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Pokémon The Curious and the Shiny

NebulaDreams

Ace Trainer
Partners
  1. luxray
  2. hypno
Okay, thanks a ton for the reviews! I'm floored by all the new readers' reactions to these, and I'm glad they came across well!

I don't really have much to say for first chapter and this is older work, so I think my feedback in general is gonna be a bit more sparse, but I really enjoyed what I've read so far.
Hmm, it's hard to think of this as an older work, though it is something that's been going on since April 2018. The framework is still there and the basic plot is the same, but there were a lot of tweak to the characterization and scene details in between revisions, most prominently in this new revision I've been posting to TR since last August.
And your additions to the world so far seem really solid. GeL is an interesting concept and I'm curious (heh) to see where you'll end up taking semi-evil-ish-sounding science labs given how much more grounded this fic feels than other stories that usually focus on that. And little details like the newspapers and Dragonite flight farms are things that aren't explicitly in the Pokemon world, but the way you write them into the canon here makes them feel like they've always been there!
Hmm, yes, I wonder how the 'evil-ish-sounding science labs' will go down, hehe. Well, expect the unexpected, as they say. But I'm really glad the worldbuilding details felt natural as well.
I do feel like a lot happened in this chapter -- Shine almost died, flashforward to the future, slice of life, conflict hook with Curio, more slice of life, slice of life on the Dragonite farm, fly to the conflict hook -- but at the same time, I don't know where you'd divide it up more cleanly, so I think the longer chapters work in your favor here.
Yeah, it's a bit of a tough call. This chapter was originally shorter, but for this revision, it ended up being somewhere around 8k words, which is pretty long as first chapters go. I do try to make each scene count even if the pacing is a lot more steady than other works.
incredible realism: my dad says this verbatim every time i vent about my drawing ability
I've met a few people that've said the same thing, so it's kind of strange that that feeling is universal.
you mother fu-
no wait that's actually literally true uhh let's use something else
you son of a bi-
dammit
Just when you couldn't hate Dad even more, he's also immune to your insults.
I thought it was pretty realistic, the way Curio was hesitant to just go off on that boat and never look back. Uprooting is a big deal; I think under most circumstances, a lot of people wouldn't be too quick to accept it without sorting things out with the people in their current life and/or themselves.
Yup, especially considering Curio's situation as well as her being a Pokemon. It's hard to break away from the pack.
i'm a sucker for opening hooks like the storybook one you've done here, and this one is particularly engaging. it would be cool enough as a reading of the story, but when you sprinkle in curio's take on it, it's even more fun... you're great at injecting personality through these little dialogue snippets, and it almost feels like we're opening the chapter on Bonus Clip or a podcast or something. it's almost video game-ish, in a way? whatever the case, lots of fun, i don't see it too often in pokémon fics so i'm glad to see it here.
I'm looking forward to seeing how you'll react to the later chapters when this running commentary with characters becomes a bigger feature in the prose. I was thinking of something like The Princess Bride for these sections at the time of writing if I recall correctly.
seeing shine get beat down was weirdly satisfying... i love shine, and his conflicts are real and valid, but he lives in his head so much that seeing him get his ass beat by curio was sort of nice in a way.
Hmm, I never thought of it that way before, but that's a good way of looking at it. Mind you, I sort of live in my head too, so sometimes, I think I'd need someone to kick my ass to pull me back in.
this is a cool little piece of worldbuilding that really checks out with what we know in canon. your writing tends to have a lot of these, and it's part of what makes it stand out to me.
Kintsugi pointed out something similar, but yeah, I see a lot of potential in canon for stuff that could be taken further, which also serves as the reason I started this fic in the first place.
man, this is so real. if you'll humor an anecdote, i co-taught a computer science class in my last year of high school with the official teacher of it... but, halfway through the year, a THIRD teacher entered the mix. he was this guy with his doctorate in computer science, so like... this really highly-experienced guy with a ton of content knowledge. he was going back to college to become a high school teacher, and wouldn't you know it, the class they slotted him to student teach in order to acquire his new degree was the ONE class in the school that already had two cooks in the kitchen. it was a bit hectic, but one thing i noticed about this guy was that like... he knew SO much about the topic that he actually had an immensely difficult time teaching its most fundamental aspects, maybe because they were so obvious to him. it seemed that he couldn't put into words these concepts that were second nature to him, and he got frustrated really easily with kids who weren't quite grasping it because to him it's so apparent he couldn't really wrap his mind around why someone wouldn't get it... anyway, a lot of words here to say that i found myself really nodding along with this section, and it's not something i've seen come up in fiction before. teaching is an art and one that's dear to my heart, so i'm excited to see where this next arc goes!
Yup, teaching and management is harder than a lot of people seem to think. I haven't taught any classes myself, but I have been on the receiving end where teachers clearly know their salt but can't relate to the other students.
i'm kind of surprised they understand this! i guess maybe the fact that curio's language is kind of obtuse to a non-native speaker might make her students more resilient... or maybe it just makes them speak with the same slang as she does, hahaha. guess we'll find out.
That's something I hadn't thought about either, though she does get her slang/accent from someone else later on.
one thing i thought i'd point out is that this chapter reminded me a lot of the name of the wind! not sure why honestly, maybe it's the little world details, the banter between curio and shine, or the musical themes of the final scene. but i know you've said that that series is a major inspiration for you, so i thought i'd let you know that i really got similar vibes from it here.
Yup, this series has been a major inspiration narratively speaking, but I think at the time I started writing the fic, including this chapter, I thought a lot about the themes of music and how they would factor into the scene. Mind you, this dance scene between the two was a new addition for this revision, but it still popped up in various other places in previous revisions.
Can I make a pun with depression and luxray? … nope, can’t think of any.
Luxray could be a new anti-depressant drug.

Chapter 13. The Reason We're Here, I Guess

My family waited with bated breath for me to arrive on the shore. To sum it up, Dad got his blue panties in a bunch about the pair on the boat, but when Azzy explained himself, he only nodded and thanked them before telling them to leave. I waved back at them as they set sail, and once everyone was done giving me affectionate hugs and kisses, thanking the White God I was safe, Dad grounded me from the shore.

Of course, that didn’t stop me since I had plans later on. You could never keep me in one place for too long after all. Thoughts of the duo stayed with me all day, and over a quiet dinner, I considered what Azzy had said.

I had a definite chance to escape that time. I was given the opportunity to eat something else other than fish all day, everyday, to do something else other than lounge about all day, everyday, and possibly meet new people rather than being stuck with my family, all day, everyday. Even without that, the chance to learn the human tongue enticed me. I thought back to my previous encounters and how nice it would've been to speak for myself. Maybe things could've been different with that Prinplup encounter had I explained myself to their trainer and smoothed things out with Dad. Maybe I could've understood why that crazy couple was so scared of me. All of that sold me on paper.

In actuality, though, a weight clamped down on my chest. And no, it wasn't due to almost drowning, but the prospect of never seeing my family again if it meant going away. I didn't have anything against the rest of my siblings or even Dad, but I could've done without them. Trunks and Mom, though, were the only ones that showed me proper support. If I didn't have them around, I wouldn't know who else to turn to.

I carried those thoughts with me even past dinner and throughout story time, and as I tried to go to sleep, I tossed and turned in my patch of grass.

Trunks took the hint something was up since he patted my side, waking me up out of my half-sleep.

"Do you want to talk about this in our usual spot?"

The lake it was. At that time, everything was pitch black. We tiptoed through the forestry, listening for the different sounds in the terrain to guide us there, and I guess I must've taken one step forward too many as Trunks held me back from falling into the drink. We sat by the bank as I coursed my paw through the surface of the darkened water. Even in the night, I got a good look at bro’s face, which was a bit apprehensive.

"You're thinking about escaping with the couple that brought you back," Trunks said.

"Nothing gets past you.”

"You're set to meet them again tomorrow, is that it?"

"Yeah, and?"

"And...” he trailed off, rubbing his paws, “I want to come with you."

"Off the island?"

"No, just with them. I want to see what they have planned for you. Think, sis--” he placed his paw on my lap-- “don't you think it sounds suspicious?"

"Maybe. Well, they did save me, after all."

"True. But, let's say you did get off the island with them and they kept their promise about teaching you whatever it is that needed teaching. You might not have the chance to see us again."

"I know that.” I sighed. “Sorry, bro, It’s not like I don’t...” I trailed off. It wasn’t like I wanted to leave them behind. With bro there, I felt bad for even considering it, but I also felt trapped there, and that things were getting worse. I took my legs out of the water and cuddled them for comfort. “I dunno what to do.”

"Well,” Trunks said, patting my shoulder, “we'll find out tomorrow. Maybe we should rest on it for now, okay?"

“I-I can’t. I dunno if I can sleep tonight. I keep thinkin’ and thinkin’ and--”

“Here.” He held my paws together and smiled. “I know a trick. Can you count? I think I might’ve taught you how.”

I held my paw out in front of me and remembered I had three digits. “So one, two, three.” I flexed each digit down.

“Yes. Try to do it in your head--” to punctuate this, he tapped his temple-- “and go one Mareep, two Mareep, three Mareep...”

–-

That trick worked. I was able to sleep easily that night, but awoke to the rain the next day. Everyone except for Dad huddled under a tarp roof; another human invention we mostly took for granted. As the air was considerably chillier, the two youngest clutched Mom for warmth, while Trunks stayed by my side, making sure I was comfortable.

“Mom,” Trunks asked, “did you get that thing back?”

“Oh yeah, hold on.” She reached into her curiosity box, and to my surprise, handed me back the sketchpad. I grabbed it instantly, clutching it like a Magikarp.

“Thanks, Mama!” I said. “But… why? Didn’t Papa take it away?”

“Never mind L--, I mean, your father,” she said. Before I had the chance to ask why she hesitated, she continued. “I’m not having any of his attitude. If he does something like that again, just know me and your brother have your back, got that?”

My worries from yesterday lifted, and I went over to hug her, fighting for space alongside those two shivering urchins.

“Where is he anyway?” Trunks said. “I can’t imagine he’d be comfortable out in the rain like this.”

“Oh, who knows? He’s probably off brooding in a ditch somewhere. Just let him be, I’d rather not deal with him when he’s like this.”

“So you were arguing again.” There was sadness in Trunks’ tone.

“Sorry. I know it’s hard on you, but please, hold on a little while longer. I don’t want things to end badly between me and him.”

Trunks stayed silent. I didn’t really understand the turmoil surrounding Mom and Dad at that time, but with the strong presence of the aura floating around, I couldn’t help but feel saddened as well. That changed when Trunks patted my back, taking me by surprise. He held out some sort of contraption, presumably from that box, and stood up.

“Mom, we’re going to the shore. I know she’s grounded, but there’s business to take care of.”

She winked at the both of us, and from that, I understood she kept her word when she had my back. We weaved through the forest, where the storm pitter-pattered against the treetops, providing us with shelter at first. Once we were out in the open, we would’ve been pelted by the rain if Trunks hadn’t opened that contraption, which expanded to create a barrier from the storm, like the tarp in the base. Of course, it was an umbrella, but I didn’t know that yet. We both sat on the rocks, Trunks holding the umbrella over us both while I doodled the time away. He’d make the occasional grunt of approval here and there at my work, but for the most part, we just soaked in the silence, literally.

The waves crashed against my paws, shocking me with its sudden iciness. Trunks took my hand and moved me back a few paces. In front of us, the ocean seemed to wobble like jelly, making all sorts of tiny movements until a huge head emerged from the surface.

Blue, with a crown-like appendage sticking out of its forehead, and with its body snaking out behind it as large white fins on its back popped out as well. Dozens of Magikarp popped out of the water too, staring daggers at us, if fish daggers were a thing. Images of the drowning incident flashed in my head, and my mind raced to all sorts of conclusions.

The Magikarp had probably summoned their pack leader, or whatever, and after their failed attempt to get their own back at me for eating their kind, they probably wanted revenge. With this huge, screw-off monster by their side, we wouldn’t have been any match for them. We were doomed. And so, we were all gobbled up in turn, falling into a watery grave.

Just kidding. Instead, the monster’s red eyes widened and smiled through its large mouth.

“Ah, how are you, my boy? I haven’t seen you since you were a Riolu!” he said in a deep yet friendly tone. In response, Trunks bowed to him, and oddly enough, pinched my side in an effort for me to do the same.

“I’ve been better, Cecrops.”

“Cecrops? What crops? W-what’s going on?”

“And you, girl.” He poked his head closer to the shore. I would’ve bolted if Trunks hadn’t held me back. “I believe you were still an egg when I last visited. My, you’ve certainly grown. And look at those lovely green eyes as well! You clearly took after her!”

“W-wait!” I turned to Trunks, wanting answers right away. “H-he knows us?”

“Oh.” Trunks held both of my shoulders. “I should explain. Do you remember the story Mom told you about the sea serpent?”

It didn’t hit me right away, but when I recited the poem in my head, I squealed in surprise.

“He is a legend in some way, but that’s beside the point. Long ago, before you hatched, this Gyarados helped carry us over to this island. It was mostly Dad’s decision, but me and Mom wanted to get away from the mainland too for a little bit, so we hopped on his back, he led us here, and left.” He glanced over to the giant head, which was still jarring to look at. “I thought I smelled a fishy aura here.”

Cecrops guffawed. “Indeed, you did! I have been busy, visiting Alola with my students, but I thought I’d pay some of the other island residents a visit as well. All of them are living peacefully.”

“Wait,” I said, “there’s more of us on those other islands?”

“Indeed. Not just you Pokemon, but humans too. They really like their remote hideouts.”

So I hadn’t been far away from them the whole time. If I’d known that before, I would’ve swum over there long ago, but then I took the Magikarp attack into account. I stared at each of his supposed students, who watched us expectantly, and suddenly, my stomach twisted into knots. If they were the same Magikarp we’d feasted on the whole time, then they were probably responsible for swarming over me as well. I fell to my knees, doubling over in guilt.

“P-please don’t eat me.”

“Oh, child,” Cecrops said, “whatever are you talking about?”

“I, no, we’ve been eatin’ those Magikarp the whole time without a second thought! Isn’t that why you attacked me?”

His Magikarp school gave each other weird looks.

“Oh, no, don’t be silly. They weren’t responsible for it. I can assure you, none of my students have ever been close to any of the islands without my say-so. They know the risks if they stray too far. They all have developing minds of their own, even if they can only vocalise underwater.”

“But what about the rest?”

“I can explain.” The Gyarados frowned. “There are fish farms owned by humans all over Sinnoh, which are enclosed spaces for the purpose of growing and harvesting livestock. Magikarp are considered one of them. They’re bred in the farms for the purpose of being cooked one day, and being engineered at birth, they’re nothing more than mindless beasts, incapable of thought, just like the livestock bred on the mainland as well.” He lowered his head along with his tone, staring at the rippling water. “Those that escape swim the seas with no purpose other than to survive, and don’t listen to my warnings. The ones from there probably saw you as a threat and attacked you.”

“Fish. Farms.” His explanation probably made me more nauseous. My throat tensed, and bro was there to make sure I didn’t heave or anything. It was a lot to take in at once. I couldn’t grasp the scale of those supposed fish farms, or the concept of breeding Pokemon specifically to be eaten. I didn’t want to know any more.

“Stop, please,” Trunks said. “Sis wouldn’t know a lot about that yet, she’s barely aware of the human world as is.”

“Alright, I apologise.” Cecrops craned his head to me next. “Child, I hope you can forgive us for what happened. I would’ve saved you anyway if that Azumarill hadn’t cast that bubble first. If you had drowned and one of my pupils were responsible, I would be ashamed.”

After calming myself down, I looked at Cecrops once more and nodded.

“It wasn’t your fault. I wanna apologise for eatin’ those Magikarp, too. It can’t be nice, knowing what people are doin’ to them.”

He gave a hollow chuckle. “I’ve accepted that fact long ago. It’s just the cycle of life, or the great chain of being, if you believe in the White God’s rule. But maybe, that’s a bit too much for you to grasp.” He lowered his forehead to the shore, gesturing me to touch it. I ran my paw through the scales, which were rough, but smooth at the same time, and even in the rain, they glowed like crystals. “You are a kind soul, however. That will get you very far in the right places, even in wild territories. If you ever find yourself in trouble at sea again, I will come to your aid.”

I opened my mouth to speak, but suddenly, Cecrops backed away, and his pupils disappeared underwater.

“We appear to have more visitors. Well, I will be around Sinnoh, so I will catch up with you again later, fellow Lucario and Riolu. I wish the best for both you children, and the rest of the family.”

We waved him goodbye and he disappeared into the water along with his students, leaving us two, the pattering rain on the sea, and the boat from before heading towards us. Somehow, the prospect of two complete strangers visiting our island was even less of a surprise than this huge sea serpent popping up out of nowhere. That blue rabbit was the first to step off the boat as he approached us. His human had a yellow raincoat on, but being the water-type he was, Azzy probably thrived in those wet conditions.

"Well!” he said, “imagine seeing that Gyarados again, but hello there!” He smiled to me first, then looked to Trunks. “And you must be her father?"

"Brother," he said, crossing his arms.

"Ah, sorry, now I remember.” His ears twitched as he looked over to the forest behind us. “What about the rest of your family?”

“Never mind that, I’ll stand in for them. Let me just say this, though.” Trunks glared at them both, baring his fangs. “If you and that human are up to no good, especially towards Sis here, I'll show no mercy. I'll know in an instant."

"If we were up to anything like that, you would’ve known by now, I can assure you. But, hmm, are you fine with just your brother, Miss Riolu?”

“I don’t mind,” I said.

“Good. Well, hope on board then, you two.”

He led the way to the deck as we stepped off of the shore, guiding us to the inner part of the boat, which was protected from the rain. That tapping against the roof was somewhat soothing, but not so soothing as the aroma in the middle of the deck. There was a table where a basket lay with that familiar cocoa flask. My mouth was watering already.

"Are you taking us away from here?" Trunks asked, leering at Azzy.

"There’s not much reason to. We only just came here to talk.”

“Then tell that human to power the boat and find a spot in the middle of the sea. There’s someone on the island that might interrupt us if we hang around here. Can you do that?”

I gathered he meant Dad. In any case, Azzy nodded and went to the upper deck where Mack commanded over the boat. While he was gone, I steadied myself on the seat, trying not to feel dizzy with how the room rocked back and forth, even more so when it powered up, taking us away from the island. Once I calmed my nerves, I kept staring at the middle of the table. There was clearly food in there with a distinct scent different from the Magikarp, but it hadn’t been opened yet. I almost reached my paw out to reveal its contents when Trunks tapped my wrist. I resisted long enough for the blue rabbit to return, joining us on the table.

“Now. I was kind of hoping the rest of your family could’ve shared this, but we brought something you both might like anyway.”

He opened the basket to reveal lots of different kinds of foodstuffs. Well, maybe not lots, but lots considering what I usually ate before then. There were sandwiches, rice cakes, different types of berries, Pokepuffs, poffins, wrapped candy, you name it. Maybe more. You could've probably fed a Snorlax with that much food. Heck, I could’ve turned into one if it meant gobbling up all that grub.

"Would you like to dig in?"

"Woah," I said, pointing at every item on display, "is this all for us?"

"But of course, there's plenty to go around."

It didn't take long for me to stuff my face with sandwiches. They tasted different to the ones I had before, except a bit meatier, but still, I enjoyed it, and waved a bit of bread to Trunks.

"Haff some, ith goof."

"I'll pass," he replied, waving a paw dismissively. I shrugged, continuing my sandwich binge, and Azzy helped himself to a riceball.

"I take it you like those then?" he said.

"Love 'em. Much better than the stinkin’ fish we usually have."

"Oh please," Trunks said, "they’re hardly stinking at all." He put up that tough act, sure, but in truth, he hungrily stared down the feast before us. I knew from his aura he longed for it, but was just waiting for the right moment to join in.

"Whatever," I said, wolfing down another sandwich.

“Ahem,” Azzy said. “Is there anything you'd like, mister Lucario? We have chocolate."

Snap. Like a fire lighting up in his head, Trunks cast his glum self aside and licked his lips.

"W-where?"

"Right here." Azzy retrieved a bar and gave it to Trunks. The instant he got his paws on it, he tore through the wrapper and bit off a huge chunk for himself. He looked the happiest since I got him drunk off his ass earlier on. Naturally, I asked for some too. He shook himself out of his choco-coma and broke off a piece for me to try. Need I say more about what I thought of it?

Oh, and if you’re wondering, a way to a Lucario's heart is through chocolate. It works for both men and us ladies.

(Sorry to interrupt so out of the blue like this, but that’s a myth.)

Uh, Shine?

(Wait, Curio, I need to say this. The chocolate is only made to be addictive to your kind in particular because of that whole product placement with Lucario and the Mystery of Mew. Since its appearance in that film, they made a new recipe to appeal to the Lucario crowd with their trainers, then their sales tripled and now that brand owns the monopoly on chocolate manufacturing worldwide. Nothing sells chocolate faster than a dead Lucario, I suppose. Sorry, I get so riled up whenever I think about that.)

Okay. You could’ve just let me have this, Shine, but I guess that’s another perfectly innocent thing that’s forever ruined for me. Well anyway.

The boat must've stopped since Mack sat down with us, no longer at the helm. He got himself a sandwich and told Azzy something, although I couldn't hear what, and Trunks kept his guard, albeit with chocolate melting in his paw.

"So, mister Lucario," Azzy said, "we’re a part of an organisation called Gestalt Learning, and we'd like to offer this Riolu here a special opportunity if you or your family would allow it."

"Depends," Trunks said.

"We would like her to come with us, to a place where she can learn the same things humans get to learn and more.”

Trunks’ ears perked up, though he kept on listening while Azzy continued.

“Not only will she get to learn the human tongue, she will also learn many other things about this world and be prepared for whatever trials come her way once she graduates."

"Meaning?"

Azzy looked down at the notebook I put beside me.

"She could learn to draw, for instance, and have her work put out for all to see."

Trunks shook his head. "As much as I’d like her to improve her craft, I'm not letting her come with you just for that, not on Mom’s life."

I stood up and held a paw to him.

"Hey," I said, "don't I get a say in this?"

"Not if that's all there is; it's a waste of time."

"Not only that," Azzy continued, "but she would also be skilled at battle and given the ability to defend herself from anything when she leaves. Or if she ever wants to come with a trainer after she's finished."

"No.” He gave them the familiar red-eyed stare. "Out of the question. We didn't get away from those… them, just so we could have one take her."

"Understandable.” Azzy rubbed his paws. “In fact, I agree with you there. The trainer system is, well, not very good, but that’s one thing we’d like to change. It only really works when both the trainer and Pokemon are able to thrive and not just survive.”

Trunks put the chocolate aside and crossed his arms. “You have a good point. But what else is there for her?”

“There are many other paths she could choose from. She would not only learn the human tongue, she would also learn maths, know about the history of this world, and much more. This means she could go on to teach other Pokemon like us the same set of skills. She could even live in the city by herself if she wanted to."

