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ohthehypocrisy · 2 years ago

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Chandelure for Pokemon Unite! (obsolete draft)

Chandelure is officially in Pokemon Unite!

Having been released today, Chandelure comes onto the scene as another ranged Attacker. However, it is the 3rd Pokemon added to Unite hailing from Gen 5, giving Zoroark and Crustle some much needed company.

Now, I could take an in-depth look at its moves and potential, but that’s for me to experience when I boot up the game later today. Instead, what I’m going to do is reveal to all of you the original draft I had in mind for my own version of Chandelure in Pokemon Unite.

With how popular some pokemon are, it was bound to happen that a moveset I’ve had sitting in my draft would become obsolete with the official game putting in the pokemon proper. And so, for the first time, here’s the original draft of Chandelure for Pokemon Unite!

Since this is my first time doing one of these posts, here’s something to keep in mind as you read along The entirety of the original draft will be italicized, but I will be explaining my thoughts in bold.

I also will not be comparing the draft to the official moveset, as the draft could have changed at any point during the project, so there’s no reason for me to go over what I probably would have changed. In fact, my Torterra post was going to be an All-Rounder until I changed it to a Defender at the last minute, which just goes to show how much a moveset can fluctuate before I even publish the post.

One last thing. I was in fact going to make Chandelure an Attacker given its stats. I usually have the screencaps of the BST ready when it’s time to post, so I don’t have an easy image for you to look at. Just go to Smogon and check out its BST and movepool.

Basic Attack - Ranged/Sp. Atk

Becomes a boosted attack after three hits. The boosted attack launches a fireball that leaves behind a flaming wisp. The wisp explodes and deals damage to enemies that touch it.

I hate having Basic Attacks that don’t do anything. They have to synergize with the pokemon’s whole moveset and contribute to the pokemon’s ability to deal damage. Since all ranged basic attacks are homing, this makes the boosted basic attack deal damage a total of two times. By leaving a volatile wisp on the ground after dealing damage, it zones out the enemy and forces a retreat. This is why the basic attack was planned to become boosted after 3 hits instead of 2.

With X Attack and a bunch of Red emblems, Chandelure was going to cover the enemy’s territory with explosive fire balls and create an offensive push for itself and its team. Only Bulky All-Rounders and Defenders would have the ability to push back, which would have limited Chandelure’s effectiveness. A reliable Supporter that could heal could also stifle your push, which would’ve made Chandelure a difficult but not impossible pokemon to fend off with good teammates.

Ability: Flash Fire

When the pokemon collects the flaming wisp left behind by its moves and basic attacks, the power of those attacks deal more damage. If the moves are on cooldown, it reduces the cooldown by 0.5 seconds.

While the official Chandelure release uses Infiltrator, I wanted to go with Flash Fire and make it a sort of power up ability that combos with its moves and basic attacks. The flaming wisps left behind by your basic attack are meant to explode when enemies get near, but you could also consume them to power up your moves.

The way this was planned to work was that, by walking over the flaming wisps, your moves would get powered up, which would show up on the HUD with a wisp counter hovering over your Move Icons. The higher the counter, the more damage you would deal if the move was used. This meant that you had to build up a bit of a reserve to deal high damage, but that was how I was planning to balance out something with base 145 Sp. Attack.

Alternatively, if the move was on cooldown, consuming a wisp would have the cooldown of the move reduced by 0.5 seconds. Since a move can produce flaming wisps that could be consumed immediately afterwards, you can drastically manipulate the cooldown of your moves very easily, although you would sacrifice a lot of power to keep that firepower up. This is where the other half of the skill coin would come into play, as Chandelure as I’ve built it wasn’t going to be very agile, meaning you couldn’t rely on either strategy to get the most damage out of your gameplay.

Move 1: Confuse Ray

The pokemon casts a wary light from its flame, damaging enemies and forcing them to move away. 9s cooldown.

Confuse Ray as a starting move was meant to make it easier for Litwick to farm and steal EXP from its enemies. It blasted enemies with light that would force them to walk in the opposite direction, but it only had 9 seconds of cooldown to work with. This means that, when you use it to steal farm or to make a retreat, you cannot afford to miss.

I also hadn’t yet worked out the specifics of Confuse Ray’s ability to incapacitate the enemy. No specs or numbers, that was all going to be worked out when it was time to finalize the draft.

Move 2: Will-o-wisp

Three fire balls are launched as one projectile, dealing damage to an enemy. On hit, three wisps are left behind on the ground. 5s cooldown.

By working together with Flash Fire, Will-O-Wisp would launch and drop 3 fire balls to hit the enemy with and for you to consume later on. If the hit was close enough, you could eat all three wisps and reduce the cooldown of Will-O-Wisp itself down by 1.5 seconds, making it an extremely fast move to use.

Since you have two moves, the effects of Flash Fire would work on both of them, even if one were to be on cooldown and the other could then be powered up. This makes those little fire balls extremely important to your playstyle, which is also what the player learns right away as they try to optimize their early game as Litwick.

Move 1a: Shadow Ball

The pokemon launches a black orb that reduces the defense of all enemies on hit as well as forcing them to move in the direction of the attack. 8s cooldown.

This is one of those moves that was going to be fleshed out when the draft was going to be finalized. It started out as a direct upgrade to Confuse Ray, but was then going to gain additional effects. Alternatively, if I had the precise hindrance effects of Confuse Ray down pat, Shadow Ball was going to be a much more extreme version of that move. Probably something to the effects of, walk away for 3 seconds or something like that.

This happens sometimes, when I’m working on a draft and one move option is just straight up better than the other. I try to avoid it, but some of my movesets end up having this anyway. Then again, this happens in Pokemon Unite as well, so it’s not a dealbreaker for anyone, as far as I’m concerned.

Move 1b: Poltergeist

The pokemon throws a chain into the air in the designated direction. The pokemon then moves to that area and floats in the air. While floating, the pokemon cannot be damaged or targeted by attacks. The pokemon can attack by using its basic attack, which are always boosted, and with its moves. When the move ends, the pokemon falls to the ground, dealing damage with a shock wave upon landing. 9.5s cooldown.

Since all pokemon have differing physiology, some of them use moves in drastically different ways than others. You know, like how Blastoise used to use its cannons to fire two pumps of water instead of one, which was only a visual difference but it was still cool as heck.

I employed that same method to Chandelure since I wanted to bring out the pokemon’s personality and unique characteristics through its moves. It would possess an actual chandelier and start throwing fire wisps in the area all around it. It was also completely invincible while it was doing this, so the only way to deal with Chandelure was to just run away or take a detour.

Yeah, compared to Shadow Ball, this was going to be a much more effective move. Both of these moves operate as upgrades to Confuse Ray so the idea was to grant Chandelure some way to escape damage with its moves while also maintaining some offensive pressure. If I had worked on this draft some more, Shadow Ball would’ve been a keep away projectile while this move had you zone off an area with your reckless fire bombs being thrown everywhere. But hey, since Chandelure is an official pokemon in Unite now, I can reuse this idea for another contender.

Move 2a: Inferno

A ring of wisps forms at the designated area. When the ring completes, a massive pillar of fire erupts, dealing massive damage to any enemy caught in the attack. 10s cooldown.

First off, I don’t usually do upgrades until I start working more on the draft. I try to build a cohesive moveset before I start figuring out how an upgrade would improve the pokemon’s potential. That’s why none of these moves have any upgrades listed, they were going to be written once the post was going to be finalized.

Inferno and Overheat exemplify Chandelure’s terrifyingly high Sp. Attack by not only threatening with high damage, but also what you’re able to follow up with. Inferno has a bit of a delay as the move had to generate the fire wisps first. If the enemy reacts fast enough, they can actually dash out of the area of damage before the attack is launched. What gets left behind, though, is a full ring of wisps that you can then consume to activate Flash Fire. This would reduce the cooldown of Inferno itself and power up your other move if it’s available. It sort of gives Chandelure a pseudo Defender role, but truth be told, any Attacker can be a Defender if you hit so hard the enemy would do everything they can to avoid being hit.

Move 2b: Overheat

A powerful concentration of fire is launched in the designated direction. On hit with an enemy or wall, the projectile explodes into an eruption of fire, damaging all enemies caught in the explosion and throwing a random numbers of wisps everywhere. 11s cooldown.

Inferno operates with inspiration from its extremely low accuracy as a move. The high delay is meant to benefit you no matter if the enemy is damaged greatly by the move or moves far away enough where you can then consume the fire wisps and power yourself up. Overheat is a much more accurate version of Inferno where you aim and fire and, even if you were to miss, the explosion leaves behind many wisps for you to consume or for the enemy to trip and damage themselves with.

Inferno was going to produce more wisps for you to consume, but Overheat provides immediate power and covers a wide range, which is why it has more cooldown and produces less wisps. While both moves are similar, both have their own advantages and faults to consider when choosing. One isn’t any better than the other, and requires careful thinking in order to be most effective against the composition of the opposing team.

I like making balanced moves like this, which makes it all the more fun to visual playing this specific moveset in Unite, which is why I’ve been running this series for as long as I have. That said, I cannot harp on the Pokemon Unite devs for their own version of Chandelure, as it’s really up to them on what pokemon to add and what moves they run. If I could make my own game, I would. But I can’t which is why I do this instead.

Unite Move: Burn Out Blast

The pokemon’s body starts glowing and the flames in its body and the flaming wisps starts glowing brightly. Inferno or Overheat have their cooldowns reset and have their cooldowns halved on use, and the pokemon’s basic attack becomes boosted for the duration of the move. At the end, or when the move is used again, the pokemon reels back and launches an intense beam of fire directly forward, greatly damaging any enemy caught in the attack. The damage of this beam increases the more wisps were collected to power up Flash Fire.

This crazy idea of a Unite Move was basically meant to kick Flash Fire into overdrive. It takes everything you know about Flash Fire power management and tests you on the spot, as the best way to maximize Burn Out Blast’s damage output was to collect wisps as if it were Easter Sunday.

With the cooldown of Overheat and Inferno reset and halved upon use as well as your basic attack becoming boosted for the duration of the Unite Move, I was probably going to go overboard with this buff. Yeah, Burn Out Blast turns you into a walking incinerator, but you don’t get any defensive boosts barring Buddy Barrier and Chandelure has no Sustain or mobility options to avoid taking excessive damage, which is how I was hoping the Unite Move was going to be balanced out. Also, if you wiped out the enemy team, you’d be very disappointed that they were all gone when it comes time to launch the final laser blast.

Speaking of which, I’m not surprised that I was kind of close with this Unite Move compared to the official one. If you haven’t noticed, a lot of Pokemon Unite’s animations recycles certain motions from Pokken Tournament, which Chandelure was in. It’s most noticeable when playing Garchomp, as they like to save time and money on models whenever they can. I kind of had the same idea, with moves like Poltergeist and Overheat looking really similar in my head.

One last thing to note, Holowear and Strategy are written up after the draft is finalized, which is why there’s nothing here at the end of the post. If I had gone far enough to make Holowear, I’d have come up with stuff like Spooky Style or Punk Style or even Aeronaught Style.

Also, if you’re wondering why I’ve always included Holowear in every post, it’s because I believe Pokemon Unite should get most of its income from Holowear and not from short limiting the releases of brand new Licenses when a new pokemon drops. In fact, I think Pokemon should be free, because that’s how you get people to play these new pokemon enough that they can be tested and enjoyed by everyone. I understand limiting the release to keep noobs from ruining Ranked with a brand new pokemon they don’t know how to play, and I like that they have started giving out rentals for these new releases so that we can screw up Quick Battles to no consequence.

But if Pokemon Unite wants our money, it has to be for things that we actually want, which is the ability to express ourselves as we see fit. The money it cost to put in a pokemon into Unite can be offset by having loads of Holowear available to buy right away upon release. If you have enough pokemon available, you can start investing in sets. If I wasn’t so put-off from spending money, I’d love to buy the entire Chef set for all the pokemon that has the Holowear available to them, but some people can’t because you aren’t allowed to buy Holowear for Licenses you don’t own.

Just my two cents.

That about does it for the post. I mentioned in a previous post that some pokemon were leaked, 2 of which were sitting in my drafts. Well, Chandelure was one, and if you’ve been keeping up with the news of leaks, you’d know who the other one is, but I’d like to keep this blog spoiler friendly until the announcement is official.

For now, just stick around and enjoy my polls until Season 3 starts, which is pretty far away. Just have patience.

See ya later.

#Chandelure #Lampent #Litwick #Pokemon Unite

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365days365movies · 4 years ago

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January 12, 2021: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) (Part 1)

Hey, uh...

I can’t remember if I’ve seen this movie or not.

OK, HEAR ME OUT HERE. I was 9 years old when this movie came out in the USA, and I vividly remember the buzz around this movie when it came out in theaters. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, for those of you who don’t know, is the movie that really introduced wuxia to the United States in the modern century. Directed by Ang Lee - y’know, this guy...

...buuuuuuuuuut, also this guy...

AND YET, still this guy...

- this movie has won a HELL of a lot of awards, and was the critical darling of 2000. And again, I know some of you Tumblrites (goddamn Zoomers DO YOU EVEN REMEMBER NICKELODEON ORANGE AS A COLOR??? Kidding, by the way, y’all are cool) may not be old enough to remember that time, but lemme tell you: this movie was a Mandarin-language movie nominated for Best Picture. Not just Best Foreign Language Film (which it WON), but BEST. PICTURE. Trust me. It was a big deal at the time.

The film actually did win Best Original Score, Best Art Direction, and Best Cinematography. And as I watch this, I’m going to be remembering both the time period it came out in, and the film that actually won Best Picture that year. What won Best Picture that year, you ask? Well...

Yeah. But is CTHD better or worse than Gladiator? Well, that’s what I’m gonna try to figure out, as well as whether or not 9-year-old me saw this movie already. I don’t think so, so that’s why I’m watching it now.

So LET’S GO BACK TO THE YEAR 2000, PEOPLE! We just got over that whole Y2K thing (only for the ILOVEYOU virus to pop up), the election was TOTALLY NORMAL (that’s a joke, it...it was not), AOL was the most successful internet company ever (HA! Classic. And Ask Jeeves is gonna last forever, I’m sure), and the below movie would win Best Makeup at the Oscars.

Yeah. Yeah, that’s an Academy Award-winning movie. How the hell does THAT make you feel? Makes me feel conflicted, I tell you what. ANYWAY MOVIE TIME SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Recap

Li Mu Bai (Chow Yun Fat, the man himself), a member of the Wudang sect of swordsmen, is retiring. He goes to his old friend (and maybe more), and leader of a private security group, Yu Shu Lien (Michelle Yeoh), who asks her to deliver his personal sword, Green Destiny. Shu Lien goes to Beijing to deliver the sword to an ally of theirs, Sir Te (Sihung Lung), while Mu Bai goes to the grave of his master, who was killed by an assassin named Jade Fox.

In Beijing, Sir Te and Shu Lien talk about the whole “more than friends” thing between her and Mu Bai, and they go to store the sword in a study. There, Sir Te’s granddaughter, Jen (Zhang Ziyi), speaks to Shu Lien about the sword, and about the nature of swordsmanship. This serves an introduction into the world of wuxia swordmanship...and I am GODDAMN HOOKED IN

So is Jen, it would seem, as she speaks with admiration about the freedom that comes with the Way of the Sword (which is distinctly different from the Way of Sarah (Blessed Be Her Fall)). See, Jen’s about to get married, in that arranged way, and she’s not a fan of the whole marriage thing. I get the feeling that she’s planning on doing something about that.

But no time for existential crises now! Someone’s trying to steal Green Destiny! A ninja sneaks in and succeeds in stealing it, but Shu Lien attempts to stop them. However, the thief is trained in Wudan, much to Shu Lien’s surprise. A rooftop chase occurs, giving us the first display of the rampant wire work and loose physics characteristic of this genre, and GODDAMN IT FUCK YE-NO

Keep it together, man, you gotta treat this film critically and seriously, not like an excited little kid watch some kickass martial arts shit. Even though this fight scene is AWESOME, holy shit...

The thief succeeds, but only because a second assailant appears with a dart, distracting Shu Lien. In the morning, the night guard says it was someone from Governor Yu’s household. In the street, the attacker is believed to be the mysterious Jade Fox, who would covet the sword of the man she killed so long ago. Ugh, this movie already rules so hard. Anyway, Shu Lien comes to see Jen again, who’s currently writing calligraphy.

Shu Lien comments that calligraphy writing is similar to swordsmanship. Jen quickly notes that she wouldn’t know. She expounds again on her regrets on marriage, and Shu Lien explains that she was engaged to a fellow swordsman who died. And although Shu Lien and Li Mu Bai love each other, they both feel bound to their fallen friend, and do not act on their feelings. Oh my God, I’m digging this fated romance shit SO HARD

NO. Professionalism. Breathe...focus on the year 2000...Napster...Survivor and Fear Factor...Harry Potter...Pokemon the Movie 2000...Pokemon the Movie 2000: The Power of One...

