#palina defender

[imaginaryskeleton]

I love having a hyperfixation on a game I've never played or seen anyone play. All the info I have was obtained via pure osmosis and the person who introduced me to it is exactly the same

This leads to fun moments everyday when I'm reading fanfictions and I have to quickly look up a character or concept I haven't encountered before and I get to learn whole new info that recontextualises the whole thing

[tethrarisms]

I'm super late to the party but it baffles me that the devs were so committed to R/S/E lore when writing PLA. Of course, everyone knows about the portraits of Maxie's and Archie's ancestors, but it does go deeper when you compare the similarities between Archie and Maxie's relationship and Adaman and Irida's. Just like Team Aqua and Magma, the Pearl and Diamond clans can't see eye to eye because they firmly defend their own beliefs and are not open to cooperate with each other.

But then the protagonist shows them that their visions are limited, narrowed, and they finally realize that one is incomplete without the other (space and time, the sea and the land).

ALSO

Remember that couple in ORAS? The Aqua and Magma grunts who fell in love and ran away because they were afraid their leaders would hunt them down for their betrayal? Not quite the same storyline, but there's a glimpse of it when you learn more about Iscan and Palina. They are both afraid of embracing their romance based on the fear of their respective clans.

I just love how Hoenn and Sinnoh are deeply connected, especially when it comes to my favorite ecoterrorists 💜

[hisuianhellion]

The Bane of Your Existence

Content Warning: Severe Injury, Blood, Possible Death

This was the perfect situation for her to finally take the time to relax. Her eyes scanned the horizon for a moment, taking in the wind that lazily blew into the small cove nearby in the full moon's light, deep in the night as they were. It was something of a refreshment for her, considering the last time she had come here wasn't exactly a walk in the park. One warden, Palina had it in her head that coddling a young pup was honoring the memory of its parent, and while Rose didn't exactly have room to talk, you needed the strength to move on or you'd be stuck in the past. Which paired nicely with the slight issue she had with Iscan: the man could not work past his own fears to be able to do his duty as a warden. He had been appointed the task to oversee a Noble Pokemon, and yet here he stayed, unable to treat with a Pokemon he emphatically said was necessary to even feed Basculegion.

All of it culminated in the worst outcome for them both. Iscan had to face his fears head-on because another forced him into it rather than letting him work towards even a compromise to create the necessary food. And Palina nearly lost the heir to her Noble, watching helplessly as another did the work that wouldn't have even been necessary had she simply tried to ease her Pokemon into their role. Fear of moving forward hurt them both. They held onto that unhealthy attitude until Rose set them to rights. And she was back at it once more with Todd quietly pawing at the sand on the beach.

It wasn't all that chilly, the night clear and wind whistling by. It flowed more potently on the other side of the small, mountainous growth separating this cove from the rest of the Cobalt Coastlands, which allowed them the peacefulness of this quiet moment. Rose took a deep breath, exhaling slowly through her lips as her eyes closed, and with a light little whisper to catch her Zorua's attention, she motioned for him to approach her.

It took a sniff at the air for him to deduce the lack of a threat before he began trotting over quietly and easily, paws not even making a single sound on the sandy ground. Rose was just beyond the sand, a patch of grassier earth more comfortable to rest upon while she watched Todd gently amble over. He was honestly too cute to be as traumatized of humans as he seemed to be, and as he got closer, she let him sniff his hand.

Gently, she eased forward to begin rubbing a cheek, and blessedly she had gotten to at least that point. He knew what affection was, and he genuinely seemed to seek it out. He just... didn't seem to know if it was always going to happen on the approach. A soft stroke downwards helped get to the part he always seemed to enjoy the most, and with a light shift, her second hand joined in. Right along his chin and "scarf", a smile crossing her lips. "... You deserve so much better, Todd."

His eyes shifted up towards her, and her grip adjusted gradually to let him take a seat, gently chirping at her. Despite most Alphas having stronger vocal chords and admittedly deeper voices thanks to their much larger bodies? Todd's was so soft. Yes, he growled in their initial encounter, a snarl of rather vicious strength lying deep within him, but... with her? He seemed to deliberately want to act smaller than he was. She almost expected him to try and look the part of a non-Alpha with use of his illusions, but he never showed any inclinations towards hiding himself.

To Rose? It was like the Zorua simply wanted to be seen. To be loved. To genuinely be himself and be accepted for that. There was too much about the past that seemed to traumatize him into only being defensive, but never aggressive. She couldn't help but relate to him in that way. She'd never lash out, but if cornered or forced into a fight... yeah. She knew how to defend herself, too.

A bean cake came out, helpfully given to her earlier, and she let the fox, which actually stood taller than even herself while she sat, eat without a problem. Light munches with the cooked beans having that much chewier texture. And while he ate calmly, she began digging into her pack. By the time he was licking his chops and giving his scarf a few licks for cleanliness' sake, she had pulled it out.

A shiny Zoroark mask.

Todd quietly sniffed at it in curiosity, promptly followed by a keen blink of surprise from him. His jaw was slightly open, and a light musing of excitement came up. It was obvious he recognized it, and to Rose? That light wag of his tail was enough to tell her that this idea was going to pay off. She smiled in response before softly petting along the tuft upon his head, and scooted away to stand herself up a bit more firmly. "Heh. I thought this'd be a good idea." She grinned a bit, hands on her hips with a smug smirk as Todd circled about her with audibly enticed chirruping. Foxes made the silliest sounds, and he was no different!

A slow inhale, and she looked down at the mask. The coloration was a bit different, the red tips of the white mane being replaced by a purple tint, but those eyes were the same across any depiction she had seen. Bright yellow. The mask lacked pupils, but... she couldn't deny that there could've been a spirit in this. So many others had been gifted these masks, and many seemed to have the times of their lives with them. A romp with their Pokemon by their side, a moment of peace to truly get to know their partners, even the time to simply release any and all of their inhibitions in a mad dash of escapism from the life of being a human. Would that these kinds of masks not just be for humans, huh? Then maybe those that never got the choice could have one.

She turned it around. She saw a black void within the eye sockets, golden fury within. She blinked a bit in shock.

There was nothing but the yellow upon the insides the moment her eyes opened once more. She turned the mask about a few more times, Todd's faint concern making her look back towards him in response. She had been holding the air in her chest, and that allowed her to take a few breaths, shaking her head as her tail flicked behind her. "I'm alright, I'm guh-... I'm good."

Todd didn't seem convinced, gently nudging at the back of her hand with his nose. Concern from him snapped her even more firmly into reality, and she softly pet along his head, gaining a light squeak from the fox. "Oh, now I know this is a good idea. That's my boy... you're a part of this family, and I want you to know that as clear as crystal, okay?" The Zorua's head tilted gently in response, and she snickered a bit, grasping the mask a bit more firmly.

A deep breath entered her lungs. A slow exhale escaped her lips. She lifted the mask, and placed it flush along her face. Cheek to cheek, placed firmly upon her forehead. Within a single second, it gripped. The pain was sharp, but short, clinging in a ring around her face. She felt it all in a single moment of time from Todd's perspective, but from hers, it was like time stopped.

Everything vanished from view. There was just her, in the form of a Hisuian Zoroark. Claws. Mane. Arched form, taller than her normal human form. She could see herself. She could feel the warmth that thick fur gave her. But there was a chill in her chest... she felt oddly hollow.

Two eyes stared her down in pitch darkness. Golden. Furious. Pupils within practically shaking with rage. She couldn't move under a gaze like that. She felt herself cowering like a pup, not even able to blink. Not able to withstand the pure... malice behind those eyes...

Another nudge. This time, to her arm proper. And when she finally blinked, the coast came into view once again. She didn't feel... safe. But she knew she was back in a reality she recognized. A peer downwards gave her just enough to confirm that, allowing her sight to fill with an expression she had been hoping for.

Todd. Right down beside her. His eyes were wide, but those pupils were transfixed on her. A sense of wonder emanating from him was contagiously felt by herself as she began looking down towards her own hands. Or rather... her own claws. She turned them about, taking in the fur surrounding the arms. A faint glow peaked through the darkness surrounding them in the moonlight above, and she looked down at Todd to give him a gentle pet.

He leaned right into it. His eyes closed, and he nuzzled with a desperation that this was real, and soon after, he felt her claws sliding along his scarf as well. Up through his tuft, along his cheeks, making sure he knew she was there. She was real. She was doing this for him. And that she was

a leech.

Her grip tightened a bit for just a second upon Todd's cheek, but she very quickly let go. His eyes peered up curiously, and she could sense the gratitude in him. Smart as he was, he recognized what had happened. He didn't seem to think she was a Zoroark, just that she was

a monster.

Rose staggered a bit. Her eyes were wide, and her body seemed to pull itself back, away from Todd almost fearfully. He mewled curiously, and while she felt she should have understood it, it only came across as a jumbled mess of sounds to her ears. The mane along her head fluttered, moving as if on its own, and she brought up a clawed paw to her face to try and brush it out of the way. She wasn't feeling that well, she wasn't some monster! This was her trying to give Todd the security he lacked! She was a human, she was a

Parasite.

What? That. That wasn't her thought. It used her voice. It pushed through her ears as if it came from her own vocal chords. Todd blinked softly, tilting his head as he attempted to bridge the gap once again. Involuntarily, Rose's clawed footpaws dragged along the ground. They scraped, yanking her body backwards and away from him.

Do not touch him, Parasite.

What?! Why?! Why not, he was

your prisoner, human. You keep him like a pet.

No! She freed him from that outcome, ask him yourself! There was nothing like that happening here!

Trading one captor for another. One with the gall to try and use me to trap him more effectively? I should almost applaud the hunter.

These. These words. They weren't her thoughts. They were the mask. They were the mask's thoughts! She gripped onto the sides of her face, grasping on with her claws to try and pry it off. This was wrong, she knew she had a bad feeling about this--

You should've listened to your gut.

Those claws began to glow, and with a rip forward, blood sprayed forth. It splattered onto the grass. Gashes along both cheeks, dribbling crimson down her chin and along her neck. It lightly settled onto the ground below her, and her voice couldn't even force out a scream. Her arms fell limp to her sides, and the raw fear upon her face only escalated when she noticed Todd.

He looked... peaceful. He looked down at the blood in front of her. He sniffed. And his eyes glanced up towards her, his expression painfully blank. Like this was something he expected. Something he wanted to see happen. His excitement was gone. He was simply watching. Waiting for what would follow.

Look at him. I told you. He is not yours. He is one of mine. And if you won't listen to your gut... I think you're better off without it.

There was a squelching sound that immediately followed. Her body felt a wave of coldness flare from the side. Her form leaned over the side she felt that sharp chill, and as she looked down at the point of injury... her claws had embedded themselves inside of her. All of them, as deeply as they could go. And with a wrench, they ripped backwards.

She collapsed in a heap. She tried to breathe. Air found no purchase. She tried to scream, to yell, to plead for Todd to help her. Her voice bubbled... but nothing but a gurgle escaped.

Sleep. Sleep forever. Sleep in the death I wasn't allowed to have a second time. It's a kindness you don't deserve, human.

It was cold.

It was so cold.

She could barely focus on anything.

Todd's face had all but disappeared. He was approaching slowly, head bobbing as if he was trying to sniff, but she couldn't make any features out. All she saw was encroaching darkness. It began to engulf Todd from her view. Taking more of him away from her sight. Taking more of everything away from her sight.

The pain was all but gone from her face and body. There was nothing but numbness flowing through her in rapid succession, and a red glint crept up from her cheek as the moonlight reflected upon the pool she laid within.

She just... she didn't want to hurt him... she just wanted him to be happy...

... that's all she wanted. A family. She just wanted a family...

Please... it was all she ever wanted... why weren't you responding, mask...? Please... p-please, she just wanted...

"... m-momma?"

Her body went limp.

