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Spiteful Murkrow

Busy Writing Stories I Want to Read
Pronouns
He/Him/His
Partners
  1. nidoran-f
  2. druddigon
  3. swellow
  4. lugia
  5. quilava-fobbie
  6. sneasel-kate
  7. heliolisk-fobbie
Heya @Panoramic_Vacuum , coming back to round out this series as one of my major outstanding targets on my hitlist. Since hey, it’s cute, and might as well start my sendoff to Review Blitz with some wholesome palette cleansers.

Prompt #25

Both Sidney and Absol wore the same scowl as the rain began to steadily increase pick up. If Phoebe wasn't equally as soaking wet and miserable, she might have giggled at the way they both sulked as they helped load the last of the supplies onto the waiting ship.


A nasty storm was en route to Pacifidlog Town, and the two Elites had volunteered to aid in the evacuation of the floating settlement. It would surely weather the storm, but its occupants would be without power and food until the storm passed, and some of the more elderly residents might not be hardy enough to wait for the post-storm relief.

Sidney: “Why on earth did we volunteer for this instead of just making it Wallace’s problem again?” >_>;
Phoebe: “Because we’re Elite 4 members and I’m pretty sure responding to regional crises is part of our formal duties? Though I guess we should’ve brought umbrellas, huh?” >_>;

The storm wasn't supposed to pass through for another 24 hours, yet the wind had already picked up something fierce. "That's the last of 'em!" called Sidney, an arm raised to shield against the driving rain.

"Great!" Phoebe called back giving the ship's captain a thumbs up to signal he could push back from the dock. "Now let's get out of here too."

inb4 Absol vetoes their plan in about 5 seconds thanks to its disaster sense acting up.

Dusclops had just released the last mooring of the ship when it froze in place, its red eye sliding over toward where Absol was standing, fur bristling with a low growl. Sidney already had noticed his partner's behavior and he cursed under his breath. Absol was sensing something, and it wasn't good. He turned to regard his fellow Elite with a nervous glance.

Yeah, I kinda figured things were going that direction, since the description of the storm there seemed ultra-dodgy. So I wouldn’t be terribly gung-ho about trying to travel through it.
701630550720512120.png


"Fee..."

Just as her name left his lips, the sky was split with a brilliant bolt of lightning, surprising even the steadfast Dusclops. Somehow, the storm had intensified in only a matter of moments, hours ahead of the forecast.

this-is-fine-fire.gif


Well, this evacuation is totally going swimmingly. Potentially literally in a few moments given that these two are on the middle of a floating town.

The floating walkways they both were standing on lurched as larger and larger waves began to roll through Pacifidlog. Phoebe strained to see her friend through the deteriorating conditions.

"Sid, we have to go now! The storm's too strong!"

She could see enough in the dusky light to make out him shaking his head.

"No good! Sharpedo can't carry us both in seas this rough. We'd never make it!"

You probably want to make it a bit more obvious that “catching up to the ship and sailing off” isn’t an option for whatever reason even though it left all of 30 seconds ago, since… yeah. One would think that it’s less dodgy option than trying to swim on Sharpedo-back through a stormy sea.

Phoebe: “Sidney, there’s a ship we were loading supplies on right at the edge of the harbor!” >_>;
Sidney: “Yeah, well excuse me if I wanted a quicker way to nope out!” >.<

For the first time in a long time, the icy grip of fear found its way through Phoebe's veins. "Then what do we do?" Her question just made it out before another flash of lightning and a crash of thunder cut her off.

Sidney: “I mean, we could give riding Sharpedo the good old-fashioned college try-”
Phoebe: “Something else, Sidney.” >_>;

Discomfort all but forgotten, Sidney regarded Absol's stern expression for a moment before nodding. "We have to get to the sturdiest building in town and ride it out!"

Phoebe: “And we’re not trying to catch up with the ship we spent the last hour or so loading why-?
Sidney: “Look, you’re the one who doesn’t want to swim on Sharpedo right now! Do you want to get thrown around willy-nilly by waves and fight to keep your lunch down for the next 8 hours? Because I sure don’t!” >.<

By now Phoebe had picked her way across the unsteady planks and reached Sidney's side. She might have been worried if it wasn't for the determined set of his jaw. If Sidney was convinced of the plan, then so was she.

"Okay."

"There," he pointed through the sheets of rain, "The PokeCenter is close enough to the center of the town that it should be protected from the worst of it."

This… sounds like a really easy way to get clocked by flying debris on the way over, but better late than never to retreat there.
701630550720512120.png


Phoebe nodded as she swallowed the unease in her throat. Living on Mt. Pyre, she'd never had to deal with the ocean's rage from up close. If the seas around her home were ever this angry, she'd retreat to higher ground with her grandma and grandpa. In Pacifidlog, there was no such luxury.

I always love these backstory glimpses into Steven and the E4, it really feels like it adds a lot to the characters since… there usually isn’t a whole lot given about E4 backstories in canon and the stuff you have brought up feels shockingly plausible for a bio.

Absol had already begun to bound toward the Pokemon Center, eager to get to sturdier ground, and Dusclops clomped after him.

"C'mon," said Sidney, and without thinking he reached back to grab Phoebe's hand to guide her along the floating walkways.

Phoebe was glad the wind was howling, so Sidney couldn't hear the small squeak she let out when his hand found her own. Quickly, the two trainers made their way through the growing storm. It wasn't much further to the PokeCenter...

Suddenly, Absol's ears shot upright, and he wheeled around in alarm to find his trainer's wide-eyed stare.

401074476474957834.png


Yeah, should’ve gone after the ship there, Sidney.

"Oh crap -"

Sidney barely had time to brace himself before the wave swept over the walkway he'd been standing on. The wood lurched beneath his feet, bucking him backward from the force, and Sidney definitely cursed as the cold, grey water reached up to greet him. A sharp tug on his arm jolted him from his single minded panic. Phoebe.

At first from the buildup and the way Pacifidlog is constructed I thought Sidney was going to get hit by a flying shingle there… but this feels like it’s just about as bad if not worse. ^^;

Dusclops was already on the move as his trainer was bowled over and into the churning sea. Its red eye was frantically searching the murky water for any sign of where she'd been tossed, but it came up empty. With a harried glance at Absol, Dusclops whispered a low question. But Absol's gaze on the waves didn't falter, and Dusclops had no choice but to wait.

Sidney's head broke the surface with a loud gasp, followed by a hand wielding a pokeball. Teeth grit in effort, he released Sharpedo and reached for its fin with the same arm. Absol's claws dug into the logs of the PokeCenter's platform, hackles raised until it caught sight of a splash of pink against Sidney's chest.

Arm wrapped protectively around Phoebe's thin frame, Sidney struggled to keep his head above the waves as Sharpedo hauled the two of them to the platform's edge. He told himself he'd never let go, no matter what.

I’m not sure if it’d make more sense to better hint that Phoebe is with Sidney in paragraph #2 or keep it as is. Since on the one hand, Phoebe’s presence kinda comes from nowhere, but on the other hand, revealing that she’s with Sidney right away might undercut the element of suspense.

Finally within arm's reach, Sidney called out, but Dusclops was already reaching down to pluck Phoebe out of the water. Shivering, she clung to her pokemon and watched helplessly as Sidney tried to reach for the platform himself, but was dunked under again by another wave. Sharpedo dipped beneath the surface and bobbed up beneath his trainer, getting him within reach of the platform once again. With one final push he dragged himself out of the water and lay panting for a moment on the deck. Blinking saltwater from his eyes, he was met with a soggy hug from Absol.

Sidney: “Okay, yeah. Going after the ship wouldn’t have been a good idea in retrospect considering how this happened on our way over.” >_>;
Phoebe: “Gee, whatever tipped you off there.” >_>;

"Heh, I could use a little more notice next time," he managed to chuckle, and Absol only headbutted him harder. His hand flopped over on the soaking wood to recall Sharpedo from the angry sea. He lay there for a moment longer, before propping himself up on one elbow just in time to see Phoebe staring at him, unblinking.

"Sidney..." She'd wiggled her way out of her pokemon's grasp, although it didn't stop Dusclops from hovering protectively behind her. "You..."

But Sidney was quickly on his feet and swiftly wrapped his arms around her to ward off the bone chilling cold. "It's what anyone would have done."

Sure is different to see these two doing something other than banter and troll each other since that’s their most common mode of interaction in this series. But I guess when the chips are down, you tend to show how you really feel about someone else and… yeah, these two clearly care about each other on a platonic level.

Phoebe let him guide her inside the Pokemon Center and out of the rain, their pokemon following behind.

It wasn't until the doors slid shut behind them, reducing the storm's blustering to background noise, that she finally pushed back against his chest to look him in the face once more.

"You're not just anyone." She couldn't bring herself to finish the thought, conjured up by the panicked flash of their own mortality. To me.

Sidney stared hard at her before pulling her into a tight hug, dipping his head so his chin rested against her shoulder. His voice was tight, probably for the same reason she couldn't choke out her own words. "Neither are you."

684293502049320970.png


Okay, maybe it’s more than just on a platonic level there. Somehow I didn’t pick up on that from earlier prompts, but it’s a cute pairing. ^^;

Prompt #26

Glacia sighed as the notification flashed in her chamber. Sidney was victorious yet again. And yet again, another challenger fell short of giving her a decent battle that wasn't one against one of her colleagues.

Glacia: “... I really need to push Steven into converting us into a non-sequential challenger format like the Unova League. This is ridiculous.” >_>;

She eyed her pokemon with a wistful glance before rising and sidling out of the room. Perhaps some fresh air would keep her from going stir crazy.

As the door clicked shut behind her, Glalie exhaled a frozen breath of disappointment as it floated around, leaving a small, frosted trail in its wake. Snorunt trailed in its wake, but not without slipping and sliding around on the frozen pathway. Finally losing its balance, Snorunt chattered in half-annoyance, half-amusement as it spun around on its backside before slowing to a stop at Sealeo's feet. The walrus pokemon looked down at its giggling visitor and its whiskers twitched in interest.

Snorunt: “*... Shut up, it’s not as if you’ve never slipped on ice before.*” >_>;

A loud bark of excitement cut through the chamber as Glacia's second Sealeo fired its icy wind on top of Glalie's ice path, reinforcing the structure before it dove head first, sliding past with surprising speed.

Sealeo: “*What was that about slipping on ice?*” :^)

Snorunt chattered again and hopped back to its feet before launching itself behind Sealeo, snickering the whole way.

Glalie turned at the sound of the commotion, and it cried out as both Sealeo and Snorunt flew towards it, and all three pokemon landed in a giggling, dismayed heap.

Oh, it’s a E4 Pokémon-focused one-shot. It’s a nice breather since there aren’t that many of those in these series, and it’s nice to see the personalities beyond those faces a bit. ^^

One of these days, we need to see what Drake’s lizards do for their downtime. :V

Abomasnow looked up from where it sat and shook its furry head. If it joined in, one of its friends might end up as a pancake if it landed on top of them. But, it regarded the icy pathway with interest, perhaps it could participate in another way. Signaling to Vanilluxe and Walrein, Abomasnow stepped forward and began to concentrate its powers on the trail.