...Whew. OK. Back to CTHD.

Jen rests in her home, while two people spy on the...Yus. Wait, Jen’s name is...Yu Jen. Um...it’s her. The ninja is Jen. You couldn’t see it in the GIFS, but the ninja could easily be a woman, no question. It’s totally Jen, acting on her desire to be a true swordsperson. I mean, look at her stare at that sword earlier in the movie. Calling it now, it’s her. But...who threw the dart from the rooftop?

Looks like it’s Jade Fox, as a man from earlier explains. See, he’s a police chief from another area, looking for Jade Fox. He believes that she’s somehow infiltrated the Yu household, possibly arriving with them to Beijing. Jade Fox killed the policeman’s wife, making this personal. Together, the policeman Tsai (Wang Deming) and the Night Guard Bo (Gao Xi’an) team up to find her.

They aren’t the only ones, as Li Mu Bai just arrived to Beijing to talk with Shu Lien, and finds out that Jade Fox ha returned. Remember, Jade Fox killed his master, so he has some stakes in this. Meanwhile that night, Tsai and Bo (Team Law) meet Jade Fox, AKA...Jen’s governess! NICE.

Jade Fox (Cheng Pei-pei) fights the...wait...wait WHAT DID I JUST TYPE???

CHENG PEI-PEI FROM COME DRINK WITH ME IS THE VILLAIN OF THIS MOVIE???

And now Chow Yun Fat is fighting one of the first wuxia film stars? OH MY GOD

Chow Yun Fat’s about to kill her to avenge his master, and then the mysterious ninja (AKA probably Yu Jen) saves her from him. The two of them fight, and Jade Fox kills Tsai just before they escape using a streamer HOOOOOOOO IT’S REAL HARD STAYING PROFESSIONAL RIGHT NOW

The next morning, though, Yu Jen learns more about Jade’s crimes, and expresses guilt about taking Green Destiny. Additionally, Shu Lien claims to know who the culprit is, and threatens them with punishment unless the sword is returned. Essentially confirming my suspicions, the ninja returns that night to put the sword back, and Mu Bai is waiting there for her.

Yet another physics-defying rooftop chase occurs, although this one is less frought. They actually refer to the gliding technique as “flying,” and as a technique of Wudan. Interesting, engaging, cinematical, movielian, I love it. I need more of it, MORE PLEASE.

Looks like I might get what I want. Mu Bai offers to be Jen’s teacher, as he sees great potential in her. But she shuns the ways of Wudan, allows Mu Bai to take back Green Destiny, and returns to Jade Fox. Jade Fox is trained as a Giang Hu fighter, a more brutal lifestyle.

And yet, Jen isn’t really into that either. Turns out that she’s been studying the Wudan manual on her own, and has EFFORTLESSLY surpassed her illiterate former master. With nothing left to teach her, Jade Fox leaves with a veiled threat.

The next night, a man visits Jen, and they embrace passionately. He’s a bandit from the Gobi Desert named Lo, AKA Dark Cloud (Chang Chen), and the two met when his gang ambushed her caravan travelling through the desert. He stle her comb, and this girl just GETS ON A HORSE, GRABS A BOW AND ARROW, and HUNTS HIM DOWN LIKE A DOG FOR THAT COMB. She faces down the gang of bandits, and Dark Cloud leads her away, gives her water, and she KICKS HIS ASS!! But she asses out from exhaustion, and he takes her back to his Cave of Wonders.

He cares for her, and as soon as she regains her strength, she just knocks him out. Cold-blooded, goddamn. But she gets lost in the desert, and passes out again. Lo brings her BACK to the Cave of Wonders, and cares for her AGAIN. My dude is a PRINCE. I mean, he’s a thief and probably a murderer, and definitely a bad person, BUT NEVER MIND THAT FOR NOW.

As you probably guessed, Stockholm/Lima Syndromes set in, and the two fall in love...like you do?

But Jen’s nobleman father is looing for her, making trouble for Lo and his people. He vows to go legit and make himself worthy for her love in her father’s eyes. He tells a story of a boy who leapt off a mountain to save his parents. A literal leap of faith. In their last night together, she gives him the comb that brought them together, saying to give it back when they’re together again.

But now...Jen’s fated to marry, and it can’t be avoided. Lo gives the comb back to her, as she tells him to leave. And I...I need a break. If I don’t take a five minute break, Imma explode from how much I love this goddamn movie.

PART 2 COMING IN A FEW!!!

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stars-hearts-gems · 5 years ago

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Into the tall grass! 🌿💕

(Postwick/hpyu/angst/cute/etc...)

Synopsis: Gloria is nursing a crush on her neighbor, friend and fellow Pokemon trainer Hop, and she’s thinking about telling him how she feels. But the pair run into a spot of trouble in the tall grass, and Hop gets injured. Sparks fly when Gloria nurses him back to health.

The heavy air smelled of petrichor as Gloria and Hop left the train station and ran toward Postwick. Thunder rolled as the storm distanced itself from the town dotted with puddles, which the pair dodged and jumped as they headed home, drenched to the skin after a fast and furious rain.

Gloria pushed her damp bangs out of her eyes as she worked her legs hard to keep up with Hop, whose height lent him an advantage on speed. She wore her pink shirtdress and boots for the day’s exploration of the Wild Area, and her bare legs were spattered with mud from dashing across the wet ground.

“Didn’t expect we’d have to leg it home today, or else I’d have worn something a little... better,” she grumbled, conscious of how her short skirt flapped in the wind. “Jeans, I mean.”

Hop looked over his shoulder at her and slowed, realizing how far behind she’d fallen.

“Does this mean I win? Seems like no contest!” crowed Hop.

“We weren’t even racing!” said Gloria, annoyed. “Not everything is a competition, Hop.” The two slowed to a stop near a patch of tall grass, where Gloria bent down to retie the flapping laces of her boots.

"Nearly home,” Hop said bracingly. “Do you want to come over my place tonight? I have that match of Lee’s recorded, we could watch it together!”

These words sent a tingle through Gloria’s body, as if she’d grabbed a bit of metal electrified in the storm. “Yeah, that sounds great,” she said, looking up at him from where she knelt.

“Cool! Mum’s making her veggie lasagna, I know you love that,” Hop replied casually. Gloria straightened up to look at him, a little hopeful he might say something more.

But Hop’s attention was suddenly diverted -- the grass next to them twitched.

“Aw, is that -- ?” Hop breathed. “No way, Gloria, hold on! I thought I saw a Hoothoot -- I’m still missing one of those.” And off he dashed into the grass. Thunder rumbled again as Gloria squinted at the place where Hop had disappeared, the grass flowing smoothly in the breeze.

“Only be a minute!” Hop’s disembodied voice called.

Gloria sighed, waiting. Sometimes Hop would say things that made her think he liked her -- like, he properly fancied her -- but then off he’d run, as if he had felt none of the surge of feelings she just had. Did he just say these things, things that indicated he enjoyed her company and paid attention to her preferences, and not think twice? How thick! Or, an even worse scenario -- was it possible he knew she liked him, yet he acted indifferent because he didn’t feel the same way? Gloria didn’t think she could bear hearing him tell her that painful truth, so she had tried to never let on to Hop that she liked him more than just as a friend. But she also sometimes felt like her heart would explode with longing for him to like her back. Maybe, tonight, she could try...

A sudden yell broke her out of her reverie. It was followed by an even louder cry from a wild Pokemon. A horrible sound, fierce and gutteral -- not at all like the sound of a Hoothoot. A startled flock of Rookidee took flight from the grass.

“Hop? Hop?” Gloria called, peering nervously at the tall grass, but seeing nothing. “Are you alright?” She dashed forward, feverishly pushing aside plant matter. The tall grass grew higher than her head in places, obscuring her way forward, but a flattened trail showed her where Hop had been.

Bursting out of the vegetation, Gloria found herself in a clearing of flattened grass. It had clearly made by something large that had thrashed about before it ran off. Hop leaned against a rocky outcropping to the side of the open area, clutching his arm.

“My God, Gloria, are you okay? It didn’t get you, too?” Hop asked.

“I’m fine! What happened to you?”

“Wild Mamoswine!” exhaled Hop, looking shaken, but excited. “Here! I can’t believe it...”

“What? That doesn’t make any sense! What would a Mamoswine be doing here?”

“No clue! I was about to catch that Hoothoot when it came charging in. It scared off the Hoothoot and next I know it, its coming for me! It was totally cheesed off, just running around the place like mad. I tried to get out of the way, but it got me with a tusk, see...”

He pulled his left hand aside to reveal a long graze from the tusk on his outer right forearm.

“Oh, no!” Gloria moved closer to examine it, carefully taking hold his elbow and moving aside the torn sleeve. Hop winced. “We’ve got to go take care of this,” she said. “No telling what kind of an infection you can get from a Mamoswine tusk. Who knows where they’ve been.”

Hop chuckled softly, shouldering his bag with his natural bravado, though Gloria noticed he was careful to avoid brushing his injury. “What, you don’t think it’d be wise to go after that angry thing?” he said. “You don’t think I could catch it?” Hop rolled his eyes in what was clearly meant to be exasperation, but he was smiling broadly. “Come on, Gloria, have you no faith in me?” Gloria smiled, albeit a little stiffly, at Hop’s lighthearted approach to danger.

“Nah, you know I’m not serious,” he said, noticing her pained expression. “Let’s get out of here. I would love to catch a Mamoswine, but I know when I’m outmatched.”

Gloria led the way out of the clearing and back through the tall grass, Hop following close behind. The two made their way up the road and over the bridge, heading for Hop’s house. The thunder had subsided now, and their clothes were well on their way to being dry. Evening had come, and a few rays from a setting sun had begun to stream through the cloud cover, giving the landscape a weird, ethereal glow.

Gloria glanced over at Hop as they walked, and he shot back a reassuring smile. The feelings she had been contemplating before Hop’s brush with danger had returned, it seemed, tenfold. The way the sun’s rays lit up Postwick like it was their own magic kingdom, the air full of the smell of rain and soil... it was so wonderful. Her throat tightened and her heartbeat quickened as she fought back an urge -- a wild, inappropriate, terrible, wonderful urge -- to reach for Hop’s hand.

“Hey, are you any good at first aid?” Hop asked as they approached his front door, again drawing Gloria’s attention away from her internal battle. “My mum is probably going to go bonkers if she sees this. No, never mind Mum, it’s my Gran who will never let me out of the house again if she knows what happened. Let’s go upstairs first and fix me up, then come down for dinner.”

Gloria agreed, and Hop whipped open the front door. “Hey Mum, it’s me! Gloria’s here too!” he called, running for the stairs and taking them two at a time, Gloria close behind. “We’re just going to wash up, be down for dinner soon!”

They scampered upstairs, past Hop’s grandparents, who were reading in the living room, breathing in the delicious smell of lasagna cooking. Hop’s mom, Moira, had the oven light on and was in a crouch, frowning at the baking dish therein. “15 minutes!” she called back.

Upstairs, Gloria found stick-on bandages, hydrogen peroxide, and cotton balls in the medicine cabinet of the bathroom Hop shared with his brother, Galar Champion Leon. She had him take off his jacket (”Real shame about that sleeve,” Hop said. “I love this jacket.”) and they both sat on the edge of the tub.

Gingerly, she took his arm again and inspected the wound. It had bled pretty profusely on their walk home, and was a little deeper than she had originally estimated out on the route.

“I’m really sorry, but this is going to hurt,” she said, inverting the bottle of hydrogen peroxide over a cotton ball. Hop nodded, “Don’t worry about it, and thanks for helping me,” he said softly. As soon as the peroxide touched his arm, Hop gave a quick intake of breath. But he didn’t pull away. Gloria gently dabbed the disinfectant the length of the cut, and used another cotton ball dampened with water to wipe away the blood. Then, grabbing the box of bandages, she began applying them one by one, whispering “sorry!” each time she accidentally pulled one of his arm hairs, until the entire cut was covered.

Gloria had expected Hop to crack a joke or prattle on about the match of Leon’s they were planning to watch later on while this was happening, but he was quiet as she worked. With the last bandage pressed gently on, Gloria set the box aside and looked up. Their eyes met for a long moment. Hop smiled, suddenly looking awkward. “Thanks, mate, I owe you one,” he said, flexing his arm as if to prove it still functioned. But he didn’t move from the tub’s edge. Gloria found that she couldn’t say anything for a moment. Her heart was in her throat.

“Oh, it was nothing...” she croaked. Still so casual... He doesn’t feel the same way, she thought.

Hop’s eyebrows furrowed into a look of concern. He blinked a couple times. Then, he put his hand on her shoulder. “No, I’m serious,” he said. “Gloria...” Gloria’s heart pounded ever harder, and she breathed in sharply. Hop’s hand moved from her shoulder and paused on her elbow. Then, he moved his hand over hers, which she had resting on her knee. His face wore an uncharacteristically serious expression. Barely daring to breathe, Gloria grasped Hop’s hand. “Gloria, I’ve been wondering,” Hop said quietly, “if you might see me as... ha, I don’t know, this might be silly, but -- if you might see me as... more than just your friend? I mean, not, like, in a weird way, I just, you know, I really like you...and I thought ... well--”

He cut off as Gloria leaned in to kiss him. The kiss was chaste and quick, but not without passion. As she pulled back, Gloria’s brown eyes stayed locked on Hop’s gold ones, and both were grinning in a weird, sideways way. Neither seemed to know quite what to say, but were spared the need to make further conversation by Hop’s mum’s call: dinner was ready.

Gloria and Hop stood up, Gloria giggling a little to herself. A wide smile crossed Hop’s face as he bounded across the room and quickly rummaged in a drawer for another long-sleeve overshirt to hide his healing arm.

Each was still smiling as they headed downstairs to seat themselves at the table. As she dished herself up some lasagna, Gloria hoped none of the grandparents would ask what they were grinning about.

<3 oof, I love them! ❤️

Hope you enjoyed :)

XO, Esme

#pokemon swsh #pokemon hop #pokemon fanfiction #pokemon gloria #pokemon #my writing #swsh #rival hop #postwickshipping

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cloudbatcave · 4 years ago

Text

Cloud Plays White: Finale

This is a long one, folks, since I realized I had a bit in my notes I had forgotten about and only found after I posted this, lol, so I have now edited it in.

when we last left off I was criticizing Alder for being useless in apprehending Ghetsis and Iris for not just taking me to Drayden’s house herself when it is Right Fucking There.

So I’m still futzing around Opelucid here.

“No way, without pokemon, I’ll be lonely and sad! …but am I just using my pokemon, then?”

wow, seems there’s some brain cells there after all. you keep exercising those, brah.

I run into a guy who thinks that it’s okay for team plasma to take pokemon from weak trainers, even though he considers himself one and feels bad for the people they rob.

There’s another dude in the same room who used to be part of team plasma but left because it was weird for him that everyone thought the same way.

See, I appreciate this part of the game’s writing - I wish there was more stuff like this, people who are conflicted and their viewpoints being front and center instead of the simplistic garbage we’re fed by Iris and Alder and company.

Though there’s an absolute nut job who says that despite the years he’s trained with his pokemon he’ll let it go if it makes it a perfect being and I am just not even gonna unpack all the lunacy there.

There’s a kid who thinks that just because N has the legendary pokemon, he must be the hero.

I am very concerned about everyone in Unova being so gullible.

“Your Scrafty looks like it can try a little harder.”

WELL FUCK YOU TOO RANDOM LADY??? LAD DOES HIS BEST AND I WILL NOT HAVE HIM SLANDERED THIS WAY

I finally go to Drayden’s and get told how the original dragon performed mitosis and now we have two dragons and also they once destroyed the region with fire and lightning but it’s chill.

“People may hurt pokemon even more by imposing their selfish thoughts on them. But no matter what, Pokemon and people believe in each other, need each other, and will continue to live together…”

Drayden is smarter and more nuanced than like, anyone else, why is he not a main character.

Iris chips in about how much she can’t forgive Plasma and Drayden mentions they don’t know how to wake up Zekrom.

Well, to be fair, I’d be very surprised if they did.

Off to the gym, this’ll be interesting since I have no ice or dragon moves on my team.

I get through the trainers okay, now time to fight Daffodil.

Her Haxorus was a bit tricky but nothing I couldn’t handle, and when I walk out Juniper shows up.

And somehow she knows how to resurrect Zekrom. Cool!

She blahs about how it’ll wake up when it deems someone worthy and talks about how much I’ve changed and shows me to the gate where the route to the pokemon league is.

“Chirae? Do you regret setting out on your pokemon journey?”

UH.

MAYBE?

mmm, that’s not fair to my pokemon though - nigh everyone around me may be looney tunes or incompetent, but they’ve been good pals.

So I hit “no” after all.

and she gives me a master ball. dope.

I make it to the gates of victory road and I honestly really like the bit where each section of them is themed after the badges! That’s a nice touch, I think that was only also done in the FRLG remakes if I recall correctly. It makes it feel a lot more ceremonious and important.

