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Trails of Tera Steel (Kiseki-inspired Pokemon Academy Quest)

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While I also love Environmental Manipulation, I wonder how this'll work with the Field Rules.

Generally, those need to ramp up, and mostly benefit a specific type of Pokémon. Our team already feels a bit too spread out to do something like a Sun Team or a Rocky Terrain Team.

Maybe we can make our own Field Type? That'd be cool.
 
Terrain effects in general appear to be much more important in Trails of Tera Steel than in normal Pokemon. Here, battles are not assumed to take place on a flat plain until someone alters the weather, and taking cover, hiding, altering the terrain using normal non-persistent moves that would logically damage the terrain, or just staying underground or in the air at all times are all valid tactics.
 
[X] Fast and Furious

almost forgot to vote. Voting for this because I really want to focus on Drillbur's electric move.
 
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The Witch and The Wyrm
  • Sidestory
    • A glimpse into the future.


    It's actually pretty difficult to find recordings of old Conference battles these days. It's not too bad if you want to watch battles from within the last decade or so- Nemona has an entire folder on the cloud dedicated just to Leon's first televised battles, even though they've been scrubbed from most hosting sites by now- but if you want to watch anything from much further back than that, it can get really hard to find recordings of them that are actually watchable.

    It gets even more difficult when you're looking from videos from certain regions. She has nothing against Kanto, really, but the country had clung stubbornly onto physical media for far too long. Even now, Kanto and Johto are some of the holdouts still actively producing and selling DVD's of their Conference battles.

    She'd found some of Red and Blue's battles online. The big, flashy ones, between the two of them, and a handful of battles where they'd allied with each other against other opponents too- Lance and Clair, Jasmine and Koga.

    They're good videos. Don't get her wrong; she's learned a lot from watching the two of them fight. They're so… interesting, so unique, even though neither of them holds a candle to Dawn. She's never seen anyone utilize an Espeon as such a close-range melee combatant before; Red's Espeon fights almost more like a Medicham or a Mightyena than an Espeon, darting in for powerful Psychic-boosted kicks and awful bites that had more than once left her worried that the other Pokemon might sustain serious injuries from the attacks.

    But…

    There's just something about those videos that feel sanitized to her. Like they're… not scripted, exactly, but like they're putting on a mask for the cameras. Not letting their true feelings show through.

    She'd wondered about that for a long time. Hadn't understood why anyone would want to mask how they feel in a fight. She gets it more now, though.

    No matter how hard she'd looked online, she'd never been able to find a rawer version of one of their fights. The first one. Maybe even before the first one, before they even reached the Conference. Back when they were just two kids out on a journey, taking every opportunity they had to pit everything they had against each other with no stakes but their own pride on the line.

    She'd given up on finding them. It was no good. They're too old. There's too many other trainers around nowadays everyone focuses on. Maybe if she really dug around, spent days and days trawling through the back end of search results online looking for small forums with five or six members last active nine years ago… but she doesn't have time for that. Too many things on her plate nowadays.

    So;

    Imagine her surprise when Leaf had passed her a VHS tape on the afternoon before school had closed for the holidays.

    "Keep it quiet, huh?" she'd said with a wink. Nemona hadn't responded then, too confused by the gesture and the strange item she'd been given-

    But now she's here at home, sitting in the back study with an old CRT monitor she'd found online and a VHS player hastily set up in front of it, avidly watching as Red and Blue stared each other down across the arena, faces drawn up in tight smiles and eager lights burning in their eyes, and she understands now.

    The room's dark. She'd had to turn the lights off; the only place in the room the monitor could sit close enough to a power point was precariously on the edge of a desk where the cord just reached, and that meant that the light reflected right onto the screen when it was on, making it almost impossible for her to see.

    So she's sitting there, huddled on her father's office chair, staring at the grainy screen flickering occasionally, and she watches Red and Blue fight.

    She should watch their Pokemon. Later on, she will. There's so much she can learn here- they're both showcasing such interesting fighting styles, back when they were so experimental, before they'd figured out what really worked. Already, something in the back of her brain is ticking away, wondering what she can take away from this, whether Sonny can replicate the white-hot flames Charizard is throwing from its tail.

    But.

    Her gaze isn't riveted on the Pokemon fighting on the field.

    She can't tear her eyes away from Red and Blue.

    Their Pokemon aren't fighting, but they're not paying attention to that, other than to occasionally call out commands when something catches their eye. They're experienced enough not to need to watch the specifics of each fight. No-

    - they're watching each other with expressions that are almost hungry.

    Her chin rests atop her knees as she watches the two of them. They hardly blink as they look each other over. At times, she swears Red almost forgets to breathe, so focused is he on every twitch on Blue's face. They pace around the outside of the arena, steps perfectly matched- opposing forces, like two magnets pushing each other away until they're so far apart they flip and draw each other in again.

    Then Blue smiles, and Red snarls- but she can see the tilt in the corner of his mouth, the little flick of a smile that's washed away by faux-rage and intense focus as Blue's Pidgeot darts in, a hurricane forming in its wake, and all she can think is;

    I want that.



    Here's the thing you need to understand about Nemona;

    There's a thousand people she'd call friends. People she'd met when she'd been fighting in Mesagoza. People she'd met at school. People she'd met challenging the Gyms. People she'd met out in the wilds doing the hundred little tasks people had asked for her. Gym Trainers, Gym Leaders, even some criminals. Anyone she's ever stood across from on the field and stared down as she throws out her Pokeball and referees count down, three, two, one, battle!.

    She has the number of three Gym Leaders in her contact list and Larry on speed-dial. There's all of Class VII, there's everyone at the Battle Arena, there's all the finalists she's fought against and exchanged numbers with so they can stay up to date and share training tips.

    She has friends.

    She has friends. She has friends. She has friends.



    She'd been intending to come back home while school's out for the year regardless, so she hadn't been annoyed at all when Geeta had asked her to spend some time helping Mesagoza's new hire acclimate to the area.

    Clavell- Mesagoza's new Director, replacing Ayala and Harrington after they'd been fired and quit respectively. He's not the only new hire, not by a long shot, but the rest of them are going to have to fend for themselves- she's not going to give up these precious few weeks with her parents to help anyone else out.

    The man is nice enough, if a bit formal. She wonders sometimes what it was that he did before accepting the position here- why he'd accepted the position here, really- but it's never felt like a good time to ask. Evidently, whatever he'd done had paid pretty well, though; he'd bought a house almost as big as her own, but where hers houses her whole family and they have three part-time housekeepers to keep the place clean, he lives alone but for a single live-in maid.

    She'd worry a little about him being lonely, except-

    Nemona's been to actual forests less populated than Clavell's house. He'd brought with him a veritable menagerie of Pokemon, more than she, Manuel and Jacinto have between them. A Sandygast who cleans the beachfront behind his house; a Bulbasaur and a handful of Flabebe, who tend to the beautiful wild-looking gardens; a small hive of Combee who buzz around all the gardens nearby; on and on and on.

    They don't spend much time at his home, though. She wouldn't be doing a very good job acclimatizing him to the region if they spent all their time there. So, instead, she'd kind of combined two of her jobs.

    She doesn't do much work with the Rangers, personally, but there's not a whole lot of strong Trainers who live around here. When she'd been growing up, they'd often have to wait hours or even days before someone from a neighbouring city would travel over to come deal with whatever problems had cropped up.

    The town was usually peaceful, so it'd never really been an issue. The worst problem they'd ever had was when a nearby Oinkologne had led a herd of Lechonk into the middle of town and started eating all the flowers there. They hadn't even done much damage- a Ranger with a Makuhita had shown up and rounded them all up by that afternoon.

    But now-

    No. She's at home. She's on vacation. She really doesn't want to think about everything happening in Paldea lately.