Trunks just laughed. It was always worrying when someone as straight-laced as him broke that image.

"Don't be ridiculous. You think every Pokemon could just waltz into the city and live like every other human?”

“Well, wouldn’t you want to do the same if you could?”

Bro opened his mouth, about to argue back, but closed it and tilted his head. “Yes. I’d love to. But that’s just wishful thinking, isn’t it?”

"No it isn’t," Azzy said with a smile. "There's an Infernape named Emma who teaches at one of the top trainer schools in Jubilife City, and she’s able to live by herself. The teacher's union managed to approve her move-in with the help of her former trainer, and she's able to rent an apartment with her pay."

I didn't really know what they were talking about so I tuned out and looked to my brother, whose mouth went agape. He held a paw to his face, deep in thought.

"That sounds too good to be true. Surely that can't be the case, not while many other Pokemon are either in the wild or stuck with their trainers."

Azzy frowned. "Sadly, that is still a problem. While she is a rare breed, she isn’t a unique case. We’ve seen what regular people can achieve by making the effort to educate Pokemon on their own terms, and that only shows it can be done on a wider scale if we put the effort in." Azzy stood up, his bobble-headed tail proudly wagging behind him. "Think of what we could do if we were all given this chance. Wouldn't you want her to have the same opportunity?"

Trunks looked over to me, then stared at his feet.

"Of course. But what does this mean for her? Where would she even go?"

"She would stay with us in a building made for her and other Pokemon her age to thrive. She would live peacefully among them while she studies, and be given whatever help she needs to progress. She would have tutors like me to give her advice and to bridge the gap between her and the humans. We would be with her every step of the way."

"For how long? Would we ever see her again?"

"Possibly. Keep in mind this is meant to be secret, something we can't tell a lot of humans. We can't give our location away, but we can track yours and give you updates on how she's doing, and allow you two to talk even without having to see each other face to face.”

“You mean through a phone?”

“Exactly, and this would go on for five years until she's ready to graduate."

"That's, um, that's a long time."

Trunks buried his head in his paws. I inched closer to him and embraced him, as I felt a whirlwind of emotions from his aura, all fighting for attention, so much so that there wasn’t anything to latch onto. Azzy came closer to him too and held his paw out.

"I know this isn't easy for you, as her brother, but this is the only way it can be done with how we run things. If you want to give this bright, young Pokemon the chance to succeed, I need your trust and confidence.” He closed his eyes and hummed to himself. “But whatever you choose, we’ll respect your wishes.”

Trunks was silent for a moment. Being young and not in the loop on things, I couldn't add to much, only observing what happened without my say. He clenched his fists again, this time tugging at his head, if only for a short moment. Eventually, Trunks snapped out of it and gazed back at the Azumarill.

“There’s one more thing I need to know before I make up my mind. If we say no, what’s stopping you from taking her by force, or any other Pokemon that gets involved with you two?”

“You’re right to be sceptical. If we wanted to kidnap our subjects, we would’ve done so by now, but doing that would go against our mission. If you say no, we’ll just take you back and move on. What’s the point of making Pokemon participate in a program like this if they’re not going to be happy being in it in the first place?”

Trunks laid back and stared at the ceiling. In turn, I stared too, though there wasn’t much to look at, just the grey, metallic finish of the boat. For what he was thinking, I couldn’t quite place. About myself, well, now I heard more of their plans, it was easier to decide between going and staying. Ultimately, Trunks fixed his eyes onto the duo again, his gaze no longer threatening.

"Alright, I trust you, but I need my own family's trust as well. When can you come back?"

"How about tonight, at the same spot when it approaches sundown? That will give you plenty of time to discuss it more with those important to you. Alright with you two?"

I nodded, while Trunks gave a rare smile and returned Azzy's long awaited paw-shake.

"That sounds great."

The boat purred again and we were on our way back to the island, eating as we pleased as well as downing the leftovers with cocoa. Nothing better on a rainy day, if you ask me. Me and Trunks didn't talk much about what happened, just staring homeward as we slowly approached it, but I knew a lot went through my head at the time even if I didn't understand half of what Azzy talked about. All of it sounded far out of reach, as nothing I knew like that even existed. From my brother's reaction, I guess it scored well with him so I didn't worry about it too much. I just looked forward to flying away from the nest.

We stopped at the shore and waved to the duo as they left for the second time. It was just us alone again. I reached up to Trunk's back, trying to get his attention, he picked me up with those big paws of his and put me on his shoulders, carrying me as we went back into the forest. It had been a while since anybody had carried me; not even Dad bothered. It was nice, though. That's what I kind of miss about being small, so someone else could give me Grumpiggy-back rides like that, but oh well. Can’t linger on my childhood forever, you know.

We crossed a stream together and walked through the familiar areas of endless woodland with the rain pelting the treetops. Although I longed for my brother’s approval, I still didn’t know what his thoughts on it were, exactly.

“Bro,” I said, “what do you think I should do?”

He sighed, but didn’t reply. I decided to read his aura up close, and detected a mixture of emotions in the air. Excitement. Fear. Longing. Those made sense if it turned out I would be going. But then I read jealousy, anger and sadness. That was something I hadn’t anticipated, so I nudged his back.

“What?” he snapped.

I didn’t quite know how to phrase it, so I let my gut do the talking. “Are you mad at me?”

His paws quickened their pace, crunching the twigs underneath. “Let’s not talk about this now, shall we?”

“No, please. You don’t hafta hide it from me. I can read thoughts to, ya know. What’s that Dad said, never lie to a Lucario, or, erm, maybe a Riolu?”

He stopped suddenly to let me down. Then, he knelt down to face me, his red eyes moist, and I froze in place. That was a first. I had never seen him cry before, or get misty-eyed at least.

“What’s wrong?”

“You know when I got drunk?” A chuckle escaped his lips.

“Yeah.”

“That’s one thing I wish I forgot. Anyway, it’s still a little hazy to me, but I must’ve talked about going to the city. Dad wouldn’t come with us, but me and Mom went there all the time wherever we travelled. The humans were accepting of us, agreeing to tour some of us around, and whatnot. But I was the most interested in the schools. You know what they are?”

“Through that rabbit, yeah. The humans get taught there, don’t they?”

“Spot on. We’d sneak into the schools sometimes, just watching what they were doing in their classes through their aura. Mom would read for me and she’d relay what she sensed. Most of the students enjoyed learning about different subjects, and what I heard was fascinating. How to multiply numbers together. How certain chemicals would’ve reacted when mixed. What techniques this author used to write… am I losing you?”

“A little, but I get it.” I took another mental leap of faith and connected the dots. “Was that why you wanted to teach us?”

“Yes. From what little I know, I love doing it. I love seeing you and your brothers grow and improve. But there were many other things I wanted to know from the mainland before I came here, so I could’ve passed those down to you.”

His cheerful expression dropped.

“I would’ve loved to have had that as a Riolu. There was nothing like that out there for us dumb Pokemon to learn anything, yet those two came here of all places, handing it over to you like it’s nothing.”

The way he emphasized that last word sent a chill down my spine. His eyes were accusing me of something, what, I didn’t know, but I had nothing to do with that.

“T-that’s not my fault.”

“I know, I know.” He pawed at his face. “I’m sorry! I’m happy for you, really happy, but I… I--”

“Can’t you ask to come with them?”

“They only spoke about you!” Tears ran down his face. “They obviously picked you for a reason! Besides, I can’t come, I have to look after everyone else, I have to be the bigger, mature Pokemon here since Dad doesn’t pull his weight, I… I…”

He closed his eyes and took a series of deep breaths. Seeing that and all his raw emotions laid bare, I tried not to cry myself. If I had cried though, it would’ve been for him. In time, he gathered himself and sniffled, rubbing his eyes.

“I can’t believe this,” Trunks whispered, “I shouldn’t be crying like some hatchling. I’m so weak.”

“No you’re not!” I placed a paw on his spike, or rather, his heart. “You’re not weak, you take care of me and everyone else too! You’re awesome, bro! Why doncha see yourself like that too?”

“I don’t know,” he said, holding his chest as well. Another deep breath, and then, Trunks stood back up. "Let’s put this behind us. We'll talk to Mom about this first, alright?"

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.” He smiled. “Thanks, sis.”

–-

Eventually, we reached the main camp where Mom hung out with our younger brothers, still sheltered from the rain. When we stepped in, they all looked at us.

"Welcome back," she said, "you were out long."

"Mom," Trunks said, "I've got something important to tell you, without those two if you don't mind."

"Aw, c’mon bro," Stumpy said, looking like the kicked Riolu he was. "Why am I being left out?"

"It's not because of you dear." Mom patted Stumpy on the back. "I can tell he has something worth talking to me about. Run along now, you two, and take your brother’s umbrella. It will shield you two from the weather."

"No fair." Stumpy stood up and reluctantly dragged Twig away by his paw, snatching the umbrella off Trunk’s paw. Mom went up to us and smiled.

"Glad to see you two getting along. So what do you want to talk about?"

"It's about those two visitors from yesterday. They want her."

"For what?"

"For some sort of program. It sounds like one of those schools, if you know what I mean."

Mom quirked an eye at him. "Alright. Go on."

He basically explained the talk we had with Azzy, which again, mostly went over my head. Given how Mom either said one thing or the other about human matters like this, I didn't know how she would react to it. My heart pounded in anticipation, hoping she would say yes. She didn't say anything at all at first, only nodding occasionally to Trunks' questions about this or that, but after he explained everything, she placed her paws on her hips.

"Do you trust them, though? Keep in mind, you only just met them yesterday, right?"

"I know that," Trunks said, "but I read both of their auras, and throughout the whole talk we had, none of them lied, so as far as I can see, they're the real deal."

“And they didn’t want anything from us in return, right?”

He shook his head. In turn, Mom lifted me off his shoulders and sat me down, staring at me with those multicoloured eyes of hers once more.

"Dear, what do you want out of life? Do you want to stay here forever?"

"I..." I felt like this was a trick question, like the sort parents usually do when they want to test your true self out. I knew in my heart though that wasn't what I wanted, so I shook my head in honesty.

"Then, what do you want to do once you're there?"

"Well," I rubbed my head, "I wanna do lots of things! I wanna see the world, I wanna not suck at drawing, I wanna be able to talk to these humans, at least. Dad can speak a little bit to them, can't he?"

"Yes, that's right. And you would be willing to get away from us for a bit? They’d have others there who would take care of you, like a new family, but I wouldn’t like you to feel homesick while you’re there.”

“Mmm, yeah, I get that. I know I won’t be so alone anyway.”

“Alright, it’s good that you know that.”

Mom took a deep breath and puffed it back out. I couldn't help but read her aura, and what do you know, she had a lot of different emotions going on there too. She was not only excited, but happy and fulfilled as well, with a hint of jealousy too, like Trunks had.

“I know your brother is thinking the same thing,” she said, “but if I was your age, I would’ve taken that chance. Even though I was born and bred in the wild, I was still curious about those humans, and wanted to be a part of their world, as well, but I never could. Not on my own terms, anyway. I got on fine, but this sounds much better.”

She chuckled, either out of joy or disbelief.

"You know, this all sounds crazy to me. I don't really know why they would sink so much time into us Pokemon, but then again, it sounds crazy enough to work. So--” she turned to Trunks-- "they're coming back tonight, right?"

Trunks nodded. Mom opened her mouth to say something else, before...

"YOU THREE!" Dad stormed in, shouting at us the same way he shouted at that trainer. Stumpy and Twig was by his side. He charged over to Trunks and shook him by the shoulders.

"Pup! I trusted you to keep her safe from the shore and you went behind my back! What were you thinking?"

Trunks looked down, trying to avoid eye contact with him. "D-Dad, I--"

"Not another word out of you. And you!" He stormed over to Mom next, touching the tip of her muzzle. "You're encouraging this sort of behaviour from them? With those humans?"

She stared him down; I had never seen her look so fierce before. Dad grunted, and finally turned to me, pinching one of my aura sensors.

"Ow, Papa!"

"Quiet! I'm grounding you, girl. You're to stay with me until you think about how silly you're behaving!"

"But, but,” I stuttered, struggling to keep my cool, “w-what did I do?"

He yanked on it and pulled me about, knocking me onto the floor and dragging me through the rain-soaked dirt. I didn't even understand what was going on, poor me, so I cried for help. Really, what else would I have done in that situation? They seemed to work, or at least, I hoped it was because of that, as he let me go. Or rather, got pushed away from me. I looked back up, only to see he was knocked to the ground by Mom’s fist. I crawled away from them, still sniffling like the confused Riolu I was, and watched the two of them argue as he grovelled on the floor, nursing his nose.

"LIAM!" Mom screamed. "What’s gotten into you?!””

That was what I meant by him being a different case. That was his true name, the name given to him by his trainer. Slowly, Liam pulled himself up and tried to grapple Mom as she resisted. There was that murderous look of his again.

"How dare you call me that, I trusted you never to say that name agai--”

“Shut up!” she growled. “I don’t care what your deal is any more, you’ve gone too far. You dare lay a finger on my girl again, and I will kill you. You hear?”

He glanced at me briefly and I shielded my eyes from him. I shut myself in my own world as they continued their spat.

"She needs to learn some respect and know her boundaries! Those humans want to take her away and you're defending them! You know how badly they treated me!"

"Liam, your trainer left you years ago! Move on and grow a pair, mon!"

"Don't you talk to me like that, you never should've told her about them in the first place! All they've ever done is ruin everything they touch!"

"Oh please,” she said with a laugh, “that's rich coming from you. All the stuff you brought back from the mainland, those hunting methods, the tire swing, the notepad, the box, the tarp, oh, and what else, getting absolutely plastered! You would never have thought of that if it wasn't for them. Well, your trainer taught you about those things in the first place! But sure, keep moaning about those humans while you use everything of theirs."

"That's not--"

"Throw this really long tantrum all you like, but don't drag us down with you. Your daughter has the chance to make something of herself out there. We all could've done something about it, and yet you thought this was the best for all of them, shutting them out from the world.”

"Don't act so high and mighty. You agreed to look out for this island with me in the first place, you and our son. You both wanted the same thing."

“No, I didn’t!” Trunks joined in the fray that time. I peeked up that time as he bashed the flat of his paw onto Dad’s shoulder. “I told you, over and over again, I wanted to stay there! I wanted to learn more about the world! We didn’t have to be in the wild!”

“I’m not taking this from you, pup--”

“Oh, this with the pup business again!” Mom jumped back in. “The way you talk about our son as if he’s just some hatchling is disgusting. You really are...”

Long story short, it went on for ages, with them bickering back and forth, letting all of their packed up baggage out in one fell swoop. I could go on about it forever, but you get the gist of it by now. To my young ears, all of this was too much.

Then mercifully, there was silence again. The three of them had stopped fighting. They just looked at each other, panting aggressively as a sea of emotions floated in the air around them, so many that there wasn't any way I could've read into them with my limited powers. Dad, or rather, Liam, crossed his arms.

"Still, my word is final, and if I say this is a bad idea, then you should all follow suit. None of you know what it's like to have something precious only to have it ripped away from you. I was young once too, you know."

"Enough, Liam.” After all that was said between them, Mom put a paw on his shoulder. “What happened was out of your control. You told me so yourself, so it wasn’t your fault! Why can’t you just move on with your life and start enjoying it again?"

“Yeah, Dad.” Trunks just looked weary at that point. “I… I just want to know what happened so I can understand. I know what goes through your aura. So…”

"I'm not talking about it any more and that's that." So much for that heart-to-heart. He pushed Mom’s paw aside and turned back to me, no longer looking as angry as he did before, but something about his face made me sick to my stomach. I couldn't see him the same way I used to.

"Pup, you have no idea what you want. If you go out with them, no matter how kindly they treat you at first, they will make you regret it. Forget all of this happened and live the rest of your life in peace."

I mumbled a little ‘no’ at first, trying to suppress that word as soon as it came out. After that, I didn’t know if I could’ve stood up to him, but Trunks had, so that gave me the courage to stand up.

"No, Liam.” I stepped forward and balled my paws into fists. "That's not fair."

His eyes twitched.

"Life isn't fair, pup. Lots of Pokemon I knew had dreams like yours, only to wind up worse off. This will turn out no different then they did, believe me."

"You don't understand! Bro was out there too. He knew what it was like just as much as you, and told me how much the world sucked as well, yet even he said this was okay! Why won’t you listen to us?”

"Because you're both young and inexperienced. Now, enough of this silly arguing. Forget about them and just live like we’ve always done.”

Looking back on it, I could understand where he was coming from as well. Once I had that same sort of experience, it sticks with you, you know. There were lots of Pokemon I could think of that ended up the same way as he did, all with broken dreams or worse, one way or another, but point is, they all had goals of their own only to be screwed over because of one bad egg. Or in Liam's case, as I’d learn later, one event gone awry that ended up with his trainer having to give him up against his will. That might be a story for another time.

If I was given up like that, or was taken away without my say-so, I would’ve been pissed off too. Not that I ever liked the idea of being with a trainer to begin with, but if you were split up from someone like your best friend for some dumb reason, it wasn’t hard to see why he was so bitter.

That still doesn't change the fact he acted like such a huge asshole about it.

Something about what he said just set me off. It was the way he said it, like I didn't know a piece of crap from a small rock. Like I said, I wasn't that smart, but I knew when he talked down to me, so I swiped at his face, hard enough to draw blood from his cheek.

He nursed it. Another moment of silence. My heart leapt from my throat. I heard the swaying of the trees above us. The soft tapping of the rain. The gasps of both Mom and Trunks. I knew what was coming before it happened. He kicked me, sending me flying to a nearby tree, then, there was nothing.
 
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canisaries

you should've known the price of evil
Location
Stovokor
Pronouns
she/her
Partners
  1. inkay-shirlee
  2. houndoom-elliot
  3. yamask-joanna
  4. shuppet
  5. deerling-andre
Chapter 13

To sum it up, Dad got his blue panties in a bunch about the pair on the boat, but when Azzy explained himself, he only nodded and thanked them before telling them to leave.

huh that went better than expected

“Oh yeah, hold on” She reached into her curiosity box,

Missing period.

just know you have me and your brother’s back, got that?”

Mm, wouldn't it be "me and your brother have your back" since having someone's back is supporting them?

If I’d known that before, I would’ve swam over there long ago,

*swum, though it's Curio speaking so idk

“I can explain.” The Gyrados frowned. “There are fish farms owned by humans all over Sinnoh, which are enclosed spaces for the purpose of growing and harvesting livestock. Magikarp are considered one of them. They’re bred in the farms for the purpose of being cooked one day, and being engineered at birth, they’re nothing more than mindless beasts, incapable of thought, just like the livestock bred on the mainland as well.” He lowered his head along with his tone, staring at the rippling water. “Those that escape swim the seas with no purpose other than to survive, and don’t listen to my warnings. The ones from there probably saw you as a threat and attacked you.”

Well... not sure if that checks out completely, but I guess I'll take a badass giant sea serpent's word for it.

Also *Gyarados.

(Sorry to interrupt so out of the blue like this, but that’s a myth.)

Uh, Shine?

ummm ackshuallyyy

"No it isn’t" Azzy said with a smile.

Missing comma.

What’s the point of making Pokemon participate in a program like this if they’re not going to be happy being in it in the first place?”

something tells me they're gonna break that logic

"How about tonight, at the same spot when it approaches sundown? That will give you plenty of time to discuss it more with those important to you. Alright with you two?"

They sure are putting a lot of effort into this stray Riolu... though I guess Lucario seem kind of rare.

“They only spoke about you!” Tears ran down his face. “They obviously picked you for a reason! Besides, I can’t come, I have to look after everyone else, I have to be the bigger, mature Pokemon here since Dad doesn’t pull his weight, I… I…”

oh no the stoic one breaks down :<

"But, but,” I stuttered, struggling to keep my cool. “w-what did I do?"

Period to comma or capitalize W.

"LIAM!" Mom screamed, "what’s gotten into you?!””

Can't really continue a sentence if it was ended by an exclamation mark already?

He nursed it. Another moment of silence. My heart leapt from my throat. I heard the swaying of the trees above us. The soft tapping of the rain. The gasps of both Mom and Trunks. I knew what was coming before it happened. He kicked me, sending me flying to a nearby tree, then, there was nothing.

48

---

It's pretty heartwrenching to see Trunks break down in jealousy, though not as heartwrenching as Curio needing to watch her parents divorce in front of her and the other then starting an impromptu kickball practice. Big ass Gyarados was cool, though his scene didn't really seem to tie into anything, at least yet. Well, we'll see where it goes!
 

Sike Saner

fundead
Location
*aurorus noise*
Pronouns
she/her
Partners
  1. glalie
Dozens of Magikarp popped out of the water too, staring daggers at us, if fish daggers were a thing.

I mean, they are in Terraria.

"YOU THREE!" Dad stormed in, shouting at us the same way he shouted at that trainer. Stumpy and Twig was by his side.

Little freaking tattletale siblings. Glad I never had any. :B

"Pup, you have no idea what you want. If you go out with them, no matter how kindly they treat you at first, they will make you regret it. Forget all of this happened and live the rest of your life in peace."

"Peace". What a joke, coming from him. Peace from humans, or peace from him taking the chip on his shoulder out on her again and again? Because I sincerely doubt that staying in his company for as long as he'd have had her stay would have been anything approaching peaceful.
 

RJR Basimilus

Arceus is nice I suppose...
Location
the Lovely Planet
Partners
  1. arceus-fighting
  2. lurantis
  3. arceus-poison
  4. haxorus
I’ve been T

hanos snapped out of existence several times in the last week. There’s still some issues with the velluvial matrix at present, so I may or may not actually exist.
I read ahead today, yay! Now I know facts in anachronistic order.

Chanpter 11: These losers still out here

Kurio wants to see the world and is treated terribly for her interests by a bird. A telling omen that she should have just stuck with the island gig, though at this point, no one is well off. The father’s a drunkard, the mother’s a hippie, the eldest is about to go off, the girl is an artist and the other two are rats. For everything Father-cario Liam-who-must-not-be-named learned from his time living in a pocket, he didn’t get very streetwise. All that bitterness went straight to his head and sucked the sweet right out, leaving only dryness and umami (gross). I suppose there’s any number of concessions that we could grant in this situation, maybe he never wanted to have kids in the first place. RIP to him, but I would have just stopped having kids after the first one. Wrap up the extra eggs in a leaf boat like the Moses movie, they’ll get adopted by a slowpoke or wash up in the prologue of some other story.

The- “harsh parental figg’r” always seems to end the same. One would think that cultural conscience would get wise to the paradoxical goal of keeping the youth safe from the cruel world in a stagnant embrace. Alas, blame the insular mind. A vast majority of people overestimate how well they think they can guide others through life. The couple’s dynamic doesn’t help either. The La-Liam-Lucario-Le-Lo would rather his children not know humans (hell, he would probably down if they were cripples, easier to play the “keep safe” narrative), but his wife lets the hints drop like flies in a dutch oven. Despite agreeing with him, she undermines him yet again, they really really don’t have this parenting thing down. Leave it to Lucario tainted with the fruit of knowledge to be banished from the garden of eden; if they were ferals, Trunks wouldn’t have to get drunk and reminisce fondly on his time in MS-13.

