AQ - S.S. Trousselin

[Shiny Phantump]

Malachai didn't seem so huge from a distance, with nothing beside him for scale. It was when he just kept getting bigger as he loomed closer than it started to sink in just how dangerous he might be. He was big enough to ride. Big enough to total a vehicle. Big enough to snap up a human being in his jaws.

When he landed, the air from his wings sent waves rippling through the pool.

Gladion took a step back, startled. Damn… “You’re partners with a totem? And you’re really not sure why you’re here?”

"Thought I'd introduce you to my new friends, Gladion and Hazel. We could challenge them, don't you think?"

Malachai leaned close and sniffed at his master's companions.

<Good day, Gladion and Hazel. I am Malachai.>

A look of shock crossed Gladion’s face for just a moment before he covered it. He’d never heard of any species using human language with telepathy before, and he’d looked into the subject a fair bit when Hazel started showing signs of parsing grammar.

“Hello, Malachai.”

Hazel walked right up to him and stared up into his eyes. She was excited to hear a voice using language with telepathy. Hoping he could hear her back, she made sure to think as loud as she could: Hello! I am Hazel! Are you hearing me? Is that a thing you can be doing?

 

[AbraPunk]

“Look, I’ve got nothing against you,” he told them hoarsely. “Just keep your psychotic trainer away from me and we won’t have a problem.”

Merian narrowed his eyes and barked. "Who the hell are you calling 'psychotic', you piece of shit?! I'll--"

Nico lightly slapped Merian with his tail and huffed. "You would be wise to avoid instigating any further altercations."

--

Turning to Wes, Nico used his limited telekinetic powers to shift the bandana back into place. He couldn't do much about the goggles, though. And one more thing...

He turned to the other trainer's Espeon-- ah, there were two of them now. He ignored the one that had recently arrived with the lady, and telepathically spoke to the impostor's Espeon. <Pardon me. I believe your trainer has my trainer's knife...?>

 

[Dragonfree]

Jade rubbed her arm. “Well, we’ve done a few gym matches without any problem. I… guess we could probably do a tournament—not like the League would know what he is. But that’s a bit too high-profile for us.”

That left the obvious question of why. She could have just said that tournaments weren’t her thing, but now May would obviously be wondering.

“*The humans who made me aren’t too happy with either of us,*” Nine explained.

“Thaaat’s… sort of why we need a break,” Jade added. “We’ve had a lot of… stressful battles with some shady people lately.”

God, this probably all sounded weird and fake to anyone who didn’t live through it every day. Then again, if May was the sort to spot a hybrid on sight, maybe it wasn’t so weird for her.

May furrowed her brow. They... didn't sound like they were talking about Rick, did they? Rick didn't exactly have some kind of army of goons at his side, or battle anyone outside of his ridiculous gym. There was somebody else out there making superclones?

Not like it was Rick's original idea; he'd just been imitating what'd been done with Mewtwo, and if he'd somehow figured it out probably someone else could too? But what?

"I'm... I'm sorry, who made you?"

 

[IFBench]

Gen smiled brightly, and his tail began to wag. "Th-thank you!" he said to the Milotic, before exiting the pool room himself, hoping to find Coleane.

 

[Inkedust]

The long string of bulbasaur swears continued as Dusana rounded a corner into the second hall. It seemed that nobody was disturbed, perturbed or even noticed her little distraction but that was okay, nobody seemed to be paying attention to either of them to begin with.

Ayumi was back exactly where Dusana left her, leaning back in her chair, taking in the sights. Dusana plopped the bulbasaur in her lap before jumping back into her shadow. She took a quick glance at the new resident. Vera was puffing out her cheeks angrily but there was a disappointed glint in her eyes.

Ayumi chucked, petting the bulbasaur's forehead. "Well, it looks like you had a bit of an adventure. I'm sure you'll be able to get those battles you want once we arrive on the island proper." She stood up, holding the bulbasaur in her arms. "We should probably return to the cabin though, before it gets too late. Come, Dusana."

 

[Negrek]

White light exploded from the point of impact, stretching up until it towered over everyone on the deck, over the level of the deck above. They could hear the roar shaking through them before the light even finished fading, feel the ship list forward noticeably under the sudden weight before it settled again. Gyarados whipped his long tail around and slammed it down, aiming between the struggling humans and pokémon to keep them apart.

"Everybody shut the fuck up!" Blue shouted.