    Clavell's a surprisingly sharp man. Well, it's not surprising, exactly; they wouldn't hire him on as Director of the academy if he was stupid. But he puts on a good facade of it all the same, and it's easy enough to slip up around him and forget that he's not just a doddering old man.

    He's also a surprisingly good battler, which is why she doesn't feel bad at all about dragging him out on tasks like today's. A powerful Houndoom has been agitated recently after one of the Houndour in the pack was injured by… something; she's not quite sure what, and neither were the people who'd put in the request. The Houndoom's been roaming around in the caves nearby, and she's been tasked with relocating them away from town.

    It shouldn't be hard. The Houndoom had fled at the sight of just the Ranger's Herdier, a little third-badge Pokemon.

    She'd caught a little Rockruff just recently. It's nowhere near as strong as the rest of her team, which makes it perfect for tasks just like this. Any of her other Pokemon would have no problem handling the Houndoom, of course, but that won't permanently solve the issue- it just tells the Houndoom they need to stay away from her. Convincing it that anyone could beat it should do a much better job making it stay away from civilization once she's temporarily caught it, and that's much easier if she can use a Pokemon like it.

    Clavell's own Houndoom is following them from the shadows beside the trail, but he's good at hiding- good enough that Mercury had struggled to see him the first time they'd come to Clavell's house to introduce themselves. He seems to blend into the shadows, well enough that there's not much chance the wild Houndoom is going to spot him.

    Her Kilowattrel and Ribombee are tracking the wild Houndoom from the air. She'd thought about having one of her other Pokemon do it, but they're her best combination for tracking Pokemon- Cutie can sense their auras, and Mercury can pass information on to her easily thanks to his lightning manipulation. Quick flashes light the air any time she wanders off-path, and if they need her attention more directly, they're both fast enough to attend to her directly.

    So, she and Clavell mostly engage in small talk as they walk down the winding paths around Cabo Poco.

    She knows, at this point, that Clavell used to be a researcher working with the government to investigate- something. She has security clearance now, but for whatever reason, he's refused to tell her what he was researching still. He clams up every time she tries to push for more, which…

    Well, it's frustrating. But it is what it is. She's getting used to people shutting down when she tries to push for information on particular topics. She's supposed to have security clearance, but there's a difference between being given the title and actually being trusted with secrets, it seems.

    He used to work in Unova as a school teacher, too. A ten-year career, according to his resume. Experience drawn from prior work as a public speaker, and before that from a degree in the arts, had given him a job at a small school in Nimbasa, where he'd worked for three years before getting a job as the vice-principal at a larger school in Striaton. The principal had retired two years later, leaving the position open for Clavell, who had worked at the school for five years before returning to Paldea for… 'personal reasons'.

    More secrets. She won't tell anyone, but she's getting a little frustrated at how many of them seem to surround her nowadays.

    Clavell is a man with two children and seven grandchildren and no spouses. She has her suspicions about why this is; she's seen photos of a severe-faced Clavell and a blank-faced woman a few years older than him displayed on his bookshelves, and a single colourful photo of Clavell placed strategically behind a potted plant in his living room, smiling with his hands around another man. She hasn't mentioned them, even though he saw her looking, and she thinks he appreciates her for that, just a little.

    She's getting to know him, just a little, and for the first time in a while she actually feels a little positive about how the upcoming school year will go.



    Here's the thing you need to understand about Nemona;

    There's not a single person who will meet her eyes and call her a friend in turn without something burning in the back of their eyes.

    Jealousy. Envy. Resentment. Anger. Bitterness.

    She doesn't understand it, but she can see it every time she looks at the people around her.

    People say all kinds of things about her. They say she's a prodigy. They say she's an unparalleled genius, a once-in-a-generation talent. They say there is something different about her, some ephemeral quality that allowed her to pass all her peers in a month and leave them in her dust in just half a year.

    They don't mention all the time she spent with her team. All the long nights she'd pulled, staying out well past dusk at the arenas in town only to come back and try to study under the lamplight as the clocks ticked past midnight, just to wake up at six that morning and do it all again. The money she'd sunk into her team, encouraged by their smiles and their cheery aura and the enthusiasm with which they threw themselves into battles for her.

    There's a truth she's afraid to admit to herself, deep within her heart.



    Contrary to how it usually works on TV, it's Nemona's experience that people almost never come across an incident while it's happening. Either you stumble across an incident while it's still brewing, when a hundred little signs are bubbling around and whispering to you about the events that are about to occur, or you stumble across an incident well after it's over, when the best you can do is pick apart the pieces that remain and try to determine what happened.

    In this case, it's the second kind of incident.

    The first sign they have that something's wrong is when Mercury screeches at them from above, a flash of lightning the only warning they have before the shadows a mile up the road split apart. Nemona blinks, and Clavell's Houndoom beside them growls as bone emerges from the shadows, fire licks at the air- and the pack of Houndour ahead of them split off, seeing the humans ahead of them and choosing to flee instead, baying in terror.

    She glances over at Clavell, who looks back at her with the same expression. A shared thought flickers between them;

    Something's wrong. They're scared. What could have instilled that kind of fear into them?

    Nemona racks her brain, trying to think. Kilowattrel is flying in circles overhead, screeching in alarm, but she's not sending bolts of lightning off in any particular direction, so there's no imminent threat. Ribombee is bobbing anxiously overhead, but she doesn't seem to be seeing anything either. Whatever had scared the pack of Houndour probably hadn't followed them, then.

    The Houndour had come down the path ahead. What's up in that direction? A beach. More plains if you veer off, with a small river delta a bit off. Near the beach-

    Right; a cave system. And, yeah, it's the middle of the day- no self-respecting Houndour would be found walking around the beach or resting alongside a river in the middle of the day. The Pokemon are active at this time of day mostly in shaded or underground areas.

    She hesitates for just a fraction of a second, then starts rattling off orders. Cutie; follow the Houndour. If they leave the territory around Cabo Poco, return to her house. If they stop and appear to be regrouping, return. Otherwise, return within the next three hours. Kilowattrel- fly lower; be ready to respond to any threats. Clavell, return your Houndoom; we'll pick this up next-

    "Absolutely not." The indignation in Clavell's voice is enough to cut off the rest of Nemona's sentence, causing her to blink slowly at him as she tries to catch up. "I may not be Champion-ranked, but I can assure you I am no slouch when it comes to Pokemon battles myself, miss Mendoza. I will not hinder you, and I will not leave you to face whatever lies ahead of us alone."

    A half-dozen rebuttals rise through her mind in an instant. If there's actually a powerful Pokemon around, Clavell's Houndoom isn't going to be much help- that Pokemon wouldn't even make it through the Gym Challenge, let alone anything an eight-badge trainer would face. He'll be a distraction, more than anything, an extra element she has to focus on protecting.

    Even so.

    She closes her mouth and nods.

    "Okay. Let's go!"



    Here's the thing you need to understand about Nemona;

    She's lonely.

    Really. She's so lonely.



    It doesn't take them long to make it to the inlet grotto; a little over half an hour at a pace somewhere between a jog and a sprint. They're both winded by the time they make it there, and they had to stop along the way for a minute or two to gulp in air, but they had to hurry- who knows what could be happening up there?

    Things are surprisingly calm and peaceful when they arrive, though. Pokemon are still shy at their presence, darting away at any sudden noise, but there's no signs of violence. The above-ground entrance to the cave is still intact, and there's been no localized signs of terrain shifting.

    The fact there are Pokemon around at all does a lot to soothe Nemona's nerves. Wild Pokemon are often out and about when dangerous Pokemon are nearby, but they're generally more than just skittish- they either lash out or flee immediately the instant they sense anything unusual.