Somewhere in the recesses of analog memory, I’ve seen people have some words on the alcohol versus steel type debate. It might have actually been you asking, lol. On one hand, tiny Lucario lightweights, but like their blood has steel in it. For all we know, the lungs and capillaries of Lucario are lined with metal, but I guess if the blood is blood, alcohol is alcohol, whether or not it’s poison is irrelevant. It’s funny how the “drunken revelation” scenario is downplayed by the fact that the fools can read each other like books. Convenient for Curiyo to learn the low down, but the audience was clued in from the first time they tugged on each other’s sensor ears. Speaking of which, it’s a nice species specific action, but they really get off on grabbing each other’s ears a lot. Begone yet the gesture affectionate, next time just try and pull the chest spike out like in Kung Pow.

Lucario-female continues to play the long game by upgrading Cuhreo’s clearance to crayon access. She tries to justify it by claiming she would have given them to her later, but the Lucario relationship has reached the final stage, wherein the female kills the male and fashions his corpse into a raft to exile her children with. And now Cruyrio is not bored anymore, because she has crayons. Now she can make her own webcomic.

Chapter 12 - Where the hell is that sinking feeling going to go? You like 2 feet tall, your stomach is gonna go to your feet idiot.

The drill is understood, the audience’s pavlovian response primed. The dad-Lucario approaches, Curioeh will be beaten until morale improves, and it don’t. As quickly as she got crayons, crayons go. Having had nearly enough of her dad-against-dating, Yurio decides the best option is to become one with the earth. Unfortunately there’s nothing dramatic about a Riolu slowly walking into the water, so the fish try to eat her instead. What a cruelly timed reversal of fate. I wonder if they got to eat her, would her family find her bones a few weeks later at dinner? Lord knows they wouldn’t know the finer points of bone identification, so it would be one of those uh- tragicomedy moments?

The lucky streak continues as Churroio meets a fisherman. Somehow this bizarre man is actually nice, Luka-rio girl gets some free chocolate hot and they even promise to bring her home, but not before suggesting she try getting an education. Another add on to the pile of “reasons you should leave home”.

Chapter 13 : Curio kills her parents for tuition money for school

After learning some facts and logic about how the Brady bunch got on this forsaken island in the first place with the help of a fish, Cyuhreeo and brother Tonks have a secret rendezvous with Big Mac and Azzy. The preposition, send her to the object of our desires, GeL, short for Gender LStudies school, where she would presumably learn how to draw and how to kill people who disagree with her artistic vision. The GeLn stooges are as sagacious as salesmen come, mixed with the litany of extenuating factors that keep coming, and it’s a sale.

Trunks is sad he can’t come, he knows GeL’s manlet sensor has already denied him. He has it in himself that he owes a responsibility to the leftover youth (the youngest one is essentially a vegetable) and bemoans his life in a musical number that was mercifully left out of the book adaptation. But he swallows his bad luck long enough to get an affirmative from Lucario-female just in time for another nasty father attack. They yell about things for awhile and make a bunch of call outs, and we end gracefully on a one round knockout. Maybe if Cyruyio’s lucky, her father will kill her while she’s unconscious instead of burying her alive.

A lot of going places and doing things. All cool. Next time on “The Price of the Euro to the Chinese”, Curreeo wants to go to school. Can you guess who supports her decision? Because I can’t. Curio’s father is realistic in that sort of soup of regret, anger, and denial, but even so he’s quite a bitch. I mean hey, that’s how it is.

The vibe for today is Masayoshi Takanaka’s Star Wars Samba, because the only correct ending for the island arc is for Curio to come home one day to a big fire, up one lease on life, and down two parents and three siblings. Depressing maybe, but a hell of a conversation starter. How’s that for a “New Hope”? We even got the part where they lose an arm (hand eh- same difference).

Something something next time. I wish I could actually think of things to say.
 

NebulaDreams

Ace Trainer
Partners
  1. luxray
  2. hypno
something tells me they're gonna break that logic
We'll see, nyeh heh heh.

Also, your cursed memes give me life as always, cani.

"Peace". What a joke, coming from him. Peace from humans, or peace from him taking the chip on his shoulder out on her again and again? Because I sincerely doubt that staying in his company for as long as he'd have had her stay would have been anything approaching peaceful.

Dads, am I right? Totally not projecting, of course. No, seriously, not projecting.

RIP to him, but I would have just stopped having kids after the first one. Wrap up the extra eggs in a leaf boat like the Moses movie, they’ll get adopted by a slowpoke or wash up in the prologue of some other story.

Please don't tempt me, @Raggy, I already have enough side stories in the WIP stage as is.

And now Cruyrio is not bored anymore, because she has crayons. Now she can make her own webcomic.

Only to have it featured on the Bad Webcomics Wiki. Lucario get no special treatment.

I wonder if they got to eat her, would her family find her bones a few weeks later at dinner? Lord knows they wouldn’t know the finer points of bone identification, so it would be one of those uh- tragicomedy moments?

I'm surprised @canisaries didn't bring this up, considering, well... 👄

He has it in himself that he owes a responsibility to the leftover youth (the youngest one is essentially a vegetable) and bemoans his life in a musical number that was mercifully left out of the book adaptation

If TCATS was a musical, this would be Trunks' number:

A lot of going places and doing things. All cool. Next time on “The Price of the Euro to the Chinese”, Curreeo wants to go to school. Can you guess who supports her decision? Because I can’t. Curio’s father is realistic in that sort of soup of regret, anger, and denial, but even so he’s quite a bitch. I mean hey, that’s how it is.

The vibe for today is Masayoshi Takanaka’s Star Wars Samba, because the only correct ending for the island arc is for Curio to come home one day to a big fire, up one lease on life, and down two parents and three siblings. Depressing maybe, but a hell of a conversation starter. How’s that for a “New Hope”? We even got the part where they lose an arm (hand eh- same difference).

I have no words for this, this is great. Well, maybe a few. Maybe that's the route I would go down if TCATS was a generic heroic fantasy.

Chapter 14. Not The Last Goodbyes, For The Most Part

That hurt like a bitch when I woke up. Sure, I had almost drowned the day before and survived that, but you don’t just bounce back right away after being used as a Riolu-sized soccer ball. I don’t know how much time had passed since it happened, but it must’ve rattled something. I couldn’t fully pay attention to my surroundings since my head felt like mush, not to mention how the rest of my body ached.

Someone sprayed something all over my body, and while it stung at first, over time, my bruises had healed and my head felt clear again. It’s like I became a new mon except, well, with that same dumb brain of mine. I slowly got to my feet, taking note of my surroundings. There was the sky, which was coal black. It had turned night, but it was still cloudy, and probably would’ve chucked it down any minute. Then, there was the boat by the shore, its lights casting a warm yellow glow over the darkness of the island. Then there was Azzy and his human partner along with the rest of my family crowding around me, save for Liam.

“Oh!” Mom cried, putting her arms around me, and my brothers followed. “Are you alright?”

“I-I think so?” I mean, I was fine, but still a bit confused. “Where’s Li-- I mean Dad?”

"Don't you worry about him,” Mom said, “I’ve taken care of it for now. But dear, listen--” she grasped my shoulders, looking at me with an intense aura, and sighed-- “I didn’t want to rush this, but you have to make a choice to stay here or come with them before he wakes up.”

I glanced at the duo, who waited patiently beside us. Azzy tugged on one of his ears. “I’d rather we didn’t rush things either, Miss Lucario.”

Mom smirked. “I haven’t been called that in a while. But no matter what happens, I won’t think any less of you, dear. You’re a big Riolu now; you can make your own decisions. Just do what you think will make you happy.”

A big Riolu, huh. So I wasn’t a hatchling any more in my mother’s eyes. That cracked a smile, I had to admit. As quickly as it came, that faded away. “What about you guys? Will you be fine without me? I’ll be, like, so so far away!”

“True,” she said, “but we’ll be able to keep in touch. They have amazing technology we can use, so you won’t be alone. We’ll be with you like they will.”

Not that I knew what they could’ve used, but that was some relief to me. I either had a choice to stay on the island or venture further and learn about the world. Staying on the island meant staying with family, but that also would’ve meant, well, Liam. My gut churned; I didn’t want much to do with him any more. If what they said was true, I could’ve been away from Dad and still with the rest at the same time. It was better than nothing at all. At that moment, my resolve strengthened. I stood up at last, turning to the rest of my bros.

"Are you really leaving?" Stumpy said, looking misty eyed.

It was a lot different saying it out loud than thinking about it. Now he had though, the prospect felt a lot more real. “Um, yeah,” I said. “I’ve got stuff I need to do.”

And here came the waterworks, but a lot much louder this time. It didn't take long for the runt Twig to start too, as the Leppa didn’t fall far from the tree. Usually, I would've turned them away, but since I wouldn't be seeing them for a while, I pulled both of them in for a hug. Their auras flowed into mine, and I almost felt like crying too. But I put on a brave face for them.

"C'mon, you doofs," I said. "I'll be back someday."

"I-I’ll m-m-miss you though!" Stumpy said, "And, and, that sounds like a really long time to me!"

"Too long! Too long!" Twig said.

I patted both of their backs and pulled away from them, leaving the two to comfort each other. I looked to Trunks next and he pulled me in for a hug, so tight, it was just short of crushing me. Lucario have strong grips, after all. Yet, it was such a comfort after what had happened. He was sad of course, but also really content from what I read in his own aura. Yet, there was something else in that mix of emotions I couldn’t quite place.

"I'll hear from you soon," he said. "Promise me you'll try your best over there."

"I will, bro."

Trunks let go, leaving me with Mom next. After this, that would’ve been it, and it would’ve been the last time I saw them in a while. I didn’t want to have to leave without having one last chat with them, so before Mom could pick me up, I raised my paw.

“Wait!” I said. “Can I talk to you and bro before I say bye?”

The two nodded and took me aside, where they both knelt down to my level.

“We’ll have to be quick,” Mom said.

“Yeah, I know, but...” I trailed off, looking deep into Mom’s eyes. They glistened like jades and rubies. “You… don’t mind, do you? Wouldn’t it be lonely for you?”

“Oh, of course.” She picked me up and cradled me in her arms, rocking me softly. “I’ll miss being able to hug you and tell you stories every night. If any one of my little stars went, I’d miss them too.”

“I’m not little, Mom...” Trunks said.

“Well, big stars, then.” A sad smile formed on her lips. “We’ll still be able to talk sometimes, though. And even if we’re not with you up close, we’ll be--” she touched the middle of my chest-- “with you in your heart.”

With that, she lowered me to the rocky shore, and I turned to Trunks next.

“So, did they say you could come with me?” I asked.

He shook his head. “They would only be taking in one Pokemon from each area your age. As much as they wanted to.” He frowned. “They had their reasons.”

“Aw, sorry.”

“Don’t be.” He smiled. “As long as you’re fine going out, and make the most of your studies there, that’s enough to make me happy.”

“But what about Dad though?”

Trunks blew a Razzberry; another rare thing for him to do. “Whatever, I’m done being his lackey. Just focus on yourself.” He put a paw on my shoulder. “There’s a future for you out there. Chase after it. Oh!” His eyes widened and he ran back to the group. At last, Trunks gave me back the drawing set from before, and gave me one final hug for good measure. He squeezed me extra tightly, and so did I, knowing we’d never be able to do so again for a very long time. I could tell he was holding back tears through his aura, but suppressed the urge to, and released me, letting me get back to the duo.

Boarding the boat with them, I looked to my family one last time before waving goodbye.

"I'll talk to you all soon, I swear it! I’ll make you proud!"

Soon enough, they drove away from the island, and I continued waving back until my family faded into the background. Part of me wondered where Dad was in all of this, but since the spat I had earlier, I shrugged it off. Now, it was just me and that duo. Azzy tapped my back and gestured me to the lower deck where more cocoa awaited me. There were still some leftovers scattered on the table, and admittedly, I was a bit peckish.

“Go ahead,” Azzy said, “you can help yourself while we talk.”

“Okay...” I popped a lemon drop in my mouth. “Talk about what?”

“Well, about your father.” Azzy sat down and held his paws together. “I heard things weren’t very pleasant with him on the island. Sorry.”

I crunched down on the boiled sweet. “Got nothin’ to be sorry for.”

“I know. It’s just...” he grimaced and shook his head. “Never mind. But, I thought you ought to know I’ll be your stand-in tutor for the moment. So I’ll be your guardian, someone you can talk to, and also someone to help you with your studies. Obviously, I can’t be like another parent to you, but I will try my best.”

“Yeah, I get that.” Sort of. The concept of a tutor was still quite new to me, but if it was anything like how my brother cared for me, then I was all for it.

“Alright.” He took a deep breath, then laid that red and white ball on the table. He explained what it was, what it did to my body, which goes without saying, and that I should stay there if I wanted to turn in for the night. I just sipped at my cocoa while he explained, not too enthused by the prospect of staying in there.

“I wanna see what’s out there, though.” You could imagine me putting on some puppy dog eyes. Besides, I wasn’t exactly tired, yet. “Yanno, before we get to that learnin’ place.”

“If you want, when we reach land, we can. Otherwise, it’ll be pretty boring, since Mack will be driving the boat for a long time.”

“Can we do somethin’, though?” I might’ve just used it as an excuse to not go there yet. “Mama used to read to me when I got bored.”

Azzy smiled at that as his ears perked up. A part of his bobble-tail wagged behind him. “We did have some books lying about, actually. I do like to read whenever we have to travel for a long time anyway.”

“Then let’s do that!” I said, giving him a big, beaming smile. So that was that. He read out loud from one book, which, I think, must’ve been an adventure book about a duo of rich guys travelling on dragonback to see the world based on a dare. I heard a lot of names flying about, Kalos, Alola, and Sinnoh as well, but couldn’t quite process them all. Still, I remember liking it a lot, or at least being satisfied for a while until we got where we needed to be. The most important part was how Azzy read it. He didn’t get bored and didn’t shoot down my questions on what a certain thing from that book was, rather, he revelled in the moment. And I did too, though I got more tired with each passing hour. When the boat finally slowed to a stop, I was struggling to keep my head up. The human gestured us to join him, which we did, and that was where I first caught sight of Sinnoh’s mainland.

Lights twinkled on a set of twin ports, which was reflected in the ocean’s water. The whole place was alight, and wet as rain poured down from the storm overhead. We were protected by it, of course, as we stood under the roof, but it was loud, with raindrops crashing down and the sirens of other boats blaring. Not only that, but there were little twinkles of aura scattered about the ships and docks, with other people inside it. There were all these people, humans and Pokemon I had never seen before. And honestly, it was hard to take it all in. I turned my attention away from that to Azzy, tugging on his paw.

“Where are we?” I asked.

“Canalave City,” he said, “just where we’re stopping for now, but we’ll be travelling some more. That will take even longer.”

I didn’t even know if I could’ve waited that long to get to GeL. “Can I go inside that… thing? That ball, I mean.”

“Yes, if you’ve had enough. You just need to tap the button in the middle, and you’ll already be asleep.”

“It doesn’t hurt, does it?”

“After trying it loads of times, no. Do you want me to help?”

“No, I think I know what to do.” Before I turned in for the night, I looked to Azzy one last time and smiled. “Thanks for readin’ to me.”

“You’re welcome, Miss Riolu.”

---

Chapter 15. Ambrette's Beach Bum

"Right," Curio said, holding a paw up, "that's enough for now."

Tony complied and pressed the record button to stop. There was a moment of silence in the room as Curio stretched her arms, squirming in her seat. Shine followed as well; he must’ve sat on his haunches for at least an hour or so.

He had taken it all in, and with that, pieces of Curio’s past were starting to fit inside the entangled puzzle. Even with the information Curio had given him throughout the interview, more details surfaced from their time in GeL and what she used to tell him there. How Trunks secretly danced when he thought no one was looking, or how her mother sat with her outside at night and talked about the positions of the stars. Of all memories, she chose those ones to represent her family in the interview, but he guessed she only wanted to tell the most relevant bits. Information shared between people in conversations often usually got lost in translation onto the silver screen, after all.

Yet, there was something about Liam that rubbed Shine the wrong way. It was the same as Curio had told him, sure, but something about that, and how she didn’t get on with her father at all, resonated with the Luxray. He thought deeper about it, and after enough digging, one image flashed in his mind: an apathetic Manectric. That image, like Curio’s own dad, made his blood curdle.

“Hey, Shine,” Curio said, sticking her tongue out at him. “Don’t be such a space case.”

Another one of those episodes, then. As Curio brought him back down to earth, Shine shook his head, bringing himself back to the scene of the studio.

“Well, that was long,” Curio said, eyeing Tony, “I hope I don’t hafta do another take.”

“No, that’s fine, I’d say that’s a good place to stop now.”

Okay, cool, that’s over with.” She grabbed her bag and stood up, swinging it by her side. “I’ll start with the GeL stuff tomorrow. For now, I’m gonna buzz off somewhere else.”

"Wouldn't you like to stay the night with Shine, though? I can pull up a bed if you want."

"No thanks, not in this shithole, and especially not with you."

So much for a truce. Tony was about to respond when Curio made her way towards the door.

"Hold on," Shine said, "where will you stay?"

"The beach, of course. I found the perfect spot earlier, so that'll be my base for now. See ya in the morning, I guess.” She sighed before she walked out and slammed the door.

54

Then, more silence. The house was still again, and Shine was glad to have a bit of quiet after that long interview session. Not so glad that Curio had to leave so soon or snap at Tony again. Speaking of which, Tony broke the silence with some laughter.

"Well," he said, "she's quite the character, isn't she?"

Shine groaned, tending to his trainer’s side. "She's rude, that's what she is. I'm sorry for her behaviour today."

"Don't mention it. I've put up with worse, but that's part and parcel of working in a team."

He knew one of Tony's co-workers was particularly unpleasant to deal with, not only openly hating Shine but also messing up Tony's paperwork on a few occasions when the workload was busy. He came back one day and told him while he stank of beer.

"I guess so.” He huffed, looking to the floor. “I don’t know what’s got her blue knickers in a twist. I’m not having it around you, Tony, you shouldn’t have to put up with it.”

“I know.” He smirked. “If she does carry on like this, then I am gonna tell her outright. But I know she’s important to you, so I don’t want to tear the two of you away.”

Alright.” Shine curled up next to his trainer, lowering his head to be stroked. “But I will tell her to pack it in before our next interview.”

"I appreciate the effort." Tony combed his hand through Shine’s fur. "Your coat's all sticky. You weren't slimed on by any chance?"

Oh, right. "How did you guess?"

"Got a bit of it in my hair as a kid once, from a trainer who couldn't keep a hold on his Goomy. Nasty stuff, that is. I think this calls for another bath."

"You sure? Don't you need to back up the video first?"

"I can do that later." Tony turned off the lightboxes around him, leaving only the dim ceiling lamp on. "I'll get changed into that rubber stuff so we can start, shall we?"

Moments later, Shine entered the shower room, sitting with Tony as he rinsed the gunk out of his coat.

"So," Tony said, "how did you find her?"

"Well, I did say it was a long story.” As painful as it was to look back on that day, he would’ve only delayed the inevitable. “I'll confess, I drew out twenty thousand of your savings to get there."

"Hmm." Tony sprayed Shine in the back with his special shampoo. "I did say that was only for emergencies, like if I was out on a trip and you had to pick up groceries on your own, or if something here got damaged."

"Yes, I guess that wasn't much of an emergency. Still, I don't know how I would've found her if I didn't ride a Dragonite there ASAP."

"Oh, so that's how you got there. What was it like? Can't say I've ever been on one before."

"It'll make you sick, but besides that, I'm in debt. What I brought out wasn't enough, so I'm paying it back by teaching some of the dragons the human tongue."

"Oh really? That's impressive, Shine! Glad to see you're putting your skills to good use again."

"Thanks."

Shine squirmed a little as Tony scrubbed the wooden brush at where the Goodra slime hit. It was thick, so it must've taken some force to get out, after all.

"I'm sorry I ran off without much notice, I should've waited until you got home from work."

"No, it's alright. Ines told you we were swamped, so I couldn't blame you if you were itching to go out. I keep thinking you should be going out more often, to be honest."

"But you're my trainer, I should tell you these sorts of things."

"Oh come on, trainer in name only. It’s not like we’re in the league, after all. You're a mature Luxray now, so I wouldn't hold it against you if you went on more trips like these. You've proven yourself to be independent, which is more than I can say for a lot of Pokemon I've met, so own it, for the white god’s sake.”

It crossed Shine's mind often. He would've liked to have seen Lumiose City, if only to see the Plaza Tower there and the massive library nearby, which was one of the biggest in the world. He didn't meet many Pokemon in Ambrette that shared the same wish as him, not even Bauble, but still, there was nothing stopping him from going out more. When he thought about it though, his mind wandered to what could go wrong on the way, like if he was attacked by a random gang of wild Pokemon, which held him back. Or the weird stares he would’ve gotten as a Luxray in such a place filled with humans. What would’ve happened if someone tried to catch him by force? Luxray weren’t that common in Kalo-- no, cut it out. His trainer was probably starting to get worried, so Shine made his typical reply.

"I suppose."

Tony hummed. "Well then, something to think about. Say, if you want to make it up for the money you took, I would suggest you to cut the sweet spending for a bit. Deal?”

Deal.”

After the bath, the two made their way to the studio again to pick the camera up, then went back to the living room to debrief. Shine sat back on the couch while Tony started transferring his video over, thinking back to the conversation Curio had with Tony prior to storming off. Well, the whole interview for that matter, but all throughout, whenever she talked about Liam in particular, she no longer had that usually cheery expression on her face. In fact, her words about him were more deliberate and slower paced. Had it taken more of a toll than Shine was expecting? It was a hunch, but he sprang off the seat in pursuit of that inkling.

"I'll be right back," he said, "I've got to talk to Curio."

Tony nodded as Shine headed out of the apartment to the beach only a few minutes away. It had turned night, and the moonlight cast the sea aglow, with white streaks highlighting the dark blues of the ocean. There were streetlamps on the concrete path that illuminated the shore, and there, Curio sat alone, wrapped up in a tattered sleeping bag with her satchel beside her. When Shine walked closer to her, dampening his electric charge as he traipsed through the sand, he noticed Curio fiddling with something in her paw and hand.

“What’re you doing there?” he said, making her ears twitch. “Oh, sorry to surprise you.”

“I’ve got my aura, remember? Sneak attacks do naff all. Whaddya want?”

“Do you mind if I talk to you? It’s about Tony and that.”

She paused for a moment, then grumbled. “Come and sit next to me, then.”