In the end, all of Glacia's pokemon got in on the construction action, and by the time they stepped back to admire their handiwork, the icy slide wound all around the chamber in a snaking, slippery path, complete with a loop-de-loop in the middle. Snorunt clapped its hands in glee and took off for the starting line with Sealeo hot on its heels. Abomasnow simply watched, hands on its hips.

Cue the next challenger coming in in about 5 seconds and them having super awkward “ahehe… hi there” faces.

The smaller pokemon slipped and spun all around the room, screeching and squealing with delight. It wasn't until Beartic tried to join in that the track finally gave way and shattered under its weight. With a dismayed rub of its head, Beartic immediately apologized and recruited Vanilluxe to help it repair the track.

Just as the track was back in working order, the door to the chamber creaked open, and every pokemon froze, afraid that perhaps their afternoon entertainment might have crossed the line. But Snorunt wasn't able to contain its momentum and Glacia soon found her arms full of a happy, squirming ice-type, and she couldn't help but smile herself.

"Have room for one more?"

Well, I suppose that that’s a happier ending than someone like that Dragon Master from last time popping in. Definitely a cute note to end on, and I honestly wasn’t expecting Glacia to show a soft side at the end there. … Even if I probably should’ve considering that one prompt with her getting the no good, very bad letter. o3o;;

Prompt #27

Steven leaned back in his chair and tapped his lip with his pen. Brow scrunched in concentration, he hardly noticed when a curious face peered over his shoulder.

"Whatcha thinkin' 'bout, Boss?"

"Sudoku," mumbled Steven, not tearing his eyes from the booklet in his hand.

"Su what now?" Sidney blinked as he looked at the jumbled mess of numbers on the page.

I’m at once surprised and not by Steven being into sudoku. Since while Steven always has given off an “outdoorsy” vibe as someone who likes his rocks, sudoku feels like it gels well with the sort of nerdery needed to want to be an amateur geologist in your free time.

Sidney: “... Is this another one of your rock collection things, Steven?”
:what:

Steven: “Obviously not since I’m sitting here with a paper and pencil...”

"Sudoku," Steven repeated, still not aware of Sidney's vacant look. "It's a number puzzle."

"Heh, numbers and puzzles," laughed Sidney as he straightened up, "Never been my strong suit. So good luck with that."

Guess that’d explain why Sidney’s not a Gym Leader, huh? :V

"Mmm," Steven mumbled again, now rolling the pen between his fingers.

Sidney paused as he opened the refrigerator door, "Y'know you could just ask Metagross to solve it for you if you're stuck. I bet it's great with numbers."

Steven: “... That’s defeating the point of the exercise, Sidney.” >_>;
Sidney: “The point is to fill it out, isn’t it? Metagross could do it in a cinch… assuming he can handle a pen.” :?

Finally breaking his gaze from the page, Steven rolled his head to the side to regard Sidney's bright idea. "That'd be cheating. Besides, I do these for the challenge, not just so I can get them all done as fast as possible."

Sidney: “... Dunno if this is more or less weird than your rock thing, Steven.”
:what:

Steven: “Oi, I don’t get on your case about your hobbies.” >_>;

But Sidney just shrugged as he closed the door, snack in hand. "Like I said, not my cup of tea."

"What's this about tea?" Glacia asked as she stepped into the lounge.

"It's not about tea, it's about..." Sidney pulled a face, "Soduku?"

Glacia narrowed her gaze, "You mean Sudoku? I never took you for one who liked number puzzles..."

"He's not," grumbled Steven, back at his staring match with the paper.

Sidney: “... Why do I feel as if I should be insulted right now?” >_>;

"Ah, I thought as much," she said, gliding over to the table and taking a seat across from the Champion. "You know, I'm impressed you're completing it in pen. I usually have too many solutions in my head to trust the first one I write down."

701630550720512120.png


That doesn’t portend well for Steven’s puzzle there, since… yeah, you can’t erase stuff in pen ink.

Steven's eyes flicked up above the top of his booklet only briefly before going back to scanning the puzzle before him. "Mmm."

Glacia studied him for a moment longer before rising, "Now that I think about it, I could go for some tea."

"Put on enough for a second cup too, Glacia!" Phoebe's voice preceded her arrival to the lounge. "Oh hey, Steven, what're you reading?"

"Sudoku," said Glacia, putting the full kettle on the stove.

Phoebe: “... People read sudoku? It’s literally numbers in boxes!”
:what:


"Oh, my grandma does those all the time. Only the easy ones though. She said if she wants that much frustration she'd just talk to my grandpa."

662499150147092533.png


Smart grandma, though.

Glacia chuckled, but Phoebe already turned her attention back to Steven, "Ohh, that one looks harder than the ones Grandma does!"

Removing the end of the pen from between his teeth, Steven looked up at Phoebe's surprised expression, "I finished the easier puzzles already. Only the hard ones are left."

Sure is a good thing you’re doing this in pen where you can’t take back mistakes for any reason at all, huh, Steven? :^)

The hissing of the kettle punctuated Steven's comment, and Phoebe quickly skipped over to the cabinet to retrieve two mugs for the tea. "Well, good luck then!"

"Mmm." Steven's pen ticked a steady rhythm against the tabletop.

"Why're we wishing people luck now? You going somewhere, lad?" Drake asked as he shuffled into the room, puffing away on his pipe.

Phoebe: “Steven’s just getting lost in some numbers right now.”
:gardeshrug:

Drake: “In some what now?”
:what:


"Nobody's going anywhere," sighed Glacia, retrieving the kettle from the stove.

"Steven's working on a tough Sudoku!" chimed Phoebe, readying the mugs for their tea.

"Ah." The Dragon Master's pipe puffed thoughtfully. "I'm surprised you'd pick such a noisy place to concentrate. I tend to prefer a bit less noise if there's deep thinkin' involved."

"It used to be quiet in here..." Steven mumbled, bringing the pen back to his lips.

Yeeeah, I’m calling it now, Steven’s going to scotch his puzzle thanks to having to juggle brainpower between his puzzle and talking with the other E4s.

"You're gonna have to speak up, the kettle's whistling up a storm," said Drake, a hand to his ear.

"Nothing," called Steven, loud enough to be heard.

Drake harrumphed as the kettle was emptied into two steaming mugs.

"Well, we'll leave you to it," Glacia said, mug cradled in her hands.

"Yeah, you got this!" called Phoebe as she brushed out of the room.

592603469265764372.png


A solemn nod from Drake meant the last of the visitors were taking their leave, and Steven sighed. Finally some peace and...

"Hey, did someone make me a cup too?"

Steven had to use every ounce of willpower not to throw his pen at Sidney's head.

… So how much of a mess was Steven’s puzzle after all of that anyways? :V

I stand by my comment from an earlier review that this series always finds a way to surprise me, since I certainly wasn’t expecting sudoku to come up as a topic for a prompt. I think that the premises this time around were particularly varied, since you have one serious prompt, one Pokémon-centric prompt, and one that focuses on showing Steven and the gang in an unusual situation. It was a good spread that kept everything feeling really fresh and distinct from one another.

The only real major gripe that I had with these is that I felt that it probably could’ve been communicated better as to how and why the evacuation boat wasn’t an option in the “stuck in a storm” prompt. Like I figured it out eventually, but it felt like something that could’ve been apparent a lot earlier on with a bit more description of what was going on with the ship and the like.

But otherwise, good show. I had a lot of fun with this series over Review Blitz, and I’ll be looking forward to reading your other entries as they pop up here on TR. ^^
 
28 - The Old Man and the Sea

Panoramic_Vacuum

Hoenn around
Partners
  1. aggron
  2. lairon

Prompt #28: Someone finds out that a friend is at the hospital. They don't overreact at all.

The buzzing of Drake's PokeNav seemed to startle the Dragon Master less and less each time he got a call, although he scowled at the number a bit longer than usual this time. With a hesitant greeting, he answered.

"Hello?"

"Yes, this is Drake."

"...Yes."

"..."

"What'd the idiot do this time?"

"Yes...I mean - well, I can be there soon."

"Thanks."

Drake felt several pairs of eyes on him as he hung up the call. The Elites that were privy to the one sided conversation were giving him a range of looks, but Drake just shrugged them off with a gruff response.

"I have to go. Don't wait up for me."

Not daring to stop their senior Elite, all eyes watched as Drake mounted Salamence and took off into the night without another word.



He was greeted by a flurry of feathers as he slid open the door to the Slateport hospital room.

"Peeko, enough!"

"Briney, you old dog, why'd you call me here anyway?" Drake growled as he approached the bedside of his long-time friend and fellow sailor.

"Bah, you know hospitals. All protocol and no sense," Briney dismissed Drake's question with a wave of the hand that wasn't currently affixed with an IV. Peeko fluttered back to his side with a clack of her beak and a small squawk.

"You listed me as your emergency contact?" Drake quirked a brow.

"Purely formality, I assure you," muttered Briney as he caressed the nervous bird's crown. She nuzzled happily into his touch.

Drake's gaze drifted from Peeko to his friend. "Sure doesn't look like just formality. What kind of half-cocked scheme did you get yourself into this time?"

With a sigh, Briney gave in, "Right to the chase with you. I guess there's no hiding it. Capsized my boat in the Pacifidlog currents..."

"Again?"

"...Again..."

Drake tipped his cap back and rubbed his brow, "Those damned mirages are gonna be the death of you, old man."

Briney offered a lopsided grin, "Well they haven't yet." His face fell as Drake's stony expression remained. "I washed ashore on a sandbar not too far from here. Peeko flew to get help. Otherwise..."

His voice trailed off at the thought, and Drake shook his head, "I always wondered how long your luck would hold out. Guess I'm still left wondering."

"You sound disappointed," quipped Briney, and Drake huffed a laugh.

"Not in the slightest. Only when I get that call that the sea handled the burial for me."

Both men lapsed into silence at the kind of humor a sailor was accustomed to.

"Anything left of her?"

Briney bowed his head. "Not a plank."

Drake sighed, "How much do you need this time?" and Briney just shrugged.

"However much you'd be able to spare."

Tipping his cap back down, Drake pushed off from the wall he'd been leaning against. "This time you better come back with something. I'm not going to keep funding your wild goose chases."

But Briney just grinned. "You know as well as I do that those islands exist. Whenever you're done playing around as the League's lapdog, just let me know and I'll let you join in the hunt."

"Yeah yeah," grunted Drake as he turned toward the door, "Rest up. I don't need a drowned Rattata for a friend."

The door closed behind him with a soft click, and Drake sighed. As exhausting as it was to be friends with Briney, he wouldn't have traded it for the world.
 
29 - Flare Up

Panoramic_Vacuum

Hoenn around
Partners
  1. aggron
  2. lairon

Prompt #29: At their level, even friendly battles can get out of hand.