[monsoon-of-art]

Donut Hole - Chapter 15

Two Time

I'm out on the block again (Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba) So hopped up that I can't pretend (Ooh) Two time! (Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba) Stay friends Problem that you can't defend (Oh) Hands up, feel okay (Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba) Whose heart could I break today? Two time! (Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba) Stay friends Problem that you can't defend

[Big long chapter for you guys to snack on!] [ao3 Link!]

The two clan leaders met on the path to Jubilife.

“Good morning, Irida.”

“There is little good about it.”

Adaman smirked a little at this. “Oh, Sinnoh forbid you had to wake up early-”

“There was an accident at my settlement.” she said, the coldness in her voice immediately made Adaman regret his joking quip.

“I-I’m sorry. I wasn’t aware. Is it an overstep to ask what happened?”

“Yes. Yes it would be.”

They may have been working together to quell the nobles with the Galaxy Team, but things were still…frosty.

But Adaman wasn’t one to give up. “Just as well.” he said, arms crossed over his chest, his tone casual. “We’ve had issues as well. Currently half of our settlement is buried under mud from a landslide.”

“But it’s not the season for landslides?” Irida said quietly, raising an eyebrow.

“I know. There was…an incident.” he explained. “That's why I’m here, to seek the aid of the Galaxy team. My people can’t handle the frenzied nobles and the aftermath of a landslide.”

Irida was silent for a moment. “...there was a fire. A very bad one. I am here to discuss options-”

“It was the boy, wasn’t it?”

She shot him a surprised look. “How did you-?!”

Adaman shook his head. “Call it a hunch. And between you me, that kid was behind the landslide. He’s been running my poor people ragged. He ruined Iscan’s tent, and he even bit Arezu.”

“He bit her?” she repeated, “I suppose we’re lucky he only caused a fire.”

“That you know of. He’s still in the Icelands, right? Pray your precious mentor can handle him!”

“Well he handled Palina, Lian, and I-” she shook her head. “We are getting off topic. My people need to rebuild, and my Wardens cannot afford any more of their time. He already rattled Ingo something fierce. He won’t tell us what Berry said to him, but it’s clearly bothering him-”

“Well. Then we are here for the same reason.” Adaman drawled. “That kid needs help. And we don’t have the time -”

“- or space -”

“- to do anything about it. But Jubilife should be able to help, right? I’d hate to ask, but this seems like their…thing. They took Dawn in, what’s one more wayward child, right?”

Irida grimaced. “Argh. Dawn. Should we tell her?”

He waved her off. “Nah. Poor girl has so much on her plate already. She doesn’t have to worry about some…feral kid.”

As the two approached the gates, who else but Dawn ran out to greet them. Despite themselves, both Adaman and Irida smiled.

Despite the circumstances of their previous meetings, both of them had grown quite fond of the girl. 

She was a sweet little thing, kind and quiet. Every warden she had previous interactions with spoke highly of her (aside from Melli). And her way with pokemon, while terrifying, was equally as endearing. She really did love them.

“Irida! Adaman! It’s so good to see you!” she chirped upon seeing them, running up and around them like an energetic shinx. “I caught the most AMAZING pokemon yesterday! You have to see him!”

“Oh, I would love to under normal circumstances.” Adaman said, sounding genuinely disappointed. The last time she wanted to show them ‘an amazing pokemon’, it was the Alpha Sliggoo from the mirelands. “However, we must meet with the Commander. Time is short-”

“Oh, come now, Adaman. I am sure your Almighty Sinnoh won’t mind you spending a few moments to entertain her. Besides, I was told to offer well wishes from Ingo.” scolded Irida. “We would love to see your Pokemon, Dawn.”

Dawn’s grin split ear to ear. “I found him on the Coastlands yesterday, and he’s beeeeautiful!”

(Irida was almost positive it would be a Gastrdon. Adaman had his bets on a Drapion.)

Dawn presented the two with a buizel, slightly smaller than average. But the main thing was the color; this particular buizel was a pale yellow, its collar a brilliant white.

“Look! Look! It has different colors!” she squealed, hugging the pokemon tight. “He’s one-in-a-million! He’s absolutely perfect, and we’re going to be best of friends!”

“Wow, I’ve never seen a buizel like that!” Adaman said, looking it up and down. “And I bet you’ll take good care of it.”

“Back home, my bestest friend in the whole world had a buizel.” Dawn said, voice barely above a whisper.

Adaman and Irida shared a look. Dawn rarely, if ever, spoke about her time before Hisui. 

“Yeah?” Irida asked, more than a little curious. “What was he like?”

The dam burst, and Dawn began happily telling the pair everything. 

“Well, we were neighbors, and we went to school together! From the very beginning!” she began, swinging the buizel in her arms like a stuffed toy, practically bouncing in place. “None of the other kids liked him because he talked and talked, but I liked hearing him talk!”

(Irida and Adaman wanted to interject and ask questions, but there was no stopping her now.)

“And we’d go on adventures! We traveled really far! He was always a step ahead of me, but he’d always make sure to wait! And when my bike broke, he’d let me sit behind him on his bike and he’d take me places! We’d share food! He loved- he-he loved-”

The joy in her voice was quickly souring. She had stopped bouncing. Adaman and Irida had noticed the shift, and even the buizel in her arms seemed to be aware.

“H-He loved pecha berries. An-And whenever we’d eat, I-I’d give him my berries. We-We got our pokemon together. W-We were side…side by side…always…always… and…a-and I miss hiimmmmmm…”

Dawn melted into a blubbery, weeping, whining mess, crying into the buizel’s fur. Immediately, Adaman and Irida knelt by her side, trying to comfort her.

“It’s alright, it’s alright, no need for tears now.” Irida cooed, petting the girl’s hair. 

Adaman put a hand on her shoulder. “I’m certain you’ll see him again, Dawn. It sounds like you were the best of friends, and I doubt that Almighty Sinnoh would tear you two apart.”

Dawn wiped at her face, still holding the confused buizel in one arm. “I-I named this buizel after him, a-after an inside joke, where we’d call a buizel ‘Barry’ and I-I’d call my friend ‘Human-Barry’, h-he never thought it was funny-”

“Dawn.” Irida said, an anxious tremor in her voice. “What was your friend’s name again?”

“Barry.” she repeated. “His name is Barry.”

“And…what did he look like?” Irida continued, suddenly looking very pale.

Dawn sniffled a little, the strangeness of the question seemingly distracting her from her sadness. “He…he was slightly taller than me. And blonde, with hair that tended to spike up, no matter how hard he tried. And he loved his green scarf, because he thought it made him look like his dad-”

“His father. What was his father’s name?” Irida continued the questioning, slipping into her ‘leader’ tone of voice.

“Uhm. Palmer?” Dawn squirmed, leaning closer to Adaman. “You’re freaking me out.”

“Irida, back off a little.”

She did so, hesitantly, flitting back like a spooked starly. “I-I apologize, Dawn. This must be hard for you.” She grabbed Adaman’s arm, starting to pull him away. “W-We really must be going now-”

He spun around, confused. “But what about Kamado-”

“I. Need. To Talk. To You. Remember?” Irida said through grit teeth, glancing at Dawn. “Alone.”

Irida dragged him away, giving poor, confused Dawn a polite wave as she did so.

Once a decent distance - out of Dawn’s earshot anyway - Adaman yanked his arm out of Irida’s grip. “Look, is all this really necessary-”

“The Boy that has caused so much havoc. He appeared out of nowhere, with clothing not native to Hisui, with the innate ability to tame pokemon?” Irida hissed through grit teeth. “Sound familiar?”

Adaman blinked. “...Ingo?”

“No! It-” Irida took a moment to stare vacantly into space, processing. “...maybe. Not what I was going for. We’ll put a pin in that.”

Adaman tried again. “You can’t be saying the Boy is the same as Dawn’s friend Barry. What if you’re wrong? Would you be willing to break a little girl’s heart by raising her hopes like that?”

“I’ve seen him. You haven’t. He’s a blonde little boy with spiky hair and a green scarf! Although granted, he looks as though he’s been dragged through dozens of mud puddles - You cannot deny these coincidences!”

“But what if they’re just that? Just coincidences?”

“What if they aren’t?!”

“What if they are?!” Adaman shook his head. “We are going in circles. What do you suggest?”

"We bring Barry to Jubilife. By any means necessary. If he is not Dawn's friend, then the Galaxy Team can take care of him at the least." Irida said. "We'll drag him here if needed."

"That I can agree on. Should we tell Kamado?"

Irida hesitated. Adaman didn't answer either. An uncomfortable silence fell over the two.

Adaman finally answered for her. "...so that's a no. Let's get Barry here first. And we'll explain along the way. I'll tell my Wardens. I still believe this to be nothing more than a series of unfortunate coincidences."

"And I believe you to be a fool."

---

When Barry finally woke, most of the egg pokemon were gone. A few chansey and happiny lingered, but the rest of the herd had left.

He awoke to a shrill noise, one that annoyed him initially, but after a moment caused alarm.

It was crying. 

Barry sprang to his feet, ignoring the confused noises of his team, the aching in his legs, and the cold starting to seep into his bones.

“Someone’s in trouble-!” he muttered as he darted across the frozen, snowy wastes. “Someone’s in trouble! Someone’s in trouble!”

The crying grew louder, enough for Barry to realize it wasn’t a baby or child crying. It was a pokemon cry, but that did very little to dissuade him.

Finally he crested a hill, seeing the source; a little snover, wailing and crying as it tried to pull its foot out of a snare trap.

Barry felt his blood start to boil.

What heartless, absolute dickhead of a person would set traps for pokemon like this? Didn’t they have pokeballs? Unless…Unless they were going to kill this snover.

He carefully approached. “Hey, hey buddy. I’m here to help!” he said, keeping his voice low and soft.

The snover whined, trying to squirm away. “It’s OK buddy, I’m gonna let you go now. But don’t freak out.” Barry reached into his pocket for his knife, leaning forward to cut the trap.

The pokemon whined louder, fearing the knife in his hands, but the snover seemed to settle when it noticed Barry was cutting the trap and not at it. It even allowed Barry to cut the twine wrapped around its foot.

“There! You’re free!”

Barry was caught off guard when the snover almost tackled the boy in a hug. But he returned it as best as he could, if a little awkward. “Yeah! You’re welcome buddy! You’re free!”

When he let go, the snover continued to stare up at him. And when he started to walk back, the snover started to follow.

“Oh, you are. Coming with me.” said Barry, seeing the snover waddling behind him with determination. “How does this keep happening to me?”

Barry - with snover in tow - returned to the dug out cave where his confused pokemon were waiting for him. “So uh. I found this guy.” he glanced at the snover. “...girl. Unsure. But I think they’re gonna stick around!”

His pokemon chittered amongst themselves, as if discussing their new companion. Barry turned to the snover. “Well? Got any neat tricks or anything?”

The snover paused, looking down at the ground, thoughtful. Then, around its midsection, small white berries began to form. Once they were the size of a strawberry, the snover plucked one and handed it to Barry.

Barry didn’t hesitate in popping the berry into his mouth. It had the texture of frozen yogurt, and it tasted mildly sweet.

“...I’m gonna call you Snacks.”

The now-named Snacks gave an appreciative croon. But then it glanced down at its foot, red and swollen from the snare trap. Barry also gave it a glance with a frown. “...I bet there’s oran berries around here.”

Rummaging in his bag, Barry said, “Alright team, slight detour while we look for oran berries for-”

He paused, realizing that Fern and Pest did not technically have pokeballs. That was very dangerous, especially now that Barry had no way to carry Fern if they were injured.

Returning to his bag, he pulled out one of the remaining great balls and pokeball. “Fern, you have seniority, so you get first pick. Which one do ya want?”

Fern trilled, shaking its head. “No, c’mon. You need a pokeball for emergencies. If you get hurt I can’t drag you to a pokemon center. I won’t even keep you in it, but you need one!”