He obliged, and he leaned over her side to see her handiwork in full view. She held a pair of pliers on one end and a tiny metal object on the other, which she moulded in the shape of a Pokemon, although what species wasn’t clear yet. He didn’t respond at first, just watching her handiwork, or pawdiwork, at first, even though that wasn’t a word. But then he remembered he needed to address something and stood on his haunches.

She winced, then stopped to look at Shine. “Go on then, you look like you’ve got a Rattata stuck in your throat. Spit it out.”

“O-oh, erm...” He was surprised at that turn of phrase, but kept his composure. “Alright, why on earth are you acting like this towards Tony?"

She huffed. “Of course you were gonna ask that.”

“I thought I made it clear he was my carer.” He dug his claws into the sand. “Not just a trainer, but someone who’s dragged me out of bed every morning even when I felt like disappearing. Do you still not realise that?”

“Yeah, I know that, dammit.” Curio sighed and put the figurine to one side. Her metallic fingers twitched again. “Sorry. I just got a bit wound up during that interview, yanno, talkin’ about him.”

“I know, I could see it on your face. But Tony didn’t ask you about, well, you know who. You could’ve left out the bad parts.”

“I know, that was my own fault, Shine.” Curio put her arms behind her head and sat on her back, gazing at the stars above. “Just talkin’ about it, I didn’t really realise how deep I’d be gettin’ into it.”

“I understand that.” More silence followed. As the tide drifted in and out, water sloshing at the banks, Shine thought of how to phrase his request. Well, that would be too forward. Hearing that from Curio brought stuff up in his own mind. “It’s hard, talking about your past. I couldn’t even do it myself most of the time when Tony started doing the interviews.”

Her expression didn’t change as the moonlight swirled in that green-eyed sea of hers.

“I did want to thank you for stepping up, though.” Shine smiled. “I’m already piecing together certain bits now.” His expression dropped. “I’m sorry if I did heap it all on you, though.”

“Nah, nothin’ to be sorry for.” Curio sighed again, shifting her weight a little to face Shine. “Glad I could help.”

“Just, the only other thing I’d ask is that you be more patient with him.”

“I know, I know.” She sat up and held her paws up in defence. "I did kind of take it out on him, I’m afraid.”

“Yes, you did.”

“Well, I will ease up on him. I just need time, is all."

“How much time?”

“I just need to give it a think, okay?”

Shine looked Curio in the eye and inched close to her. A moment passed, and he nodded, satisfied with the answer for now. “Alright.”

Curio hummed as she continued moulding the Lapras, adding a few extra scraps of metal and other bits of junk until she produced a miniature from her paws. There was what appeared to be recycled blue cans for the body and pieces of foil stuck together for its shell, with little eyes scraped in on the head.

“See the Lapras over there?” She gestured over to a pod of the Transport Pokemon swimming in the distance. “I’m makin’ it for them.”

There was something nice about seeing Curio making the stuff she was passionate about. “As good as always.”

“Eh, I’ve made better.”

“Still, I couldn’t make something like that even if I wanted to.”

“Oh, don’t beat yerself up over it. You still have your writing thing, don’t you?”

Shine squeaked in surprise. “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

She frowned. “Never mind.”

Something about her tone struck him as odd, which put a lump in his throat. Why had she mentioned that of all things, and why did she seem so disappointed? He knew about that part vaguely, but he had abandoned it so long ago, it was hardly worth mentioning anymore. He shook his head. It was no use getting worked up over a silly dream like that.

In any case, Curio unrolled the blanket and padded towards the edge of the shore, Shine following closely beside her. Kneeling down, Curio placed the miniature on the surface of the water, much to his surprise.

“What are you doing?” he said.

“Hold it,” she said, and pushed it along the surface. It floated, bobbing up and down with the motion of the waves, and headed towards the direction of the Lapras pod, where it continue to swim until it was no longer in sight. “Let’s hope they’ll see it.”

The tide carried it forward for a considerable moment of time, cruising through the moonlit waters at a steady pace, nearly surfing as the waves grew in size and force, then sank underwater.

“After all that,” Shine said.

“Oh well,” Curio said, yawning. “I wonder if that Gyarados geezer will find it.”

[End of The Island Arc]
 
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canisaries

you should've known the price of evil
Location
Stovokor
Pronouns
she/her
Partners
  1. inkay-shirlee
  2. houndoom-elliot
  3. yamask-joanna
  4. shuppet
  5. deerling-andre
Chapters 14 & 15

“Yeah, I know, but...” I trailed off, looking deep into Mom’s eyes: glistening like jades and rubies.

Colon seems weird here, but I think the whole structure is a bit iffy. Replacing the colon with a comma would make it sound like Curio was glistening, but removing it entirely doesn't read quite right either. Just a simple break up to "[...], looking deep into Mom's eyes. They glistened like jades and rubies." might be good.

“Go ahead.” Azzy said, “you can help yourself while we talk.”

Period in place of comma?

"No thanks, not in this shithole, and especially not with you."

ah, the ray of sunshine is back

"I guess so.” He huffed, looking to the floor. “I don’t know what’s got her blue knickers in a twist. I’m not having it around you, Tony, you shouldn’t have to put up with it.”


“I know.” He smirked. “If she does carry on like this, then I am gonna tell her outright. But I know she’s important to you, so I don’t want to tear the two of you away.”


Alright.” Shine curled up next to his trainer, lowering his head to be stroked. “But I will tell her to pack it in before our next interview.”

Double line breaks here for some reason?

After the bath, the two made their way to the studio again to pick the camera up, but on the trip there, Shine glanced at the windowsill. He couldn’t help but smile as he saw his collar resting by the open window.

This is a nitpick, but it seems a bit careless keep your window open like that for a studio with expensive recording equipment, not to mention a recording now that you worked your ass off to get. Who knows what Shadow Baubles are lurking out there. Also 7 000 mosquitoes.

---

Well, this felt rather short, even with the two combined - though they do seem to only be separate to execute the POV change more clearly, like you've said. Anyway, I do suppose there wasn't much left to tie up for either POV regarding this arc specifically. Young Curio finalizes her decision of leaving and has a heartfelt goodbye with her family (the good parts of it, anyway), then sets off for GeL that is still yet to show its teeth and still seems like just a perfectly lovely place. It's still a mystery how this place will end up so horrible it needs to be repressed, especially as the azumarill seems to be genuine. We don't yet know if the aura check is uncheatable, but even then that azumarill would have to be on multiple layers of sociopathy and race traitorship to pull off a facade of benevolence so consistent. Intrigued and a little scared to find out how things will go wrong.

Modern Curio is still r o o d like before, but it's admirable to see her able to admit her mistakes afterwards. The Lapras sculpture is also a very nice gesture and reminds us that Curio isn't too cool for random acts of kindness.

Anyway, fun arc. Well, domestic abuse isn't fun, but island hijinks are, you get what I mean. Looking forward to the next.
 

Sike Saner

fundead
Location
*aurorus noise*
Pronouns
she/her
Partners
  1. glalie
I think this might actually be wholly uncharted territory for me, as far as this fic goes. I can't recall for certain. But anyway!

Shine groaned, tending to his trainer’s side. "She's rude, that's what she is. I'm sorry for her behaviour today."

"Don't mention it. I've put up with worse, but that's part and parcel of working in a team."

One of a number of reasons why I personally just Do Not Care for working in teams. :p

"You sure? Don't you need to back up the video first?"

"I can do that later."

IMMEDIATELY gets antsy

(Why yes, yes I am one of those people who usually has to hit "save" at least twice in a row.)

“Sorry. I just got a bit wound up during that interview, yanno, talkin’ about him.”

“I know, I could see it on your face. But Tony didn’t ask you about, well, you know who. You could’ve left out the bad parts.”

“I know, that was my own fault, Shine.” Curio put her arms behind her head and sat on her back, gazing at the stars above. “Just talkin’ about it, I didn’t really realise how deep I’d be gettin’ into it.”

That's the thing about dredging up these sorts of things. Sometimes the past gets too close, and things just get altogether too real.


RIP the Pepsi lapras (Pepras, if you will), meanwhile. Maybe Curio ought to have used bottles instead.
 

Tanuki

Friend of All Chu
Location
Rhyme City
Pronouns
He/him/his
Oh hey you can change font, neat.
Review Chapters 5-7

That zoom enhance joke caught me off guard. It was good, cracked me up, but it felt out of place. As far as I can remember, this was the first time something like this was integrated into his internal dialogue. I can't think of any overt jokes like this one up to this point. It could just be my bad memory, or bad reading level, but a few more jokes along these lines would help this one feel more natural and cohesive with the rest of the story. Also, witty bits like this in internal monologue are good ways to suggest a character's intelligent, which would fit Shine rather well.

Your dialogue is just great. Your characters always have a very distinct voice, and I can always tell who's talking even without the tag. What's more impressive is you can even show a range of emotions with this so your characters never feel static (not even your electric types). My only gripe is sometimes Shine feels a bit stilted/unnatural in his speech, but it also goes with his character really well, so I can't complain all that much about it.

One small hiccup I've noticed, is some words that should be italicized in pokéspeak aren't. Established swears like crap and sometimes distinctly human concepts are left unitalicized. Probably just something missed in editing.

This isn't a note against you, but I wasn't expecting a dexit joke and it made me choke on very hot coffee. I will be holding this against you in the future.

Shine and Curio are a really great pair. They play off each other perfectly. I'd almost call them foils. Curio's laid-back to such an insane degree that I imagine she hardly reacted to losing her arm, and even being decapitated she wouldn't lose her head. Shine, however, is the complete opposite. He's much more reserved, careful, cautious, even too much. In essence, Shine cares too much, Curio doesn't care enough.

This comes across pretty blatantly in their teaching methods. Shine is highly concerned with structure, grammar, pronunciation, all that good stuff. Meanwhile, Curio just wants the pokémon to be comfortable speaking the language. I think it's interesting how you showed with their joint lesson with Petri that neither approach was wrong and both were effective in their own way.

And for why we’re teachin’ him, well, someone’s interested in him being a therapy Mon
I imagine Namo would be quite interested~

When they're working with Petri, there's many paragraphs of just dialogue in a row. It's not horrible, but it makes the conversation feel like it's happening in a void, and you're missing an opportunity to show how the characters are feeling with some juicy character action. You don't need tags because of your consistent voicing, but some prose in there would make it a bit nicer.

Shine said, not entirely convinced he’d do an outstanding job at it.
which was probably being served raw and alive outside
Both of these were already pretty heavily implied. You didn't need to state them directly at all. Leaving obvious conclusions like this to the reader actually makes a better relationship as well. Figuring something out is a lot more satisfying than being told. Imagine a slow game tutorial that tells you how to use a mechanic you'd already experimented with because you found it on your own. It kinda takes away from the magic of you having found it for yourself. It feels a lot more personal to the reader when the author doesn't state it outright.

As a final note, I imagined she was playing Istanbul (Not Constantinople) during the dancing section and mused what a pokéquivalent would be.

This story's really great so far. It's always a pleasure to read your stuff.
 

NebulaDreams

Ace Trainer
Partners
  1. luxray
  2. hypno
Finally, I can post this! I wrote this a while ago, but since I've reached a point on this site where it's the most relevant, here's a bonus chapter/crossover with @Persephone's Broken Things! Think of this as an omake that's strictly non-canon, although I've tried my best to stick to the canon of both worlds, and even expand on stuff I haven't revealed yet about certain characters in TCATS. Even so, certain characters might be written differently or slightly more exaggerated/downplayed than they are in canon.

I made this based on a random prompt they suggested, word for word: 'curio and shine babysit pixie.' I liked this idea so much, especially since Pixie is my favourite character from Broken Things so far, that I decided to write it out. I wanted to go the extra mile with this though and try to emulate their unique second person POV style, since it does a great job of getting into the heads of the characters. It was not only a challenge getting their style down pat, it was also a challenge staying true to characters that aren't my own. Then again, what would we be as fanfic writers if we didn't rip off someone else's hard work by using their characters?

Chronologically, you can think of this as an alternate version of the next chapter where Curio and Shine are on their own while Tony is out for work.

Bonus Chapter - Broken Shinies

Cuicatl Ichtaca

You’re in a foreign land with a screaming fox. Of all the regions, Kalos seems the most detached to your native region, and your understanding of it is vague at best. Of course, Achcauhtli read to you about it, and you know its trainer system is not unlike those in Sinnoh or Kanto, but everything else seems unmemorable. You have no basis for Ambrette Town in particular, although it’s a coastal town if the crashing of the waves and the burbles of the various water Pokemon are anything to go by. Maybe like that Poliwag. But everything else is uncharted territory.

If everything is unfamiliar, though, then why are you here?

Simple answer: you don’t know. Just that everything is hot, the reflected sunlight on the tarmac is eating at your legs, and your snow fox is barking for your attention.

“It’s hot!” Pixie shouts, or rather, what you interpret her shouting. You’re able to parse her speech as you’re used to psychic reading, but she can only truly speak in growls and cries.

“I know,” you say, trying to find a way to resolve this.

“I’ll melt!” she screeches.

“I’ll do everything to make sure you don’t,” you reassure her. Though at this rate, she probably will. Are Kalosan summers always this hot? Anyway, you instinctively dig into your pocket out of listlessness and fumble around until you feel a slip of paper run between your fingers. There are bumps on the sheet. Whoever put you on this rock was kind enough to give you something to read, at least.

‘You’re in another world,’ the bumps read, ‘Quite like your own, but different. There are several instructions on this slip of paper that will help you get back, but the biggest priority is getting your Alolan Vulpix taken care of. Unfortunately, you don’t have your Pokeball, and you can’t buy another one to use it, so you’re stuck with her in her real form.’

You mutter ‘fuck’ underneath your breath before you continue reading.

‘But you will find somewhere willing to take her in at the following address. After that, the rest will follow.’

The address means nothing to you, but it’s one thing to take care of first. But that only brings in more questions. Why are you here? Who put you in this other world? Hold on, there are other worlds?

This realisation hits you hard enough to make your knees wobble. Pixie seems to notice as she growls, but you’re stuck in your own head space. You don’t belong here. Do you belong anywhere, except from home, which you can’t come back to? Your prized Pokemon are all off somewhere else, your mom and brother is, well, you can’t bring yourself to think about that, and you took on the trainer’s journey to forget about that. Yet you brought the baggage with you, and you can’t escape that.

You aren’t here of your own free will. You aren’t in control. Since when did you have any sway over your own actions anyway? You can’t even keep control of your own mouth to get it to eat food. But you ventured out on your own anyway. That was a choice. This is just a railroad you’re being guided through, and for what purpose? To satisfy Tezcatlipoca, or whoever stuck you here? So you’re just a cosmic plaything for the gods, great. You--

Pixie’s clawing at your leg and screaming. To stop her from making your leg into shredded kebab, you take her in your hands and pet her. She’s cool to the touch, like an icy water bottle, but it should be even colder. This isn’t normal, and unless you do something about it, she’ll run away for good. Time to stop feeling sorry for yourself and move onto feeling sorry for someone else. But how to calm her down?

“Vanilluxe!” she yelps. “Over there!”

You gauge what she’s crying at from where she directs her cries. You bump into someone and they curse at you, you bite the urge to curse back, and hear someone at the front asking for a double scoop. Ice cream. That will keep her calm for now, or so you hope. Only a single scoop for her, though. Quetzalcoatl knows you can’t afford to splurge for yourself, not that you’d want to.



You ask for directions as the slip of paper says, and one old woman with her Bunnelby is kind enough to give you the directions. She says she knows the owner, and the Bunnelby repeats it in the human tongue. Odd. Did Bunnelby have the vocal cords to speak that in this world? And if so, why doesn’t it seem to be commonplace? Then again, if that was the case, assuming every Pokemon had a human intellect, they would’ve overtaken the government by now. You don’t know whether or not this is a good thing, though. But back to the woman.

She is nice enough to take the cane off you and guide you by the hand through the apparent town square. She also doesn’t ask many questions about what your predicament is. You’re slightly grateful for that, since your best explanation would sound too far fetched for any sane human’s ears, although you wished she would stop talking to herself and guffawing like some loud bird. Pixie is content eating from the scoop you’ve provided in your hand, enough that she doesn’t notice the Bunnelby clumsily hopping close to the woman’s leg. All for the better as her type would most likely be the kind to hunt Bunnelby for breakfast.

Eventually, she guides you up a staircase, step by step for your pace, and politely taps you on the shoulder when she reaches a particular spot. One light tap ahead of you, and the hollow knocking sound it emits tells you it’s a door. Then, the old lady thanks you before attending to her duties with her Bunnelby. You sigh, not exactly proud of being guided by a complete stranger. It’s not like you deserve help. If they were so accommodating though, then why didn’t the slip of paper mention her existence? No matter. Besides, foxes don’t mix well with rabbits.

Like a puppet, you knock at the door and expect the owner to come take Pixie away from you for a bit. Here, of all places. Because you can’t provide for her yourself in this situation.

Okay, let’s not. You have a job to do. So the door opens, and instead of sensing another person in front of you, Pixie’s growls tell you that a Pokemon is by your feet. You also hear a jingle at the bottom, possibly hanging by said Pokemon’s collar. So the master of the house isn’t home. How is this going to help? No matter. You kneel down and try to get through their mind, untangling the knots in your psychic links as best as possible, in the hopes of asking them where their master is. But his knots aren’t a web of impulses and emotions at all; they’re a goddamned labyrinth.

What is this? You only saw this in the most impenetrable of minds, your brother included, but what business did a non-psychic Pokemon have with that sort of head space? With your sort of experience, it would take you ages to get through all the passages in their mind, though it was doable. It was too much effort and not worth the risk of getting lost in there, though. You recall your training with Renfield and find your way back out into the real world. Oh, there’s still a bit of lag you didn’t account for, and now your body feels weightless.

Hey!” A girl shouts. It’s noticeably inhuman sounding, but before you know it, you’re in the arms of a furred Pokemon and Pixie is somewhere else. She isn’t in your grasp, but she’s clinging to your leg. Since when was she ever this loyal? But never mind, you’re back in the real world. Instinctively, you reach out to whoever’s holding you, and end up bumping it against a round spike on a chest-like area.

Okay, that’s kinda weird,” the girl says.“D’you usually grope Lucario in public?”

So she’s a Lucario, and she spoke in human tongue. A very sailor-mouthed tongue at that. But maybe you should try to salvage this situation first before passing judgements.

“Sorry,” you say, “I couldn’t see.”

Yeah, yeah, I’m just pullin’ your leg. Can you stand now?”

You straighten yourself and manage to stand up with the help of that cane. The Lucario pats your back, and says something in her own tongue to the other Pokemon, although you understand that it’s a command of some sort.

Oh, how rude of me,” the other Pokemon says, sounding male. “Miss, who are you?”

Pixie starts growling at him again.

“That thing is weird!”

She probably isn’t used to Pokemon speaking the human language.

“What are you?” you ask.

Oh, pardon me, a Luxray. I suppose we aren’t very common outside of Sinnoh.”

So a Luxray can speak too. At this rate, it’s safe to assume every bleeding Pokemon in this world has the biology to speak your language. Then again, he could be one of those Gestalt Luxray you read about in the Alola Dex.

I don’t mean to be rude, but again, who are you?”

It isn’t like you to apologise so much, but you bow reflexively since you’re in a vulnerable position here. “Sorry. I’m Cuicatl Ichtaca. I’m not from around here.”

I can tell.”

“But, I--” You stop yourself from running your dumbass mouth. Again, you can’t say a slip of paper brought you here, so you might as well tell a white lie here. A white lie involving a white fox. “In truth, I was told to come here by Hilda, the old merchant you seem to know.”

Oh, her. But for what?”

“I was told you could babysit for Pixie here.” Despite Pixie’s protests, you continue. “I can’t keep her with me, as I have some business to attend to. Sorry, but that’s all I can say.”

“No,” she yowls. “Don’t leave me!”

“I’m sorry,” you say, kneeling down to her level. You try to stroke her, half-fearing she’ll nip your fingers off, but she gives in and you course your hand through her icy coat. “You would be in better company with fellow Pokemon.”

“I’m better than those Pokemon.”

The Luxray growls, but before Pixie can growl back, you pat her head. “Of course you are. But with the way things are, I’d be better off keeping you safe.”

“I’m strong! I can take anything on, so don’t leave me!”

You frown. As bratty as she’s being, you understand her mindset. “I’ll get you another ice cream after I’m done sorting this out.”

“And a new harness!”

“Yes, a new harness.” You turn to the direction of the door where the other two are. “So can you look after her, please? I’ll promise not to be too long.”

The Luxray mutters to himself, somewhere between a mewl and a whisper, but you don’t catch the words. “I-I’m sorry,” he stutters, “b-but I think you should find somewhere else.”

“I can’t.” You probably can, but this is the closest thing you’ve got to solving one problem right away. “They said I could trust you.” That’s complete Taur, but you bite through it anyway.

U-um, can you help me out here...” He chats with the Lucario in his own tongue, still inaccessible to your own telepathy. Pixie is trying to pull herself away from your hand into a different direction. She’s trying to get away. You have to keep her at bay, by whatever means necessary. You may be weak and unable to see, but you decide to use that to your advantage and purposely drop the cane you’re holding. You know where you dropped it but you fumble around for it as if you didn’t. If the message isn’t clear to even a Slowpoke that you’re blind and helpless, then what else is supposed to work?

Oh, for fuck’s sake, here.” The Lucario hands you the cane and you accept it. She certainly has a mouth on her. You briefly wonder if there are swears in the general Pokemon language, or even draconic, then note that the concept would be alien to most of them and move on.

Um, s-sorry, I didn’t know,” the Luxray says, sounding like he’s about to crack. “Oh, god, I’m terrible.”

“No, no, that’s fine,” you say, even though that was the intended reaction. You’re about to ask him again, but then realise that would be too on the nose and let them decide.

We’ll take, um, this Alolan Vulpix in. I’m sure we can help.”

“Thank you.” You’re about to get to your feet when Pixie gives you one pitiful nudge.

“A Vanilluxe, new harness and treat after,” she demands.

“The ice cream would be the treat.”

“Then something else.”

You shrug it off for now and give her one last head pat before standing up. “I didn’t want to load this onto you, but this does help a lot.”

Don’t mention it,” the Lucario says. You can hear the grin in her tone. “It’s gonna be fun watching her mess up the place.”

Wait, w-what?” Luxray says, exasperated. “S-she wouldn’t!”

“She’s a fox,” I tell him. “Make of that what you will.”

O-oh no! I hope Tony’s okay with this!”

Tony schmoney,” Lucario says. “Now are you gonna let her in or what?”

While you can’t see her, you imagine Pixie leering at you like you just stepped on her multiple tails. Which you might’ve done before on accident, however apologetically. “It’s alright, I’ll be back, with the treats as promised.”

“Good.” She gives one final huff before entering the apartment with the two other Pokemon, and the door closes. Strangely enough, you feel a draft blowing through you, even though it’s still hot. You feel somewhat naked without your helping Pokemon with you. But you will look at the paper again in time, ignoring the familiar sensation that this narrative is not about you.