"Magcargo, Lava plume!"

The floor of Phoebe's chamber erupted in mini geysers of magma. The pattern of the attack was obvious; Magcargo was chasing its opponent down. But Banette was having none of the fire-type's attack, and she danced out of range just as each plume burst from the ground.

Flannery ground her heel into the floor in frustration. "C'mon Magcargo! You can do it!"

But as Banette tugged her mouth wide and waggled her tongue in a nasty taunt, Magcargo's shell began to crack and spurt flames. It was agitated, and its fiery disposition clearly matched that of its trainer's. Four simultaneous lava plumes formed in a bubbling circle around Banette, trapping the ghost-type in their midst. She cackled in surprise as the full force of the attack erupted, sending columns of fire dancing across the arena.

As the flames died down, all that was left were the smoldering remains of the fierce attack. Flannery was breathing heavy from the excitement of Magcargo's attack, and a confident smile crept across her face. She may have had a long way to go before she was as strong as her friend, but at least she could still throw the savvy ghost-type specialist for a loop.

Phoebe watched nervously as she waited for her partner to reappear. Banette was no slouch, and if anyone could have gotten out of that attack, it was her. Light danced around the arena as the remaining flames flickered with life, but another bit of movement caught Phoebe's eye, and she smiled.

"Shadow sneak!"

The quivering shadow behind Magcargo shivered once before springing up from the arena floor. Two red eyes hungrily snapped open, and as the lava pokemon turned in surprise, a wave of shadows engulfed it in a wash of darkness.

Flannery gaped as her partner vanished beneath Banette's shadowy grasp, but she held steady, driving a fist skyward, "Don't give up, Magcargo! Overheat!"

The shadows began to expand, seemingly filling up from the inside. And like a fabric stretched to its breaking point, the shadows began to tear at the seams, flames licking out from the openings. In a brilliant flash, Banette's attack gave way to a broiling fireball that exploded in all directions that sent both trainers ducking for cover. Patches of fire sprung up all over, and Phoebe squinted through the brightness to see what had become of Banette.

Hunched over gripping a nasty burn on her chest, Banette floated a few paces away from Magcargo, who was panting heavily from the incredible power it threw into its last attack. The combatants were now hemmed in on all sides by fire, though neither pokemon seemed fazed by it in the slightest. Phoebe grinned; Flannery had really improved since their last match, but she had no plans on losing this battle.

As the air filled with the smell of smoke, Phoebe's hand flashed out, "Banette, Payback!"

Drawing in power, the air began to swirl around in Banette's outstretched palms. Flinging her hands wide, the swirl centered over Magcargo's head, drawing smoke and flame into the vortex. Banette's form thinned into a wisp that disappeared into the tempest, only to reappear as multiple versions that circled the terrified fire-type. One by one, the grudge copies launched themselves at Magcargo, striking swiftly before being sucked back into the vortex.

Cackling, Banette finally drew back, leaving Magcargo's head slumped from weathering the attack. But her glee was short lived, as her cackles turned into coughs, the smoke finally getting too thick for comfort.

Flannery's eyes glinted with a knowing light; Magcargo could withstand the fiery conditions, and it only fed into the strength of his attacks.

"Get her while she's stunned, Flamethrower!"

Inhaling a deep breath, Magcargo's head reared back and shot a stream of flames right at Banette. Startled, the ghost type hastily fired a shadow ball into the center of the flamethrower, splitting the attack in two. The remnants of the attack scattered, lighting more small fires around the arena.

It wasn't long before a thick blanket of smoke covered nearly the entirety of the chamber. Both trainers were having difficulty breathing, even though neither they nor their pokemon wanted to concede the match. But as the flames crept up one of the walls, Phoebe gave in. Waving frantically to her sparring partner, she shouted across the room for an intermission to the battle, and the two of them to beat a hasty retreat for some fresh air.

"You don't happen to have a water-type pokemon with you, do you?" asked Phoebe between coughs as she closed the door to her chamber behind them.

"No? Why would I?" questioned Flannery, seemingly taken aback, but also still coughing a bit.

"Don't you run into this kind of problem often? Y'know, being a fire-type Leader and all that?"

"No... I mean, the Gym has the hot springs built right in. And typically my aim is a bit better," Flannery admitted with a sheepish tug of her hair.

Phoebe giggled before giving in to another round of coughs. "We should probably find someone who does then... I don't think Steven will be very happy with me if we let my chamber burn down."

"If you'd just let Magcargo land a few hits, maybe we wouldn't have this problem," Flannery said with a playful wink.

"Try telling that to Banette."

As both trainers finally were able to straighten to their full heights, no longer coughing much, a voice called from down the hallway.

"Oi, are you two the ones throwing the barbecue? Smells awesome!"

Phoebe exchanged a side-eyed glance with Flannery before she put on her best innocent tone. "Oh hey Sidney. You don't happen to have Sharpedo with you, do you?"

Sidney's gaze scrunched in confusion. "Yeah, but why do you need Sharpedo for a barbeque... oh..." His eyes widened as smoke began to pour out from the jamb of the door.

He plucked the ball off his belt and readied to throw as Phoebe reached for the door. "Steven's gonna kill you y'know."

"If I take you out for actual barbecue, you'll promise you won't tell?"

Sidney nodded as Sharpedo materialized and began to hose down the inferno. "You better hope we don't have any challengers any time soon."

"Sorry!" squeaked Flannery, but Phoebe just waved her off with a sunny smile.

"This is nothing. You should have seen Drake's chamber after Salamence had that toothache."

"Oh ho, I had almost forgotten about that!" chimed Sidney. "I take it back then, I bet Steven won't even notice."

Although once Sharpedo had doused the last of the flames, the charred, soggy state of Phoebe's chamber begged to differ.

"Okay, maybe he'll notice... But he won't be that mad. Probably. Hopefully. How about that barbecue?"

"Yeah, let's get out of here," Phoebe hastily agreed, and all three trainers left the scene of the crime.
 
30 - Breaking Point

Panoramic_Vacuum

Hoenn around
Partners
  1. aggron
  2. lairon
Note: This chapter does have some strong language and implied verbal/sexual harassment.

Prompt #30: Steven doesn't often lose his temper. When he does, it makes an impression.

Steven was taken aback by the twins currently standing in his living room. Their visit itself wasn't out of the ordinary; the young Gym Leaders dropped by his Mossdeep home often enough. What was throwing him off was their demeanor. The normally shy and reserved Tate was silently fuming while a normally bubbly and upbeat Liza was shaking with quiet sobs.

Gently ushering the pair to sit down on his sofa, Steven gestured that he'd be right back. Quickly, he ducked into the kitchen to pour two glasses of the twins' favorite berry juice, which admittedly he had grown rather fond of as well. Glasses in hand, he returned back to the living room and set them on the table before kneeling down next to where they were seated.

Liza gripped her glass tightly with both hands, staring at the liquid sloshing within. Tate looked too distraught to even think of taking a sip, so instead it sat untouched on the coffee table, slowly forming a ring of condensation.

When neither twin said a word, Steven decided he should try to gently prod to find out what had happened. They had come to him after all, something had to be amiss.

"Tate, can you tell me what's wrong?"

Slowly the boy's stare found Steven's concerned gaze, and the Champion felt a chill in the air from the intensity of Tate's expression.

"It was a challenger. At the Gym."

At this, Steven's brow knit in confusion. It wasn't like the twins to get so worked up over a battle. But he didn't dare interrupt, so he nodded for Tate to continue.

"He... after he won, we went to present the badge... and..."

Tate paused, eyes falling to where his hands were clenching and unclenching in his lap.

"He... he grabbed Liza by the arm and... and he said... things..."

Liza seemed to curl in on herself at the word, and Steven felt himself tense at her reaction. He almost didn't even want to ask, but he had to.

"Tate," he said in nearly a whisper, "What kind of things did he say?"

"He said..." a tremble crept into Tate's voice, "He said he'd do things to Liza... Terrible things..."

The haunted look on Liza's face meant Tate didn't have to say any more. A cold flood of rage swept through Steven, and it took every ounce of strength to not let the twins see his reaction, they were scared enough as it was. But he also didn't care if they could sense the fury practically pouring from his thoughts.

"This challenger, did he say where he was headed next?"

Tate shook his head in the negative, but for the first time since arriving, Liza spoke up.

"Sootopolis."

The meekness in her voice cooled Steven's thoughts for the moment, and he gave the twins a reassuring, albeit thin, smile.

"I'll take care of this. For the time being, you two can stay here. Would you like it if I left one of my pokemon with you?"

Wordlessly, both twins looked to him expectantly and nodded.

"Who's your favorite?" Steven asked, knowing fully well what the answer would be.

When the simultaneous chime of "Metagross!" came, Steven allowed himself another smile before unclicking the ball of said pokemon and leaving it on the table in front of them.

"I promise I won't tell Aggron you didn't pick him. It'll be our secret."

The twins nodded again, and Liza eagerly grabbed Metagross' ball, holding it tight in her hands.

Steven smiled again as he opened his front door. "I'll be back sometime later. Help yourself to anything in the fridge, and make sure Metagross behaves, okay?"

With another nod from the twins, Steven gently closed the door shut behind him. In two strides, Skarmory was out of its ball and waiting for their destination. Steven set his jaw and turned to regard his pokemon with an expression of thinly-veiled fury.

"Sootopolis, if you please, Skarmory."

There was business to be taken care of.



Wallace was on high alert as the door to his office closed behind them. The Champion had stormed into his Gym, met Wallace's gaze from across the chamber, and without breaking stride, jabbed a finger toward the office. Wallace knew what it meant; Steven wanted a word, and he wanted it now. He wasn't going to argue with his friend when he was silently seething like this, so trying to act casual, Wallace sat at the edge of his desk and looked to Steven for an explanation he knew was coming.

Producing his PokeNav from his pocket, Steven queued an image up and flipped the screen toward Wallace.

"Has anyone by this name come through here yet?"

Wallace peered at the name on the screen and shook his head. "No, not yet. Why do you -"

"They threatened to hurt Liza." Steven paused, but his icy gaze never faltered. "Wallace. When they do turn up, I need you to do something for me."

Wide eyed, Wallace nodded.

"I need you to crush him. Utterly humiliate him. I want him to slink out of your Gym with his tail between his legs. And when does leave, I want you to message me immediately."

Whatever desire Wallace had to protest was quickly squashed under the finality in Steven's tone. Eyes flashing, The Champion turned and opened the door.

"When this is over, we'll never speak of it again. Understood?"

Wallace nodded once more, and Steven stormed out of the room.



Thankfully, Steven only had to wait for another hour before the trainer turned up. He hovered at the entrance to the Gym, careful to stay out of view, only sparing a glance at the trainer has he brushed by so that he'd remember the man's face for later. Anger surged forth again when he caught the trainer's cocky expression. But before he did something stupid to blow his cover, Steven silently slipped out of the Gym and waited outside for Wallace's message.