Mightyena's attack knocked the umbreon flying, and then both it and the espeon scampered off to protect their trainer. Nate groaned and let his head fall back against the deck for a moment. Then some huge pokémon roared, an impact shook the deck, and Nate got a nice light splash of seawater from whatever the hell it was. He wrenched himself to a seated position, wincing. Nope. Not out of this bullshit yet.

Mightyena had gone from snarling at the umbreon to splitting her attention between the little dark-type and the very not-little gyarados towering overhead. Where the hell had that come from?

Nate took a quick look around the scene. The guy with the knife was still passed out, pokémon at his side. Okay. The guy he'd been chasing looked to be having a hell of a moment over there, but he'd just been chased by a guy with a knife yelling about killing him, so, fair.

Actually.... Now that he got a proper look at both of them, they looked really damn similar, didn't they? Like really damn similar. With the same pokémon, too. What the hell was going on there?

As for the gyarados, it looked like the trainer was--oh, hell no. Nate felt empty air, then grabbed desperately for the fucking stupid hat that had flown off when the umbreon knocked him over and jammed it back on his head. For fuck's sake, what was this, a gym leader convention? What the hell was he doing here? Were all the gym leaders and elites on this boat somewhere?

This was way too hot for him. He should have realized that if they were inviting high-profile trainers, that's who would show up. Stupid. This whole idea had been stupid.

He really needed a way out of here. Away from this battle, off the fucking boat, right back to the middle of nowhere that he'd come from. He should have known shit was fucked when they somehow managed to find him in the first place.

And of course the, they gyarados' trainer was just fucking standing there, and the other guy was looking too out of it to say much of anything, so that left him. Nate fumed, and simmered, and when nothing continued to happen he finally took a deep breath and called out, as loudly as he could manage, "You just here to shout orders, or are you gonna get that guy tied up before he wakes up and starts waving his knife around again?"

Just keep the hat pulled down low, don't make eye contact, and get the fuck out of here as soon as he felt reasonably confident about standing again.

 

[Hanafuda]

As Seb surveyed the area, he actively tried to avoid the battles that were going on around him. They seemed a bit too much for him and his Pokémon, especially considering they were weaker by comparison. He knew Zack would have liked it, but because of his previous behavior with that angry woman and Steven, he wouldn’t be coming out any time soon.

Seb caught sight of a Weavile wearing a lab coat and a Rotom Phone strapped to a belt. “Oh. Jack, you see what I see?”

The Farfetch’d followed his Trainer’s gaze until he saw the Weavile with the lab coat. “Yeah, that’s interesting. She looks like she has a story to tell.”

“You look curious. Let’s just go for it, then, okay?” Seb beckoned Jack to come follow as he approached the Weavile. “Wonder if she has a Trainer. Or maybe she herself is a Trainer, considering that Tropius we met before.”

“Good morning, or afternoon, miss,” the humanoid Farfetch’d exclaimed in greeting, waving his free wing.

 

[MintyMimix]

"Nice to meet you, too!" Coleane said. "It's so cool to meet other trainers who are Pokemon!"

"Oh! So I'm a Faller!" Coleane said with a flap of her wings. "And the Voice asked told me I was going to the human world, asked me some questions, called me hasty, and said I needed to become 'the greatest trainer there ever was'!"

Every question Hazel asked just introduced more unknowns into the mix. Apparently, not only there was a world without humans, but there was an entity strong enough to individually pick and choose Pokémon from said world and send them to this one. One that had intimate knowledge of both cultures and specifically destined a Tropius with becoming the 'greatest trainer', as though this were some fantasy novel.

Violet seemed to have her own share of questions, which, while Hazel was certainly curious about herself, were completely missing the point. They had kept Violet's status as a Faller as best as they could — at least, to the extent that one could with Violet's archaic mannerisms — but somehow, someway, this 'Xavier' character knew. They knew and intentionally invited her, alongside this Tropius and likely the Charmander as well. The probability of this being a ship of only Fallers was becoming increasingly high, but she desperately needed a larger sample size.

Sample size. Perhaps that was it. Perhaps they had been rounded up as the experimental group, and the real festival was a control group. But then what indepedent variable could they possibly be testing for? The variation was far too high. Too many unknowns. No, she was the one who had too many unknowns. She needed space. Space to think. Space to make sense of all this. Space to—

“Good morning, or afternoon, miss,” the humanoid Farfetch’d exclaimed in greeting, waving his free wing.

Maybe Violet had the right idea to go to a bar.