Pixie

You’re alone, and with two others much bigger than you. One has a mane and is leering at you with his one eye. The other has spikes, dangerous spikes that could kill you, and she’s sneering. The black arm catches you off guard, and you freeze up. You hadn’t met a Lucario before, but something tells you this is not normal for them. But you hear Skysong’s footsteps clattering outside, and you turn towards the door, listening out for her, hoping she’ll come back. But she left you here. She’s leaving you behind, but there’s the promise of hunting a Vanilluxe later and getting a new harness. If not, you’ll scream at Skysong until she gets you what you deserve for being a good fox.

Back to these Pokemon in front of you. They spoke human, stuff you can understand to a certain extent, but can’t quite process, especially not from other Pokemon. They smell like Pokemon anyway, although the supposed Luxray stinks of soap and Rawst berries, but their mannerisms are odd. They don’t move with the air of a Pokemon like you, and they don’t carry themselves with the same air as those who function in a pack. Not fit for hunting at all, but they both have scars of their own. No matter. You will bark orders at them and train them until they become good pack mates. So you make your tails stand up on edge and straighten your back, ready to--

The Luxray pads away from you, leaving the Lucario on her own. Wait, where is he going? You were going to teach him a lesson.

“Hey,” the Lucario says, calling to him. “You gonna give me a hand here?”

“Fine,” he says, padding back to your direction. You huff and flick your tails down.

“Don’t need help,” you say.

“Well, okay, maybe not,” she says, “but we might as well get to know each other while we’re here, right?” She kneels down to your level. “It’s Pixie, right?”

“Only Skysong calls me that.”

“Sky--” she starts before stopping. It’s annoying when Pokemon are indecisive in how they talk. “Right. Can we just call you that for now?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, Pixie, pleased to meet ya.” She brings a spiked paw to your head without asking, and you instinctively back away, tails raised up.

“You’ll kill me,” you say. “I’ll freeze you.”

“Oh, because of this?” She holds up her sharp paw. “Okay, how about the other hand then?” She extends her black arm towards you that time, one with a human hand, and places that on your head. It’s cold to the touch, and it reacts well with your icy temperament. So she’s the same type as you. Just like the Nine-tails. You can’t help but purr, even though you curse yourself from the inside for letting your guard down.

“Huh,” she says. “I didn’t know other Pokemon liked that sort of thing. Everyone’s usually weirded out by it.”

It is weird, though you don’t let her know since you’re too lost in the moment. That is, until she brings her hand back.

“Well, I dunno what’s up with your trainer, but I hope you find it nice here, even though it’s not my place.” As she says that, the maned Pokemon beside her grunts. “Okay, so my name’s C--”

“No,” you say. “You are Spikemom.”

Spikemom cocks her head. “Huh, well that’s a first. Then who’s he?”

The maned Pokemon tries to speak up, but you stomp the ground, freezing a part of the carpet. “You are Grumpcry.”

Spikemom’s laughter catches you off guard, briefly flashing you back to that laughing human, but you ignore that as Spikemom tries to catch her breath, like she’s sick. “Oh man, Grumpcry!” She saves herself from dying and pats Grumpcry’s head. “Sorry, but that’s your name from now on.”

“Yeah,” Grumpcry grumpily cries. “Right.”

He doesn’t seem to show a lot of dominance, especially not for a male Pokemon. Your only other superior here is Spikemom, and you may do as she says if she wills it, but with Grumpcry, you will show no such authority. He is yours to boss around until Skysong comes along and gives you what you deserve.

“Spikemom,” you say, “What can I do here?”

“Well, hmm, I just mooch off this place so I can’t really give you a house tour. So Grumpcry--” she nudges him with her paw, “why don’t you do the honours?”

He huffs, flicking his tail indignantly. “I’m never going to live that name down, aren’t I?”

“Nope! Well then, get to work.”

“Fine.” He turns to you and walks, expecting you to follow him, but you will only do so since Spikemom said to. And you need something cool, fast. Human apartments usually have something for that, didn’t they?

He first leads you through a room with plush furniture and black boxes. You’re familiar with what the boxes show but you always find the shows boring and mostly for human eyes. The Vulpix nature shows are passable, but you’d find yourself screaming at the screen telling them to find their stupid prey already. Grumpcry doesn’t talk about it.

Then there’s the kitchen, where a few odd smells waft across the room. A few bad ones from the bin, and some other odd ones from the counters. In any case, you know there’s food here, and that there’s something cool waiting for you to eat, although you’ve already had your fill from the Vanilluxe. Even so, it’s too warm in here for comfort. Grumpcry still isn’t very talkative. He’s either the lone wolf or the omega of the bunch.

“Wow, some tour guide you are,” Spikemom tells the Luxray.

“Well,” he says, “What am I supposed to say to that thing?”

“That thing?” you say, detecting Grumpcry’s dismissive tone. “I’m Pixie! You are below me and you will respect me!”

“I only just met you.” Grumpcry turns around and frowns, showing weakness. “I’m trying the best I can.”

“Not good enough,” you say. “Need respect!”

“Now listen here,” he growls, walking towards you. He’s taller than you but you aren’t afraid. You have the upper hand, for foxes are better than lions.

“Hey guys,” Spikemom says, “I’m gettin’ somethin’ from the fridge. Now Tony’s out, well, we can have some fun here.” She snickers as she opens the cooling portal and grabs a can of something. You’re not sure what it is, but when she flicks the cap, it makes a fizzing sound, making your fur bristle up in surprise.

“I doubt Tony’s going to be pleased to hear you raiding his stash,” Grumpcry says.

“Oh can it, sourpuss.” She takes a swig and snickers again, this time with a bit more energy to her tone. “Ah, this is the good shit right here.”

There it is again: that human word. You’ve heard it describe excrement before, but you’ve also heard it whenever the humans lose something and/or get angry. There wasn’t an equivalent in your language in terms of growls and cries, but while you understand the word, you don’t know what Spikemom means. Can excrement be good? And does drinking it improve your mood?

“Can I drink?” you say, even though it smells like rotten wheat from a distance.

“Nah, you’d die. I’m a big girl, I can handle this.”

So according to her, you’re not a big girl. You straighten your back again and prepare to tell Spikemom off, even if she is your alpha.

“But hold up,” she says, digging into the cold void again, “there’s more stuff here if you want it. Ooh!” She digs a plate out with some sort of half-eaten pastry on top. “You can have this turnover, for starters.”

“No, that’s mine,” Grumpcry says, standing up on his hindlegs. “Besides, I doubt she’ll want to eat something I’ve already bitten out of.”

You don’t care about sharing germs, as it seems trivial for your excellent immune system, but you aren’t hungry either. You’ve already stopped taking interest in the cold portal and turn to the big humming box by your side. Then Grumpcry steps up and stands on his legs again, opening the door to reveal a misty portal, much colder than the other one.

“That’s the freezer,” Grumpcry says, looking at you with concern. Finally, he knew his place. “I can see you’re Alolan, and you’re probably very warm in this weather and I don’t think the AC is on. Did Tony get that fixed or...”

You tune out and start tapping the floor, getting sick of his prattle.

“Point is that you can have something from there if it’ll help you cool down,” Spikemom said.

“Open it,” you say, hoping they’d show off the goods. Spikemom pulls upon the bottom-most drawer, which has nothing but ice-bags in it, but you take one look at it and it reminds you of home, even down to the pictures of the mountains on the wrappers. Like a typical fox diving into the snow to hunt their prey, you dive into the drawer and feel the cold seep back into you. You missed this. You missed how the blizzards felt and how the snow tingled your whiskers, even if most of that snow is freezer buildup.

“Glad you like it,” Spikemom says with a grin. “Though what’s he doing with so much ice?”

“Shaved ice,” Grumpcry says. “It’s something from his hometown he brought over here.”

“Huh.”

“Um, do you think we should just leave her in the freezer for now?”

You stand up and shriek at Grumpcry. You might’ve been a snow fox, but you still needed air, and if you were locked in the freezer, you would die because of a lack of it. So for that little slight, and as something to put him in his place, you shoot a bit of powdered snow at his face. It was a full hit. Although it doesn’t do much, it’s enough for him to shield his face and rub his nose.

“What was that for?”

“You want to trap me in here and kill me.”

“No I don’t, I never said--”

“Okay,” Spikemom says, patting your head. “I think he just wanted you to keep cool. He’s not that kind of Pokemon.”

“Exactly.” Grumpcry blinks and sneezes. Good. He’s learnt his lesson.

“Maybe we should just take the whole tub, so we can still take you around.” Spikemom smiles. “How does that sound?”

Her voice is a bit rough, but nevertheless comforting to your sensitive ears. You agree to go along with her for now as she picks up the drawer, letting you rest with the ice bags. Finally, she takes you to the living room and sets you on the furniture as she’s by your side. Grumpcry sits far away from you, but next to her. The two seem to be close, as Spikemom has her regular arm around him, though you don’t understand why. Spikemom clearly wears the blue pants in this relationship.

“Now, how about some TV?” she says.

You say nothing and just watch her press the buttons. The black box turns white first, like the snowstorms of the mountains, but it quickly turns into images. It flicks back and forth between many different scenes so fast, you can’t keep up with it. Finally, they settle on a set of moving drawings with sounds, which is boring, because it’s not real. Spikemom takes another swig.

“This brings back a lotta memories,” she says. “You still watch this stuff?”

You sit up, preparing to answer (although you don’t know what’s going on) when Grumpcry takes over.

“Well, yes, actually. It might be a little childish, but I still tune in every now and then.”

“Eh, I ain’t knocking it. Sometimes, I sneak into the movies to watch their latest flick, so it’s a bit of dumb fun.”

“I can imagine your aura helps a lot with that.”

“Yeah.” Another swig. “They don’t care. But hey--” She takes a newfound interest in what’s on screen. There’s a drawing of a boy with a cap. “Is he still ten after all this time?”

“Who knows? Anime logic. That’s not even the weirdest part. Every time they start a new series, he keeps losing, and even when he tries his best in the league, he still messes up.”

“Didn’t some people get really pissed off at X and Y?”

“Yes, when his Greninja lost to a Charizard, of all things.”

Taurshit!” She waves her can at the air, spilling some on the floor. “It’s like, what’s the point? You could do a much better job than these hacks and you’re a freakin’ Pokemon!”

“No I couldn’t.”

“Oh c’mon, you used to do that stuff all the time, don’t you remember?”

“Not really.” Grumpcry frowns. “My memory is still spotty.”

“Ha. Sorry.” She pats his head. “We’ll get there soon, I promise.”

He smiles for once at that, but you aren’t really engaged in the conversation. They keep talking about what they’re watching while a lot of it goes over your head. Spikemom should be paying attention to you and Grumpcry should be learning from you, but they don’t even notice you’re there. Instead, they talk about boring stuff. You growl to try and get their attention.

“Hey,” Spikemom says, patting your head. “What’s up?”

“Bored.”

“Yeah, we’re just talking over this stupid show at this point. What do you wanna watch?”

“Don’t want to watch. Want to play.”

“Hmm,” Grumpcry mutters. “Tony keeps a few board games in his room that we sometimes play. I could get those out.”

“No!” you say, standing up from your freezer bed. Not that you know what a board game is, but with board in the name, you know you don’t like it already.

“I don’t think that sort of stuff’s for her,” Spikemom says. She rubs her paws together. “I think she’s more into the playfight sort of thing.”

“Yes!” You turn to Grumpcry. “You will see who’s the best!”

“W-wait, nobody said we’re fighting here yet!” Grumpcry sits up. “Besides, we can’t do it in his apartment!”

It doesn’t matter whether it’s indoors or outdoors. The outdoors are too hot. This is the perfect environment.

“Spikemom,” you say, widening your eyes just like you would in a usual battle to lower the opponent’s guard. She wouldn’t say no to a cute fox, right?

“Those Baby Doll Eyes won’t work on me, Pixie,” she says. You’re about to growl when she grins. “But go nuts. Grumpcry, Pixie, you two go in the kitchen.”

“You can’t be serious,” he says, but you’ve already made your mind up. You leap out of the ice box and strut to the room of edibles to face the Luxray. You straighten your back to prepare for battle, except there’s one thing missing: your trainer. There is no one to guide you in battle this time. No matter. You are the best fox in this world, and you will show that as you best this lion.

Even though you only know three moves.

“This is pointless,” Grumpcry says as he enters the battlefield. “She’s only a Vulpix.”

You puff your cheeks. Yes, you are a Vulpix, but you’re the best Vulpix around.

“Yeah, but we are babysitting her,” Spikemom says with a grin. “She’s a guest of honour, y’know.”

“But this is my house!”

“Your trainer’s house, so it ain’t your problem. Besides, I’d love to trash that stupid trainer’s place for once.” Spikemom holds out the icebox and turns it upside down, dropping the ice cubes all over the floor. The previously cool kitchen turns into a glacial fortress, much like the one back on the mountains.

“Why are you encouraging her?!” Grumpcry yells, pawing at Spikemom’s leg. “It’s my neck on the line if Tony comes back to this place in ruins!”

“Fight me!” you say, planting your paws firmly on the slippery ground. “I will show you what it means to be an alpha!”

Grumpcry grumbled. “What did you just say?”

“You’re an omega!”

At that moment, Grumpcry charges towards you with a Volt Tackle, but he slips and slides across the kitchen floor. You are already acclimated to ice, so you dodge to the side with ease. Grumpcry, however, slides into a shelf, sending lots of plates falling to the floor. It shatters before you like hard snow.

“Oh...” Grumpcry groans. “O-oh no...”

“Well damn,” Spikemom says, crossing her arms. “I didn’t expect that. You alright, Grumpcry?”

“Y-yes,” he says, getting to his paws. “I think.”

It’s your turn. As soon as he stands up, you open your mouth and summon the glacial energy within you to shoot an ice shard at him. It hits him square on the head, bouncing off of him with a THWACK.

“Oof,” he groans, falling to his side. “Why did I agree to this again?”

“Get up, Grumpcry!” Spikemom says, pumping her metal fist in the air. “Show her your mettle!”

“Metal? You’re the Steel type, what’s metal got to do with--”

You roar, which would usually scare lesser opponents, but it comes out as a tiny squeak. Spikemom tries not to laugh, and you almost growl at her, but Grumpcry gets up to his feet and roars back. It’s much louder and it rings through your ears, dazing you. You lose your footing and slip on the floor, flat on your belly.

“This is your last warning!” Grumpcry says. “I don’t want to hurt you, but you’re pushing my buttons!”

You get up and shake the fear off your coat. “You don’t have buttons. You have fur.”

“I know, but--” He shakes his head. “Never mind. Let’s end this.” Sparks fly from his fur, making yours stand up on end. He fills the whole room with electrical energy, so much so, the light at the top fizzles out. Somehow, you don’t feel weakened by this, even as he’s about to attack, but you feel energised. In fact, something bursts from within you, like some sort of hidden power. You open your mouth and a wind starts howling.

Snow spews out of your maw like an avalanche, covering the whole room in ice. Grumpcry tries to dodge out of the way, but is caught in the blast and his fur freezes up, getting him stuck to the ground. The plates fly everywhere, even out of the room and out the windows.

“Oh shi--” Spikemom dodges out of the way of a plate, which shatters where she once stood. You want to stop, and so you close your mouth, but you can’t. It’s like snow vomit, or whatever people call it. You don’t know how long it lasts, but eventually, the storm within you subsides and you fall to the floor. You would be knocked out cold if your body wasn’t already like a walking bag of ice to begin with.

The room around you is covered in ice. The Luxray is completely still, encased in the same stuff as well, but his eye is still moving anyway. He’ll thaw out eventually. You don’t know where Spikemom is, but you’re too tired to think about that. Having satisfied yourself on a good fight after a surge of power, you close your eyes and drift off to sleep.



You wake up when something knocks from far away. Despite all of the mess around the two, Spikemom goes to investigate on her own, leaving you curled up in the middle of Grumpcry’s bed. Something creaks, and you hear voices from far away.

“Oh, hey.” It’s Skysong. You get out of bed immediately and run towards her, pawing at her leg.

“It took you ages!” you say.

“It only took me a few hours.” She kneels down and pets you like the good fox you are. “But I found out a way to get home.” She picks you up and turns to Spikemom “Thanks for taking care of her. I think I can carry her with me safely from now on since it’s cooler.”

Hehe, thanks,” Spikemom says. “It was fun havin’ her here.”

“Well, I appreciate it,” Skysong says. “C’mon, Pixie. I’ll need you to lead the way.”

She puts you back on your feet, and you watch as Skysong waves goodbye. Spikemom winks at you and does the same, before the door closes and you’re left alone with your trainer once more. You walk her through the maze of concrete, yipping so she doesn’t lose her way. You are a good fox, and you will help Skysong in return for giving you what you truly deserve: cuddles and a new harness. But mostly a new harness.

Tony Lefevre

Having signed out of the conservation centre, you start heading home. It isn’t a long way and the night breeze is nice; not too cold for your summer uniform. There’s still a lot of bustle in Ambrette, as the Mantine handlers by the coast are hollering in the air as they’re riding their Pokemon through the seas, and there are a few tourists coming out from the various pubs in town. Generally though, there is that sense of unquietness that follows you around until your thoughts stop to ruminate on the past events.

You have a Luxray named Shine. You know this, but you scarcely think of the Luxray as your Pokemon, but rather, your… Well, friend isn’t quite the right word. You don’t go out with him very often, as you’re mostly at work, and when you’re home, you mostly provide for him and try to lift him up. Shine isn’t the sort of Pokemon to socialise much, but somehow, you sense he’ll get better over time. The Lucario coming back into his life will help at least, even though she seems wary of your responsibilities over him as a trainer. You can’t help that, and besides, you’re just a trainer in name only. You went through the same exams a trainer had to go through to get their license, which cost a lot, but you’ve never had a single battle with him around. It’s a far cry from the rose-tinted fantasy the games and anime portrayed, taken over by something a lot more mundane.

Are you disappointed? Not really. If you wanted to take on that lifestyle, you would’ve done so as a kid. Your parents wouldn’t have thought any less of you, and to this day, after the struggles you went through to get to your position, they still don’t. They still call you, and even though they’re back in their homeland on Alola, they’re proud of you, and you feel the same towards them. You don’t feel so alone. In the temporary moments where you get Shine to come out of his shell for a little bit, you don’t feel that alone either.

But the sensation that something’s missing nags at you. It follows you around like a thundercloud and doesn’t leave you.

Deep down, you are alone. You give more than you take with Shine, and since he broke down and started telling his story, this documentary business has consumed you. Most waking moments outside the centre, you spend interviewing, researching and editing for the footage, over one or two years, and it’s still not close to being done. He’s too blocked up to give the full picture about GeL, other than occasionally breaking down and revealing a certain tidbit he had previously repressed. Then, was all of this effort for nothing? What can Curio provide for him that you can’t, since you’ve known him for a latter part of his life? She’s a part of his history, but you are too. He should be able to open up to you by now.

And so, you spend so much time trying to tie up loose ends that you end up spending less time with your human friends. Especially Ines. You know she likes you. She shares her lunch with you sometimes and has a hand in distributing some of your marine videos. She doesn’t need to do that, and yet she wants to. But you haven’t had a night out with her in ages, not even for a little drink. So you just drink at home and forget the what-ifs and could’ve beens.

You stop to gaze at the last of the setting sun and take a deep breath. You’re stressing out too much. This isn’t like you. Then, you suddenly entertain the thought that Shine’s doing this on purpose, so you can baby him for however long he pleases.

Look at you, blaming the victim. How pathetic. No, you will be the adult and suck it up. It’s not his fault, and you should be there for him. You have a responsibility to take care of your Pokemon. Not just your Pokemon, but possibly, the one you care for the most above everyone else, for better or for worse. You want to see him smile more. You want him to move on with his life and see that the grass is greener. He knows it deep down, as you’ve seen him do good work for Ambrette’s community. You just need to be patient and let him know Shine has his place in the world, even as a misfit Pokemon.

Deep breaths. This hill is always really steep, isn’t it? At least it gives you enough exercise outside of your rescue dives. But home is not far from here. You forget about the baggage you had before and make the way back to the apartment complex, up the familiar series of steps and up to the second floor. You fiddle with the keys until you pick the right one, and open the door to the familiar comforts of your house.

Your house that has bits of ice and porcelain everywhere.

Somehow, you don’t even react to it, even though your property is in shambles. There’s something whirring in the distance, and you go to investigate, treading carefully in your flip flops through the road of broken plateware. It’s coming from the kitchen. You reach the source of the noise to find Curio thawing Shine out with a blowdryer, being powered by Shine’s tail. Your Luxray is stuck to the floor. Repeat, your Luxray is stuck to the floor. Shine’s eye widens, even though most of his face, save for his mouth, is encased in ice.

“Oh. Hello,” Shine says blankly.

Curio turns around, completely nonplussed. “Yo.”

Your apartment is a mess, your Pokemon has literally been iced, and your windows are broken. You take a deep breath and break this down, bit by bit, as you try not to crack. Slowly, you reach out to the fridge, budge open the frosted door, take a can of ice-cold beer out and down it in one gulp. With a hiccup, you place it on the slippery counter and rub your head.

“You two. We’re going to have a very long talk.”
 

kintsugi

golden scars | pfp by sun
Location
the warmth of summer in the songs you write
Pronouns
she/her
Partners
  1. silvally-grass
  2. lapras
  3. golurk
  4. booper-kintsugi
  5. meloetta-kint-muse
  6. meloetta-kint-dancer
  7. murkrow
  8. yveltal
“Hold on, um, Mister Shine,” Accendare chimed in. “Can I join in with Petri’s lesson as well?”
pls pls let this actually be relevant to the plot of the story I would read an entire chapter of these two derps learning how to speak good with Mr. Shine

“Y-yes Sir!”
Dropped a comma before 'sir' I think

“Don’t talk! You seem weird! Wait there!”
Ahhh! She is the cutest and I love her.

If he had to guess, she came from a similar background and got captured to be on the vineyard’s guard.
Oh, hmmm, I guess this never came up earlier -- how does capturing work in this world? I got the feel from the first chapter that they're sort of second-class citizens, but capturing implies some sort of assault/battery/kidnapping component, which is harsh even for second-class citizens that's a sentence I never thought I'd type If Pokemon are pretty universally accepted to be capable of thoughts/sentience, is it okay in this universe to enlist them in tasks against their will?

She scurried in front of Shine and stood on her hindlegs, trying her best to imitate the bipedal jackal.
why are your side characters so perfect

There was another Pokemon with a white body and a poofy tail comforting him. He knew he was his friend, but couldn’t piece together who. Then there was something else in an arena of some kind. The floor was covered in a type of artificial turf. There was a group. He was the last one to be picked, yet again. He was alone, yet again. Then there was something else. Something. Someone.
Cincinno? Shiny eevee?

Also I'm really digging the return of this subplot. So far I also love the calm-paced exploration of your world with a sideplot of trying to hunt down Curio, and I feel like things are really going to go up to eleven once the two meet up again. But nuanced discussions of scientific experimentation labs in this universe?? Sign me up.

