#(he's been living in a forest in sinnoh for a few months)

[hoofpeet]

Ingo gets back to Unova and remembers how to use the arcphone he got when he got eebied but only uses it to film the 30 sneaslets that came with him and upload the clips to youtube. Gathers a decent amount of attention over the course of a few months where he exclusively uploads clips of him petting his cats, then one day he flips the camera back for a second and it's . the subway boss who famously went missing 4 years ago

[sunsetdew0101]

Second Chance

Chapter 4

"You're weird," Misty commented.

"Why am I weird?" asked Ash as she watched her team's training.

Aisha would be the first to claim that Misty was a pain in the ass. A week and a half with her in the forest, listening to the redhead screaming every time she saw a Bug Type and grumbling about having to walk through the forest full of the said bugs, tested the young trainer's patience. The good part was that Misty had already been traveling for a few months, and she didn't mind giving Ash some tips, much to her delight.

At least Ash got a new friend in the woods.

About four days ago, they were passing through the core of the Viridian forest. Even Misty, with her terror of bugs, was excited to stop there and look for some new Pokemon. Once away from the main road, they found a Breedrill examining a small green ball.

When Ash decided to help, she hadn't noticed which Pokemon was. But once the girls shooed the swarm away, they could see that the little victim was a young Budew.

It was an exceptional find. While Budews live in many regions, they originate from Sinnoh. To find one in Kanto without trading an extremely rare or powerful Pokemon with some trainer? Impossible.

When two Pokemons had progeny, usually the offspring were the same species as one of the parents. But there were cases where one of the babies was of a different species, usually the same as two or three previous generations of the parents. 

While it was somewhat sporadic, it wasn't unheard of, even in wild Pokemon. Aisha captured Budew as much at her insistence as her own free will. Only an idiot would leave her behind.

"I don't mean that you're weird in a bad way. It's just that, for a novice, you're out of the usual." Misty explained.

A loud noise interrupted the conversation. Pikachu and Espeon had managed to hold Iron Tail down long enough to break a large boulder. It didn't destroy the rock but did a fair amount of damage. Budew cheered from where he was running with the weights; it wasn't a species with very high defense, so increasing her natural speed and attack power was crucial.

"That's what I'm talking about." Misty pointed out, "New trainers aren't that committed. Sure, they gain experience against other trainers on the road as you have, but they rarely have that touch of someone who personally trains their Pokemon. Signs of who spends time with them and knows their battle style."

Ash flushed with embarrassment at Misty's praise and pretended the heat in her chest was pride at doing something right, not sisterly affection. Since Misty joined her on her journey, her feelings of deja vu have only grown stronger. 

Aisha tried to ignore these feelings as best she could. After all, she had just met Misty and would remember meeting someone so hot-headed. Fortunately, thanks to Gary, she had some experience dealing with them even though Misty was on another level.

Proof of this came a few days later. Both girls had battles along the road with other trainers. It was nothing out of the ordinary. Many itinerant trainers or those who lived around the routes did this to gain experience and money.

But this time, one trainer took the word challenge a little too far. While Ash and Misty were heading out of a forest, a samurai leaped out of the bushes encircling the main route. It wouldn't have been worrisome if he didn't also have a sword in hand that he swung while demanding a battle.

There was a common rule among trainers. It wasn't spoken or mentioned directly between conversations, even when the regional professors gave the starters. But it was evident, especially after they started to expand their teams. Any suspicious noise or movement received a low growl or a tense posture from the Pokemon.

So, no one worth his salt would purposely fright any trainer. Especially not to run the risk of being attacked by an experienced Pokemon, defending the trainer from what could be a threat. But it looked like the samurai hadn't gotten the memo, and he ended up having his sword intercepted by Pikachu's Iron Tail and physically restrained by Espeon's Confusion.

"You half-assed idiot! You can't appear out of nowhere to challenge a trainer! What if you didn't have the sword, huh? You'd have lost your head! And who carries a sharp sword around? You could have impaled someone, and then what? You run out of license and get arrested. Did you even think about that?"

"I-"

"Of course, you didn't think your bastard! Do you think training Pokemons is a joke? You can hurt yourself and others if you're not careful! And startle a trainer? Did you forget to pay the brain bill?! You at least have a license your..."

As amusing as it was to see how creative Misty was venting her fury, the boy looked ready to wet his pants. After exchanging a look with her Pokemons, who seemed to be enjoying the show, Aisha caught Misty's attention, who looked ready to start the third round.

"I think he already gets the point, Misty. Besides, you said you wanted to get to Pewter today."

It was a tense moment while Misty seemed torn between continuing to take it out on the boy or a hot shower. A frustrated sigh showed that the bath had won. The girl looked so relieved that Ash almost felt sorry about drawing attention back to him. Almost.

"And what was your goal when you jumped out of the bushes?"

His Deerling face caught in the headlights did nothing to take away the blank expression on her face.

"I-uhm. Well- I. I am Samurai, and I'm here to challenge all trainers coming from Pallet. I've already fought three brave and talented trainers who succeeded in defeating me in battle."

Aisha resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the formal address, but neither Misty nor her team had a problem doing so. And she confirmed that she was also from Pallet when he asked if she was from there. Once they accepted the terms, they marked the beginning of an Official Battle.

"This is an Official Pokemon League battle. Each trainer will be able to use up to two Pokemons. Switching is not allowed. The battle ends when one of the sides is unable to battle." She paused as Budew bounced back and forth around her legs. The slight nod from the two opponents showed that they had heard.

"Trainers, release your Pokemon."

Ash signaled Pikachu forward, while Samurai chose a Pinsir. Samurai was bragging about his Pokemon, but except for a raised eyebrow, Ash didn't show much of a reaction. Pinsirs were rare and had an uncomfortably high defense and attack. And they were fast too. If they trained them correctly and the trainer used the many physical attacks they had access to, well, the opponents had a problem on their hands.

Once Misty ordered to start, Samurai commanded Pinsir to use Vice Grip. Ash told Pikachu to dodge it, and a voice that the electric mouse got out of the way told him to use Double Team.

Pikachu's speed training had paid off; Pinsir had to run from side to side, trying to hit him. Fortunately, he couldn't hit him, so Ash took the opportunity to confuse him with Double Team. There were only ten copies, nothing compared to the dozens and hundreds she saw in the battles on television, but it was enough to test the patience of the Samurai and his Pokemon. A Thundershock and an Iron Tail later, Misty shouted the verdict.

"Pinsir is unable to battle. Pikachu is the winner of this round."

"A tight battle," commented Samurai as he grabbed a second Pokeball. "But my next Pokemon won't be so easy to defeat."

Aisha motioned for Espeon to take Pikachu's place. As much as she wanted to give Budew more experience, she preferred not to risk severe damage to him. She ignored how the previous battle would make her question his claim.

Samurai released his last Pokemon with a flourish. Espeon gave Ash such a disgusted look the girl thought she was sick. Aisha had nothing against Metapods. Their final evolution could offer a decent challenge when trained well. But everyone knew Metapod could only use Harden unless their trainer had spent a small fortune on TMs.

Misty signaled for the battle to begin, and while the other trainer ordered Metapod to use Harden, Ash asked Espeon to lift and drop the Cocoon Pokemon with Confusion and hit it with Shadow Ball.

"Don't hurt him too much," was Aisha's only warning.

Ash had grown up on Professor Oak's Ranch. Whenever she didn't have classes or wasn't helping in the lab, she would go with Espeon to walk through habitats and meet the many Pokemons that lived there. Sometimes they battle some wildlings who want a little challenge or want to play with them.

She knew exactly how much a Metapod could take without getting too injured, but she also knew that Espeon had a drastic increase in power in her special attacks after evolving. It didn't help that this seemed the norm for her species and that she was a Psychic type, well known for their raw power.

Samurai lost the match, as repeatedly increasing the Metapod's defense did not prevent it from taking damage. Misty announced Aisha as the winner, overjoyed to finally be out of the presence of the Bug-types, while the other trainer sent the payment and congratulated Ash on training her partners so well.

Ash graciously accepted the compliments, and once they said goodbye to the Samurai, the two trainers continued their journey to Pewter. They walked silently for a few minutes, enjoying the late spring breeze and the Pokemon sounds in the forest.

"I'm proud of you," commented Ash.

"Why?" Misty looked confused by the younger girl's statement.

"You didn't start screaming when he released his Pokemons," explained Ash with a cheeky smile.

"Oh, shut up," she replied as she punched her arm, but Ash seemed more concerned with laughing in her face. "You are one to talk about! You looked ready to give up the challenge when he released the Metapod!"

"I feel robbed. Not that I think there are strong or weak Pokemon. But, a Metapod?"

Ash's team nodded in agreement with the trainer. It was a Pokemon line that, even in the wild, had access to a problematic moveset. Their mid-evolution, on the other hand, wasn't an opponent they'd choose on purpose if they had the option.

"If I could take it back, I would have used Budew," the small grass-type hummed in glee at being mentioned. "I want to give her some experience against typings that she isn't effective against. But since he used a Pinsir as his first Pokemon, I didn't want to risk putting her up against an opponent blatantly stronger than she can fight right now."

"Do you know who you're using in the Pewter Gym? I heard that the Gym Leader takes challenges seriously, even with beginners."

"This will sound weird, but I consider using Pikachu and Espeon." Seeing Misty's incredulous expression, she explained. "I studied the different gyms in the Region, especially those on the League Circuit on trainer forums. I know that Pewter Gym specializes in rock types. But I wanted to train Budew longer and give her more battles against other trainers before risking a gym. Pikachu already has some experience, and Espeon has been with me for a long time."

"I suppose you're right," she relented. "It's a risky decision, but you'll be more willing to change strategy with these two than with Budew. And they're fast, so you can always avoid getting hit more easily."

Pewter City was a welcome sight after two weeks in the woods far from civilization. Misty nearly dragged Ash through the city streets, yelling that she was too slow and the redhead wanted a shower as soon as possible. Aisha almost attacked Misty for this, but she also wanted a shower before she had a rest.

Pewter City was smaller than Viridian City, but Ash couldn't help but be enchanted by it as she and Misty walked through the streets toward the Pokemon Center. Even though the vast majority of buildings were of stone, the city did not seem lifeless: the afternoon sun cast a warm glow on the whitewashed walls, and the smell of mountain and wildflowers permeated the air, removing the slight stress that both girls felt.

The Pokemon Center in Pewter was smallish than Viridian's, but none of them were surprised. The size of a Pokemon Center reflected his location; in the middle of a route or a small city, it would look like an inn, while in a big city or one with a Gym, it would look like a hospital.

The air conditioning was a relief when they got inside, the heat had started to pick up with the approach of summer, and while the occasional breeze and shade helped to deal with the worst of it, the air was still slightly muggy. They booked a room for the two of them for a few days and asked for their Pokemon to have a check-up.

"When will you challenge Brock?" questioned Misty as they sat in the cafeteria. She didn't seem too concerned that her clothes were getting damp thanks to her hair.

"Maybe the day after tomorrow," mused Ash while she scribbled a schematic in a notebook. "The Pokemon Center has a training ground with some training materials that I won't get on the road that I want to try out. I might even get ideas to replicate during road training."

Misty was about to continue the conversation when a trainer turned up the television, and the journalist's voice caught the two girls' attention.

"Breaking News: The three members of Team Rocket, detained about two weeks ago in Viridian City, escaped from prison this morning. Two unidentified trainers stopped the criminals when they attacked the Town's Pokemon Center to steal the Pokemons present there. The Kanto Pokemon League and the G-Man ask everyone to be careful, and if you find them, do not try to battle them and call the Police. Team Rocket is a harmful organization and has no scruples about being lethal. We will now turn over to Amelia, who is on-site, to speak with Officer Jenny for more information."

The relaxed atmosphere at the Center disappeared as soon as the journalist finished speaking. While the frequency and enormity of the attacks had diminished in recent years, a few would get violent, and people would die. It was worst on the road because trainers could bump into Rockets on the routes.

Misty's mind raced for miles as she tried to look concerned but not outright panic. While Aisha irritated her too much, she had grown attached to her younger trainer. It helped that she had a good head on her shoulders and that she mostly knew her stuff about training Pokemon.

But no matter how good Ash was with Pokemons, she was still a rookie trainer. Misty was willing to bet that the Rockets on Viridian were Grunts because she doubted both of them could drive them off that easy. Even though she was a Gym Leader, it wasn't like she had a team like Surge or Sabrina had.

Misty was going to increase her training and look for more teammates. No way was she going to allow the Cerulean Gym to fall further into disrepute because of her not knowing how to defend herself as a Gym Leader, even if she wasn't currently active. One look at Ash, and she was sure the other girl had a similar train of thought, if not the same as hers.

There were times when Ash questioned her luck.

Sometimes she got unlucky, only to have something super lucky happen next. For example, she and her Pokemon were attacked by a flock of psychopathic Spearow on Route 1, only to find Ho-Oh flying through the late afternoon sky. And she got excellent photos with her Pokedex to send to Professor Oak.

She had other examples of her odd luck that she could think of at that moment just from her trip, but she preferred not to think about the pronouncement that was for the rest of her journey. Aisha was more focused on the situation ahead.

Misty was very good at Pokemon battles. Much better than Ash expected from someone who had started his journey just a few months ago. The redhead was fluid in her calls during the match: always ready to go with the flow but unexpected when necessary. That pleased Ash a lot, as the only battles she had had recently had been against the trainers throughout the forest and training with her own team.

And the wild smiles her team wore as they battled, they approved the novelty immensely. Aisha would have to spice up her training sessions.

"Staryu, Water Gun!" shouted Misty after the star shape Pokemon used Recover to get rid of the damage Budew did earlier.

"Use Cut; then explode him!" Pokemon Bud split the Water Gun in two, and when it got close enough, she shot a Shadow Ball at close range at the opponent. It didn't knock out the other Pokemon, but the unexpected move she used afterward put Staryu out for the count.

"Well, that was new," commented Ash as she pulled out the Pokedex and checked it out.

"Wait a minute, are you saying Shadow Ball wasn't new?" yelp Misty, checking to see if Staryu was alright.

"I mean, two times out of four, she manages to summon a Shadow Ball stable enough to do some damage. But we still have to work on the amount of power used," she commented as she cuddled Budew, and the rest of her team congratulated her. "Uh, Mega Drain? That's a good move, and it has a bigger attack area. Good job, girl!"

"You still haven't explained the Shadow Ball," Misty grumbled. "Even Espeon knows that move, and I'm pretty sure you need a TM to teach them."

Misty was fishing for information. Not that Aisha blamed her, but she didn't feel like sharing the crappy life she'd had before starting her Pokemon journey or how she ended up living with the Oaks. Yet. Maybe one day, sooner or later, she would tell Misty, but it was too soon.

"Trainers who have been traveling for four months don't have such a good understanding of each Pokemon's typing," she commented as she walked towards the Pokemon Center after returning her team.

Misty muttered a low 'touché' as she followed Ash.

"Ash! I'm happy to see you again! Hope you had a fun trip."

Ash couldn't help the smile that crept onto her lips. She was sure that the adventures that had taken place in just three weeks of travel were not something the Professor would have considered exciting.

"You can say that again. We've seen so many new things so far! And the Viridian forest is much more lush than the ones around Pallet..."

Ash missed talking to the Professor. Of course, Misty was a good traveling companion, and somehow, there was no shortage of conversation topics ranging from Pokemons to which member of the Elite 4 they looked up to and inspired them. But she already missed being able to talk without being careful about what she said because she didn't want to share too much of her life.

With the Oaks, there was no such problem. They had known her for a long time, and they knew all the oddities she had. So it was not surprising that despite her attempts not to mention the incident in Viridian City, she spilled the beans about what happened.

"At least no one is after us after the Viridian incident..."

"Excuse me, What?"

Ash mentally backtracked on the conversation and had to stop herself from slapping her face. She could try to change the subject, but if there's one thing researchers are, they're stubborn when they want to discover something. And Professor Oak was a researcher and a grandfather who was very concerned about the habits of those close to him.

"Um... It isn't as bad as it looks?" Pikachu cackled at his trainer's face as the Professor lectured her about being more careful and not putting herself in unnecessary danger, the little traitor. Espeon looked smug, as she already knew she would smack her teeth.

To say the Professor was worried was an understatement. Ash had to assure him multiple times that she was safe, that she had a traveling companion with some experience now, and yes, she was training even more now that it came out on the news that they had escaped.

"Please, Ash, be careful. The Rockets are not to be trifled with; even the League and the G-men have a hard time dealing with them," begged the Professor.

"It's not that I don't want to be careful. I can't just stand by while people and Pokemon can get hurt. Especially if I can do something to stop or help."

"I get that, Ash, and that's why I'm concerned. You're a capable trainer with a mind for strategy that many older trainers struggle to match. But the Rockets don't play by the rules. They can and will use brute force to get what they want." He was silent as he focused into the sienna eyes of the girl who had become like a granddaughter to him. "But moving on to lighter subjects, what else have you seen on your trip so far?"

When Ash got back to her room, she had a happy smile on her face. The Professor was overjoyed when Ash showed the Ho-Oh pictures, and he highly praised Budew's appearance and congratulated Aisha on the rare catch. He also complained how Gary had caught nearly fifty Pokemon and still hadn't called home. Daisy was fine; she had gone to Kalos with other Pokemon Coordinators to see if they could introduce Pokemon Contests. For now, it was just speculation.

Misty was already snoring when Ash walked into the room, so the Pallet girl did her best to be quiet and went to rest. She still had training to do the next day for the Gym battle on Wednesday.

Ao3

Index

<- Previous Chapter

Next Chapter ->

Fic Dividers Used Here

[irxnmaiden]

—it's been a long while since i last notated Jasmine's "legendary/mythical" encounters, but mostly*-chronologically:

She witnessed Kyogre as a toddler while at sea, but wouldn't know what it was until years and years later.

Upon reaching Sinnoh, Jasmine became locked in Darkrai's nightmare, the very same Darkrai she would come to encounter when traveling back in time to Hisui, one that holds a grudge apparently — in turn, she (in both instances) became familiar with Cresselia.

Tapu Fini reluctantly rescued Jasmine from drowning off the coast of Exeggutor Island.

Jasmine befriended Lunala (in her human guise) while living on Poni Island, where she stayed with her father for a number of years.

Shortly after arriving in Johto and within those first few weeks of adjusting, Jasmine ran into Raikou on Route 38. She'd run into them again years later, a few months after her return from Galar.

Lugia made their presence known quickly to her, and the bond has been built since—by far, the closest she is with any species considered "legendary" outside of her team.

Jasmine met Ho-Oh in Olivine, while he assumed human form to attend an end-of-summer festival.

A Registeel washed up on the beaches of Olivine once, which caused a whole moment (Jasmine's isn't as aware of the others in the trio, not outside of articles and storybooks).

Jasmine encountered Miteijuu-ni, Celebi's primordial "mirrored" form, as a teen; it wouldn't be the last time.

Speaking of Celebi, Jasmine doesn't encounter them in Ilex until a trip there with James. She would first come face-to-face with Celebi while in Orre's Relic Forest, after rescuing an infant Lugia from Neo-Cipher's shadowfication process in Citadark.

During the aforementioned trip with James through Johto's outskirts, the two also encounter both Suicune and Entei.

She was once visited atop the Glitter Lighthouse by Jirachi.

There's been a sighting or two of Articuno during her trips to Seafoam Islands, though she's never gotten a good view of them.

Jasmine's met both a Zekrom and a Mewtwo through her friend, Leaf.

During James' marriage proposal in Malie Gardens, Celesteela makes a timely entrance; Jasmine captured and slowly befriended her.

She has a Melmetal in her arsenal as well, one she received as a Meltan during a visit with her father in Vast Poni Canyon. In her current!verse, they lead a pack of "Ranger-mon" that occupy Alto-Mare's southern coast.