Ah here come my two idiots.

Bianca asks Cheren to smile and he’d probably implode if he did. He finally isn’t an asshole though, good for him.

The bug badge guard tells me to “fight valiantly like an insect” which is funny but I guess does make sense. Ants can fuck some stuff up, man.

Honestly I want to be a badge gate guard, seems like a fun job.

Also, I caught an excadrill in a raid the day I wrote this, and caught an excadrill in this game. Their pokedex entry includes this gem:

“Their tunnels can be destructive to subway systems”

Given the battle subway exists in this game, their insurance payments must be obscene. Imagine getting your match interrupted by a giant mole with metal fists that doesn’t give a fuck.

I named her Beans. She looks like a Beans.

I also caught a Deino. The Irate Pokémon that can’t see and tackles people to learn about its surroundings. I feel a kinship with this creature.

I named him Mezzo for laughs.

And I managed to get myself back to the beginning of victory road. Good job, cloud.

Okay I think I’ve found the right path, found a new dude to beat up which is a good sign. Apparently he’s lost too.

Love when a trainer switches out to a Pokémon mine doesn’t have a type advantage against and it gets wiped in two hits anyway. Death is inevitable.

“I’ve thought about what I can do to help my Pokémon win and I finally figured out the answer!”

Is it git gud?

Flame charge raises my speed, opponent’s klang uses automotize to prove it can do that too, dies because it’s too busy trying to go fast.

Then I get nailed by a flare blitz. Darmanitan is toxic to gen 5 nuzlocke runs, I swear. Especially since I have no one on my hodgepodge team resistant to fire. At least my unfezant is faster.

“Read what your opponent wants to do. Your opponent is human and may change plans from moment to moment. Be careful!”

There’s some meta joke to be made there but I’m not thinking of anything witty. Something something AI having a point even if not in this context.

Back to the beginning again but I think I know what I need to do now.

I looked at a walkthrough to check, tho, lmfao. Was tired of climbing up there only to fall down the wrong spot.

“There’s an item at the bottom! Do you want to slide all the way down?”

You’re the devil talking and you tempt me but I will ignore your silver tongue for now.

So I’m at the league and I thought Cheran would pop out of the bushes before I got here. That’s weird. I could swear he fights me one last time before I challenge the elite four.

NO CHERAN. OKAY. WHAT. IS MY GAME GLITCHED??

I guess not! Huh.

All right then. Time to try and see if I can win with my very unbalanced team.

Lmfao yeah my first attempt against the ghost trainer crashed and burned. Literally, thanks to her Chandelure. Very glad I saved on the outside. TIME TO GO TRAIN MORE.

No Marty, you may not learn wild charge, this is a no recoil moves household, self harm is bad.

Some grinding later, I am ready to try again.

Shauntal gave me a little trouble but was much more manageable. Grimsley was easy, only his Krookodile gave me issues.

I really like the elite four battle areas in this gen, I do admit. Very aesthetic.

Ah shit I know that Musharna is coming.

Never mind, that pink and purple snoozeball went down easy. I didn’t have a single Pokémon faint.

Unless Marshal breaks the trend the fights have actually gotten easier as I went.

He actually was a bit tricky, gave me a good show.

Hello endless stairs, hello N and Alder, hello giant random castle that just explodes out of the ground somehow.

“What has just appeared is team plasma’s castle”

Thanks mate, never would’ve figured that out without you. Why do you need a castle.

Oh wow, the gym leaders finally decided to be useful and fight the sages for me instead of letting extremists wander around unchecked.

Thanks y’all! Trying not being pointless more often!

“Ignoring team plasma...that would be a terrible thing for us gym leaders to do.”

You all already did that, Elena. I watched as Clay and Iris let these assholes go. We could have avoided this whole plot if literally any of you had done more earlier.

So the game says the castle was built by the Pokémon team plasma took but how the fuck did they like...work underground...you know what I’m not gonna even think about it too hard because it makes no sense and I know that. I must make my peace.

I also like how the castle is nonsensical and yet there’s a line of dialogue about how they’ll liberate the Pokémon in PCs too for their Master Plan(TM), which is surprisingly thoughtful. This game is so inconsistent with how much sense its lore makes. It’ll come up with something clever and then wear its underwear on its head the next minute.

“Will you go the Pokémon league?”

Hey what - WHY DID YOU TELEPORT ME HOW CAN YOU DO THAT. DO YOU HAVE AN ABRA OR WHAT

THAT WAS RANDOM

Well at least there’s someone there to randomly teleport me back too.

WHEEEEEE

Hi Reshiram, convenient how that mini fire tornado you made didn’t burn me or N.

Hi Zekrom, convenient how your lightning didn’t hurt us either, you’re a considerate chap

Aight, let’s see if I can catch this bastard

...I did and it only took me like five balls. Okay then.

N gave me a good fight, so there’s that.

Love how Ghetsis’s bouffalant kills itself via recoil from its own move and my scrafty’s rocky helmet.

He gave me a good fight too though.

I do like the ending, despite my issues with how the game presents its message. N is a great character and I appreciate what Nintendo was trying to do with the game’s plot, they just...didn’t really delve into it like they should have.

I’m glad I replayed it. I still have my issues with gen 5 but I see a lot more of its positives now.

We’ll see if I do any post-game content, I have gotten kind of attached to my grump-ass trainersona and his weird team.

#Chirae the mistrustful teen and his pokemon #cloud plays white

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keyofjetwolf · 5 years ago

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GIFTENING Bonus Rounds

For each category, I included a “bonus round” question. YOU GUYS KILLED IT. I loved all the answers, but listed below are some of my particular favourites.

Haruka Tenoh is trapped in the wrong anime! Which would you have her visit next?

I want her to earth shake Kyubey out of existence, please and thank you

My bride is a mermaid. She can relate. :P

i think she would THRIVE in bodacious space pirates. gay teenage space pirates whose job is to dress up, be Dramatic, and rob the wealthy??? that shit is RIGHT up her alley

Hamtaro

Princess Tutu - where the world is finally as dramatic as her

PGSM (and Michiru is trapped with her, for REASONS)

Pokemon because everyone deserves to be happy

Any moe-style series so hijinks can ensue at her being baffled by everyone's ages

1960's Speed Racer

is is this a captcha or something i missed oh god

Free! so she can be indifferent to all the hot men and slightly uncomfortable because she still can't swim.

Stick Haruka in a Gundam!

Dump her in Pretear or one of the Precures! It would be hilarious! She's never in the genre she wants to be!

Revolutionary Girl Utena, so she can be offended by misuse of roses.

Initial D, she will out-drive and out-drift all those guys and steal all their girls.

Evangelion. I would feel bad to watch her suffer, but it would be so, so funny for her to be the comparatively most normal person around.

Yakitake Japan! SO SHE CAN HAVE A SNACK OF DELICIOUS RIDICULOUS BREAD BEFORE THE NEXT INTERDIMENSIONAL ANIME STORM WHISKS HER AWAY.

The Holograms or the Misfits? DISCUSS

Holograms

both? both. BOTH IS GOOD

misfits bc Evil Ladies Hot

Steven and the stevens

Misfits. How dare you make us try to think about anything in our lives.

Both, you mad fool. Those combined songs were the best.

The Misfits, their songs are better

The Misgrams: A group of girls who form a singing telegram start up company, but constantly deliver the telegrams to the wrong people.

kimber & stormer

Neither. Limp Lizards all the way. BROKEN GLASS.

I do not know what these things are

Misfits because guitar motorcycle

The Isle of Misfit Holograms

Holograms is just arguably better

I mean, I’m told the Misfits’ songs are better, but my true answer is the band Kimber and Stormer made in that big gay episode you liveblogged (checks) almost four years ago.

I've no idea what these words mean and I hope this does not make me TOO uncool.

this is about jem, right? right?? im hip i swear

Misfits, because Jasper is a member apparently

I don't know from Jem, but I mean...I certainly prefer holographic material to Glenn Danzig? So I guess there's your answer ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The Stingers

LIMP LIZARDS FOREVER

Senshi Band

You can make me liveblog a full series of any show you want! You also hate me. What do you have me watch?

Pick a GoT rip-off, any GoT rip-off

The Bachelor?

The Bachelor :(

depends on how much i hate you, but....probably the bachelor. quantity AND lack of quality

Critical role, it would take forever

If I were a horrible person who sought only malice? Big Bang Theory. Entire series.

Toddlers and Tiaras

The Mandalorian - Disney would come after you and kill keyofjetwolf just as dead as keyofnik. We would all be very sad, you would have to go through a second round of restoring things to a new tumblr account, and your organizational heart would weep over adding yet another hosting site out of chronological order.

You are liveblogging Eva, and must discuss in full detail Shinji's emotional state at all times.

Hannity & Colmes

The Kardashians. And all of their spin offs. *kisses*

The price is right

the bachelor

Probably something with lots of romance and no friendships. Soap operas are like that, right? My college roommate used to watch General Young Light Restless Hospital of Our Lives (which one had Like and Laura?) And it was torture.

One Piece, because it's over 900 episodes so you could maybe do 10% before you die, also you will hate how the women are treated most of the time.

Fushigi Yuugi. Not only do you hate it but it also comes with you squirming when you admit to watching the whole thing. ;)

Plus belle la vie. It's an ongoing French soap opera that has been airing five days a week since 2004, they're nearing their 4000th episode and there's no end in sight. Imagine all those hours upon hours submerged in French drama, mwahahaha!!

The Bachelor. Or the Bachelorette, maybe - more straight dudes in that.

The Young and the Restless - IT IS THE LIVEBLOG THAT NEVER ENDS. IT WOULD OUTLAST THE INTERNET.

The entirety of the Bachelor franchise.

You can only play one game for the rest of your life. Which game would it be and why?

Kingdom Hearts Complete Collection. A) I love them. B) I beat the system and get like 10 games instead of one.

Gemcraft. This game actually takes a lifetime to finish.

Hatoful Boyfriend. It is the best game ever created. Feel it in your heart.

that's a mean question and you can't make me answer it

Pathfinder, which you could play for the rest of your life and still never finish.

Civ VI , so I can rule the world without leaving my house.

I am legitimately perturbed by this question and refuse to answer it.

Pokemon Go. I would have nothing else, but I would catch them all.

The Elder Scrolls Skyrim: I'll never run out of side-quests.

Mass Effect--it's the only way I'll get full completion.

The dinosaur game on Chrome when the internet doesn't connect because my life is monotonous and it's a welcome relief.

Stardew Valley. Peaceful farmer life and turning my children into doves when I'm bored with them.

Crabs Adjust Humidity

Oh my! A number of things come to mind, not one of them fit for print. Just, you know...*gestures vaguely* sex shit.

I can't even stick to the ones I play now.

This is the worst of all possible things and I refuse to answer.

Monopoly, I hate myself :(

Probably Minecraft! I haven't gotten into it because I know if I start I will NEVER STOP. Who would do things like build a hundred foot tall statue of Mako-chan? A-THAT'D BE ME.

the game. Of LIFE! *shrug emoji*

I don't believe I'll tell you, because I AM a salty little fish and it was HARD to cut that 11th choice off my vote.

Holligay and I are going to be the leads in a new buddy film. What's the premise? How does it end?

Be gay do crimes. Thelma and Louise. Duh. :P

I have no idea but only just surviving disaster is how it ends.

You break down in a small town during a roadtrip- your stay is full of hijinks and ends with you teaching the townsfolk the true meaning of friendship.

Doctor Holligay, Esquire, PhD, renowned Jewish femme of many talents, is assigned one Operative Jet Wolf as her bodyguard on a foreign diplomatic mission/vacation/culinary tour of the world ("same difference, shut up, narrator"). One problem: Operative Wolf needs a bodyguard herself, as the good doctor discovers when in one night her toilet is destroyed ("IT WAS A SECURITY THREAT") and Operative Wolf nearly breaks a leg falling down a small set of stairs ("THEY PUT A CLIFF OUTSIDE THE DOOR"). Worldwide shenanigans ensue as Holligay and Operative Wolf learn the true meaning of friendship, and also how to take care of themselves... by taking care of each other.

I’m not sure about the premise, but DEFINITELY it ends in murder.

Someone posted a major spoiler during one of your liveblogs. The two of you track them down seeking revenge. It turns out it was the original creator of the series trying to stop you. For some reason Holligay is a CGI badger.

It's clearly a buddy cop movie, and like all good buddy cop movies, it ends with Doc almost dying, and you saving her, and slapping her wound in the hospital as the credits roll.

It ends as it began: with Holligay roasting you.

A straight detective and her lesbian partner have to solve the case of the missing cinnamon buns. It ends with nobody getting the guy OR the girl and you drive off into the sunset together, perps behind bars sans cinnamon buns.

I don't know what it's about but I know it will be the only movie that ever existed.

Holligay is the lesbian chief of staff to you somehow being elected President and she's basically running the country while you're the charming face of the administration

Nerd and cowgirl meet at a bar, justifyingly murder some gross dude, go on the run from the law and have a life-changing road trip, on the way Nazis are punched

carrying a delicate object through a forest after your helicopter goes down

Thelma and Louise, but instead of dying, your deaths are clearly faked and you live on a ranch in Montana with your respective spouses and animals. One time a cop comes by the restaurant/bar you joint own with Doc and says, "You look familiar." Doc, in perfect lesbian, answers, "Jet's just got that criminal look, on account of how much she'd love to steal my cheesecake recipe. More pie?"

Queer Eye with a Straight Goy. The two of you do the show but in your own special ways.

Doc Holligay is the wild-west no-nonsense sheriff. Jet Wolf is the all-fun cyberpunk cop from the future. They punch nazis and argue about food. It ends as a tv series ala B99.

Your lives are already a buddy film, don’t get greedy.

Hands and socks. You know how it ends.

See Grumpy Old Men for details. How does it end? Badly.

I can't imagine the premise, but I'm pretty sure the planet explodes.

A Coen Bros film. It ends poorly.

Wait? You're not already living this now?

REI HINO

Sure. Why not?

HINO REI

<3<3<3<3

REI HINO!

Rei who? ;)

REI HINOOOOOOOOO

Plush Is being hugged by Zoisite in your banner.

MINAKO AINO

MAKOTO KINO

The best

SOCKS

MICHIRU KAIOH

It's time tooo.... REI! THAT! HINO!

sponsored by Here! curry

LOVES USAGI LOVES REI LOVES USAGI LOVES REI LOVES USAGI LOVES REI LOVES USAGI LOVES REI LOVES USAGI LOVES REI LOVES USAGI LOVES REI LOVES USAGI LOVES REI LOVES USAGI LOVES REI LOVES USAGI LOVES REI LOVES USAGI LOVES REI [THIS REPEATS A LOT A LOT AND IS GLORIOUS] [...] LOVES USAGI LOVES REI LOVES JETWOLF

(THE REAL ONE)

Isn't how you spell Makoto Kino!

THE REAL ONE™

obviously

IS NOT A RHINO

In conclusion: Rei Hino

Rei Hino is giving this Giftening finger guns

BEAUTIFUL, STUNNING, SHOW-STOPPING, TALENTED, AMAZING, WONDERFUL

Hot stuff, lights my fire, blazes it regularly. I am out of fire jokes.

PASSION FLAME, SAILOR MARS

These hot feelings are C'EEEEEST LAAAAA VIIIIIIE c'mon rei-chan why aren't you singing along

IS THE BEST (I know who I'm talking to)

Ara!

DID DOCTOR HOLLIGAY PHD NOMINATE THE OPTION OF TALKING ABOUT MICHIRU KAIOH FOR 6 HOURS!!

If Hot Pocket were to plan One Last Heist, what do you think would be his objective? What would be Mina's role in his master plan?

Master Hot Pocket seeks BREAD. His friend and loyal companion, Mina-pup, acts as a distraction, as he has learned the humans are easily distracted by cute. While she does her sworn duty as Best Friend and Cutest Goodest Girl, probably with lolling tongue and glee at all the pets she receives, he picks the locks on the newly childproofed pantry, and Master Howard H. Pocket FEASTS AS NO CAT HAS BEFORE.

Every bag of flour in Montana; Mina runs distraction with her adorable puppy eyes

Open every container, leave none unmarked. Mina is the lookout who greets whoever comes and is completely ineffective at her job.

TAKE ALL THE FLOUR. Do it straight from the source: FlourCo Inc. What does a 10-pound cat do with eighty thousand tons of flour? If you can't figure that out, there's a reason he's the brains of this outfit. Mina would obviously be the bumbling lovable distraction to security or other people.

Bread. Mina is The Face who provides distraction to the Keepers of the Bread by walking up to them and being herself. Mina has absolutely no idea that Hot Pocket is using her in this manner because Hot Pocket is that Machiavellian, but Mina is a pocket full of sunshine in canine form and probably would just be happy to help out.