Hazel clutched her head as she observed the Farfetch'd(?)'s features. Despite the telltale signs of a typical Farfetch'd — their prominent bill, furrowed brow, feathered body, bold leek and finned feet — there was a concerning set of features that added on them. Toned was the only descriptor that came to mind, but it was far more than that: the bird was human-shaped.

She could only stare bug-eyed at the scientific impossibility before her.

"Well now, that's quite the well-built one," Violet remarked, looking down at their newcomer. "What's your story? Can you talk too? And if so, could you teach my friend here?" She snickered as gestured to Hazel.

At that comment, Hazel snapped out of her stupor, made three taps on her phone, and held it up for Violet to see a stop (🛑) emoji.

 

[Chibi Pika]

May furrowed her brow. They... didn't sound like they were talking about Rick, did they? Rick didn't exactly have some kind of army of goons at his side, or battle anyone outside of his ridiculous gym. There was somebody else out there making superclones?

Not like it was Rick's original idea; he'd just been imitating what'd been done with Mewtwo, and if he'd somehow figured it out probably someone else could too? But what?

"I'm... I'm sorry, who made you?"

Right, okay, they were doing this. Why not. They were out at sea, far from Kanto. Not much danger of word spreading to anyone who shouldn’t hear it. Not to mention, May didn’t really seem like the gossiping type.

Jade traded glances with Nine. “Right, so… I kind of stole him from Team Rocket. He’s not the only experiment they made, there’s a bunch more like him. Well, I think he’s the only Pikachu, but—”

Hang on—there was one experiment that everyone knew about, what with him making international headlines that one time.

“They’re the ones who made Mewtwo,” Jade added.

 

[Hanafuda]

Hazel clutched her head as she observed the Farfetch'd(?)'s features. Despite the telltale signs of a typical Farfetch'd — their prominent bill, furrowed brow, feathered body, bold leek and finned feet — there was a concerning set of features that added on them. Toned was the only descriptor that came to mind, but it was far more than that: the bird was human-shaped.

She could only stare bug-eyed at the scientific impossibility before her.

"Well now, that's quite the well-built one," Violet remarked, looking down at their newcomer. "What's your story? Can you talk too? And if so, could you teach my friend here?" She snickered as gestured to Hazel.

“Oh, hey there, Coleane!” Seb exclaimed to the Tropius after noticing her. “Didn’t expect you here. Honestly, it’s nice to see you after the shenanigans with the angry lady at the bar.” He turned his attention towards Violet. “Uh, hello. Jack here doesn’t talk like a person. He just quacks.”

“If you’re gonna ask, yeah, I worked out for a month to be like this,” Jack told Hazel, flexing a leg. “But we’re just as curious as you are, miss.” He crossed his wings over his chest, looking over the Weavile’s coat. “I like your style, though.”

 

[ShiniGojira]

Violet leaned in closer to the two Pokémon as she assaulted them with a barrage of questions, "So, what kind of teams do you run? Are you able to be more in sync since you can directly speak to each other? Do you sometimes get in the battle, too?"

"Eh, a varied team, I guess." He shrugged. "Most of my team are from other worlds too and they're pretty strong so it's not like they really need me for much aside from planning and stuff." He chuckled, scratching his cheek. "And sometimes I fight, I'm not really on par with the rest so it's mostly an emergency-only kind of deal."

A man in a suit walked towards their table, setting down plates upon plates of food. "Your meals, sir."

"Aw sweet, thanks," he said, quickly storing it all away. June turned towards and waved. "Well, I'll see ya later. Lots of things to explore and y'know. There's something going on that I think is gonna be loads of fun so... yeah. Bye."

He gestured to Evie to follow him and they left towards the sounds of danger.

Although it had certainly quieted down, he only hoped they weren't too late to see the rest of it.

 

[Seren]

The chaos didn’t seem to be settling down; in fact, it was only getting worse. Behind her, Olivia was chittering excessively, and Kimiko turned to find the oshawott gone, and another espeon in his place. The two of them both looked towards her, pelting her with some request or another, and the took off running.

“Olivia, are you fucking kidding me?!” She bellowed at her psychic. Just as Blue was finally starting to realize something about their situation! She muttered a hasty thanks to both Blue and Finley, with a promise that she’d be find Blue again to discuss whatever he had realized. But for now, she couldn’t lose sight of her Pokémon.