While in Area Zero during her "Crater Arc", Jasmine catches a glimpse of Yvetal.

Since living on Alto-Mare, she's grown a lot closer with both Latias and Latios, though the latter tends to favor her more.

She's also had the opportunity to meet a peculiarly-colored Magearna, who accompanies a local toy maker in Alto.

*there's probably an event or two i am not remembering, but will add in the future--

[icyalabaster]



Since you asked me a question about my life, I should ask one about yours to be fair! I'm choosing 3, 14, 26, and 32...though you don't have to answer... Thank you for asking me things. It's nice to know I'm still real... -from @ultrasplorer

it's alright, you're welcome. i've not anything else to do now myself, it's the least i can do with my time.

i assume these questions are for that newer post i found?

3. a pokemon that i would want to have as a partner? froslass and dreepy have both caught my interest, though i haven't yet run into any that were keen on joining me.

14. "where i live now" is very much hard to pin down, i'm close to what some would call a wanderer. outside of sinnoh, i don't really settle down and live in any one place for more than a month or so, a year and a half at most if a good thing gets going. i suppose i'll pick on paldea for a bit. the food here lives up to its reputation, as does the crater in area zero. the people here are too high energy for my tastes, the lack of any dense forest aside from one or two places makes camping out away from people harder, but i've found secluded spots. 5/10 region. there are better places to be.

... mm, the question did ask what like most. charcadet can be found here, and if you know where to scrounge around you can find armor that leads them to evolve. i didn't meet ceru as a charcadet, rather, he was released by someone else as a ceruledge and left to wander before we came across each other. i'd say his company is what i like most from here.

26. ahhh don't get me started on people i've come close to meeting! champion cynthia is very well-travelled, just about any place in sinnoh i've visited while looking for books on hisui or to see any older architecture she's been to five times over. she's an archeologist (or at the very least could moonlight as one, her passion for that field of study goes beyond words!) and i am just someone with a personal interest in hisui, so it makes sense she has poured over the places i've only visited a few times. she is one of the few famous people i'd be interested in having a conversation with, though i know with her popularity that i would never find a time and place to do so without countless other eyes on me. oh well.

32. every time i return to sinnoh i make a point to visit lake acuity. there's something about it that makes me feel closest to being at home. the water there is salty, like the sea, and you can smell it in the frigid air. even the lake itself being poor to drink without a filter because of that salt is a reminder of how harsh life in the northern end of the region is, but it's familiar to me. as it's the lake farthest out of the way and in an unbearably cold climate there are a lot less tourists and sightseers than at lake verity or lake valor, so i can actually unwind and take in the atmosphere without being bothered to make smalltalk. basc is also quite fond of this place, but i haven't yet visited with ceru. our last trip to sinnoh was brief, we never got around to visiting the north before hearing of strange things in paldea.

[ghostchanuwu]

Okay

So

FoundFamily!Au

(Gonna be kinda long under the cut lmao)

Basically what it is is that all of Ash's traveling companions (minus Max and Bonnie because they're ✨baby✨) have either been kicked out,abandoned,lives on their own,ect so Delia just slowly but surely adopts all of them starting with Gary since his parents were never really there for him,Oak was too absorbed in his studies and Agatha was always too busy (yes they're married in this au)

Ash and Gary go out on their journey together instead of being rivals since Delia adopted him at such a young age (5 y/o) to where he has a much healthier friendship dynamic with Ash.

Misty left on her own accord since her sisters (who were supposed to be her caretakers) just stopped caring for her and the gym by proxy and set off to get stronger and take the gym leader position by force so that the gym wouldn't go under.She set up a campsite on the Viridian City outskirts where nobody would bother her plus there being a lake nearby helped with training all the cute lil water types she has.

Brock was outright disowned after being severely injured during a hiking trip into Mt Moon (14 y/o) leaving him with permanent nerve damage in his left arm and a slight limp in his left leg along with some memory issues and a nervous tic (limbs randomly jerking) and his parents refusing to acknowledge him because "no child of ours cannot not be perfect" (abelism 100).He tends to stay as far away as possible from Pewter but never any further than Viridian Forest or Route 4 since his siblings tend to sneak out and check up on him.

Tracey is a drifter,he never really had a home since he was left orphaned at just a few months old and was tossed between foster parents until he managed to run away when he turned 10 to get his trainer's license so that he wouldn't be forced back into the foster care system.He's befriended a pod of Lapras who ferry him between islands along the Orange Archipelago and occasionally stopping by Jotho (that's where he got Marill).

(Hoenn and Sinnoh will be posted soon <3 )

[drgnbld-a]

ROCKET  INGO,  cont  from  here.   @cllaboard​

‘ Verrrrry observant, ’ he replied. ‘ I am lost. This facility is like a maze. ’

Ingo wasn’t lying. He had visited the headquarters only once before and it was during his first meeting with the leader on their own turf and he failed to pick up the plan of the building in one trip. His nerves left him following behind his new boss like a lost puppy, retaining nothing but the most important information.

Now he was back in the building all by himself and with no clue what direction to head in, standing around helplessly within the surprisingly quiet hallways. It was the early hours of the morning, after all. Hardly anyone was around.

‘ I was supposed to meet with someone important. Discuss. . . I can’t recall. It was likely a job, ’ he explained, eyes averting to the side with fingers fidgeting at the cuffs of his newly stitched jacket. He had no personal issues with this stranger rather it was the experience of being here that caused such behaviour.

He knew he shouldn’t be here. He knew this long before he stepped foot in Kanto; from the moment he dared engage with the team’s leader. It was all a horrible, horrible idea. . . but every action he took, every word he said aloud contradicted the thoughts clawing at his brain in vain attempt to keep him safe.

‘ I came in early. In the event I were to get lost. . . Like such. I don’t think the person I’m looking for here is due to arrive for at least another two hours, however, one can never be too prepared ! One should always do their utmost to stay on schedule ! ’

nodding  as  a  form  of  agreement  lance  can  recall  how  many  grunts  have  wandered  these  halls  and  ended  up  lost  .  in  fact  he  was  one  ,  anxious  being  caught  and  found  not  being  one  of  them  until  being  told  he  wouldn’t  be  the  first  or  last  .  with  the  social  infrastructure  of  rocket  and  the  money  they  obviously  hoarded  and  received  ...  it  comes  as  a  slight  surprise  none  of  it  went  on  building  architecture  .  

to  be  positioned  at  headquarters  was  most  grunts  dreams  (  easier  hours  ,  more  pay  ,  less  likely  to  get  whooped  by  children  )  but  it  came  at  a  cost:  everyone  knew  each  other  by  name  .  it  took  months  for  lance  to  work  his  way  up  to  be  trustworthy  .  but  what  was  one  man’s  con  was  another’s  treasure  ----  he  knew  everyone  by  name  .  the  core  of  the  operation  had  many  cops  ,  political  figures  ,  those  who  looked  to  be  the  people’s  person  only  to  be  working  in  a  cooperation  like  rocket  .  but  that’s  what  he  was  here  for  -  to  unearth  everyone  .  

the  stranger  wasn’t  someone  lance  had  met  before  .  there  had  been  rumours  of  a  new  executive  coming  in  from  unova  and  stationed  in  kanto  for  a  while  -  they  did  it  often  ,  revamping  schedules  ,  moving  people  from  their  original  homes  so  they  weren’t  tied  down  to  moral  obligations  as  such  ,  grunts  would  often  become  too  comfortable  and  it  always  ended  up  with  them  being  defeated  .  so  they  were  moved  .  originally  lance  had  been  in  sinnoh  and  had  convinced  them  he  was  from  hoenn  .  it  made  sense  that  nobody  here  had  heard  of  the  new  person  .  

“  a  good  rule  to  live  by  that  .  and  you’re  sayin’  you  don’t  remember  who  you’re  meeting  ?  hmm  ,  it  could  be  archer  ,  i  know  he’s  been  loitering  around  for  a  few  days  and  had  plans  for  something  big  in  viridian  forest  .  ”   arms  fold  over  chest  ,  features  thoughtful  but  stoic  .  viridian  forest  was  his  birth  place  ,  to  have  someone  threaten  it  made  him  feel  uneasy  . 

whether  it  was  archer  would  be  discovered  soon  he  assumes  .  but  over  time  there  had  been  whispers  about  the  time  travelling  entity  celebi  ,  who  giovanni  also  had  qualms  with  .   still  ,  nothing  set  in  stone  yet  .   “  the  office  is  on  a  different  floor  to  this  and  there’s  a  few  warp  panels  you’ll  have  to  jump  through  to  reach  it  .  safety  and  all  that  .  i  can  show  you  the  way  if  you’d  like  ,  also  have  a  map  to  hand  if  you  want  to  take  that  afterwards  .  ”   

[adventures-on-foster-island]

Adoption Application Recieved!

Name: Rowan Mackinnon

Age: 19

Region, city/route... or describe the climate you live in: Wedgehurt in Galar.

Home size: ground floor and first floor aswell as a garden and a large patch of land owned around our house. About 200 miles.

Other people or Pokémon in your home: In the house it is me and my partner. We live with a Munchlax, Galvantula, Zoura, and a Vulpix. I’m hoping to get them someone to play with.

Also Noibat occasionally goes in the house because he feels safest here.

How many hours are you away from home per week for school/work? I am in part time college which is 4-6hours two times a week and i work at the farm which is around the house anyway. My partner is a ranger and the land around us is classed as protected so they work nearby to the house and usually at home if others are around too.

Any allergies or aversions? Im allergic to galarian Meowths and I want to avoid Pokémon who don't live in Galar, including the Isle of Armour.

Tell me about yourself, and what your goals for you and your new Pokémon are, as well as anything else you think I should know.

I run a small wild farm. Pokémon come and go as they please, however I do breed Pokémon from time to time. I make sure their homes are perfect for them. My farm has various different areas Pokémon find perfect to live in. I also have a enclosed garden I can use for the new friend so they can get use to other Pokémon around outside. They will have access inside as well. After that, I'll allow them free range of the outdoors. Though, I'll check on how their doing, and we have shelters for Pokémon as well as tracking chips for all Pokémon in case of any issues.

Alright Rowan, I'm happy to inform you that due to your property size and your partner's status as a Ranger, you're eligible to adopt two Pokémon if you'd like to. The two spoke over the phone, and decided it would be best to bring the two most promising candidates to Rowan's farm to make sure they like all their new friends, including the small herd and a few Lotad on the farm.

Ellisa woke early this morning to prepare for a trip to Galar. Her mom and siblings came to watch the Island for the day. Dusk, her Drifblim, was saddled with a hanging basket for the passengers, who were waiting patiently to go to their potential new home.

"Alright kids, load up. We have a long flight to Galar ahead of us." A nervous Galarian Ponyta colt stepped cautiously into the basket, followed by a relaxed flowering Lotad, who then asked to be picked up. Pearl, Ellisa’s Gardevoir, wearing a back pack, obliged the little plant, and closed the gate behind them. Ellisa had offered to put the Pokémon in balls for the trip, but they wanted to see the sights on the way. There's no better way to sight see than from a Drifblim, Ellisa thought. As the basket rose from the ground, Ponyta let out a whine, and stamped his feet lightly, getting used to the change in elevation. Ellisa pet his head and soothed him until he seemed more comfortable.

Most of the journey was over the ocean, although the coasts of Johto and Sinnoh were visible for some time as the group traveled north. Lotad looked with bright eyes over Snowpoint city, having never seen snow before.

"Just wait until we pass over the Crown Tundra little guy, It's absolutely beautiful." Indeed, his excitement increased as we flew lower over the tundra. Snowflakes landed on both Pokémon, causing little squeals of joy. Soon enough, Wedgehurst was visible over the horizon.

"Rowan said his farm was just outside Wedgehurst. We should see it soon." As Ellisa finished her sentence, she saw the river that cuts through the field and disappears into the forest. Several Ponyta and Mudbray galloped through the patches of short and tall grass, the river was alive with water type Pokémon, and a beautiful garden with a green house decorated the land. A lilly pond sat in the garden, and the distant figures of a person and their partner Zoroark were the last things Ellisa noticed before looking for a place to land. She settled on a patch of short grass near the pond, and Dusk slowly floated towards the ground.

Rowan walked over to the group, releasing their Gardevoir in case any extra help was needed. A Sylveon followed closely behind him wearing a little diabetic alert vest.

"Morning! Hope your journey was pleasant. These are Nyx, Opheila, and Serena." Rowan greeted as he pointed to each Pokémon, before scratching Serena's head and ribbons. "The other Lotad are in the pond at the moment, and I'm sure you saw the herd." Rowan extended his hand to shake, which Ellisa took excitedly in her grasp.

"The journey was lovely. I think the youngsters enjoyed the experience as a whole. I have a service Pokémon named Nyx as well!" She pulled a ball out of her bag and released an Umbreon, who nuzzled into Ellisa’s leg. "She helps me with anxiety and ADHD, along with my boy Pan, an Espeon who stayed at the island today. You have a lovely property." Pearl put down the Lotad, who stretched out his legs and sniffed the dirt. The Ponyta looked eagerly at Ellisa, waiting to be told he could go for a run with the others.

"He can go off if you're alright with it, I'll just make sure they're in eye sight and that Nyx is nearby since the others do as she says. There shouldn't be any problems." The breeder smiled and made sure that his treat bag was secure. "We can give you a tour of the place."

"Run along little one. Have fun, but don't go too far okay?" Ellisa pat his back for reassurance, and he took off clumsily after the herd. "You too Lotad," she knelt to talk to him, "Can you get to the pond by yourself?" He nodded happily and started his waddle to meet new friends. "I would love that! It would give those two some time to get to know the others, and make sure they all get along."

Serena got up and curled his ribbons round Rowan's arm. Nyx wondered off to the herd, and Rowan turned to Opheila. "Make sure Flowers doesn't stay out of the pool for too long, and keep a eye on them all for me, please, Opheila." The Gardevoir nodded and headed off toward the pond. Ellisa told Dusk to rest up, returning them to their ball.

The, now smaller, group began their tour around the farm. As they left the garden, Rowan turned to Ellisa, "I've been meaning to ask you if there was anything special I should know about those two."

"Lotad's bloom attracts Combee, but they don't bother him. He's super easy going, and will do any favor you ask of him, which can get him stepped on. Ponyta has a lot of energy. He's still really young, only four months, but runs like a mad man. Otherwise, I assume since you already have some members of both of these species, that you can take care of them just fine."

Rowan grinned shyly and rubbed the back of their head, "Yeah, I've been tending to these Pokémon for a while. I think this Lotad will get along well with one of ours. We've nicknamed him 'Flowers' because he likes flowers so much that we catch him wandering away from the pond. We've been planting flowers around it to encourage him to stay, but a flowering friend may do the trick. Also, that's good to know! I've been trying to get Combee here for ages."

"If you want Combee, I recommend replacing some of this grass," Ellisa gestured around at the surrounding land, "with clover. Your herd will love it as well, and it doesn't grow as tall, limiting up-keep. Lotad is also nearly at the age of maturity, meaning you could cross breed him to have more flowering variants to attract more Combee if you wanted."

Nyx whined and nudged Ellisa’s leg. The caretaker reached down to touch her, realizing that her partner was cold. Pearl picked up on what was happening instantly, and dug through her bag for a jacket, helping Ellisa put it on the dark type. As the group continued their tour, they came upon a building.

"These are the stables, but I'm having another built on the opposite side of the field that will be more open and airy for summer. My partner and I have been looking into Pokémon safe natural foods, including more kinds of grasses, since we'd like to give them the best possible lives. Thank you for recommending clover, I'll be sure to get some."

The group began to circle back around to the pond when Rowan remembered something. "Oh I almost forgot to mention, a friend of mine recommended you to me. It's Noire, she adopted a Houndoom from you named Violette."

Ellisa's eyes widened in surprise. "I didn't know you and Noire knew eachother! What a small world. Her and my line of work are similar, you know? I mean, her's is more on the educational side, but we have the same goal. I was so happy to adopt out Violette to her. They make a good team."

"Yeah, we met through another friend of mine who is a ghost type breeder, since they used to work together on ghost type education. I was actually thinking about taking your breeding suggestion with Lotad and using the baby variants to teach people about grass type variants so that maybe someone else won't make the same mistake as this one's previous trainer, thinking that they are sick. I've always loved grass types, and Lotad are an old favorite of mine, but I've never had a flowering one before. This is an exciting change."

As they approached the pond, Ellisa could see that the herd had stopped to take a drink from the pond and rest. They seemed to get along great with their newest member, who was playfully nibbling one of the Mudbray. Rowan's Zoroark, Nyx, was nearby, leaning against a tree as they kept a watchful eye. Opheila sat with her feet in the pond, smiling happily. As they got closer, Ellisa saw the Lotad variant floating calmly in front of her as another stared in awe at his water lily, seemingly entranced by it. Ellisa got a little sad, knowing that she would have to say good bye to these two, but also knew that they had found their perfect forever homes and would be happiest here.

Rowan brought Ellisa out of her contemplation, asking, "Can people adopt again? These two are such a perfect fit for our home, and since we have so much space we would love to help out more abandoned Pokémon."

"You'll need to catch these two in a Pokéball today to register them to your ID, and we will have to have a visit again in six months to check on everything, but since your property is so large you'll be able to adopt more at that time. You could even become a transfer site for foster Pokémon that the facility can't care for, such as ice types during the spring and summer months or very large Pokémon that the island can't support. I'll keep your adoption application on file to make the process smoother next time."

While filling out the paperwork, Rowan and their partner Raven decided on Clurichaurn as a name for the Ponyta. They also offered Lotad a few names to pick from, with Opheila as a translator, and he chose Kaj. Ellisa said goodbye to everyone, wishing the two she was leaving good luck in their new home, before releasing Dusk once again for the flight back home.

@poke-breeder-rowan

[obliviouskind]

Folktales

---

---

Disclaimer: Current day Sinnoh does not follow, nor believe, in the tales listed below anymore – only its culture lingers within its population. This is considered a dead faith.

---

Before Orthism became widespread upon Sinnohan land, there was a faith which was less about worship, and more about the stories passed down and told. The myths of the land, the richness of the creatures within it. The belief that those closest to God lingered among them. In modern terminology, these creatures are either considered to be mere legends - or are considered to be abnormalities of nature. From Brook Horses, to Trolls; every imaginable horror of which could scare children away from wandering too far off their farms has been passed down by word of mouth, and left vast parts of the population fearful of the unknown. 

To this day, these stories linger on - most commonly seen within novels, though they are known to be used for teaching children how to count, sing, and write. There are, of course, still those who hold on to these superstitions. Or, at the very least, behave as though they do.

They may warn you to be extra careful, when wandering near creeks. --Below, there will be a list of the most notable beasts of which have been most commonly affiliated with these myths throughout the ages - from God’s unlike those most commonly praised now, to those whose coloring left them with a bad lot in life... 

It is important to note, however, that all tales come from somewhere… Be it from fear, or truth. A certain someone, certainly, came to take them as the latter - though that is a story for a different time...

---

FIRSTBORN

Regigigas and His Descendants

Before Time, there was Space. Before Space, there was Time and before either - there was a Titan known only as Regigigas. The very first soul to have been created by Arceus’s quiet palms, molded out of rock and soil for one purpose, and one purpose only. To die had been his destiny - and within his corpse, life would begin to flourish.  Regigigas is said to be the forefather of all life on earth. He is the very soil that one walks upon, the very mountains that one climbs and at his core, hidden deep in snow, thrums the temple of which keeps his heart closed. 