Hot Pocket knows that no mammal of the floor believes in flour anymore. It went away a long time ago. It doesn't exist. But what he also knows is that they're wrong. A lack of opposable thumbs won't hide the truth from him. He'll find the stash, and when he does, he'll stick his paw in it. Mina, with her limited climbing skills, will lick its remains from his claw and prove his discovery. As well as provide a warm place to curl up on for the aftermath of their adventure.

His goal is to sample every edible thing he can get his teeth on. Mina pulls triple duty as step stool, distraction, and scape goat

The Silver Crystal. Mina would play the role of Sailor V.

He is getting ALL THE FLOUR. Mina is a lovable distraction.

Looting all the carbs in the pantry. mina is distraction.

mina's role would be the "dopey" but talented best friend who it looks like HP is going to betray for the sake of the plan but then it all comes together when HP mounts a dramatic rescue. i dunno i'm still in film mode from that last one.

The Holy Bread Locked Within the Cupboard. Mina would be the distraction, but she'd forget what she was supposed to be distracting from and end up leading you to him.

I am the Void. I am the Night. I am the Darkness with no hope of dawn. The Flour trembles before me in it's bleached fluffiness. It shall not escape my chaos, which will descend upon it like the Terrors of the Deep, claws and teeth and gnashing. It will howl at my claws. It will scream for my teeth, sharp and white, stars in the night of my fur. I shall tend and tear and -- Dammit, Dog-thing! How am I supposed to be terrible and terrifying with you wagging your tail and panting at me!? Oh, you found a good warm sunbeam? I guess I can stalk stuff later. I am the Void. I shall absorb the Sun's light and warmth and bring it into my Darkness where it cannot escape...

I'm new here and don't know all the complex lore of Jetwolf(fairly sure Mina is dog), so I'm going to assume that Hot Pocket is an actual hot pocket and his heist is robbing Fort Knox using Mina as his loyal stead/get away car. Then he explodes a microwave or something.

i lik the bred

Mina as the distraction while he takes one last tastes of EVERYTHING

objective--stealing more chips; Mina--surprise betrayal

The scene: Mama Jet's pantry The Objective: the bag of cake flour Aunt Doc made Mama Jet buy but she's never used Mina: confused but excited escape vehicle and/or scapegoat

RAIDING THE KING ARTHUR FLOUR FACTORY. Mina is of course adorable and keeps everyone's attention while Hot Pocket swan dives into the flour like Uncle Scrooge

Hot Pocket would definitely try to steal a monument, Carmen SanDiego style. Mina, of course, is the multi-talented and super cute face of the operation.

I have no idea who Hot Pocket is

HP would try to scale the tallest building in the world. Not to steal anything, just to be up there. Mina would be the adorable diversion.

It would be to get whatever food you've left on the counter. Preferably bread. He would tell Mina that he'll give her some of she acts as a distraction. She's a good dog so she does. He's a cat so she gets no food.

Truly, truly, THE GIFTENING winner is us all.

#THE GIFTENING 2019 #THE GIFTENING 2019 admin stuff #long post for ts

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bills-pokedex · 5 years ago

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There have been rumors of a spiritomb lurking in the hills near my hometown. Can you tell me anything about this rare pokemon?

---

Bill: Of course!

First and foremost, the folklore. Yes, we’ve all heard that spiritomb is composed of 108 evil spirits. This is only true of the first spiritomb acknowledged by mankind; most spiritomb are anywhere from one to roughly 999 evil spirits.

I’m kidding. Most spiritomb are actually not evil spirits at all but rather wild spirits. That is to say, they often live by their own code of ethics and prefer their independence. Many can be caught and tamed just as easily as any other pokémon, and once this happens, spiritomb can be very affectionate and sweet, depending entirely on the care they’ve received from their trainers. However, it’s also important to acknowledge that this independent streak never fully goes away, and the least successful trainers of spiritomb are those that attempt to assert themselves too much over their pokémon. Don’t be afraid to work with your spiritomb and treat it as an equal, not as a subordinate.

On that note, most spiritomb also contain spirits that identify as practically any gender conceivable. However, it’s generally so that a spiritomb will collectively identify as either whatever gender is predominantly inside their keystone or as the gender of the most dominant spirit. Yes, this can change throughout a spiritomb’s “life.” Trainers, please be aware of this and do what you can to accommodate your spiritomb.

Contrary to popular belief, most spiritomb are not composed of spirits that were once human. Some were (or claim they were), but others ... let’s just say are more ambiguous in nature.

Concerning mating: yes, spiritomb can mate (with each other and other pokémon). It’s not thoroughly understood how this happens, as any recording device malfunctions when spiritomb are ready to mate, but it’s theorized that it involves ectoplasmic appendages. The same can be said for spiritomb that can lay eggs.

At the risk of stating the obvious, spiritomb are naturally nocturnal and trickster spirits. The vast majority, as implied above, mean no harm and simply prefer being left alone (by humans). However, this doesn’t mean that they wouldn’t shy away from causing trouble, and their preferred method of keeping territory is by striking raw fear into the hearts of local pokémon (even if the spiritomb is actually very sweet once you get to knwo them).

Spiritomb territories, for that matter, are actually rather vast, often occupying entire forests or ruin sites. Spiritomb are solitary, but they don’t mind the company of other spiritomb. That is to say, while spiritomb will manage themselves (hunting, maintaining their own nests, and so forth), they often won’t respond to other spiritomb in the area except to mate. Spiritomb won’t even respond to their own young, meaning eggs are often left in nests of rocks, completely undefended. (However, because few pokémon would want to venture anywhere near areas where spiritomb are known to prowl, these eggs have few predators. The only thing keeping spiritomb populations from exploding is the fact that spiritomb are extremely asocial unless forced onto a team by a human.)

Spiritomb are omnivorous and will happily consume anything it can fit into its “mouth,” within the disc of spirits that make up the majority of its body. As for where this food goes ... this is better left to the imagination.

#asks #spiritomb #pokemon headcanon #pokemon headcanons #submission

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thaisibir · 4 years ago

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La Vie en Rose (Bede and young!Opal time travel fic)

La Vie en Rose (Life in Pink) Rating: T (for character deaths and language) Chapter 10/10 - Inheritance (length: ~5k words) Summary: Bede doesn’t get why that loony old bat Opal wants him to be the next Fairy-type Gym Leader. To help him understand, Opal has Celebi take Bede back to the time of her youth.

(For other chapters, look up the tag “pokemon la vie en rose” or go to my profile)

Social media exploded when Diantha publicized her resignation as the Champion of Kalos and announced that she would move to Galar.

“Even on better days, I have no time to look through all the inquiries and comments,” she said to Bede as she shut off her phone and stuffed it firmly to the bottom of her purse. “I insisted that I won’t be taking interviews any time soon. I hope everyone respects my need for privacy.”

Bede rolled up his sleeve. “Don’t worry, my Pokemon and I will take care of anyone who won’t.”

She smiled. “That’s so kind of you, but I hope you’re not too serious about that. You need time with Opal as much as I do.”

While the former Champion of Kalos had resolved to set aside her phone for a while, Bede busied over his. “I’ll tell my fellow Gym Leaders to keep an eye out for anyone nosing into our business.”

He had all of their phone numbers now. They were just a call or a text away, as they had promised, and the thought of them having his back comforted him. As the days of the last week ticked by, Bede was bracing himself for the last day, for the time that he would have to say good-bye.

He and Diantha strived to make Opal as comfortable as possible. Halfway through the week, she couldn’t get out of bed even with support from the two of them.

At that point, Professor Magnolia was the only visitor allowed inside the house, because Opal would ask for her company during teatime.

Because her hand was too shaky to handle hot tea, Bede stuck around to help her guide the cup to her mouth. “Lately there’s been a fog over my memory, like a soft thick blanket I can’t see through,” Opal told Magnolia. “Sometimes, though, there would be rays of sun shining down, so I could see. Like the day we had met, when we had a Gym match, and I showed you the Impidimps, and you came up with the name for my son.” The stroke kept Opal from curling up both corners of her lips when she tried to smile. “I’ll always remember times like that. You were there for a lot of those sunny spots, Mag. Thank you.”

The teacup trembled in Magnolia’s hand, though not from a stroke. The professor’s eyes watered behind her thick spectacles. “It’s an honor to have been your friend for so long.”

Opal rested her good hand over Magnolia’s, and the two elderly woman said nothing for a while. As quietly as he could, Bede took the empty cups of tea from them and drew back into the kitchen.

Bede and Diantha’s routine to make Opal comfortable in her home was interrupted by Opal herself.

“My dears, would be so kind to help me outside to the living room?” she asked them. “Park me right by the fireplace.”

Bede frowned. “Are you cold, Ms. Opal?” She couldn’t be. She always had a fluffy coat around her, and blankets never too far out of reach.

“Oh no, my boy, I’m as snug as a Charjabug. I’d like to be by the fireplace nevertheless.”

When they did as she had asked, she motioned with her good hand to the shelf near the kitchen. “Diantha, please bring me that unlabeled binder by my mum’s manual.”

“What’s in here, Auntie?” the former Champion asked as she brought it over.

“Scripts for plays that my husband never finished,” Opal murmured. “Sometimes, when I was younger, I’d pull it out of the shelf and try to finish them myself.” She chuckled. “I couldn’t even get through reading them without crying, though. I couldn’t bring myself to touch his work. So I left them tucked away in that shelf for years and years.”

“You’ve decided what to do with them now?” Bede asked.

“Yes. Burn them.”

He gasped, and Diantha said, “But Auntie...”

“You heard me right.” Opal kept her voice low and calm. “I haven’t gone off my rocker. I know what I’m doing, and I want them burned. I don’t think of it so much as destroying my husband’s work, but sending it up to him, so we can work on them together when I see him again. And I’ll be seeing him soon.”

Bede tried to blink mist out of his eyes as he started up the fire. Then he helped Diantha strip the binder of its contents, taking turns with her to carefully toss small stacks of paper into the flames. Roger’s incomplete stories blackened, curled, and crumbled away. Bede watched this along with Opal, figuring that she could be seeing words go up in smoke somehow.

It took visible effort for Opal to then turn her gaze toward Diantha kneeling beside her. “As for the scripts he did finish, I trust that you will do a good job bringing them to life on stage, in my place.”

Diantha clasped her great-aunt’s thin, withered hand. “You can leave it to me. The show at Ballonlea Theatre will go on. That’s a solemn promise, from actress to actress.”

Bede felt a surge of gratitude towards the former Champion of Kalos. The theatre could not ask for a better successor. He couldn’t make that same promise to Opal. What he could do was become the Gym Leader Opal wanted him to be.

He became an expert at tucking Opal into bed. He didn’t need Diantha’s help for that. On a rainy night, the night before her time to go tomorrow as Celebi predicted, he fought to get the words “good night” out of his mouth. His throat closed up and the words felt dammed up behind it.

Before he could get them out, Opal said, “Bede, I need ask of you an important favor.”

“Uh, sure.”

“Be a dear and fetch the letter from the drawer in my nightstand, will you?”

He did as she asked, but she didn’t stop there. He handed Opal the letter, but with a raised trembling hand, she gently pushed it back toward him and said, “Would you mind reading it out loud to me? My sight’s been spotty lately.”

Bede opened up the folded paper, and the name he saw scrawled at the end made his breath hitch in his throat. The note from Kestrel. His last words before he had taken his own life in prison. For decades that note sat unopened.

He looked up at her. “Are you sure you want to—“

“Yes, I’m sure.” Opal closed her eyes and leaned back into her pillows. “I think I’m finally ready to hear what my little brother wanted to tell me all those years ago.”

She looked like she was about to go to sleep, but Bede knew that she would listen with rapt attention as he edged near the glow of the nightstand lamp and dropped his gaze back to the letter.

“Dear Opal,

I don’t know where to begin. I don’t even know if you’ll ever read this. I have to say something, nonetheless. My sentence is almost up, but done as it may almost be in the eyes of the law, I know that it wouldn’t ever be done in your eyes.

In the isolation of my cell, I try to think back to happier times: sharing stories of wanderlust and adventure with my brother in-law, and letting my nephew fly on the wings of my Pidgeot. It’s my fault that I dashed all of those to the ground, that I destroyed every chance to make more of those happy times. Most of my fellow prisoners look forward to the day they’re released. Not me. I dread it. Actually, I wish I could stay locked up in here forever. I wish for that, because I know that when I’m a free man, I would never be able to look at you in the eye. Would you be able to look at me in the eye, Opal? Speak to me again? Let me back into Ballonlea Town, back into your life? I don’t know, and I won’t ask. I’m afraid to find out your answers to these questions.

There isn’t enough space in this paper, in this whole world, really, to tell you just how sorry I am for everything I have done. I’m sorry, Roger. I’m sorry, Jasper. I’m sorry, Randall. And I’m sorry, Opal. I’m not asking for your forgiveness. I don’t deserve it. This is good-bye.

All my love, regrets, and sympathies,

Kestrel”

Bede set the letter aside on the nightstand. Opal didn’t move or say anything. The only sign of life from her were tears welling in her eyes and running down her cheeks. Bede pulled out the corner of a blanket and reached over to dab her face dry.

“I forgive you, Kes,” she whispered. “After all these years, I finally forgive you.” She smiled up at Bede. “Thank you for reading that letter to me. I think I’m ready to call it a night now.”

“Good night, Ms. Opal.” He bent down to peck her cheek. “See you tomorrow morning.”

“Yes, see you tomorrow,” she assured him.

With that, Bede went to bed sleeping easier than he had thought.

He roamed the house to throw open all the curtains. Morning in the canopy-covered Ballonlea Town wasn’t streaming in sunlight, but the rain from last night had stopped to leave fat drops all over the windows. Several light taps sounded from the front door. Bede jumped. Mightyena and Obstagoon stirred from their sleeping places in the living room, then they quickly joined Bede as he trudged up to the door with a frown. An unwanted visitor? He braced himself for the obligation to chase away whoever had the nerve to stick their nose where they shouldn’t.

He cracked the door open, then stepped back in disbelief. “Celebi? You came!”

“Bi.” The time-traveling Pokemon hovered before him at eye level.

Bede drew back to let Celebi inside while patting Mightyena and Obstagoon. “It’s okay, Celebi’s a friend,” he told the Dark type Pokemon. “It’s here to—“ He choked up, then went on in a small voice, “It’s here to say goodbye to Opal.”

“Who’s that at the door?” Diantha stumbled out of her bedroom in her nightgown. Her eyes, heavily lidded from just waking up, went wide at the sight. “Je n’y crois pas,” she breathed.

“I couldn’t believe it, either,” Bede replied. “But Celebi’s really here.” He had picked up a decent amount of Kalosian from Diantha since she’d been staying in Opal’s house.

He led Celebi into Opal’s room. To his relief, the old woman was blinking sleepiness out of her eyes. She didn’t sit up, though.

“Celebi, so lovely to see you.” The cheerfulness in her voice outweighed the recent weakness for a moment.

Celebi wouldn’t be the only Pokemon in the room. Mightyena and Obstagoon came in behind Bede and Diantha, and he released his entire team from their balls so they could surround the bed.

Opal let out a laugh that sounded more like a cough. “What a delightful crowd. You’re all making me feel like a celebrity again.” The merriment faded from her face as she schooled her features to a serious expression. “I didn’t want to leave you all without a few words first.” She paused before she went on, “People always wanted to know the secret behind how I lasted on earth for this long. For a while, I didn’t know the answer myself. It’s not like I’ve been the best at looking after my health. You’ve seen me over the years, Bede...I smoked like a chimney in Motostoke and love to eat my weight’s worth of sugary stuff. It’s not because of Fairy type Pokemon magic, either, as most people like to believe.” She reached out with a trembling hand to rest it over Bede’s. “It’s because of you. I waited for you to come along. I had to wait for a bloody long time. At one point, I feared that I would never find the Gym Leader to succeed me, but you came after all, like a burst of bright pink after years and years of darkness. That was worth the wait.” Opal tried to smile up at him. “When I’m gone, and people still wonder how I had lived for as long as I did, tell them that the reason is you.”

With a huge lump in his throat, Bede managed a wordless nod.

“Now I need to give you some last-minute life lessons, in case you didn’t get them the first time around from your trip with Celebi.”

He already knew, but he wanted to keep hearing her talk. He couldn’t bear to think of her being forever silent and still within minutes, or hours, or however long it took for death to come for people her age.

“Diantha, you may have not traveled with Celebi through time, but you need to hear this, too.”

Bede gently squeezed Opal’s hand, silently prompting her to go on.

“Don’t be like me and let anger and loneliness eat up your life. Surround yourself with people and Pokemon you love and trust. Accept kindness and friendship when they’re offered to you. You two are still so young, with your whole lives ahead of you. Or maybe you don’t, like Roger and Jasper. You never know. Either way, if you cut yourself off from the world, you either don’t live long enough to have that chance to turn around, or you live long enough to regret it.”

Bede and Diantha shared gazes glittering with wetness before they turned back to Opal and nodded. He had seen how Opal’s vindictive rage had led to the destruction of her younger brother, and the near-destruction of herself. He was determined not to follow Opal down that kind of dark path.