By the time she, Olivia, and the other espeon slowed down, it looked like the situation was handled. And with it, one of the male twins unconscious on the floor; knocked out by the ragged looking man’s shattered bottle, if she had to guess.

Behind her, Blue had finally taken the initiative and called for everyone to settle down, letting his Gyarados out to punctuate his point. Well, they didn’t call him a champion for nothing. That one looked as powerful as the charizard.

“Uhm… You alright?” she asked the boy in the blue trench coat.

While waiting for his answer, she knelt down to her own Pokémon. “Hey, look, I know you want to help, but you reeeeeally need to wait for me next time, okay? I get that he’s a fellow espeon but…” she sighed. “You know what, we’ll finish this conversation later.”

She looked around at the nearby people and Pokémon, one last confirmation that the crisis was winding down, and decided maybe she should just find her room. She clearly wasn’t going to be able to enjoy a swim at this point, so she may as well go back and change.

 

[Hanafuda]

Seb managed to hear the Charmander’s voice and turned to see him with a bit of surprise. “Another Trainer Pokémon? I think I should’ve expected this. Well, maybe I’ll be able to talk to him later. He seems like a nice guy.” He smiled, holding his excitement.

 

[MintyMimix]

“Oh, hey there, Coleane!” Seb exclaimed to the Tropius after noticing her. “Didn’t expect you here. Honestly, it’s nice to see you after the shenanigans with the angry lady at the bar.” He turned his attention towards Violet. “Uh, hello. Jack here doesn’t talk like a person. He just quacks.”

“If you’re gonna ask, yeah, I worked out for a month to be like this,” Jack told Hazel, flexing a leg. “But we’re just as curious as you are, miss.” He crossed his wings over his chest, looking over the Weavile’s coat. “I like your style, though.”

Hazel slowly blinked at the Farfetch'd in front of her. Upon closer inspection, they were more sleek than toned as she originally thought, but they still remained human-shaped. She blinked a few more times, hoping to change the result by observing it. No, wait, that was quantum mechanics. The Farfetch'd was very much still in front of her.

"You worked out. For a month." Hazel deadpanned as she lowered her head in shock. She couldn't trust her sight anymore. Without asking for permission, she swiped the side of her claw on the Rotom Phone and immediately began recording. Computers didn't lie. She could just watch the video later with Violet and see that she was just imagining things. That's it.

"So, to confirm..." Hazel bit the underside of her lip as she hesitantly asked, "You achieved this form... by training? Was there a special circumstance or condition to your regime...?"

Meanwhile, Violet snapped her fingers as she heard the slow drawl of the meowing from her Weavile and quacking from the Farfetch'd. She hoped this boat had some magical power that would make everyone be able to speak. Then she could have a proper back-and-forth banter with Hazel! Still, if there was any consolation, it seemed like this boat had a variety of wonderful, magical characters to it, like that Farfetch'd.

Violet turned her attention to was likely its trainer. "Good day to you," she said, still smiling at the excitement around her, "You seem acquainted with Coleane here! Where hath thou met before, I wonder?" She rubbed her chin with the glint of wonder in her eye as she asked, "Are you, mayhaps, accompanying that bird? I must know who they are!"

Clicking her tongue in mock offense, she dramatically placed a hand on her forehead as she added, "Ahhh, but where are mine manners? Mine name is Violet; a pleasure. And yours?" If she was going to have to perform a 'proper' introduction, she might as well have fun with it.

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

Steven should have been used to seeing double by now, but it was still jarring every time. This time, he wasn't seeing just a doppleganger, he was seeing double of the trainer's pokemon, too. Two Espeons, two Umbreons, (come to think of it, there were a lot of Eevee evolutions onboard, what with that Sylveon from earlier, and was that another Espeon running around? Were they really so popular? He couldn't remember seeing many in Hoenn at all.)

But that was beside the point, there was still the problem of one of the trenchcoat-wearing trainers being knocked out, and apparently the main cause of this second skirmish, according to the other young man currently knocked on his back.

He really needed a way out of here. Away from this battle, off the fucking boat, right back to the middle of nowhere that he'd come from. He should have known shit was fucked when they somehow managed to find him in the first place.

And of course the, they gyarados' trainer was just fucking standing there, and the other guy was looking too out of it to say much of anything, so that left him. Nate fumed, and simmered, and when nothing continued to happen he finally took a deep breath and called out, as loudly as he could manage, "You just here to shout orders, or are you gonna get that guy tied up before he wakes up and starts waving his knife around again?"