    Still; they're very, very cautious as they make their way into the grotto. They move slowly, careful not to make any sound or noise, and they keep their eyes peeled- Nemona watching out for any threats ahead of them, and Clavell checking constantly for anything that might try and sneak up behind them.

    Nothing does, though.

    The grotto opens up into a surprisingly large cave system, but most of it is exposed to the elements. It takes them about five minutes of sneaking slowly and carefully in before they make it past the entrance and can peer down the winding, rocky path to a lower entrance of the cave. It's delineated into large areas, mostly linked by the same rocky path. Occasionally, 'shelves' of stone jut out, providing areas where small colonies of Ground and Rock-type Pokemon live, and she can spot several small crevices that likely lead to other caves branching off from this grotto.

    There's nothing she can see aside from the usual Geodude and Woobat, though, so after a moment to try and stretch out her legs and check with Clavell about how he's doing, the two of them start venturing down.

    The Pokemon in here are skittish. The further down they descend, the more she's convinced that whatever scared the Houndour off was in here; the Pokemon here are far more nervous than the ones outside. Roggenrola run off as soon as they spot her, and Zubat chitter nervously from above, flapping their wings and jeering but refusing to leave their perches.

    It's an unnerving ambience- especially when the cave grows tighter closer down to the bottom, forcing her to return Mercury, whose wingspan is just too large to allow him to fight down here without endangering both of the humans. Clavell is forced to return his Houndoom for the same reason, leaving her hand lingering over Sonny's Pokeball.

    She's about to suggest pausing and backing up when she spots something down on the bottom floor. Something that definitely does not belong here. A backpack, maybe? Something cloth-like, anyway, with a good deal of possessions spilled nearby.

    Nemona and Clavell both push themselves off the small ledge near the bottom with a soft grunt, then look at each other hesitantly. There's absolutely no Pokemon she can identify as a threat down here, just a handful of small Drilbur watching her cautiously from a burrow to the side.

    She approaches the backpack-

    All the warning she has is a slight whoosh of air, just enough to make her legs twitch in the beginnings of an attempt to leap to the side; and she's struck as what feels like a meteor collides with her from above.



    Here's the thing you need to know about Scarlet;

    She has never been one for other people. She holds only a handful of people close to her heart, and is wary of giving even that many people access to her truest self.

    First there are, of course, her parents. Her mother, she holds in the highest of regards, though she sees her little; she works two jobs to afford their scholarships to Mesagoza even with the money Scarlet herself has contributed, and often she does not return to their house until Scarlet has pretended to sink into sleep. Her father, she scarcely remembers; but what memories she does remember are of being held as thunder crashed overhead, of bandages being applied to scraped knees and gentle cloths being held to burned hands, and she holds those memories close and dear to the deepest parts of her heart.

    Second; there is Violet. Her brother, younger than her by thirteen minutes she holds eternally over his head. He is as opposite to her as can be, as open as she is closed-off, as friendly as she is standoffish, as deserving of a bright future as she is certain for a cold one. He smiles where she scowls and he holds out hands where she slaps them away. The only similarity they share is the shadows that lurk deep in their eyes, where none can see them; and for that one similarity she loves him even more.

    Third; there is Deinopis, her Tarountula. She has known him for three days, and already she is ready to kill for him. He is a precious bundle of optimism and joy and deep, deep greed. She had woken beneath the shade of an apple tree to find him making cats-cradles with her hands; the Pokeball she had used to catch him had not rolled even once, and he has been her loyal minion since.

    Fourth;

    There is no fourth. This is as far as she will allow her heart to open. This far, and no farther.



    She has to act quickly.

    Scarlet darts forward, throwing herself off the Pokemon's back and onto the small ledge before them. The Gimmighoul is already turning, having somehow seen their descent from the very roof of the cavern they'd crawled to; if she doesn't move fast, the little creature is going to disappear, and she's going to have less than nothing to show for all the time she's spent scoping out the grotto.

    Her shirt catches on a rock as she struggles to pull herself up the ledge, but she doesn't have time to care. Her jacket covers the worst of the rip regardless; it does throw her off-balance a little, but not enough to seriously stop her. She has to duck her head to avoid a low-hanging stalactite, but then she's striding forward- four paces, five paces, six- and she's close enough to toss the Pokeball with a flick of her wrist, striking the ground in front of the Gimmighoul with a red flash.

    The Pokemon screeches and tries to bring itself to a skidding halt, but it's too late. Deinopis emerges from the light, and with a triumphant flourish, has already formed a lasso from the silken ball wrapped around his torso. The Gimmighoul screeches again, but her Tarountula is simply faster; the lasso lashes out, and the modified String Shot lands around the Pokemon.

    And that's the game.

    The little Pokemon pouts up at her as she approaches, but it knows when it's been beaten. If it wants to press the issue, it can- but Deinopis has already hit it with a String Shot, and is easily in range for a follow-up Bug Bite. The odds certainly aren't in its favour.

    Finally, with a huffed groan, the Gimmighoul surrenders. Its shoulders droop low as it places the coin it's holding in its hands and rolls it towards her.

    Scarlet scoops the little coin from the ground and holds it up to the light. Yeah- that's an authentic Gimmighoul coin. The pattern's unmistakeable, and the coin itself is soft, made out of whatever kind of fake gold the creatures produce.

    With unhurried steps, she moves forwards and picks up Deinopis' Pokeball, though she doesn't return him. The little Tarountula skitters up instead, crawling up her leg and back to come sit on her right shoulder, opposite her single braid. Only then does it drop the String Shot, allowing the Gimmighoul to finally begin untangling itself so it can flee into the dank recesses of the cave once again.

    She watches it curiously as it leaves- then there's another grunt behind her, and her attention's already gone from the little Pokemon, back on the group she'd accidentally ambushed. An unpracticed motion taps the Pokeball at her side, only then returning the Tarountula to its ball as it whispers goodbyes into her ear.

    Clavell is there. Recognition shines in his eyes as he looks at her, and a whole lot of tension bleeds out of his face. There's a Houndoom pacing around him, snarling as it looks at the large Pokemon she's currently allied with, but it's too scared to actually move over and try to force it to disengage from the girl it's currently…

    … licking the face of. Right.

    The girl's giggling as the Pokemon huffs in laughter over her, though one hand's also held gently over her side, where its claws are dug into the stone beside her. Right- that landing had to have been pretty hard. They hadn't been able to be picky; the two of them had nearly walked straight up to the Gimmighoul well before Scarlet and the Pokemon had been in position to ambush it properly.

    She whistles, and the Pokemon perks up. Its front legs rise up off the girl as it stands on its back two legs, giving her an innocent look. She stares dryly at it, causing it to grin back at her with a dopey expression- an expression that only turns dopier when she shines the coin at it.

    "Got it," she says, both triumph and dry amusement clear in her tone. "Come on. Get off her. Give her room to stand up."

    It backs up a few steps, allowing the girl to gingerly stand back up. She's favouring her side, though there's no blood showing through her white shirt; probably just a bruise then, since it's nowhere near her ribs. She should offer her a potion or something.

    She doesn't, though.

    Instead, she watches, tilting her head as the girl looks up at her. Their eyes meet, and Scarlet can't help the way the corner of her mouth tilts up in an ever-so-slightly mocking way as the girl looks straight into her eyes; then the girl's eyes dip down, taking in the fullness of her mouth and the torn state of her clothing, and suddenly she feels more embarrassed than amused.

    She should apologize for dropping in on them like this.

    Emphasis on the should.

    "Well," she says out loud to the quiet cavern, "I didn't expect to see you until the afternoon today, Director Clavell."

    The man coughs quietly into his hand, then adjusts his glasses in a vain attempt to buy himself a second to organise his thoughts. "Yes. Well. I must say, I did not expect to see you here either, miss Julianna. Might I enquire as to what you are doing here, and who your… companion, is?"