With this reassurance, Fern relented. As its paw hovered over the great ball, Barry quickly snatched it back. “Actually I want Pest in the great ball. I want the colors to match. You’re kinda red, Fern!”

Giving the boy an annoyed glance, Fern picked up the pokeball, carefully turning it over in its hands. Satisfied, Fern tapped the pokeball to its forehead, allowing itself to be captured.

(Pest thought it was a game, dodging the pokeball for a time, but he too, allowed himself to be captured.)

Upholding his promise, Barry released the two as soon as they were registered to their respective pokeballs. “Alright! Let’s start looking for some berries, then we can get back to the mountain! Spread out, but don’t go too far!”

Mystery cawed and cawed, gesturing to something behind the boy.

Glancing over his shoulder, Barry saw a little sitrus berry, set in the snow just beyond the dug-out entrance. And beyond the sitrus berry was another. And another. And another. Dozens of sitrus berries in a neat little line, leading off to…somewhere.

“That’s…odd.”

Normally, Barry would be very suspicious. If anything, this looked like a trap from a cartoon. But this wasn’t a cartoon, and he sincerely hoped that Team Galactic didn’t think he was this stupid.

There was no chance this was one of Team Galatic’s tricks. No, it must’ve been the chanseys! Trying to lead him somewhere.

So Barry and his odd little companions followed the trail of berries. He made sure his pokemon got their fill in this unexpected berry feast before tucking them away in his bag for later.

If he squinted, Barry could see the trail of yellow and blue berries snaking through the snow, twisting around a group of enormous icy spires. Maybe that’s where the blissey and chansey normally lived?

He was finding it a bit harder to cling on to his ‘chansey’ theory, especially as the giant ice blocks loomed above them all…

Fern too, seemed to sense something he didn’t. It stuck to Barry’s side, eyes darting about. His other pokemon were still collecting berries without a care.

After crossing between two massive pillars, Fern froze. As if standing steps away from a threshold of some kind, Fern refused to take a step further.

“...buddy?” Barry whispered. “What’s wrong?”

Then, Barry made the unfortunate mistake - or perhaps very fortunate mistake - of looking behind them.

There was a Magmortar clearly stalking them. Following the trail of footsteps they had left in the snow, obviously trying not to be seen.

Barry felt his heart skip a beat.

This was a trap, wasn't it.

“Don’t take anymore berries.” Barry hissed, keeping the magmortar in the corner of his vision. “We need to leave.”

But to his horror, he could see another stalking figure just outside of the ice pillars; an Electivire prowling the outskirts, blocking him in. The only path he could take was deeper into the ice.

Vaguely, Barry recalled nature documentaries. Packs of Pyroar intentionally luring their prey into bottlenecks or blockades, where they had no chance of escape.

Was he the prey?

Was he going to die here?

Barry found himself reaching into his bag and clutching his knife.

Barry and his team found the end of the berry trail, leading into a large clearing in the ice. And at the end of the trail was a shirtless man and a young girl.

The man glanced at the girl. "I cannot believe that worked."

"I told you it would! My clairvoyance is never wrong!"

Instinctively, Barry pushed his pokemon behind him. "Who are you? Are you part of Team Galactic?"

The man burst into a bellowing laugh. Only then did Barry realize - to his bewilderment and slight disgust - the man's chest hair was trimmed into the circular symbol of the Galactic splinter group.

It was obvious he was part of Galactic.

 "If I wasn't so furious, I'd almost be tempted to go easy on you for that!" The man said after settling himself down some, but a very irritated grin was still on his face. "Proper introductions are in order. I am Gaeric, Warden of the Pearl Clan!"

"And my name is Sabi, of the Diamond clan."

"You are Berry! The strange, wayward child that sets settlements ablaze and causes landslides!" Gaeric crossed his arms over his chest. The irritated grin was gone, leaving only anger. "And you will go no further."

The electivire slowly stomped into the clearing, the magmortar entering opposite it. From behind, Barry recognized the familiar silhouette of a Rhyperior.

Cornered. Trapped. Prey.

"Here are your options!" Gaeric held up a hand. "You willing come with me to the Pearl Settlement, and you wait while we decide how to punish you for your crimes. Or…we drag you there by the ankles."

"Ooooh, tough choices!" Sabi chirped. "Which will you pick, hmmm?"

Barry glanced between the three pokemon trudging through the snow to reach him. It felt like hundreds of battle strategies and movesets and possibilities raced through his mind at impossible speeds.

(He remembered fighting side by side with Her. He had begged her to come to the Fight Area, and she had gotten lost trying to find the ferry in snowpoint. Oh, oh how he had teased her for that. “I thought it was my job to get lost!” he said between fits of giggling.)

(Then, Flint and Volkner had challenged the two to a battle. With Her by Barry’s side, he knew the two of them would never lose. Flint sent out his magmortar and Volkner sent out his electivire, and-)

“Pest! String shot on the electivire, it’s fastest, so we gotta slow it down. Then, keep it distracted! Keep it confused! String shot, confusion, quiver dance! Go!” he barked, Pest launching itself off his head to follow the orders.

“Mystery! You take on the magmortar! Dodge the blasts, get in what hits you can! Haze to keep yourself hidden!” With a loud squawk, Mystery took flight, circling the fire type pokemon from above.

Finally, Barry turned to face the rhyperior behind him. “Jen! You’re on the rhyperior! It’s slow and bulky, so skirt around it until there’s an opening! No necessary risks, got it?!”

Fern shifted, ready to join the others in combat, but Barry grabbed its arm. “Not yet. Stay here. I doubt that’s all the pokemon they have…”

And his assumption was correct.

Gaeric groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose and exhaling loudly. “I knew you would do something stupid like this. Fine. If you want to fight so bad, I’ll give you a fight!”

Behind him floated in a glalie and froslass, both of them looking to the man for orders. “Freeze the boy! We’ll drag him to the settlement as an ice cube if we must!”

“Fern, take care of the ice types! I’ll protect Snacks!”

And Fern was all-too-happy to spring into action; the glalie, the froslass, and Fern circling one another in a strange, combative dance, none of them wanting to take the first shot.

Sabi frowned as she looked at all the battles before her, “You’re being so rough to my friends! That’s not how playing works! You’re being so mean!” she said with a whine.

With their Pokemon engaged in combat, Barry began to slowly move away from the battlefield, Snacks shuffling awkwardly behind him. He was looking for a potential exit, an escape plan. But it looked like they were trapped by ice and the trio of ‘friends’.

His hand was still in his bag, gripping the knife’s handle so tight it felt like he was about to lose circulation in his fingers. He was completely trapped. Cornered. Cornered. Cornered.

Gaeric, as if sensing Barry intent to escape, began making his way closer. Barry started to tremble, pressing himself against the pillar of ice behind him. Snacks let out a mournful croon, wrapping its arms around Barry’s legs.

But the man stopped. He stopped a few yards away, arms crossed. He had a strange look on his face that Barry couldn’t identify; the irritation and anger was still there…but just underneath was something softer.

“You’re not leaving.” Gaeric finally said. “I know you flee at the first chance you get. It’s not happening.”

Barry pulled out his knife, holding it with a shaking hand. “S-Stay back! I'm warning you!"

“Who taught you how to hold a knife?" Gaeric asked with an unimpressed frown. “Look at that stance! You know what-” he resumed his stride, gesturing at Barry. “Give me that. Give me the knife.”

“W-WHAT?” Barry squealed, pressing himself even more against the ice.

He didn’t actually want to have to use the knife. Barry was hoping he could bluff his way out of this, and clearly he could not.

Gaeric grabbed the boy’s wrist, the same hand currently holding the knife. “Alright. Give me the knife. You’re going to hurt someone.”

“AH- LET GO OF ME!” Barry shouted, scrambling to pull himself away. But the larger man was as solid as a boulder. 

“Give me the knife!”

“NO!”

“Just give me the knife!”

A near in-human noise clawed out of Barry’s throat as he squirmed and writhed in Gaeric’s grip. He tugged and pulled, his free hand clawing at Gaeric’s wrist.

Gaeric stood there, looking at Barry as if the boy had transformed into a feral shinx before his very eyes. “You are freaking me out. Listen, you’re not going to win this fight. Look-”

He pulled the boy over, twisting him around to show the battlefield. Pest was still keeping the electivire distracted, Mystery was dodging the magmortar attacks, Jen was still keeping the rhyperior occupied.

Fern was currently locked in battle with his glalie, attempting to land a punch on the floating ice type. What Fern didn’t notice, though, was froslass creeping behind it.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with your deformed Gardevoir…Gallade…thing. But whatever it is, I know it won’t be able to take a shadow ball in the back.”

“FERN!” Barry screamed, still trying to tear his wrist from Gaeric’s grip. “FERN BEHIND YOU!”

The warning came just moments too late. Fern was just barely able to spin around and raise an arm to try and protect itself from the attack. 

The shadow ball was a direct hit.

Fern was engulfed in an explosion of purple, ghostly energy.

But when the smoke cleared, Fern was still standing. Shaking, clearly injured, but still standing.

Gaeric’s jaw dropped. “What in Sinnoh’s name IS that thing?!”

“That’s my FRIEND, you ASSHOLE!” Barry practically screamed, continuing his writhing struggles.

Snacks was crying behind him. Pest and Mystery were clearly growing tired. Jen was barely dodging attacks. Fern was outnumbered.

His pokemon needed him. His pokemon needed him! 

“NOW LET! ME! GO!”

Barry kicked him. Kicked him hard. Right between his legs.

The surprised and pained squeak from the man was almost satisfying. But more importantly, as Gaeric slumped to the ground, he let go of Barry's wrist.

His glalie and froslass, alerted by their master’s distress, abandoned combat with Fern. 

“FERN!” Barry shouted, trying - and failing - to pick up Snacks. (Since when were snovers so heavy?) “GO HELP JEN!”

A bit slow from the shadow ball, Fern eventually staggered over to the rhyperior.

“Hey! That’s no fair! And no fun!” Sabi yelled from…somewhere. Barry had kind of lost track of her in the fight. But he finally noticed her on top of one of the pillars with a giant bird. “You’re cheating!”

And said giant bird looked mean. There was no way his team could take that thing on, not now.

“I’m fine with that!” Barry yelled back. “Take out the rhyperior!”

The rhyperior wasn’t sure which target to focus on with Fern joining the fray, and this confusion was enough for Jen to land a well-placed water pulse and for Fern to hit with a close combat immediately after.

The enormous rock pokemon staggered, falling onto its back. It wiggled pitifully, like a stuck ledyba.

It wasn’t fainted. But it was an opening.

“LEAVING NOW! LEAVING NOW!” Barry called to his team. He grabbed his very last pokeball, tapping it against Snacks’ head to capture it. “Sorry bud, you’re real slow. Fern, Jen, you too-” and he recalled them for good measure.

He could hear Pest and Mystery start to fly after him. But he could also hear the screech and wingbeats of the giant bird under Sabi’s command.

Barry risked glancing over his shoulder. The giant bird was gaining on them, any moment it’d swoop down and crush Mystery and Pest between its talons-

That was, until Mystery spun right around and smacked it with assurance. The giant bird, either taken by surprise or genuinely hurt, let out a loud squawk and gave up chasing them entirely. It flew back to Sabi, metaphorically tucking its tail between its legs like a frightened poochyena.

“HA! YOUR STUPID BIRD CAN’T HANDLE US!” He shouted, Mystery letting out a loud caw in agreement.

“YOU ATTACKED LORD BRAVIARY?!” the girl squealed, Braviary pitifully crooning and nudging its head into her chest. “You’re going to be in sooooooooooo much trouble!!”

“I don’t care what pedigree or whatever that thing is! You’re lucky I didn’t fine you two!”

