Dazzling Lake

[Sinderella]

She put her number into Odette's phone and felt kinda wobbly about it. When was the last time anyone had wnated her number, for any reason? Did this make them friends? Was it too soon to say they were friends? She didn't know how it worked.

Odette decided to pretend she didn’t hear Laura mumbling, though she did feel the urge to grin a little. It felt really fucking nice, truthfully, to have somebody who was at least somewhat eager to have her presence. Knowing Odile and all. Nope, she wasn’t going to fuck this one up

Um. Yeah, come find me whenever," she said. "It was really nice to meet you, Odette. Uh, and you, Odile."

“Nice to meet you too, Laura. I’ll see you around.”

“̷A̸n̷d̵ ̴I̷ ̸w̴o̷n̷’̴t̴ ̸c̵l̷i̶m̶b̷ ̸i̵n̵t̵o̷ ̴y̶o̵u̷r̶ ̶T̵V̷ ̶s̷c̷r̴e̶e̸n̷ ̴t̸o̷n̸i̴g̵h̴t̸!̸”̷ Odile announced gleefully as she waved. Odette scoffed loudly.

“Odile, don’t—“ The demon’s words finally registered with her, and her eyes went wide. “Wait, huh?”

<We shall meet in battle another day, and you shall know what it is to strive against a resolute opponent,> declared Malachai, his telepathy punctuated by a booming growl.

“̶A̶n̸d̴ ̶y̴o̴u̴’̴l̷l̶ ̶k̷n̷o̶w̶ ̷h̶o̶w̸ ̷i̴t̴ ̸f̸e̴e̴l̵s̶ ̶t̸o̴ ̵g̶e̷t̸ ̵y̴o̸u̶r̵ ̸A̶S̶S̸ ̸B̶E̷A̷T̷ ̷b̵y̸ ̶a̴ ̶G̶O̴D̷.̷”̶ Odile said. She didn’t even sound like she was threatening him; she genuinely sounded quite excited and eager about it.

Odette grimaced through Malachai’s voice in her head, before suddenly deciding that Odile was talking far too much. Things were going so well; Odette didn’t want anything to go awry now. She grabbed her by the hand and began to move back in the direction they’d run from.

“I look forward to it,” she called back, waving. “Safe travels back to civilization, you two.”

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Laura stifled a snicker at Odile, who seemed like the goofy demonic type, prone to the same kind of mischief as ghosts, fae, and some dark-type lines. Probably still hideously dangerous, and obviously putting a heavy toll on her partner, but silly. That was easier to deal with than she'd expected.

"Yeah. See you round, you guys."

She blew a long breath through her nose. "Fly me back to town, will you, Mal?"

<I wish to fish by the shore. You need the excersise. Will you insist, or will you survive without me for five minutes?"

"Fine, fuck off to the sea, then. See you later, Mal."

The noivern grunted an acknowledgement, and took off vertically with a series of wingbeats strong enough to completely fuck up Laura's hair. She sighed as she watched him depart, with Odette already gone. Damn. Should've asked to walk back with her, huh.

She brushed her hair aside, stuck her hands in her pockets, and began the trudge back to the hotel. Maybe she'd meet another friend or two before the day was over.

<><><><><>​

 

[IFBench]

"Uh, s-sure!" Gen said, smiling. Being here with Wallace...it reminded him of better times, of going out to the ocean or the lake with his family.

It was almost like things were back to normal...if not for his body.

...he really hoped he'd see Wallace more after this was over. He was like an uncle to Gen, like Jesse and Lee.

 

[Chibi Pika]

Overall, the prospect of not being able to trust anyone outside of a small group wasn't too hard. Jade was used to keeping a low profile. Sometimes she forgot that that wasn't exactly normal. Some of the trainers had been confused and disturbed by the idea of being targeted by an unknown attacker. But that was just the reality of things--there wasn't any point denying it.

...That sort of outlook definitely wasn't normal, was it?

