter2AFightForLove #idk how to tag this #x reader

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kapicat · 3 years

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The slot in the door opened, just enough for three ultra balls to roll in. The mew on the opposite side of the concrete room focused, trying to use their psychic powers to push the balls back. One went back, but then the slot closed. Mew's ears drooped as the balls they were left holding telekinetically opened.

From the balls came two sneasels. The mew cowered in the corner, seeing the one with a cloth bag in his claws. Mew sucked in a deep breath of air, just for it to get knocked out of their chest by the bag-holding sneasel's Sucker Punch. Mew wheezed, letting out a smaller Hyper Voice cry than they had wanted. The shockwave didn't go far, only destroying the illusion of the bag-holding sneasel. In sneasel's place was a toothy-grinned Zoroark.

Mew's ears pinned down to their skull. They had hoped that the ball they pushed back was the one with the red-maned Pokemon. A whimper escaped their throat as the remaining sneasel approached from behind. The sound was cut off by the sound of claws smacking flesh, a super effective Throat Chop that echoed in the concrete room. Mew collapsed on the ground, silently wheezing for air as they were hit from behind by a Skitter Smack. Forced forwards, Mew fell right into a dual Beat-up from the sneasel. A third attack was cut off by the bag being pulled over their head.

Mew hated how the bag was not the worst part of it. It was pulled down to their waist, where they felt the two sets of drawstrings pulled tight. The material was so thick, they couldn’t see out of it. The bag was already starting to feel so warm, the material sticking to Mew’s face as they breathed in and out. The material was scratchy, Mew hated it when the bag was turned so the drawstrings were at their sides. They knew that the next thing to happen was a tight yank, one so hard that it knocked Mew down, landing face-first into the concrete floor. A soundless scream passed through Mew’s throat as they were grabbed by their feet and tail, yanked and dragged. They could feel all the bumps in the floor with their face, the sharp edges dulled by the scratchy material. Everything hurts.

A sharp corner was taken, knocking Mew’s head against it. At this point, they were shaking, praying for an end. Their tail was dropped. A sharp fear spiked in Mew’s body. They knew what was going to happen. It was the thing they hated the most. No, no, they didn’t want it. They inhaled as much air as their lungs could take. The sharp pain in their back was unceremonious, one that caused them to scream into the bag despite the muffling and the pain from the throat chop. The more they screamed though, the more it hurt, it wiggled and tore, they could feel their blood seeping out around where the pain came from.

“Fucking hell, hold still! Seymore, get your audino here, it’s wiggling the needle.”

“If your pokemon put it out quickly like they were supposed to, you wouldn’t be in this mess.”

“Shut up and get the damn-”

Mew kept screaming. It hurt but it drowned out the voices. They hated the voices the most of all. The voices were rougher than the bag, loud and scratchy. And always, always when they started yelling like this, they put their hands on mew, yanking their tail, punching the bag and their head, putting hands on Mew’s throat until Mew couldn’t scream anymore. It was actually nice when Mew felt everything fade. Nothing hurts anymore.

Until they wake up again. Mew was in the concrete room again. They curled up tightly, shaking as they watched the lone purple audino use heal pulse on them. Heal pulse made things hurt less, but it never helped with how dizzy Mew felt. Audino never hurt them.

<<You should try to get away!>> Audino finally spoke up. She never spoke before when she was sent in to heal Mew. Mew weakly lifted their ears. <<Do you know why they do this to you?>>

Mew weakly shook their head. All they remember of their life before this was being chased in a forest. A bright orange leaf hit them in the face before they flew into a branch. That was the first of everything hurting.

<<People say that you’re the source of power, that you can do anything.>> Audino lifted Mew’s head, causing them to hiss. Their neck was still hurting from the throat chop. <<You can even look like me!>>

What? Mew blinked. They tilted their head. You can look like me! How could they do that? And would it work. They looked at audino’s eyes. Her eyes were blue, just like theirs. But their fur was different. Hers was short, like mew’s, but the colors were different. Her front was tan, the rest was purple. And the ears were far different. Could they really do that? Mew squeezed their eyes shut. They had to! They wanted out! They wanted everything to stop hurting! They didn’t want to be a source of power, nothing! They just wanted to be free!

They were changing. Their feet felt different, and so did their tail. There was more weight on their head, but it wasn’t off-putting. Mew opened their eyes. Audino held out a hand to help them up. <<You did it! Look at yourself!>>

Mew looked down at their hand. It didn’t look like their hand. It was small still, but it looked just like Audino’s, with the same sheen to the short fur. Mew turned around, trying to look at their tail. It was the short little fluffy nub that Audino had. The corners of Mew’s lips started to lift. Could they get out like this?

The banging on the door made the corners of Mew’s mouth drop. “Audino, hurry up! We’re going to the market!” The voice was still horrible, it hurt more with Audino’s ears.

Audino pushed Mew towards the door. <<Go, they won’t realize it’s you! When they get out of the car, run away!>> She scampered back to the far side of the dark concrete room, leaving Mew by the door. It opened. The rough hand of a man who smelled like smoke, tar, and sweat grabbed Mew by one of the ears, yanking them out of the room, with the door loudly slamming shut. No wonder Audino didn’t like them.

Mew felt like they were shaking when they saw the two other pokemon by the humans. Sneasel waved their claws, snickering. Another one was sitting, arms crossed. Mew guessed that this was the Zoroark, he never seemed to tease or taunt like the other dark-type.

“Come on, Audino, Zoroark, both of you carry a bag.”