With the electivire breaking the silk slowing it down and the magmortar helping the rhyperior back onto its feet, Barry knew it was time to leave.

He ran back into the frozen wastes, Pest and Mystery flying just behind, hoping that Gaeric and Sabi were too slow to give chase.

Luckily for him, they didn’t bother giving chase at all.

Sabi and Lord Braviary made their way to Gaeric, curled up on his side, on the ground. “Well. That could’ve gone worse.” she said with a shrug.

Gaeric laid there for a moment before asking, “...Sabi. How much of that fight could you see…with your foresight?”

“Hmmmmm, I saw most of it. Attacking Lord Braviary was a surprise-”

“So you knew. He’d kick me in the dick. And you said. Nothing?”

“Yeah! It was sooo funny!”

He groaned again, “I hate you. I hate you so much.”

---

[Finally!! Dawn Speaks!!! And the Leaders know…….] [And a team update! Now featuring Snacks!]

[ghostie-gengar]

i missed pla's anniversary again but i don't have anything to post anyways, so i'm just gonna list some of my favourite parts of the game cuz it's one of my favourite games ever and i'll take any excuse to talk about it

i love the way the sky is modelled! pla's artstyle didn't do everything perfect but the sky is so pretty i look up at it all the time

the music! pokemon music is always good but pla absolutely nailed it when it came to mixing dppt tracks into new ones to create something atmospheric and nostalgic, or just coming up with new songs. some of my favs are aftermath, crimson mirelands 2, jubilife village, cobalt coastlands 1, ancient retreat, volo's battle theme, professor laventon's theme, the trailer music, palina's theme and caution (legendary)

the part where you walk through the cave with ingo!

professor laventon! he was so nice to me and made me feel loved always <3

kamado's character arc! i will defend kamado until the day i die yes it was not cool of him to kick a child out of the village into the wilderness but like!! he was scared! he wasn't thinking rationally! the village where he used to live got blown up by a pokemon and he didn't want that to happen again so he was trying to get rid of what he thought was the problem! sure he was wrong but-

the pokedex! i absolutely loved reading professor laventon's pokedex entries they're so cute. i really want to make a physical version of the hisui pokedex but i can't find a notebook with enough pages

the gameplay! i've spent so many hours just running around cuz the game itself is fun to play even when you aren't doing much. catching pokemon feels very smooth and seamless

hisuian zorua!

on that note, the animated series hisuian snow! that show deserved way more than 3 episodes man

i didn't necessarily like this part but it was very well executed- being banished from jubilife village. i was so upset i had to put the game down for a while. there were tears

and speaking of tears! i loved the arc with the noble arcanine

the battles against the nobles! they were a good mix of fun and challenging, especially against arceus (mildly related- watching purplecliffe fight electrode was extremely funny)

uh yeah thats all i got

[mynamesaplant]

It Changes, like Water (CH. 3)

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Summary: Akari has just met Gaeric for the first time and is still a little rattled by the experience. Ingo tries to reassure her by telling her a story.

Content Warning: Blood, bodily injury, and wild animal attack

Notes: I've made this in honor of Monsoon-of-Art and their PLA mer au (and just a touch from a different au where Gaeric acts as Irida's guardian). Many of the scenes in this fic are directly inspired by their work, there mer stuff more specifically. I've been a big fan of them since I started playing PLA and I've only grown to love all their characterizations of some of my favorite characters in all of Pokemon.

Just before we get into the swing of things, I should mention that much of this story is based off my understanding of the coastal waters of western Canada and Alaska. That's why you'll see mention of char and lamprey, you can find both in that region. While not entirely faithful to the actual location of the Hisui region, I thought it was a nice balance of environments from the Arctic Ocean to around Washington state in the US.

This is also where I first mention the Nobles and you'll see I do not change their names in the coming chapters. I thought it would prove to be a little confusing if I called them by the animals they're based off in Mons mer au (this will be more clear in the next chapter). I'm treating the names (Lord Avalugg, Lady Lilligant, etc.) like they're genuine titles, like the Duke of York. There were many Dukes of York, but they all went by the same title. Sorry if it seems confusing.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy! Don't like to read on Tumblr? Read it here on AO3.

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As the autumnal equinox approached, Gaeric spent many hours teaching Irida how to defend herself when she was in the water. The girl was still far too scrawny for her age, but that began to change with the migration patterns. The clan began to prosper again, which meant that Irida was expected to see the elders more regularly and start learning about her duties to her clan. However, it was abundantly clear that she had gained… certain undesirable traits from her pseudo-guardian. She frequently mimicked his irritable attitude and sever distaste for Diamond Clan. She never made it to her lessons because she was usually asleep during the day, just like Gaeric. Irida was not interested in her position, she wanted to continue her life as it was. She had grown to see Gaeric as an older brother and, like any younger sibling would, she would mimic his every move.

This worried the elders and the rest of the clan. Palina, the only other person who Irida found even the remotest of kinships with, did her best to influence her – but that influence only went so far. Gaeric carried on exactly as he was, the protest of the elders falling on mostly deaf ears as a sort of retribution for allowing his mother’s death to be a passing footnote in the clan’s history. They had told him to watch over Irida, that was his only instruction, and that was exactly what he was doing. He was a brash, angry, and mourning teenager who was forced into a position of guardianship, and nobody seemed to want to understand that from his perspective. He couldn’t have predicted how Irida would latch on to him and he to her – although he would never admit that- and now they were asking him to just let her go?

“What are we looking for today?”

“Char. Its mating season for them, so we’re headed inland today. Watch yourself. There’ll be a lot of predators. If we’re lucky, we’ll get a good haul.”

The warning was not without merit. Gaeric remembered his mother warning him about the same thing. Although her primary concern had been bears, there was the off chance of sharks. He was collecting various equipment - a few spears and a make-shift trident he fashioned for the less dexterous Irida, and a few nets for their haul. After such a lean winter, a haul of fatty salmon just sounded divine, and he had hopes that this would somewhat get the elders, and the likes of Palina, off his back.

“Where are you two headed?”

Speak of the devil. Gaeric pointedly kept on task, but Irida was gleefully explaining their plans to her other sibling figure, even if she was being scolded for missing another lesson in favor of this trip. The girl puffed up and said that the lessons she learned were boring when she could be going out to explore their territory and learning how to hunt and provide for her fellow clan members. That made a smug grin appear on his face, even if he kept his head low to conceal it. He could imagine Palina rolling her eyes in agitation as she gently, but firmly tried to reiterate the importance of the elders’ teachings.

“Gaeric can teach you about hunting and gathering, but they can teach you about our history and about the importance of our nobles. Your father told you about the nobles, right?”

With lightning like reflexes rarely seen on land, Gaeric had whipped around and had slammed his hands down on either side of Irida, leaning closer to Palina with a snarl. The intimidation did not fail and actually made her lose her balance and topple backwards, blinking up in astonishment as Gaeric huffed down at her.

The topic did not come up often but mention of her parents made her deeply upset. Irida was pressed up against him, motionless but at least not crying. He still wasn’t sure how to deal with crying after all this time. It was like she was still thinking about what Palina had said when she responded.

“Yes…”

“W-Well, you should go see the elders. They could teach you a lot more about-”

Palina glanced up at Gaeric looming over her, his stance protective behind the small girl.

“They could certainly teach you a lot more about that.”

The smallest mer did not reply, but she removed herself from the conversation by crossing the cavern and sliding through the hole into the sea. Now that the initial shock had worn off, Palina was upright and shoving Gaeric back with just as much ferocity as he had displayed. He looked remarkably unfazed and went back to packing his stuff up for their hunt as Palina berated him.

“Don’t you ever lunge at me like that again!”

She hissed, baring her teeth which almost made him roll his eyes.

“Why do you suddenly think you know what’s best for her, Gaeric? The elder are worried that she’s not going to want to take up the mantle because of what you’ve been teaching her.”

“Yeah? Well, maybe they should have reconsidered that earlier.”

He could hear the stress in her voice, obviously someone had been putting a lot of pressure on her to try to win Irida over. Since either he or Irida herself stymied her every time, it was clear Palina was on the receiving end of some backlash. While he could understand her position, he didn’t feel wholly sympathetic. He hadn’t been asked, he was simply told to watch over Irida, and he had done as he was told. Now everyone wanted to have a problem with it. A year and a half of raising her like she was his kid sister and now the elders wanted to scoop her up to start training her? Talk about being late to the game.

“She’s going to be our leader – she has to learn about our traditions and teachings at some point. You can’t shelter her forever.”

Just under his skin, his blood was boiling but he just focused on what he was doing. Palina was just in a bad mood, letting off steam at him because he was somewhat the source, but not exactly the pressure. He was leaving soon anyway; no point being held up by an argument where there would be no victor.

“The rivers are dangerous this time of year and you know it. What are you going to gain from bringing her with you? Valuable experience from being in life threatening situations?”

“Hey!”

He barked, jerking around and narrowing his eyes at her.

“I was also going to take her to some of the shrines. Cut me a little slack here Lina, I’m not total moron!”

She stared back at him, completely incredulous, as if asking herself how this little detour would solve any of the issues facing their young clan leader. She turned away and started making her way back out of his cavern with a derisive snort.

“Whatever Gaeric, but if there’s a single hair on her head missing, I swear to Sinnoh above, I’ll leave nothing left of you but catfish food.”

This only earned her a scoff. The bag securely in place, Gaeric clambered through the hole and into the water. A short distance away, Irida was chasing after some fish, but it was like she had no real interest in it. Something in her movements seemed sluggish and preoccupied. The contents of her thoughts were not too hard to figure out. He didn’t say a word. Irida saw him coming her and stopped, Gaeric placed a hand to her back and steered her in the right direction.

<<Last Chapter || First || Next Chapter>>

[nemesis-is-my-middle-name]

1 and 6 for Palina and Ingo?

(character dynamics ask game)

OOOOH these two are a really good duo. underutilized tbqh a LOT of fun potential btwn them

1. what were A’s first impressions of B? were they mostly correct or have they changed?

this is a toughie bc like most of these involving ingo it requires deciding things abt the time and circumstances of his initial intro to the pearl clan that i still don't have a going hc for that isn't just for one or two fic plots. but like, all those possibilities are so INTERESTING. was it before or after lord arcanine's death? the palina irida leader competition? how quickly did sneasler decide he was Hers and start acting accordingly? did they meet soon after he arrived or was it delayed a bit bc palina was living in the coastlands at the time? and all of those questions i think have a major impact on the start of their relationship and the way they would view each other initially.

i think most likely is that palina's kind of always accompanied by her two growlithe, so she probably would have seen him interact with them and that forms a large part of her initial opinion on him (he has a very good intuitive grasp of their body language/comfort zones and is overall good w/ them and also is very patient with the little lord being very shy, which is probably partially due to the fact that he might not know he's a lord, but palina still appreciates seeing it), but then she would probably also know he was Some Guy From Nowhere and i... am honestly not sure what she would think about that. like, i don't think she's as immediately hostile towards him as like, gaeric or calaba, but i think she's also a kind of cautious person by nature and they know literally Nothing about him, that makes her a little suspicious. but then sneasler likes him? and sneasler doesn't like Anybody. so she's like... wary, probably keeping him at arm's length like the majority of people, but willing to give him a chance. yanno

otoh ingo's initial opinion of her probably majorly depends on the circumstances and in particular what he knows about her going in. like, does he know she's a warden. does he know what a warden is. does he know anything about lord arcanine. not that ingo is particularly likely to be judgy or anything but the amount of background context he has impacts his thoughts bc palina is a person deeply defined by her circumstances. if she weren't traumatized and dealing with all of the things she's dealing with in canon i think she'd probably act very differently, especially to strangers. so ingo will have a different view on her if he thinks "this warden is just kind of quiet and depressed i guess" vs "you're probably quiet and depressed because your lord died and your whole clan hates you for it." yanno.