The old woman sighed and closed her eyes. “I think I’ve said everything I wanted to say. I will leave this world in peace, knowing that the Gym and theatre of Ballonlea Town are in good hands.”

Tears that had welled up ran down Bede’s cheeks as he squeezed his eyes shut. He knew he had to let her go. There was nothing he could do to stop that. So he had better get this out before it was too late. Bede leaned in to wrap his arms around Opal as tenderly and delicately as he could. “I love you,” he croaked.

“I love you too,” she murmured.

Bede couldn’t stop his shoulders from shaking as he kept his arms around Opal and wept into the pillow. Diantha rested a hand on his back, and when he turned his head to peek over his shoulder, he saw that she had the other hand pressed over her eyes. Mightyena pressed its nose against Opal’s palm with a whine. Obstagoon placed a big dark paw over her arm. Togekiss, the only one light enough to sit on the mattress, snuggled at Opal’s side. The other Pokemon who couldn’t get on the bed huddled up beside each other, mourning quietly with Bede and Diantha.

Only Celebi didn’t have its head down. Instead it was looking up at something no one else could see.

Opal felt herself leave her own body with the last breath that left her lips. Her heart didn’t have to beat anymore, yet it ached as she looked down at her grieving family. Bede, the poor boy, cried the hardest of them all. She joined Diantha in resting a comforting hand on him, even if he couldn’t feel it.

He would be all right, she told herself. He won’t be alone. He has a family now.

Celebi was the only one who could see her in her new body. She smiled at it. “Thank you so much for bringing me and Bede together in the way only you know how.”

Making no sound to avoid alarming the others, Celebi silently acknowledged Opal’s gratitude with a smile of its own and a nod.

Suddenly laughter drifted into Opal’s ears. A child’s laughter. But not just any child. Startled, she straightened up her back, which she hadn’t done in years. “Celebi, did you hear that?”

Celebi gestured with its small green hand to the door, clearly encouraging Opal to follow the sound. She stepped away from her bedroom, the guilt of leaving Bede and Diantha behind eclipsed only by the drawing pull of laughter she hadn’t heard in so long. In her new body, Opal didn’t need to open the door to her house. She went straight through it. Who she saw just outside her door, laughing and skipping around in her front yard, sent the same thrilling bolt of wild joy that came with seeing Bede in Hammerlocke.

The little boy before her, dressed in the same suit he’d been buried with, stopped flapping his arms around like a bird Pokemon and smiled up at her. “Hello, Mummy.”

Opal trembled from head to toe and blinked hard. “Jasper, is that really you?” He jumped into her arms, and she enveloped him in a tight, fierce hug. “My darling, my baby boy,” she whispered into his dark curls. And she broke down as she held him. Jasper clung onto her firmly yet patiently, never squirming around to be let go. Finally she put him down and looked at her hands, her bony, thin 88 year-old hands. “I-I’ve changed so much since you last saw me. It’s been so long. How did you know I’m your mum?”

“I just know,” he said matter-of-factly. “You’ll always be my mummy.” Jasper reached up to hold her hand. “Come on, I’ll take you to Daddy.”

Opal gasped. “You know where your daddy is?”

“Uh-huh. He isn’t far.”

Opal let her son take the lead. For a little five year-old in the woods filled with Fairy type Pokemon that liked to lead travelers astray, he really knew his way around. He skipped by her side and didn’t stop to look around like he was lost. In their past lives, Opal would be the one to hold her son firmly by the hand and lead him down the scenic trails, to make sure that he didn’t wander out of her sight.

Now it was Jasper guiding her, and she realized that he was taking the route to the Ballonlea Cemetery. They had to cross a bridge over a brook along the way, and as they did, Opal looked down to find her reflection no longer elderly and white-haired, but young and dark-haired again.

Jasper looked over his shoulder and beamed at her new appearance. “That’s the mummy I remember.”

She smiled back at him. “Just like old times.”

The Ballonlea Cemetery was livelier than she had known it during all her prior visits. That was because she had only known it when she was alive. Now she saw departed spirits, just like herself, loitering around their headstones and enjoying the morning shade. Winston, the former butler at her family’s estate, bowed at her when she and Jasper passed by his headstone. Opal couldn’t help smiling at that. Old habits were hard to break, even in the afterlife.

Farther into the cemetery, Jasper broke away from Opal to run ahead. “Daddy, I’m back,” he called. “Look who I brought!”

Out of sight, a familiar voice called back, “Jasper, you had me worried, running off on your own like that!” The owner of the voice stepped into view from behind a headstone.

Opal stopped right in her tracks, and though her heart could no longer skip beats, she found that she couldn’t speak. All she could manage to get out was the name of the man she had married for five years, and loved for many, many more. “Roger?”

“Opal.” He made a wide smile underneath his beard. “Welcome home.”

She ran up to her husband and threw her arms around him. Like their son, Roger wore the suit that went down with his body during the funeral, though there was no smell of dust and decay to either of them. Instead they were bright and brimming with second life.

Opal realized that Roger didn’t return her hug with both arms, but with only one. He was holding something in the other. She pulled back from his embrace. “What do you have there, Roger?”

Amusement twinkled in his eyes. “Not what. Who.”

The swaddled blankets in his arm stirred, and Opal gasped. “A baby!” She reached out with a trembling hand. “Could...could this be...”

“Yes, dear, she’s ours.” He rested a hand on the small of her back. “You were carrying a baby girl.”

“Oh.” Opal felt on the verge of tears as Roger handed over their second child to her. “Oh, Roger, Jasper, she’s lovely. Absolutely gorgeous. I can’t believe it. A daughter...”

The baby responded to her mother’s breathless disbelief and adoration with a toothless smile. She broke out laughing when Jasper, being the silly big brother, made funny faces at her. Opal found herself laughing along while crying at once.

“This feels like a dream, a dream come true to be a family together again.”

Roger kissed her cheek. “It’s not a dream, dear. This is real.”

“What’s our daughter’s name? I imagine she has to have a name by now.” Opal felt some of her old humor return as she glanced over at Roger. “Heaven forbid if she’s been nameless for this long.”

He laughed. “She has a name, all right, although I admit I felt bad for naming her without you.”

“Don’t be, darling. You didn’t know when I’d be joining you, and I was the one who named Jasper. Remember how we agreed on taking turns to name our children?”

“Yes, I remember.”

“So what’s our baby girl’s name?”

“Pearl. But do feel free to voice any suggestions or objections—“

“No, I think Pearl is perfect.” Opal leaned back into Roger’s embrace while keeping their daughter cradled in her arms.

He murmured into her ear, “Thank you for sending up my unfinished scripts, by the way. Much appreciated.”

She smiled up at him. “Of course. I figured you’d be itching to work on them again.”

“And you’ll help me finish them, as you’ve always done. We’ll be ghostwriters. How about that?”

Opal rolled her eyes. “Ha ha.” Her smirk widened when Pearl gurgled as if laughing along, and she bounced her daughter in her arms. “Your daddy just had to slip in a dad joke, huh?”

“There’s so much we can do, not just finish writing the plays together,” Roger said. “We can visit the other departed in their resting places. If you want, Opal, we could go all the way to Kalos to see Randall, or...”

Her husband trailed off, but Opal knew where he was getting at. “I’d love to do that, dear. Yes, I’d like to see Kestrel too, where the Wynwall correctional facility used to be.” She looked back at the path she and Jasper had taken to reach the cemetery. “But first, before we travel far and wide for that, there’s someone we should visit right here.”

Diantha called for the paramedics to collect Opal.

Bede stayed out of the way and couldn’t bring himself to watch her being taken away from the house. Though it was morning, he curled up back in his bed like a Shuckle hiding in its shell, wanting nothing more than to sleep. He’d been given plenty of instruction from Opal and Diantha on how to make funeral arrangements, all the legalese on claiming ownership of a deceased person’s Pokemon, getting registered as an official member of the Pokemon League, and so on. He was prepared, but he wasn’t ready. Right now he just wanted to sleep.

After much tossing and turning, Bede slipped beyond consciousness. He was still in bed, and even in his dreams he didn’t want to climb out of it. Someone from behind gently shook his shoulder. He turned in his bed, expecting to see Diantha, but who he saw instead made his heart almost stop.

“Ms. Opal?” he breathed.

“Long time no see, my boy.”

The Opal who stood before him was young, glowing, and beautiful, her short hair dark as the night sky and her eyes twinkling like bright blue stars. Bede sat up in bed and rubbed at his eyes, astonished beyond words. She didn’t come to him alone. Beside her were the man and boy Bede recognized from his journey through time.

The boy, Opal’s five year-old son, threw himself on the bed and at Bede to hug him. “Thank you for taking care of my mummy.”

Bede patted the top of Jasper’s dark messy hair. “O-of course. More like she’s been taking care of me.”

“You took care of each other,” Roger said warmly. He was holding a baby in his arms.

Bede looked between the reunited couple. “Is that...is that who I think it is?”

Opal smiled and nodded. “Bede, meet our daughter, Pearl.”

Like Jasper, Pearl took after her mother with the vivid blue eyes and dark, curly hair. Bede raised his hand to wave at the cooing baby, then he raised both frantically as Roger leaned in to hand her over. “Oh no, I-I don’t know how to hold a baby—“

“It’s okay, it’s not that hard,” Jasper said.

Bede found himself getting an armful of Pearl despite his flustered protests. The baby girl wiggled in his arms, as if to settle in, not out of fussiness. He smiled down at her. “Hi, there. Crazy to think that I’ve been under your mum’s care for longer than you have. But you’ve got her, now. You’re so lucky to have such a great mum.” He tapped at her button nose with a light, playful finger. “Yes, you.”

She giggled at his touch, and Opal extended her arms to relieve Bede of the baby.

“I thought we might visit you as soon as we could,” she told him. “Roger and Jasper wanted to say thanks, we wanted you to see Pearl, and you were crying so hard when I had left.”

Bede’s cheeks grew warm and he looked down at his hands. “I-I’m going to miss you so much, Ms. Opal.”

“She won’t be far,” Roger assured him. “You can always come talk to her at the cemetery. You might not know it, but she’ll hear you.”

“We’ll be flitting out and about sometimes, but look hard enough and you’ll find us by your side,” Opal said.

Knowing that she was never really gone gave Bede joy and peace he had never known before in his life. For much of his life he was used to being alone. Now he would have to get used to being surrounded by loved ones. Not that he was complaining.

Opal handed Pearl over to her husband. “Well, dear, let’s get going to visit Kes over at Wyndon. You’ve got to see how much it has changed over the years! And this time we don’t need a car or Flying Taxi to get there.”

With one arm Roger held his daughter, and with the other he took her hand. “First family trip in decades. Looking forward to it.”

Jasper bounced in place as his mother held his hand. “We’re going to see Uncle Kes! We’re going to see Uncle Kes!”

It seemed that the whole family had forgiven Kestrel, and knowing that made Bede happy for the poor man, wherever he was now.

Opal looked back to him. “This is good-bye, Bede my boy, but not forever. We’ll be back.”

He nodded. “Enjoy your next life,” he said softly.

The family turned to leave, and Bede ran outside of Opal’s house to find her, hand-in-hand with her spouse and son, flitting among the giant mushrooms of Ballonlea Town, weightless and soaring despite having no wings, and filling the air with tinkering laughter. Bede smiled through his tears, his heart overcoming how crushed it had been from losing Opal, so it can soar with them. He thought that they would leave without looking back, but then Opal briefly let go of Jasper’s hand to wave at Bede. He waved back at her and, like fairy dust, they shimmered out of sight.

Gone were the days that Bede had to wear Opal’s oversized Gym jerseys. Now he had his own that fit him. It felt strange no longer having to tie the extra length behind his back. He used to hate looking at himself in the mirror, finding the bright pink and blue ridiculous on him. But now, on the first day back to the Gym since Opal was laid to rest, Bede saw glowing, shameless pride in his reflection.

He emerged from the changing room, bypassing the clamor of the lobby to head backstage. Voices from Diantha, the stage crew, and actors drifted into his ears. Pen and clipboard in hand, the Kalos Champion-turned-theatre manager asked for another lighting test when Bede walked in.

She waved at him. “Leader Bede, you’re ready for your match with the newest challenger?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” he replied. “And how’s preparation for the play coming along?”

“So far so good. Everyone’s excited to have an audience fill the theatre again.”

“Count me in that crowd.”

Both the Gym and theatre had to close during the days following Opal’s death. The backdrop behind him and Diantha switched colors as the lighting was being tested. Bede noticed that Diantha, with her stylish white blouse, pale blue eyes, and short brown hair darkened by distorted lighting, didn’t look too different from Opal in her younger days. His chest twinged at the nostalgia.

“You’re coming to the premiere later tonight, mon cheri?”

Diantha’s Kalosian accent brought Bede back to the present day, and he shot a broad grin at the young woman he came to know and love as a big sister. “You bet I am.”

“Glad to hear it.” She gave him a good-hearted pat on the back. “Now go break a leg out there, Gym Leader!”

Bede left backstage to make his way to the other side of the Gym. He never got a direct answer out of Opal on what pink meant to her. Not that she would just hand him the answer so easily, anyway. He spent his walk mulling it over. The last time she had seen the most pink in anyone before him was in her son, Jasper. He had seen what that boy was like before his life was cut short, and what he was like if his life had been allowed to run its course. That bright, bouncing little boy had charmed everyone around him, much like a Fairy type Pokemon, and had charmed his mother most of all. Bede then considered himself: not exactly steeped in charm, but brimming with promise and potential that Opal was able to spot before he could. Yes, that must be what pink had meant to her. Promise and potential to inherit her legacy. Jasper couldn’t live long enough to fulfill it, but Bede would take his place.

“Keep thinking about the right answer,” Opal liked to say, “and eventually you’ll create the right answer.”

That cryptic favorite saying of hers would make people throw up their hands in frustration, because no one could make heads or tails of her impish ways. But Bede knew what she had meant, and remembering that saying stirred in him such warm fondness for her that he stopped at the entrance to the stadium to wipe at his eyes before being noticed by the audience or the Rotom camera.

He squared his shoulders and drew in a deep breath before striding into the spotlight. Cheers flooded the stadium. Bede soaked it in and let it wash away any performance anxiety that might’ve built up from his walk. He approached the Gym challenger, a girl he guessed to be thirteen or fourteen, in the middle of the arena. She was decked out in dark, studded clothes. A local from Spikemuth, maybe?

She opened her mouth, and the rough way of talking confirmed his guess. “All this cotton candy Fairy type aesthetic is makin’ me sick, y’know. I’ll kick your soft, pink, sissy team to the curb!”

A saucy Fairy-bashing lass, Opal would call her. Probably smug from the string of Gym victories up to this point, too. Bede kept his cool and only gave the challenger a jaunty Opal-esque smile. “Don’t be so quick to dismiss Fairy type Pokemon.”

After that brief obligatory exchange at the center of the arena, Bede turned away to reach his side of the stadium. The Gym holding its first match since Opal’s funeral resulted in a massive turnout. Shots from the Rotom camera projected on the big screens revealed familiar faces among the audience: Professor Magnolia, Sonia, Victor, Gloria, Hop, the current Champion Leon and the former one, Mustard. And of course, Bede’s fellow Gym Leaders. They all showed up to give him their support for his first steps taken without Opal’s guidance. His heart swelled in appreciation for all of them.

Bede glanced up at the audience on his way, and nearly stopped in disbelief. Standing by the rails, seemingly invisible to the crowd sitting behind them, was Opal and her family. She carried her baby daughter while Roger had Jasper propped on his shoulders.

“Put on a good show, my boy,” Opal called down to him.

Somehow, despite the roar of the audience, Opal and her family cheered for Bede the loudest. Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes and he blinked hard. The tears went away, and with them, Opal’s family. His wide, confused gaze lingered where they had vanished, but they didn’t reappear. Was it just his imagination? Bede shook his head. He turned to face the challenger and close his fingers around the first Poke ball in his belt. No, they were there, even if he couldn’t see and hear them all the time. Opal promised that she would never be too far.

That sent a surge of comfort and confidence through him. The new Gym Leader of Ballonlea Town, Opal’s successor, extended the ball of his first Pokemon with a flourish at his challenger. “I’ll show you how marvelous Fairy type Pokemon can be!”

Notes: Musical inspiration for this chapter/epilogue: “The Place Where Wishes Come True” from Clannad.

That’s it for La Vie en Rose! I really enjoyed writing about Opal and Bede. There’s just something really sweet and poignant about the old and young forging a strong friendship. I wrote this story shortly after my dad died in January 2020. I invested a lot more emotional energy into this than I thought I would. I’m grateful that I did. This is the 1st multi-chapter fic I’ve completed in a very long time (I’m talking years), so I came away feeling victorious. Thank you for following this story to the end.