A half hour later, Steven's PokeNav buzzed.

'He's leaving now'

Pocketing the device, Steven leaned against the exterior wall beside the Gym doors. He took a deep breath to calm his tumbling emotions. He had been carefully rehearsing what he'd say, but as soon as the doors slid open and the familiar face stepped out now sporting a thoroughly dejected look, whatever strategy Steven had been planning went out the window. He surged forward and snatched the trainer by his collar. Startled, the trainer let out a shout of surprise as his back was roughly slammed into the stucco wall.

"What the - hey, man, what gives?!"

"Shut up," Steven nearly snarled as he leaned into the trainer's face. "I know what you did to my Gym Leader. How dare you lay a hand on her."

"Whoa wait, I didn't hit nobody! Wait, what do you mean your Gym Leader?"

Steven gave an empty laugh at the trainer's confusion, "It doesn't matter. Just tell me one thing. Did you have the guts to say what you said to Flannery too? How about Winona? Roxanne? Or are you such a tough guy that you only prey on children?"

Suddenly, the trainer's attitude shifted. Realizing he couldn't play innocent any more, he shoved back against Steven's grip, but the Champion was too incensed to be budged.

"That bitch told on me?" the trainer practically spat back.

"'That bitch' is one of the finest Gym Leaders in the region, and she won't be intimidated by some lowlife like you."

"Huh, and who are you? Her knight in shining armor?"

"No," Steven sneered at the way the trainer was looking at him. The same way everyone looked at him when they thought he was just some rich snob who didn't know how to handle his pokemon. "I'm the Champion of the whole damn League, and if I ever hear your name come up again, I will personally see to it that your license is revoked and your pokemon are given to proper trainers who know how to treat others with respect."

With a heave, Steven spun the trainer away from the wall and deposited him on his backside in the dirt.

"Consider this your first and final warning. And for your pokemon's sake, I hope you heed my words. Now get out of my sight."

Panicked, the trainer scrabbled for a pokeball and released a Wailmer into Sootopolis' Crater Lake. Firing a nervous glance over his shoulder, the trainer scrambled aboard and together they disappeared under the surface to beat a hasty retreat.

Steven stood staring at the rippling water until the adrenaline faded from his system. Suddenly he felt so drained, and he nearly jumped when Wallace's hand came down on his shoulder.

"Think he learned his lesson?"

Shaking his head softly, Steven sighed, "I hope so Wallace, but I'm not holding my breath."

"You did what you could."

But Steven's expression clouded at what Wallace had hoped would be reassuring. "I just hope it's enough to make sure no one actually gets hurt."

"Let me just say I'm glad you didn't hurt anyone. After you told me to message you when he left the Gym, I thought for sure there'd be blood."

Steven blinked, startled, "Did you think I was going to hit the guy?"

"I mean, you basically had murder written across your face. So, I'd be lying if I said 'no'."

Nervously, Steven knitted his hands together, twisting one of his rings. "I'm sorry Wallace, I guess I got carried away."

But Wallace just shook his head, "You've got nothing to apologize for. I'm pretty sure you showed more restraint that I would have."

Steven gave him a startled look. "You would have gone after him?"

"I would have punched him right in the nose. I may be forward with my romantic endeavors, but people like him make me sick. But enough about that creep, what do you say we race back to Mossdeep? I know Skarmory won't be able to carry the both of us, and I heard there are two twins waiting there that could use the best sleepover party of their young lives tonight."

"Who told you that?"

Grinning, Wallace brought out his PokeNav and showed the picture to Steven. The twins had taken a selfie with Metagross, and the latter was covered with marker scribbles all over its steel hide.

Too drained to do much else, Steven brought a hand to his face in mock exasperation. "Well I'm glad they're feeling better at least."

"Shall we go rescue poor Metagross from its fate?"

Nodding, Steven brought out Skarmory's pokeball just as Wallace released his Gyarados.

"Just next time you get mad, a little warning would be nice. I almost forgot how scary you are when that happens."

Steven gave a sheepish smile as he tossed his pokeball, "I'll try."
 

K_S

Unrepentent Giovanni and Rocket fan
Hi here to review chapter one as the neglected premiss... What do the elite trainers do when no being challenged? Sounds like fun.

Ah but which elites? And what were they watching?

Love how it esculates from "indoor day" to outage just like that.

Really Glacia just might as well call herself foreshadowing.

Of course stevens prepared with a mining helmet of all things.

I'd say "flashed in his eyes" rather than found.... Found just seems a little bland and carries some of the irritation of having a light shine in your eyes.

Oh you didnt just find it Steven. It was on top of your rock collection that you were cuddling in your room.

How do none of thier mon have an electric type move?

Still the back and forth between them all feels so organic.

And of course phoebe likes ghost stories... And steady steel type fan steven of course would try to keep them all grounded and practical.

Still I bet pheobe would be a huge fan. Of holloween. Did you wind up doing a chapter for that?


Why no one thinks to call drake... But they are older so might be a generational thing.

Love how drakes like... Yeah it stopped storming ages ago....

And the rest of the elite are like oooh. Yeah. We noticed.

And somewhere maxie and archie are foaming mad. Somewhere being better then my. Pyre or the ocean? Sacrelidge. Though maxie was more pro land so maybe less outrage on his part?

Love how it winds down with Champion and the Four enjoying the view. Such a sweet way to wind this peice down.

Thanks for sharing.
 
31 - Snowfall

Panoramic_Vacuum

Hoenn around
Partners
  1. aggron
  2. lairon

Prompt #31: Snowfall (Christmas Special)

Glacia sighed as she slid her traveling boots on and headed out to the cabin's small living room.

She wasn't sure how he'd done it, but Steven had somehow convinced her to join him on a visit to Fallarbor Town. Professor Cosmo had called and invited them for a short expedition to search for fallen meteorites.

The first day of their trip was uneventful, full of introductions and logistics. The tour around Fallarbor was just as dull, with everything from the houses, to the trees, to the soil being made up of the same ruddy red tones.

Except when Glacia glanced out the front window of the cabin that morning, something had changed.

"Is that…?"

Having grown up in Sinnoh, Glacia was no stranger to snow, unlike the rest of her native Hoennian Elites. The climate of the sub-tropical region meant that even at its highest elevations and coldest season, snow and ice were a foreign concept at best. Which was why when she spotted puffy white flakes tumbling down from the sky, she had to blink and rub her eyes in disbelief.

"It can't be…"

Cautiously opening the front door, she stepped out onto the porch and extended a hand out from beneath the cover of the roof.

She watched in wonder as her palm slowly filled with the light, fluffy substance. But when the flakes didn't melt and vanish from the latent heat of her fingers, her brow furrowed in confusion.

So focused on the puzzling nature of Hoenn's physics defying precipitation, she didn't notice her traveling companion had approached until he found himself unable to contain his laughter.

Glacia jumped, startled and more than a little embarrassed, and she gave Steven a sharp look of disapproval as she tried to hide her outstretched hand behind her back.

Steven simply grinned in reply, standing out in the offending flakes where they gently coated his jacket and hair.

"It's not the same thing, but I thought the ash might be an acceptable substitute."

Glacia could only hold her grumpy expression for a moment longer as Steven ran a hand through his hair, disrupting the ash that had gathered there. She smiled as she slipped her hand into the one he offered to guide her down he steps of the porch. Even though it really wasn't snow, she still coudn't help but look around in wonder as the red of Fallarbor disappeared beneath the growing blanket of ash.

"Merry Christmas, Glacia."
 
32 - Spring Cleaning

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Hoenn around
Partners
  1. aggron
  2. lairon

Prompt #32: Its time for spring cleaning, but not everyone is feeling dutiful.

Sidney spared only a short glance toward the open office door as he hefted a box of recycling in his arms. The distinct noise, or lack thereof, caught his attention.

It was the yearly clean up day for the League, the time to get rid of all the things that collected dust for the past 365 days and make room for the new dust magnets. That also included outdated League records and files, which Glacia gleefully accepted, mumbling something about a Lampent as she took a bin of papers with her to the back.

But it seemed as if the flurry of activity around Ever Grande had skipped one particular room. Far be it for Sidney to pry, he had his own cleaning to do after all, his lingering glance at the door was not unnoticed.

Phoebe hesitated at his side, following Sidney's gaze toward the door in question.

"Looking for Steven?" she asked, nonchalant.

"Well, I might be," chimed Glacia as she stepped up to the duo, dusting her hands off against her dress's skirt. "I haven't collected any paper from him to, um, dispose of yet, and I know he's got to have piles of paperwork that we can clean up."

"That's odd..." mused Phoebe, bringing her hand up to her ear to scratch it with her feather duster's handle.

After a shared look, the group reached a silent decision. All three Elites quietly approached the open door and peeked their heads inside. What they found, they weren't quite sure what to make of.

Sitting cross legged in the middle of the room was Steven, surrounded on all sides by haphazard files overflowing with paper. He was meticulously thumbing through every sheet, brow furrowed in concentration.

"Um, Steven?"

A sheaf of paper took to the air as Steven jumped with a startled yelp. Watching the paper flutter down around him, the Champion rested a hand against his head in exasperation. Whether it was in embarrassment at being surprised, or the fact that now there was even more to clean up, no one could be sure.

Gathering himself quickly, Steven coughed once, but didn't bother to get up from his spot on the floor. "Ah, I'm sorry. Do you need my help with something?"

"You're throwing all that out, right?" Glacia went straight to the point.

Steven's eyes dropped to take in his handiwork. "Well, I'd be hesitant to throw everything out en mass. I though it might be best to go through these files and see what we should keep..."

"Ohhh no you don't," Phoebe was the first to move, striding forward and crumpling papers in her wake. She finally cut a path through to Steven before reaching down to grab his hands and attempted to haul him to his feet. "We're not having a repeat of last year!"

Sheepishly, Steven relented and let the ghost-type specialist lead him away from the pile.

"Last year?"

Glacia laid a hand on Sidney's shoulder and shook her head. "It's better if you didn't know."

But Phoebe was not one for secrets. "Last year he did the same thing, except no one caught it in time, and before we knew it he'd stayed up for 36 hours straight going through every last document." She shot a disapproving look Steven's way, and he winced under her accusation.

"Ah, but it turned out okay in the end -" he tried to say, but Glacia cut him off.

"He's lucky Drake pulled off a last minute victory against the challenger that came the next day. When we opened the door to his chamber to tell him, he had fallen asleep on the platform."

Steven shrunk back even more. "It's true..." He nearly whispered the admission.

"So!" Phoebe began, "Sidney..." At this she handed Steven off to the newest Elite. "It's your job to keep him occupied while Glacia and I go through his office for him." Both women wore wicked looking smiles and Steven paled.

"W-wait!" he protested as Sidney turned and steered the both of them from the room. "Just please, don't touch my rock samples!"

"Wouldn't dream of it Steven, dear!" came Phoebe's singsong voice, and Sidney had to chuckle.