6. what does A think B thinks of them? or, if asked to describe their relationship, how would they do it? are they right?

HMMM well. the one thing abt these two that i come back to a lot is that i think ingo for sure agrees with palina about not pushing growlithe into lordship too fast, and i also don't think his own internal morals would let him sit and listen to anyone shit talking her for that choice. especially once he knows the story and has met the warden and growlithe in question, he kind of can't not defend her. this is sort of stupid considering his own position in the clan is so precarious and he probably should be keeping his mouth shut but that thought does not make it through processing in time to stop him.

idk if palina has ever like, been present for any of these arguments, but she would probably know about it secondhand at least. and it's definitely not something she gets a lot of from her own clan—even irida often sounds more like she's just being patient with her than anything—so it's... yknow. it's nice to have one other person on her side at least. so basically i think palina knows ingo thinks she's not just like, someone who's allowed to grieve, but that she's a good warden who is making the actively correct choice, and he feels strongly enough about that to actively speak up about it.

unfortunately i'm not sure if palina knows how to fully express her feelings abt this, especially if it's true that she views herself as someone dangerous to associate with and tends to push people away bc of it. and as mentioned before, common sense dictates ingo should be keeping his head down and not making waves etc. and i think that might kind of frustrate palina, that he won't just do the smart thing and let her be a pariah. the fact that he's kind and she likes him paradoxically means she has this instinctive desire to put distance between them so she doesn't hurt him by proximity.

and like, would palina tell him this?? is she even conscious enough that she's doing this mental math to be able to put words to it?? she's conscious and intentional about distancing herself from iscan in public, but i think iscan being diamond also might make it a little bit easier to rationalize. warden or no, the diamond clan can't hurt her as badly as her own clan can. so ingo's concept of her opinion on him is entirely reliant on whether he's aware she acts weird to the pearl clan specifically because she's afraid of being burned or hurting others, or not, in which case he would have no fucking idea why she seems to change her demeanor on a dime. at least she doesn't stop growlithe from coming to bug him for attention at warden meetings, so she must not be that hostile towards him. this is his only clue.

[worksinprogress1]

Rei hung tight to his alpha yanmega, scouring the fields below for any signs of Volo as he approached Jubilife Village. There were none, and he quickly found himself at the steps of Galaxy Hall. Once inside, Rei could hear the ear-piercing scrape of claws against metal. Rei ran to investigate it and found Volo, his arcanine out and clawing at the door to the Galaxy Team's vault.

"What are you doing?" Rei yelled.

"What I must," Volo answered. His arcanine breathed fire on the door, causing the metal to glow red from the heat. With another scratch, his arcanine managed to bend the near-molten lock enough to break it off. Volo stepped into the vault, ignoring the money and other valuables and making directly for the plates of life, which he pocketed.

"Volo, we need your help! Come on, you can't study the plates if there’s no world to study them in!"

Volo chuckled sadistically. "It's rather inspiring that you Survey Corps members think you can stand against two Gods, but that's impossible. Even a trainer of my might most likely couldn't, and you are not trainers of my might. With you as our defenders, the world will most likely fall. And that's why I need to do this now! I need to finish what I started when I created the rift in the sky. I will summon Arceus to make my new, kinder world before this one dies!"

For a moment, Rei was stunned. Volo ran past him, his arcanine following.

Rei turned and threw out his decidueye. "After him!" he yelled, taking chase himself.

Volo didn't even look back, but his arcanine did, spitting flames not just at the decidueye, but at Rei as well. Rei ducked behind a desk to shield himself from harm. Moments later, he emerged from hiding to find Volo gone and several small fires in need of putting out. Rei hesitated a moment on which to focus on, then took off out of Galaxy Hall.

Outside, Volo had mounted his togekiss and was taking off into the air, pursued by a few Security Corps members who had happened to have large flying Pokémon on them.

"There's fires in the Galaxy Hall. Make sure they get put out!" Rei called to one of the ground-bound guards before he mounted his own Pokémon and took chase.

-

With the three nobles and their wardens by his side, Laventon watched as the various Pokémon of the Survey Corps launched their attacks at the steel behemoth. It turned to give them a pained roar at times, but thankfully it wasn't retaliating- at least not anymore. It called to mind something Laventon had once read about how cave people kept predatory Pokémon at bay by having a large group throw rocks at them- they couldn't be a threat to these beings, but they could be a nuisance enough to guide them away from harming them, much like one would avoid a horde of insects.

Finally, Palkia stumbled into the arena. Lord Arcanine growled and got into a fighting stance, but Palina ordered it to heel, to wait for the right moment.

Laventon handed off the origin ball to his porygon-Z, and it levitated high into the sky, positioning the ball at just the right angle to hit Palkia with a stream of intense red light.

Palkia screamed and fell to its knees with an earth-shaking boom. It shot hyperbeams from its mouth, forcing several Survey Corps members to take cover. The Porygon-Z set up a light screen, intensifying the light further and prompting more screams from Palkia. As it got up, panting and growling, its hide began to turn the same golden colour as the nobles had turned when enraged.

"Now," Laventon said. The three wardens let loose their nobles. Arcanine bit at Palkia's heels and shot rocks at its face, dodging and weaving as the behemoth tried to kick it away. Kleavor climbed up the writing creature's leg and began hacking at its back with its axes. Avalugg shot it with ice.

Palkia roared. Trees fell from the ground a few yards from the arena. It roared again, and rocks shot up from the earth on the arena's edge. It was distorting space to defend itself. This would most likely be devastating in normal circumstances, but while it was too enraged to use that power with any accuracy, the Godly beast was just as helpless as it was powerful, launching nearly-aimless attacks as the lords weakened it and it became engulfed in more and more intense yellow. The humans on the outskirts of the arena relied on the shields of psychic types or the speed of their various rides to stay safe.

Laventon felt a tug at his coat. Poygon-Z had returned and was offering him the origin ball. "I suppose now would be the time," Laventon said. He mounted his borrowed ursaluna and rode through the icy arena, watching Palkia's mouth should it try distorting space again and its feet lest it try to stomp him. Once he got close enough that it was a sure hit, he threw the ball. It hit. Palkia disappeared into the ball. It shook. It wouldn't stop shaking with Palkia's frenzied anger and torment. But it sparked shut.

"Oh, it's alright," Laventon cooed, scooping up the ball. "Once your brother is caught and we fix the sky, you'll feel much better, I'm sure of it."

From the distance, a roar sounded.

"At least, I hope."

---

There may have only been two nobles at the Moonview Arena, but they fought with spirit. From the back of her staraptor, Cyllene watched as Lord Voltorb and Lady Liligant dashed around the giant's feet, Liligant striking Dialga’s muscled legs with kicks and voltorb sending out electricity shocks. All seemed well until the beast once again roared, slowing time to a crawl.

This had not been the first roar. During the first roar, Cyllene had left the manipulation of the origin ball to her alakazam. But as Dialga moved regularly and everyone else was nearly frozen, keeping the red beam of light on it required an incredible amount of focus and coordination. Using small movements in her wrist, she focused the beam of light through the light screen her alakazam had put up and onto Dialga, trying to keep it distracted while the nobles were crippled.

She'd done this four times before.

Each roar had been longer than the last.

There was little distraction could do for an attack that required no accuracy, and they couldn't keep this up forever.

Liligant was on the far side of the arena, frozen in mid-air as it tried to run. Dialga galloped towards her, nearing the edge of the light's beam. Cyllene tried to adjust the origin ball, but slowed down as she was, she couldn't keep up with Dialga. Its mighty foot came down upon the Lady of the Ridge, crushing her.

Time sped up again. Cyllene led her staraptor into a dive towards Lilligant, scooped her up, and then brought her back to Cabala.

"Take her to safety," Cyllene ordered, "and find some backup." One noble could not be expected to handle this.

"I believe we should call Lord Voltorb back," Melli insisted, his voice carrying the implication that this had been a stupid plan all along.

"I agree," Cyllene said, looking out to the arena, where the Lord of the Hollow was rolling with all its might to avoid Dialga's mighty stomps.

Cyllene called the Survey Corps members to the ground and ordered that they bring out every Pokémon they had that could use forcefields of any sort. Together, they erected a dome strong enough to contain the beast, at least for the time being. A few members were sent to different districts to find backup.

Dialga threw itself against the patchwork of shields. It was beginning to get scratched up, but then, so was Dialga. Periodically, Dialga slowed time. Right after one of its roars of time and thus a little while before it could use the move again, Cyllene ran into the dome and threw the origin ball at Dialga, hoping for the best. It bounced right off, doing nothing but bringing its attention to her. She ran between the creature's legs, picked up the origin ball, and made it out the other side of the dome. Once she did, she looked back at the menacing beast as it shoulder-chucked the shield. Dialga needed more damage if they were to catch it and keep everyone safe. Much more damage. And soon. But until backup arrived, there was little they could do but wait.

---

Rei could have caught up to Volo, as togekiss wasn't the fastest of rides, but instead he chose to keep pace keep his stealth. Thankfully, Volo never came to notice him as he took the plates back to the now-abandoned Spear Pillar. Volo landed, took out his garchomp to stand guard, and began taking out the plates, one by one, and arranging them into a horseshoe shape on the temple floor. He glanced back, saw Rei, and, realizing that Rei was too far away to properly hear any taunts, settled for smirking at him and then returning to his work.

Rei remained in the air. There was no way he could beat Volo in battle. Should he try anyhow, and delay the inevitable? Or was there another way that might buy him more time?

Volo placed the final plate, smiling as they began to rise and glow. Then, a raichu dashed through his formation, knocking the plates aside and running away with one in its mouth. Volo stood and turned, watching as the electric rat ran the plate back to the pesky trainer who'd followed him there.

"You meddlesome brat! You're making the last mistake of your life!"

"Not unless you catch me!" Rei said, holding up the insect plate and sounding braver than he felt.

Volo snapped his fingers, and his garchomp sprang into action, jumping surprisingly high and gliding on the aircurrents.

Rei simply guided his yanmega to go higher. Garchomp could glide with grace, but it couldn’t fly. And there was no way that Volo’s togekiss could catch up to him, especially after it had done so much flying already. Rei looked back at Volo, his face enraged and his land shark slowly gliding back to him. Rei stuck his tongue out.

Volo growled. But then he laughed. "You think you have the aerial advantage, don't you? Well, I have a little surprise for you! Don’t you feel the chill building in your veins?"

Volo paused for dramatic effect. Expecting Volo to come after him with ranged attacks, Rei readied a pokéball. Volo grinned menacingly.

"Giratina, strike him down!"

A new void opened in the sky, and out of it came a worm-like monster the size of Dialga or Palkia, with glowing red eyes that shone from its golden crown of a face. The beast roared, and with a single strike of its claw-tipped shadowy tentacle, it sent Rei and his Pokémon flying. He landed on the rough mountain rock on his back, and his yanmega immediately returned to its ball, too hurt to carry on.

If only... I could do the same... Rei thought. Then, he saw the insect plate just a few feet from him. Unsteadily, Rei got to his feet and picked up the plate. He raised it above his head and brought it down on the rocks again and again, hoping to break it. His mad fury continued until suddenly, he couldn't bring the plate down again. He looked up to see that Volo had grabbed onto the plate, and with Giratina floating right behind him, there was no Pokémon he could bring out to save him.

"I'll be taking that!" Volo said, snatching the plate away and leaving Rei to fall to his knees.

As Volo began to walk away, a roar sounded in the distance. Giratina perked up its head and turned its attention to the sound. It made a strange mrrring noise that seemed to shock Volo to his core.

"Absolutely not! I don't care that Dialga is weakened, you are not going to finish it off!"

Giratina moved towards the noise longingly.