“Nothing to apologise for, mate.” He tapped his back. “Look, if you wanna talk it over, join us on the couch. We ain’t therapists or anythin’, but we give help when others need it. It’s what we do.”
Ahhhh. This scene and everything that follows is really tender. You have a really good knack at establishing characters on an archetype or two and then fleshing them out into deep, meaningful interactions, and I particularly liked where this one went. Shine's concerns are pretty valid, tbh, and you do a great job of having Barely address them without belittling them. Really looking forward to seeing what happens when Tony and Shine get back together; I expect you'll take it in a way that I'm not expecting!

Ah! And now we're all pumped up and ready to go into chapter three. bear with me as i catch up slowly
 

windskull

Bidoof Fan
Staff
Partners
  1. sneasel-nip
  2. bidoof
  3. absol
  4. kirlia
  5. windskull-bidoof
  6. little-guy-windskull
  7. purugly
  8. mawile
Alright, let's take a look at both parts of Dendemille’s Brawlers, since it seems like a good idea to review these together.

To start off, I absolutely loved the little story in the flashback. It was adorable, sad, and such a nice little worldbuilding touch. I love seeing legends and stories within a bigger story. The ending in particular resonated very well.

Nurse Boy. Just. Nurse Boy.

God. Shine is such a soft boy (I love it).

“Well,” Curio said, “them’s the breaks, I guess. Hopefully we won’t have to deal with those guys ever again. Hopefully.”
Part of me gets the feeling that they will have to deal with them again at some point.

“Eh, I returned them to the station; I wasn’t gonna hold onto ‘em like an idiot.” She grinned. “Might’ve nicked a few notes here and there, but nobody’ll notice.”
Curio. Curio please. I feel like this is a nice little informant of her character and how she views the world.

I dunno. I like rats but I’m not sure I’d want to eat at a place called The Yellow Rat. On a different note though, I love the idea of various types of pokemon cafes.

The human speech lesson was cute.

Ooof. Can’t wait to see - besides apparently abandoning her - what else happened to the duo to cause this falling out. What terrible event separated them. Obviously we saw a hint of it at the beginning, but there’s more to it than that I’m sure. It also seems that Curio doesn’t think highly of pokemon trainers. Or at least pokemon that have a trainer. Curious…

Perhaps that was the price to pay for being human.
That last line. Damn, if that ain’t poetic. If I remember what You’ve said before correctly, it really encompases a lot of what your fic is themed around. What pokemon gain and lose in their attempts to be more “human.” I'd argue this has been probably the most solidly delivered line thus far.

On to part two!

Or Claws call, as it were.
Leave. (Please don’t I love puns.)

Training montage!

I appreciate that you don’t write the move names out in fights unless it’s needed to help us understand the attack.

I like the idea of towns having a little (or not so little) park area dedicated specifically to battling. I mean, in a world where battling is such a big thing, it only makes sense that most places would have it.


“Um, I left him at home.”
I’m sorry, the mental image of a pokemon telling someone they left their trainer at home is just… Hilarious.

Also, I like that you briefly touch upon the “four moves” mechanic while making it make sense in-universe. And that you cover it in a single line. It absolutely makes sense that they can use all sorts of moves that they can learn at any time, but that in a regulated fight, they’re only allowed to use four.

Well, that didn’t last long. Guess it makes sense, if Curio tries to stay battle-ready.

Ah, I’m glad those two talked out some of their differences and air things out. I have a feeling we’ll be learning about Shines bad blood with trainers at some point in the future, as I imagine there’s more to it than meets the eye.

And it looks like Curio will be coming back with Shine! For now, at least. But we still have a whole chapter to go, so I imagine things won’t go totally smoothly, now will they. Guess I’ll have to read on and find out. Hoping to do so soon!
 

kyeugh

you gotta feel your lines
Staff
Pronouns
she/her
Partners
  1. farfetchd-galar
  2. gfetchd-kyeugh
  3. onion-san
  4. farfetchd
chapter 8
getting back into it! i guess we’re in another interlude chapter here, huh? i was expecting to get right into the new arc here to be honest, but the interlude is kind of welcome, especially since shine hasn’t had much downtime with curio yet. well, here goes...!
Dread washed over Shine as it was the first time he had ventured alone on such short notice, and didn’t know how Tony would react to his departure.
am i misremembering, or didn’t shine take tony’s savings with him too!? i’d be more worried about that, personally...
As he came in, the smell of oil drifted through the air, along with a symphony of sauces and other spices. It was stir fry night for his trainer, evidently. The radio also played, as Tony sung along with the tunes on there.
couple things here. first is that “the smell of oil” actually made me think of motor oil, so it might be good to refer to it specifically as “cooking oil” here. also, the last sentence reads kind of awkwardly for some reason... i might rearrange it to go like “The radio was playing too, and Tony was singing along with it,“ or something like that.
Se didn’t even need to respond to that.
Se?
“Oh, this is terrific; that’s great news!
this semicolon feels kind of weird. i think it’d be better if these were just separate sentences.

anyway, i’m glad tony’s taking all this so well! i think ultimately if tony blew up or whatever it would be maybe an interesting interpersonal drama for a moment but would more likely just eat up time and distract from the wider plot, especially given that this is an interlude. it’s nice that his documentary will make some progress, since i’m pretty curious about GeL myself... i’d love to just read tony asking curio about GeL and getting direct answers, although something tells me it won’t be quite that easy. :p

Look, shithead,” she yelled, wagging her paw at him, “you can’t just film me like some safari Pokemon, so turn that camera off before I cram it up your ass!”
ah, not quite that easy indeed. woof.
“Alright, I understand.” Tony put his plate to the side and clasped his hands together. Despite Curio’s glass-shattering gaze, he wasn’t intimidated, but confronted her with a confident gaze of his own. “You want to get to the point already. Shine already told you about the project, so you’ll probably want to know when to start.”
dang. this is the first really close look we get of tony, and it seems like he’s just as level-headed as shine’s thoughts seemed to imply. even though that stands in stark contrast to curio’s hotheadedness, something tells me she’ll appreciate that quality... he seems to adjust well to her no-nonsense attitude, at least.[
“I know what I’m doing,” Tony said in a heartbeat. “I just want Shine to get better. If I can uncover this story, that’s only a bonus, but even then, I don’t plan on selling it. Not that it would make much money, if any at all. Since you are his friend, though, and he has talked about you, I understand you’d be worried.”
wait, so what’s the point of the documentary then? is he just putting it on youtube for free or something? if he doesn’t post it at all, i’m not sure i understand the advantage in making it a documentary rather than just doing research for his own purposes.
She grit her teeth, then clapped her paw and hand together.
* gritted
“Who’s they?”
it took me a long time to figure out what this was supposed to mean. it might be good if you have her gesture to the picture or something.
At the same time, it had that homely vibe, with the familiar interview couch Shine had more or less tolerated.
not a big thing, but something to consider: in american english, “homely” actually means ugly/unattractive, so it might be good to replace it with a word that has the meaning you want more universally, like “homey” even.
Maybe if this was an art house film or something, like that one shot of Jubilife Tower that went on for eight hours.
hahahaha omg. thank you for this.
“Where I want to start is how my interest in humans began. You’re all such weird creatures. You can grow facial hair, you can walk on two legs, well, we can, but not every other Pokemon, and you have completely different rules to what Pokemon have. No Pokemon could’ve come up with a society where they make us lesser beings fight, after all. Probably, don’t quote me on that. But that’s what I found so delightful about you humans; the way you moved, the way you acted, it was all strange, and I wanted to see how it all worked. That’s what’s led me to where I am now.
dang, this is kind of interesting. really makes you wonder how curio gets to the point she’s at as far as trainers go. i guess she mentioned having been burned by one before, iirc? but i honestly couldn’t have predicted this curious (lol) streak in her wrt humanity... definitely interesting.

this is an interesting chapter! once again, feels more like a transitional one, but that works here... it is an interlude after all. :p the framing documentary structure that i assume will persist over the next couple chapters is interesting, and kind of reminds me of the dynamic with the real world and the digital world that you write into Outside the Frame, if that makes any sense. also reminds me of the kingkiller chronicles, and i’m sure that’s not a coincidence. :’D i also think this opens the door for the story to be kind of a hodgepodge of stories across time rather than a strictly linear one, which is kind of cool and feels inspired. excited to see where it goes!

something i noticed in this chapter is that you tend to use commas a lot in these sort of oddly-structured, run-on sentences where other punctuation would probably work better, like here:
You can grow facial hair, you can walk on two legs, well, we can, but not every other Pokemon, and you have completely different rules to what Pokemon have.
there are two different ideas going on here, so i think it would make sense to write it more like “You can grow facial hair, you can walk on two legs—well, we can, but not every other Pokemon—and you have completely different rules to what Pokemon have.” on the other hand, there are some weird punctuation choices, like the semicolon thing i pointed out earlier. i picked up on these a few times throughout the chapter to the point that it was kind of jumping out at me and becoming slightly distracting, so i thought i’d point it out here. i haven’t noticed something like this in previous chapters for what it’s worth.

anyway, yeah! good stuff, excited for the chance to dig into curio’s past since she seems like a pretty strange cookie. thanks for sharing, keep up the good work!
 

Tanuki

Friend of All Chu
Location
Rhyme City
Pronouns
He/him/his
Really great start here. Seeing her just be an utter tool for no reason at all was hilarious, and Shine standing up to her was cathartic. It was a great introduction that all felt super in character from everyone involved. Even showed a bit more about the characters, like just how much Curio hates trainers. I have a suspicion she's not fond of humans either, but we'll see.

The Kingdra flashback was also a clever little aside. It showed off how calm cool and collected Tony really is so his response—or more, lack thereof—to Curio's shitheadery didn't feel out of place. It helped characterize Tony a bit more, which is great since we haven't seen all that much of him.

I'm wondering, though, if you could sprinkle a bit more characterization for him in there earlier. There's plenty of times when Shine talks about him, but it's usually just about how nice he is. Maybe a few inner monologue tidbits (like his favorite stirfry or something) could seep into Shine's thoughts. Doesn't have to say them out loud, but when I think of people, I usually find myself drifting just a little bit and thinking about some innocuous detail.

Showing little, irrelevant bits like that would be a nice touch so readers feel like they know Tony before the meeting. If that were the case, it'd strengthen the emotional reaction to Curio being so unreasonable to him for basically no reason other than prejudice. It'd feel more like she was insulting tge reader's friend than just Shine's trainer (which is admittedly bad enough on its own since we've already got such a strong emotional connection to our precious boy).

Here's a few quotes that struck me for one reason or another.
Kratos was about to object that no, he did not have amnesia, he remembers the last four thousand years or so up until this point fine, but then he realized they probably weren't going to listen and decided to just roll with it.
Maybe not all civil.
I think this is technically right, but I think "all that civil" would read a bit more naturally. There is the sense that you're saying it won't be all civil, but since "all that ___" is such an established phrase, it feels a bit awkward without that.
Se didn’t even need to respond to that.
Shine? He? Either works, but I severely doubt you meant to combine the two into "Se."
She fidgeted in her seat, trying to find the most comfortable position where she wasn’t squashing her tail, and relaxed.
I liked this because of how simple it was. I'd attempt to get into her every single movement, but describing it simply like this is a lot better. It's an easier read, and the image is clear enough without any distracting extraneous details. (This is less for you and more for me; I'm gonna see about implementing this kind of thing into my own work.)

Overall, a really nice read as always. Funny, tense, lighthearted, fun. The post-evil corporation pokémon slice of life I never knew I needed. I always love reading your writing.
 

NebulaDreams

Ace Trainer
Partners
  1. luxray
  2. hypno
pls pls let this actually be relevant to the plot of the story I would read an entire chapter of these two derps learning how to speak good with Mr. Shine
Yes, in fact, it'll be the focus in a few chapters as well as its own mini-arc.
Oh, hmmm, I guess this never came up earlier -- how does capturing work in this world? I got the feel from the first chapter that they're sort of second-class citizens, but capturing implies some sort of assault/battery/kidnapping component, which is harsh even for second-class citizens that's a sentence I never thought I'd type If Pokemon are pretty universally accepted to be capable of thoughts/sentience, is it okay in this universe to enlist them in tasks against their will?
Uhhhh, maybe I should've discussed it earlier? It is essentially the same as how Pokemon capturing works in the games/anime, but it depends on Pokemon to Pokemon. Even if there's nothing that explicitly says so in the law, because they haven't caught up yet, capturing someone like Shine is considered bad etiquette. I think I should've made it clearer that the Leafeon was more of a feral, since Pokemon grow more cognisant depending on the environment they're brought up in (similar to Seiren), so it would imply that Leafeon was captured while she was in that state and still isn't really domesticated to an extent.
Nurse Boy. Just. Nurse Boy.
Thank cani for that.
I dunno. I like rats but I’m not sure I’d want to eat at a place called The Yellow Rat. On a different note though, I love the idea of various types of pokemon cafes.
I mean, there are rat cafes around, so there are already real world equivalents. Bearing that in mind, I would be a bit iffy in a rat cafe; a cat cafe's enough of a health and safety headache.
wait, so what’s the point of the documentary then? is he just putting it on youtube for free or something? if he doesn’t post it at all, i’m not sure i understand the advantage in making it a documentary rather than just doing research for his own purposes.
To be honest, this also should've been made more clear. I don't think I even had that line in the previous revision (plus, there was a bit of an infodump in Shine's backstory that was cut out of this revision to sprinkle in later), so I'd be happy to take it out or expand on it in the edit. He does want to spread the word about it, but it did start with him just doing it for Shine's sake.

Chapter 16. Interlude - Ambrette's Climbers

The next day started on an odd note. Shine greeted Tony as he was about to head out of the apartment for work. As the front door closed, however, something splashed outside, much to Shine’s amazement. Then, the door opened again to reveal his trainer with a bucket on his head; his entire body dripping wet and covered with glitter.

"What on Earth?" Shine said, aghast.

Tony pried the bucket off and tossed it aside with a disgusted and a literally-gleaming expression.

"That's what I want to know! Ugh!" He wrung his Alolan shirt dry outside. “I mean glitter, really? What idiot put that above my doorstep?”

Well, that’s a childish prank to play on someone.”

“Yeah, exactly!” He groaned. “Never mind. I need a quick shower and some new clothes. I’m gonna have the time of my life getting that shit out of my laundry later.”

Tony rushed to the shower to rid himself of the shimmering substance. Shine thought he'd save some time for him by getting him a new change of clothes, all wrapped up beforehand for him, which he picked up with his mouth and laid at the nearest couch. He also thought he'd see who was responsible, if they were still around, so he turned on his golden vision to see through the walls outside. He saw a Lucario hanging around on the opposite side of the floor, although one particular detail about their left arm told Shine everything he needed to know about who the perpetrator was. He clenched his teeth, waiting for Tony to leave so he could tell Curio off.

Time passed. Tony emerged from the bathroom, scrambling to put his new change of clothes on, and thanked Shine before he left work for good. The Luxray waited a moment before checking outside, and who else would be waiting for him but Curio?

"Yo!” she said, sporting a toothy grin. “Hope you slept well after yesterday!"

"Why did you do that?” He bared his fangs. “After what I told you about being patient with him?"

"Yeah, I understood that. Doesn't mean I can't twist his arm a little, huh?"

"Yes, but he might be late for work thanks to you."

"Oh well, he'll be fine. Now--" she rubbed her paws together-- "what're we up to today?"

He wasn’t sure if he wanted to spend time with Curio after that. And yet, it would’ve been their first chance to explore Ambrette together, and the alternative would’ve been reading on his lonesome all day. So, he relented, but not before shooting her a stern look.

"Apologise first and I'll tell you."

"Alright, fine, sorry."

"And say you're sorry to Tony when you meet him as well."

"Yeah, I got it! Now, what're we doing?"

"Alright, thank you.” He sighed and moved back into the house with Curio, thinking about what the two would do around town since she would be the tourist in this situation. There were plenty of places, but where would he start? Her life seemed more exciting than his, so could he show anything of worth to her?

“Why not a house tour?” she said with a shrug. “I mean, we don’t have to do anythin’ balls to the wall. I’m fine with chilling for the rest of the day.”

Never mind the fact she had called the place a shithole the night before. Still, that reassured Shine a little, and he agreed to take her around as he navigated her through the apartment.

The first place he thought of was his bed, right in the corner of the living room. It consisted of a round plush bed with an assortment of cushions, a light stand, and a lengthy bookcase installed near Shine's height at the back. He was quite proud of the little study space Tony pulled together, and whenever he had trouble sleeping and wanted to be on his own, he’d pull out one of the books and read until he had his face buried in the pages.

"Cute,” Curio said with a quirked eye, “did, er, Tony do that?”

“Yes.”

He remembered the time when his trainer tried to assemble the tiny bookcase off by heart; going through many failed attempts until he came up with the finished result. DIY was not his forte, though he pulled it off eventually. That must’ve been some time before he built the studio space. As he was lost in thought, he looked over to Curio, who waited as she stared at her paw. She was probably getting bored already. What else did Shine have that Tony helped him with? Then, it struck him.

"Oh, just remembered! Barley should've sent me a friend request."

"A what now?" Curio said, head cocked. Shine led the way to their computer and turned it on; fans whirring in the background. "Oh! I see! Haven't touched those in ages! So, is this yours or Tony’s?”

“Well, we share it, since he’s outside for most of the day.”

The room was silent for a bit as they stared at the loading screen.

"This might take a little while," he said.

"Whatever you say, mon," Curio said, stomach growling. "I'll be right back."

"Where are you going?" he said, but Curio didn't answer, going into the kitchen without his say-so. He thought of stopping her, as it was customary to ask first before raiding someone else's fridge, but he was sure Tony didn't mind. Besides, Curio wasn't in as comfortable a position as Shine was. He doubted he would’ve been content resting in a sleeping bag himself; not that he hadn’t slept on worse before.

Later, Curio returned to his side, munching on a cucumber as she stared at the start-up screen of the PokeOS. In turn, Shine swung in his seat and put his paw on a trackball, which he used to navigate the screen in lieu of a mouse. The home screen’s wallpaper was of him and Tony smiling together, posing by the beach with various other Pokemon in the background. It was from a day trip out with Ines, who took the picture behind the camera. Curio snorted.

“What?” Shine asked. “I know you still aren’t fond of me and him toge—”

“Nah, it’s just—” She puffed her cheeks. “You two just look kind of cute like that.”

“Cute?” he said with a little snort of his own. He didn’t know what to make of that, but at least that was something from Curio other than dismissal. Well, he carried on anyway, leaning into the microphone to speak. "Celebi, open Diancord.”

His words brought the home page of the titular app up, where Shine had a friend invite from the user ‘ChildishAudino’, which he accepted in kind. At least he had that connection already. Shine had a few mentions on the other servers: one from a roleplaying server whose campaign he was behind on, as well as a few on the general Pokemon server where he discussed the latest news about the games and anime series. There was even one server invite to the Pokespeaker Diancord from Barley, which he also accepted.

"So what is this stuff?" Curio asked.

"Oh, the app or this server?”

“The app. I get that it’s a chat thing, but how are you able to type anything in with those big beans of yours?”

Beans? Oh, right, toebeans. Granted, his paws were indeed big and clumsy to do anything with other than claw at something, but he was able to make the most out of it.

“Tony set it up for me so it can recognise my speech quite easily, so I just use voice chat for the most part. I know a few Pokemon users online, but people don’t seem to recognise I’m a Pokemon myself until I point it out to them.”

Her ears twitched to that. "No way, that’s awesome!”

Shine swivelled to her direction. “I’m surprised you haven’t used this before.”

"Ya know--” she bit a huge chunk off of her breakfast, "I don't boffer wiff that thort of thuff. I travel a lot, and iff not like I can afford a fanfy computer like that."

"Really? Have you not been to the library once since you escaped? They do have computers there you can use for free."

"A few timeth, for filmth and stuff." Curio swallowed. "Never really had the need to be cooped up in a library all day." Then, Curio's face lit up, tapping the monitor.

"Don't do that, the screen's sensitive."

"Hold up, I'm trying to think! Ooh, can you search up GeL and see if anything's there?"

Shine shook his head. "Sadly, I've found nothing."

"Oh come on!” She leaned into the monitor. “Celebi, search the Gestalt Learning Facility thingy!”

As predicted, only a few hundred results showed up. When faced with this, Curio overtook the trackball and scrolled through all 900 of the search results, only to find they were all unrelated to the GeL project, just links leading to Gestalt theory. Shine had tried the same thing himself, and while the notes on Gestalt theory were useful, which viewed a person’s education as a whole rather than the sum of its parts, he was no closer to finding anything about his past through that information.

"What the…”

"Sorry." Shine shifted himself forward, wheeling him back in place. "As far as I know, all of it's been covered up. Me and Tony looked everywhere, even at the old archives in all the libraries we could go to and couldn't find anything. If it's not on the Web, it's not anywhere else."

Curio gave Shine a hard look, and for a moment, Shine could see that hollowness in her eyes, the same one he saw days before when he first mentioned GeL. Then it disappeared and Curio looked her usual chirpy self again.

"Oh well," she said, "worth a shot anyway." Curio popped the last of the cucumber in her mouth, chewing the rest noisily, much to Shine’s chagrin. “How about we go to the square, if there is one?”

Indeed, there was. He wasn’t about to go on a shopping trip since he was barred from buying any more treats, but it would’ve been nice to see the regulars there. Maybe Curio would’ve gotten something by talking to them. And with that, Shine made his way out of the complex with Curio and walked through the sun-baked streets to the town centre as it started to become more crowded towards noon.

Tourists in casual wear came with their Pokemon, carrying various things such as toys, balls and surfboards for the beach as the tide was picking up. To Shine’s sensitive pink nose, there was a faint air of collective body odour coming in from the crowd, but he didn’t think to complain about it. It was summertime when it was acceptable to walk in nothing but your briefs, after all.

Deeper into the plaza, the stalls were already out in the very centre of the town, selling bread, berries, berry preserves to spread on bread, ice cream, and other knicknacks every grocery shopper could hope to chance upon. Well, except for the fish. That strong stench always seemed to sting Shine’s nostrils, but never mind. He glanced at Curio, who had disappeared near a stall that sold pastries, reaching out towards a scone while the owner tended to his stock at the back. Shine went up to her quickly before she could lay her paw on it and nudged her leg.

"What are you doing?" he whispered.

"Whaddya think?” she blurted out, retracting her sticky fingers.

"Can I help you at all?" the owner chimed in, staring at the one armed Lucario, dumb-struck. He caught Shine and smiled to him. "Oh, hello, Shine. Do you want the usual?"

Shine sniffed at the contents of the stall and leaned towards them, mouth watering at the sweet smells of caramelised apples and cinnamon topped crusts. He only got so far before he shook his head and pulled away.

"No thanks, I'm afraid. Tony…" He wasn’t proud of admitting he had stolen his trainer’s savings out loud, so he settled for a convenient lie. “A-actually, I’m on a diet.”