After his origins, the Giants who came after became associated with the chaos of antiquity and the wild, untamed forces of nature - most notably: Regice, Registeel and Regirock. Described as behemoths who could throw boulders several miles and who left traces in the landscape in the form of giant pots, moving blocks and burial mounds – it was no wonder that their reputation was one of hostility to the highest degree. Both to humanity, just as well as the highest of cultivations. However, though large and strong creatures - they weren't exactly… savages. Known to be able to take the shapes of humans, they could be clumsy, as well as silly. Evil, as well as insidious though sometimes, too, magical and wise. Giants have been said to have been the teachers of humanity, as well as the malevolent. 

Time and Space are depicted as the most notable of companions for these Giants and are even said, in certain tales, to have mothered numerous of their offspring throughout the ages. In current times, the presence of Giants are seen as non-existent - if not entirely gone. The aforementioned trio could be considered the last ones standing, if even that, and for those who still hold these beliefs dear; it's a sign of doomsday, and nothing less. 

(In Snowpoint, the old tradition of proposing using a necklace embellished with Registeel’s Smithing Hammer, rather than a ring, still lives on.)

---

TROLL Shiny and ‘Neutral’ Snover/Abomasnow

The word ‘Troll’ has been a descriptor whose meaning has changed over time. In modern terminology, ‘Troll’ mostly has found its footing in relation to one specific creature group – Snover’s, as well as their more developed counterparts. It is, however, interchangeably used in relation to many other mythological beings and in common language, it seemed as though it had been used as a blanket term for all beings that one would have considered evil in some form or fashion, rather than it having come with a set classification and characterization.   Giants, Mountain Creatures, Witches, Berserks and even just abnormally tall people have all earned themselves the classification of Troll within old Sinnohan records.

In central Sinnohan beliefs, Trolls have been described as having been capable of disguising themselves as people so well that they practically were indistinguishable from humans. Height, for a long time, was considered a ‘tell’ of malevolence and left many untrustworthy of those who developed these characteristics. In Southern Sinnoh, Trolls - just like Giants - have been said to have gone extinct. The spreading of Orthism over the region has been noted as the reason for this rapid decline and, if there were to still be Trolls who lingered, then their kind have resorted to hiding away beneath moving blocks, or the mountains. 

Up north, however, they wander freely upon the earth's soil… though, certainly not without troubles. 

As mentioned above, there are tales of which describe that Time, just as well as Space, have mothered the children of the Titan’s descendants. These children, most commonly, have been depicted as broad, lumbering creatures who have the ability to disguise themselves within the depths of the forests as proud firs - Abomasnow’s, whose colorings differentiated them from their less divine kin, fit this bill perfectly. The north once was littered by these half Giants, each and every one of them building their own family packs where children came about in abundance. However, as human settlements expanded and developed, the land of which once had been theirs to take now was intruded upon and understandably… Fear and hostility quickly spread.

(A mother cried out that her child had been stolen by the forest Trolls, eaten for it’s delicious, pure blood and expressed that, if nothing was to be done, then they simply would come back for more.)

Trolls earned themselves the reputation as being foul, kidnapping creatures who wished for nothing but to cause humans harm - though there were tales of which depicted that they were brighter than that and that if spoken to, one potentially could convince them not to steal the lives of others. Just like their forefathers, they could be dangerous, as well as kind. Mischievous, as well as helpful. Villages who knew of the tales, despite not having experienced any of their effects, often took measures to protect their own once it was known that a herd of Abomasnow’s and Snover’s lingered nearby. The Shiny variants were the most important to take on, as no matter if it was a Snover of Abomasnow - they, more often than not, were to be the leaders of which held these family units together. 

(Their numbers have greatly diminished over time for this reason. A common theme, as this list goes on.)

With time, however, these stories fizzled out in favor of those told in church halls - and Trolls no longer were a true fear in people’s minds. They still did exist, yes, though people now have something other than pitchforks and knives that protected them from their perceived malevolence. If you asked a Sinnohan school child in current times what a Troll was, then a Snover or Abomasnow still would be their most common answer. For they are, and were, real, and they do still exist… They just are not considered to be as mythical as they once have been.

---

EYES OF ARCEUS Shiny Murkrow/Honchkrow

Two Ravens sit perched upon Arceus’s shoulders, seeing all that he can not see, and hearing all that he can not hear. At dawn, they fly over the world and return at noon, describing to him all that the humans, as well as beasts, have done - describing every fault, every triumph and every fight in gruesome detail. It should come as no surprise that Murkrow, as well as Honchkrow, have fallen prey to the superstition of Huginn and Muninn. The glimmering, imperial coats of the rarest of sorts have been said to be the true descendants of Arceus's personal Ravens - set free into the world to watch over them when Huginn and Muninn could not. Therefore, if one happens to be watched by this bird - it's seen as an omen. 

Good, just as well as bad. 

All these tales of the Ravens sparked many villages in the past to rely on Murkrow’s for delivering messages. The birds were great companions to the humans of the land, exchanging their services for pieces of bread or silver coins and delivered the letters that, otherwise, would’ve taken months to arrive but now took just a few short days. There are tales that speak of birds that knew the human language, and these are thought to have been Huginn and Muninn themselves. In Orthism texts, the myth of Murkrow’s still linger - though their purpose have been revised from that of the old Gods, to those of new. They have been mistaken/attributed with ‘Nattramnar’ - birds who are said to manifest after suicides, or the deaths of unbaptized children and who were believed to occur at night in bird form. Primarily as Ravens.

Murkrow’s and Honchkrow’s are treated favorably by those who describe divinity to their kind.  A rare feat, for the times.

---

BROOK HORSE Shiny Ponyta/Rapidash

Another Pokémon who greatly suffered due to superstition having been described upon them, was that of Ponyta and Rapidash. With their manes having gone from fiery red, to wine dark sea - it was only a matter of time before their kind were attributed to be the spirits of forest creeks. The Brook Horse was said to have a lair within water depths and, from there, he often came - and it was not good to meet him. A horse said to be so beautiful to children and adults alike, one simply couldn’t help but follow it wherever it went. Children often wished to ride upon its back and, no matter how many children they were, room would always be made.

Its back was capable of elongating itself to accommodate all that wished have a seat.  

Sometimes, the Brook Horse has been depicted as a handsome youth - following the myths of which often humanized creatures that otherwise were considered as beasts. His goal in these tales often was to lure young women to himself, with the promise that he would bring them joy and gladness in his halls if they willingly followed him home. Though, if they grew suspicious of who he was and called him by his true name - Bäckahäst - then they would be released from his allure and all of his power would be gone. 

One could also be saved once set upon the Brook Horses back, children and adults alike, if another came upon the scene with a bar of steel at hand. What they would have to do would be to toss it between the water and horse, and then he no longer would be able to continue forth and those bound to his back would be released. However, as would become a theme in these tales… Humanity's preventative measures to these creatures became less kind with time. Just as with Abomasnow and Snover, the shiny horses were hunted and killed before they could cause the inhabitants of settlements any harm and, thusly, their numbers have greatly declined in the modern times.

---

HULDRA Shiny Gardevoir (Shiny Gallade)

The Huldra is one of several wardens which stem from similar tales, though primarily gets noticed as a fair lady who wanders the forests upon her bare feet. She is the forest's ruler, the protector of the wild. She is also said to have willingly offered her flesh to those that she takes a liking to. She lure walkers astray and seduces the men that she likes, all the while being described as either affectionate or condescending - a nymph, perhaps, she could be considered; for she held powers that primarily revolved around the seduction of men. Gardevoir fell into this characterization for many reasons, one primarily being that as far as the beasts in the wild goes, Gardevoir has an appearance that has been considered most human-like. With slender features and proportions that border on human, yet isn’t so, it was only a matter of time before they were spoken of as seducers of weak men.

The velvet spear through their chest is the mark which makes them a Huldra, though certain tales describe her as wandering with but a cavity through her breast - primarily in the southern Sinnohan forests. In northern tales, and northern tales only, there's a depiction of male Huldra’s as well. However, rather than being considered beings of beauty - they were thought of as hideous and foul.

As has been stated above: Troll is a word of which once was used as a blanketed label for all that was considered evil – and the Huldra did not escape this classification by any means. The Troll, Troll Mother and other similar names have been ascribed to her, and she has been said to have lingered in the families of Snover’s and Abonasnow’s all the same. She was, after all, the ward of the wild. 

(If one thought they might be getting seduced by a Huldra, then it was said that one ought to turn their shirt inside out and read the psalm ‘Our father’ backwards to escape her seduction. If one had coupled with the Huldra, and then were unfaithful - then misfortune would befall them at every turn, for her rage and hurt would always find you.)

---

MARA Shiny Misdreavus/Mismagius (Female)

Last, and perhaps least, there’s a creature known as Mara. In folklore, a Mara, The Mara or Nattmaran (nightmare) was a supernatural being who was said to torment sleeping people by sitting upon their breasts and ‘riding’ them – which would cause them a severe feeling of anxiety and respiratory distress. Mara was sometimes said to be a human spirit, though it did not necessarily have to take a human form when it haunted people at night. It could appear as a cat, a dog, monkey or mouse, a feather or even a ball of yarn. There are different tales as to what it is that makes a human soul a Mara. Sometimes, it was said to be due to envy, or because a cat skipped over an unbaptized child. In older Sinnohan provinces, pregnant women thought that a way to have an easier birth was to pull the placenta of a Rapidash over their head three times… It was, however, a trick which came with a price. If the child that was born was a girl – then she would become a Mara.

(If the child was a boy, it would instead become a hound.) 

In western Sinnoh, it was believed that if a child was born ‘untimely’ - between the hours of twelve and one at night - and it was a girl, that she would become a Mara. 

Misdreavus, as well as Mismagius, have been mistaken for these ‘Nightmares’ throughout time. However, it is said that it is only the ones of the female kind - and those who differentiate themselves by their color. Humans, after all, aren't Pokémon, and therefore they won't simulate them perfectly. 

(Sometimes it was considered to be certain women who during the night - often unknowingly or against their will - became a Mara. However, since a Mara could not get up in the sleeper's bed without first getting up in his footwear, the caution was that one should preferably place their shoes underneath the bed with the tips of the toes facing outwards.)

---

There are, of course, many more creatures that could be found within old Sinnohan myths. The ethnic groups of Florama and Snowpoint carry their own specific stories and names for the beings we all may know as something else, and there are creatures not mentioned in this list whom hold significance in the more modern of days – Uxie, Mesprit and Azelf being great examples. However… Perhaps that is a list best saved for a another time…

[idonthaveacleverquip]

Summary of Cave Troll!

I was going to put this in the notes of the latest chapter but it ended up being the length of my average one-shot so OOPS!

Anyway! Summary of Cave Troll for those who were readers and don't have the time or energy to go back and re-read all 71 chapters after a year of Hiatus! 2020 has been HELLacious!

Read Adventures of Guzma & the 'Cave Troll'

Summary under the cut, will be updated as the story progresses~!

Day 1

Guzma arrives in Sinnoh; Guzma wears a lot of coats and forgets his backpack; Everyone Man appears, Everywhere; Ponyta are Jerks; Golispod loves ribbons; Guzma finds Turnback Cave and wishes he turned back; 36 hours are spent wandering and bonding with Local Cave Troll; Cyrus puts Guzma to sleep with his bedtime star story; Giratina claims it’s a Bug Dragon; Selfie with Giratina; Giratina orders Cyrus to stay with Guzma and shoots them with a mystery attack when Cyrus tries to go back into the Distortion World; Only 10 minutes passed outside the cave; Guzma sends the selfie to Plumeria and bulldozes all the trainers on Route 214; Guzma and Cyrus have dinner at the Seven Stars Restaurant; Cyrus takes them back to Galactic headquarters; Saturn finds them; Golisopod eats a sock (Cyrus’ sock); Guzma and Golisopod destroy the bathroom; Guzma flashes them all (woops); Cyrus sleeps in a chair and Saturn stays up all night researching who tf Guzma could possibly be, discovering all Guzma’s information has been expunged.

Chapters 001 – 017

Day 2

Guzma tries to leave Sinnoh and discovers he has a one-way ticket; There are no new flights out for a month; Cyrus realizes his life was BORING and Saturn is too overbearing; Cyrus gave Guzma the undershirt and pants for a Galactic Grunt uniform so he can ditch the coats; Cyrus sneaks himself and Guzma out of Headquarters and heads for Celestic Town; Guzma battles every trainer despite the rain; Guzma battles an Everywhere Man and his legion of Ponyta; Everywhere Man texts Guzma’s location; Saturn Discovers Cyrus is missing; Break time at the Milk Cafe; Guzma tells about Team Skull and working with Lusamine to open a dimensional hole (Dude, she was Hot) trying to make Cyrus think he’s cool; Cyrus most definitely doesn’t think Guzma is cool; Cyrus ditches Guzma in Celestic town and returns to Turnback Cave; Guzma goes bug hunting; Cyrus and Guzma body swap! Nobody sleeps.

Chapters 018 – 023

Day 3

Cyrus experiences EMOTIONS and a panic attack in Guzma’s body; Guzma manages to escape the cave, confuse Cyrus’ Pokémon, and face plant a few times before finding Golispod and Cyrus who got sick; Guzma uses Cyrus’ map to lead them to Solaceon; Nanu is given the OK to get Guzma back to Alola by any means; Flint and Aaron investigate Galactic Headquarters and stress out Saturn (It’s Cronus!).

Chapters 024 – 027

Day 4

Golisopod remains by Cyrus’ side, thinking he’s Guzma; Guzma explores Solaceon in Cyrus’ body, alone; Cyrus’ Pokémon are left at the daycare; Cleffa is older than first thought.

Chapters 028

Day 5

The body swap ends; Cyrus has minor panic without his Pokémon; Guzma is very quiet, still recovering from the cold and stunned by how much excess emotion he has and never realized; Cyrus is stunned at his Pokémon’s positive behavior when he gets them from the daycare; Guzma receives the Seal Case after helping a lady with her groceries; Golispod hears of Contest ribbons and is determined to get some; Guzma has a reputation after all his battling and gets many challenges on the way to Hearthome; Guzma has depression episode at bedtime realizing he’s been in Sinnoh a week and feels he hasn’t really done anything.

Chapters 029 – 032

Day 6

Saturn finally contacts Mars and Jupiter and convinces them Cyrus is back; Guzma knows nothing about Contests but Cyris is strangely well informed; Cyrus tries to teach Guzma to makes Poffins, it does not end well; They go to see a contest and Guzma gets dragged into the lineup; Fantina rescues him and asks him to cheer for her; Cyrus is caught after the performance, apparently he and Fantina have much history together; Fantina gets Guzma to do the thing (DeleleleleWOOOOP!); Fantina reveals how she and Cyrus met from her point of view; Cyrus is upset and fidgeting; Fantina tells Guzma to give Cyrus a chance (He’s a GOOD boi!); Guzma tries to deescalate the situation so Cyrus will calm down; Cyrus gets more berries and Guzma finds honey; Guzma proceeds to WEAR the honey; Looker brings Guzma’s parents in to custody for multiple counts of child abuse and anything else Nanu managed to dig up; Guzma and Cyrus sleep in yet another cave.

Chapters 033 – 040

Day 7

The boys wake past noon; Nanu calls and Guzma hangs up; Guzma discovers the International Police are looking for him, but he doesn’t know why; Everyone Man arrives; His name is long so everyone calls him NPC, it’s a family nickname; Guzma gets his bag back!!; Arrive in Oreburg; Plumeria packed the bag for him and included a gift from nanu he received before Lusamine went off the deep end (Open it when you figure out what you really want); Guzma still refuses to open it; Guzma leaves Cyrus in the Pokémon Center to go bug hunting; Cyrus can only doze without the now familiar sound of the noises Guzma; Guzma dozes off while bug hunting.

Chapters 041 – 042

Day 8

Guzma catches a Kricketot; Cyrus was really worried and went to look for Guzma; Guzma gives Cyrus a one-armed hug; Cyrus is paranoid of Kricketot; Kricketot has to be balled for cuddling Cyrus, leaving the man a nervous wreck; School Expo at Jubilife, Cyrus is caught on camera; Guzma gets poketch for helping out; Cyrus thinks he’s being clever but actually dragged them into another side quest; Clown Quest, lots of electrocutions, three new apps are obtained; Guzma and Cyrus take the kids into Route 203 to evolve Kricketot; Joltic are found, Guzma is mean, food is shared, Cyrus can’t resist zapping Guzma again; Kriketot evolves, everyone does the thing (DELELELELEWOOOOOP!); Kids are returned and the boys head back into the wilds; Golispod steals a TM and teaches itself a new move; Guzma wanders off after Cyrus falls asleep; Guzma doesn’t sleep again.

Chapters 043 – 054

Day 9

Cyrus wakes up alone at dark AM; Cyrus finds Guzma before sunrise and they watch a romantic wild Kricketot concert together; They get knocked into the mud; Guzma does laundry and uses Cyrus’ detergent; Ends up it’s like Pokenip to Bug-types; Golisopod’s new move is Confide; Guzma agrees to stay in the pokémon center, but the school expo aires on TV, so Cyrus ushers them out; Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Aaron and Flint all see the broadcast; Aaron doesn’t notice Cyrus, only sees Golisopod and Guzma; Guzmas gets a fanclub on route 204, Samantha and 4 brothers named Brandon; Cyrus slips another TM to Golispod; The gang trek to Floaroma town and get honey; The honey man may be traumatized; Guzma attracts a lot of Combee and catches a female; Cyrus is out of Max Repel; Burmy invade the campsite, but so does a Munchlax; Munchlax tears his bag and steals his honey; Guzma has a rage fit in front of the kids and Cyrus calms him down; Cyrus sews his bag back together; Cyrus pretends to sleep, Guzma is super soft with him; Everyone gets a much needed rest.

Chapters 054 – 060

Day 10

Guzma apologizes to kids; Guzma shares his food with Cyrus; Cyrus agrees to go to Eterna Forest; The kids pretend to make a documentary on “the Bugman” as he stalks his “prey”; Phillip, Jack and Donald join the bug fanclub, and alert to the Old Chateau; Cyrus plays Guzma into going inside; Guzma eats the Old Gateau, not by choice; Cyrus is ghost-napped; Guzma has many ghostly scares; Guzma is paralyzed and wakes to see distorted Cyrus in a TV; Guzma screams loud enough for the kids to hear them outside; Rotom was in the TV; Cyrus and Rotom were friends and, after running away from home, Cyrus used to live in the old Chateau with Cleffa, Rotom, Ghastly, Haunter, and a Sneasel which would later be his own Weavile; Rotom and Golisopod interact and Rotom begs to join the team; Rotom possesses Guzma’s cellphone; The group heads for Eterna City.

Chapters 061 – 066

Day 11

The bug fanclub multiplies; Offscreen bonding between Guzma and Cyrus occurs; the Explorer Kit is obtained; Guzma’s parents flee Alola; Nanu can’t get a hold of Guzma; Rotophone texts emotes then sends a picture of Guzma, Cyrus and the kids; Looker sees Cyrus in the picture and freaks out; Looker contacts Cynthia and blackmails her into helping to track down Guzma.

Chapters 067

Day 12

Guzma is no good at The Underground; Cyrus gives Guzma a Claw Fossil; Guzma gives major big hug and Cyrus clips out of existence; Cyrus dissociates and leaves the Pokémon Center; Guzma is worried he doesn’t see Cyrus, but since Cyrus left all his things Guzma convinces himself nothing is wrong; Guzma doesn’t sleep well.

Chapters 068 – 069

Day 13

Cyrus is definitely Missing; Guzma collects Cyrus’ things and his Pokémon and tries to find him; Guzma gets sad/mad when he can’t and storms to Eterna Forest; Cyrus flashes back to a previous time he dissociated with Fantina, and registers his body enough to know he’s climbing the wall to Sendoff Spring; Guzma gets lost and meets Aaron in the forest; Guzma tries to battle with Honchkrow; Aaron has to call the battle off to go meet Flint at Floaroma, Guzma tags along; Body Swap 2; Giratina threatens to swap them permanently; Cyrus gets a new understanding for the title Destruction in Human Form; Guzma swims across Send Off Spring and passes out in a bush; Cyrus catches a Burmy!; Cyrus tells himself the star story to sleep.