#pokemon sword and shield #pokemon swsh #swsh opal #swsh bede #pokemon opal #pokemon bede #opal pokemon #bede pokemon #pokemon fanfiction #pokemon fic #pokemon la vie en rose

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bard-of-worlds · 4 years ago

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Darkening Dawn Chapter 3

Lilith walked out of the bathroom of the room in the hotel she checked into dressed in a bathrobe, her hair flowing down her back, having finished a shower before she would order a meal. Her target was at the region’s Professors lab and after the excitement earlier she had slipped away to rest and finalizes her plans. She had released her Pokémon to feed them, taken her clothes from her one of her Item Cubes and was currently deciding on what to wear when she meets up with the prince.

“Nido nid rina.” Her Nidorina said as she bumped her legs as her other Pokémon looked up from their bowls as she sat on the rooms bed.

“Don’t worry girls I order something in a few minutes. I’m still worried about the seals on the ‘Prince’. I mean I wasn’t able to see much from so far away and I will be the first one to say I don’t know much on the subject. But if they weren’t a prototype, then who or what was the experimental subject.” Lilith wondered as her Pokémon adopted looks of concern.

“Yeah I know where would they get a test subject like the prince but that’s only if they care if he survived. These are the Crusaders we’re talking about but really, are they that dedicated to protecting humanity?” Lilith said as she and team exchanged looks of concern she sighed and she shook her head.

“Come on girls let’s stop with all the doom talk. Let’s see what’s on the local news channel, maybe they’ll have the Baccer results, and then I’ll order something.” Lilith said as she reached for the remote control. she turned the room’s tv on and changed the channel…TO HER PRINCE ON THE NEWS FOR SAVING A POKEMON BY RISKING HIS LIFE?!? Lilith just starred in shock, not moving a single inch or reacting before her Nidorina bumped the bed and she exploded.

“TWO HOURS! I LEFT HIM FOR JUST TWO HOURS! How can he get into something where he risked his life how, just how?” Lilith said as she hugged her legs to her chest as she rocked back and forth on the bed. She perked up when she felt something rub against her legs, looking up she saw her Liepard on the bed while her Nidorina looked at her from the floor with her Skorupi on her, both given her a look of worry. Reaching she scratched her Liepard under her chin and sighed.

“I’m good girls. Teacher said the boss was quite the dare devil when they were teens, so I guess the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. Once I find a way to make contact with the prince, get a feel on where he’s going and what to use as a cover for being here in the region. I’d bet you gals would like it if we hit a few of the contests around here, hu?” She smiled when she saw her Pokémon smile and start to cheer, back home their teacher had sent them into the Contests to teach her humility, she had learned that and taken to the arts of training Pokémon to use their moves differently like a bat to the night. Her Nidorina had even evolved during one contest battle, scoring them the trophy! Hearing a beep from her phone she smiled as she connected it to her laptop, she had the prince’s history of his journey now, all the competitions he had ever been in, now all she had to do was find a style to hit Kalos with and she was golden. Looking through the data she smiled, a way to have heard of him and maybe a reason to have come here, just what she needed.

“Well girls get ready to the Lovely Lilith is back on the circuit! So lets’ eat girls, tomorrow it’s time to meet and greet!” Lilith proclaimed as her Pokémon cheered around her, a smile on her face as her shadow on the wall behind her grew wings from her shoulders.

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Serena stared at the TV in shock, she couldn’t believe her eyes. Ash, that was Ash! He’s in Kalos, in Lumo City! He’s in the region, I can’t believe it he……… he almost died! How the heck did that happen, what was he doing to have fallen off the Tower like that?! Serena thought as she stared at the screen, her mind blue screening as

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A teenage girl in a black shirt with a v neck that exposed the top of her large cleavage under a black well-traveled coat and black pants leaned against the wall of the Pokémon Center. Her face was bare except for a bit of black lip gloss and a pair of glasses. She smiled as she saw Bonnie, Clemont and Ash talk with Nurse Joy. She walked toward them as Ash started to speak and reached for his backpack

“Can you register my Quest Scanner here too Nurse Joy?” Ash trailed off as Nurse Joy adopted a look of confusion which worried Ash.

“Quest Scanner?” Bonnie asked Clemont as she turned to her brother. Ash turned to them and let his thoughts fly. Come on! I know some countries don’t follow the Treaty but not to give out Quests too?! How do they expect Trainers to earn money, part time jobs that take weeks to earn anything?!

“I believe they call them Task Trackers here in Kalos. The Alola Reg call them Job Watchers.” A voice said behind them, turning Ash saw a girl his age dressed in black with black lips and sunglasses.

“Sorry to cut in but I figured I should help out before everyone spends too much time trying to figure out the terms a fellow Old Worlder used. You can call me Lilly and…say aren’t you Ash Ketchum?” The girl said as she gave a start as he turned to face her.

“I’m Ash Ketchum, do we know each other.” Ash asked as he tried to remember if he ever met the girl before him.

“No we’ve never met but a teacher I had showed me your performance at the Wallace Cup, and a friend of mine stumbled across what you did in Crown City while looking into a company the League took over.” Lilly said dryly as Ash rubbed the back of his head.

“A teacher?” Bonnie asked as she gazed at the girl.

“Ya, back home I’m a Pokémon Coordinator of some small fame and student of someone pretty famous locally and after the end of the season last year she said it might be good if I tried something differently after coming in the top 4 and then the runner-up the year after.” Lilly said as she beamed with pride.

“Wow! You’re a keeper! Please take care of my brother.” Bonnie said as she looked upon the girl.

“Bonnie, I thought we talked about this!” Clemont cried as a mechanical hand grabbed his sister and picked her up.

“Sorry little girl but I never date anyone I don’t know, so what your name blondie?” Lilly purred as she looked at Clemont who went red at Bonnie’s and her words and started to stammer.

“What did you do in Crown City Ash?” Clemont said as he turned to look at Ash, trying and succeeding to make Ash the center of attention.

“Ehhh, nothing much really. Just reunited a mother and with her child, exposed a prominent Businessman as the worst Eco-Criminal in the region with a crime 20 years old that he almost got away with and got the scum to confess on live TV. And this is Bonnie and her brother Clemont” Ash said as Bonnie and Clemont starred at him.

“Your Task…er Quest Scanner can be registered with Officer Jenny, her office handles all Tasks and handles payment after the person who issues one send a notification that it was completed. And how can I help you Ms. Lilly?” Nurse Joy interrupted.

“Since Kalos usually only does the Showcase I was wondering if I had to register as a Coordinator here or not.” Lilly said as she brought out a Pokédex.

“No but the Professor has a list of where and when the Contests will be held, you’ll have to talk to him for that information and with the damage to his lab you might have to wait a bit, and a new trainer is coming for her first Pokémon today.” Joy said as Lilly stared at Ash for a bit. She shook her head before anyone noticed her look and smiled at the three of them.

“So where are you guys going, from what Nurse Joy said I have to wait a while before I can get the info I need.” Lilly said as the four of them walked out of the Pokémon center

“Bonnie and I decided to travel with Ash for a bit; we need a change of pace for a while.” Clemont said as he rubbed the back of his head and looked toward the Prism Tower. And when I’m back, I’ll be stronger and more powerful.

“So it’s straight on to Santalune City and the Gym. Maybe we’ll run into you again.” Ash said as he gave Lilly a smile.

“Maybe, it’ll depend on where and when the contests are. So see you.” Lilly said as she walked off. Her faces showed nothing but inside her thoughts were going a mile a minute. An Aura Link! The prince already has a soul-mate?! Just what kind of life has he been living and what affect are those seals having on him! To block it an Aura spark from joining with its chosen Aura, something like this is just NOT done!!

Lilith’s glass showed a spark of a humans Aura dissipating when it met the seals. Just what hell did the seal-maker create if it could block a soul-mate bond. She went dead still when the thoughts hit her, did it happen with others, did Ash have more than one soul-mate? Gotta stop thinking about it, I need to find this girl, if I’m lucky then I’ll meet her at the Professor’s lab. I’ll make up a report on what I saw and my actions and mail it to teach, she’ll get it to the boss.

Jenny snarled to herself as she slammed the phone down into its cradle. The international police had laughed off her concerns that the Kanto criminal group was expanding into her region. Something about the Rockets she describe as being the bottom of the barrel, to call back if the Tooth Fairy joined them with the Easter Lopunny. Those criminals almost cause the death of a trainer and when she brought it up it caused the person answering to laugh even harder when she described the person in question. The bastard said something about sending her a file once he calmed down and hung up on her. A noise at the door caused her to glare at two trainers and a little girl who jumped a bit at her expression.

“Can I help you kids?” Jenny asked as she got her emotions back under control. She identified the gym leader and his sister and the black haired trainer looked somewhat familiar but she couldn’t place him, a flaw she had when her emotions were agitated.

“Nurse Joy at the Pokémon Center said I could register my Task Tracker here?” The black haired trainer said as he handed over a Task Tracker. Connecting it to her computer she loaded it with the regions security passcode and grabbed the Trackers serial number before handing it back to him. A chime from her computer pulled her back toward it, the file the international police was going to send her, maybe she would get some answers, and she absently handed the Tracker back to the boy and waved him off.

“Thank you Officer Jenny.” The boy said as he and the others left her office.

“All part of the job, have a good day.” Jenny said robotically as she opened the file. The first few pages were about the Rocket members she had described and the pages after were about when and where they had committed criminal acts. After a while next few page she noticed that the same trainer ID kept coming up as both victim and stopper. Then another chime and an email entitled ‘Protector’ appeared.

“Didn’t my cousin in Unova mention that a trainer had earned a title from the Pokémon Rangers and the International Police?” She muttered to herself as she opened the file, to no surprise it was a trainer bio, the kind of files the government kept of trainers that caught their eye. As she started to read accommodations for valor, for saving people and Pokémon, for defeating criminal gangs she recognized the ID as the same one in the previous file. The final page was the photo ID and when she saw it she shot up from her chair.

“THAT’S THE KID FROM LAST NIGHT, WAIT HE WAS JUST HERE!!” Jenny cried out as she looked into the hallway in shock.

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“Frankenmons attacked a courier in the Wind Road?” The speaker was a tall man in a purple tuxedo and a black cape with an Eevee on his shoulder who lead two pale attractive women in maid uniforms down a hallway. The woman on his right had blue hair in a pageboy style, her blue eyes had black eye shadow above and her blue lips were set in a frown, in her ears were two white gems and by her side walked a Glaceon with a collar with four white gems. The maid on his left had flowing red hair that reached her waist, the only makeup she had was red lipstick and blush with two red gems in her ears, a Flareon was by her side whose front legs had clawed boots on.

“Yes Master Alex, Lady Joy ordered all off duty morticians to assist in retrieving all parts from within the corpses post haste. She entered the castle two hours ago according to a local agent so this is likely a briefing about them to quell the rumors. Though a few days ago Lady Camilla sent her apprentice out on a mission and the same night the Elites were summoned for a meeting, so there is that which I am sure one of them will bring up. ” The blue haired woman spoke with a cold tone as she followed .

“One of Morg’a’s little temptresses is dating one of the security staff called to transport the materials harvested, the bitch probably bugged the poor sap with a seal. So she’s probably the source of most of the rummors. Hope the fool she’s using had a good time with the little tramp at least, but given what I had when one tried to use me, I really, really doubt it master. And like sister Sarah said, one of them will bring it up.” The redhead’s voice was full of passion as she strutted down the hallway.

Alex smiled as he thought of the meeting a month ahead of schedule, a summit of the Elites and now Frankenmon, the times were getting quite exciting, what next, did they find the Queen and Prince? He gave a chuckled at that thought, he had probably taunted murphy, but if that happened, those harpies would die of shock.

Turning a corner he stopped cold as he saw what was guarding the door to the meeting chamber. Two humanoids in full plate armor holding lances with two Haxorus with black body armor stood sentinel.

“Master, those are Highguard.” Sarah said as she reached Alex and stared with him at the door guards. Alex slowly gained a grin on his face that as he eyes twinkled.

“My dear cold Sarah, my passionate Ellie, this is going to be explosive.” Alex proclaimed as he walked down the hallway as his two maids looked at each other and sighed.

“Tell me again why do we love that man-child sister?” Ellie said as he followed after him.

“The sex, definitely the sex.” Sarah answered bluntly as the two of them followed their lover down the hallway while Alex only gave a small smirk at the words his followers exchanged.

Walking into the throne room he moved toward the left side and gazed around the room. A few people in clocks were debating Aura casting by the window, representatives from the School of Aura, they only came when there was an important announcement, were the Frankenmons were made by someone they expelled and escaped the law. The last Chimera breeder supposedly caused the procedures to change, but there are geniuses out there.

A few of the Families had a few more members then just their heirs with them, more girls than boys again, were they trying the catch the bosses eye with a pretty face? He nodded his head at his allies among the Lords as they passed each other as he led his party toward windows, and saw with no surprise that saw that the Lady Morg’a was dressed to the nines in the middle of a small crowd of ladies, was she trying to draw in others with her beauty. And she was striking today. Her long black hair flowed down her back to her thighs; her jade dress stopped at the middle of her breasts, with a cut show the inner sides with a green gem in the shape of the Grass-Type symbol resting between her breasts. Her dress went to the floor with a slit that revealed white stocking clad legs in green high heels. Her lips were painted a vibrant green, while eye shadow of an aqua green shade brought out her green eyes. Her Roselia was next to her with a grass symbol around its neck. He noticed her eyes never left a target across from her and saw who Morg’a was watching; the newest of the Highlords, the Lady Cleo Ro Clor of the Desert Realm was talking with a few lords who, if he remembered their homes locations right, bordered her territory. She cut a striking figure with her dark skin in a form fitting white robe dress that showed off her figure while still giving off a classy feel. All the makeup she wore was a simple black lipstick, while her black hair was in a simple pageboy style. Her Krokorok was standing next to her, a simple Ground symbol around its neck, showing that the simple things had a class all its own.

“So you made it to this thing youngster?” A gruff voice said as a heavy hand landed on his other shoulder. Turning he saw an older man with a beard in a white shirt and black pants next to an Ursaring.

“Sir Viktor, how are you old man? How was that Chimera hunt you went on a few weeks back, it was an Ice Fire mix that was the pack leader?” Alex said as he smiled at his friend and ally among the Lords.

“Me and mine handled it, but I gotta talk to you about it afterwards. You’ll never guess whose territory it they never even sent a scout towards.” Vicktor said darkly as he glared toward Morg’a group.

“I’ve dealt with such things in my own lands my friend, after the meeting let me track down the last two members of my old team to have a talk for old times, you can join us.” Alex said with a sigh as memoires of days long gone pasted behind his eyes.

A commotion near the front caused them to turn and saw three of the Elites walk into the room, each shadowed by one of their Pokemon. Lady Camilla was followed by her Zoroark, the brown haired robed form of Magnus walked next to his Golurk while Mordred was dressed in a simple smock and pants was walked next to his Chesnaught. Following after them was their lord walked with his Mightyena with Lady Joy walking after him in a black gown with a white Crobat on her shoulder. So a briefing by Joy was part of this after all, but why were both Camilla and Magnus here? Why were the Highguard outside? I think this might be bigger than I thought. Alex thought as he looked over the gathering.

Morg’a smiled and gave off an air of sophistication looking at the Elites entering the room but she let her thoughts tell her true feelings, confident that the Psi-Changer she wore around her neck kept them to herself. So that bitch Camilla is taking part in this after all. So whatever reason she pulled that brat from the party is important. Damn that idiotic little tramp for not getting closer to the slut! It probably was her little beast that was attacked after all. But she’s only been gone a few days, and in Kalos of all place!

As Dracula sat upon his thrown, all before bowed and curtsied to show respect for their liege lord. Before anyone could speak up about the nature of the gather he raised his hand for silence.

“My loyal subjects let me cut away all the rumors you’ve heard. Approximately two hours ago the Lady Joyce briefed me upon the 8 Frankenmon that tried to intercept a courier using the Wind Road. Lady Joy, if you would care to take over?” Dracula said as he gestured at Joy who curtsied as a holo projector appeared before the throne.

“Thank you my lord. As per my orders when I was informed what had entered my morgue, all personal were recalled and all machines were removed from the bodies before all but two were incinerated. This decision” Joy began before Morg’a stepped forward and interrupted her.

“Two of the bodies were kept from the final peace Lady Joy? Forgive my impudence but aren’t all Frankenmon bodies supposed to be incinerated after the foul machines which move them are taken from their corpses by rule of law?” Morg’a melodious voice interrupted, causing murmurs to spread among the crowd at this seemingly breach of law. Joy gained a small frown before she continued.

“Normally, yes that is the law. But the bodies were reanimated by an unknown process and power source. As the bodies were inspected, it became apparent that the machines were split in two different configurations. From what my limited mechanical knowledge told me, one type had a receiver of some kind while the other had a transceiver. The bodies saved were the ones most intact with detailed notes were made on where each machine was removed from the individual corpse. However both types had a few similar parts, this one we are having the most trouble identifying the components purpose.” As Joy spoke the projector glowed, showing a diagram of a machine connected to two broken crystals with the crystals each connected to one side of a hexagon stone.