"Don't you dare!" Volo yelled, chucking his fragment of red chain at the giant worm. Red electricity crackled once Giratina was struck. Giratina bellowed in pain as it was thrown back a few meters. Then, it snarled in frustration.

"Hey! Don't hurt him like that!" Rei called out, taking out a few Pokémon in case there was a fight.

Giratina turned its attention to Rei.

Volo wronged me, came a voice from Giratina. Helping you could provide me some revenge. Would you like to give me a command before I bring down my sibling?

It took Rei a moment to recover from shock.

"Uh, yeah. Could you take the plates from him, and also take me the way you're going? My people are there and I could really use some medical attention."

Girtina grunted. Then, it squeezed Rei in one of its shadowy tentacles, gathered up the rest of the plates in his other tentacles, and took off. It was a rough ride, with Giratina paying little mind to how its tentacles- and with them, Rei- swung as he flew.

I liked Volo's plan of overthrowing Arceus, Giratina mused, and Volo was agreeable enough at first. But I did not like how he treated me, or how tightly controlled his view for the new world was. I don’t want to spend eternity with someone who treats me as he did. Perhaps... perhaps any human who wishes to be the next Arceus would be no better than Arceus itself... a depressing thought. It is something I must ponder before the next opportunity like this comes along.

Rei, who'd just finished upchucking his lunch into the open air, raised his head. "Ugh... what was that last part?"

Giratina didn't answer. It simply set Rei down, threw down the plates, and rose back up. Soon, a medic was upon him, and Rei could lay back, accepting that his part in this conflict was finished.

--

When the dome of forcefields shattered before any backup had arrived, Cyllene thought they were done for. But as the semi-transparent shields faded away, she saw the new creature on the other side of the arena. It was big, and it looked strong. And importantly, it seemed to take issue with Dialga, hitting it head-on with its crowned head as the two locked limbs, each trying to overcome the other's strength.

"What is that thing?" Adaman asked Cyllene.

"I don't know," she answered. "But it's our salvation."

Cyllene took out her staraptor and once again took into the skies, beaming down the targeted red light onto Dialga in order to help their mysterious interloper. When the light hit Dialga, it once again roared in pain. While Dialga was distracted, the strange monster pushed it back several feet and then knocked it to the ground on its side. It then wrapped Dialga in its shadowy tentacles, and by the sounds that Dialga made after that, those shadows caused pain that made the red light feel like a kiss goodnight in comparison. Dialga roared and slowed time once again, but that seemed to do nothing to alleviate its pain. Its cries became weaker. When time returned to normal, Cyllene threw the origin ball. It hit, Dialga disappeared into it, and the ball clicked shut with a spark.

As soon as Dialga was caught, the sky began to turn blue again. Cyllene didn't pretend to understand why- it would be a good subject for further study once they returned to Jubilife- but it seemed as though balance had been restored to the world.

Giratina chuffed in a way that sounded almost like a satisfied laugh, then collapsed in the arena, curled up, and closed its eyes to rest. It was beaten up from the fight, too. Quite badly, it looked like. And on its side was a chain-shaped burning red scar.

"Unbelievable!" came a sharp yell from the bushes. Everyone turned their heads towards the tired and furious Volo that was emerging from the bushes. "Ruining my plans to go satisfy some stupid rivalry? Pathetic!"

Rei came up behind Cyllene. his arm was in a cast and he'd had some serious cuts bandaged, but otherwise, he seemed fine. "Uh, ma'am? Volo kind of admitted to causing the rift in the sky. We should probably turn him in to the Security Corps."

"Alright," Cyllene said, taking out a pokéball. Survey Corps members rallied behind her.

"Ha! You're laughable. None of you have a quarter of my strength in battle. None of you could have subdued the Gods on your own. Try me!"

It was then that Laventon, Irida, and the Pearl Clan wardens appeared behind her, the pearl nobles and several members of the Survey Corps behind them. From behind Volo, several members of the Security Corps appeared, led by Kamado. It was a bit late, but the backup had arrived.

"We would have done just fine," Cyllene stated. “And I believe we can take you, as well.”

Volo glanced around the arena, trying to find a place to escape and finding that he was surrounded. Even a trainer as formidable as he was stood no chance against so many. He attempted to make a run for an opening, only to be caught by the arms by two Security Corps members.

"Good, a mystery solved," Kamado stated. "Take him to the Jubilife prison until he can be put to trial." Kamado stepped before the crowd of people. "We have faced a calamity unlike any we have known—but we were able to overcome it by working as one! This calls for a celebration—a festival for us all! Gather your clans! This will be the greatest celebration Hisui has ever seen!"

"Awesome!" Rei exclaimed. "Just one thing I have to do first."

Giratina's eyes opened weakly as Rei ran up to it and his origin ball hit it in the forehead. The ball shook weakly, but ultimately clicked shut.

"We'll... uh, we'll talk about what to do with this guy later," Rei suggested.

With that, everyone started for Jubilife.

[mr-mikey]

No you're absolutely right, Irida's story in PLA was far better written than Adaman's was. Not only does she get more screentime since the Pearl Clan has 3 of the 5 Nobles of Hisui, her story in the Coastlands is personal unlike the story in the Mirelands and Highlands.

It shows her history with Palina, how Irida feels about her, and her desire to stop people from talking behind her friend's back.

Irida's request of the player is to help stop the other members of her Clan say bad things about her friend. And it shows she's decided the player is worthy of her trust.

And at the end of the arc, Irida reflects on her shortcomings and comes to a resolution to become a stronger person.

And there are narrative payoffs for earning Irida's trust and respect in the Icelands when Gaeric asks if the player is a monster in disguise. And Irida gives a heartfelt answer defending the player.

And at the end of a sincere speech, Gaeric brings up that she's already changed as a person.

Which is the result of her character development through PLA, development that Adaman doesn't get.

Unpopular opinion but Irida was more interesting than Adaman

[erikalentz]

Half Moon Datas #4

Three days passed since the Diamond Clan let the Unova Dragons stay at the camp, and even though they weren’t in the region for as long as the two Fallers, they encountered most of the important people of Hisui:

Diamond Clan:

Adaman: As the first person who’s come across the heroes, the Diamond Clan leader took a liking to the group. He knew at first glance that Emmet, Hilbert and Hilda are good people and thus treats them with kindness and respect. Contrary to the popular belief that one should be wary of strangers (to the point of quietly and subtly ostracizing them), Adaman is actually open-minded about foreigners and accept the group as they are, showing interest for their culture, letting them stay in his clan and defending them when people badmouth them. He acts like a cool big brother figure to Hilbert and Hilda, and he became very good friends with Emmet. The Diamond Clan leader is also one of the few people who immediately noticed the similarities between “Silver” and Ingo, already guessing that the two of them are related.

Mai: Mai appreciates the group as much as Adaman. As a big sister and second most important member of her clan, she didn’t take long to get along with the trio, notably Hilbert who remind her of Adaman when he was his age. She saw the similarities between “Silver” and Ingo too after spending time with Emmet, suspecting their bond as twins just like Adaman.

Arezu: Just like Mai, Arezu got along easily with the heroes, especially Hilda after she protected her and Noble Lilligant from an Alpha Infernape. It’s unclear if she suspects “Silver” and Ingo to have some kind of bond since she doesn’t spend much time with the Pearl Warden, but she did notices that they look alike.

Sabi: Sabi displayed curiosity for the heroes almost immediately after meeting them; at first for being foreigners, and then later on as individuals after defeating numerous Pokemon and Noble Braviary in front of her. She don’t spent a lot of time with them due to her duties, but she likes talking to Hilbert when she comes across him.

Iscan: The Warden was at first surprised by how Emmet, Hilbert and Hilda looked when Adaman introduced the heroes to his clan. However, being a kind and polite man at heart, Iscan is really nice to them. There are times when they are slightly put off by his easily-afraid side, but they get along well with him.

Melli: The Diamond Clan, Wardens and members, are nice with the trio and get along with them... Except Melli. Aside from his bias towards foreigners, his jerkass and entitled behaviour on their first meeting was enough to get him on the heroes’ bad side and they regularly shut him down with their words or in Pokemon battles... Or with a punch in the face. That said, for all his antagonism, Melli appears more perceptive than he lets out since he is one of the few people to openly states that Emmet/Silver and Ingo looks alike (though he mostly says it when he’s alone).

Pearl Clan:

Irida: Irida was introduced to Emmet, Hilbert and Hilda on the same day as Adaman. Since there was a reunion between the two leaders and Kamado in Jubilife Village, the Diamond Clan leader decided to let them know about the group’s presence in Hisui to prevent misunderstandings and potential conflicts. Months passed since Lucas/Rei arrived in Hisui, so the Pearl Clan leader is no longer as suspicious as she was towards foreigners and is nice with them. She’s of course shocked when she saw Emmet because of his astonishing stark resemblance to Warden Ingo, if younger. She doesn’t think they’re possibly related at first though.

Palina: Hilda encountered Palina in Islespy Shore while she was exploring the region and the two befriended fairly easily. The young woman eventually saw Hilbert and Emmet later on and is nothing but kind with them. Just like Irida, “Silver”’s similarities with Ingo appears clear as day to her, and like Adaman, their resemblance is too strong for her not guessing that they are related.

Lian: Hilbert came across him by coincidence on their second day in Hisui, and he saved the kid from an Alpha Kleavor. Impressed by his abilities and his cold composure in front of the Pokemon, Lian felt grateful towards him and befriended him.

Calaba: Calaba is the only Pearl Warden that the heroes didn’t meet. That said, they have an idea of who she is with their encyclopedia of Hisui mentionning the well-known personalities of the region, and they’d rather not encounter her because they know she won’t be as open-minded as her fellow wardens regarding them.

Gaeric: Emmet met him when Irida showed him the Pearl Clan. The Warden got along pretty well with the Subway Master and shows an interest for his culture.

Jubilife Village:

Kamado: Kamado encounters the Unova Dragons on the same time as Adaman and Irida. That was the first real challenge for the trio since their arrival in Hisui: convincing the paranoid Kamado that they’re true unovans of old times who escaped drowning in the ocean and hiding their identities as time-travelers. Emmet used all his knowledge and acting skills to tell him the scenario they all learned to narrate beforehand... And at the end of his tale, unlike what they initially thought, Kamado showed empathy for their situation. He actually traveled in the Unova kingdom and thus knew the region and the war that happened there years ago, which helped giving weight to their words. As a survivor of a tragedy, Kamado couldn’t bring himself to act harshly towards people who lived with the aftermaths of such destructive conflict, so he accepted Adaman’s decision to let them stay in his clan and doesn’t force them to join the Galaxy Expedition Team’s ranks. However, he still asked them to wear their uniforms (or clothes close to it) so as not standing out of the rest of the population. The Unova Dragons obliged as a sign of respect.

Cyllene: The trio don’t interact much with Cyllene since they’re moslty away from Jubilife Village, but for the short time they spent together, Cyllene is neutral towards them, talking with them with the same stoic way than with any Galaxy Team members.

Ginkgo Guild:

Ginter: Same as Cyllene, the trio don’t interact much with Ginter, but the man don’t mind their presence and even appreciates Hilbert’s company when he comes at the village.

Volo: “This man smells like rat”. That was the first thought that come to the trio’s minds when they meet Volo for the first time. Although they don’t come across him that much, the three of them quickly feels that his affability and smiles aren’t as genuine as he lets out to be...

Others:

Professor Laventon: The trio quickly met him in the Galaxy Team's HQ, and the professor is delighted to see other foreigners like him. He's thus really kind with them.

Akari: At first surprised when encountering the Unova Dragons, Akari bonds fairly easily with them, especially Hilbert and Hilda (which is understandable since they're close in age). She likes spending time with the teenagers whenever she can and even call them big sister/big brother at times.