He nodded. "Fair enough. Our turnovers will be waiting for you in the future." Shine bowed to him and shot a glance at Curio to wrangle her out of the scene.

“On a diet, huh?” she said with a grin. “Yeah, my foot.”

"Never mind that,” Shine said, “were you about to steal from him?"

"Yeah, so?”

"So? I don't want your first day to be spent talking to the city watch."

"Second day. And I wouldn't've needed to if you didn’t stop me."

Shine was beginning to rethink becoming friends with a kleptomaniac. His poor heart could’ve only taken so much without being put on a wanted poster as a partner in crime, after all. He was about to tell her off when—

“Shine!”

The voice of his former student called out to him, belonging to the Bunnelby called Bobby. Shine turned to the source as Bobby started to bounce over to him, well, not so much bounce as do a half-hop half-skip. One of the Bunnelby’s legs was missing, so he hopped on one leg, and unfortunately, caught himself on the floor, making the poor Pokemon trip over his own feet. Shine immediately went up to him, ignoring Curio for the moment.

"You alright?" Shine said.

"Yeah," Bobby said, smiling as he picked himself back up. "Just gettin’ by. Me and me lame leg, always in the way.”

Shine winced at that, though he changed the subject. “Have you still been practising?”

“Yeah, I guess! It’s slow learnin’, but you gave me some good books to read, so I’m tryin’.”

“Good to hear,” he said with a smile. Admittedly, he missed teaching him, so it was a rare joy to see a student getting on so well.

"Up for some biscuits, then? In the house is what they say, ain’t it?"

On the house,” he corrected, switching to human for emphasis. “Wrong preposition. But anyway…” He would’ve said yes to that right away, only to be offset by Curio’s smirk.

“Remember, you’re on a diet.”

“Uh, ignore her,” Shine said. “Throw in some cookies for my friend as well.”

“You’re just bribing me at this point,” she said, then shrugged, “but I’ll take it.”

Bobby nodded to them, then sprung up on the table counter by his stall. He waved his paws in front of him as he almost lost balance, but was able to steady himself in time, then gestured the two to come over to them as he sat by his trainer. The human co-owner of the stall, Hilda, noticed Shine next, giving him a dimpled smile across her wrinkled and friendly features.

"'Ello!" she said, reaching a hand out, "where've you been?"

"Out on a trip, ma'am," Shine said, gladly accepting her head pats, "how are the kids?"

"Oh, same old, same old. They won't stop pesterin' Bobby each time they get off school. Since he’s been talkin’ to ‘em, they won’t let 'im up, not even for one second, I tell you." She guffawed in the air, being her loud self, as usual. Then she turned to Curio and rubbed her hands together.

"Hello there! You're a pretty girl, aren't you, yes you are, yes you are!" She spoke in a high pitched squeal as she approached Curio, ready to pet her.

"Are you high or somethin', lady?" she deadpanned. “And how’d you know I’m a girl?”

"Ooh, this one’s got a mouth on her, doesn’t she?" Hilda retracted her hands, wide-eyed, though nonetheless happy to be looking at a Lucario. "You certainly bring the most interesting Pokemon with you, Shiny-dear."

"I do?" Shine asked. "Oh, how rude of me. Curio, meet Hilda. Hilda, meet Curio."

He glanced at Curio and prodded her with his tail. If all went well, Curio would let down her guard and be the civilised Pokemon she was meant to be. Thankfully, she smiled, and handed Hilda her paw.

"Nice meetin' ya. Lay off the baby talk and we can be friends."

"Will try." Hilda returned the offer and gave her a handshake. "Don't mind me, force of habit, is all. You close with Shine?"

"Yeah, I guess you could say that."

"Closer than that, maybe?"

"Dream on, lady."

Hilda gave her signature boisterous laugh and walked to the opposite end of her store. Shine didn’t find that as funny. "Only just teasin', I love a bit o' gossip. 'Ere."

She returned with two bags of homemade biscuits, which was tradition for Shine to get whenever they met. Curio beamed at the sight of it.

"For you and Shiny-dear." She handed both bags for Curio, one for her and another one for Shine that she held onto for now. "'Ave one now if you'd like."

"Well, gee, thanks." Curio undid the plastic wrap and devoured one of the biscuits, humming as she chewed. "What do you put in thith, thith is goof!"

Another dimpled smile. "That's a secret, dearie." She turned to Shine. "Anything planned for t'day?"

"Well, we’re still deciding. I’m just showing her around town.”

"Hah, not much goin’ on ‘round here, I’m afraid, least not ‘til the festival." Hilda said. “Keep your eyes out for the summer solstice; I know I will since that’s where the money’s at.”

Will do, thanks,” Shine said with a bow. In turn, Curio smiled at her.

"Keep up the good work, lady," she said, popping another biscuit in her mouth. "Peath."

They went off to explore more of the stalls, while were made up of some familiar faces that greeted Shine and not-so familiar faces that stared at the two as they passed by. Even though he was familiar with Ambrette at this point, he was trying not to let the attention get to him. But after exploring long enough, they looped back to Hilda’s stall, where they caught a glimpse of Bobby serving a customer, counting with the digits of his paws.

Nine-ty, please.”

The customer handed over the change and Bobby carefully navigated through the tupperware maze to retrieve a bag of caramel shortbread.

Thanks.”

Shine smiled, as it always warmed his heart to see his former student putting his work to good use. Curio nudged Shine with her foot.

“So you taught him, huh? Good for you.”

“It’s the least I can do for being a part of this town. And besides, well, he needed it.” He looked at the Bunnelby again as he couldn’t help but frown. “He couldn’t fight in the league since he lost his leg, so he needed to distract himself with something else. So, he came to me and the rest is history.”

“Sounds like you could make a good business out of that, teachin’ other Pokemon. Why don’t you do what Barley does, but, like, as a job?”

He frowned. Whenever he thought about it, the idea always fell through in his head, as he pictured all sorts of scenarios where he struggled to run a club and got too anxious to continue, overburdened with the responsibility of being on his own. Instead, he answered, “I don’t know. Never thought about it.”

Curio scoffed on one of the cookies. “Whatether. Leth find someplathe elthe.”

Next, they went closer to the seaside, where the tourist parts of the area usually bustled, and today was no exception. As usual, there were lines of people and Pokemon waiting outside for ice cream vendors, and the occasional screaming toddler that came out of the arcades as well. To Shine’s ears, the arcades were basically noise machines, or maybe that was his heightened sense of hearing talking. He wouldn’t have given it a second thought if Curio hadn’t glanced over to them, as she wandered off to get a closer look. Shine just stayed where he was for the moment, waiting for Curio to come back as she seemed rather disappointed.

“All crane and coin games there. Eh.” She shrugged. “I hoped they’d have some of the—”

A loud squawk rang through the skies, and the duo broke away from each other to see Bauble standing on the floor, beak upturned.

"You come to steal him away from me?" Bauble said, staring Curio down.

"And you are?" Curio asked.

"Oh," Shine said, standing beside the Murkrow. "This is Bauble."

“Another friend of yours?”

"Yeah," Bauble said, preening her coat, "and what's it to you?"

"Oh, so you're jealous, huh? Relax, I'm not competing with you, it's not like some friendship measuring contest."

"You're spending time with him without me," she said, "that's competition enough."

Curio shrugged and shoved her arm in her bag, fishing through the rest of its contents. "Say, is it true what they say about you Murkrow liking glowy things?"

"Don't know what you're talkin' about. That won't work on--" Bauble stared in awe as Curio pulled out a red looking stone, a ruby by the looks of it, whose innards gleamed in the sunlight. “Ooh! Shiny shiny!”

"You can have it if you want." Curio laid it on the floor and Bauble immediately flocked to pick it up, keeping it stowed away safely in her mouth. Shine looked at Bauble, who looked as happy as a Clamperl. She must’ve known that was fake, right? Or was it?

"I promise I'll spend time with you as well." Shine said and bowed to her. “Thanks to you, I was able to find an old friend I haven't seen in a long time. I'm truly thankful."

Bauble laid the stone back on the pavement and smiled at him. "Well, make it up to me later, will ya? Oh, weird person!” She glanced at Curio. “Thanks for the shiny!" And with that, the bird picked the ruby back and bobbed her head to them as she took off in the air, disappearing past the buildings.

"Weird,” Curio said, “imagine you, hangin’ around with a Mon like that.”

“What do you think I’m doing right now?” Shine said with a grin.

Curio kicked his behind, which they both laughed off. They strolled through the beach, passing by a couple and their Pokemon that passed a ball over a net (wasn’t it cheating to use a flying-type Pokemon for volleyball?), some sunbathers as their red faces caught the rays, and other things that eventually faded into the background. Curio didn’t seem to take much notice in it, and Shine was starting to worry that he was boring her again.

Eventually, they decided to go up a path that led to the cliffside, which gave them a good view of the town from up high. The amusements they had passed by moments ago was just a speck beside the blue chunk of sea, and down below the edge, they could see both the aquarium and the marine centre.

"So," Curio said, “what does Tony actually do? I know he dives and stuff."

"That's only a small part of the job. A lot of it is just checking out the environment by the seaside, examining the life there and collecting data based off of it. If any Pokemon's in serious danger, his job is to help rescue and rehabilitate them."

"Sounds exciting."

"I've heard it can be, but he says it's mostly just dealing with paperwork."

"Eh, maybe not then."

Curio stopped, taking a closer look at the building, which was connected to the back of the aquarium and functioned as a backdoor office to it. She squinted her eyes at it, or rather through it, as Shine had seen that look quite a few times whenever she was about to read something's aura. She looked back to Shine and put a paw on her chin quizzically.

"Say, what do you call those Pokemon that have arms and such, but their lower half is just a fin?"

"Is this the start of a joke?"

"Not this time."

"Ah, well." He hadn't checked out what the office was working on the day he heard the news surrounding Curio. Tony seemed to be busier than usual since he got back, but it didn't occur to him until the aura Pokemon mentioned it. He turned on his golden vision to confirm her description, and true to her word, there was a finned Pokemon that rested in some sort of aquatic chamber. If he remembered correctly, that Pokemon was...

"A Primarina."

"Huh," Curio said, "strange. How did that get here?"

"It's not exceedingly rare to have Alolan Pokemon wash up on this shore, but I've never seen something as big as that here before."

"Oh yeah?" She took a few steps forward. "Well, let's check it out."

"We can't," Shine said, stopping her. "I'm only really allowed in on the best of days, and that's only because I'm with Tony. Why would they let a random Lucario waltz in?"

"Well, I could just say I'm his new Pokemon and leave it at that. But why not sneak in?"

"Absolutely not. If they’re resting, it's extremely important that we don't disturb them. We don't know why they're there in the first place."

"Well, we can try to take a closer peek, can't we?"

"No," he said flatly.

Curio crossed her arms. "I don't like your attitude. Who peed in your water bowl this morning, for god's sake?"

"That's got nothing to do with that. I'm just following his rules, as you should do this time too."

"Yeah.” She shook her metal fist. "Of course you would, like any good Pokemon leashed to its master."

She stormed off, making her way further down the path as Shine tried to catch up with her. This again. Where was this coming from? His heart beat faster as Curio’s paws inched dangerously closer to the cliff-face.

"Let's not argue about this now, please! Why does everything have to circle back to me being his Pokemon all the time?"

"I dunno!” she yelled. “Why can't you just take a risk for once?"

"This isn't about that, this is about the other Pokemon there. Try thinking about someone else for once."

"And who came along with you for this interview, huh?!" Her feet stomped on the rocky floor, still inching closer to the edge.

"Curio, please, get away from the edge, you're gonna fall!"

"Stop tellin' me what to do, Shine! I--" A rock broke out from under her left paw, making her slip off the edge.

Shine gasped, too shocked for words at first. She… fell. Just like that. Seeing that just now triggered a certain gap in his memory. Something… happened to her, but he had no time to dwell on that, only going by instinct. When he gathered himself, he scrambled immediately to where Curio had fallen, heart beating in his throat. He couldn't see her anywhere below, not even in mid air as he could only see the yellow surface of the beach.

"Curio!” he shouted, "answer me if you're there, Curio! Curio!"

"Hey," a distant voice called, "to your right!"

Shine glanced to his side and saw Curio huddled near the cliff, hanging onto the wall with all four limbs nestled in the crevices. From far away, she craned her neck to look up to him.

“Oh, thank goodness you’re—” he yelped when he realised her predicament-- “wait, what am I doing, I need to send for help!"

"No need! I just have to scale down a bit so I can reach the shore. If I can reach my foot down."

"I can't just leave you hanging there!"

"Sure you can, I'll be fine, I just have to..." Curio's voice trailed off. Shine looked down to see she was kicking at the wall to see where she could put her paw. She struggled for a while, then stopped.

"Bugger. Um, Shine, there isn’t a way down, and I’m not riskin’ the climb up there. I’m gonna do something very stupid. Meet me back down at the shore." Without warning, Curio leapt off.

"Curio!" he screamed. No, not there, not this again. Shine bolted through the rest of the cliff’s path, kicking gravel into the air along the way. He had to make sure she was alright. For his sake. To stop that from happening again. Eventually, he reached the stairs that lead to the beach area, and ran. The blue dot there was all he was anchored to. Was it laying still? No, it was moving. Curio was moving. Once he reached her side, he saw her in full, as she seemed unscathed.

"Curio!” Shine charged over to her. “Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'll be alright,” she said with a smile. “Can you fetch that bag for me please?" Shine nodded and brought it to her, which she clutched with her metal arm. "I might have to head to the Pokemon Centre later though."

Shine cocked his head. "Why?"

"Well--" Curio winced as she raised her right arm, which limped and bent at an odd angle-- "that should be reason enough."

Shine gasped. He stared at the other arm Curio just broke, and a cluster of thoughts rushed in at once.

"Why, your arm, what are you g-going to do?! I-I mean, how did that happen? How are they going to replace it? Why--"

"Don't lay an egg over it. It can be patched up in just a few hours," Curio said as she knelt up, supporting herself with her metal arm firmly on the ground. "They can fix cuts and broken bones of course. See this bad boy for example?” She traced her hand over the large scar which stretched from her muzzle over to the left side of her face. “Really nasty crap happened to me with that, and I made it out fine.”

Shine sighed in relief. No, he told himself, it wasn't like the arm where— never mind. Don’t dwell on it. As long as blood cells could be regenerated or existing bone tissue could be fixed and reconnected, it wasn't a problem. Same went for his ribs back in the fight. That much relieved him. But seeing that happen to Curio, he felt a fiery urge deep in his gut, something he couldn’t quite explain, but burned within him with the heat of the spiciest herbs in Kalos. He just knew that couldn’t happen again.

He sunk his paws deep into the sand, then, taking one pace back, tackled Curio, knocking her to the ground.

"Shine, what the--"

"Don't scare me like that, dammit!" Shine roared in her face. "You've got to be more careful around these parts, I don't even know what would happen if I lost you here suddenly! What were you thinking?!"

Curio scoffed, cracking a nervous smile. “I’ve survived worse; I’m not some hatchling, y’know.”

“I know that, but—” he strayed away from her, then kicked a lump of sand behind him-- “I don’t like seeing you get hurt, in general, I mean. Just… it’s too painful. Please, don’t…”

He was on the verge of tears again. Why that, of all things? He couldn’t even pay attention to his surroundings at that point; he just looked down at the grainy floor beneath him, trying to ground himself. It was fine. It wasn’t like that before. Why was he worrying so much? Yet, why wouldn’t that awful feeling go away, that sense of impending doom he felt in that moment she fell? The sand sank underneath his feet. The sinkhole sucked him in. It--

“Hey,” Curio said. One pat on the back from his friend pulled him back into reality. Then another, which got Shine’s attention that time as he looked back at the Lucario. Her eyes showed a bit of remorse. “You know what, forget it. It was stupid of me to pop off like that. You okay now?”

After some consideration and a few deep breaths, Shine nodded, however reluctantly. “I think I’ve had enough for today.”

“Alright. Can you just take me back to the Pokemon Centre?”

Well, it was on the way back home, so there was no harm in dropping her off there. He was about to head off, only to catch sight of a few passers by eyeing them from a distance. Curio’s fall must’ve caused a scene. To that, Curio snarled, clutching her bad arm.

Oh, take a picture, it freaking lasts longer!”

The crowd dispersed from there.



The last leg of the trip passed in silence. Even though the rest of the town was still as busy as ever, Shine drowned out the noises of the crowd as his thoughts stewed on the events that passed in the past few hours. Never mind the fall; what was Curio playing at before? From what he remembered of the past, she didn't seem that aggressive, but now, he felt like he had to traipse his paws through a path of eggshells to talk with her. If this way how she behaved on a regular day, how would she act when going down to Tony's again, after yesterday's excursion, or today’s prank?

Then, Curio broke the silence.

"Sorry I'm bein’ an ass at the moment."

Shine muttered a reply, not wanting to agree or disagree with her.

"I've got no excuse for it, it's just the way I am sometimes, I guess."

"Whatever." Shine grumbled. He tried to rationalise it in his head, since ‘no excuse’ wasn’t really a good answer. Then, what about her trainer? A lump in his throat formed just thinking about it, but he had to press her further. “Was your trainer really that bad?”

Curio stopped in her tracks, scowling at Shine. “Don’t—”

“No, please, hear me out. If he was… you know, then I do understand.” A pause. Neither of them responded. “I don’t want it to feel like it’s just a one-sided thing, me asking you for help with this GeL report.” He frowned. “Our friendship shouldn’t be like that.”

More silence, with the Wingull singing their evening song above, and the fading chatter of the beachgoers as they walked past the duo. Curio opened her mouth, then stopped, then opened it again.

“My trainer was a girl, by the way.” The anger in her eyes faded. “Look, it’s… complicated. And no, it’s not as bad as you’re thinking; just not something I wanna talk about yet.”

“Alright, I’ll respect that. Just in case you do, though, I’m here.”

“I know.” She sighed, continuing her stroll along with Shine. “And it’s not a one-sided thing, I’m getting just as much out of this as you are, even if it might not look it.”

“Well, thanks,” he said, reassured for now. They were getting closer to their destination. “Are you sure you want to come back tonight though?”

Curio nodded vigorously. "Of course! I wanna talk about what happened at GeL, and I really wanna pick Tony’s brain about it as well! I just need to cool off a bit while I’m at the centre.”

“Alright,” he said with a sigh. He was glad she’d be returning, but this was looking to be one long day already. Speaking of the centre, Shine stopped, as the building with the red adorned top was in front of him. "We’re here. Can you take yourself in?"

"Yeah," Curio said, heading towards the double doors. She turned, but before she entered, she grabbed something out of her satchel and did something with her paws, hidden from Shine’s sight. Finally, she turned, revealing his bag of cookies with something hidden inside the plastic. “There ya go.” She tossed them over to him, which Shine successfully caught with his teeth. Finally, Curio smirked. "Thanks for showin’ me around and stuff. See ya, Sunshine.”

Begrudgingly, he couldn’t help but return the smile.
 
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WildBoots

Don’t underestimate seeds.
Pronouns
She/Her
Partners
  1. moka-mark
  2. solrock
Responding to Chapter 1!

This is a pretty stream-of-conscious review, except I pushed all the grammar/language nitpicks to the end.

The cover art is cute AF. Your art?

The opening scene reads as very raw and real to me tonight — came home to find my roommate with his arm in a sling because he got hit by a car! (He’s okay.) My only critique there is that breaking your paragraphs up even more would heighten the sense of urgency and breathlessness in the chase.

[Hypno-Therapist]
HA!

Interesting that Tony still bears the designation of trainer yet also has a job job. Also interesting that Pokémon seem to have so much independent mobility — going to a bakery or the library. I like the obvious displays of love and respect between Pokémon and trainer here, but I’m finding myself wanting the Pokémon to feel more alien and other. So far, Shine’s perspective feels much like a human’s would. This is probably just a difference in our style preferences, but worth mentioning all the same.

Strong vibes of Xmen’s Beast.

Bauble is a very cute name for a murkrow.

[“A Car-Free Lumiose - Gogoat leads to less congestion, study finds.”]
Nice bit of world-building.

I also liked the considerations about travel in this world. The urgency felt real — she could already be gone.

I wish I had more backstory about Shine and Tony’s relationship. It would add weight to Shine’s decision to go off alone and use Tony’s money.

The weakest part of the chapter for me was Shine reflecting on Curio after failing to get in touch with Tony. I got lost in the sauce with all that internal monologue and too little to anchor to. I feel like that section could be thinned, and some of it might want to move to the moment where he first sees her photo in the paper.

The strongest part of the chapter was watching Shine bargain to get what he needed. I wish it felt like more of a chore/sacrifice for Shine to teach the goodra human tongue, but the sacrifice of the collar felt pretty real.

Grammar nitpicks:

[“C’mon, Shine,” his trainer Tony said. “We should get ready soon.”]
Missing comma after trainer and Tony. (Unless Shine has multiple co-trainers.)

[T-thanks.”]
Should be “th-thanks,” otherwise reads weirdly.

[retrieving a fantasy book for him to sink his teeth into]
Probably the wrong figure of speech, since he has serious teeth and I keep expecting him to behave like an animal.

[Shine ignored Bauble’s cries of protest as he stuffed the newspaper in his mouth and made a beeline for the library’s exit, dashing off further into town where the coast was to Tony's workplace.]
Clunky sentence flow here, especially that last clause. Might want to be two sentences, definitely fewer prepositions.

[Shine saw the most dragons he had ever caught in one area. ]
“Caught” feels off.

[getting a crowd of laughter]
“Crowd” also feels odd.

[slapping Shine across the face with a burst of wind.]
Well, Accendare isn’t the one doing the slapping, right? Would revise to, “Accendare burst forward, and the burst of wind slapped Shine across the face.”

It’ll probably take me a while to get to it, but I plan to keep reading on to the next chapter.
 
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NebulaDreams

Ace Trainer
Partners
  1. luxray
  2. hypno
Thanks for joining, @OldschoolJohto, and for the review!

Strong vibes of Xmen’s Beast.

Huh, I had never thought of him that way, but I guess it fits. They're both blue.

The weakest part of the chapter for me was Shine reflecting on Curio after failing to get in touch with Tony. I got lost in the sauce with all that internal monologue and too little to anchor to. I feel like that section could be thinned, and some of it might want to move to the moment where he first sees her photo in the paper.

Hmm, I'm kind of torn on this one and might need some more clarification. The intent with that scene is that Shine is having a bit of an episode there, at suddenly remembering something new from his past and desperately trying to recall something from that, but being so close, yet so far away. He's looking for something to anchor himself back to reality, hence the line in bold and the cooldown after that. But it might warrant further discussion if it is too long.

---

Chapter 17. Interlude: Ambrette’s Diners

Shine headed back home to the apartment and cooled himself down as he lay in a shady spot. It had turned quiet without Curio, a silence he could've done with after his argument with her. The breeze came in lightly through the window; the toy Chimecho rattling with the wind. The clock ticked in the background. It would've been a couple more hours until Tony came back home.