At his shout, Steven nodded to Aggron who was watching the trainer's Mightyena with great interest. Casting one last glance at the Mightyena and her supposedly boring trainer, Aggron tromped over to the fallen trenchcoat twin and settled down next to him and his two pokemon. Aggron fixed the two eons with a grumpy stare that implied he meant them no harm as long as they didn't try anything funny.

His attention back on the other grounded trainer, Steven extended a hand to help him up. "No rope, but Aggron should be enough to deter any further trouble until we arrive. Are you okay, though...?" he left the question hanging, as he realized he didn't know the young man's name.

 

[Hanafuda]

Hazel slowly blinked at the Farfetch'd in front of her. Upon closer inspection, they were more sleek than toned as she originally thought, but they still remained human-shaped. She blinked a few more times, hoping to change the result by observing it. No, wait, that was quantum mechanics. The Farfetch'd was very much still in front of her.

"You worked out. For a month." Hazel deadpanned as she lowered her head in shock. She couldn't trust her sight anymore. Without asking for permission, she swiped the side of her claw on the Rotom Phone and immediately began recording. Computers didn't lie. She could just watch the video later with Violet and see that she was just imagining things. That's it.

"So, to confirm..." Hazel bit the underside of her lip as she hesitantly asked, "You achieved this form... by training? Was there a special circumstance or condition to your regime...?"

Meanwhile, Violet snapped her fingers as she heard the slow drawl of the meowing from her Weavile and quacking from the Farfetch'd. She hoped this boat had some magical power that would make everyone be able to speak. Then she could have a proper back-and-forth banter with Hazel! Still, if there was any consolation, it seemed like this boat had a variety of wonderful, magical characters to it, like that Farfetch'd.

Violet turned her attention to was likely its trainer. "Good day to you," she said, still smiling at the excitement around her, "You seem acquainted with Coleane here! Where hath thou met before, I wonder?" She rubbed her chin with the glint of wonder in her eye as she asked, "Are you, mayhaps, accompanying that bird? I must know who they are!"

Clicking her tongue in mock offense, she dramatically placed a hand on her forehead as she added, "Ahhh, but where are mine manners? Mine name is Violet; a pleasure. And yours?" If she was going to have to perform a 'proper' introduction, she might as well have fun with it.

“Well, I remember practicing moving like humans do every now and then during my training, and combined it with my leek practice.” Jack slowly slid a wing over his leek, looking it over. “My friend Zack, a Pidgey, inspired me to do it; dunno much of his story, but he says he was born a humanoid.”

“Nice to meet you too. I’m Sebastian, but I’m usually called Seb by my family.” Seb bowed courtly at Violet. “Coleane and I talked over there near the edge.” He gestured towards the outer deck near the ship’s tip. He looked down at Jack. “Jack here is my Farfetch’d. I also have a Pidgey, but he’s on timeout. You’ll meet him tomorrow, though.”

 

[HelloYellow17]

“Uhm… You alright?” she asked the boy in the blue trench coat.

It took Wes a moment to realize someone was talking to him. He blinked, then jumped when he realized she was standing right there, leaning over him.

And where had she been when he was about to get sliced into pieces? Awful convenient for her to express concern now that he was no longer in danger. He pulled Neo and Novo closer and shot her a withering glare. “I’m fine.”

He turned to the other trainer's Espeon-- ah, there were two of them now. He ignored the one that had recently arrived with the lady, and telepathically spoke to the impostor's Espeon. <Pardon me. I believe your trainer has my trainer's knife...?>

He saw the other Espeon (the…other Neo? Oh gods, he was not ready to digest this yet) take a step towards them, hostility gone, but its eyes were focused on the other knife Wes held in his hand.

Wes scowled. “Oh, no way in hell am I giving this back to that maniac. Not until he can prove he has the mental capacity for reason. Now stay away from us. Go!”

 

[Phoenixsong]

And of course the, they gyarados' trainer was just fucking standing there, and the other guy was looking too out of it to say much of anything, so that left him. Nate fumed, and simmered, and when nothing continued to happen he finally took a deep breath and called out, as loudly as he could manage, "You just here to shout orders, or are you gonna get that guy tied up before he wakes up and starts waving his knife around again?"

Blue glared at the guy. Really? He'd been in the middle of whatever this was, and he was gonna mouth off at the one who's stopped that espeon from eating his face? "Don't see you making any moves. What, you satisfied with your involvement in this being giving some guy a concussion and then getting knocked on your ass, job well done?" Someone else had managed to get himself and his aggron in between the two groups now, so at least that was something. "Gyarados, hold the big guy. Why don't you go make yourself useful and find some goddamn security? Where the hell are they?"