    She gives him a deadpan stare, then holds up the Gimmighoul coin. "Heard there was treasure to be found here," she says, only slightly mockingly. "Not the greatest haul in the world, but it was worth checking out."

    Silence stretches for a moment.

    The girl's the one to break it.

    "And the Pokemon?" she asks, looking at it with an awestruck expression. "I've never seen anything like it before. It looks kind of like a Cyclizar. Are they related?"

    Some mischievous impulse seizes at Scarlet in that moment when she sees the excitement twinkling in the girl's eyes.

    "Of course not." Her voice is as dry as she can possibly make it. "Honestly, have you never seen a Beautifly before?" She waits a moment for the girl's incredulous look, and Clavell's exasperated shake of his head, before she continues on; "See? Antenna, wings, vivid colouration. He's just a bit bigger than most."

    The girl stares at her for a moment.

    "You're messing with me," she replies, half-annoyed, half-wonderingly. "There's no way- you are. You're playing a joke on me."

    "Of course not." Scarlet shakes her head, putting on her best wounded face. "I've never played a joke on anyone in my life. Please- he's very sensitive about his size. Don't make him feel worse about it."

    The Pokemon's head is swinging between the two of them as they talk. At her last words, it seems to catch on; it looks at her for a second, then tries its best to droop, letting out a pitiful little whine.

    "See?" she adds, just to make the girl's eyes narrow a little more in frustration. "Now look what you've done. He's upset." She shakes her head with a click of her tongue. "Come on, boy. Let's get out of here."

    The girl splutters, but Clavell only lets out another put-upon sigh before she can hear him move to follow her out. A second later, there's more scrabbling as the Pokemon- she's going to have to come up with a name for it soon- leaps after her, crossing the entire intervening distance in a single bound, and then finally an annoyed groan as the girl finally follows, jogging up to catch her.

    There's silence for a minute or so as they make their way out of the lower entrance to the grotto. It's a little awkward, having the future head of her school witnessing her adventurers down here, but not really any more awkward than it was when he'd turned up to her house just yesterday, so.

    The journey back up to the cliffs overlooking the beach is entertaining enough to make up for it, at least. The girl, who still hasn't made any moves to introduce herself, keeps pestering her to give her more information about the Pokemon stalking alongside her. That's definitely not a Beautifly. If it isn't related to Cyclizar, is it related to Charizard? What type is it? It's what scared the pack of Houndour away, right?

    How long ago did you meet it?

    She almost pauses a moment at that question.



    Well, you see, strange girl I have known for twenty minutes, I lied to my mother last night.

    I stood with her in the kitchen as we made sandwiches for my late lunch with Clavell today, and I looked her in the eyes and I told her I was going to go to sleep early that night. She looked at me, and she knew I was lying; and she nodded, and she sent me to bed with an expression that broke my heart because she knows that she cannot afford to provide us with the future she feels we deserve, and there is only one thing that can help us out of this state, and only one of us can do something about it- and it is not her.

    I snuck out of my bedroom window while my brother slept easily through the evening light, and with only a Tarountula I caught just days beforehand at my side, I stole my way through the encroaching darkness. I knew it was dangerous, and my mother knew it was dangerous, and we each of us knew that our lives will not improve unless we accept that danger is a part of life.

    I travelled down to the beach, where I expected to be lurking in the shadows, hiding from Houndour and Zubat and aggressive Sandygast; but the night was darker than expected, a shadow over the moon fell, and this Pokemon collapsed into the sands in front of me. Its wings were broken and its claws were shattered and it bled from a dozen wounds around its body.

    I should have died. It was angry and it was hurt and it was dangerous.

    But we looked into each other's eyes, and it recognized in itself that some part of me is the same as some part of it, and I recognized that some part of it is the same as my own heart. And so, I made the worst decision that anyone in my place could have made; I approached the creature, and from my backpack I fed it all the sandwiches my mother had made me, and I healed its wounds with all the potions I had saved for these journeys.

    I had four potions in my backpack, and one yellow bottle that when sprayed could ease paralysis and burns and treat poisons. It should not, would be enough for a creature to recover. And indeed, it has not fully recovered; you cannot see it yourself, but I can see the tears in the wings it wears as braids, and the limp in its legs that prevent it from leaping, and the way its eyes flick about even out here on the safety of the open beach. It bears wounds in its body and its mind that medicine alone cannot heal, and I don't know what to do to help it.

    But somehow, four potions had closed all the gashes in its body, and one single spray had healed the burns over its body and eased the twitching of its muscles. It is an unnatural level of regeneration that I cannot explain.

    I do not know what this Pokemon is. I don't know what injured it so. I don't know why it didn't lash out in its anger and put my broken body into the ground. This is a creature of secrets that I know not even the shape of.

    But it looked me in the eyes, and we know now we are inextricably bound to each other. It stood in front of me when Houndoom and its Houndour found me within the cave, and it buried Houndoom to protect me, crushing it below a stone that looks now like it always belonged, like the Pokemon did not summon it in the air and send it crashing down. It looked at me, and as our slitted eyes met each other, I knew; it trusted me.

    So.

    I am sorry, warm-hearted girl.

    But I do not know you, and so these are not the words that I am going to say.



    "I met it a month or so ago," Scarlet replies airily, the lie passing easily through her lips. "It was hanging around in the woods around the house when we moved back here. There's actually a whole nest of Beautifly back there, you know-"

    "Argh!" The girl stomps her foot, causing Scarlet's smirk to grow even wider. "Stop it with the Beautifly thing! It doesn't even make sense, if you're going to lie you should at least try and make it believable!"

    Scarlet nods. "Of course," she says easily. "If I was going to lie, I'd tell a much better one than that. That's how you know you can trust I'm telling the truth, you know?"

    It's an easy beat to keep to, even as the girl continues to grow more frustrated with how she's being stonewalled. At every opportunity, simply calmly deny the lie; insist that the Pokemon is a Beautifly in truth, and that she's such a poor liar she can't even bring herself to try. Refute every attempt at pushing back on the lie by simply claiming that the Pokemon is simply a really strange variant- perhaps the first instance of a Paldean Beautifly in existence?

    That one is perhaps a step too far. A foot stomps into the ground at the top of the cliffs atop a small grassy knoll, and as she turn back to look at her, the girl throws her hand out at her with a determined expression throws her finger out to point at Scarlet as she shouts;

    "Now you're just being ridiculous! If you're not going to tell me, then- then-" The girl runs her fingers through her hair with an expression that is somehow amused, exasperated and annoyed at Scarlet all at once. "Then I'll make you tell me with a Pokemon battle! How about it?"

    A part of Scarlet wants to ask; why should I accept? I get nothing out of this. You have seven Pokeballs at your waist, and all I have is Deinopis. Do you think the Pokemon will come to my aid in a meaningless fight against a curious girl?

    She really should say that. Really- nothing good for her can come from this battle.

    But instead, she makes the mistake of looking at the confident tilt of the girl's mouth, the cocky tilt of her head, the excitement shining in her eyes as the girl looks directly into her own eyes; and instead of a denial, Scarlet just sighs, then offers the girl a little smirk of her own as she pulls Deinopis' ball from her waist again.

    "Alright," she concedes, tossing the ball up and down in her hand as she fakes bravado she really doesn't feel. She's already accepted that she's going to lose this battle- if this girl came with Clavell to deal with that Houndoom, there's no way Deinopis will be able to stand against her. But- still; no reason not to put her best foot forward. "One Pokemon each. Clavell, you mind acting as referee?"

    The schoolteacher coughs, acting as though he's surprised she'd even remembered he's there. "Certainly," he says a moment later. "I'm afraid I left Orangaru in the care of my dear assistant today, so I will not be able to provide a barrier for your battle. Please practice caution when it comes to the presence of humans on the field."