“The gems aren’t like anything we’ve seen before. The hexagon seems to be artificial and seems to be the main power source, one of my people theorized that the gems act like a kind of converter. The fact that they were able to use attacks is a cause for concern, but the most distressing thing we’ve discovered is that there is no way for an external power source to connect to the stone, we have no idea how these things receive power at all.” Joy finished as murmurs started back up.

“This is troubling, tovarish.” Victor whispered to Alex as thoughts raced through his head. One of the only ways Frankenmons were found was the massive electrical power drain they used to recharge. And with the fact they were able to use Pokémon attacks…Wait, what were the attacks used elemental propertiess? Could there be a connection? Alex thought as his mind raced, signaling his group that he was doing this alone he started to walk through the crowd toward the throne. Alex exited the crowd until he was next to Morg’a and bowed to Lady Joy.

“Lady Joy, do we know what attacks were used by the subjects.” Alex said as he saw the scowl Morg’a sent him, curious. Did she want to score a point with that or keep people from asking? Just what is your end goal you Grass bitch

“As the witness was a Pokémon, a psychic copy of the incident was made. From what Lord Magnus divined, the moves used were Flash Cannon and Arial Ace.” Joy trailed off as she looked at the hologram.

“So moves of two elements and two gems. Were any gems recovered intact?” Alex continued as Joy called up data.

“All gems were found shattered. A failsafe or the result of battle…” Joy trailed off as she turned and shared a look with Magnus. Mordred stepped forward as a hologram of the Homeland appeared.

“Thank you Headmistress for your report, Lord Alex, Lady Morg’a for your points I give you my thanks. As of 1 hour ago our lord has issued orders that the patrols groups along our shore are be increased in size. The remains are to be turned over to the School of Aura as soon as the masters exit this chamber for a period of one weak for a detailed examination. All lords are to take any action they believe is necessary in their territories its security, all suspicious events are to be investigated by local authorities.” Mordred began as a map of the Homeland sprang from the holo-project identifying the various territories

“Wait one minute Commander Mordred! How was a single courier identified by those monsters and from where did the courier come from? What was its cargo? These facts would affect any plans we make to protect our citizens.” Morg’a interrupted with a smirk. Joy had a look of worry on her face while Camilla had a sever frown

“From the machine’s localization before we removed them, some of them were hooked up to the eyes of the corpse, so a possible Aura sensor is possible. The cargo….” Mordred began until the person behind him interrupted and spoke loudly.

“Was an Aura scan of my son.” Dracula declared as he stood up from his throne.

Alex blinked, their lord couldn’t have said what he thought he’d heard, did he?

“I Declare this for all within this chamber to know! After years of not knowing their fate, my Queen and my son have been Found! Even as we speak, measures are being undertaking to return them to our shores!” Dracula proclaimed as the chamber exploded in conversations.

Morg’a had a wide smile on her face while on the inside her thoughts were complete anarchy. Arceus Damn it! With that old slug found she’ll be back and warming his bed within the next year! All my plans to find and influence her replacement just went up in smoke! I should have known that those stupid Crusaders wouldn’t kill them!

“My lord may I be the first to offer my congratulations on such wonderful news! If there is anything that any of us could do to help I’m sure my fellows would jump at the chance!” Morg’a said with cheer in her voice. Alex merely looked at her and let his eyes grow hard. So they did find D, and I think my people needs to spend a little time making sure that that tart doesn’t try to send anyone after little whoever go the scan or the kid

“I can only say that in this matter the Lady Morg’a speaks for me as will my lord. If there is anything my people and I can do to help you have but to command it.” Alex said as he bowed to his liege lord as the other Lords and Highlords copied him.

“Thank you but as I said measures are being done to return my beloved to me. May our people stand forever against all who would threaten us!” Dracula declared as he got up from his throne and his Pokemon followed him out the door. Alex looked at Camilla and fixed the right side of his collar and saw her and Magnus clench their right hands before he walked back to Victor and his maids. He grinned to himself as he walked. Time for an old friend and her son to come home at last, but how did they find them? And who better to ask then her brother and her best friend? He thought with a grin as he walked away with his two maids to ‘celebrate’.

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Cleo sighed as she and her Krokorok walked into her inner apartment. That meeting had been as nerve wracking as the rumors that had been swirling around the local net. The reality was even worse, Frankenmon powered by unknown means, and able to use attacks! That wasn’t even touch the fact that the Queen to be was alive with the Prince, that changed everything! When she returned she had given orders that all local wild Pokémon dens were to have surveillance equipment set up, if anything came to harvest fresh corpse, they would see them if they hit the dens. Why did she ever have to be chosen as the High Lord’s successor anyway? It was supposed to be just a simple Quest, why did her predecessor have to use it to choose replacement before he died, she was just an orphan who had to play peacekeeper at the orphanage. She didn’t like to fight, and his will that said she had to build her household herself without any of the previous staff, thank Arceus that Marshall Asim and his crew had stayed on and the homunculi maids. But things were hard; she had her pen pal to chat with! With a smile on her face she walked toward her computer, her Krokorok pulled out the chair to let her sit down and signed into a chat room. She had meet her friend on a message board about the impact Pokémon and human settlements had on each other, and since then the two of them had had conversations about care and feeding, exchanged recipes and helped each other deal with problems. She did feel a bit bad that he thought she was a middle management in a company who got promoted after her superior left, but the rest of the world wasn’t like her home, they didn’t have Lords and High Lords and to burden a doctor with her political problems just wasn’t the right thing to do.

SandyLady: You online Doc?

RockDoc: Hey Lady, how was your meeting.

SandyLady: The boss’s wife woke up from her coma, she’s going to return to the company but the medicine that helped wake her was almost stolen by thieves so security of all divisions were raised, and two people on my level are fighting with each other, I’ve had to issue a few orders that might get people hurt in the name of said security, what about you?

RockDoc: I have a bit of a problem myself; the mother of one of my old friends sent a quite inquiry about a girl she’s worried about, wants to double check something and my job says I should make it official, but everything I feel screams me to keep quit, I’m a bit conflicted.

SandyLady: So keep quiet and look into what might happen if you don’t, you might find something you don’t know you know about would happen. But why do you feel what you that way?

RockDoc: Thanks for the advice Lady, it’s a supervisor who would receive the report just rubs me the wrong way, something about them feels wrong to me.

Cleo went cold as she rereads the last message; some people Aura’s were able to ‘sense’ the nature of people, when they were hurt and needed help. Most of them became public servants, doctors or police if Doc felt something wrong about his supervisor, then they might be trouble if he went official on this. One piece of advice old man Victor had told her when she was sworn in was to trust her instincts about people and Pokémon. Said instincts said the Lady Morg’a was a trustworthy as a coin left in the sun was cold, so she trusted the advice.

SandyLady: Doc, one bit of advice I think I can pass on to you; always trust your instincts. Your hindbrain might be seeing what your forebrain can’t.

“Lady Ro Clor! We have a situation!” A voice called from her door. That was Marshall Asim, but he should be out along the dunes, helping set up the observation cameras. If he was back then there might be a rather large problem that needs the local High Lords authority.

“I’ll be right there!” Cleo called back as she typed one last message and walked toward her door, her Krokorok falling in step behind her. The duties of a desert High Lord never ended, but she was ready to meet them. Opening the door she was met with Marshall Asim, a hard faced black haired man wearing a black cloak over black clothes with a Braviary wearing a Searcher’s Gem next to him.

“What happened Marshal?” Cleo demand as he would only have his Braviary with him if he was searching for something before he came to see her. Gesturing for her and her Pokémon to follow him he led them down the hallway. His Braviary took flight and flew ahead and out a window.

“Everything was going like clockwork M’lady, we had finished setting up most of them when we hit the Northern Mountain, one of the caves is or was used by a herd of Trapinch as their nest, it was empty and it showed signs of a battle. Thankfully we found the herd at an oasis, but the herd defenders were all injured. The team I sent into the cave discovered a hole in the floor that led into a chamber; it looks like an early Ritual chamber. The battle damage in the cave looks like the herd was attack from the cave mouth and then who ever made the hole was attacked by something inside. The problem is a sand storm swept the region after this all happened, at least we think so.” Asim as he led her into a room with a map of her territory, marked with symbols for her towns, cities and Pokémon dens.

“Send word to all towns nearby to be on alert, anything or anyone out of the ordinary is to be reported at once. Once night falls patrols are to be run between the cities for the next week. The Trapinch are to be relocated to a territory where they can prosper, send word to the School of Aura, I want an archeological team to be sent to study those ruins as soon as possible. And put the Gates on full alert for the next 2 weeks, if people broke into that chamber I don’t want it to be easy for them to escape.” Cleo Ro Clor, Highlord of the Inner Desert commanded as she gazed upon a map of her lands. What happened when the chamber was breeched, what did they wake up and who were they? I always knew I would face a trial by fire, this has to be it. Cleo thought as she walked through the palace to the situation room.

SandyLady: Sorry Doc, duty calls. Good luck with your problem.

Brock sighed as he read the last message SandyLady had sent him. For a corporate manager she always had the right thing to say to help him. Maybe it was wrong to let her think he was only a doctor, but the problems of a Gym Leader, even one who was away from their gym weren’t for the faint of heart. Just last week he had helped to take down a pack of Houndor and the alpha Houndom to relocate them to stop a swarm of Paras from raiding the city, thankfully his Marshtomp had evolved and defeated the alpha. The Pokemon Rangers had a nice valley far enough away that was perfect for the Dark Fire types, and there was supposedly a river full of water types between the valley and the habitat of the Paras, so there was no way for them to go after them or return to their old habitat.

Getting up from his computer he thought back to Delia’s message. She had sent a text that she was worried about a new hire at her restaurant, and was that a surprise when he and Misty first visited Pallet Town! To think Ash had grown up in around a commercial restaurant, and that it was famous! But the girl was the problem or had a problem. She had been settling in fine but all of a sudden she had started to jump at anything and seemed to have closed off from people. Delia had contacted him because she had a Johto accident and he currently was at learning about medicine in Viridian City and was wondering if he heard anything from Johto from either the towm or his position as a Gym Leader. He had sent back that he hadn’t heard anything, but he didn’t tell her that a few days ago he had run into Karen, a member of the Elite Four, while his party was hunting the pack in the mountains. Sure she had said something about a monstrous creature she was tracking but Brock didn’t think a Chimera was connected to the girl, but like he told SandyLady, something about Karen was just wrong. He couldn’t describe it but he’ll trust it for now and contact a few of the gym leaders in Johto through couriers, maybe one of them had heard something.

As Brock walk out of his room he never thought that maybe the monstrous creature Karen was hunting was really the girl in question, never thought that maybe others were watching people like him who would help her without question. Brock never saw the glint of light a pair of binoculars gave off as a silent watcher cataloged his activities.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Lilith was able to identify the Aura from the sparks and had tracked her to and from a bus stop and was able to finally catch her and was currently tailing her toward the Professor’s lab. When she saw the girl in question she was able to get a general read of her Aura, this girl was someone with a good heart and a bit of creativity, and watching the interactions she had when she interacted with people and Pokémon between her and the lab she seemed to be a pleasant person. A good fashion sense, natural beauty and what looked like a great personality and a bit of creativity, the prince had a good one after him.

Lilith let a smirk grace her lips before she walked a tiny bit faster; she had to time this just right, she reached for a button on a crossing post and hit Serena’s hand.

“Sorry about that, you need to cross too?” Lilith asked the honey haired girl.

“Yeah, I’m heading toward Professor Sycamore lab, what about you.” Serena asked as she looked at the black clothed girl. There was something that seemed to pull Serena out of the shell she had around herself.

“The same, he has some information that I need for my journey. Oh, sorry I forgot to introduce myself, the names’ Lilly and you are?” Lilly said she offered Serena a hand.

“Serena Yvonne, nice to meet you Lilly.” Serena said as they both walked toward the Professors lab.

“Nice to meet you too Serena, so have you decided on a goal for your journey?” Lilly asked as the walked toward the lab’s door.

Serena only blushed and walked faster, opening the door, pretending that she hadn’t heard anything.

“Hello? Is Professor Sycamore around?” Serena called out as they walked into the building

“That’s me. I’m up here.” A voice called out from atop a set of stairs opposite the doorway

“Huh? Hello there. I’m Serena and this is Lilly.”

“I bet you two are here to become Pokémon Trainers.” Sycamore said as he smiled at the two girls as he walked down the stairs.

“She is, I’m here for the information you have on when the Pokémon Contests happen.” Lilly said as she held up a Pokéball.

“Yup. Also, Professor, I saw this Trainer on the news. The report was all about how he had saved a Garchomp.” Serena said as she went a bit red in the face.

“Oh, you're talking about Ash.” Sycamore said as Serena smiled. Ash, I knew it!

“I ran into him at the Pokemon Center. He said he was heading for the Santalune Gym.” Lilly said, causing Serena to turn and look at her.

“Santalune Gym? Hmm. Professor, may I choose a Pokémon?” Serena said turning back to the Professor.

“Of course. And do you have any idea which Pokémon you'd like?” Sycamore asked. Lilly stood back and watch with a smile. A trainers first Pokémon was a mystical moment that only happen once for anyone, and only after a while did people understand what happened to them.

“Yup.”

“All right. Everybody out!” Sycamore called to the right before a woman in a white lab coat led three forms into the room.

“These are the Kalos Pokémon new Trainers may choose from, Fennekin, Chespin and Froakie. Which Pokémon will you choose as your partner?” Sycamore asked as he turned back to Serena with a smile.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

P A treon.com/bardofworlds for special rewards for all patrons

Crusaders: Knights who launched attack on Homeland and kidnapped Ash and Delia

Aura Link: The result of two or more auras connecting, the people must meet and spend time with each other first, but when entering an area of 50 miles area sparks seemingly flow between auras unless something is blocking connection

Psi-Changer: Aura Equipment: Gemstone Type Special. A Gem that creates a false ‘mind’ that is the opposite of what the wearer is thinking, a convert defense against mind readers

#pokemon fanfiction #Pokemon AU #Ash-Harem #Dhampire Ash

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shadowphoenixrider · 5 years ago

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I’ve had this Katla/Kabu fic idea playing out in my head all day today, and because I can’t be arsed to write it properly, here’s the cliff-notes version:

- Katla + all gym leaders + Leon + Hop are having a party because of Reasons (post-’yay we didn’t die’ day? post-championship match? god knows).

- Kabu doesn’t want to be here, but it’s The Law so he is. But the company’s not bad (Hint Hint)

- Everyone’s getting buzzed on the alcohol. Kabu is watching himself and is relatively sober. Katla doesn’t usually drink, but Leon splashed out for some red wine and she likes that, so she drinks.

- She tries to pace herself, but since she doesn’t drink often, it goes awry. She gets very excitable and chatty, which everyone finds amusing, including Kabu, but he keeps a wary eye on her.

- Good thing too, as after a while she goes to him and mumbles that she’s overdone it and doesn’t feel safe to get back to her hotel room on her own. Could he walk her there?

- It takes about a nanosecond for him to say yes.

- The rest of the gang is too far into their booze to take any notice, but Kabu finds a sober-ish Nessa and lets her know he’s taking Katla home - she takes one look at Kat and agrees that he’s got the right idea.

- Katla can barely walk straight because of her dizziness, so she holds tight to Kabu’s arm as he leads her to the taxi rank. She keeps bumping into him and saying sorry, but he’s too deep in thought to care.

- For reasons he doesn’t quite understand (*coughhe’sgotfeelingsforhercough*), Kabu frets that if he leaves her alone in her hotel room she’s going to fall and crack her head open in the bathroom or choke on her vomit and die.

- Decides to take her to his place because he has a spare room and then at least he knows she’s in a safe place and someone can at least keep an eye on her.

- He tells her this. Katla vehemently denies she’s going to puke and he doesn’t have to do this, she’ll be fine. Kabu pulls the ‘please help settle an old man’s mind’ card, and she relents.

- Taxi dude makes noises about Katla puking in the taxi, much to Katla’s chagrin. Kabu tells him he’ll pick up the cleaning tab and taxi dude realizes who he’s talking to and gets a lot more polite.

- Plot twist: Katla doesn’t puke in the taxi. She gets very tried and almost falls asleep against Kabu. It makes him feel things, and he feels a bit guilty trying to keep her awake.

- Her legs give out in the lift to his flat, and she apologies profusely for being a burden. Kabu assures her she is very much not, and carries her to his apartment. She almost falls asleep again, and he keeps her awake by asking about her hotel room (room no., where’s her access card, etc.).

- Kabu puts her in the spare room, and manages to get her out of her shoes and coat before she is out like a light. He puts her to bed as is, and gets ready for bed himself.

- His rest is fitful, as he keeps waking up to check on her. She’s fine Kabu GO TO BED

- Despite this, he gets up at his usual time for his morning run. He checks on Katla again, leaving her a note explaining everything, a glass of water and a tab of painkillers.

- He takes a detour to the hotel to pick up a change of clothes for her. He feels incredibly awkward about it, but does it anyway.