Jade wasn't exactly ready to consider everyone on the boat trustworthy just because they couldn't have been involved in the first disappearance. Still, she hoped... it would be nice if... having someone she could trust...

"*We should be looking for signs of the Legendaries,*" Nine said, dragging Jade out of her thoughts.

She glanced around at the scenery, the early-afternoon sunlight glimmering off the waters. "Some people mentioned hanging around the lake yesterday and not seeing anything special."

"*We can't know they were truthful.*"

Jade sighed. "No, I guess not."

There also was the fact that maybe the Legendaries were just staying out of sight for the sake of being cautious. Jade couldn't really blame them. But maybe they'd be intrigued by Nine, if they got a good look at him? It was worth a shot.

Nine scoured the edge of the lake, staring into the strikingly clear waters. Unsure of what else to do, Jade wandered around the edge of the trees, looking for any signs of recent battle. It felt a bit pointless--even if she did find signs of a struggle, it would probably just be from an ordinary battle.

 

[IFBench]

Seeing the girl and the feathery Pikachu, Gen waved, and shouted, "Hi Jade! Hi Nine!"

 

[IFBench]

"Y-yeah! I...met th-them yesterday," Gen said.

 

[Chibi Pika]

Jade turned at the sound of a young-sounding voice and saw the human-speaking Oshawott waving to her--his name was Gen, right? Sitting next to Gen was that one trainer in the super-flashy outfit. Jade vaguely recalled he was a gym leader, but she couldn't remember his name (Rudy definitely would have known if he were here.)

"Oh, uh, hi," Jade replied, giving a small wave as she walked over. "Sorry if we're intruding on something. We're just looking around."

Nine continued his investigating nearby, though with his ears, he could probably hear everything they were saying.

 

[IFBench]

"Um...w-we're just painting the l-lake," Gen said, glancing at the painting. He tried drawing before, never worked out for him. Now, with these stubby paws...he'd probably never have the opportunity to try again, at least until he's human again.

 

[Chibi Pika]

"Not at all." Wallace gave a small wave. "Jade and Nine, Gen said you were." Shit, that sentence sounds weird. "I... don't think we've met. How are you faring? What brings you to this beautiful paradise?"

Jade shrugged. "I guess we're doing okay. I mean, we're still here." That was probably not the best way to put it.

"Anyway... I guess we got invited the same way everyone else did. We both needed a break back home, and he's not really the sort to relax unless he's dragged into it." Not that it seemed like there was going to be much relaxing now...

Jade paused awkwardly. "Sorry, I didn't catch your name."

 

[Chibi Pika]

Jade blinked. "Champion of Hoenn? But I thought Steven was..." Different worlds. Right.

"Right, I'm still getting used to this whole different worlds thing," Jade admitted, rubbing the back of her head. "And I guess most of the people here are either champions or aiming to be champion?" Her mind drifted toward Coleane with that last bit, although Gen definitely didn't seem like the competitive battling type. "I'm sort of... boring by comparison, aha."

Well, not if Laura's theory about shady organizations had anything to do with the invites. Technically wouldn't that apply to Wallace too if he'd dealt with his world's version of the Hoenn weather crisis?

 

[IFBench]

"And I'm, um, Gen Taranz. I'm...n-not anyone special," Gen said, gripping onto his reunion cape.

Or...he guessed he was special. Becoming a Pokemon was pretty unique.

But he wished he wasn't special. He wished he was just normal.

 

[Chibi Pika]

Jade tilted her head at the Oshawott. "Well, you can speak human--I think that makes you pretty special, you and Coleane both. But I guess she's aiming to be a champion, and she's a Pokémon who's a trainer, so it's not hard to see why she'd be invited here."

A Pokemon with a surname was sort of weird. Most Pokémon didn't bother with things like that, if they even took a human-given name at all. How would he pronounce it in Pokéspeech anyway...?

 

[IFBench]

Jade tilted her head at the Oshawott. "Well, you can speak human--I think that makes you pretty special, you and Coleane both. But I guess she's aiming to be a champion, and she's a Pokémon who's a trainer, so it's not hard to see why she'd be invited here."