The Fallers:

Lucas/Rei: It didn’t take long for the Unova Dragons to cross path with Lucas. As they (and Althea) suspected, the teenager suffers amnesia and doesn’t seem to remember anything from his past life, not even his real name (which is why Akari came up with the name “Rei” after he was found), although he kept his natural kindness and selflessness. This obviously saddens Dawn when she hears him from afar (via the trio’s badges), but at least she knows that her boyfriend is alive. Hilbert empathises with her plight as someone who almost lived the same fate if his girlfriend and Althea didn’t prevent his abduction, so he makes it his mission to help him slowly recover his original memories.

Ingo: Finding Ingo wasn’t as hard as the group thought... In fact, Emmet came across him when he was leaving the Pearl Clan (after his encounter with Gaeric). To say that Emmet was beyond shock would be an understatement... So many emotions swirmled within him all at once when he saw his brother again: thankfulness that Ingo is alive, worry over his state (by Irida’s saying, he still has the same age as him due to being in the Pearl Clan for one year and a half, the same timeframe of his disappearance in their time, but he looks physically much older... Living in Hisui have been rough for him), a burning fury towards the culprit of the space-time rifts incidents who caused tragedies in the future (like him, Dawn and who knows how many before them), and sadness because he knows Ingo also suffers amnesia like Lucas and forgot him... Emmet thus took a short time to collect himself and flawlessly talked to Ingo as Silver the Ice Hero: a calm, down-to-earth man with an impassive face and a low voice devoid of emotions. Ingo, while a bit surprised at first, quickly gained an interest towards him, notably after he mentions he is a foreigner like him. They could only discuss with each other for a small amount of time, but the Warden is definitively intrigued by Silver, even if he doesn’t know exactly why, and expresses his wishes of talking with him more soon before they get back to their own places. Emmet manages to stay composed afterwards and not worry Hilbert and Hilda... Until night, when his cold mask cracks a bit and silently cry in his sleep. Emmet is a man who always did his duties for the sake of the greater good before thinking about himself; he will stop the culprits of the space-time rifts incidents... But the fact that he can’t tell Ingo the truth about their bond as twin brothers (at least not before stopping said culprits) internally pains him.

[smallestapplin]

Hgshs

I love your take on Red and Laventon’s friendship

But may I introduce you to something else ? We established the fact that Blue and Palina are besties, but what about Red and Sabi ?

They would share that sibling friendship and rivalry in games (Sabi is happy to have a new friend to play with !)

Just- Sabi being too small to see something so Red picks her up and put her on his shoulders ? 🥺

Pikachu is also now glued to Sabi and I stand by that.

—

I want Blue and Red’s reaction to seing Melli. Red and Melli’s relationship would be hatred at first sight, Blue losing his shit when he hears Red lowly growling at the blue haired.

Pikachu hates the Stunkank, and vice versa. Red absolutely loved Melli’s face as he realized he messed up with someone much stronger in a lot of domains than he is.

And Melli ends up fearing him a bit as Red manhandled his noble lol.

—

Blue and Adaman’s friendship would be funny and beautiful.

Adaman is going at full speed towards Kamado’s office the second he heard his bestie was banished from the village. (Sabi is also on her way with a very angry birb).

Blue’s Flareon and Adaman’s Leafeon are vibing.

Blue doesn’t like Irida as much when he heard what happened to Growlith from Palina. He was mad honestly.

But not as much as he was towards the Misfortune sisters my guy nearly throw one in the lava.

-Eds anon

THEY ARE SIBLINGS YOUR HONOR!

Red was adopted by Sabi, she just wouldn’t leave him alone and following him around.

Red got use to that, and now gets concerned and worried if she isn’t behind him asking a thousand questions.

She’s also a little shit and sometimes throws snowballs at him.

Only to in awe at how well he dodges them without even looking.

-

Red one shots all of Melli’s Pokémon without even blinking.

Red will put the fear of the almighty into this twink.

-

Adman and Blue’s friendship started cause if Leafeon and Flareon, the two Pokémon vibe together.

So their trainers ended up hanging out together, and actually realized they are quite similar.

Another “can I pet your dog?” But much calmer.

-

Adaman defended the hell out of Blue and Red.

But he had to hold back Sabi cause Kamado called her an ankle biter, and she was determined to prove him right.

By taking his ankles.

Adaman wanted to let her go feral, but alas, he’s head of the clan.

[that1nkyone]

Wishing Star AU - Prolouge

Pain.

As she awoke, Irida’s world was pain.

Which she honestly expected. The last thing she recalled before blacking out was an Alpha Gabite’s attack striking her.

Given that it was her or Glaceon? It was worth said pain.

“You think she’s awake?”

“Maybe. Hopefully, she can tell us where she came from.” 

Who was talking? She didn’t recognize those voices. Kidnappers? No, they were confused…

Perhaps she should look around. Wouldn’t be the first time she had to power through some pain, after all…

Slowly, hazel eyes revealed themselves to the world. They took in the view of a far-too-large tent, the mouth below slowly dropping. “Oh, you’re awake!” The brown orbs locked onto the speaker, and-

Was that her Flareon? With her Espeon next to them? Well, it’s nice that they were here to watch her recovery, but surely they’d recognize her.

Then again, they were very large. Maybe they weren’t hers after al-

“So. Where did Glaceon find you?”

The sound of shattered ice filled the clan leader’s mind. “…did you just talk.”

The Espeon in question tilted their head, their companion groaning. “Of course he did, you derp. Although I’m more curious why you’re speaking with Lady Irida’s voice.”

“Wha-I am Lady Irida! And what is a ‘derp’ anyways?”

Leveled eyes never felt so piercing. “…someone silly. Like a certain Eevee is being.”

“I’m a human, not a-!” She’d jumped up in reflex seeking to defend the accusation - and then was bluntly reminded "oh yeah, she was still in pain." OW.

However, the distraction it provided gave the Pearl Clan’s head enough time to realize she’d jumped up onto four legs. Why didn’t she… right. Try and push herself off the ground. Come on… come on!

“Vee!” Why couldn’t she reach? And did she seriously just say “Vee”?

Looking down at her arms to check, she had to blink. Rub her eyes. Blink again. The view of all-too-familiar paws wasn’t going away.

“This can’t be happening…” outside. Now. She needed help! Pushing past the pain once more, and ignoring the cries to stop, the young lady raced outside, hoping to find a Warden to help her-

Why was everything so big?! No, not the time for that. Keep moving, keep ignoring the pain. “Hello? Someone!? Anyone?! Help!!”

No reply. She heard a couple chuckles about a “cute Eevee” and a “yapper”, so apparently, they couldn’t understand her. Great. Ok, how else could she communicate…

Palina! She was nearby, talking to someone. They’d made a bit of a silly tapping code when younger, before Irida became Clan Leader. But thank Sinnoh they did! It’d let her get through to the Coastlands Warden, and from there she could-

The Eevee skidded to a halt, staring at the person Lina had been talking to. Specifically, herself.

It was like looking in a mirror - her own visage was looking down at her, looking confused. Wait, no - that wasn’t real confusion. Some recognition was leaking through, almost like they knew who the actual Irida was.

“Right, that’s enough of that.” 

Wha-“Hey!” Something had grabbed her by the scruff of her neck, lifting the apparently-an-Eevee off the ground. Irida tried to kick and squirm, but she just…couldn’t. She just dangled limply, resistance futile as she was carried past the village borders. 

She was at least able to peek back, realizing Flareon had taken her in his mouth. Great, now her own Pokémon was kidnapping her! And both the boys were in on it, seeing as Espeon had followed behind.

As they left, she could make out bits of conversation - she hadn’t been paying attention earlier, and now she was regretting it. 

“No, seriously Lina. I’m fine. You don’t need to make Calaba check me.”

“You were out dealing with an Alpha. I don’t want to risk you covering anything up.” Did… did Palina actually think that was her? At least she doubted the lack of injury, but still!

A cry for help built up in her throat, only to be pushed back by the lack of understanding. Right… humans don’t understand Pokémon… who can apparently talk, going by Flareon and Espeon.

Wait. Where was Glaceon? Was she still hurt after the fight?! Did the Gabite still get to her? 

…Was she even still alive?

As they went deeper into the surrounding Icelands, the Clan Leader found her mind racing with worry and confusion. What had happened to her sister? Why was she an Eevee? Who was that doppelgänger? And what the heck happened while she was out cold?

(…that was a bad pun. And she felt bad.)

------------------------------

Shorter than most of my works, but I think I did a good job nevertheless. Hopefully you like it! And have a good title, eheh... just can't think of one for some reason.

For the curious, this little fan-chapter was inspired by this ask: https://that1nkyone.tumblr.com/post/692991132180889600/ok-just-found-this-blog-today-and-being-the

[browniefox]

wait, i know you talked about how members of the pearl clan feel about ingo, but how does ingo feel about the members of the pearl clan?

Hm, good question!

Lian - Ingo really likes Lian! He does think Lian can be a little too serious about his position as Warden (funny considering how worried Ingo is over his own 'failure' in detours). Before Lian was a warden especially, Ingo would visit and teach the kids as much about pokemon as possible, and Lian was one of the ones who was the most interested. Ingo might not know what it's like to have a little brother, but he knows he likes to share things with Lian and watch the kid grow, and maybe that's some of what it'd be like.

Calaba - Ingo greatly respects Calaba and the wisdeom she has to give about Hisui, legends, and what the role of a warden entails. He doesn't see her often considering where they're both usually situated, but he always listens to what she says. Though, he doesn't always agree with how harsh she can be and has said as much to her before.

Palina - Ingo has a lot of practice interacting with dangerous pokemon, which might be a bit of a mean parallel, but when Ingo initially offered to help her step into her new role as Warden, she'd snapped at him. However, eventually she let Ingo help her and gained further respect for his skill with pokemon. He's always admired her strong spirit and thinks highly of her, always ready to defend her name while she was a warden without a noble.

Gaeric - Ingo does think Gaeric is somewhat full of himself, but hey, what can you do, that's just how some people be. The man is nice enough, once you get to know him, and Ingo does owe the man a lot for teaching him how to scale cliffsides and help him practice battling - some of Ingo's first times having a real battle since arriving in Hisui.

Irida - Whenever Ingo was in the clan encampment, Irida was practically following him around and endlessly curious about him, where he might have come from, and what he knew. In turn, Ingo always told her everything he could about what he knew. Ingo has a great amount of respect for Irida and feels he owes her greatly for the risk she took appointing him as an official Warden. He would do anything for her and for the clan because of it. However, he does have his share of worries - she's so young, was it right to put her in such a position? When he's in the village and teaching the young children things, he always tries to get her to come over as well. It works sometimes.

[monsoon-of-art]

TW MAJOR Body Horror: Hello, again. The concept of Gaeric transforming has gripped my muse after the Lian discussion (I realise I can’t prove i wrote it and for that, I’m sorry)…and I may have developed a bit of a thought piece on it on it. Prepare for angst…a lot of angst. - Anon

Gaeric always prides himself on being a strong person, and being willing to help everyone. He’s a defender of the Pearl Clan and bears that mantle with diligence. When his body starts to go icy, his fingers and toes are some of the first effective, blackened by the cold his body now carries (he’s seen this on other members of the Clan when they were in the icy winds for too long…). They become stiff and hard to move. He’s a bit nervous here, playing it off as old age and he just needs to do more warm up exercises from now on.

The other pokerus victims don’t ask any further, but they all know. And so does Gaeric: he’s going to lose parts of himself soon. If anyone does try to bring it up, he will snap at them. Not out of maliciousness but he does not want to address it. He will apologise soon afterwards, as it’s not their fault. But he has to hold on. He can fight this off, he’s Gaeric after all!

It’s when he’s scaling the steep icy cliffs of the Icelands that things change. It was just another day of training, his Glalie acting as his spotter while he pushes himself up. He’s in the middle of reaching for another crag of ice with his right hand when he hears a resounding crunch. And he’s falling. Glalie catches him, placing him on the snow. With all the adrenaline in his body, Gaeric begins laughing. He shouldn’t have been greedy with that last move, the ice can be tricky afterall.