"Don't worry, Boss. If you promise to stay outta trouble, I'll go make sure your collection is safe."

Steven obediently sagged into a waiting lounge chair in the common area with a sigh. "Thank you, Sidney. I will behave."

"Hell hath no fury, am I right?" said Sidney with a wink, disappearing back down the hallway. Suddenly, Steven felt like Sidney might need some back up if he were to succeed in keeping his precious samples untouched.
 
33 - Second Chance

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Hoenn around
Partners
  1. aggron
  2. lairon

Note: So this chapter is based on my own headcanon that Steven invited Sidney to become one of the Elite Four. If anyone is curious for more of this backstory, the circumstances under which they meet are covered in Chapter 7 of my other fic, The Long Road.


Prompt #33: Sidney gets an unwelcome blast from the past.

The mood was light as the Elites scrolled through the newest batch of challengers to emerge from Victory Road. Some showed promise while Glacia huffed at others, saying there was absolutely no way they'd even get a sniff of her chamber.

Sidney had to agree as they casually flipped through the trainer information until one name popped up on the page.

"Gray Schofeld, Mauville City hmm?" muttered Glacia, "Looks like he'd do okay. Seems like he favors dark types just like you, Sidne-" she turned toward the Elite in question, but he wasn't there. "Sidney?"

A cold sweat prickling against his collar, Sidney was already down the hallway on his way to the Ever Grande Pokemon Center. He hoped his hasty retreat was well covered, since it was strictly forbidden to interact with the challengers once they'd reached the Center. He was no stranger to rule breaking in his earlier life, but after he'd fallen into this position at the League, he was determined to clean up his act. And yet here he was, back at it without a second thought, except this time there was a damned good reason.

Quietly he slipped up to the front desk, the lobby was thankfully empty, and put on his best fake smile.

"Hello Sidney, how may I help you today?" chimed the Nurse, none the wiser.

"Hey Nurse Joy, I need a favor. Could you tell me which room the trainer from Mauville City is staying in? Absol found a lost item in Victory Road, and we need to return it to its rightful owner."

"Oh!" she said with a smile, "You needn't bother yourself with that, Sidney. I can return the item for you."

Sidney backpedaled, trying to save his hastily made plan. "Ahh, it's a... rather personal item. I'd prefer to return it to them myself, y'know, just to make sure it's theirs."

The Nurse's smile faltered a bit, but quickly returned as she bought his shaky lie. "Of course, forgive me for suggesting otherwise. Let's see..." she tapped a few keys on her computer. "Looks like that trainer is in room eight. Gray Scho-"

But Sidney was already retreating back toward the rooms with a curt wave, "Thanks, Nurse Joy! You're a lifesaver!"

"O-okay, you're welcome! Have a nice day!"



Sidney's fingers drummed nervously at his belt, running a pattern up and down his pokeballs as he raised his other hand to rap quietly on the door to room number eight.

"C'mon, c'mon..."

A shuffling inside the room made him jolt straight upright, and as the door clicked open, he quickly thrust a hand forward and barged his way into the room before slamming it shut behind him. The man who answered the door stumbled backwards as Sidney shoved his way in.

"Whoa, what's going on - wait, Sidney? It really is you!"

"What are you doing here, Gray?" he snapped.

Gray laughed as he sauntered over to the room's chair and lounged back against the cushion, hands behind his head. "What do you think I'm doing here? I'm here to see you, man. It's been a while."

A scowl had formed on Sidney's face. "Was kinda hoping it'd stay that way..."

"Aww, c'mon now. You can't be serious. You didn't miss me even a little bit?" Gray gave a fake pout, but his eyes were laced with something else.

"I got outta Mauville to leave that life behind, man."

The sneer that twinkled in Gray's expression melted to the rest of his face, lips upturning not unlike a Mightyena's snarl. "You oughta know better than that, Sid. You can take the punk outta Mauville, but you can't take the Mauville outta the punk."

"I'm done with your gang, Gray. I've made my own life here now."

"You ain't done with shit, Sid. You're mine. Always have been. Always will be." Gray's fingers dug into the armrests, as if he could squeeze the life out of them.

Sidney wasn't sure when he'd averted his gaze, but all of a sudden the pattern of the flooring was a lot more interesting.

"I don't know how you gave my guys the slip after you got that last badge, but you did. I almost gave up lookin' for ya too. Almost. And then what do I see? A big ol' headline of my boy walking out of the League like he's king o' the castle. This is a big step for us. We're in, big time."

"There is no 'us'!" The words ripped from Sidney's lips before he could stop himself, but he still couldn't stare Gray down. "You treated me about as well as that Poocheyna that ran away with me. And now you show up here thinkin' I owe you something. Well you're wrong." A sudden rush of courage blazed through his veins, and Sidney's eyes shot up, filled with fire. "The day I left Mauville was the day I was through with you."

"Sidney, Sidney, Sidney..." Gray tutted. "You've got it all wrong-"

"No, you're the one who has it wrong. Your gang was never my family. You didn't raise me, you didn't teach me, hell, you barely even fed me. I was just some dumb kid who thought anything had to have been better than my real family. And-" Sidney's breath hitched just for a second, and the pokeballs at his hip rocked in response. "-And now that I'm here, I know what it means to have a real family. So, I'm going to have to ask you to leave, and never come back."

"And if I don't?" the menace practically dripped from Gray's tone.

"If you don't," Sidney unclicked Mightyena's pokeball from his hip, "I'll make you leave."

Gray met Sidney's hard stare unwaveringly before bursting into laughter. "Ahahaha, what are you gonna do, attack me in my room? That's a good one."

Sidney's gaze fell before he placed Mightyena back at his belt with the others. "No..." his voice was quiet. "No, you're right."

Gray cackled again, "Aww, looks like things haven't changed after all. Little Sidney, giving up, just like you always do."

A soft exhale sounded as Sidney's hand found the doorknob. "Good luck in your League challenge, Gray." And he closed the door behind him with a soft click.



Glacia smirked as she watched the scoreboard tick down the last of Gray's pokemon. Not a single member of Sidney's team had fallen. In fact, it hadn't even been close. Turning to Steven, she gave the Champion a sly smile.

"And you're still not going to tell me where you found this kid?"

Steven shook his head with a mysterious grin, "Nope. He asked me not to share it with anyone, and if nothing else, I try to be a man of my word."

"Well, I can only hope a little bit of your influence might rub off on him."

Steven had to laugh, "He may be a bit rough around the edges, but if there was any doubt I'd have never extended the request. If I'd have known you'd be so sour after he nearly took out your whole-"

"Don't you say it!" warned Glacia.

"I wouldn't dare," said Steven with an apologetic wave. He let his gaze drift back down to the battlefield where Sidney stood triumphant with Mightyena at his side. He'd taken a gamble, inviting a rogue trainer into their midst. But he'd had a feeling back then in Victory Road... It didn't matter what led Sidney to that cave. All that mattered is what he brought with him when he stepped out of it.
 
34 - Open Water

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Hoenn around
Partners
  1. aggron
  2. lairon

Prompt #34: Someone gets seasick the first time they go out on Drake's boat.

"So what's got you headed to Slateport?"

When his question was met with silence, Drake peered back toward his passenger from his place at the helm and cleared his throat.

"Glacia?"

"Hmm?" Clearly not paying attention earlier, the ice-type expert tipped her book to her chest and looked at Drake expectantly.

"I asked what yer doin' in Slateport. Y'don't leave Ever Grande much, so something special's got to be happening."

"Oh, I'm going to stop by the marketplace. There's a vendor there that specializes in goods from Sinnoh, and I wanted to restock my supplies. I'm finally beginning to run low, so I didn't want to miss her. Thank you for the ride, by the way."

Drake nodded as he growled a 'welcome', and Glacia smiled. She hadn't known the Dragon Master long, but she knew the last thing he wanted was to be seen as polite.

The engine revved to life as she took a seat on the deck, and as Drake hauled in the last of the moorings, he muttered something as he walked back to the helm.

Glacia had already buried her nose back in her book, but she knew he had said something. "Pardon?"

"I said, you might not want to do that."

"Do what, exactly?"

"Read."

"And why not?" she looked mildly offended at the suggestion.

Drake pursed his lips and raised an eyebrow, "Y'haven't been on many boats, have you?"

Glacia huffed, "I've been on enough."

Both brows raised in resignation, Drake simply shrugged and tended to the wheel. "...Don't say I didn't warn ya."

As much as Drake's words sank in, Glacia was too irritated by the insinuation that she was just some clueless foreigner to pay them any mind, and as the boat left port, she settled back into her novel.



The sloping walls of Sootopolis barely had slipped over the horizon when a loud snap sounded from the deck. Drake craned his head and caught a glimpse of Glacia gently massaging her brow, book closed in her lap.

"Y'okay?" he called back to her.

"Hmm, oh yes, I'm fine. Just taking a break." She defiantly snatched the book back up and opened it again.

Drake turned back around before she could see the smile hiding beneath his mustache.

They had just passed through the slim shadow of the Sky Pillar when a groan issued from behind the captain's chair.

Drake chuckled as he plotted a clear course that would allow him to step away from the wheel. He was soon standing by Glacia's side, offering her his hand. She looked up at him as if he was handing her a Seviper, but the pallid color of her cheeks told him he was right.

"I told ya not to do that."

"Ugh, I... I'll be fine. Just..." one hand flew to clutch her chin, and Drake smiled.

"C'mon, it happens to the best of us."

Without further protest, Glacia placed her other hand in Drake's, and he gently guided her to the railing of the boat.

"Don't... don't watch," she stuttered, but Drake was having none of it. As she wobbled on her feet, he steadied her shoulders as she kneeled down at the rail. After a few minutes, it was over, although the color still hadn't returned to her face. She turned to regard the sea captain with a stony glare.

"This never leaves this boat, understand?"

"Sailor's honor."

She glared at him a moment longer before relenting, "I'm sorry, I should have listened. That... wasn't fun."

Drake gave an amused huff, "Don't have to apologize to me. Sure didn't hurt my feelings."

The sour look returned, but Drake ignored it. He offered his hand again, and helped Glacia back to her seat.

"I'll get y'something when we get to Slateport. But for now, how about y'leave that book alone?"

Nodding, Glacia sighed, "I guess the scenery is pretty nice."

"Atta girl."

Dejectedly, Glacia leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes.

"The Champ puked three times the first time we went through the Pacifidlog currents."

"What?" Glacia rolled her head to look at Drake, surprised.

"So yer doin' fine."

"Why would you tell me that? What about sailor's honor?"

But Drake just shrugged. "Steven never asked 'bout that."

Glacia managed a weak laugh. "Just... be gentle please."

"Already plotted a course 'round the nastiest ones," his eyes twinkled beneath his cap. "Can't have anyone settin' a new record just yet."

"It's very much appreciated," said Glacia with a smile. Perhaps the surly sea captain wasn't so surly after all.
 