A Pokemon with a surname was sort of weird. Most Pokémon didn't bother with things like that, if they even took a human-given name at all. How would he pronounce it in Pokéspeech anyway...?

Gen looked down, beginning to tremble. "Th-thanks," he said halfheartedly.

 

[Chibi Pika]

"Now now, don't sell yourself short! I'm sure you're a strong trainer in your own right!"

Jade chuckled weakly. "Well, I guess my team's pretty special. I wouldn't have gotten anywhere without them, really."

Gen looked down, beginning to tremble. "Th-thanks," he said halfheartedly.

Jade paused, unsure how to take that. She'd been a bit exasperated at Nine for being insensitive when they first met Gen, but if compliments also made him uncomfortable, she wasn't sure what the right thing to say was.

"Is it... fun being on Coleane's team?" Jade asked hesitantly. "If she's doing a League circuit, you guys probably get to travel around a bunch, right?"

 

[IFBench]

"...I g-guess it's sorta f-fun, but...I j-just wanna go h-home. I don't want to d-do battles, I j-just want my home back," Gen said, clutching onto his reunion cape. "She promised she'd help m-me find my home once she's Champion, b-but..."

 

[Chibi Pika]

Jade blinked at him. "Whoa, what? You, uh... you definitely don't need to battle if you don't want to, you know that right?"

Was he... captured without his consent? But that would go against the pact, and... Coleane sure didn't seem like the kind of trainer who'd hold a Pokemon against their will. Not to mention she was a Pokemon herself. What was going on here?

"Is there any reason you can't go home until she's champion?" Jade asked carefully. Maybe his family was that sort that took the 'adventuring with a trainer' thing really seriously. Firestorm had mentioned that a lot of starter Pokemon families were traditional like that.

Nine had paused his investigating to listen.

 

[IFBench]

Gen's eyes widened, and he quickly shook his paws. "E-everything's ok! Coleane promised t-to help get me back t-to my family in Goldenrod, and she's helped m-me out a lot! Just...it's a long f-flight to Johto, and she's d-disqualified from the L-League if she's g-gone from Hoenn for t-too long."

 

[Chibi Pika]

Jade relaxed slightly. "Ohh, okay." Yeah, that made sense. Flying all the way back to Johto from Hoenn sounded like a real pain. And taking a ferry that far was pretty expensive.

"So I guess you... weren't Coleane's starter then, if you're from Johto?" Jade asked, puzzled. There went her 'old starter family would be upset if their kid didn't make it to the League' theory. "How'd you even get to Hoenn, anyway?"

 

[IFBench]

Wallace's heart rate skyrocketed, stopped, then settled down all in the span of one second. He almost passed out from the whiplash.

"H-How does League qualification work in y-your world?" Wallace had to sit down again.

"In Johto, it's pretty simple. You sign up, a-and if you pass the background ch-checks, you're qualified. ...I d-don't know how it works in Hoenn," Gen said, looking towards his...he wanted to call Wallace a sort of uncle. Could he just...take Wallace home with him? But he probably had his own family to return to.

Jade relaxed slightly. "Ohh, okay." Yeah, that made sense. Flying all the way back to Johto from Hoenn sounded like a real pain. And taking a ferry that far was pretty expensive.

"So I guess you... weren't Coleane's starter then, if you're from Johto?" Jade asked, puzzled. There went her 'old starter family would be upset if their kid didn't make it to the League' theory. "How'd you even get to Hoenn, anyway?"

"N-no," Gen said. "Her starter i-is a Porygon. And...I d-don't really know how I g-got to Hoenn. I j-just...woke up there one day."

There was an edge to his words there. It seemed like he was hiding something...

 

[Chibi Pika]

"'Just woke up there'?" Jade echoed blankly. "You mean like... kidnapped?" He was a Pokemon that could speak human, and that wasn't normal even in his world. Maybe some shady people had taken an interest in that. But then how would he have gotten free?