    Well, it's not like Deinopis is much of a threat to anyone on the field right now. Maybe if she ordered him to hit one of them with a sneak attack, but she has a sneaking suspicion no attack from the little Pokemon would ever make it through.

    She tosses her Pokeball forward, the movement almost synchronized with the girl in front of her. There's a single flash of light as their Pokemon are summoned, and then-

    Hm. A Rockruff.

    It's going to be a difficult fight for Deinopis, certainly, but… she hadn't expected someone with seven Pokemon to still have an unevolved Pokemon on her team.

    Maybe if she plays her cards right-

    There's no point in planning anything out just yet.

    Deinopis stands in front of her, flexing its little legs fearlessly at the Rockruff. The Pokemon responds with a low growl, likely trying to intimidate the little bug, but her Pokemon won't scare so easily.

    Deep breaths. In, four seconds. Hold, six seconds. Exhale, eight seconds. Close your eyes. Center yourself.

    Clavell counts down.

    Three.

    Two.

    One.

    Begin!

    Scarlet's eyes shoot open. Her voice is the first to ring out across the field. "Dei, close in! Use Lunge!"

    The other girl hesitates just barely long enough for her to notice it before yelling out a command in turn. "Rockruff! Use Rock Throw! Keep it away from you." Your Pokemon begin moving, but she's not done ordering it around; "Watch out for its strings. Don't let it hit you with them, or you'll have trouble moving around."

    The Rockruff barks an acknowledgement out- then its eyes widen, and there's a soft tap tap tap far too close to the little Pokemon already, because Deinopis has sped in at a frankly absurd pace, crossing over two-thirds of the distance just in the time it took the girl to speak her warning. Just a second or two more, and-

    But no; even taken aback by the Tarountula's speed, the Rockruff is still fast to react. Just as Scarlet's Pokemon gets close enough to lean back in preparation for a powerful leap forward, a rock shoots forward- followed in quick succession by another, then another. The third curves up, and though Deinopis is fast enough to avoid the first two, the third clips its ball of string as he throws himself desperately to the side. Silk unravels, forming a quick spool that quickly cuts itself, sacrificing near a third of its web-ball to free up its movement again.

    Scarlet's prepared enough for that, though. She smirks at the other girl as the string waves around in the air, and the girl's eyes open wide as she opens her mouth to shout out a command.

    "Rockruff, jump! They're going for a String Shot! Use Bulldoze when you land-"

    Scoffing, Scarlet waves her hand. "Spikes," she orders. The girl looks confused for just a moment- until Dei waves the end of its string around, throwing it not at the Rockruff, but instead at small bits of sharp stone and bark only it can see. The string flicks around, splitting into a half-dozen strands which then split into a further three each; all eighteen fall, landing on the spiky bits of terrain, and with a flick the spikes are shot below where Rockruff is about to fall.

    The girl watches the Rockruff- and again, just a short moment of hesitation. Scarlet's mouth tilts down, a frown emerging.

    The Rockruff falls, landing directly on the spikes. There's a sharp yelp of pain, but the Pokemon isn't hampered overly much. That's fine; she hadn't planned on the move hurting it overly much. The Rockruff is tough, she can see this from here. They're not going to win this by going for big shots. Their best chance is to play it safe, going for little bits of chip damage where they can.

    The move isn't free, though. "Get out of there!" she yells, almost at the same time the Rockruff lands. It's a pointless command; Deinopis had heard the command for Bulldoze just as well as she had, and it has no interest in being hit by the attack. It's already moving to the side, even faster now that it's shed so much of its ball, and the wave of dirt misses it by near a full meter. "Get in close again!"

    She hasn't had enough time with the Tarountula to come up with any fancy strategies. It's good with its webs, really good, and it's good with both bug and grass-type attacks. It's fast, but frail- one hit from a wild Nymble had nearly knocked it unconscious the day she'd caught it. Any significant hit will spell the end of the battle.

    But there's something else niggling at her.

    More rocks fly at the Tarountula. The girl hadn't felt the need to call out the attack; the Rockruff is looking angry as it favours one of its paws, which had landed directly on a sharp rock. Tarountula weaves in and out of them, at one point choosing to throw itself forward into a skid to pass under a particularly fast one.

    Scarlet takes a second to assess the battlefield. Rocks litter it, some dug into the ground ahead of Tarountula, forming an impediment as it passed them, some dug far behind.

    She has a feeling she knows what strategy the girl's going for.

    And Scarlet knows that she's about to get really angry, because the girl isn't doing it.

    She watches as Tarountula approaches the Rockruff. Two of its attacks have 'missed', slamming directly into the earth in front of it. There's a large gap between them, through which Tarountula can pass as it moves into range for another Lunge.

    Scarlet's watched a few Champion-level battles before. She's seen this exact strategy- Steven Stone had used it against Drake once, though everything was so much faster there. He'd used Ancient Power for it, summoning small meteors from the sky to rocket down at Drake's Druddigon. Drake had missed the truth then too, right up until it was too late; right up until Druddigon attempted to use the two boulders to hide himself from Steven's Cradily. He'd sped past, moving in to position himself for a Draco Meteor-

    And the Cradily had released the Rock Tomb it had been preparing, using both boulders to instantly bury the Dragon-type. It hadn't knocked it out- but it had been the final opportunity slipped by, the nail in the coffin of Drake's attempt at beating Steven.

    Deinopis approaches the rocks. Scarlet isn't watching it, though; she's watching the girl. She watches the girl's mouth open as the Bug-type passes the rocks- then she watches the hesitation, the moment that allows the Tarountula to slip by and lunge into the Rockruff; and then the girl's mouth firms up, and she yells out, "Rockruff, Bite and-"

    Scarlet presses the recall button on her Pokeball. A flash of light washes over the field again, and her Pokemon doesn't have time to give her a surprised look, but Scarlet doesn't care because she's already striding forward to press her finger against the girl's chest, looking her directly in the eyes as she says as clearly as she can;

    "Fuck you."

    And she turns and strides off, gritting her teeth as she moves on in the direction of Clavell's house as the girl looks at her from behind, bewildered. her hand outstretched as though to stop her from leaving.



    Here's the thing you need to know about Scarlet;

    Nobody quite understands her. She has been compared to a dozen prickly creatures in her life by as many people, and none of them have quite been accurate.

    Her mother compares her to a Luxray. She wears clothes of black and dark blue, and stares at people with the coldest expression many will see in their lives. She is a creature of claw and fang. So much as touching her brings with it risk; should she be in a poor mood, she will respond with stinging retribution that leaves one paralyzed with fear.

    This is all truthful and correct. However, it misses many other truths.

    Her brother compares her to a Sableye. She collects gems and coins and precious treasures of all kinds, and keeps the shiniest of them all within her own hoard. She is a monster that appears innocent, and then will rend you with a smile when you step within her shadow. Most of all; she is a loyal creature through and through to those she sets her heart towards.

    This is all truthful and correct. However, it misses many other truths.

    Her father compared her to an Absol before he disappeared. Oh, my darling, he would say while wrapping her in a warm embrace. You are a creature of the darkness, but the darkness is not a part of you; you are its queen and it must serve you. You can use it to save many others, if you set your warm and open heart to it; but you cannot save yourself with it. Yours is a cold and lonely future, my love. Keep your heart open that others might warm it for you.

    This is all truthful and correct. However, it misses many other truths.

    She would compare herself to a Glimmora. A creature born with greed at its heart, precious and magical gems that shine and shimmer and give birth to a creature that claims all in the world as its own. It is a flower, but an ugly one, carved of stone that bears with it the acrid stench of poison. It is a creature with a special truth; treat me wrong, and I will spit incurable poison into the world that will wither away all you hold dear.

    This is all truthful and correct.