35 - Same Trainer, New Look

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  1. aggron
  2. lairon

Prompt #35: Steven needs a new suit. Wallace is only too happy to help.

"So Steven, I was thinking..."

"Were you now." Steven didn't bother trying to turn around to regard his friend while the tailor was taking the next measurement.

Wallace ignored him and kept going, "What if you were to try something different? More flashy."

"No."

"Well why not? You're the Champion, you need to reinvent yourself every so often, lest the people get bored."

"Bored?" This time Steven did find Wallace's gaze with a look of incredulity of his own.

"Yes, bored!" Wallace was unfazed as the tailor motioned for Steven to turn back around. "You're in the eye of the public constantly. What would they say if you were seen wearing the same old look day in and day out?"

"I do wear the same thing..."

"Exactly!"

"But it's what you told me to wear in the first place!"

"All the more reason to continue to listen to your official League stylist then."

Steven sighed as the tailor moved his arm to a new position, still dutifully working with his tape measure. "I am listening to you, I'm getting remeasured."

"That's only a matter of cut, Steven. What I'm talking about now is a matter of style. Fashion is always changing, and as the face of the region, people will be looking to you to lead the way!"

"I'm not wearing a cape," Steven grumbled.

"Heavens no! Capes are fringe fashion at best. Yours truly's not withstanding."

"What did you have in mind then," Steven's voice was defeated as the tailor tugged and pinned some of the fabric of his jacket.

Wallace instantly cheered up, "I'm so glad you asked!" And as soon as the tailor's tools were laid back on the table, he grabbed the man's hand and whisked away with him to the back room, leaving Steven standing alone in the fitting area.

When Wallace reemerged looking rather pleased with himself, Steven raised a finger to inquire about what sort of stylistic choices were made behind his back, but Wallace waved a hand and winked, "You'll see soon enough."

Shooting a disgruntled look at his friend's retreating back, Steven gave his thanks to the tailor and left with an appointment to pick up his suit in two weeks' time.



Steven was fairly sure he would be able to manage the feat of picking up a new suit on his own, but Wallace was insistent that he tag along. Steven wasn't sure if that gave him more or less confidence in what he was going to uncover once they arrived at the tailor.

"Ah, welcome back Mr. Stone, your suit is ready."

Steven gave a lopsided grin, "Please, Mr. Stone is -"

"Yes yes, 'Mr. Stone is my father', let's go see it shall we?" Wallace was quick to cut his friend off and drag him toward the back of the shop where the tailor waved them.

Frowning at his friend's rudeness, Steven followed the two men into the back room where the garment awaited. Wallace was practically beaming as Steven stepped through the door and spied their joint handiwork.

"That's... tamer than I was expecting, actually."

Neatly hanging from the lone stand at the center of the room was a pristine suit of charcoal black. The fabric had a soft sheen to it that seemed to soothe the crisp lines of the slim cut jacket. The sleeves bore a subtle purple hue that climbed nearly to the shoulder seam. Complementing deep violet lines hugged the side of the jacket before plunging behind the pockets on either side. As the tailor deftly swept the jacket from its perch, the matching light violet pinstripe vest peeked out from underneath, compete with delicate silver clasps that matched the shining embellishments at the end of the jacket cuffs.

"I'll take that as a compliment," said Wallace with a grin.

"You had me worried after you unveiled your latest Contest attire," Steven said as he slipped into the new jacket, giving a gentle tug to the comfortably weighted cuffs.

"Contest attire? Oh no, Steven. That outfit is part of my day to day rotation."

Steven froze mid-button. "You're joking..."

"I would never joke about fashion. You know that." Wallace looked hurt.

Steven gave a wary look toward the tailor who just shrugged. "Well, I appreciate you showing restraint for my new suit. I quite like the look of it."

"You're very welcome, my friend." Wallace bowed, "I'll let you two go through the final fitting then." And with that, he ducked from the room.

Steven sighed as he walked up to the mirror to regard his new look. "I appreciate you reeling Wallace in. He can be quite the handful when he gets to work on fashion."

But the tailor just shook his head. "I didn't have to do much. Leader Wallace has a great eye when it comes to style."

"Huh," Steven mused as he turned, admiring the rich materials and meticulous handiwork. "I just might have to stop caving in this if that's the case."

"Caving, sir?"

"Ah, it's nothing!" Steven quickly backpedaled, not wanting to offend the tailor with just how much abuse his formal attire had to put up with. "Just a figure of speech."

The tailor gave him an uncertain glance and began to inspect the final fitting. "Perhaps it's all the better that Wallace suggested our most durable fabric."

"Ahh, the Delcatty's out of the bag then, I guess?" Steven gave a nervous laugh.

"If you should ever need repairs, please don't hesitate to bring the suit back, I will be happy to mend it for you."

"Thank you very much. I'll take good care of it. I'm pretty sure Wallace would kill me if I did anything less."

The tailor simply nodded sagely as he made a few notes on his pad, and Steven made a mental note to thank Wallace for all his help. And for not putting him in a seafoam green cape.
 
36 - Comfort Food

Panoramic_Vacuum

Hoenn around
Partners
  1. aggron
  2. lairon

Prompt #36: Sometimes, you just need some really unhealthy comfort food.

Glacia sat stiffly in the chair in the kitchen of Phoebe's childhood home. It wasn't that she was uncomfortable; the house was incredibly inviting and more homely than she thought possible for a dwelling on the slopes of Mt. Pyre. But even with welcoming chatter all around, Glacia still felt as if she was intruding somehow.

She knew it wasn't the case. Phoebe had been the one to invite her over for the League's short recess. Short enough that there wasn't time to make the trip back to Sinnoh, but long enough that the younger Elite felt it was important for Glacia to get out of the empty halls of Ever Grande for a spell.

"So, dear, how long have you been in Hoenn?"

It took Glacia a second to realize Phoebe's grandmother had asked her a question. The elderly woman was happily preparing the evening's meal at the nearby counter.

"Oh, um, about five years now."

"My, that's quite a while. Do you get much time to go back to see your family?"

A small frown flitted across Glacia's face. "Not as much as I would like."

"Mm," Phoebe's grandmother sagely nodded as she began kneading the dough of whatever dish she was currently working on. "Well, I know it won't be a true substitute, but hopefully we can be your home away from home, if you'd like."

Glacia felt a bit of heat rise in her cheeks at the woman's sincere smile. She hadn't really thought about feeling homesick. Her mother would chide her if she outright admitted to it. Sinnohan women were strong and able to stand on their own two feet. But admittedly, she was feeling a bit overwhelmed by the warmth of the kitchen and the sound of the matronly voices, and the smells of the food...

She quickly rose and excused herself. She needed to get some fresh air, lest her composure crack in such an inconvenient place.

Phoebe watched Glacia leave the kitchen with a worried expression, but her grandmother just chuckled and began to heat a pan on the stove. "She'll be fine, leilani. Your mother was just as proud when it came to her independence. Independent or not though, there's one thing no one can resist..."

Wide-eyed, Phoebe realized what her grandmother's cryptic words referred to, and the older woman gave a sly smile.



As Glacia stepped back into the house, she was met with the smell and sound of crackling oil wafting through the air. She poked her head cautiously into the kitchen just as Phoebe's grandmother was lifting the last batch of fried dough from the pot. Golden brown and puffy, the dough bites glistened with hot oil before they were patted dry and dusted with powdered sugar.

Phoebe giggled at how Glacia was unable to tear her eyes away from the sugary treat. "These were always my favorite growing up. Grandma's zeppoli are the best."

Glacia watched as the plate moved from stove to table, and the memories flooded back, unbidden. Except this time they were filled with warm fondness of cozy winter mornings gathered around the table, digging into her own mother's donuts, the familiar smell, the sweet taste of the icings, the sticky fingers that reached for another when her back was turned.

Her smile melted through, and Phoebe's grandmother returned it knowingly, offering her the plate.

Daintily picking one of the warm treats and bringing it to her lips, Glacia's eyes closed as she took a bite.

"It... it tastes just like home."
 

Spiteful Murkrow

Busy Writing Stories I Want to Read
Pronouns
He/Him/His
Partners
  1. nidoran-f
  2. druddigon
  3. swellow
  4. lugia
  5. quilava-fobbie
  6. sneasel-kate
  7. heliolisk-fobbie
Heya, it’s been a while since I wrote some reviews for this series. Too long in fact, though today feels like as good a day as any to try and change that given that there’s a flash review event going on, and hey, I did say I’d keep tabs on your series this year.

So let’s just get right into things, since there’s a lot for me to catch up on.

Prompt #28

The buzzing of Drake's PokeNav seemed to startle the Dragon Master less and less each time he got a call, although he scowled at the number a bit longer than usual this time. With a hesitant greeting, he answered.

"Hello?"

… Not sure how soothing it’d really be to hear Drake’s voice on the other end of the line. He has always given off a strong vibe that he’d be someone quite imposing to meet in person, which I suppose is pretty thematically on-brand for a Dragon Master.

"Yes, this is Drake."

"...Yes."

"..."

"What'd the idiot do this time?"

… Oh, well that certainly isn’t a good omen there.
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"Yes...I mean - well, I can be there soon."

"Thanks."

Drake felt several pairs of eyes on him as he hung up the call. The Elites that were privy to the one sided conversation were giving him a range of looks, but Drake just shrugged them off with a gruff response.

"I have to go. Don't wait up for me."

Huh, not even giving a hint as to what he’s up to, huh? I didn’t quite expect that he’d be like this given the E4’s dynamic with each other in this series, but guess that must’ve been one hell of a phone call.


Not daring to stop their senior Elite, all eyes watched as Drake mounted Salamence and took off into the night without another word.

Oh, so Drake is imposing in person, huh? Since if you’re not willing to speak up and tell him “hey Drake, aren’t you up a bit late?” you just know he had one hell of a look on his face before ducking out into the night. ^^;


He was greeted by a flurry of feathers as he slid open the door to the Slateport hospital room.

"Peeko, enough!"

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Oh. Oh dear. Though I suppose Briney is canonically getting a bit up there in years.

"Briney, you old dog, why'd you call me here anyway?" Drake growled as he approached the bedside of his long-time friend and fellow sailor.

"Bah, you know hospitals. All protocol and no sense," Briney dismissed Drake's question with a wave of the hand that wasn't currently affixed with an IV. Peeko fluttered back to his side with a clack of her beak and a small squawk.

Drake: “... Briney, don’t you have family that you should be contacting right about now?”
Briney: “That’s always been kinda ambiguous in canon, now that you mention it.”
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"You listed me as your emergency contact?" Drake quirked a brow.

Wow, these two really are close to each other in this series. Though it definitely feels believable given that the two are fairly strong sailor archetypes as characters.


"Purely formality, I assure you," muttered Briney as he caressed the nervous bird's crown. She nuzzled happily into his touch.

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I mean, it’s totally normal to have your first emergency contact to be a platonic acquaintance that’s normally not even in the same town as you. Kinda touching, but totally normal.