Oh, right! Mew looked at the bags that the human talked about. The other human had picked up one, pulling the strap over their head. Mew did the same with one of the remaining bags. “Heh, look at that, your Audino is mimicking me.”

The first man rolled his eyes. “Let’s go, hurry up, Zoroark!”

It was so hard for Mew to keep from shaking. Audino’s plan was working! The humans were too busy talking about who to meet up with, where they had to go, and other things to notice them.

They figured that the “car” was the square-ish thing that one human opened the back of. Zoroark, still in his illusion, threw his bag in before hopping in. There were too many eyes now. The sneasel was still out, and the one human still had three more pokeballs on his belt. They couldn’t run yet. Audino said to do it when they got out, right? Mew just did the same as Zoroark, slinging the bag just inside the carpet. Zoroark yanked it back further inside as Mew climbed in. Oh, it would be so much easier if they weren’t Audino. Mew sat near the big window near where they climbed in. Finally, Sneasel hopped in, dashing to sit on top of the bags.

<<They’ll get mad at you for sitting there,>> Zoroark rebuked. Sneasel just shrugged, then stuck his tongue out at the other pokemon. Growling in response, Zoroark raised up a claw.

“‘Ey! No fighting back there!”

The car ride reminded Mew of being dragged in the halls. Even though they could stand up to see out the windows, they didn’t want to. Every bump made them pop up to see a little bit, like a wall covered in colors, a giant pine tree like what they ran into long, long ago, or a building with shiny gold on each corner.

Finally, it stopped. Mew couldn’t keep it in anymore. They felt so sick, so anxious. If they didn’t go now, they were sure that they would never get out. And they would hurt all over, all over again. They looked at the back door, the one that would lift up. The human messed around with it, before pulling it up. The human’s face twisted with surprise.

“What the-”

Mew shot out. They didn’t care they didn’t look like Audino anymore. They just had to run, no, they had to fly! They had to get out! Behind them, they could hear the humans yelling, barking at the pokemon to chase them. Mew bumped into another human, a lady who shrieked so loud and high, it hurt Mew’s ears. There were more people ahead, some of who Mew ran into. They had to get away from all of these people, the screaming hurt their ears. There was a place between two tall buildings that they ducked into, tumbling head first into a puddle. Their fur was wet, they still hurt, it was so dark. They squeezed their eyes shut as they crawled across the rough road to get behind a dumpster. It would be safer inside, but Mew was so tired. They felt so dizzy again, their heart was pounding.

A quiet sob left their lips. They were so scared. The humans would find them again. They humans would stick the needles in them again, maybe even use razors on Mew’s fur and ears like they threatened so many times when Mew screamed in pain. Mew was going to hurt so much more. All they wanted to do was cry.

All of a sudden, there was a hand. It was bony, not fat or muscley like the other humans’s. It didn’t grip Mew’s shoulder, just resting there. “Shh. They’ll hear you if you cry.” Mew hiccupped, turning to look where the hand came from. There was a human under blanket, someone they didn’t see there before. The man’s blanket was lifted up by the edge of a staff that had three blue gems on it. “Calm down, think of a flowing river.”

Mew whimpered. The human sounded kind and gentle, just like Audino. Mew closed their eyes, trying to think of it. The hand lifted from their shoulder. It was easier to breathe, easier to think of the waters.

The waters rippling, bubbling in a quiet forest. Mew imagined the cries of Ninjask in the trees above, while magikarp splashed in the waters. Joining in the ninjask were the cries of tympoles who washed ashore in the muddy banks. Sometimes a leaf fell in the water, where it was gobbled up by a hungry feebas.

“That’s it. They’re gone now.”

Mew opened their eyes, now looking into those of the man. Just like Audino, his eyes were bright blue, like the sky, and his hair was light purple. The outfit he wore was rather nice, unlike the other humans, but it had a lot of tears and holes in it. The man’s eyes looked at mew not as hungrily or angrily like the others, it was strange. It almost looked like a reflection of what mew felt, scared, tired, and worried. “You need to get some treatment.” He pursed his lips and his eyes moved so as to not meet Mew’s. He was worried about other things. “You can’t fly if you transform into me, can you?”

Mew shook their head no. The man sighed heavily. Slowly, he placed his hand on Mew’s back, guiding them to the entrance to the alley. “Look over there.” Mew had to squint their eyes to see, but far in the distance, they could see the big, ornate building they saw earlier, with gold on the eaves and the sides. “That’s the temple there. The priestess there will take care of you. I know you’ll be safe there. I have to hide here myself for a little longer. Just fly as fast as you can.”

Mew looked back up at the man. He wasn’t going to chase them there? Mew took a deep breath, they had nothing else to go on. They took off, flying across the street, before going higher.

“Remember the river!”

The world blurred as Mew flew. Their heart raced, pulsing as they passed building after building after building. Could they? Could they get away? It felt like the golden temple was so far away still. Among the busy cacophony of smells, a woody smell seemed to get stronger as they flew closer.

Finally, the golden eaves were close, just past a a climbing set of stairs, above which Mew continued flying. Behind them, they could hear a ruckus, people yelling at them, for them, with screaming and angry shouts mixed in. The noises seemed to be further behind. A door opened at the front of the temple. That was where they should go! Mew pushed themself faster, trying to get inside, away from the noise, towards the woody scent.

They crashed into the ground. There was more screaming, before something hit Mew in the head.

#needle cw #needle tw #injury tw #blood cw #abuse cw #drabble

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