---

Gyarados wedged his tailfin under the big guy in the coat, rolled him over, and looped a coil around him. Hold the big guy, sure, he could do that. What had happened that meant he needed to bind a human, though?

"I'm just holding him," Gyarados said as the espeon and umbreon prepared to object. "I think he has to stay here for now?" Hm. Whatever this was, it seemed tense. Dangerous, maybe? Blue had asked him to come here and be dangerous. He probably shouldn't have ended that with a question. "He has to stay here, and you can stay with him but you're going to sit still," he tried instead. Better. Better? Was the espeon still looking at him funny? He left his mouth hanging open, showed his teeth the way Charizard did when he was mad. That would drive the point home, right? Because that needed to be done on the boat where the humans were supposed to be relaxing? What was going on?

 

[AbraPunk]

Wes scowled. “Oh, no way in hell am I giving this back to that maniac. Not until he can prove he has the mental capacity for reason. Now stay away from us. Go!”

Nico paused, then snorted. "Very well. I know you do not understand my words, impostor, but I feel I should give you the courtesy of warning you to watch your back." With that being said, he went back to protecting Wes--

Gyarados wedged his tailfin under the big guy in the coat, rolled him over, and looped a coil around him. Hold the big guy, sure, he could do that. What had happened that meant he needed to bind a human, though?

Until the Gyarados wrapped up Wes like a snake about to eat its prey.

Nico and Merian just stared at the big fish.

"I'm just holding him," Gyarados said as the espeon and umbreon prepared to object. "I think he has to stay here for now?"

"He has to stay here, and you can stay with him but you're going to sit still,"

Nico narrowed his eyes slightly, ears twitching, then finally broke the staring contest with the Gyarados. "...Fine."

Merian wasn't pleased either, but had no real objections.

 

[MintyMimix]

“Well, I remember practicing moving like humans do every now and then during my training, and combined it with my leek practice.” Jack slowly slid a wing over his leek, looking it over. “My friend Zack, a Pidgey, inspired me to do it; dunno much of his story, but he says he was born a humanoid.”

“Nice to meet you too. I’m Sebastian, but I’m usually called Seb by my family.” Seb bowed courtly at Violet. “Coleane and I talked over there near the edge.” He gestured towards the outer deck near the ship’s tip. He looked down at Jack. “Jack here is my Farfetch’d. I also have a Pidgey, but he’s on timeout. You’ll meet him tomorrow, though.”

"Born humanoid...?" Hazel repeated, chewing on those words. Somehow, that was a more believable tale than Jack's own story. There were numerous explanations for it. Genetic variation. Embryo modification. Hatchling experimentation. But simply mimicking 'like humans do' for a month? Ridiculous. The statistical possibility of that was microscopic. Or would it be astronomically low? Regardless, not scientifically feasible.

Her thoughts were disrupted by her trainer. "The pleasure is all mine, Mr. Seb," Violet replied, taking an excessively fancy bow with a mocking smirk. "Ah, so only just met, hmm? 'Tis a shame; I hoped to find that there were some other method of meeting an otherworldly figure such as her more readily." She made an over-the-top shrug and shook her head, as though she had been disappointed with a younger sibling. "Still, it will be nice to meet your Pidgey as well tomorrow, if they are as fascinating as your Farfetch'd."

She rolled her arm before making an open hand gesture to the duck as she said, "And nice to meet as you as well, Jack," her smile began to show teeth as she snickered, "Mayhaps you could show dear Hazel how to be just a bit more interesting?"

"Well now!" Hazel huffed as she grabbed the collar of her lab coat and ruffled both its and her own tails. "Scientifically speaking, I am far more alike to you than you realize, dear! Why, I—"

She paused as she heard Violet's giggling at her tease, interrupting her reply. Right, she still can't understand me. Stopping the recording on her Rotom Phone, she scrolled through the rest of her archived photos, searching.

A mischievous grin happened upon her own features as she walked a bit closer to Jack, showing him a picture of Violet looking bewildered at the sight of a pizza in front of her. The next photo showed her trainer trying to wrap the cheese of it around a fork, and the one after which displayed her trying to scrape off the cheese on the pie with a knife. "Just thought I'd show you how interesting my trainer can be."