Drake's gaze drifted from Peeko to his friend. "Sure doesn't look like just formality. What kind of half-cocked scheme did you get yourself into this time?"

With a sigh, Briney gave in, "Right to the chase with you. I guess there's no hiding it. Capsized my boat in the Pacifidlog currents..."

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Yeesh. That’s quite the experience there. Probably a good thing that Drake wasn’t told about this upfront or else he’d have-

"Again?"

"...Again..."

… Okay, never mind. He’d probably have been a bit less worried after all. Though what on earth got into Briney to make him this much of a daredevil as a guy who’s canonically an old fart?

Drake tipped his cap back and rubbed his brow, "Those damned mirages are gonna be the death of you, old man."

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Well, I suppose that would explain why Briney’s still playing daredevil well into his autumn years. It’s a neat tie-in of how Mirage Island worked in the RSE games, since I could absolutely buy a few sailors going full Captain Ahab over the place.

Briney offered a lopsided grin, "Well they haven't yet." His face fell as Drake's stony expression remained. "I washed ashore on a sandbar not too far from here. Peeko flew to get help. Otherwise..."

Emphasis on “yet” there.

Drake: “Briney, that doesn’t make any of this acceptable.” >_>;

His voice trailed off at the thought, and Drake shook his head, "I always wondered how long your luck would hold out. Guess I'm still left wondering."

… Briney’s going to go straight back to searching for Mirage Island after all of this, isn’t he? :V

"You sound disappointed," quipped Briney, and Drake huffed a laugh.

"Not in the slightest. Only when I get that call that the sea handled the burial for me."

Both men lapsed into silence at the kind of humor a sailor was accustomed to.

I’ll take that as a confirmation. Though it didn’t occur to me that sailors would have a thing for black humor, but considering how dangerous the job was back in the day and arguably still is… yeah, I can see it.

"Anything left of her?"

Briney bowed his head. "Not a plank."

Drake: “Well, guess it’ll be a while before you go off on your next ill-advised attempt to find Mirage Island, huh?” ^^

Drake sighed, "How much do you need this time?" and Briney just shrugged.

"However much you'd be able to spare."

Drake, as endearing as this is, I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to be enabling your friend’s daredevil antics like this. ^^;

Tipping his cap back down, Drake pushed off from the wall he'd been leaning against. "This time you better come back with something. I'm not going to keep funding your wild goose chases."

But Briney just grinned. "You know as well as I do that those islands exist. Whenever you're done playing around as the League's lapdog, just let me know and I'll let you join in the hunt."

And then suddenly, for no reason at all, Hoenn had an “Elite Three” with a fresh vacancy that needed filling. Guess they oughta keep Wallace on speed dial, huh?

"Yeah yeah," grunted Drake as he turned toward the door, "Rest up. I don't need a drowned Rattata for a friend."

The door closed behind him with a soft click, and Drake sighed. As exhausting as it was to be friends with Briney, he wouldn't have traded it for the world.

Drake: “The guy really needs to train some sort of swimming Pokémon already to bail him out of these wipeouts, since this is just getting ridiculous.” >_>;

Prompt #29

"Magcargo, Lava plume!"

The floor of Phoebe's chamber erupted in mini geysers of magma. The pattern of the attack was obvious; Magcargo was chasing its opponent down. But Banette was having none of the fire-type's attack, and she danced out of range just as each plume burst from the ground.

… So how slow is Banette moving if a Magcargo is successfully chasing him down right now? :V

Flannery ground her heel into the floor in frustration. "C'mon Magcargo! You can do it!"

youre_serious_futurama.gif


I mean, just saying, Phoebe’s an E4 member, and you’re kinda… not, Flannery. Even if I’m impressed at your lava snail being able to chase around a Banette right now.

But as Banette tugged her mouth wide and waggled her tongue in a nasty taunt, Magcargo's shell began to crack and spurt flames. It was agitated, and its fiery disposition clearly matched that of its trainer's. Four simultaneous lava plumes formed in a bubbling circle around Banette, trapping the ghost-type in their midst. She cackled in surprise as the full force of the attack erupted, sending columns of fire dancing across the arena.

Assuming that’s the Banette there, you should probably just say something like “(The) Banette” or “The Ghost-type”, since it’s a touch ambiguous as to whether that’s Magcargo or Banette cackling, even if it’s my assumption that it’s Banette since it seems like more of the cackler.

As the flames died down, all that was left were the smoldering remains of the fierce attack. Flannery was breathing heavy from the excitement of Magcargo's attack, and a confident smile crept across her face. She may have had a long way to go before she was as strong as her friend, but at least she could still throw the savvy ghost-type specialist for a loop.

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This sounds more like the part where Banette reveals that it used Detect and then Flannery gets blindsided.

Phoebe watched nervously as she waited for her partner to reappear. Banette was no slouch, and if anyone could have gotten out of that attack, it was her. Light danced around the arena as the remaining flames flickered with life, but another bit of movement caught Phoebe's eye, and she smiled.

"Shadow sneak!"

Yeah, I kinda figured. Again, it’s Phoebe who’s the E4 member here.
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The quivering shadow behind Magcargo shivered once before springing up from the arena floor. Two red eyes hungrily snapped open, and as the lava pokemon turned in surprise, a wave of shadows engulfed it in a wash of darkness.

Well that imagery definitely isn’t going to give nightmares at night. [unquag]

Flannery gaped as her partner vanished beneath Banette's shadowy grasp, but she held steady, driving a fist skyward, "Don't give up, Magcargo! Overheat!"

… Guess we’re about to find out how well Ghost-type possessed dolls handle getting a little toasty. ^^;

The shadows began to expand, seemingly filling up from the inside. And like a fabric stretched to its breaking point, the shadows began to tear at the seams, flames licking out from the openings. In a brilliant flash, Banette's attack gave way to a broiling fireball that exploded in all directions that sent both trainers ducking for cover. Patches of fire sprung up all over, and Phoebe squinted through the brightness to see what had become of Banette.

… You’d think that they’d keep plexiglass barriers or underling Pokémon spamming Protect in order to avoid having to do that. Since that sounds like a handy way for someone to get sent to the hospital as collateral at some point. o<o;

Hunched over gripping a nasty burn on her chest, Banette floated a few paces away from Magcargo, who was panting heavily from the incredible power it threw into its last attack. The combatants were now hemmed in on all sides by fire, though neither pokemon seemed fazed by it in the slightest. Phoebe grinned; Flannery had really improved since their last match, but she had no plans on losing this battle.

As the air filled with the smell of smoke, Phoebe's hand flashed out, "Banette, Payback!"

Whelp, it was a nice show there, Flannery. Guess you should’ve brought a Houndoom or something like that for this match, huh?

Drawing in power, the air began to swirl around in Banette's outstretched palms. Flinging her hands wide, the swirl centered over Magcargo's head, drawing smoke and flame into the vortex. Banette's form thinned into a wisp that disappeared into the tempest, only to reappear as multiple versions that circled the terrified fire-type. One by one, the grudge copies launched themselves at Magcargo, striking swiftly before being sucked back into the vortex.

Magcargo: “*I-Is it too late for me to forfeit?*” O.O;
Banette: “*Yup! Show’s over, bub!”*”

Cackling, Banette finally drew back, leaving Magcargo's head slumped from weathering the attack. But her glee was short lived, as her cackles turned into coughs, the smoke finally getting too thick for comfort.

Banette: “*... How have you not fainted yet?*” >.<

Flannery's eyes glinted with a knowing light; Magcargo could withstand the fiery conditions, and it only fed into the strength of his attacks.

"Get her while she's stunned, Flamethrower!"

… Wasn’t your snail described as literally being terrified like 3 paragraphs ago? Shouldn’t you worry about restoring its morale a bit, Flannery? Since if the ‘mon’s scared too stiff to follow orders…
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I do wonder if it’d have made sense to give some sort of passing acknowledgement that Magcargo was regaining its wits, though.

Inhaling a deep breath, Magcargo's head reared back and shot a stream of flames right at Banette. Startled, the ghost type hastily fired a shadow ball into the center of the flamethrower, splitting the attack in two. The remnants of the attack scattered, lighting more small fires around the arena.

Phoebe: “Well that can’t possibly be good for the repair bill afterwards.” >_>;
Flannery: “Works out fine for me! This is the sort of arena that Maggy really shines in!” ^^

It wasn't long before a thick blanket of smoke covered nearly the entirety of the chamber. Both trainers were having difficulty breathing, even though neither they nor their pokemon wanted to concede the match. But as the flames crept up one of the walls, Phoebe gave in. Waving frantically to her sparring partner, she shouted across the room for an intermission to the battle, and the two of them to beat a hasty retreat for some fresh air.

… I’m pretty sure that forcing your opponent trainer to throw the match because she was about to keel over from smoke inhalation is a form of cheating, but…

"You don't happen to have a water-type pokemon with you, do you?" asked Phoebe between coughs as she closed the door to her chamber behind them.

"No? Why would I?" questioned Flannery, seemingly taken aback, but also still coughing a bit.

Flannery: “... Don’t you just have ceiling-mounted sprinklers like any other large major public venue? That should handle a little fire like that, right?”
Phoebe: “...”
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"Don't you run into this kind of problem often? Y'know, being a fire-type Leader and all that?"

"No... I mean, the Gym has the hot springs built right in. And typically my aim is a bit better," Flannery admitted with a sheepish tug of her hair.

Flannery: “Also, again. I was kinda counting on your building having built-in sprinklers to work with-”
Phoebe: “Look, Flannery. With how much fire that Magcargo of yours was spewing around, I don’t think sprinklers would’ve helped that much even if we have them.” >_>;

Phoebe giggled before giving in to another round of coughs. "We should probably find someone who does then... I don't think Steven will be very happy with me if we let my chamber burn down."

Understatement of the century there, since I’m pretty sure that’s going to affect the broader League Building if you just sit back and allow that to happen. :V

"If you'd just let Magcargo land a few hits, maybe we wouldn't have this problem," Flannery said with a playful wink.

"Try telling that to Banette."

Considering how you’re Banette’s trainer, how is this not the definition of deflecting blame, Phoebe? >:V

As both trainers finally were able to straighten to their full heights, no longer coughing much, a voice called from down the hallway.

"Oi, are you two the ones throwing the barbecue? Smells awesome!"

Sidney: “Though isn’t it kinda a safety hazard to do this indoors? Sounds like a fast way to get someone hospitalized from smoke inhalation. How on earth have you two not tripped an alarm at this rate?”
720106605982646283.png

Phoebe: “... In retrospect, we should probably review how up-to-code the League Building is during the off season, since I’m pretty sure that some of these things are serious safety violations.” ^^;

Phoebe exchanged a side-eyed glance with Flannery before she put on her best innocent tone. "Oh hey Sidney. You don't happen to have Sharpedo with you, do you?"

Sidney: “... Why on earth would you need Sharpedo around for a barbecue?
:what:


Sidney's gaze scrunched in confusion. "Yeah, but why do you need Sharpedo for a barbeque... oh..." His eyes widened as smoke began to pour out from the jamb of the door.