    However, though she refuses to believe it, this too misses many other truths.



    She's resting against the Pokemon's side at Clavell's house when he and the girl finally make it back. She'd made most of the trip atop the Pokemon, darting through the forests where no humans could possibly see them, and now they're lazing around in Clavell's garden.

    Thankfully, Scarlet's mood has stabilized over the past hour or so free of the two of them. Mostly. Most of the annoyance she had at the girl's throwing of the fight has disappeared, although with it's gone the playfulness as well. Oh well.

    She greets each of them with a neutral nod, which Clavell returns politely and the girl hesitantly. Silence lingers for a moment, then;

    "Very well," Clavell says, offering each of them a small, patient smile. "Let's retire into the kitchen, shall we? I do believe dear Clarissa prepared some scones just yesterday. I dare say some tea would do a lot to relieve our aching feet."

    Scarlet fixes him with a deadpan look. "Not all of us are old enough that a little walk hurts our feet, old man," she says, and smiles a smile full of teeth at him when he gives her an affronted look. "Sure, though. I could use a bite to eat." A pause, just long enough to be noticeable, before she turns to the other girl. "You coming?"

    The girl hesitates. Before she can deny the invitation, though, Clavell interjects with, "I am afraid I must insist, my dear. It wouldn't do to be an ungracious host, and despite the apparent needlessness of our job today, you have done an admirable job introducing me to these parts recently."

    Pink touches the girl's cheeks, and she can only nod as the three of them head inside.

    It's not silence that fills the air, for once, but it's not conversation between the three of them either. Clavell has an old radio set up in his kitchen, which alternates between playing music that was already old when Scarlet first heard music and playing a soft-voiced radio host reading out local news from a city in Unova. It's enough to keep the tension in the room from being too bad.

    Well. On Scarlet's end, at least; because after just a few moments, when the tea is still brewing, the other girl finally breaks.

    "Hey," she says hesitantly, looking everywhere in the room except at Scarlet. "Did I do something wrong? I thought- I was having fun with the battle, and I thought you were too, until…"

    Scarlet heaves out an aggravated sigh.

    "If there is one thing I hate in this world more than anything else," she says in the most aggrieved tone she can muster, "it is being looked down on. I know we're weak; I only caught Deinopis a few days ago. You don't need to rub it in like that."

    For some reason, the girl flinches at that.

    "I didn't-" She stops, then rubs her arms like she's cold despite the ostensibly warm weather. "I'm… I wasn't looking down on you. Sorry. I'll try harder next time."

    Rolling her eyes, Scarlet actually audibly groans. "See, that's it," she says snappily. "You were looking down on me. Don't pretend like you weren't. You could have won that fight three times, and that's just what I noticed. There were probably twenty other things you could have done to win right away, right?"

    The girl hunches in on herself. Her first answer is too soft for Scarlet to understand it; a prompt has her saying, still so quietly that Scarlet has to strain to hear her;

    "Maybe. Probably. Sorry."

    Looking her over for a moment, most of the remaining anger bleeds out of Scarlet, replaced by something… not warmer, but softer, at least. She sighs again, but this one's a bit more affectionate, and she gets up so she can go kneel beside the girl. It requires a bit of contortion, but eventually she manages to get herself in a position where she can see the girl's face from below.

    Her head's almost in the girl's lap- surprisingly warm and comfortable, honestly- when she speaks again.

    "I wouldn't have cared if I'd lost, you know," she murmurs. Her voice is soft, now; these aren't words Clavell needs to hear. "Maybe I'm weird for thinking this, but battles aren't… they're not meant to be things that you take lightly. Isn't that what they say all the time? Battles are how you get to know other people. How am I meant to get to know you if you're lying to me?"

    The girl trembles a little. Her hand falls, perilously close to another one resting on her hip. Her head lowers down, resting against the table, just a few inches away from Scarlet's own.

    "I don't think many people want to get to know me," she responds, just as quietly. "Ma- most people get upset if I beat them too easily."

    Scarlet's lip quirks upwards. "Well," she whispers, her expression breezy and open; "I guess I'm not most people. I don't want to beat you because you decided to take it easy on me. That would be so boring. If you want to battle me, then put everything you have into it."

    There's no response that comes from that other than the way the tension bleeds out of the girl. Her shoulders drop a little, like a weight's been lifted off them, and their hands resting together on the girl's hip come together in truth, the girl's hand drawing small patterns on the back of Scarlet's.

    They rest like that for a good minute or two, their breaths mingling together in their shared space, until someone discreetly sets two cups atop the table with the sound of someone clearing their thoughts.

    "Afternoon tea is served, ladies," Clavell says, breaking the stillness of their little moment. He waits a moment while Scarlet extricates herself from her awkward position, swearing and holding her head where she'd bumped it after being startled by his actions, and then looks off to the side, pointedly not looking at either girl. "Apropos of nothing; should you girls have a few minutes to spare after you are done recuperating, I would have a favour to ask of you."



    If Scarlet didn't know better, she would suspect that Clavell had set this up several days ago. Why else would he just happen to have recently agreed to foster two troublesome Pokemon, each of which has been displaying aggressive tendencies towards the local population of Hoppip?

    There is certainly no way that he could have predicted that Nemona would challenge her to a battle, though. Much less the aftermath thereof.

    Surely, it must just be a coincidence.

    A remarkably fortuitous one, though.

    The little Fuecoco in front of her gnashes at her ankles, though it doesn't actually get close enough to scrape her ankles with her teeth. She frowns, and kicks at the little Pokemon, who looks up at her with a startled expression and then leaps in again to play-bite at her ankles.

    She ignores it for a moment, looking down at the phone-like thing in her hands. The ARCUS system, the girl had called it.

    "Are you sure it's fine for me to have this?" she asks again. It's the fourth time she's asked this, but really. This seems like an expensive device; how can the girl just give it away to her?

    But again, the other girl just nods with a bright smile fixed in her direction. "It's fine!" she says brightly. "Like I said, I got a new one recently anyway. That one's a little outdated now, but it should do fine. And it has my number in it already, so you can ask me to battle any time you want!"

    Well, there's harder ways to get a girl's number. "If you're sure," she mutters again.

    Over in front of her, the other girl is talking to her own Pokemon- a little Sprigatito. She can't hear what they're saying from all the way over there, but that's fine. Neither of them have had any more experience with their respective Pokemon than the other, so this time, it'll actually be as close to a fair fight as they can.

    Alright. Okay.

    She kneels down, reaching a hand out to pat the Fuecoco on his head. He looks at her with a mix of shock and suspicion, but doesn't actually move away from her- if anything, after a moment he leans into the patting.

    She could probably pull out the Pokedex and look his moves over like the other girl's doing. Form some kind of strategy to fight with here. Maybe she should even introduce herself to the little Fire-type. Attempt to establish a bond with it early.

    Maybe…

    Nah. She's not really much of a planner.

    There's only one thing she has to say here, really.

    "Alright," she says dryly to the little Pokemon, who's still watching her suspiciously. "Think you can give me a hand here? I want to beat that girl over there in a fight. She won our last one, and I don't want her getting a big head over me. Sound good?"

    The Fuecoco eyes her, then the Sprigatito. He grunts.

    Good enough.

    She strides to the middle of the field, holding out her hand for the girl to take. The girl takes her head, then tilts her head, offering her a little smile.

    "You know," she says, faux-sweetly; "technically, you lost our last battle by withdrawing your Pokemon. I'm feeling generous, though. I won't make you answer just yet. How does the same wager sound?"

    Scarlet shakes her head. "You know, I thought about it," she says, looking up to the sky like she's being all pensive now. This particular speech is pre-planned, but the other girl doesn't need to know that. "But it seems a little unbalanced, doesn't it? You get something if you win, but I don't get anything if I win. Doesn't quite seem fair."