Chapters 069 – 075

Day 14 

Guzma hangs with NPC and gets a Soothe Bell; NPC takes Guzma to Eterna City; Saturn tries to follow Guzma on a bike; The Bug Fanclub learns about the bodyswap and help Guzma avoid the woods; Guzma learns about Team Galactic; Mars and Jupiter find Cyrus in Guzma's body; Cyrus tries to lead them astray; Cyrus battles a Youngster named Tristan (as Guzma) and looses; The Sinnoh League has a meeting about Guzma; Jupiter and Mars find Guzma in Cyrus’s body; Saturn contacts Jupiter and Mars about seeing ‘Cyrus’ head towards Eterna City; Saturn enters Galactic to find Bertha and Lucian waiting for him; Jupiter and Mars encounter Guzma in Cyrus’s body; Jupiter nopes away; Mesprit Teleports Guzma to Lake Verity; Bug Club are split between Eterna and Jublife; Guzma and Cyrus Reunited at Last; Cyrus tells an uncut version of the Star Story; they’re up late.

Chapters 076 – 083

[justanothadeadbloginthevoid]

99 Gold Drifloon

A story in the pokemon universe, probably Sinnoh? I got the idea from the song "99 Red Balloons" by Nina.

Just over 2k words.

Warnings: kidnapping of a child (accidental?), unresolved disappeaeances, fear responses due to trauma

It's all fairly mild but be warned.

The sun rose, shedding light on a strange scene. The sky was filled with dark, boiling clouds driven by the wind, the bottom rippling like waves or grass. This itself wasn't an entirely unusual scene during the summer. However, if one looked closer, they would see the cloud was made not of water, but of balloon-like bodies. Thousands upon thousands of drifloon and drifblim were heading towards the small town, the denizens unsuspecting for now.

Maggie didn't watch tv or listen to the radio all that often. She was relatively reclusive, preferring to stay in her room and draw, read, or write. She had no siblings anymore, and though her parents were concerned, she seemed happy in solitude, so they let her be for the most part. She still participated in family activities when asked, and ate her meals at the table with them. It wasn't that she was unfriendly; she simply had no desire to go out. Her parents blamed themselves, and her little brother, for this. She used to love going outside. It even seemed for a while that she wanted to make the long trip to see a professor and get a starter Pokemon to begin her career as a trainer.

Not long before that time was to come, tragedy struck. Her brother was five and she was nine. They were playing in the woods near their home on the edge of town, their favourite pastime. They could hear their mother when she called them back for supper from there generally, yet they could have many great adventures for kids that age. No one but her was quite clear on what happened that particular day, but her young mind did it's best to convey the initially innocent events.

On a windy spring day, right on the edge of summer, they had found a golden drifloon stuck in some tree branches. They easily pulled it free, for which it seemed grateful. Soon, they were called home, and they dragged the pokemon out of the forest together. Then Maggie tripped and let go, leaving her much smaller brother as the only anchor. He wasn't a big kid, so before she knew what was happening, both him and the pokemon were too high in the air for her to catch. She had immediately run home sobbing, and by the time her parents got outside, all they could see was a dark line in the distance, driven away quickly by the gusting winds. They called the police and a search was conducted for the next several days. As days turned into weeks, everyone lost hope. This was not the first disappearance of its kind in the small town, nor was it the last in the next few months. Maggie didn't talk about it much, but everyone assumed she blamed herself a little, and they did their best to reassure her.

Now, almost a decade later, she seemed to have recovered. Quieter, more withdrawn, but showing no obvious signs of distress. Her parents still sometimes worried, wondering what they could've done differently to protect their children, but the disappearance was far in the past now; their family had moved on as best they could.

Though Maggie was never one for television, her mother was, and, as Maggie ate her breakfast, it was playing softly in the background. She paid it no mind, but the mug shattering as it hit the floor drew her attention towards the next room.

“Mom? Are you alright?” She got up and peeked around the corner, brow furrowed in confusion. Her heart dropped as she saw the scene on tv. The scrolling banner drew her eyes first, “BREAKING NEWS! INVASION,” but the images of the so called invasion were what terrified her. Droves of drifloon covered the screen, bouncing against each other and rippling with each gust of wind that passed through their ranks. The sound of wind and laughter in her mind drowned out the reporter's words, but the voice was that of the local news anchor certainly. On trembling legs she stumbled to the window, pulling back the curtains with pale, shaking hands, and looked up at the sky. It was dark, like a stormy day, but through the cloud sun peaked through, illuminating spherical purple bodies. She turned away, doubled over and trying not to vomit as horror coursed through her body. Briefly, the possibility of this being some awful dream nudged at the edge of her mind, but this felt nothing like the nightmares that had plagued her as a child. She felt a hand on her back. It was cold and trembling slightly, but her mother's touch was firm and soothing. Maggie still couldn't focus on words, but the gentle, familiar tone helped. Together they made their way back to the couch. Maggie wrapped herself in a blanket and curled up as she stared, transfixed, at the little screen.

On scene, reporters from every news source flocked to get the scoop on this strange event. Never in recorded history had so many of this Pokemon been seen together, some claimed. They tried to get facts, statistics, anything for the edge on their competitors. Many received word that at least a dozen of the supposedly ultra rare shiny variants could be seen among the masses. Almost all of them reminisced on the wave of disappearances a decade ago. Wild theories flew around. That had been an advance party, and these were here to steal all the children. That previously this massive swarm had passed by, and the stragglers were the kidnappers. Tensions were high, and no one was able to get a good look. Everyone was calling in favours to try and get more information.

Somehow, one of them had connections to the head of a large inventing corporation. The CEO quickly saw how advantageous it would be to have information to sell, and so sent out a unit of experimental light crafts to investigate. They had orders to confirm the identity of the pokemon, clarify their numbers and intentions, and classify everything they could. Some reporters got a chance to interview unit commanders and pilots for the planned second wave of investigators. Each one saw themselves as a brave hero, about to be sent off into the unknown. The heat of the sun beat off of the shining aircrafts, and the drifting Pokemon rode on those thermal waves, easily evading close inspection. However, this also made it possible for them to go deep into the cloud without injury any. Counting began.

Down on the ground, people were calling for a halt to the investigations. People were calling for peaceful passage of the so far harmless Pokemon. People were calling for extermination of the terrors that had already struck this place once before. No one could agree; tensions were high. The police did their best to keep the peace, always watching out for reports of abduction. They advised everyone stay inside, especially young children.

All the while, Maggie and her mother watched this unfold through the tv screen. Without speaking, the younger woman stood. Her mother looked up at her questioning and she just said, “I have to see,” before turning and heading for the door.

Her mother was speechless as it slammed gently. Maggie walked out across the grassy lawn towards the forest. She hadn't been there since that horrible day, and she didn't know why she was going there now. All she knew was there was a deep urge inside her to go, memories flashing through her mind ceaselessly. Her eyes trained on the sky, and blanket still wrapped around her shoulders, she walked.

The preliminary numbers were in, astronomical amounts of Pokemon formed the incredible cloud. They had measured all its dimensions as best they could, approximating averages. Some tried to estimate based on that the number of Pokemon, but others had found a clever estimation tool, the number of shinies. Roughly eight dozen individual shiny drifloon had been identified, meaning likely just under four hundred thousand creatures constituted the cloud.

This caught the attention of the infamous professor, Oak, a renowned expert on Pokemon in numerous regions. He came to the little town itself to see this incredible phenomena. He did personal interviews with every pilot and reporter he could, gathering information. He consulted with other professors via video call, and together they tried to solve this fascinating mystery. Finally a consensus was reached, and he quickly composed a short statement for a press conference. That evening, he made his statement on behalf of all the pokemon professors. Maggie still had not returned, but her father had, and both parents agreed she was old enough to be safe right now. Together they watched Professor Oak’s small speech.

“Pokemon are everywhere in our daily lives. They fill our waters, lands, cities, and even some homes. We do not fear them then.

I have devoted my life to the study of these magnificent creatures, as have several of the men and women I'm proud to call colleagues. We have put our heads together to examine the specifics of this grand event. Reliable sources have said there are 98 alternatively coloured drifloon among the massive flock, allowing us to estimate a total size of roughly 400 000.

Thus far, they have posed no threat to the safety of anyone, and so are not the be harmed. Additionally, studies over the past several years have lead us to believe that 86% of drifloon abductions are accidental, and so easily avoidable. Please educate your children on safety around these, and all, wild Pokemon. They should not approach them or try to touch them, they can be safely viewed from a distance, and until this mega flock has passed, all of us professors advise children do not go outside unless closely attended to by an adult.

We theorize that this is a mass migration, and we have teams looking through ancient records to see if anything of this nature has happened before. It will pass, and until it does I shall remain here to study it.

For those who have concerns for the safety of the pokemon, more manned missions will not be sent into the flock, only viewers from outside at a distance. I will give a detailed summary at the end of this phenomenal event.”

The news switched from him to the local anchor, but Maggie still had not returned. She was almost to the edge of the forest, shivering inside her blanket despite the summer sun. Here the wind rustled through the trees gently, carrying the soft sounds of various bug Pokemon. Memories of playing with her little brother, laughing and crying, protecting and fighting, all came to her. She let them come for the first time in so long, but no tears joined them as she had feared. Interrupting her thoughts came the cry of a distressed Pokemon, eerie and long as the sound floated in the wind. It's nagging familiarity drew her past the tree line, her eyes scanning up above. She wasn't certain it wasn't her imagination, but she didn't mind finding out.

There it was, just as she remembered, it's golden form hopelessly pinned in a tangle of branches, it's cyan hands pulling at them uselessly, unable to even snap twigs. Sickly satisfaction welled up in her as she watched it struggle. A drifloon just like this had taken away her brother. A hot, angry thought of throwing rocks at it tore through her mind. She considered it for a long moment, before dismissing it. This thing was probably worth something to someone, she might get a reward for bringing it. Not too gently she freed the pitiful Pokemon and grasped both it's stringy arms firmly as she pulled it behind her through the forest. It keened softly behind her, not attacking as it was helplessly dragged along. She ignored it as she walked steadily through the woods, one hand holding it and the other clutching her blanket to keep it around her shoulders.

Before too long she left the woods and looked around before heading in the general direction of home, unsure where to find someone that would want it. She yelped as she hit her toes on a protruding rock, clenching both her fists at the brief flash of pain. The drifloon squeaked and she looked up at it. It looked back with big black eyes, it's sunny body shaking in the breeze. This was where it had happened. Where her life, her joy, her confidence had been torn away along with that little boy. Her brother's innocent face as he looked down at her for the last time filled her mind. Her hand on its arms relaxed and let it go.

[letswritefanfiction]

Pokémon Alphabet Challenge: O is for Overcome

March 7

Well, it looks like my stay with Solidad before the Kanto contest season begins is going to be a little longer than I’d planned. We found my Masquerain with an egg today along with Solidad’s Butterfree. Fortunately, I don’t think the incubation period for eggs of Bug Types is too long, so hopefully we’ll only have to wait a few weeks for the Surskit to hatch out. Then I’ll probably give it to Solidad.

Admittedly, I don’t know much about breeding, so I figured it would be good to write down some of what’s going on so that I have a log. Just in case. So, this is day one, I suppose, of the incubation period.

March 8, day 2

Nothing new. Solidad thinks that we should contact Brock for some breeding advice. She asked me to call him. … I am not friends with May’s friends. Just like I’m not friends with her friends.

Yeah, Harley, you heard me.

Although we did call May and Harley to update them.  Well, I called May, Solidad called Harley. I’m  still thanking whatever deity made Harley jealous enough of May to decide to go to Sinnoh while the rest of us are gonna travel the Kanto circuits next month.

But the egg seems fine and Masquerain and Butterfree seem happy, so I told her no anyway.

March 9, day 3

Went into the Viridian Forest for some training. Staying in one place is giving me cabin fever. It hasn’t even been two weeks, but it’s the longest I’ve stayed in one place since I lived at home.

Maybe I’ll go to the mountains tomorrow.

No egg updates.

March 10, day 4

Masquerain and Butterfree seem to move the egg around in the yard wherever the sun is to keep it warm. I guess Bug/Flying Types aren’t great at brooding.

March 11, day 5

I don’t know how Solidad can be so content both on the road and staying at home. She says I’ll get over it when I’m older and, I dunno, maybe I will, but this is just so boring.

If you couldn’t guess: no egg updates.

March 12, day 6

I stopped in the Pokémon Center and called May, just to see someone who wasn’t in Pewter, and she reminded me that she’s been living at home with her parents for a few weeks. I know she loves then and all, but that was enough to put things in perspective.

Being trapped in Solidad’s house isn’t so bad.

Also, I realized today that that egg is a pretty damn big egg. I mean, Surskit are small. A fully grown Surskit could fit in this egg if it curled its legs under. I guess it just has a lot of nutrients in it?

No updates.

March 13, day 7

One week. No updates.

March 14, day 8

We have an update.

Probably should have mentioned this earlier: the egg, Masquerain, and Butterfree are all just staying in Solidad’s backyard. It’s fenced in and has a few plants, but not many because Pewter City is basically just one big gravel pit that people built houses son. And because who can maintain a garden when you hardly live at home?

Anyway, so we went out back today because Masquerain and Butterfree were having a fit and we noticed the egg wiggling a bit. Just for a moment, and then it stopped. But it was something.

March 15, day 9

More movement. Still just the slightest wiggles, but they’re more prolonged now.

Solidad still thinks that we should contact someone who knows more about this than we do, but apparently Kanto’s main daycare center is halfway across the region on some nothing route. Not even in a city. But I don’t think we need the help. It’s just one egg. Masquerain and Butterfree are doing most of the care anyway. We just need to care for them, and we know how to do that. Pokémon give birth in the wild all the time. Geez.

March 16, day 10

Continued movement. No further updates.

March 17, day 11

Update: Okay, we must be close to the finish line at this point, because there were definitely sounds today. And a lot of movement. Solidad’s really excited. I’m kind of excited too. But not as excited as Harley, who threatened to come and see ‘the big reveal’. Close call.

March 18, day 12

I’m in the back yard as we speak. Masquerain and Butterfree seem super excited. They’re flapping around like nobody’s business. And then there’s the egg, which seems like it’s dancing. There are little noises coming from it and it’s practically hopping off the ground.

Oh! There are cracks! Putting this down now. Will update later.

“…I was not expecting this.”

Drew and Solidad looked around the backyard of Solidad’s Pewter City home, noting how it was now crawling with nearly a dozen tiny Surskit. The Surskit were exploring every conceivable nook and cranny of the yard, traipsing over boxwood bushes, lawn ornaments, and even each other, all in the name of exploring this brand new world. Worst of all: they were each only a few inches tall.

“Yes,” Solidad sighed. “I thought that only one Pokémon could hatch from a single egg. Had I known this could happen, I definitely would have called someone for help.”

Drew rolled his eyes as he watched a helpless baby Surskit fall into the bush it had been trying to climb over. “I think we’re still going to need that help, Solidad.”

Masquerain immediately flew over to the fallen Surskit and pulled it from the brambles, taking care to smooth its dear, little yellow head with a soft wing. However, she immediately had to move on to another wayfaring baby while Butterfree stopped one from going under a hole in the fence. Drew quickly picked up one of the many stones in the yard and placed it in front of the hole, taking extreme care that he didn’t step on one of the little critters.

Solidad, meanwhile reached for her PokéNav. It only took a moment to scroll through her contacts before she landed on the one she wanted and let the phone dial, putting it up to her ear when it began to ring. In the meantime, Drew carefully grabbed the round body of a Surskit that was trying to crawl its way up Solidad’s legs.

“Hello, Pewter City Gym; how can I help you?”

“Brock, I’m glad it’s you,” Solidad began in her slow, calm voice. “Drew and I have a bit of a situation…”

“A bit of a situation?” Brock echoed, astounded.

Fortunately, Solidad’s house was only a few minutes away by bike from the Pewter City Gym and, since Brock was no longer standing Gym Leader, he hadn’t needed to take care of much before hurrying over to Solidad’s back yard. Since the call had been placed, Drew had sent out his Butterfree as well, making the yard look like a Bug Pokémon habitat that even Professor Oak would be proud of. The three flying bugs were doing a good job of taking care of the babies, which was good, because Drew and Solidad were afraid of what they might unwittingly step on if they ventured to move.

“It looks worse than it is,” Solidad appeased. “We counted and there are only ten babies, and they can’t climb vertically or burrow like some Bugs, so they’re all definitely still here.”

“But…what do you expect me to do with them?”

At this point, Drew decided to chance it and take a few steps back, sitting on one of Solidad’s cushioned lawn chairs. A Surskit was in the adjacent on; it looked as though they were sharing a nice afternoon tea, save for the wary look Drew was giving it.

“Well, you were following along the path of a breeder at one point in time, Brock,” Solidad stated simply. “I was hoping you could use that insight to advise Drew and me on how to handle this.

Brock took stock of the surroundings. Solidad had a relatively small backyard—her property sat on less than an eighth of an acre—and it shrunk enormously when you took into account the dozen Pokémon roaming about it. None of Solidad’s sparse vegatation seemed particularly edible for them, though he had no doubt that they’d try for it anyway. Furthermore, there was no overhead protection from predators or the elements, and it would likely take the three of them days to fashion a tent. Not to mention the fact that there was no water…

Water…

Brock smirked.

“You know what, Solidad? I think that ten Surskit are a little out of my range of expertise. But you know who would be perfect?”

Misty heard a phone ringing and frowned when she realized that it was her personal phone and not the Gym’s public line. She was used to that one all but ringing off the hook—so much so that they’d had to hire a receptionist a few years back—but her Pokégear was usually as silent as the playable character in an RPG. Yet here it was ringing and, as usual, she had no idea where she’d last had it, so she had to scramble to find it, only barely managing to press the talk button before the last ring.

“Hello?” she answered breathlessly.

“Misty? What, did I drag you out of the pool?”

“Brock, is that you? Why are you calling me?” she asked, ignoring his question.

“Well, Drew and Solidad seem to have fallen into a little issue regarding some Water Pokémon, and you’re the foremost expert on Water Pokémon that I know.”

Misty narrowed her eyes. She could feel Brock trying to butter her up, but she was going to let it go, because she liked what she was hearing. “Uh-huh. And? What is this ‘issue’?”

“Oh, just the sudden emergence of ten baby Water Pokémon that need specialized care. They’re living at Solidad’s right now, but she doesn’t even have so much as a birdbath. Surely you can’t expect for them to all live in a bathtub!”

“I’ll take them!”

Misty could feel her eyes growing large and shiny, the prospect of ten helpless, innocent little Water Pokémon in need tugging at her heartstrings. She didn’t know why Brock felt like he had to pull any tricks over her to get her to say yes—honestly, he should save any tricks he had for girls he wanted to date. Arceus knew he needed the help.

“That’s so great, Misty!” Brock said, excitement coloring his tone. “Solidad’s gonna drive us over, so we should be there shortly.”

Misty grinned. “I can’t wait!”

Drew was not pleased with the situation.

He was happy that the babies were being placed with a Water expert. He was even considering leaving his Masquerain with her for a little while if Misty proved to be all that Brock was lauding her to be. Of course, Masquerain wasn’t a Water Type, but Drew could only imagine that she’d want to stay with her babies for a little longer. He was happy that he and Solidad wouldn’t have to rip their hair out over taking care of ten babies.