- Katla wakes up during this time, and she’s got a hecking hangover when she does. She’s grateful for the water and painkillers, though she just wants to sleep and ignore life at the moment. (She also feels a bit guilty about staying ‘round Kabu’s).

- Kabu comes back with clothes and notices Katla’s risen from the dead. They have a brief talk; he’s thankful she’s ok, she’s grateful that he looked after her, though she feels bad for being such a disruption. He assures her it’s perfectly fine, he’d do it for anyone of his friends (liar).

- He leaves her to rest, trying to ignore that weird ass feeling that she’s staying in his apartment and he likes it and actually if she wanted to stay longer, well that’d be perfectly fine, really.

- But he’s a little worried he’s over-stepped his boundaries a little, what with the taking her home and the...touching her clothes. You know maybe he shouldn’t read into this and make it any worse than it already is.

- Katla sleeps until her head pounds a little less when she lifts it up, then she goes and has a shower and puts on the new clothes. Immediately feels better.

- Tidies up the room before she leaves, and finds Kabu’s kindly kept the blinds low so she can roam around without the morning sun blinding her.

- Finds him downstairs in the kitchen, cooking up breakfast with his Centiskorch skittering around. Centiskorch sees her first and lets its trainer know she’s there, then goes and get pets from her.

- Kabu is happy to see her up, even if she looks as shattered as he is. He’s even happier to see Centiskorch likes her and vice versa.

- “Mmm, sorry I kept you up, Kabu.”

- “You have nothing to apologise for.”

- Katla asks how long she can stay; she doesn’t want to impose, and the others will be waking up soon. Kabu points out that they were really going for it last night (he swore he saw a jagerbomb coming out when they left) and they probably won’t wake up until the middle of the day.

- “Oh, that makes sense.” *peers at the oven* “What’re you cooking?”

- Kabu sweats nervously. “Oh, the other day a little Rookidee might have told me you like a sausage sandwich, so I thought perhaps, if you’re feeling up to it...”

- Katla, internally: Marry me you handsome bastard

- Katla, externally: Damn, Hop never lets me have any secrets. Yeah, they’re my favourite. I’ll just have a small one, if that’s ok?

- Soft gentle fluff ensues as they chat together on the sofa, enjoying the peaceful morning together. Katla lets some of her not-giant Pokemon roam around with Kabu’s.

- “How is your Sizzlipede doing now?”

- “Oh, she’s doing fine.” *lets her out of her pokeball to reveal she’s evolved into a Centiskorch*

- Kabu, internally: Oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck

- Kabu, externally: Ah! She’s evolved into a fine Pokemon!

- Katla: Oh yes! She’s become my main fire and bug type Pokemon. *pets her* She’s so beautiful and gorgeous and tough as nails...

- Kabu’s kinda listening, but 90% of him is just gawking at the scene and pointedly ignoring the fact he’s slowly rolling head over heels in love.

- The two Centiskorch hit it off, much to their trainers’ delight.

- Katla/Kabu just spend the morning talking with each other and slowly inching closer to one another on the couch.

- Kabu finally admits (!!!) that he cares a lot for Katla and he hopes he hadn’t overstepped his boundaries. Katla says it’s fine, she trusts him and she actually cares a lot for him too.

- Long pause as they debate what to do next. Katla shifts a little closer. “You’re warm...”

- Kabu chuckles. “That might be the reason they call me the ‘ever-burning man of fire’.”

- Their knees are touching

- Oh my god they’re leaning into one another

- Katla’s Rotom phone beeps and startles them apart; Hop’s awake and wondering where she is because shouldn’t she be at breakfast at this time?

- Katla: Oh sorry, I drank a bit too much last night and Kabu let me stay over his place. I’ll be over in a little while.

- Hop: ...You’re at Kabu’s?! Shit sorry I didn’t realize didn’t mean to disturb you lol

- Katla: OMG HOP WE DIDN’T DO ANYTHING! HE’S A GENTLEMAN HE PUT ME IN A SEPARATE BED

- Too late Hop’s already texted Leon and the private League gossip groupchat is fucking erupting with variations of ‘did they do the do!?!?!?’ and ‘holy shit finally’.

- Katla decides to leave at this point. Both of them are disappointed she has to go, but she does, yet not before exchanging numbers.

- As she goes, Kabu can’t help but feel like a part of him has gone missing. However, because he’s a Complete Fucking Idiot, he doesn’t think it’s anything to do with Katla.

- Nessa contacts Kabu about Katla later. He tells her Katla’s ok, and that she said she cares about him.

- Nessa: Really? *in the groupchat: hold up guys I think I got something*

- Kabu: Yes. I’m very flattered to be one of things she cares about.

- Nessa in the groupchat: OH MY FUCKING ARCEUS KABU HAS TO BE DOING THIS ON PURPOSE NO ONE IS THIS THICK

- Raihan: w8 what happened whatd he do

- Nessa: Kat told him that she really cared for him and he was like ‘oh it’s nice to be one of the thing she cares about’

- Leon: YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING

- Nessa: *posts screenshot of the texts in groupchat* Nope

- groupchat explodes in frustration

#SPR rambles #oc/kabu #katla/kabu #kabu #self-insert #they're both awkward dorks #but kabu is peak oblivious idiot #all the gym leaders have a private groupchat where they gossip about this #they are THIS close to staging an intervention #bede thinks this is all stupid as hell #but even he thinks kabu's being a dumbass

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seeds-of-the-garden · 6 years ago

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Plance AU Lance is a security guard in a large tech company. Pidge meanwhile is constantly trying to break in to get a glimpse of the next gen super computer being built there.

She thought it all through, dotted her i’s and crossed her t’s, tied her shoelaces (she just checked again to be sure), made sure the cameras played back old feed, wore a ski mask to hide her face and hair, had her fake prints ready to go, and yet--

Just one dumbass security guard changing up his usual pattern would make months of planning go boom.

Huh, that was an idea; maybe if she bailed she could just rig a wall to explode and--

No, bad idea! She wanted the supercomputer intact if she was going to learn anything examining it - plus, she didn’t fancy adding blowing up a government counterintelligence building to her lengthening list of felonies. Besides, her more immediate problem was that the guard approaching her impromptu hiding place around a corner whistled his way ever closer, and at this rate he would hear her heart threatening to jump out of her chest, never mind her muffled footsteps squeaking away if she tried to make a run for it.

Wait...whistling?

Pidge dared to peer around the corner, her eyes narrowing as they fell on the guard and...where the hell was Keith?

Somehow, the fact that this guy was new gratified her, and her only mistake was that she didn’t expect Keith - the facility’s usual nighttime security guard - to have taken a vacation or called in sick or quit or, you know, gotten fired.

(Which, in retrospect, she should’ve predicted; she’d read his personnel file, after all.)

Well, too late to worry about her oversight now. Pidge was in too deep to back out of this operation, and she would lay eyes on that supercomputer tonight one way or another.

But how? Whistling guard was so close she could clearly make out the tune - he carried it well, she thought grudgingly - as the Pokemon theme song, pumping his arms in an animated power walk, until he started...dancing.

Erratically, with flailing arms that would knock her unconscious without him even trying, loud, booming footsteps that would scare anything with ears or, well, some other sensory experience that relied on vibrations.

Pidge sighed. Maybe evading this guy was easier than she thought...so she started to creep backwards, away from him, feeling along the wall for a door frame or vent or some other opening she could hide in until he passed while she found and flicked on her taser - because if worst came to worst she could just literally shock him so he at least wouldn’t chase her.

But the switch made a dreadful, echoing tick.

Pidge winced, her shoulders tensing, but that was nothing to the whistling stopping.

“Who’s there?” the guard called, his footsteps on the tile more even. She heard another click - well, electrocution via his taser was better than a bullet, she supposed - and he rounded the corner.

The guard’s eyes shot open when they fell on her, his stun gun raised high and steady. “H-hey, what’re you doing here?” He ventured a little closer, enough that the low light caught his name tag.

“Damn,” Pidge hissed. She bid her feet move, but they refused, so she pitched her voice higher and said, “Oh, well, you know”--she winced at a crack--”I just wanted to look around, uh...Lance, is it?”

The guard’s - Lance’s - stun gun lowered, his jaw falling slack as if he hadn’t expected her to answer his question. “How do you know my name?” he demanded.

Pidge poked her chest. “You’re wearing a name tag,” she pointed out.

His face darkened, and from the way he fumbled his stun gun made it obvious even to someone as people-dumb as her that he was embarrassed. “Oh, yeah, I am.” He cleared his throat and asked, “So you couldn’t wait for visiting hours to just look around?”

Nice save, Pidge thought, rolling her eyes, but she straightened, little tension leaving her as she stayed poised enough to flee. “It’s not like what I want to see is open for visitors.”

Lance just stared at her. “So it’s classified and not for your eyes.” He crossed his arms, a bemused smile on his lips. “And it’s not for my eyes either.”

“Right...” Pidge smiled under her mask, because she knew that. She just had to pass his patrol route before she reached her true objective, but dammit, he caught her and was probably going to arrest her unless--

“Hey, uh, Lance,” Pidge said, struck by an awful, brilliant idea that would doubtless screw them both, “you know that super powerful supercomputer they’re building? The one with the supposed ‘smartest AI in the world’?”

Lance raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, it--” He gasped, eyes widening. “Wait, the public’s not supposed to know about that yet, so how do you--”

“Never mind that!” Pidge quickly replied, her face hot, because either she was about to make a huge mistake...or she’d already made many. “Let’s just say my brother works”--worked--”here and leave it at that.”

“Fine.” Lance sighed and waved an arm. “I guess this is the part where you tell me why I shouldn’t detain you.”

Pidge snapped her fingers as a smirk curved her lips. There was a challenge in his voice, and, well, she couldn’t resist a good challenge. So she said, “Actually, this is the part where I tell you to join me.”

He blinked at her, frowning. “I don’t follow.”

“Let’s go peek at that super secret supercomputer...together.”

#plance #pidgance #lidge #flirtyrobot #voltron legendary defender #vld fanfic #mod reem #this is a bit longer than our self-imposed max #but still room to wonder what happens next #hushman

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pokeshippingflashfic · 6 years ago

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“You’re like, the best pillow” makes me think of all the times they fell asleep against each other bc of jigglypuff so I have to request. Doesn’t have to be abt a jigglypuff tho

It wasn’t the first time he’d been swallowed up by this unique source of warmth, though he was remiss to remember the specifics of the last time he’d felt it.

It’s was more intimate, more focused than the encompassing warmth that his sleeping bag gave him with its cotton and polyester blend, more direct and almost feverish. It seared where it touched and left almost abandoned, where it missed his flesh. It wasn’t the same burn he’d felt from any fire-type Pokemon though, nor did it bake like the hot sultry island sunshine he’d grown accustomed to in Alola.

It was a tender warmth that lulled and soothed and roused and anchored him, something that he’d felt to such a degree on a few separate occasions over the course of his journey, though most of them were quite short-lived by comparison.

Holding hands, once, twice, thrice, etc; a kiss or two to the cheek, one to the lips; thin, somehow delicate fingers clawing at his elbow, belonging to an Ursaring of a girl who claimed that ghosts were too much to handle; looping arms and dragging him down the street to keep her company; carrying him above frigid winter waves, one arm tucked around his back and another clutching his front while warm breath blew haphazardly against his neck and cheek…

The closest he could remember coming to this sensation however were the handful of times he’d been put to sleep against his will and had somehow mysteriously woken up leaning against a particular female friend of his.

An unbidden consideration crossed his mind for the first time… Why mysteriously…? Because he had an unconscious habit of standing closer to her than anyone else…?

Hmm… how curious.

He was too comfortable to snap awake the way he figured he should have, would have, at most any other time when his subconscious was taking him for such an eventful joyride so he took his time squinting his eyes tightly shut before easing them open, praying he wouldn’t be blinded by the morning sunlight.

Surprisingly, he was actually greeted by the semi-darkness of the Ketchum living room, illuminated just so by the overhead light ranging above the staircase leading to the second floor.

But, far more closely than that realization was the sight of two blue-green eyes staring avidly down at him from straight above.

“Misty…” he murmured sleepily, instinctively. “Wha’cha… doin’ here?” And he released a deep yawn before easing his eyes closed again, a faint smile adorning his thin lips, as if there was no concern to be had over falling asleep in Misty Waterflower’s lap.

“What am I…? Ash Ketchum, you dummy!” she responded, just as reflexively, though she didn’t have it in her to fling him off of her so instead she just lightly kicked up her thigh enough to knock the sleep right out of him.

“Mwah!” he wailed in response, snapping into a sitting position and almost bumping foreheads with her. “Wha’d’ya do that for?!”

“You fell asleep on me, Mr. Pokemon Master! I should be asking you what you thought you were doing this whole time!” she exclaimed, arms crossing tightly over her chest and lips pursed into a frown as she glared daggers at him. “Also real smooth of you to forget I’ve been in your house for two days now!”

“Wait, wait… I did… I did what? Fell asleep? What was - what’s…”

The memory of him wandering down to the living room earlier that night, after two hours or so of tossing around in bed, too worked up for some reason to let true slumber claim him, flooded back as he stammered aloud. He also remembered Misty joining him about thirty minutes after, claiming that she too couldn’t find it in her to sleep, that she was used to being up late since becoming a gym leader, that she was excited to see her best friends again after so many months without.

They’d been watching television - he couldn’t even remember landing on a particular show, they’d just continued channel surfing and evading the rare case of endless static - and then…

He couldn’t remember anymore. Somehow, just like that, he’d apparently fallen fast asleep. But still, even if that was the case, things didn’t make a whole lot of sense.

“But how did I end up on your lap?”

“Wha…?” the redhead yelped, and he was proud to see her upper lip quivering as she was caught red-handed… Even though he had no idea what she was so upset about.

“I mean, I guess I was knocked out easier than I thought once I got down here but even if I fell on you or whatever, I shouldn’t’ve ended up with my head in your lap, right?”

“Wh - well, I…” Ah, now the tables had turned! It was rare for Ash to come out on top and he couldn’t help milking the opportunity when it arose. “You had so much trouble sleeping upstairs, remember? I figured, if you somehow were able to get some rest down here then… it would be best to let you… to help you, I guess.”

He eyed the stammering, flushing redhead with suspicion. There was no way she was being entirely honest about things. He couldn’t imagine a scenario where he would have fallen all the way down to her lap on his own, especially not without waking up…

But at the same time, whatever her secrets, he knew to at least be grateful that she’d left him to get his rest, that she’d helped him, as she so eloquently put it.

Whatever the situation, whatever the accusations, Misty had enough sense to not turn tail and run. As if she needed to give Ash more ammo to poke and prod at her nerves into the next day until she lost her temper. No, it was better to ward him off now, right? So she didn’t leave the couch.

And Ash, who’d leaped back into a sitting position after she’d roughly nudged him with her knee, and who was now holding his neck with one hand and rolling his head to and fro from one shoulder to the other as if massaging any kinks he may have ended up with (but magically didn’t, as he was currently finding out), hadn’t run or even slightly backed away either, nor was he continuing to berate her with inquiries about how things had ended up the way they were.

What was that saying about small mercies…?

“S’weird how I was able to fall asleep so easily down here,” he went on next, arching his back into a deep stretch and then offering her his patented snarky grin, “Maybe you’re my good luck charm, Mist.”

“Ah…” She almost melted. She almost exploded. She almost gave herself away in one manner or another but she was able to withhold her knee-jerk response (minus a somewhat flattering splash of red to her cheeks) and instead gave back as good as she was getting. “Maybe I am then, huh?”

Ash’s grin faded slowly from his face. He didn’t look upset though, nor panicked that she wasn’t backing down. Instead he was gazing almost warily at her as if choosing which was the best route to take when continuing their borderline flirty conversation.

Perhaps he had grown up some since they’d last seen each other…

“Well, at least there’s one thing we learned from this, huh?” he began openly, gaze softening, not daring to look her directly in the eye.

“Uh… huh. And what’s that, Mr. Pokemon Master?”

“You’re, like, the best pillow. I mean, ya’d have to be for me to fall asleep that easily, right? Hehe!”

“What are you…?” she began, faltering at his audacity. There was no if or but about this; Ash Ketchum was definitely flirting with her! To think he’d come so far after their time apart! She was so busy mentally traversing the avenues she might take to respond to this that she almost missed his next comment.

“But it was kinda unexpected, ya know?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well,” he began, and the catty grin on his face was enough to drain the color from hers because she absolutely knew exactly what was coming. “I just didn’t think someone as scrawny as you could be so comfortable!”

And then he took off running.

“You idiot…” she muttered furiously, on her feet instantaneously, the fire in her spirit renewed enough to chase him around the living room, even going so far as to leap over the back of the couch in her pursuit.

Trust that dummy Ash Ketchum to ruin a perfectly good mood!

#pokeshipping #flash fic #fanfiction #ash ketchum x misty waterflower #ash x misty #requests #word count: 1442

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