    The girl's eyes flick down to the ARCUS, then back up to Scarlet's face. She thinks for a moment, then nods, a determined expression on her face. "That's true. Okay. What do you want if you win?"

    For some reason, a bunch of really inane ideas float through Scarlet's head at that. Treat me to cake at a restaurant in Mesagoza when I go there. Take me to see a movie. Let's go watch the fireworks together.

    She doesn't say any of them, though. She's set her eyes on a different prize.

    She pokes a finger, straight at the girl's chest, where a shiny coin is hung on a pendant. Scarlet recognizes it well; it's a particularly well-kept Gimmighoul coin.

    Scarlet pins it directly over the girl's heart, and then says with a confident smirk; "This. I want this if I win."

    The girl blinks, bewildered. "My… pendant?" Scarlet doesn't confirm or deny it. "A friend gave this to me… but, I guess that's fair. A secret for a treasure, huh?"

    Scarlet just shrugs. "Sure. You ready?"

    A confirmation sends her marching back to the opposite end of the flowered field. She stands there, Fuecoco standing confidently- even menacingly- in front of her, flames already licking out of his reptilian mouth.

    Clavell stands off to their side- this time, his Orangaru beside him. A shimmering dome lies around them, trapping their Pokemon inside. Noise can enter, but they'll have to shatter the powerful Psychic-type's shield if they want to hurt the trainers. It's about as safe as this battle can get without going to an arena.

    And once again, Clavell counts down for them.

    Three.

    Two.

    One.

    Begin!

    Scarlet twists the Arcus, and activates the Tera Orb.



    The wyrm hisses, and heat shimmers in the air before it. Its flames already fill the air around it, heating the environment so much the flowers are beginning to wilt. It would be a minor effort of will to suck the heat back into the flames and prevent it from scorching the flowers. Ordinarily, it would do it.

    But it cannot afford even a moment's distraction; for across the arena stands a knight clad in ivy and roses, and it knows from bitter experience that even a moment's distraction will lead to inevitable defeat.

    It cannot afford to wait. Already the wyrm is sprinting across the arena as fast as its cursed short legs will allow it. Flames lick behind it, small explosions granting it extra force and speed, but it can see already that it is too slow. Energy is flickering around the knight, and the wyrm stands disadvantaged already; the knight's claws are sharper than ever, and its attacks will find purchase even in its tough hide.

    Still. It will not grant the knight reprieve to coat itself in that vile energy again. It attempts to- but the wyrm arrives first, bearing with it a stream of flames, and the knight is forced to abandon its efforts and throw itself into the air. The wyrm follows- but leaves storm out, and though its flames consume the leaves, they are enough to blunt the force of the wyrm's embers. The knight lands, and it has scarcely been singed for all the wyrm's efforts.

    The knight is fast on its feet, and the wyrm struggles to keep up with its speed. Though it is stationary, its legs make it hard for it to turn fast. There is little it can do to keep up with the onslaught of attacks that follow- dashes in and out that the wyrm struggles to block or dodge. Within moments, a half-dozen cuts and bruises have already appeared over its body.

    It is on the defensive.

    No. Its eyes narrow. It will not allow this to continue.

    The knight hits it twice as the wyrm narrows its eyes, and the blows are painful, but they are not enough to put it down. Then- heat washes over the arena, and the knight is committed to its latest blow for a fraction of a second too long. It is still close when flames wash briefly over it, a wave of heat that washes over the arena and sets all its grass and flowers aflame, and it yowls in pain as the heat of the attack washes over it.

    Good. Because the wyrm is now angry at the pain it has endured, and the knight stands still, attempting to beat out the small flames that have scorched its fur.

    It takes a moment to remember the lessons of its fathers.

    The energy of a wyrm is not the same as the energy of a flame, mine child. Where your predecessors take into themselves the power of the sun and expel it as heat and flame, we take into ourselves only our own power, for we have no need of anything outside of ourselves. We are creatures of dance and song and pure, overwhelming power.

    So breathe deep. Breathe, and unleash all that anger within you unto those who would stand in your path.

    The rage of a dragon erupts out of the wyrm, and for the first time in this battle, true fear flickers over the knight's face. It knows that if it is to take this blow, it will be the one to fall in this battle.

    But the wyrm is not the only one with hidden tricks. Nor is it the only one with a trainer, now.

    Even as rage washes over the battlefield, there is a glimmer as the knight is clad in crystal, and in the fraction of an instant before pure force would wash it out of the field and out of the fight, the knight summons a shield of tera steel to stand between the witch that commands the wyrm and the princess the knight now serves.

    The metallic sheen of the knight's Protect shimmers, and the rage leaves the wyrm ragged and panting for a moment. It looks down, and it sees beneath it an odd sight;

    A single flower remains on the field, unhurt by the wyrm's flames. It is a pink thing; oddly shaped.

    And then the trick is revealed. The flower blooms; an explosion of grass rocks the arena;

    And Fuecoco slumps against the barrier, unconscious.

    Pain lances through Scarlet's head for a moment before it recedes as though it was never there. She hurries forward- but a group of Flabebe is already floating over, lifting the Fuecoco and bringing it over to Clavell, who's standing ready with a bottle of orange potion.

    She looks over at the girl instead, who's kneeling down on the ground, patting the little Sprigatito. It's panting some, the burn it'd taken evident over its forelegs, but it's looking over at her with a smug expression.

    Of course. She'd just lost to it, after all.

    She walks over to the girl, a still expression on her face. The girl watches her approach cautiously- until she holds out a hand, a reluctant smile on her face.

    "Good fight," she says simply.

    And an expression so bright Scarlet can't look away from it washes over the girl's face in turn. "Yeah!" she exclaims back, taking Scarlet's hand and shaking it vigorously. "That was so cool! That Fuecoco is sooo cool- how did it use its embers like that? That was almost more like a Flamethrower than an Ember! And that Dragon Rage- wow!"

    Scarlet just huffs a little. "Yeah, he was pretty cool," she agrees, feeling smugly proud for some reason even though she's never seen Fuecoco before this fight. "Sprigatito was really good, too. I've seen people use Quick Attack as a positioning tool before, but it must be tricky to use it as a positioning tool and an attack like that without leaving yourself open in retaliation. It took a long time to find an opening to use Heat Wave and actually score a hit there."

    The girl beams. "Oh, yeah, but the difficulty's more in communicating quickly enough to your Pokemon than in training them to do it. I did get lucky, though. Sprigatito's really sharp; she picked up what I wanted her to do straight away." Below her, the Sprigatito preens, looking up at Scarlet with sharp eyes as a little Flabebe moves in, waving its flower around them.

    Scarlet's lip curls. "Yeah. Seems so." She extricates her hand from the girl's, then shoves it in her pocket, looking up at the skies above. "Anyway. Don't think I've caught your name yet. Seems like I should grab it, if we're gonna be rivals."

    The girl's breath hitches, and she looks at Scarlet for a moment like she's the one who hung the stars in the sky. Then, she seems to come back down to earth; she shakes her head and slaps her cheeks for a moment while the Flabebe chants. "Right! I never did introduce myself, did I? Gosh, I'm being so rude today. Well- my name's Nemona. Student council president, and Champion-ranked trainer."

    Scarlet's eye twitches.

    She knew she'd been right about those other Pokemon on her belt.

    Still, she offers Nemona a little curtsy. "Scarlet. Treasure hunter. No badges to my name. It's a pleasure to be your rival."

    They hold their hands out again, clasping them in acknowledgement of their rivalry;

    And the little Flabebe's chant finishes, and power washes out of it, sinking into the charred and blackened earth around them.

    The two girl's eyes meet, and a field of pink lilies blooms around them.