What he wasn’t pleased with was the fact that in Solidad’s large van, Brock got to sit up in front while Drew was stuck with all the very mobile Surskit in the back. Well, most were mobile. One was sleeping on his lap. The rest were walking all around the seats and all over Drew. And he meant all over. Plus, it was his responsibility to make sure that none crawled up the center console and began bothering Solidad while she was driving.

To top it all off, Brock looked positively smug.

Drew didn’t really think about May’s friends a lot. Ash had some strange, raw talent, Drew had to admit, but at times he seemed to be more trouble than he was worth. Brock seemed helpful to a degree, but Drew wasn’t really sure what he was doing in the group aside from nannying. Lucky for May, because she sure seemed to need it.

This was the first time that Drew was getting more than a taste of Brock’s personality. And for some reason, ever since just before calling Misty, Brock had been wearing a shit-eating grin. Drew didn’t recall that being a regular occurrence, so it was enough for him to keep an eye on the older boy.

Until a Surskit tried to walk right over his eye.

“Ow!” Drew exclaimed, using every bit of his self-restraint to keep from swatting the poor creature. Instead, he grabbed it and placed it on top of one of its siblings—there was no actual floor space left—as he blinked rapidly.

“Drew, are you okay?” Solidad asked in her motherly way.

“Yeah, fine,” Drew grumbled.

After this whole affair was handled, he wasn’t letting Masquerain anywhere near that Butterfree ever again.

It was only about an hour later that the crew showed up at the Cerulean Gym’s front door. And Drew couldn’t help but notice how tacky the Gym looked with that giant Dewgong on it. It looked like a really bad contest hall.

Of course, it was hard to think about that whilst holding onto three tiny Bug babies. Masquerain and the two Butterfree were released again, each holding onto a baby. The rest of them were divided among the three humans, and Drew was the one lucky enough to have to juggle three.

Brock had to use his elbow to ring the Gym doorbell, but he managed, and was relieved when Daisy was the one to answer the door. He drooled for only a second before Daisy dashed all his hopes and dreams by saying, “Oh, Brock. I thought you were Tracey. We’re going to dinner.”

“Tracey?” Brock’s posture immediately fell to the downward pull of depression as he sulked. How had Tracey nabbed Daisy?

“Hmm, you’re new,” Daisy observed, pointing a sharply filed nail at Drew and Solidad. She paused specifically on Drew. “Wow, it’s too bad you’re not five years older. Not for me, of course, but for Misty. Then again, she’d look really bad next to you.”

Drew didn’t even begin to know what to say as Daisy threw him a wink.

Solidad, sweat-dropping all the while, stepped up. “Brock called Misty about taking in these baby Water Pokémon. Did she tell you anything about that?”

“Oh, right…” Daisy said breezily, waving a hand near her face as though she was hoping to catch the wisps of the memory of the conversation between her fingers. “She did say something about that. Just go into the main aquarium for now and I’ll go get her.”

Solidad and Drew made their way in, but Brock was apparently not yet recovered from the shutdown he’d gotten from Daisy. And before he’d even tried to make a move!

Drew rolled his eyes. “Masquerain, you have my full permission to use Gust on him if he doesn’t move in three seconds.”

That was enough to get Brock’s rear in gear, and he and all the rest of the Pokémon were in the Gym in less than three seconds.

Peaceful relief. The Surskit were flitting about on the top of the pool, looking thrilled to explore their natural habitat—well, closer to it—instead of a backyard. Or the back of a van. Drew could tell that Masqeurain looked more relaxed too, flying easily overhead with Solidad’s Butterfree. Drew’s Butterfree wasn’t even needed for extra assistance anymore.

In the echoing, tile-filled room, Drew heard footsteps approaching. He could only assume that it was Misty or one of her sisters.

“Hey, guys! Sorry about Dai—Aah!”

So much for peaceful relief.

Drew had to put his hands up to his ears—man, this Misty had a high-pitched scream! Solidad too looked appropriately alarmed. But Brock was only smirking, causing Drew to think that they’d been taken for a ride. And not just the one from Pewter to Cerulean, although that had been a less than pleasant journey.

“Brock, what are those Bugs doing here‽”

Brock walked up to Misty, who was shielding her face in her own shoulder so that she didn’t have to look at the pool. “Misty, these are the Water infants I was telling you about. Aren’t they cute?”

Misty stole a second glance at the Surskit and a shriek erupted from deep in her throat, even with her mouth closed. “Those are Bugs! Look at their legs! You can’t tell me those aren’t Bugs!”

Brock, who was clearly reveling in this, put a hand to his chin and began scratching at the dark stubble there. “Oh, I suppose they do have a dual typing. But I was just thinking about how desperately these poor babies needed water. You know how Water Pokémon can get if they’re not hydrated enough, right, Misty?”

He was leading her. She knew that he was. He was pushing her into a corner so that she couldn’t say: “Take them away!” which was threatening to bleed off her lips at any second.

Instead: “You’re right. They can stay. Excuse me.”

The words came out ever so calmly, and Misty looked entirely nonplussed as she turned around and walked slowly, but deliberately out of the room. Brock turned around to a confused Solidad and an irritated Drew, saying, “Well, that was a lot less fun than I’d thou—”

From deep inside the Gym, another high pitched shriek—definitely still Misty—rang out and Brock’s expression cracked into a grin again.

“Then again…”

Misty at least had the courtesy to let the crew from Pewter to stay the night. Well, she didn’t have much of a choice, since she didn’t want to be stuck taking care of the babies—who would have to be fed multiple times through the night—and since she knew that her sisters wouldn’t sacrifice their beauty sleep for that. Fortunately, the Cerulean Gym came equipped with a number of guest rooms, since her sisters were so very popular.

Unfortunately for Brock, this was where her hospitality ended.

Brock walked down the hallway containing the guest bedrooms looking beaten and battered…primarily because he was. After Brock had—supposedly—paid for his misconduct by cooking dinner for everyone, Misty had pulled him aside and given him what for.

So, slowly—with intermittent grunts of pain—Brock dragged himself in the direction of his temporary bed, hoping that he would wake up in less pain the next day. As he reached a twitching hand for the doorknob, though, the door across from his opened, letting out a burst of steam. Drew walked out, his hair darkened to a mossy green by the water still clinging to it. A blue towel was around his neck and he was wearing some flannel pajama pants. He looked Brock up and down completely disinterestedly and, with a huff full of teen angst, proceeded towards his own bedroom.

Mildly insulted by the response, Brock couldn’t help but to yell out, “I have a greater plan for this, I hope you know.”

Drew stopped, but didn’t turn around, showing that his interest had only been slightly piqued.

“I’m hoping this will be the thing that finally gets Misty over her fear of bugs. And we get a pool for the Surskit out of it.”

Only turning enough to give a pointed look to the red handprint still imprinted on Brock’s cheek, Drew asked, “And how’s that working out for you?”

Apparently he didn’t care enough to hear the answer to his own question, because he opened his door and closed it. Brock even heard the click of the lock latching as though to add extra punctuation to his words.

Immensely more tired, Brock reached a hand up to his warm cheek and tried to rub the pain out before following Drew’s example and going into his own room. Normally, he’d linger in the hallway a little longer to see if he could catch Solidad in a nightgown, but he suspected that he’d need all of the strength he had to deal with Misty the next morning.

March 19, day 2

I’ve decided to keep this going, now keeping track of the Surskit’s growth. Or at least that’s what the days are supposed to mean. It turns out that May’s dear friend Brock has made us all the subject of his little experiment to get May’s friend Misty over her fear of Bugs. So this is also day 2 of that experiment.

I would say “Kill me now,” but I have ten four inch babies to care for.

With the solid distance of the Waterflower’s oak dining table between himself and Misty, Brock broached the topic. Misty’s response went about like this:

“Okay, Brock, how about this? I’ll get over my fear of bugs when you can talk to a pretty girl without turning into that ooey-gooey sap that’s those Bugs have been getting all over my pool!”

Brock, indignant at the insinuation, narrowed his eyes at Misty and opened his mouth to disagree. However, she seemed eager to prove her point.

“Oh, Daisy! Violet! Lily!”

The voice came out in a melodious sing-song tone that was frightening to hear from Misty. It seemed like the calm before the storm.

The girls—in their various but extensive states of getting ready for the day—bustled into the dining room, looking at Misty questioningly. Their little sister didn’t usually summon them, so they were surprised by the call.

“Like, what is it, Misty?” Daisy asked as she continued threading her hair into a fishtail braid.

Misty, apparently not feeling it necessary to explain herself, just looked to Brock, eyes expectant and daring.

Brock, for his part, was staring at Lily, whose state of mid-readiness happened to include the fact that she was only wearing a sports bra on top. Since she was used to being seen in nothing but a bikini on a near-daily basis, this was nothing unusual for her, but Brock’s eyes looked like they were about to pop out of his head—without the usual aid of Misty’s fist.

Perhaps most girls would be bothered by the leering. Misty knew that if anyone stared at her chest like that, they’d be slapped so silly that they wouldn’t be seeing anything for days. But Lily calmly finished applying her gloss with the aid of a handheld compact before closing it and giving her lips a little pop of suction. Then she looked at Brock and said simply, “Sorry, you’re way too young for me.”

Brock instantly fell back, his whole world turning gray at the instantaneous rejection while Misty just looked confused. “You guys are the same age.”

Lily winked before turning on her heel. “I know.”

Misty cringed. Who exactly did her sister sleep with?

Nope. She didn’t want to know.

Daisy followed as Lily sauntered out of the room, leaving Violet to turn to Misty and say, “Sorry, we’ve gotta motor. Big interview today in Celadon. Catch you tomorrow. Or the next day.”

Brock seemed to perk up again at the sound of Violet’s voice and physically reached out to her as she walked away.

“One sister left,” he murmured to himself as Misty repeatedly smacked herself in the face.

It was with smoke coming out of her ears that Misty snatched her Pokégear—actually having remembered where she had last placed it this time—and dialed a familiar number.

“Heya, Misty! What’s u—”

“Ash, Brock has lost his marbles.”

“What?”

Misty collapsed into her office chair, causing it to swivel around a few times before she stopped it by setting her feet on her desk. She took a deep breath to calm herself.

It didn’t work.

“He’s suddenly got it in his head that I need to quote: ‘overcome my fear of bugs.’”

“Well, I think that’s grea—” A growl grumbled from deep inside Misty’s chest. “Uh, not great?”

“Exactly. Not great. In fact…” Misty’s fingers twitched with pent-up energy. “I think I need to remind him how much of a bad idea it is.”

Misty didn’t even remember to hang up the phone as she left it on the table and searched for Brock, intertwining her fingers and stretching them out.

“Uh, good luck, Brocko…”

March 20, day 3

I told May where we’re staying now for when she comes to Kanto. It’s still supposed to be a couple weeks, but I’m hoping she might come early. Also, it’s looking like we might not be leaving anytime soon. I thought being cooped up in Solidad’s house was bad…

This is so much worse. There are 7 people living here.

As for the Surskit: their bodies are already becoming more opaque and they’re getting a better sense of how to use their thin little legs. The water is doing them well.

March 21, day 4

Misty is terrorizing Brock. It’s definitely frightening—I’m sure never going to cross her. I just feel lucky that she hasn’t incriminated Solidad and I along with him—buuuut it’s also super funny. Mostly just funny. The guy had it coming! What can I say?

We’ve decided to start measuring the Surskit and keeping a log. Luckily, Brock and Solidad are doing that. They seem to have grown some in the last couple days, but they’re still so tiny. None are taller than 5 inches.

A very frightened Brock had taken to tip-toeing around the Gym. He’d always thought that Misty had an unfair reputation of being violent—ear pulling events aside, of course—but now he was thinking he’d been a little hasty on that judgment. Misty was violent. And mean.

So he tended to flit between his room, the Surksit room—since there was no chance of finding Misty in there—and the kitchen, because it was the only place where he had the skills to sooth Misty’s wrath.

But otherwise, he was on edge. So as he was walking down the hallway, hoping to take a shower, he nearly jumped through the ceiling when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“It’s me, Brock,” Solidad said, instantly easing his trepidation.

“Oh, hi, Solidad,” Brock said, too overcome with relief to try any move on her.

“I was thinking that maybe I could try talking to Misty for you. This is a good thing that you’re trying to do for her, but she doesn’t seem to see it that way. Perhaps she just needs to hear it from someone else?”

Brock smiled. “That would be incredible, thank you!”

He would be sure to be far, far away when that conversation happened.

March 22, day 5

Solidad is going out of her way to help Brock on his masochistic mission of madness. I’m personally not choosing not to help because I think that Brock’s failures in this are funny—though they are—but because it seems pointless. If Misty’s held on to this fear for the past eighteen years, then I don’t think there’s anything that we can do about it. Or that doing so will cause her—and us—more pain than is worth it. And those Surskit.

Yesterday, he held one of the poor babies up to her and I thought that she would smash it up against a wall with her bare hands. Masquerain almost killed her.

Solidad, Drew, and Misty were seated at the dining room table, eating some delightful food that Brock had made before mysteriously disappearing. The girls were taking part in idle chit-chat while Drew was reading a newspaper.

“My cousin lives in Cerulean and I was thinking about visiting her tomorrow. She just had a baby recently, and I would love to see her,” Solidad said idly as she blew on her hot soup.

Misty’s eyes immediately darted up, bright and shining. “Ooh, a baby! So cute!”

A smile spread on Solidad’s lips for a moment before she swallowed a spoonful of soup. “Aren’t they just? I love babies.”

“Me too! They’re all so cute!”

“Baby Pokémon too.”

“Ugh, I know! I get so excited whenever we have any new babies.”

“Well, you do right now.”

“We do?”

“The Surskit, Misty.”

“…Oh.”

Solidad leaned forward, trying to catch Misty’s eyes as the fell to the roll she’d been pinching and eating crumbs from—no need to eat like a lady when her sisters weren’t around to bug her about that. “You don’t think that the babies are the slightest bit cute, Misty?”

Misty sighed, looking at Solidad with all traces of baby-induced sparkle erased from her eyes. “Do you think a swarm of ten Beedrill are cute?”

“Not cute, no, but it’s entirely diff—”

“Now imagine those Beedrill are small, with translucent bodies, beady eyes, and scrambling all over each other and you as they search for food, because that’s all they know how to do.”

“Okay, but—”

“Now imagine that they’re living in your house, swarming in your pool—your sacred place—growing bigger every day until they’re big enough to ram down the door and suck the juices out of you with their gross insectile fangs!”

Drew and Solidad looked at Misty, who was panting lightly from her outburst and then each other before Drew set down his spoon and scooted away from the table.

“I’m done.”

March 23, day 6

Clearly the madness isn’t going to stop anytime soon. Solidad’s attempt was a total bust. But she’s going to keep trying to help, I’m sure. She considers Brock a friend.

I’m considering running to the port and boarding the next boat to Hoenn so that May can restore my sanity. And you know that I must be going crazy if I think May will restore my sanity.

“Drew!” Brock called excitedly when he spotted Drew by the pool, flocked by the Surskit he was feeding. “Where have you been?”

Drew cast Brock a momentary dry look before returning to the task at hand. “I was helping Solidad cart some feed from the PokéChow supplier. Now she’s out getting some vitamins.”

For a moment, Brock felt a tickle of guilt that he wasn’t helping as much as he should with the babies…Then again, the babies were Drew and Solidad’s responsibility, while Brock was just trying to be a good friend to Misty and help her overcome a childhood fear.

“I was wondering if you could give me some advice on how to get Misty over her fear of these little guys.” Brock reached over and pet the yellow cap on the most recently fed Surskit. It crawled out of the pool and curled up on the tile, its short blue legs struggling to find a comfortable position.

Drew shrugged. “She’s afraid of all Bugs?”

“Yep.”

Having fed the last of the Surskit, Drew sighed as he stood up and wiped his hands on his cargo shorts. “You could get her started with my Butterfree. Girls tend to like them.”

Brock thought back to when Ash had owned his Butterfree and how Misty had responded. She’d been so encouraging when they were helping him woo the pink Butterfree, and she had seemed honestly sad when Ash had released him …Maybe Drew was onto something.

“That’s a great idea, Drew! I’ll call Misty down right now!”

“Uh, you might want to hold on there, Brock.”

Brock, who had already started out of the room turned back to Drew in confusion. “What?”

“We’re still in the room with all the Surskit and my Masquerain. Perhaps a different location will serve you better?”

“…Right.”

It was a staring contest.

Butterfree was standing calmly, looking up at Misty, waiting for the moment of impact.

Meanwhile, Misty was reaching out to touch Butterfree. Slowly. Ever so slowly. It had been going on so long, Drew wasn’t even sure that her hand was moving anymore. She was crouching on the ground so as to be at eye-level with the Bug, and Drew couldn’t believe that her legs weren’t asleep yet. Or perhaps being so close to Butterfree had ended up being too much for her and she’d gone dumb. He couldn’t be sure.

She was about to make contact when all of a sudden she leapt up, screamed, “I can’t do it,” and ran out of the room.

Drew looked tiredly at Brock and sighed as he returned Butterfree to its ‘Ball. Brock just shook his head.

Back to the drawing board.

March 24, day 7

You know, I’m beginning to feel a little harassed. After the failure with my Butterfree, they tried with Solidad’s. Don’t know why they thought that’d be any different. Then they tried with Masquerain, which went even worse, because I’m pretty sure she has a grudge against Misty now for, you know, hating her children.

Aaand here he comes. Again.

Brock approaching with Solidad in toe was enough to compel Drew to put his notebook down on the floor and raise his arms up to his chest in the shape of an X before saying, “Uh-uh. No way. This is not my issue. Remember that I am caring for ten babies right now. I can’t parent you too.”

“Relax, Drew. We were just going to tell you that Misty said we need to move the Surskit to another room while she cleans the sap out of the pool.”

Even as Brock knelt down to pick up one of the babies, Drew couldn’t help but feel a tension headache starting behind his forehead. Brock’s presence was just beginning to have that effect on him.

“Drew,” Solidad started, her calming voice easing him a little bit, “wasn’t May afraid of Pokémon when she first started her journey?”

That caused a hiccup in Drew’s steps as he turned to Solidad.

“May?”

March 25, day 8

I called May. She’s gonna be here in a few days. She seems excited to see the babies—who have been growing. They’re all around half a food now, except for a little runt—and she’s excited for a new adventure and traveling. In typical May style. I wish she could get here sooner. Solidad is so much a part of Brock’s mission now that I have to avoid both of them. They’re running short of ideas, though, so Misty’s been pretty smug. Also, she seems to be taking out her anger on all of her challengers. One today even left in tears.

He shouldn’t have used a Caterpie.

“Is Brock bugging you?”

Drew had been brewing some tea when Misty came up to him from the other side of the kitchen counter. “Huh?”

“I love Brock a lot. He’s the brother I never had. But he’s insufferable sometimes, right? I know he’s bugging you about this bug thing. And, of course, I like it even less than you do. But, just so you know, if he’s bugging you, here’s the trick. Pull him by his ear. It’ll snap him out of whatever craziness he’s in.”

Misty winked and walked away.

Drew heard is teapot whistle and smirked.

Sure, she was just trying to get him to do her dirty work, but it was nice to have an ally.

March 26, day 9

Misty isn’t so bad. I think that I may be her favorite person in the house, since I’m not trying to force bugs on her. And I’m not her sister. It’s pretty obvious that there are problems there. It’s crazy. May’s is the only family that I’ve met that isn’t fucked up. Luckily, Misty’s sisters aren’t turning out to actually be around a lot, which makes for a little more breathing room around here. Especially since when they are here, Daisy’s boyfriend is usually here too.

He’s strange.

March 27, day 10

Somehow this journal has devolved into ranting about Brock’s crazy schemes and my serious case of cabin fever. The Surskit are doing well. They’re in complete control of their bodies. They roughhouse with each other a little bit, but don’t seem to be able to use any moves but Tackle. But that’s a good start for their young age!