He clutches his chest as he comes down from the high from a few moments ago. Wait, why was Glalie looking at his chest with concern? He slowly peers downwards, praying to Sinnoh that everything was in one piece. But even Sinnoh does not always answers his prayers, as he see his left hand gone with his wrist looking like shattered ice. He doesn’t remember much after that, but he does recall feeling sick and his Glalie gently helping him back to the village. I don’t think he’d want to remember either…

It takes him a few days of rest for him to return to his upbeat self. But don’t let that fool you. It’s just a front to make sure the other villagers don’t worry about him. He continues to shrug off the loss of his hand, saying that he can still help and fight. There are stories of their ancestors that were severely injured during the Warring Clans Era, and still being useful to the clan. He can’t give up. He WON’T!

The degradation of his limbs continues over time, as well as other symptoms of the PokeRus emerging. The hunger, the eyes, his appearance…one day, he is carrying wood when the rest of his left limb shatters completely. He does play it off as a joke but he looks very somber for the rest of the day, with only Irida sitting in silence with him.

The day next limb to go is his right leg. It had been a long day of discussions with the other wardens. He felt hungry but nothing was sating him…it’s then he smelt something delicious nearby. His memory is blurry here. He knows he heard crashing sounds, several screams and the sound of growling Pokemon but it was vague.

The next thing he remembers with clarity is being pinned to the ground by Palina, Ingo and his Glalie. Irida is standing in front of him, looking scared, angry and upset at once. Behind her is a small child with a bleeding scraped knee with tears in their eyes and cheeks flushed red from crying.

He sees some of the villagers have surrounded them, an assortment of fearful, disgusted, confused, angered and saddened expressions. Did the smell of blood set him off? Human Blood? Did…did he try to attack this child? The supposed protector?

Palina and Ingo gently get him off the ground, Gaeric too in shock to do it himself. He takes one step and he hears a familiar crunching sound, much louder than the last. There’s a collective gasp from the crowd, seeing Warden Gaeric’s right leg cracking and breaking into pieces in front of them…

The days following the incident were…unpleasant for Gaeric. One of the clansmen were able to fashion a crutch to help him move, but he honestly didn’t feel like moving from his bed. Those who were affected by the PokeRus condition were already on terse terms with the other clan members (he knew of Warden Ingo experiencing something similar to him with the Young Galaxy Team taking the form of a Dewott), but now he felt like a pariah. If an aggressive Alpha pokemon attacked the village, he would only be a hindrance if he were to fight. So much for being the supposed protector…Even Irida who used him to help stay up on two feet isn’t doing it anymore, for fear of knocking him over. Irida mentions that the Galaxy Team are willing to build him a chair to make him more mobile, rather than relying on a crutch. He rejects the offer, not wanting to burden anyone else with his…ailment.

His right arm breaks off one day he is trying to haul himself from bed…all he can do is quietly sob into his pillow until someone (Probably Irida) checks up on him.

He feels both physically and mentally numb for days. Only a few Pearl clan members volunteer to help him as many are still scared from the incident he lost his leg at. Not like it would do any good. They can barely get Gaeric to eat, and his words are few. The bright blazing soul he once had is now mere cinders of melancholy…

It is the night of a bad snowstorm that his chrysalis forms. His pokemon are standing guard around the village and he is alone. It is quiet, save the sound of his shallow breathing. Gaeric feels so isolated. He wishes for this nightmare to end…anything to stop this suffering…

*****

So yeah, that’s it. I can also see him has having pretty mixed feelings about being a Glalie. On one hand, he’s got some of his mobility back. But…Y’know…the eldritch fear of turning into a feral pokemon that would happily hunt his former clansmen…

[riveramorylunar]

Fictional Characters I'll Write For:

Cyberpunk - Meredith Stout, Evelyn Parker, Rosalind Myers, Judy Alvarez, Alt Cunningham, Claire Russell, Kate, Kiwi, Gloria Martinez & Young Rouge

Marvel - Any either from the Movies, Series or Comic Books (Female Characters Only)[except for Kate Bishop]

DC - Any either from the Movies, Series or Comic Books (Female Characters Only)

The School For Good & Evil: Leonora Lesso & Clarissa Dovey

Fast & Furious: Cipher, Riley Hicks, Gisele Yashar, Ramsey, Letty Ortiz, Mia Toretto, Hattie Shaw, Tess, Margarita, Monica Fuentes & Elena Neves

Jujutsu Kaisen: Maki Zenin, Yuki Tsukumo, Kaori Itadori, Mei Mei, Shoko Ieiri, Mai Zenin, Manami Suda, Nagi Yoshino, Utahime Iori & Saori

Pokémon - Jessie, Aldith, Cassidy, Bea, Nessa, Nemona, Professor Sada, Rika, Cynthia, Diantha, Carmine, Raifort, Dendra, Eri, Mela, Briar, Miriam, Perrin, Tulip, Klara, Melony, Alexa, Bryony, Carrie, Cherie, Clair, Cogita, Officer Jenny, Jupiter, Lorelei, Lusamine, Malva, Onia, Palina, Professor Burnet, Shelly, Sima, Skyla, Soliera, Wicke & Lucca

The Little Mermaid: Ariel, Queen Athena, Arista, Attina, Adella, Alana, Andrina & Aquata

Ghostbusters: Jillian Holtzmann

Wednesday/Addams family: Larissa Weems, Morticia Addams & Marilyn Thornhill

Winx Club - Icy, Darcy, Stormy, Bloom, Stella, Daphne, Diaspro, Selina, Venomya, Cyan, Kalshara, Kalima, Nebula, Vertigo, Virus, Banshee, Obscura, Stoney, Sinka, Veronique, Zulema, Roxy, Stella, Musa, Tecna, Flora & Aisha

Monster High: Nora Bloodgood, Clawdeen Wolf, Clawdia Wolf, Scary Stone, Cleo De Nile, Nefera De Nile, Toralei Stripes, Meowlody, Purrsephone, Abbey Bominable, Draculaura, Elissabat, Frankie Stein, Lagoona Blue, Amanita Nightshade, Ari Hauntington, Avea Trotter, Sirena Von Boo, Bonita Femur, Catrine DeMew, Catty Noir, Dayna Treasura Jones, Gigi Grant, Djinni (Whisp) Grant, Gooliope Jellington, Gory Fangtell, Jane Boolittle, Jinafire Long, Skelita Calaveras, Rochelle Goyle, Moanica D'Kay, Operetta, Robecca Steam, Silvi Timberwolf, Spectra Vondergeist, Venus McFlytrap, Wydowna Spider, Astranova, Batsy Claro, Clair, Luna Mothews, Honey Swamp, Kala Mer'ri, Peri and Pearl Serpentine, Posea Reef, Kiyomi Haunterly, River Styxx, Vandala Doubloons, Marisol Coxi, Viperine Gorgon, C.A. Cupid, Casta Fierce, Lorna McNessie, Mouscedes King, Scarah Scream, Iris Clops, Teresa Thornwilliow & Principal Revenant

Mortal Kombat: Kitana, Sonya Blade, Sindel, Cassie Cage, Jade, Khameleon, Frost, Skarlet, D'Vorah, Ferra & Jola

Once Upon A Time - Ruby, Emma Swan, Belle, Blind Witch, Regina Mills, Maleficent, Zelena, Anna, Elsa, Blue Fairy, Mulan, Jack (Jacqueline)

My Hero Academia - Nemuri Kayama, Nana Shimura, Rumi Usagiyama, Chitose Kizuki, Ryuko Tatsuma, Emi Fukukado, Ryuko Tsuchikawa, Shino Sosaki, Kaina Tsutsumi, Teka Todoroki, Uwabami, Yu Takeyama, Konako Haizono, Kaoruko Awata, Saiko Intelli, Fuyumi Todoroki, Rei Todoroki, Mitsuki Bakugo, Mei Hatsume, Kiruka Hasaki, Sirius, Chikuchi Togeike, Cathleen Bate, Camie Utsushimi, Beros & Meryl

Tinkerbell - Vidia, Spike, Zarina, Chase, Glimmer, Queen Clarion & Nyx

Star Wars - Captain Phasma, Rey Skywalker, Ahsoka Tano, Hera Syndulla, Sabine Wren, The Armorer & Chewbacca(Platonic)

Voltron: Legendary Defenders- Kroila, Acxa, Hira, Honerva, Veronica, Zethrid, Narti & Ezor.

High Rise Invasion - Yayoi Kusakabe & Dealer Mask

She-ra and the Princess of Power - Catra, Adora & Shadow Weaver

The Dragon Prince - Amaya, Janai, Sarai, Annika, Neha, Kim’dael, Opeli, Fareeda, Khessa, Tiadrin, Aditi, Rayla, Bloodmoon Huntress, Lujanne, Sabah, Miyana, Claudia & Nyx

Power Rangers - Dayu, Posiandra, Roxy, Karone/Astroema, Psycho Pink, Kimberly Hart

Criminal Minds - Emily Prentiss & Jennifer Jareau(JJ)

MPHFPC & MP - Alma Peregrine & Mary Poppins

The Legend Of Korra & ATLAB - Korra, Asami, Izumi, Kuvira, Kyoshi, Lin, Prosecution Attorney (Don't know her name), Suyin, P'Li, Azula, June, Ursa & Toph

DOTA Dragons Blood - Drysi, Vanari, Rylai, Selemene, Mirana, Lina, Aurouth, Luna & Marci

Barbie: Queen Calissa, Delancy Devin, Alexander Privet, Anemone, Coral, Jacqueline, Lillian Roxelle, Melody & Marlo

Demon Slayer: Daki, Kanae Kocho, Nezuko Kamado, Ruka Rengoku, Shinobu Kocho, Spider Demon(Mother), Susamaru, Tamayo, Nakime, Koinatsu, Makio, Mukago, Ozaki, Satoko, Suma, Amane Ubuyashiki, Hinatsuru & Mitsuri Kanroji

Miraculous Ladybug: Marinette Dupain-Cheng (older), Nathalie Sancoeur, Alix Kubdel (older), Caline Bustier, Emilie Agreste, Fei Wu, Juleka Couffaine (Older) & Ondine

Arcane: Vi, Mel Medarda, Sevika, Grayson, Jinx

Castlevania: Morana, Carmilla, Lenore, Hermina, Raman, Striga & Erzsebet Báthory

Blood Of Zeus: Alexia, Hera, Fates, Gaia, Athena, Artemis, Enyo, Hestia, Rhea, Ariana, Persephone, Aphrodite, Demeter, Electra, Gorgo, Iris, Blade Lady, Scylla, Briares & Hecate

Naruto: Yuuhi Kurenai, Kushina Uzumaki, Ino Yamanaka, Hanabi Hyuuga, Guren, Yugito Nii, Ameyuri Ringo, Yugao Uzuki, Natsuhi, Fuuka, Suiren, Pakura, Hinata Hyuuga, Temari, Ruka & Kakashi Hatake(Platonic)

Twilight: Esme, Alice, Bella, Rosalie, Victoria, Tanya Denali, Irina & Kate

Descendents: Mal, Evie, Audrey, Lonnie, Jordan, Uma & Harry Hook

Pitch Perfect: Kommissar, Chloe Beale, Beca, Aubrey, Cynthia Rose, Calamity & Emily Junk

[monotear]

had a discussion w my dad abt this boob (butt) pic joke by palina and i said that its absolutely disgusting how men act on the internet. then he said its her fault that she gets sexually harassed on social media, she shouldnt have posted any pics on instagram.

it doesnt even matter what she’s wearing, douchebags still comment ugly shit abt her boobs. that’s literally the same argument men use to defend rapists.