    Of course, there was a much more serious reason that Scarlet had come here. It just wasn't worth bringing up in front of Nemona- not because the girl was distracting, exactly, but more-

    Well; suffice it to say that she waits until Nemona runs out the door, shouting half-hearted apologies to Clavell and something about seeing her in a couple of days to Scarlet herself, before she shuts the door and returns to the kitchen.

    There, she finds Clavell sitting, nursing a cup of green tea. On the other end of the table is a small mug of steaming liquid. Not tea, this time; her greater preference in coffee.

    The old man seems to know she's much more serious now that Nemona has left, because he watches her as she sits, nursing his tea more than drinking it. They sit in silence until it grows unbearable. Then;

    "What happened to my father?"

    Her words were calm, but her tone was anything but.

    Clavell sighs.

    "I'm afraid I don't know," he murmurs; then he raises his hand to forestall the inevitable tirade that was about to spill from her mouth. "But I didn't invite you here just to meet Nemona. I don't know what happened to your father- but I do know where he was working when he disappeared."

    His voice is serious as he talks- deadly serious. There is not an ounce of levity in his words.

    "You must understand, miss Julianna. Even telling you this much puts me at substantial risk. Were it not for what I have heard of the rumours surrounding that place, I would say nothing. But- I think we both deserve some closure." His eyes flick over, briefly, to a single hidden picture in his house.

    "It will not be easy. I don't have the answers on my own. We will need to make friends. We will need to grow stronger. We will need to find allies. But make no mistake; together, we will pierce the veil of secrecy and learn the truth at the heart of Area Zero."



    New main quests activated.

    The Path of Legends:

    There's a girl with fire in her eyes and a hand held outstretched standing at the end of a long path. You have taken but a single step down this path, and already it has been fraught with pain and frustration.

    Things will not get easier. Secrets whisper at your hip, and so long as you hold them close to you, you will be at a permanent disadvantage. Eight knights stand before you, and you must face them down with one sword held forever in its sheath. Behind them, the Champion and her loyal servants; and even these you must fight with one hand held behind your back, lest you hurt one who has entrusted itself to you.

    But walk this path you must; for though yours is a cold and lonely future, a girl stands at the end of the path who fills your heart with warmth.

    The Truth of Area Zero:

    There must be no records of this. Even here, in the deepest recesses of your mind- let nothing be written down but for this one truth;

    Your father disappeared one night when you were a child.

    He was a good man.

    You are going to find him.
     
  • Sidestory
    • Tempera said:
    It's an easy beat to keep to, even as the girl continues to grow more frustrated with how she's being stonewalled. At every opportunity, simply calmly deny the lie; insist that the Pokemon is a Beautifly in truth, and that she's such a poor liar she can't even bring herself to try. Refute every attempt at pushing back on the lie by simply claiming that the Pokemon is simply a really strange variant- perhaps the first instance of a Paldean Beautifly in existence?
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    On an unrelated note, Sharpedo are totally smooth. Carvanha as well.

    Tempera said:
    The two girl's eyes meet, and a field of pink lilies blooms around them.
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    In a totally heterosexual manner. Obviously. What's the real Myth, Mew or "Straight girl in Mezagosa's Class VII"?
     
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    Hello, hello! Awsome sidestory Tempera!
    Really good characterization for everyone involve. Especially liked Scarlet/Jullianas character( havent read the manga since the like the first chapter of the Black and White gen, but I know a bit of their personalities) (manga Julliana seems to be a Treasure hunter with R.B.F (Resting B***ch Face or a comstant glare) and seems to be going on the most dangerous journey of them all. Finding a pokemon protags Dad! (Who was last seen in area 0... oh dear) heres hoping she doesnt gravitate towards the "Treasures" of Ruin (yeah fat chance of that, no bet that whatever evil org in Paldea is after them and we are gonna end up fighting at least one. Chien-Pao for Elise and the lava goldfish for us if we somehow get the chance to catch one) Adittiomally, hope we can get the 12 Know needed to teach Renne (who hopefully likes us by then) the sealing skill.
     
    Woah! this fucking rules tempera! I adore your characterization of Nemona in this! they fucking spedrun that Yuri scene at Clavells that was day one, its so over for them.
     
    I do wonder how much will be left for any hypothetical S/V protagonists. I doubt we'd just stand around while a parade of bullying happens, especially with one of our Classmates, one of our friends, and our Princess. So we'd likely dive headfirst into the mess that sets up Team Star. Assuming that mess doesn't come for us in the first place. Mariana seems quite bullyable.

    And personally if we haven't mommed Arven enough for him to come to Mariana with his quest to get the Herba Mystica instead of some random firstie I will write this entire quest off as an unmitigated failure.

    So assuming any eventual Civil War doesn't wait for Second Year Florian and/or Julianna really just gonna have the gyms to do. Nemona will be so happy.
     
    LunaticPanda said:
    I do wonder how much will be left for any hypothetical S/V protagonists. I doubt we'd just stand around while a parade of bullying happens, especially with one of our Classmates, one of our friends, and our Princess. So we'd likely dive headfirst into the mess that sets up Team Star. Assuming that mess doesn't come for us in the first place. Mariana seems quite bullyable.
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    Do you think we'd notice?

    I don't think we've had a single bond conversation with half of our own class, let alone have any conversation with most of the school.
     
    I mean, we and Ostia are obviously a part of the new questline to get the legendary quartet. :V
     
    [X] Seismic Shadow

    Voting this just because it seems more interesting. We can do a blitz strategy in the games, the sneaky stuff we can only really see in stories, and I can already see ways for us to add in electric stuff from Drilbur later too.

    Influencing our future style doesn't mean restricting ourselves to only that. It just means we like being tricky.
     
    Xaldreca said:
    Do you think we'd notice?

    I don't think we've had a single bond conversation with half of our own class, let alone have any conversation with most of the school.
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    I think if you flash the implication before a bunch of Questers then they will leap onto it like meat tossed to hungry (and perfectly smooth) Carvanha. Atticus mentioned as unusually meek one time? It'd be blood in the water.

    Assuming the bullying doesn't come for us, which is very likely considering Mariana's self confidence issues would make her look like a great target for bullies, I think it's fairly likely we'll come across at least one example of the bullying out in the open at some point.

    Though we should also probably bond with people who aren't Mariana's wife and children eventually.
     
    I saw a sidestory so beautiful I just started crying??

    I obviously want to join on speculation but I need to just sit here and be awed by Tempera's prose for a bit.
     
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    Woah, that was a really good side-story
    Woah.

    Really liked how Scarlet was characterized and the glimpses towards the other characters as well. And Any% yuri speedrun !
     
    Tempera said:
    The girl blinks, bewildered. "My… pendant?" Scarlet doesn't confirm or deny it. "A friend gave this to me… but, I guess that's fair. A secret for a treasure, huh?"
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    Oh, jeez, I wonder who could've given that to her. There are so many options on who'd be close enough to Nemona to give her a special pendant... ok well that's about three people including us, but I choose to believe that this is Mariana's gift. Just to twist that dagger.
    Tempera said:
    The two girl's eyes meet, and a field of pink lilies blooms around them.
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    Mariana, in the distance: heart-crushing depression
    SolarGemX said:
    heres hoping she doesnt gravitate towards the "Treasures" of Ruin (yeah fat chance of that, no bet that whatever evil org in Paldea is after them and we are gonna end up fighting at least one. Chien-Pao for Elise and the lava goldfish for us if we somehow get the chance to catch one)
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    Perfect opportunity for Mariana and Scarlet to clash. It's going to be hilarious. We just spent all summer checking and keeping an eye on the seals, maybe even making sure one of them stays sealed, and then this fucking first-year who won Nemona's attention and heart over the course of about thirty minutes starts poking around our sacred duties. Perfect opportunity for Mariana to have a "justified" reason to get mad at Scarlet.
     
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