It’s just now occurring to me that I have no idea what we’re going to do with them after they’re grown. There’s no way that Solidad and I each need five Surskit. And it’s sure not looking like the Cerulean Gym is going to take any of them. Hm…

Drew, Solidad, and Brock were busy moving some sod into the Gym and laying it around the pool. They’d ordered it a couple of days before, thinking that it would be nice if the whole room resembled more of a real habitat for the Surskit. They were, after all, amphibious. Not even amphibious; they were terrestrial creatures. They just liked being on or around the water. But the tiled room didn’t provide them with much more than water as a resource. So they’d brought in some plants in the days prior, but what they really needed was some grass. Solidad was even talking about enrichment activities, like they were making a full on zoo or something.

“Here, I’ve got it.”

Out of nowhere, Brock suddenly pulled at the roll of sod that he and Solidad had been carrying and tried to support the whole thing himself. Solidad looked on worriedly while Drew just narrowed his eyes in harsh judgment. He was clearly just trying to show off to Solidad.

Idiot.

He began quivering under the weight of the sod, so Solidad moved forward to help him again.

“No, I’ve got it!” Brock insisted. As he did so, he swung his weight a little bit too much to the side and slipped on some not-yet covered tile.

And of course he landed in the pool.

Solidad shrieked a little bit, her hands flying to her face as Brock and the sod tumbled, sending the Surskit flying through the water as their usually calm surface was disrupted.

It took all three of them ten minutes to get the sodden sod out of the pool.

And Masquerain now had someone else on her hit list.

March 28, day 11

Okay, let’s talk about Brock’s epic failure yesterday…

March 29, day 12

May’s arriving today. I’m going to the port now to pick her up. It’s embarrassing how well I know Cerulean now. This isn’t what my life should be.

But May’s here now and contest seasons starts in only a couple of weeks. Then everything will be great.

Upon entry into the Gym…

“Omigod, Misty, this is your friend?”

“She’s beautiful!”

“First the green-haired kid and now this‽”

Everyone had been waiting in the lobby to greet May. But before Drew knew it, he was pushed out of the way so the Sensational Sisters could proceed in prodding her skin and her hair, commenting on what excellent self-care she did and how Misty could learn a thing or too, which was enough to make Misty’s eye twitch and everyone else to take a step away.

Daisy grabbed May by the shoulders and held her in front of Misty, as though presenting a work of art she’d created. “Misty, how do you have such beautiful friends?”

“I don’t know, Daisy,” Misty ground out through gritted teeth before brightening her expression and facing May with a smile. “Hey, May! How were the boat rides?”

“Oh, just fine,” May answered nervously.

Suddenly, Drew stepped up and took May’s bag from her hand. “Here, I’ll bring this to your room,” he said suavely.

May looked confused for a second as she watched Drew walk away before she snapped out of it and cried, “Hey, that’s my stuff!” before running after him.

Misty gave Brock a heavy dose of side-eye and said, “Maybe you should be asking Drew for advice about something else.”

“I’m so glad you guys asked me here,” May said as she fell back on one of the stylish, but surprisingly uncomfortable sofas in the Waterflower’s living room. “I was getting a serious case of cabin fever at home. Max is travelling and so being the only child is too much attention.”

As much as Brock liked May, he knew he had to get down to business. They’d all been living at the Gym for a couple of weeks and…that was enough.

“Well, be prepared for it to be a lot worse here,” Drew said, echoing Brock’s internal sentiment as he plopped down on a chair himself. “Brock is trying to turn Misty into a monster. And take us all down with him.”

“I just don’t understand how I’m supposed to help with all of this,” May stated, her hands fidgeting in her lap.

“Ash told me that you were afraid of Pokémon when you first started on your journey, but that you got over it pretty quickly,” Brock stated. “So we’re hoping that maybe that can help Misty get over her fear of bugs?”

May scratched behind her ear and looked at Brock apologetically. “I don’t know…I wasn’t really afraid of Pokémon. I just didn’t like them.”

“I think the same principle applies,” Solidad said as she waltzed in with a steaming cup of tea in her hand. The group had very much made themselves at home in the past few weeks. It was only fair, as Misty was forcing them to take part in the chores her sisters refused to do. “Perhaps you getting over your dislike of Pokémon could be enlightening.”

“Well, I…” Thoughts creased May’s forehead as she tried to think back. “I had always grown up around Pokémon. So just having them in the vicinity didn’t help. I guess that it was having them in need and then having to take care of one myself that really made the difference.”

Something sparked behind Brock’s eyes. “That’s an idea…”

Drew eyed him warily, as if reading his mind. “Not a good one.”

“Misty!”

Brock seemed way too excited for anything good to be coming her way. Misty instantly hardened her gaze and pursed her lips as she turned towards Brock. “Yes?”

“I thought of a great way for you to deal with Grass-Type opponents.”

“Ice Types?” Misty deadpanned, thinking of her sisters’ Dewgong, whom she used nearly every day.

Brock blinked. Damn, he hadn’t thought of that. “I thought of another great way.”

From behind his back, Brock pulled out a sleeping little Surskit. Brock could see the scream bubbling up Misty’s throat, but he put a finger to his lips, pointing to the sleeping baby.

“Brock‽” Misty whisper-screamed. “What are you doing?”

“Presenting you with the answer to your problem. See, the Bug Typing will trump any Grass Type. And when it evolves, it’ll be a Flying Type too! That’ll doubly take out any Grass Pokémon.”

“And it won’t be a Water Type anymore.”

Again, Brock realized he hadn’t thought this through entirely.

He had to try another angle.

“But Misty. This little Surskit is the runt. Its brothers and sisters just walk all over it and it can never get Masquerain’s attention.” He raised the little Surskit up to his face as he gave Misty watery Growlithe eyes. “Poor baby.”

There! Brock saw just a hint of softness enter her eyes as her gaze fell to the innocent sleeping Pokémon.

Hesitantly, ever so hesitantly, Misty stepped forward and began reaching a hand out. She was only millimeters from the little ponytail-like cap on its head before Surskit’s eyes opened and it straightened up to its full height, showing its beady black eyes and it’s long, insectile legs.

Instantly, Misty ran away, echoing screams as the only proof she’d even been there.

March 30, day 13

Well, this has officially gone on longer than the incubation period. Remember how simple life was then? And no progress has been made with Misty. Literally none.

On the bright side, the Surskit are doing well. All are growing and beginning to really show their individual personalities. It’s a good thing Brock’s so interested by what’s happening with them. That Brock is actually pretty smart and interesting.

On the even brighter side: May is here.

…I’d missed her.

March 31, day 14

It’s probably super crazy how much better I feel now that May’s here. She is the perfect buffer between all the craziness because she’s just so damn happy and easygoing. Well, as long as she’s been well-fed. Fortunately, that is the one thing that Brock is good for. Really, his food is excellent.

But May is really great. I wasn’t particularly upset when she left to go to Sinnoh or when she left to go to Hoenn. Especially since we knew that she’d be back in a few weeks both times. But when she comes back, it makes you wonder how you were getting by when she wasn’t there. Because it’s so much better when she is here.

I wonder if she feels that way about me.

May quickly learned that her job was not to help Brock and Misty—it seemed best to stay away from that mess—but rather to keep Drew sane. That had been Solidad’s job before, May was sure, but her motherly instincts were drawn more towards the baby Surskit than to Drew.

Plus, it was easier to take care of ten needy babies who never slept at the same time, needed to be fed every few hours, and who were already about three times the size they’d been when they were born than it was to care after one moody teenager.

She found that the best thing they could do was actually take care of said babies, since they were such a hefty distraction. And while Misty didn’t yet see the charm of Bug babies, May had to admit that the tiny Pokémon were quite cute. Surskit looked like little blue dolls tat just happened to be able to skate along the water like it was an ice rink. They already had the pink cheeks—she just wanted to give them little striped scarves to complete the look.

The scream from Brock’s most recent attempt rang throughout the whole Gym and May could palpably sense Drew tensing up without even looking at him. “Drew, why don’t you and Solidad take Masquerain and Butterfree outside to stretch their wings in the fresh air?”

Drew looked at her like he definitely knew what she was doing, but was deciding whether he would go along with it or not when Solidad piped up.

“That’s alright. I’ve got it in here; why don’t the two of you do it instead?”

Solidad’s Butterfree flew over to May’s shoulder, the fluttering wings feeling playful against her ear and causing her hair to blow a little. She let out a giggle before standing and taking Drew’s hand to hoist him up.

With nothing more than a hair flip, Drew lifting his arm for his Masquerain to land as he followed May wordlessly out of the Gym.

Solidad smiled to herself before moving onto a new Surskit to play with.

April 1, day 15

It’s April now. Apparently this is the day that ten year olds start their journeys in Kanto, so the Gym might be seeing a lot of rug rats in the next few weeks. But, more importantly, it means that the contest season is starting in just a couple of weeks.

And that this all has been going on far too long. The Surskit are almost fully grown, and none of us have any idea what we’re going to do with them. It seems like they’ll stay here until Misty gets over her fear.

Which means we’re never leaving.

Well, they aren’t. I’m leaving for contest season regardless of the state of Misty’s phobia.

“You know, Ash actually helped me a lot,” May mused over a breakfast of cereal as Misty dealt with an early challenger.

Drew grunted, but Brock and Solidad looked on with interest.

“How so?” Solidad asked.

“I just mean that seeing him care so much for Pikachu was really inspiring. And how excited he was by all the new Pokémon we saw. Seeing that connection is definitely part of why I think Blaziken and I were able to bond as much as we did.”

Brock nodded. “Misty never did have a problem with Butterfree or Heracross.”

“And a Heracross isn’t a traditionally pretty Pokémon like Butterfree. It’s a giant bug,” Solidad mused. “I can’t believe that Misty wouldn’t be frightened of a Heracross.”

“So maybe we need to invite Ash,” May suggested.

“Sure, all we need is more people in this house,” Drew mumbled into his Cheerios.

At just that moment, Misty walked into the dining room with a towel around her neck and plucked a box of cereal off the table, sticking a fist in and shoving the contents into her mouth.

“Good Battle, Misty?” Solidad asked.

Misty shrugged. “Just an over-eager youngster,” she replied, cornflakes spraying as she did so.

The doorbell rang throughout the entire Gym, causing Misty to groan. “Really? Well, this one better not mind if I eat breakfast during the match. Either that or I’m going to eat him for breakfast.”

She shoved another angry fistful of cornflakes into her mouth and chomped through it like she really was eating him for breakfast.

“You’re not going to get that?” May asked apprehensively.

Misty waved it away. “That’s what the receptionist is for. He’ll make an announcement over the intercom when I need to go to the arena.”

But there never was an announcement. Rather, everyone looked up when a new face entered the dining room.

“Speak of the devil…” Brock murmured.

“Psh, figures,” Drew muttered.

Misty seemed the most surprised, though, setting down the cereal box and wiping the crumbs from her mouth. “Ash?”

“Hey, guys!” Ash said excitedly, picking up the cereal box as soon as Misty set it down while Pikachu made like an Emolga and leapt towards Misty.

“Hi, Pikachu!” Misty cheered.

“Pikachupi!”

“Ash, what are you doing here? I thought you were going to stay in Sinnoh a little longer,” Brock asked.

“When I heard we were trying to get Misty to overcome her fear of bugs, I knew that this would be the most exciting place to be,” Ash explained through a dry mouthful of cereal. “So here I am!”

“But I told you that weeks ago,” Misty stated as she concerned herself with scratching Pikachu’s head.

Ash shrugged. “That’s how long it took me to get here. So, how’s it going?”

Ash’s eyes roved over the table, noting May, Drew, Solidad, and Brock’s awkward silence as they looked at their food and Misty’s fiery eyes practically scorching Brock. Ash sweat-dropped.

“That well, eh?”

April 2, day 16

So Ash is here now. Haven’t decided if it’s a good or bad thing. He’s even better at riling Misty up than Brock is, which would have been funny a couple of weeks ago, but now I feel like if a Darkrai ever puts me in an eternal nightmare, it will be of Misty’s angry voice and her screams.

He’s good with the Surskit though. It seemed like he came for Misty, but he’s way more preoccupied with the babies than he is with her. Except that he watches all of her battles. But, again, I think that’s about the Pokémon…

“Okay, Ash. Work your magic,” Brock whispered in his ear as he patted his shoulders and pushed him in the direction of the room to which the Surskit were relegated. Misty eyed him suspiciously, not having heard what he said, but walked right behind Ash with Pikachu in her arms nevertheless.

Brock stayed back, a smile already growing on his face. It meant a lot that Misty was even going into the room that she’d avoided for weeks. Under the caveat, of course, that she could leave whenever she wanted and, unfortunately, smack Brock upside the head if she felt necessary.

So maybe Brock would just sneak away while he still had the chance…

“Oh my God, this is so cool!”

The excitement simply pulsed off of Ash as he took in the sight of all of the babies. Meanwhile, Misty strictly avoided looking at them and instead took in all the adjustments that had been made to her pool. Lily pads, strips of grass terrain across some of the tile, food everywhere. Misty frowned. All that would surely be a bitch to clean up once these bugs were out of here.

While Misty hung by the door, using Pikachu’s presence to sooth herself, Ash made for the sod to kneel down on beside the pool.

“Oh man, they’re even doing Attacks already!”

Sure enough, Misty spotted some of the Surskit playing around with Bubble. They weren’t using it as an Attack, exactly; more as a fun pool game. It was almost…cute.

Almost.

Misty almost shrieked as one Surskit skidded across the pool and launched into Ash’s lap. He rolled back and laughed, but Misty could only feel those tiny legs prodding over herself. Sensing her tension, Pikachu reached up and patted her bare shoulder, which caused goosebumps to rise before taking them away.

“Aw, Mist! How could you say no to taking one of these little guys in?” He held it up and tried the same Growlithe-eyes look on her the Brock had tried. But she had to admit that Ash was a lot better at it. “And you have to admit that Drew’s Masquerain is a pretty Pokémon. It looks like one of those dumb paper fans or…I dunno, something else that girls like.”

Misty rolled her eyes. Ash sure knew how to get to a girl’s heart.

Ash tossed her a dopey grin and her heart thumped.

Okay, maybe that thought wasn’t as sarcastic as she would have liked it to be.

“Pikapi!” Pikachu called out, feeding off his Trainer’s excitement. He was waving his arms at Ash, looking like he wanted to join in the fun. Misty felt bad for holding him back.

So, against her baser instincts, Misty approached, Pikachu patting her wrist in encouragement. However, as soon as they got only a few feet away from Ash, Pikachu leapt out of her arms and sat right down next to Ash and the Surskit, appearing to enjoy getting to spend time with a Pokémon smaller than he.

Misty looked on for a moment, thinking that the scene was kind of cute. The Surskit took an instant liking to Pikachu, who let it play with his tail. Then, suddenly, Misty felt something brush her leg and her whole world froze.

It was about ten minutes later that Ash looked up and said, “Hey, where’d Misty go?”

April 3, day 17

You know, I think there was a point of time where I was jealous of May and Ash’s relationship. But now I see that he really does only ever think about Pokémon. And if he’s 17 and only thinks about Pokémon now, then I can only imagine how little he thought about girls a few years ago. Yeah. Nothing to worry about.

Except for Misty. Because her crush on him is suuuuper obvious.

“I swear, it is a blessing that Misty’s sisters practically don’t live at the Gym,” Drew said as he and May walked down the streets of Cerulean. Solidad had sent them to the Pokémon Center to pick up Masquerain, Butterfree, and Misty’s Pokémon from her most recent match.

“You’re just saying that because they’re always giving you grief about your good looks.”

Drew looked at May, thoroughly amused. “My good looks?”

May froze, not having realized quite what she had said until it was parroted back to her. “Th-They seem to think so. That’s all.”

“Oh, I thought you were saying I looked good.” He didn’t sound disappointed, though. He was strictly teasing her.

“Well, of course you do! You’re a coordinator! It’s your bread and butter to look good for others.”

“So you do think so?”

“Just in a purely technical sense. You take care of yourself. Don’t make it seem like I’m trying to imply anything—”

“Hush, don’t break yourself, May,” Drew eased her, putting a hand on her arm when she started getting really frazzled. “No one’s trying to imply anything. It’s just fun to see you get all worked up.”

May huffed. “Yeah, well I’d like to see you worked up, just once.”

Drew raised an eyebrow. “Oh, would you?”

Realizing her error, May gave a disgusted groan. “Okay, that’s enough! Where is this Pokémon Center?”

She rushed ahead of him and Drew could only laugh, speeding up his pace until he could catch her.

Misty stood in her spot in the doorway of the Surskit room. But this time Brock was standing next to her.

“Wasn’t he coming because he wanted to see you trying to get me to get over my fear of bugs?” Misty mused.

“That is what he said.”

They were both watching him and Pikachu play with the Surskit. Masquerain and Butterfree weren’t out of their ‘Balls constantly like they had been at the beginning, but they were out now and Ash was also getting a kick out of playing with them. He was really in his element.

“He wouldn’t have come if he didn’t want to see you, Misty,” Brock said comfortingly.

He knew about her crush. She knew he knew about her crush. But he also knew that he wasn’t allowed to say that he knew. And she knew that too. This kind of the thing was the closest that they ever came to acknowledging it.

“I swear, he will only ever love Pokémon.”

Misty had her arms crossed and she was looking longingly out at him, not even the Bugs being enough to wipe the expression away.

“Hey, maybe one day he’ll treat…someone else the same way.”

Misty scoffed. “Like a Pokémon?”

Brock laughed. “Maybe?”

Pinching the bridge of her nose and shaking her head, Misty could only sigh, “That’s every girl’s dream.”

April 4, day 18

Drew was in his room, brushing out his Absol’s fine fur when Solidad walked in. Her face was a little harder than usual, not a noticeable enough shift for most people to notice, but Drew instantly straightened, feeling like his mother was coming in to scold him.

“Is something wrong?” Drew asked, not wanting to beat around the bush.

Solidad took a moment to sit down on the edge of his bed and smooth the blanket, tossing a kind smile at Drew’s Absol before turning to Drew himself. Then she took his journal and placed it on the bed. “You left it in the Surskit’s room.”

“Oh, thanks,” Drew said, putting it on the side table, internalizing the fact that he hadn’t written anything for that day yet. He’d do it before he went to sleep.

“I read some of it.”

Drew looked up, surprised. Solidad stated it bluntly, with a touch of guilt coloring her tone. He realized that he didn’t feel like his privacy had been invaded. If it had been someone else, then yeah. But not Solidad. So he said, “Okay.”

“You’d said that you were recording stuff about the Surskit, so I thought I’d take a look at your observations. I didn’t realize that it had personal thoughts in there as well; I should have, but I didn’t consider—”

“It’s fine,” Drew said bluntly. “That is what it was supposed to be. I just realized that I liked keeping a journal, so I kept doing it.”

Solidad was kind of blindsided by Drew’s non-reaction. But after a brief pause, she figured she might as well go along with it. “I always had figured that you liked May.”

“I don’t really hide it.”

Solidad smiled. “You don’t.”

Drew knew it was obvious. Misty’s crush on Ash was obvious, but so was the fact that she wanted it to be a secret. But Drew was rather conspicuous because, well, why hide it?

“So why haven’t you asked her out yet?”

“It’ll happen naturally when it’s supposed to,” he said simply. “I’m just laying the groundwork until then.”

“Drew, you’ve been laying the groundwork for almost six years,” Solidad pointed out, beckoning Absol over to her so that she could take over brushing. Absol happily obliged, thrusting its chin into Solidad’s hand. “It’s getting embarrassing.”

Drew bristled at that. “She’ll come to me when the time is right,” he stated, standing up to set out his clothes for the next day. He and the rest of the group had taken some time earlier in the month to stock up on supplies for their temporary home.