To pass the time, he thought he'd check the network for any new messages, and he clicked in silence: nothing new from Barley or anyone else. Shine entertained the idea of sending him a message instead, just to say hello, but as he stared at the blank text box, he might as well have been mute as no words could escape his lips. He had a history of making new contacts on that site, only to get too cramped up to reply back.

He abandoned the idea and went back to his usual pastime, getting a fantasy book out from his makeshift shelf and picking a spot in the indoor shade to continue where he left off. Sometimes, it was nice to escape into a completely different world, after all. Even ones that had entirely different ecosystems from his: ones without Pokemon, or ones that had Pokemon without humans, like the Mystery Dungeon games. Sometimes, he toyed with making his own worlds, but those would never be realized.

In the midst of this, he pawed at the bag of cookies Hilda gave him and popped one biscuit in his mouth, savouring its crunchy texture as he read. Then another. Then another. It wasn't until the fourth time he reached out that he picked something else: a photo with those familiar blue ears in the frame. So that's what she hid inside the plastic.

On closer inspection, the photo revealed a shot of Curio together with the girl she mentioned, who had somewhat long hair and wore that signature cap that signified her status as a trainer. The outfit and badges also highlighted that fact. That Lucario stuck her tongue out in the picture while her trainer struck a dumb pose with a Mothim perched on her shoulder, slightly out of frame. Most likely printed from a selfie. This seemed like an innocent scene, so again, why did Curio seem so hostile towards that girl? Never mind that, the most bizarre thing about the picture was Curio's metal arm, which was wrapped in bandages. It didn't hide the fact it was noticeably human-like, but it had the illusion of being more normal. Which again, was odd on its own if Curio kept her arm unwrapped now.

Never mind. He wasn't getting anywhere by dwelling on that. At least Curio gave him more info, which he could discuss with her later, but anyway, back to reading.

Shine read on and on. The ticking of the clock grew louder. He fidgeted in his spot. All the while, there was that lingering feeling of dread, not from forgetting something, but rather, missing something. He glanced at the clock. Only half an hour had passed. He wondered if the clock was fast or slow. Then he shook his head.

This wasn't an unusual day for him to be on his own, and sometimes, that's all he wanted, to be alone, but after spending time with Curio for so long, Shine was at a loss for himself. He stopped reading and paced around the room, figuring out what he should do. The treatment of her arm wouldn't be for a couple of hours or so. He wasn't particularly worried about her well-being, since again, broken bones could've been repaired. Then why had he flipped out at her like that?

Something tugged at the back of his mind. It was a niggle, but the sensation was there all the same. The vague memory of seeing her, back in there, back in that room, strapped to the...

Shine shook his head and looked to the front door. If all he was going to do was wait for time to pass, he might as well have done it where there were people, and where he had a purpose to wait rather than lounging around the house all day. It was decided. He carried the book in his mouth and left the apartment.

He continued reading once he got to the waiting area of the Pokemon centre. Even though he did basically the same thing as he would've in the comfort of his own home, time passed much quicker than in lonely silence. Plus, having people and Pokemon to listen in on every once in a while gave him a sense of belonging, even though he came on his own.

Shine read a few hundred pages of his book before something prodded his side. He looked up and there Curio was, holding her paw up to him as if she hadn't broken it moments ago.

"Is everything alright, now?" Shine said.

"Yup!" Curio said, "Good as new. Again, sorry about earlier."

"That's fine," he said with a smile. "Honestly, I'm just glad you're alright, even though I knew you'd be fine."

"Uh huh, so now whaddo we do?"

"Let's see..." Shine glanced at the big clock in the centre and stood up. "Tony should be back by now, actually. If you have nowhere else to go, you can have dinner with us."

"Please. What's on the menu for today?"

"Steak."

"Ooh, awesome!" Curio rubbed her paws together.

"If you're polite, I'm sure Tony will let you have some."

"I will!"

Shine picked his book up and headed outside with Curio, as they walked in the light of the orange sky. Another beautiful end to the day in Ambrette. His Lucario companion seemed a bit more upbeat this time, walking with a new spring in her step. The trip back to the apartment was nothing to write home about, as Shine carrying his book in his mouth made conversation tricky. As they went up the stairs and stood outside the front door, however, he spat his book out and turned to Curio.

"I got your photo, by the way," Shine said.

"You did?" she replied.

"Yes." He didn't want to add onto the baggage between the former Pokemon-trainer duo, so he let her fill in the blanks if she had anything to say. Perhaps his aura would do the talking for him.

"She printed that for me," she said, wrapping her paw around her metal arm, "right before I left her ass behind. Well, she let me go, so… again, complicated. I guess that was one of her parting gifts."

He hummed to himself, taking that in. Still didn't seem as hostile as she made it sound.

"Did you want it back?"

"Nah, you hang onto it for now. I don't like lookin' at it that much myself."

Again, he wouldn't give an answer for that. Thinking about the way she talked to Tony before-

"I'll make it up to your trainer, though," Curio said with a sad smile. "I… well, you'll see when I head in."

"Alright," Shine said, smiling back. "Just as long as we can put this behind us."

"You got it, Sunny."

She held her paw out in a fist, and in turn, Shine bumped his paw against hers. He'd go in first to see the master of the house just to give him notice about Curio, who he asked to wait outside for a little moment. So, he entered, leaving his book behind for the moment, then joined Tony as he rested on the couch.

"Hello," Shine said. "Hope you didn't have too much trouble rushing into work."

"It's fine," Tony said, smiling as he put his arm around Shine. "I got there just in time, but still, I don't know what the hell happened back then. Well, I have a hunch."

"What h..." Shine trailed off and purred. His one weakness was Tony stroking him in that certain sweet spot at his side. Well technically speaking, ground attacks were his main weakness, but as far as weaknesses went, this was one of the better ones to have.

"How's Curio?" Tony said, taking his hand off.

"Oh, yes, she's fine. Listen." Shine sat up, looking his trainer in the eye. "Do you mind if she joins us for dinner tonight? I know it might be a bit of a tall order considering, well, you know."

He nodded. "I don't mind. I got an extra steak from shopping so that will save it going to waste. Where is she anyway?"

"Just outside. Can I let her in now?"

"Of course."

Shine leapt off the seat and stood on his hind-legs to pull the door open. There, Curio waited outside, facing the glittering seaside view as her legs poked out of the railing. Her ears perked up and she craned her neck towards Shine.

"Is it cool to come in now?" she said, to which, Shine nodded. Curio stood up and came in with him to the living room, propping the book on a shelf on the way there. When she locked eyes with Tony, he smiled at her, but she didn't smile back. A moment passed. The clock still ticked.

"Ahem," Shine said, "I believe Curio wants to say something to you."

"Oh, do I?"
Curio said, laughing nervously. "Um, what is there to say?"

Shine nudged her leg, giving her a pointed look.

"Right." She clasped her paws together. "Tony, I'm sorry for the trouble I caused today. I planted that bucket outside your house. I didn't mean anythin' by it, I just had to get it outta my system, that's all."

Tony raised an eyebrow.

"And-" Curio continued- "I'm sorry for actin' like an ass last night too. And calling your place a shithole. It's a very nice place, actually. Very, uh, what's it called, modernist?"

"Something like that." To diffuse the tension, Tony smirked and batted a hand at her. "But that's alright. Everything turned out fine in the end, so no need to worry." He shielded his mouth with his hand. "It's actually kind of funny, looking back on it."

"So," Curio said, putting a paw on her hip, "you're not mad or anythin'?"

"Don't see any reason to be now."

"Oh, come on!" Curio pointed at him. "After all that, you're still not gonna put up a fight? Say something! Anything!"

Oh god, it was happening again.

"Curio," Shine growled, "why are you behaving like this?"

"I just don't get it! How he's still letting me into his house is beyond me. Like, what part of his brain is missing to make him actually give a damn? Why-"

Tony stood up, approaching her. Curio stopped and took a step back, glancing to the side.

"Curio," Tony said, "please look at me."

She complied. Shine stood beside her and saw Tony's confident gaze: not without scorn, but relaxed enough to appear understanding.

"I will be honest, I wasn't expecting you to react the way you did last night, and you could've handled it a lot better. If this was anybody else, I would've told them to get the hell off of my property."

"Why keep me here at all then?" she said, pouting.

"Because I want to help you. You and Shine both went through a lot of trouble to get here, and after being apart from each other for so long, I can see you're conflicted, and probably just want to vent. This doesn't excuse your behaviour, but I understand what you're going through."

She glowered at him. "No you don't. How could you get anything us Pokemon go through? All the shit I had to suffer just to get here, and you say you understand what I'm going through, in this comfy house of yours?"

This was getting worse by the minute. Then again, there was a time when Shine felt the same way too. For him to eat from garbage cans, only to meet Tony who seemed to have no problems with his life at the time, he used to look at his world through green eyes as well.

More ticking. A deep breath from Curio, then Tony as he broke the silence.

"You're right. I'm not a Pokemon. I'll never know what it means to be one. But given my job, I've helped out a few marine Pokemon in my lifetime, and believe me, I've seen how harsh their world is at sea."

"And me as well," Shine said. "I've had to tell him some horrible things about their pasts."

"Indeed. And of course, I relate to what Shine went through himself. I mean, at this point, he's a good friend of mine, so how could I not?"

Curio clutched her arm again.

"Anyway, maybe 'understand' isn't the right word. I empathise with what you're going through, whatever it is. If we make it far with this documentary, I hope to know more about you through that as well. So, let's start again." Tony held his hand out to her. "Can we forget either of us are human or Pokemon and just get along as people?"

Curio's mouth opened. She stared at the hand for a moment, the breeze still blowing from the window. Then, she gazed at Tony and smiled.

"Yeah," she shook his hand, "sure."

"Thank you. It's nice to make your acquaintance at last, Curio."

"And you, Tony."

Finally, Curio played nice with Tony and didn't kill him in the process. Now Shine could relax, especially since he was having dinner together with them now in the dining area.

There were three plates worth of steaks with cheese topped potatoes on the table, accustomed to each diner's liking and physical capabilities. Both Pokemon and trainer ate as quietly as possible while Curio tore into hers, still using the cutlery, but making somewhat of a mess on the table in the process. After she was done, she groaned, reclining in her seat while the two were still halfway through their dinner.

"That was the tits," Curio said, "thanks, Tony."

"You're welcome," he said in the midst of slicing his own steak.

"So, I was wonderin', since me and Shine went near the place you work at and stuff, what's up with that Primarina?"

Tony put his cutlery down and stared at the two.

"Uh, how do you know about that?"

"My aura, duh," Curio said, pointing to herself. "Plus, Shine can see through walls and stuff."

"Yeah, I guess it was bound to come out sooner or later." Tony wrung his hands together. "It was supposed to be kept a secret, though."

"And why's that?"

"Well, we're treating them at the moment, so unless we can get to the bottom of what's wrong with them, it shouldn't be revealed to the public."

Curio frowned. "Again, why? You're being kinda vague here."

"Yeah," Tony said, rubbing his head. "Unfortunately, that's for their own protection. If people find out they washed up here, we'll be hounded with questions from the press, and we don't want that until they're able to make a full recovery."

"Who's they? Someone famous?"

"You'll see."

Curio shrugged and muttered a reply.

"So," Shine said, "what happened to them?"

"In the morning on the day you left, they washed by the cove with a hole in its back." Tony formed a circle with his hand the size of a golf ball. "We hope it's nothing sinister; it might've been just a small tussle with a wild water Pokemon. In any case, we were surprised they didn't die due to blood loss or hypothermia, but as soon as we saw them, we wheeled them into surgery. They're fine now, but they've been unconscious ever since."

Shine eyed his own plate. "I see."

"But-" Tony said, skewering a cutlet with his fork and pointing it at the two- "That's where you lot might come in handy, if you're up for it. Once they wake up, you can relay what happened to us. Perhaps they have a trainer already, as most starters do. It might just be a cut and dry case."

"Will the staff mind, since it was supposed to be private?" Shine said, to which, Tony shook his head.

"It's a bit too late for it now, I think. As long as you don't tell anyone else, they'll be willing to take you on board. Can I trust you both to keep it a secret?"

The two nodded.

"Alright then." Tony chomped on his mouthful of beef. "Leth finith up and we can thtarth the intherthiew."

After the two finished their dinner, Curio stepped in and asked if she could clean in Tony's stead. That was her way of making it up to him after all the arguing. She took several trips back and forth from the dining area to the kitchen and started work on cleaning as Shine supervised, whilst Tony was setting up the studio again. She glared at the row of unclean dishes, including a pan that had turned black with grease, and turned to Shine.

"Okay, how do I do this again?"

"Just fill up the basin with warm soapy water and scrub away."

She did her duties without much of an issue, although it took some getting used to at first since Curio scrubbed with her paw while her artificial hand held the dishes in place. From how durable that arm looked, its grip probably could've crushed a Geodude if she willed it to. She ended up breaking one or two plates and a glass on the way, but Shine assured her it was no skin off Tony's nose. He observed the way she interacted with everything as if it was some alien artefact, staring at the tap for one minute before Shine had to remind her water came from there. He thought she would've grown accustomed to domestic life after staying in the facility for so long. Still, Shine smiled throughout, glad that the two had finally patched things up to some extent.

When she was finished, the two got back to Tony's studio and Curio sat in her usual spot on the interviewee's couch. Like before, Shine sat with Tony as his trainer powered up the camera and prepared his notes.

"So, all ready?"

"Hell yeah," Curio said with a smile. Tony counted down and hit the REC button.

"This is interview B, segment GeL, take one. After you came along with Azzy and Mack, you were taken to the facility Gestalt Learning, or GeL for short. How long did you stay there for?"

Curio gave him a sour look.

"Didn't Shine tell you how long already?"

"Yes, but just tell me as if I didn't, for the uninformed viewer."

"But we aren't-" Curio stopped, then shrugged. "Whatever. I stayed there for four years and a bit. I was meant to stay for five, but..." Her voice trailed off and she sighed. "Something happened. I'd rather not talk about that yet."

"Understandable. So, what was the purpose of the facility?"

"Well, it was meant to be what school is to you humans. They not only trained us in every way imaginable, they also taught us a lot about the world and best of all, how to speak. We were encouraged to follow our own passions as well, so the lessons were catered to our interests. If everything went as planned, they were gonna take us to this scientific convention thingy, and set us up for whatever jobs we pleased afterwards."

"So, what would you say it was like, in general?"

Curio smiled.

"To be honest, and this will sound weird, but warts and all, I had a great time there, at first. I got to meet other cool Pokemon, we had fun when we were able to, and I got a lot of support from the staff. Seriously though, I don't know how I'd stand livin' as a Pokemon if I didn't learn all the stuff I did back there."

"But," Tony said, looking to his right side, "what about your arm?"

In response, she clutched it and grimaced.

"Next question."

"Alright, understandable. So when you arrived, before the lessons started, what was your first day like?"

"First day, hmm." Curio held up one digit. "Yeah, you know what they say about your first days of school, right? Of course, I can't speak like I'm an expert on it, I mean, look at me, but I've been coached enough about the world and seen enough flicks to guess what it's like.

"Picture yourself as the snot-nosed kid, for instance, who's just turned old enough to wipe his own ass. His parents send him off to regular school, or trainer school or whatever you humans usually go to, and after they get out of their car and send you off, it feels like you're never gonna see 'em again. But you leave anyway and go into the school building cause you want to see where the day takes you. You're excited to learn, so you think, what's the worst that could happen? Then, as soon as you step into that classroom, that's when it hits you. You've got kids with many different egos and tempers coming together, some that come from the same sheltered background as you, and others that have been through worse and won't take any of your crap. Imagine them coming together in the same room with no one to guide you, and you realise it's the first time you've ever been alone in the world.

"Think of that the same way here, except those kids were actually monsters that could've burnt your face to a crisp."
 
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NebulaDreams

Ace Trainer
Partners
  1. luxray
  2. hypno
Announcement
Thank you for reading through the Thousand Roads iteration of The Curious and the Shiny so far! This is Revision 3 of the story, and while I would like to continue revising chapters 18-38, A. I don't have enough information to properly revise everything from those sections and B. I am also taking a hiatus from this fic to focus on more original work. However, with these revisions, I've made sure that they're consistent with the rest of the story, so I implore you to follow the link to FFN or AO3 for the following chapters. There wouldn't be much of a ripple effect, so it would be easy for you to jump in between the two sites.

When I do come back from my hiatus and start writing again, I will continue posting on this site with revisions. Again, thanks for the feedback so far and I hope to see you for the later chapters on those sites as well!

Again:
Fanfiction.net link
Archive of our Own link
 

Sike Saner

fundead
Location
*aurorus noise*
Pronouns
she/her
Partners
  1. glalie
Figured I ought to pop in on the rest of what's currently available here. So, then!

“Don’t mention it,” the Lucario says. You can hear the grin in her tone. “It’s gonna be fun watching her mess up the place.”

“Wait, w-what?” Luxray says, exasperated. “S-she wouldn’t!”

Oh she's guaranteed to for sure now. :B

“Well, I dunno what’s up with your trainer, but I hope you find it nice here, even though it’s not my place.” As she says that, the maned Pokemon beside her grunts. “Okay, so my name’s C--”

“No,” you say. “You are Spikemom.”

Spikemom.

Spikemom.

That's amazing.

“Yeah, exactly!” He groaned. “Never mind. I need a quick shower and some new clothes. I’m gonna have the time of my life getting that shit out of my laundry later.”

Oh no, no, you will never get that out. Never ever ever.

"Ya know--” she bit a huge chunk off of her breakfast, "I don't boffer wiff that thort of thuff. I travel a lot, and iff not like I can afford a fanfy computer like that."

Damnit Curio, stop possibly spraying cucumber bits all over Shine's things.

Curio popped the last of the cucumber in her mouth, chewing the rest noisily, much to Shine’s chagrin.

Somehow it wouldn't surprise me if she literally went "nom nom nom", audibly. Deliberately.

Curio undid the plastic wrap and devoured one of the biscuits, humming as she chewed. "What do you put in thith, thith is goof!"

Cookie bit spray now, maybe. For shame, theoretically.

He continued reading once he got to the waiting area of the Pokemon centre. Even though he did basically the same thing as he would've in the comfort of his own home, time passed much quicker than in lonely silence. Plus, having people and Pokemon to listen in on every once in a while gave him a sense of belonging, even though he came on his own.

I do covet his ability to read in such an environment.

"What h..." Shine trailed off and purred. His one weakness was Tony stroking him in that certain sweet spot at his side. Well technically speaking, ground attacks were his main weakness, but as far as weaknesses went, this was one of the better ones to have.

Ground is his weakness as an electric-type. Being petted is his weakness as a kitty-type.


The crossover special was a fun little bit of chaos. :D Meanwhile, in canonical land, it's good to see Curio owning up to her assitry. I think she and Tony might still have a little ways to go regarding how well they get along; I imagine it's inevitable he'll inadvertently hit more sore spots here and there. But it's a start, and it's nice.
 

windskull

Bidoof Fan
Staff
Partners
  1. sneasel-nip
  2. bidoof
  3. absol
  4. kirlia
  5. windskull-bidoof
  6. little-guy-windskull
  7. purugly
  8. mawile
So, I believe I left off with a review of chapter 5. I actually read 6 a while ago but didn’t really have much to say, so I’m going to briefly summarize my thoughts here and jump into 7 for this review

With chapter 6 wrapping up the first arc, it’s introduced us to the main characters, and to some plot threads to follow. Both Shine and Curio have really strong characterizations, and in some ways, they subvert your expectations. Shine, in particular, subverts what I typically expect to see in a luxray, which is fun!

There’s also a bunch of fun little worldbuilding tidbits, some of which are obviously additions from the revisions (pokejobs, I’m looking at you). You even got a bit of intrigue with pokemon rights. Feel like those are going to be important later.

I think that’s all I had to say on 6 so let’s move on to 7.

Besides throwing even more juicy worldbuilding tidbits, I think this chapter did a lot to establish how Shine and Curio go about problem-solving. Each of their teaching methods suits them. Shine takes things slowly, going into the hows and whys of language, while Curio’s approach is more brute-force. And neither method is wrong! It lines up with what we’ve seen of their characters so far.

And then you drop some juicy little plot threads with Accendare, that I’m assuming get picked up in the next chapter. There’s definitely something weird going on there.

Again, the worldbuilding tidbits thrown in here are interesting and give some interesting implications about the world. You’ve got pokemon that more or less can integrate into society in a human-like manner. But at the same time… factory farms. I feel like this isn’t the last we’re going to hear about that, as it really says something about the current state of how pokemon are viewed. I don’t know that anything is going to change. But I’m sure it’s going to be relevant in some form.

You just do a great job with worldbuilding in general. All these little moving parts that flavor the story and help set the tone. Possibly my favorite thing about your writing overall is that you’ve managed to weave all these tantalizing little hooks into the story that lend themselves to the plot.

Also, I’m not sure if this was your intention, but this fic has so far given me strong slice-of-life vibes, but with a bigger plot going on in the background that may or may not take center stage later.

I… think that’s everything for now? Man, I gotta get back to this fic sometime soon, because it’s been a nice breather from a lot of the higher-stakes stuff I’ve been reading lately.

Until next time.
 

windskull

Bidoof Fan
Staff
Partners
  1. sneasel-nip
  2. bidoof
  3. absol
  4. kirlia
  5. windskull-bidoof
  6. little-guy-windskull
  7. purugly
  8. mawile
Huh, for some reason I really thought we were gonna continue with the dragon farm stuff, but It makes sense not to right now. Still, I doubt we've seen the last of them, and I'm rather curious where that might tie into things down the line.

Anyways, after the last chapter - which felt like it was more worldbuilding driven and felt like it was more setting up future plot tidbits instead of resolving current ones (outside of the whole plot of "paying for the fight with speech lessons") this chapter feels more like it's guiding the reader back into the primary plot. Which makes sense, since it's the end of the interlude.

Shine covered his mouth, trying to process his reaction to that. His trainer, a shithead? Why, he--
1589072455958.png
^that right there is what I'm imagining Shine looks like right now.

Anyways, I gotta say, it kind of feels like Tony has the patience of a saint. Probably not really, but I know I'd be aggravated if someone treated me and my stuff like that in my own home. Yeah, I know he has a good reason to work with her, but still.

Shine sat beside his legs, mostly to face Curio while she talked, but also to be pet by his trainer. He wasn’t above a bit of pampering.
Okay, not only was this line adorable, I also appreciate it in a character sense. Having Shine have these little nonhuman desires (I mean, I know humans can have a desire for physical affection like that but it was presented in a very animalistic way and it helped him feel just a little bit more like a pokemon.

Anyways, this chapter does a good of setting up for what I'm assuming is going to be a backstory arc about Curio prior to the GeL stuff. Which should be interesting, as I'm really curious about what she was like prior to that. I don't know when I'll get to that, but I'm looking forward to it.
 
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