“Drew, I hate to say this about your beloved,” she didn’t get away with that one without a very unamused glance from Drew, “but there is absolutely no way that she’s going to pick up what you’re putting down unless you spell it out for her.”

“Untrue,” Drew stated as he loudly set down the book that he’d been reading before bed on the bedside table. “We flirt all the time.”

Solidad blinked. “Do you think that Ash and Misty flirt?”

“Yes, sometimes. In their weird, repressed kind of way,” Drew answered easily. But as he waved away the obvious question, his hand caught in the air, as though hitting the very idea Solidad had released into the world.

She smiled, seeing that he was getting it. “And do you think that Ash realizes?”

Drew groaned. “Oh, man.”

April 5, day 19

I’m not even going to talk about the fact that I missed yesterday. That’s Solidad’s fault. She distracted me.

The idea that May doesn’t realize that there’s anything between us…I guess it should have occurred to me. But it’s just so obvious, that I’d thought…I don’t know. I guess I was just hoping. But I want to be doing more than just hoping. I don’t want to be like Ash and Misty. And lord knows I don’t want to be like Brock…

Brock, for his part, was happy. Ash provided Misty with enough distraction that she no longer felt it necessary to constantly remind Brock how pissed off she was. With her fists. In his chest.

She was even going into the Surskit habitat occasionally. About once a day. She was willing to watch everyone else play with the Surskit, but refused to make much progress past the door. It had looked like they were going to have another breakthrough the day before when she again attempted to cross the threshold, but then Lily had pretended to toss one of the Surskit at her and that was the end of that.

To tell the truth, the Surskit were almost fully grown by now, so Brock had to take a step back and ask himself, what was the point? Then, if he really took a step back, he realized that they could have sent the Surskit to Professor Oak from the beginning. But he decided that it was not in his best interest to share that bit of information with Drew.

No, at this point, the venture was all about Misty for Brock. Babies or not, the Surskit were cute, dammit! Even Misty’s sisters thought so!

Speaking of…

Violet was scrounging through the kitchen—Brock had reorganized the whole place…three times since arriving. None of the four sisters used the kitchen very much, save for the refrigerator for takeout and premade meals, but it nevertheless proved annoying when they had to relearn how to navigate their own kitchen every week. When she finally landed on her goal, rice cakes, she eagerly began opening up the package. Then Brock swooped in.

“Hey, I could make you something much better,” he offered as he leaned over the counter.

Struggling to open the package, Violet began searching for some scissors. She eyed Brock wearily, trying to figure out exactly what double entendre he’d planted in that sentence. She couldn’t find one, but she was sure that it was there.

“That’s fine,” she said after finally finding the kitchen shears and loosing her flavorless snack. “I’m gonna put some peanut butter and honey on it.”

“Oh, you don’t need any honey. You’re already sweeter than the sap from a Bulbasaur’s bulb.”

Squeamishly, Violet placed the rice cake on the counter before backing away. “Uh, right. Catch you later, Brock.”

Brock sighed, flopping against the counter. Three sisters down.

Well, guess it was on to Solidad next.

April 6, day 20

Ash has been teaching the Surskit attacks. We were just letting them learn on their own before and studying their behavior, but there’s no stopping that kid. He’s taken a liking to one in particular that he’s been pitting against the others, so they’re all getting a bit of training. They’re learned a few moves beyond tackle now. They all know Bubble and some are learning Quick Attack.

No, I don’t have anything to say about May.

April 7, day 21

Okay. It’s been three weeks. This is longer than I was at Solidad’s. The only other place that has seen this much of me is LaRousse, and I don’t say that with fondness. And we’ve been dealing with an abundance of youngsters for the past week. At least that’s kept Misty and even her sisters occupied. Which has kept Brock and Solidad from meddling. Except for Solidad meddling with me. But…I still don’t know what to make of that.

April 8, day 22

I talked to Masquerain about sending each of the Surskit to different trainers and coordinators. She was upset by the idea, but we all know that it’s the only option. And it will be best for the Surskit too. I imagine it won’t be too hard to find them homes in Kanto, since they’re a rare species here. We’ll just have to take extra care about where they end up going. But it’s getting to be that time. We’ve taken them out a few times, but it’s not enough. They’re fully grown and absolutely itching to get out of that damn pool.

I know how they feel.

April 9, day 23

Brock is losing steam. You can tell. Solidad stopped really helping him out about a week ago, as did May. Ash…never proved to be much help. And Brock is out of ideas.

Thank the merciful gods.

“Brock! Brock! I’ve got it!”

Ash breathlessly ran into Brock’s room mirth shining in his bright brown eyes.

“Got what?” Brock asked disheartenedly—he’d just seen Tracey and Daisy together and his poor heart was broken.

“The solution for Misty’s problem!”

“What’s that?”

Ash pulled his Pokédex from his jacket—looking mighty pleased with himself all the while—and pressed a button before thrusting the device in Brock’s face.

“Surskit secrets a thick, sugary syrup, or a sweet scent. The syrup is exuded as a defense mechanism, while the scent can attract prey.

“Sweet Scent is a move which lowers the target’s evasiveness, luring them in or causing them to become relaxed.”

When Ash shut off his Pokdéx and turned to Brock triumphantly, Brock could do nothing but give a defeated sigh and say, “It’s worth a shot.”

She was in the room. Only a few feet in, but the door was closed behind her, and that was enough.

Everyone else was there too. Solidad, Drew, May, Brock, Pikachu—though not Misty’s sisters…but when were they ever there?

Ash had given them all the briefest details of some half-baked plan. All they knew was that they needed to be behind Ash and his favored Surskit.

And then he shouted, “Surskit, Sweet Scent!”

Everyone—except for Brock—fell into complete alarm when they noticed that the pink powder born from the Surskit’s head floating in the direction of Misty. They all smelled the room become fragranced with the light, airy scent of spring blooms, they didn’t feel the effects of the move.

But Misty sure did.

“Ash! What in the hell do you think…you’re…do…”

Everyone watched in disbelief as Misty’s eyes dulled, a silly grin appearing on her face. She began wavering on her feet as she stepped fearlessly towards the Surskit…and Ash.

“It’s working,” Brock murmured under his breath.

Actually, Misty seemed altogether unaware of the Surskit. The one that Ash had fired at her scurried behind him, frightened by the human’s strange behavior. Ash, for his part, looked concerned, stepping forward and putting his arms out so as to catch Misty if she fell.

And fall she did. Right into his arms, looking up at him dazedly as he supported her dead weight.

“M-Misty? Are you alright?”

“Aw, Ash.”

“What, Misty?”

“Ash, I knew you loved me.”

Save for the sounds of the Surskit skimming along the top of the pool, the room fell to silence, everyone watching the scene with bated breath. Even Ash didn’t have anything to say. For a moment. Then, brilliantly:

“Whaa?”

Misty, however, was unfazed. She was standing more on her own now, petting Ash’s shoulder as she looked at him with hooded lids.

“You’ve only ever loved Pokémon. And now you’ve finally done the same with me!” She poked his nose playfully. “You love me.”

Ash’s cheeks heated up as he looked around the room—whether it was to see how his friends were reacting or because he was looking for an escape was anybody’s guess. Pikachu cocked a his head at him; not even Pikachu understood what was going on in his friend’s mind.

“Right, Brock? He treated me like a Pokémon! That’s the dream, right?”

All eyes turned to Brock at that…subprime statement. He winced. “It’s not what it sounds like.”

Misty stood up a little more steadily on her own feet, but it was just so that she could wrap her arms around Ash in a more proper hug, burying her head in his shoulder. “Mm, I’ve wanted to do that for so long.” Then she pulled away and looked straight in his eyes. They were about the same height, so it was with ease that she said, “Don’t worry, Ash. I love you too,”

…and pecked him on the lips.

“Okay, okay.”

Brock’s best friend instinct kicked in at that moment and he stood up from his perch by the pool and went over to Ash and Misty, realizing that this was a situation where she needed to be saved from herself. The Sweet Scent had her so relaxed she was acting almost high and he was already sure that she’d be so embarrassed when she came out of this that she would smack him silly for not having stopped her sooner.

“What, Ash? You don’t wanna play anymore?”

“That’s enough, Misty,”

“Wait, Brock.”

Misty had a pouting expression on her face as she continued holding onto Ash. Brock was all ready to pry her away, but Ash…well, Ash’s expression was completely unreadable.

“What, Ash?” Brock asked, trying to urge him on.

“I…don’t know. I’m just trying to…catch up.”

“Aaaash,” Misty whined. “Don’t you love me?”

“I, uh, I think I have no clue.”

“You have no clue?” Brock deadpanned.

Ash shrugged the best he could while Misty’s arms were still wrapped tight around him. “I’ve never thought about it before.”

Brock looked at him in disbelief. “How have you never thought about it before?”

“I just haven’t. But let’s try that again.” To Misty’s delight, Ash closed the distance and this time gave her a peck in the lips, just a couple of seconds longer.

“I don’t know…” Ash said again, but this time as a smile slowly rose to his lips. “That was kind of fun.”

“We could do that some more, Ash,” Misty cooed, leaning in again.

“No! I think you need to go to sleep,” Brock insisted, this time actually going in to pry Misty off of Ash. Ash nodded along with Brock’s suggestion and did his best to squeeze out of Misty’s grip.

As Brock led a disoriented Misty out of the room, Ash turned around to the rest of the—completely stunned—group and said, “Wow, that was different.”

Pikachu, for his part, bounded over to Ash, leaping into his arms and giving a congratulatory “Pi pikachu!”

“Aw, thanks, buddy!”

“No,” Drew said. “Uh-uh. This does not happen for you before it happens for us.”

Drew gestured between him and May, which caused her eyes to completely bug out of her head. “Whaa?”

Before she knew what was going on, Drew marched over to her, grabbed the side of her face and kissed her full on the lips. May gave a little squeak before giving into it. It only lasted a few moments longer than that, though, before Drew pulled away, breathing heavily.

“Drew?” May breathed.

“May, I’ve given you flowers for years, we flirt endlessly, we’ve travelled together since you left this goober,” he gestured towards Ash, who had the sense to look offended, “and, most of all, I’ve stayed with you even when we’ve been travelling with Harley.” He looked to Solidad. “That goes for you too.”

Solidad could only give a little shrug before nodding in agreement.

He turned back to May. “I only ever traveled alone before you. And I liked it. But when I’m with you, it makes me wonder why I ever, ever wanted to travel alone.”

“Drew,” May nearly whispered. “I had no idea.”

Drew nodded slowly. “Yeah…that’s pretty obvious. But, um, what do you think?”

May could only smile shyly. “I think it sounds really amazing.”

“So,” Drew looked hopefully at May, “maybe things can be different when we travel through Kanto?”

May nodded. “I’d like that.”

“Good. Now come here.” He brought her into the warmest hug he’d ever felt and whispered, “Because I love you,” in her ear.

Drew felt the tickle on his neck of May’s laughter and pulled her even closer. He didn’t expect her to say it back. He didn’t even want her to until she’d thought about it more.

But saying it felt oh so good.

“Okay, I totally win! Misty may not have overcome her fear of bugs, but she did overcome her fear of telling Ash how she feels, so I count that as a victor—wait, what’s going on here?”

Brock had come strutting into the room, his voice echoing all throughout before stopping at the vision of Drew and May wrapped together more tightly then a well-made burrito.

Solidad laughed. “You missed confession number two.”

Brock’s expression instantly fell. “Oh man! I’ve been waiting on that one for years too!”

“Really?” May asked over Drew’s shoulder, looking mildly concerned.

“Me too,” Solidad added.

“Pikachu.”

That was enough to pull May out of the embrace and look wildly between Brock, Solidad, and Pikachu. “Wait, so everyone knew except for me?”

Ash raised his hand. “I didn’t know.”

Drew looked at him dryly. “Of course you didn’t.”

“Max knew,” Brock added.

That turned May’s face bright red. “He did‽ Ooh, he’s going to hear from me!”

May instantly began stomping out of the room, leaving a bewildered Drew behind for only a second until she turned around, snatched his hand, and continued her way toward the lobby’s videophone.

As they left, Brock sidled up next to Solidad, who only raised an eyebrow at him. “So, Ash and Misty. Drew and May. Guess that you and I are gonna have to get together now.”

“Oh, Brock,” Solidad said in a tone that Brock knew only too well. “I thought you knew. I’m ace.”

“What’s ace?” Ash asked.

“Asexual,” Solidad answered. “I honestly thought you were too.”

“Oh. Nope!” Ash said with cheerful ignorance. “Just honestly never thought about it.”

Solidad smiled. “That’s just precious.”

They continued to chat, not noticing how Brock had curled up in the fetal position in the corner of the room, tears streaming down his face.

April 14

May, Solidad, and I start traveling tomorrow. I feel like it’ll mostly be the same between May and I. Solidad’s the one who’s going to be weird about it. I’m sure she’s going to feel the constant need to chaperone us. It’ll be fun.

That was sarcasm.

Ash is going to stay in Kanto too. Since the season just started for them too, he’s going to challenge the Kanto League again. I guess his near-victory in Sinnoh has him thinking he can take it home this time in Kanto. And I guess he wants to be closer to Misty. I’m not sure if they’re dating. I don’t think they know either. Well, I’m sure Ash doesn’t know. But I’m sure Misty will force him to figure it out someday. Hopefully she won’t need to be all but drugged to do so.

The Surskit all have homes now. Ash, of course, took the one that he and Pikachu befriended. And then the rest are going to Brock’s siblings.

Of course, Misty never got used to the Surskit. But I guess that saga’s going to keep going, now that Ash has one. Maybe it’ll come along the same way Ash’s other bug pokémon have for Misty.

Honestly, it would be really funny if it did, because it would make Brock’s suffering of the past month essentially pointless. All Ash had to do was catch it and that’ll probably make the difference for her.

Oh, the irony.

But, honestly, who cares? Because I have my girlfriend, my best friend, and a brand new contest season.

And, best of all, no Harley.

“Drew, what are you writing?”

May stood over Drew’s spot hunched on the ground, smiling slyly.

“Whatever it is, it’s going to have to wait, because we have to help Misty clean up the Surskit room.”

“One more second, May.”

She smiled as she squeezed his shoulder before walking away.

…Second best of all.

[snekans]

i was tagged by some faek beitsh @perxeusjackson

Rules: Answer all the questions, add one of your own and tag as many people as you want because it may be a tag but its also still your post, so enjoy 1. coke or pepsi?: normal pepsi but diet coke 2. Disney or DreamWorks: 5 sure dreamworks because 1. i feel like it consistently more original and higher quality content and 2. shrek 3. Coffee or tea: probably tea but i don’t like hot drinks so like cold tea 4. Books or movies: lmao no i can’t sit still long enough for movies and i dont know how to read i really don’t have a preference 5. Windows or mac: probably windows because macs are very set in stone 6. DC or Marvel: DC i’m all about them villains 7. Xbox or playstation: playstation for days mostly because kingdom hearts 8. Dragon age or mass effect: i’ve never played mass effect and i played dragon age for like a day but def dragon age 9. Night owl or early riser: night owl for sure 10. Cards or chess: billiards bitch what the fuck you think this is 11. Chocolate or vanilla: both at the same time 12. Vans or converse: converse they don’t make Vans in my size 🤗 13. Lavellan, Trevelyan, Cadash, or Adaar: yeah 14. Fluff or angst: i don’t understand this question but i am never not anxious about something so angst which is not the same thing i know but still 15. Beach or forest: forest the beach is disgusting and so is the forest but at least the forest is like upfront about it 16. Dogs or cats: dogs. big dogs. samoyeds. and snakes. and birds. 17. Clear skies or rain: rain for days if i could have the sun arrested and sent to cosmic prison for brit such an asshole i would 18. Cooking or eating out: eating out 19. Spicy or mild food: i’m white 20. Halloween/Samhain or solstice/yule/christmas: Halloween but like i always get to excited for it and then don’t do anything 21. Would you rather forever be a little too cold or a little too hot: i sleep with my window open even when it’s 35 degrees and i wear sandals when it’s raining so my socks don’t get wet. I am a human furnace and will do anything to get rid of extra heat 22. If you could have a superpower what would it be: for sure 100% no question i would be a like shapeshifter that can assume any physical form 23. Animation or live action: did you see the first spongebob movie 24. Paragon or renegade: yeah 25. Bath or shower: shower because water likes to piss off my skin 26. Team cap or team ironman: i hate tony stark and every thing he stands for how is this even a question i mean the only real flaw cap'n has is putting all the crunchberries into one box 27. Fantasy or sci-fi: fantasy because magic and that’s it 28. Do you have any favorite quotes?: not any that come to mind right now but there are some that make me feel thoughts and feelings 29. YouTube or netflix: netflix’ catalog has been getting worse and worse except for their original series, youtube all day 30. Harry Potter or percy jackson: percy jackson 31. When you feel accomplished: when i can go to bed and not have to think about tommorrow and it’s kinda a big deal to me 32. Star wars or star trek: star trek and not because i like star trek but because i have an undying hatred of star wars and i’m sorry if this upsets you deeply but with few exceptions most of the star wars movies are objectively bad 33. Paperback books or hardcover books: hardcover but for not particular reason other than how they lie flat 34. Fantastic beasts or cursed child: -\_( ’ u ’ )_/- 35. Rock or pop music: pop music. despite being like a mostly classic based musician all i listen to is pop music and there is almost nothing i hate more than someone who thinks they are better than other people just because they hate pop only because it’s popular. it disgusts me and people like that are so boring and annoying 36. What is the most important thing in your life: the prospect of the future and knowing that it won’t always be the way it is, and that nothing can always stay the same regardless if people want it to 37. Mountains or sea/ocean: mountains 38. How do you express yourself?: yeah i wish 39. How would you describe your style of clothing?: super basic like jeans and t-shirts, bordering on a little bit of grunge or like button ups and looking mildly alright sometimes 40. Fave Pokemon region: either sinnoh ( specifically platinum) or hoenn 41. If you could go back in time 6 months and change one thing what would it be?: either turning away one specific person who caused me a number of problems or enrolling in more honors music programs because the one that i did still makes me have thoughts and feelings that i am very reluctant to talk about 42. First book/ movie that made you cry?: I haven’t ever really cried from a book or movie that i can think of? sucker punch made me feel close to it, and the book Hero honestly made me feel A LOT of things that I find hard to relive because and this is a really big deal to me representation matters but other than that nah

i’m tagging @momoyae and even though he already got tagged @tre-cani711

[ittybittymicroraptor-blog]

Chapter 3

Beyond the forest the land opened out to a wide, snow clad plain. In patches the snow was beginning to thin with the spring sun and strong green shoots were pushing their way through the frosted ground. In the summer months the area was lush with grasses that grew as tall as a man and, in only a few weeks, the ground would be carpeted in soft scented wildflowers. Stantler and Sawsbuck would flock to these grounds later in the year to rut and to fatten up for the long winter. On that morning, hopping through the patches of snow were flocks of colourful birds, stopping every now and then to raise the plumes on their head and squawk at the sky. Circling these birds were much smaller, chubbier versions; soft and round with fluffy down. They were attempting to bury their heads into the snow to find food amongst the frosted mud, both kinds of birds standing out against the stark white background in bright orange plumage. The tattered guide book Jennie had borrowed from her dad explained that they were Upapa, migratory birds that spent the summer months in Morosa breeding. The playful chicks were Epops, young Upapa that had been carried by their parents on the migration so that they could feast on the plentiful food during the summer months in the north. Jennie ignored the birds and continued on towards Ashvale. Barely ten minutes later Jennie was halted by a huge flock of Upapa covering every patch of land. Some had taken to sitting on the roof of a small stone structure, coating the pale blue stone in white droppings. Panicked by Jennie's appearance the birds took flight as one body of beating wings, settling back on the ground mere metres from where they started. " Silly birds," Jennie shook her head.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The small stone structure was merely a doorway, protecting the insides of the structure from snowfall. Inside, the ruins were calm with dappled sunlight seeping through the gaps in the carved ceiling. Each stone block was about waist height and interlocked together via a series of grooves and metal pins, the edges of each wall smoothed and polished to what would have been a mirror shine. Intricate knotted patterns spread from the doorway and enticed Jennie further into the structure. Peering into the dark from the entrance she saw the floor drop off and begin to slope deep into the ground.  She released Sneasel, switched on her torch and stepped into the structure. In front of her was a long staircase, each step and portion of hand rail rounded at the edge from use. Each side of the staircase were huge carvings of the local Pokémon. Some were stylised into a series of cruder lines but others were carved deep into the slightly blue stone. These Pokémon were formed of curving knots and lines, telling stories of sightings and hunts. At the base of the steps the carvings leapt up onto the roof of the small end chamber. The chamber was small, about 4 metres square, but every inch of the walls were covered in images. In the centre of the chamber stood a thick, triangular supporting column with the flat of each side facing a wall and the point facing the stairs. On each side of the column spanned a different single carving. Jennie felt her heart rate slow, as though the very atmosphere of the sacred room was causing time to pause. She stepped round to the left of the column. Here the column face had a stylised boxy animal with huge tusks or teeth coming from its lower jaw much like an Emboar. Waving lines emanated from the animal, cutting into the snake like text around the image. Jennie had seen writing like this before; many ruins in Sinnoh were annotated with the Unown dialect, which could be translated into English with only some difficulty. However this snake like text was new to her. With mild annoyance she turned around to face the main wall. Carved into it was a stylised person, their arms held around their waist, their Hands locked into a strange position. The majority of their fingers met in the middle but the two index fingers were pointed down like fangs. The figure themselves was hooded so that none of their face could be seen and the rest of their body shape shrouded in a long cloak. More snake text surrounded them. Yet around the edges of the drawing Unown glyphs had been carved. The glyphs translated part of the text and had been hastily scrawled into the stone. " Protector or statue of before? watch over the pig or boar of hot" Jennie read aloud. " Make any sense to you Sneasel?" The Pokémon blinked twice before shaking its head. Retracing her steps Jennie walked round to the opposite side of the column. On this side the column had a diamond bodied bird carved into it with lines curling off the feathers. This time the snake writing was carved into the wake of the bird, using most of the same patterns of symbols as the other half of the room. Watching over this animal was another hooded figure, their arms held above their head, hands pressed into a flower shape. More Unown text had been scratched around the hands. " Protector of the end, watch over the bird of dark" Sneasel pressed itself against Jennies leg, tugging on her to leave the chamber. " Please Sneasel, only a little longer, then I promise we will leave." Slowly she walked towards the back wall, dragging a hand along the stone walls to feel the grooves beneath her fingers. Deep inside she felt a pull on her, enticing her towards the motifs. The back wall was nothing special, another cloak with hands rested at chest level.   " 'Protector of now or day, watch over the no shape', What on earth do they mean by ' the no shape'? Given the other walls, I'm guessing it's on the central column." Jennie thought aloud. The final wall of the column was smooth bar a few etched knots, curved in an arch over the top of the column Unown runes said ' Touch and be shaped'. Tentatively Jennie reached out her hand and placed it onto the wall, it was cool under her palm and gently pulsed. Suddenly a hot pain shot through her body, as though she were being burnt by thousands of hot coals. Images flashed before her eyes of huge creatures, shining intensely in the sun though rusted by years of frosting and thawing. Cycles of burning heat and crippling cold shook her to her core. Eventually the pain began to ebb away as she saw the image of a pair of amber eyes staring through her. Panting Jennie opened her eyes and rapidly blinked, trying to wash away the eyes with their horizontal pupils. She stood there and caught her breath, resting her head against the pillar with her eyes closed. The pain in her wrists and hands slowly brought her back into the chamber where a terrified Sneasel was quivering between her legs. "Oh Sneasel! I'm so sorry, you must be terrified." Jennie sat back against the chamber wall, " I'm ok now, don't worry, I won't leave you." She held out her hands to the animal, who gladly leapt into Jennies lap and curled up in it. Turning her hands around she noticed the black banding on her wrists and the symbol tattooed onto her right hand, it was a sharper version of the broken 8 on the ESA jackets, diamond shaped with sharp end prongs. Jennie sighed as she buried her head into her hands. "What have I gotten myself into?" She asked the Sneasel, " I thought the days of over the top adventures existed only in fairy tales." She tried to laugh but it felt empty all alone in the chamber. She curled one arm around the sleeping animal and stared into the middle distance. ~~~~~~~~ He paced around the table with his hands held behind his back. "Just repeat it for me one more time." He said, pausing to look out the darkened window at the street some 20 floors below. " My research suggests that It is linked to the carvings we've found across Morosa, the ones of the three women. Look Odin, I know you don't want to think about the possibility of psychic binding but it may be the only chance we have of successfully controlling It." A neat man sat at the end of the table said. "Hold off on pursuing that thought for now Mimir, I want to wait until the tablets are in our possession. I won't rely on mere hearsay and ancient scribbles. Those tablets should allow you to translate the text and get us a little closer to all this ending. Frigga, when do they arrive?" Odin rubbed the bridge of his nose. " The shipment is due in tomorrow. But I want you to know that advise against this." Said the woman harshly. "Enough!" Odin snapped wearily, " I'm not backing down now, I do this for us. For everyone here. The sooner we destroy that piece of shit the sooner we can live normal lives, put everything behind us." " Odin, Please. This won't change anything, if we stop now we can use what we have learnt elsewhere." The woman pleaded. " She's right Odin. Realistically, I can't see any way of this working out." The man said, pushing his glasses up his nose. " Both of you need to buck up, we need to find the triad. That is your only duty, assign the others as you see fit. That is all." Odin turned to face the window. " Odin, see reason-" The woman sighed. " No Frigga, you see reason, that Bastard Westington ruined our lives. He deserves everything that we have planned for him. " Odin snapped angrily. " You are getting wrapped up in your own rage." The other man calmly said. " Well it's a good thing I don't need anything else, now get out of my sight." Frigga stood up and began to push the other man out the room. " Don't be the man Westington wants you to be Odin. Be the man you chose to be with the rest of us," Frigga said coldly. The two left the room, letting the door slam shut on the way out. Odin slumped down into his chair with a sigh. "What if I am taking this too far?" He reached for a locket beneath his shirt and opened it, inside the oval case was a small photograph of a young girl. She was beaming at the camera with a gap toothed smile. He had cut the photo out of a much larger one many years ago so the edges had become frayed and dog eared. " Should I stop?" He asked the portrait, " If you were here you would know what to do. But I do this for you old friend, the others don't understand but I do this for them too." Behind his eyes he felt his eyes prick with tears. " I miss you Esa," He blurted, feeling the tears well up over his eyelids and pouring onto his face.

[survivorbouvetisland]

Andrew’s Responses

Nicholas

So I’m actually glad you brought the questions that you did to light because I think it’s touching upon the core method I had in the game in terms of essentially GIVING reason for people to keep me around. I know there’s been a lot of talk on whether these people were puppets. I would never call the people I’m allied with puppets, but I think there was definitely a sense of them just coming to me because I showed the loyalty that they wanted. It’s not like they (Lily, Jacob, Nehe) came to me about EVERY game move, but I was definitely someone they could talk to which helped me feel out the game a lot more. But here’s the thing - there was a dynamic with these allies I’ve never felt before in all the games I’ve played and that dynamic is basically that, while I felt that I had a pretty good connection to them, they were very much going about their own personal agendas. Lily wanted to try staying loyal to Trixie for a time, Jacob tried to take out Bodhi who I really didn’t want to take out then, and Nehe was closer to Bodhi than I had wanted and wasn’t super fond of Lily being in the game. They were all doing their own things while I tried to keep SOME loose thread of stability, which I think I did a pretty good job of. I kept Nehe and Lily at bay of really coming for each other basically to the last second, I flipped the votes (even though I knew they’d be in minority) to you instead of Bodhi when Jacob went because I knew it’d keep Bodhi’s trust, and I managed to not piss on Nehe by actively gunning for Bodhi, who of which still ended up voting out Nehe at final 4. So no, I wouldn’t say they were puppets. They had their own minds and agendas, but I’d be lying if I said at the end of the day I wasn’t trying to keep my allies in line enough so that I could advance without blowups or super messy gameplay happening.

As for your second question, while Lily and I are friends outside of the game, at the same time there was no reason to vote her out once she showed her loyalty by taking out Trixie. From talking to everyone else I knew that Lily could be a shield, and if she did get to the end - while I don’t think she was an outright goat - I think I had a solid chance to get some more votes than her. So there was really no point to get her out unless there was nothing much else I could do, and at the end of the day I really never saw a moment where I would get strategic gain from voting her out. She definitely wasn’t my “extra vote” the first 2 merge rounds, but once it was evident that Trixie had to go and that we were up against your alliance along with Roxy, Lily ended up falling on her side. Which if like you said in your speech to her that you don’t like her then she probably wasn’t very inclined to stay on that side. I think without Lily the game would have been tougher at certain points, but like I said in my answer to your first question, keeping everything I wanted in line because of personal agendas (including Lily’s) was tough. So it wasn’t that I just had someone voting with me, I had to make sure they were okay with what was happening and make sure they wouldn’t rip the rug out from under me at any point. Also in terms of being a vote for “me” over “us”, I initially did think she could because I saw you and I going really far as allies, but once merge hit and we were on opposing sides (which I’m not mad at by any means because I think it makes things interesting and we FINALLY got to play against each other as friends hehe) it was basically up to Lily where she wanted to fall at that point.

I’m hoping those were the answers you were looking for, but I am gonna thank you for the open-mindedness on my strategy, and for what you pointed out about Bodhi’s game/opening speech later on in your statement. I see that as a pretty solid help seeing as I was never inclined to attack Bodhi’s gameplay when he had no problem shamelessly doing it in his opening speech to both me and the other FTC participant, so I hope the jury is able to see how underhanded and cowardly that is of him : ) Oops!

Jay

So I’ll just stick to gen 4 because it lessens the pull of 802 and it’s in honor of Sinnoh asdfghj

Jay - Weavile. Not for any particular reason obviously hehe Quillynn - Glameow. Beauty queen but can be tough and sassy as shit and knock you on your ass if you go against them Trixie - Chatot. Closest thing to a furby in the roster? Also small and will peck your eyes out probably Jacob - Buizel. Pretty spunky but in the competitive kinda way I think. Not quite a Floatzel just because Buizel is cuter and smol and Floatzel is a bigger dude Roxy - Gabite. Again, smaller than a Garchomp but fierce and could most definitely kill you. A wild dragon that can claw you in half yeah Nicholas - Leafeon. Kinda just waiting around, silently lurking in the forest and is generally calm. But will most definitely come out to pounce and slice you up the middle in a heartbeat and then go right back to super chill time Nehe - Gallade. While he’s a fighter he’s also insightful and thinks/tries to do what’s most logical before he strikes. Definitely a fighting and psychic type

Nehe

This would most definitely be Jay. I’d want to say you, but obviously at the end of the day we got pitted against each other at f4 with our allegiances to Bodhi, and I know there are no hard feelings between us which I’m super grateful for. With Jay, we aligned pretty quickly. Last time we had played together was months ago, and in that game we weren’t aligned and I took him out. This game, our thoughts and strategies on the game clicked pretty well pre-merge, so we went from there come the merge. The first merge vote was absolutely a mess, and the last thing I wanted was Jay going home since we had become so close. I was planning on going all the way with him had the stars aligned properly, but unfortunately he went way too early for obviously either of our likings.

Jacob

I would say the pillar I value the most is strategic, with social being a very, very close second because I feel like those 2 run in a lot more similar of a vein over physical. One can’t really exist without the other, seeing as most of the time you’re going to want to build as many social bonds as you think you can in order for your strategies to pull off. But I do say strategic over social because I love the trope of Survivor being a numbers game. Trying to figure out what lines are drawn where, who’s going in which direction with each vote distribution, and trying to come with plans for each tribal is my favorite part by far. It’s no secret that my social game can be lacking, probably just because I end up making the mistake of singling out a couple of people that I think I can’t really move forward with (usually people in opposing alliances). So with that being said I value strategic overall.

During #furbygate I’d be lying if I said I didn’t believe it right away. Because let’s all be honest, there are some people throughout the various ORG communities (and the internet in general) that can be that wild. And I mean kudos to Nicholas and Roxy for the acting in terms of their reactions in pms because all I was trying to do for the 2 hours that night was make sense of what the actual fuck was going on with them (mostly Nicholas but even Roxy was pulling it off when I was talking to her). The next morning I was definitely like okay this probably was either a fever dream I had last night or it was faked, and I decided probably the latter. During the time though I was on Nicholas’s side just because I was friends with him and I mean, Trixie’s performance was just off the wall. I was in pms trying to get her to calm down about the whole situation just because I’ve always kinda been the mediator in conflict, especially with my irl friends, but not gonna lie I was screaming alongside Nicholas in pms.

When it came to the swap, I was really making sure I still had Jay and Nicholas on my side, and wanted to see if we could bring in Lily especially if she had made some connections that we would be able to utilize over on the other tribe. When it came to picking you, you were someone I didn’t really know, which I liked a lot because you were ALSO someone I could see building a personal and game relationship with. Which I’m super happy to say we managed to do! You’re one of my newest friends around here, and I definitely see us still being friends after this. On the flip side of that reason that factored into picking you also was that you were also someone I think could survive over on our tribe. You weren’t someone picked because you’d be an easy boot if we lost, but someone I actually wanted to cultivate something with.

I would probably pick Lily to win. Yes, once again Lily and I are friends outside of the game. That doesn’t mean I ended up getting close to Bodhi too. In this game, Bodhi and I ended up just going on a few calls honestly just to chat and get to know one another. (Did he use one of them to misconstrue what I said about UTR gameplay and have it seem like I was trashing the entirety of it and supposedly saying it ONLY takes big moves to win? Yes! But oh well hehe) So at the end of the day, they’re both my friends. But if Bodhi did to Lily what he did to both of us in his opening speech where he without even thinking trashed both of our games, I wouldn’t vote him. I know that a lot of people in this community in general see using your opening speech as a platform to come for the other finalist(s) as underhanded and cowardly, and I hope this is a part of my answers that everyone gets to read because I really don’t see that as respectable, but I dunno some people may disagree. So I would absolutely vote Lily on those grounds.

Roxy

Be My Furby -

The year is 2086. The Furby Empire™ has risen to power, eliminating humanity as a species. Kermit the frog and Miss Piggy go about their daily lives under the tyranny.

“Did you pray to Our Lord And Savior Great Daddy Furby today, dear?” asked Miss Piggy as she cleaned the dishes. “No. I’m tired of living under their rule. I’m going to kill them all.” replied Kermit.

“Okay.” said Miss Piggy. And with that, Kermit left.

Kermit had heard of a group of fighters who called themselves, The Resistors. Not The Resistance, because they thought that was pretentious. Their headquarters were the ruins of a Walmart. Rip Walmart.

He walked into the building, and was met with 2 zebras holding guns. “Fuck me in the ass.” Said Kermit. “Stop!” shouted a voice before the zebra guards could fucking murder Kermit. A figure appeared before Kermit. It was Danny Devito.

“How could another human survive the Great Furby War™?” asked Kermit. “Because.” responded Danny Devito. “I’m now going to give you an amazing power to fight the furby army.” he continued. He began to twerk, and as he twerked, he began to shine brightly. “There, now you can breathe fucking fire.” he said. “Yay.” responded Kermit.

Danny Devito looked out into the distance. “Now go out there and do what Rosie O’Donnell couldn’t. Defeat the furbies… once and for all.”

And so Kermit left, and breathed fire on every furby he saw. There was no stopping the frog. He made his way to the old Target that was the headquarters of the furby army. They decided to use a Target because they would say Target was better than Walmart. And so he went in and began to burn it to the ground.

“Wait!” shouted a voice. It was a furby. “Please don’t kill me! I think you’re hot. Let’s fuck.” she said. “Okay.” replied Kermit. And so they fucked.

Afterwards, Kermit was ashamed. “I love you, but I have a wife, Miss Piggy. I can’t do this to her.” he explained with tears in his eyes to the furby, who found was named Loretta. “We can take care of that.” said Loretta. She pressed a button. “I just lit your house and Miss Piggy on fire. Now let’s fuck.” she said. “Okay.” And so they fucked. Rip Miss Piggy.

Later that night, Kermit could only think about The Resistors. “I can’t turn on my people.” he said. “We can take care of that.” said Loretta as she pressed another button. “I just lit that stupid fucking bitch ass Walmart on fire. Now let’s fuck.” she said. “Okay.” And so they fucked. Rip Danny Devito.

Many years passed and Kermit and Loretta made a fuck ton of green furby babies. The furbies continued to rule, and Kermit was pretty happy tbh.

The End

Quillyn

To start I will say I am sorry about the Super Idol play. That was something I didn’t even know was in the game or that Nehe would even play something like that on me. I had apologized on call because that’s a pretty intense way to get out of the game because I respected you as a player, so again I am actually sorry.

To go over to your question though, I would say I deserve to win this game over the other 2 sitting next to me because aside from the Super Idol tribal I always put myself in the position where I felt like I wasn’t at risk of going home. Pre-merge, I knew I had the numbers to stay at any tribal I would go to. I played a card where I would give reasons for people to not send me home, because I would be a good ally to them. I could work with the people I wanted to work with and not piss a majority of the players off while still getting my way. At the merge, I found myself immune at the first tribal so I was obviously safe, and at the Super Idol tribal I had an idea that the votes switched but never in a million years thought I would be saved by a Super Idol from another player. After that, we can probably all agree that the game was at a massive turning point. You as a threat to win was out of the game, and there was a larger line drawn in the sand. It was becoming a little bit more clear who you could and could not trust, and I honestly at every tribal felt like I was not at risk of going home not because I was oblivious to it or because I was about to be blindsided but because I was able to essentially know what everyone was doing and knew what was on all of my ally's’ minds. It wasn’t just what they were thinking in alliance chats - it was their own personal agendas, who they were worried about, if we thought the vote would actually go the way that majority intended, and most importantly that they wanted to go to the end with me and that they trusted me. I feel like Bodhi and Lily played more messy in that aspect. Lily was a lot more of a wild card, definitely had her own agenda she wanted to play by that could have compromised me, and had flipped allegiances early in merge. Bodhi was proclaimed a snake by quite a few people. He was shady in the background and told way more lies (a lot of them unnecessarily). With those styles of gameplay, you don’t know where your trajectory is going and they pissed off a lot of people, allies included. Now I know I obviously have at least you and Trixie pissed off based on the jury statements, but I tried to make it so I played cleanly in a way where my allies weren’t pissed when they would go. I think I played the cleanest game out of the 3 whereas they had more mistakes and angered more people.

Trixie

I know you didn’t give me a question but I’m gonna take it upon myself to clear up some things anyway, not for you, but for the other jurors so step aside please and thanks. So let’s see.

I know I’m a boring person that’s not news.

I think I’ve said enough in my opening and answers that I did do things in this game so I won’t waste time with that. “Coasting along” preexisting relationships was actually just Lily and also Nicholas for a bit but like I told him, I’m glad we ended up playing against each other. Also didn’t Quillyn bring you into this game? Yikes we love hypocrisy

That “piss poor” social game has really been only pointed out by you and Quillyn and yeah, I didn’t make a huge point to talk to either of you because you were obviously against me. Why make deals with people I know I can’t rely on? I had relationships with everyone else in merge so whoops

Also you might dread being in another game with me but I hope we get to play again soon so I can get the satisfaction of voting you out again because I just really love to have fun <3