He plucked the ball off his belt and readied to throw as Phoebe reached for the door. "Steven's gonna kill you y'know."

Kek, I was joking with Sidney’s response there. Though yeah, I wouldn’t be too happy about having to foot the repair bill from this happening from an off-hours sparring session either. :P

"If I take you out for actual barbecue, you'll promise you won't tell?"

… On the one hand, I doubt that just dousing everything is really going to be sufficient to cover your tracks enough that Steven won’t know. On the other… hey, at least Sidney from past prompts seems like he’d actually be able to be bought off by a little bit of food, so this is pretty clever of Phoebe there.
803821849384583219.png


Sidney nodded as Sharpedo materialized and began to hose down the inferno. "You better hope we don't have any challengers any time soon."

See, I knew that this would be harder to sweep under the rug than just putting out the fire. :V

Phoebe: “...”
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"Sorry!" squeaked Flannery, but Phoebe just waved her off with a sunny smile.

"This is nothing. You should have seen Drake's chamber after Salamence had that toothache."

Oh. Oh boy, I see that Drake’s ‘mence kinda lashes out a bit when he’s having a bad time, huh? ^^;

"Oh ho, I had almost forgotten about that!" chimed Sidney. "I take it back then, I bet Steven won't even notice."

Eleven words spoken seconds from disaster.

Although once Sharpedo had doused the last of the flames, the charred, soggy state of Phoebe's chamber begged to differ.

"Okay, maybe he'll notice... But he won't be that mad. Probably. Hopefully. How about that barbecue?"

I see Sidney’s just jumping straight to the priorities there. :P

"Yeah, let's get out of here," Phoebe hastily agreed, and all three trainers left the scene of the crime.

inb4 Steven walked in and went full ‘angry rant mode’ all of a minute after those three cut and run. It just seems like it’d have been a very on-brand moment considering the overall tone of this series.

Prompt #30

Steven was taken aback by the twins currently standing in his living room. Their visit itself wasn't out of the ordinary; the young Gym Leaders dropped by his Mossdeep home often enough. What was throwing him off was their demeanor. The normally shy and reserved Tate was silently fuming while a normally bubbly and upbeat Liza was shaking with quiet sobs.

Steven: “... Aren’t your parents supposed to be around to cheer you up when you’re feeling like this?”
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Gently ushering the pair to sit down on his sofa, Steven gestured that he'd be right back. Quickly, he ducked into the kitchen to pour two glasses of the twins' favorite berry juice, which admittedly he had grown rather fond of as well. Glasses in hand, he returned back to the living room and set them on the table before kneeling down next to where they were seated.

Liza gripped her glass tightly with both hands, staring at the liquid sloshing within. Tate looked too distraught to even think of taking a sip, so instead it sat untouched on the coffee table, slowly forming a ring of condensation.

I mean… yeah, did you really expect either of the two to be in the mood for drinks when one of the twins is angry and the other is a blubbering mess right now? ^^;

When neither twin said a word, Steven decided he should try to gently prod to find out what had happened. They had come to him after all, something had to be amiss.

"Tate, can you tell me what's wrong?"

Slowly the boy's stare found Steven's concerned gaze, and the Champion felt a chill in the air from the intensity of Tate's expression.

"It was a challenger. At the Gym."

Steven: “Oh boy, I can already tell that this is going to be something.” -_-;

At this, Steven's brow knit in confusion. It wasn't like the twins to get so worked up over a battle. But he didn't dare interrupt, so he nodded for Tate to continue.

"He... after he won, we went to present the badge... and..."

Tate paused, eyes falling to where his hands were clenching and unclenching in his lap.

"He... he grabbed Liza by the arm and... and he said... things..."

701630550720512120.png


I mean, I legit had never thought of a scenario like this happening, but considering how awful fans in real life can be… yeah, it really shouldn’t be all that surprising that Gym Leaders would have to deal with some nasty challengers from time to time. And when the Gym Leaders are schoolkids…

Liza seemed to curl in on herself at the word, and Steven felt himself tense at her reaction. He almost didn't even want to ask, but he had to.

"Tate," he said in nearly a whisper, "What kind of things did he say?"

"He said..." a tremble crept into Tate's voice, "He said he'd do things to Liza... Terrible things..."

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That… is significantly worse than what I was expecting. Boy did things take a dark turn fast.

The haunted look on Liza's face meant Tate didn't have to say any more. A cold flood of rage swept through Steven, and it took every ounce of strength to not let the twins see his reaction, they were scared enough as it was. But he also didn't care if they could sense the fury practically pouring from his thoughts.

"This challenger, did he say where he was headed next?"

Tate shook his head in the negative, but for the first time since arriving, Liza spoke up.

"Sootopolis."

And then suddenly, for no reason at all, a Pokémon trainer who had been last documented winning a challenge against the Mossdeep City Gym was found drowned in the Sootopolis City caldera.

The meekness in her voice cooled Steven's thoughts for the moment, and he gave the twins a reassuring, albeit thin, smile.

"I'll take care of this. For the time being, you two can stay here. Would you like it if I left one of my pokemon with you?"

Can’t tell if he’s going to phone a friend with Wallace to go out of his way to make the challenger’s life hell and just cockblock him from progressing further in the League, or if he’s going to show up in person to run a terrible little man over in person with his Metagross. :V

Wordlessly, both twins looked to him expectantly and nodded.

"Who's your favorite?" Steven asked, knowing fully well what the answer would be.

When the simultaneous chime of "Metagross!" came, Steven allowed himself another smile before unclicking the ball of said pokemon and leaving it on the table in front of them.

Well, guess it won’t be Metagross he runs that guy over with, then. o<o

"I promise I won't tell Aggron you didn't pick him. It'll be our secret."

Oh? So his Aggron gets a bit touchy at being denied affection? Or is the implication supposed to be that Tate and Liza normally like to spend time with him but he’s getting left out here?

The twins nodded again, and Liza eagerly grabbed Metagross' ball, holding it tight in her hands.

Steven smiled again as he opened his front door. "I'll be back sometime later. Help yourself to anything in the fridge, and make sure Metagross behaves, okay?"

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Look, I get that Tate and Liza are Gym Leaders, but I’m pretty sure that leaving schoolkids unattended with a fridge that for all we know has an entire tub of ice cream and a cold brew lying around is a fast way to come back home to your house being trashed by hyper kids, and possibly a hyper Metagross. ^^;

With another nod from the twins, Steven gently closed the door shut behind him. In two strides, Skarmory was out of its ball and waiting for their destination. Steven set his jaw and turned to regard his pokemon with an expression of thinly-veiled fury.

"Sootopolis, if you please, Skarmory."

There was business to be taken care of.

So we really are going to discover a floating body in the Sootopolis Crater at the end of all this, huh?

Wallace was on high alert as the door to his office closed behind them. The Champion had stormed into his Gym, met Wallace's gaze from across the chamber, and without breaking stride, jabbed a finger toward the office. Wallace knew what it meant; Steven wanted a word, and he wanted it now. He wasn't going to argue with his friend when he was silently seething like this, so trying to act casual, Wallace sat at the edge of his desk and looked to Steven for an explanation he knew was coming.

Oh, I see that Steven went for route A and is coordinating with Wallace to rekt this guy’s League Challenge. Guess that’s a bit less illegal than murder, huh? ^^;

Producing his PokeNav from his pocket, Steven queued an image up and flipped the screen toward Wallace.

"Has anyone by this name come through here yet?"

Wallace peered at the name on the screen and shook his head. "No, not yet. Why do you -"

"They threatened to hurt Liza." Steven paused, but his icy gaze never faltered. "Wallace. When they do turn up, I need you to do something for me."

Wallace: “... Steven, aren’t there literally laws against this sort of coordination here?”
:what:

Steven: “Maybe, but those don’t apply if you don’t get caught.” ^^

Wide eyed, Wallace nodded.

"I need you to crush him. Utterly humiliate him. I want him to slink out of your Gym with his tail between his legs. And when does leave, I want you to message me immediately."

Steven: “Oh, and maybe make copies of the surveillance footage. I need a good popcorn movie to watch with the twins after this is all over.”

Whatever desire Wallace had to protest was quickly squashed under the finality in Steven's tone. Eyes flashing, The Champion turned and opened the door.

"When this is over, we'll never speak of it again. Understood?"

Wallace nodded once more, and Steven stormed out of the room.

Wew, sounds like someone really is bending the rules on ethical behavior here. I mean, you can’t say the guy didn’t have it coming and that it’s not the lesser evil than a little bit of murder, but yeah… somehow this feels like something that would get these two in trouble if it became publicly known.

Thankfully, Steven only had to wait for another hour before the trainer turned up. He hovered at the entrance to the Gym, careful to stay out of view, only sparing a glance at the trainer has he brushed by so that he'd remember the man's face for later. Anger surged forth again when he caught the trainer's cocky expression. But before he did something stupid to blow his cover, Steven silently slipped out of the Gym and waited outside for Wallace's message.

A half hour later, Steven's PokeNav buzzed.

'He's leaving now'

- Steven fishes out a camcorder -
Steven:
c6f.gif


Pocketing the device, Steven leaned against the exterior wall beside the Gym doors. He took a deep breath to calm his tumbling emotions. He had been carefully rehearsing what he'd say, but as soon as the doors slid open and the familiar face stepped out now sporting a thoroughly dejected look, whatever strategy Steven had been planning went out the window. He surged forward and snatched the trainer by his collar. Startled, the trainer let out a shout of surprise as his back was roughly slammed into the stucco wall.

"What the - hey, man, what gives?!"

… Or he could do that. That works too. Just remember to stop before you really do yeet this guy’s corpse into the caldera.
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"Shut up," Steven nearly snarled as he leaned into the trainer's face. "I know what you did to my Gym Leader. How dare you lay a hand on her."

"Whoa wait, I didn't hit nobody! Wait, what do you mean your Gym Leader?"

Steven: “You don’t know who I am, do you?”
Trainer: “... Am I supposed to?” ._.;

Steven gave an empty laugh at the trainer's confusion, "It doesn't matter. Just tell me one thing. Did you have the guts to say what you said to Flannery too? How about Winona? Roxanne? Or are you such a tough guy that you only prey on children?"

Suddenly, the trainer's attitude shifted. Realizing he couldn't play innocent any more, he shoved back against Steven's grip, but the Champion was too incensed to be budged.

"That bitch told on me?" the trainer practically spat back.

Steven: “You realize that this counts as an admission that you did accost a pair of children and that I’m pretty sure that you broke a couple of laws in the process back in Mossdeep City.” >:|

"'That bitch' is one of the finest Gym Leaders in the region, and she won't be intimidated by some lowlife like you."

"Huh, and who are you? Her knight in shining armor?"

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Well, this is going to totally end well for the guy who still hasn’t realized that he’s picking a fight with one of the strongest tracked trainers in all of Hoenn.

"No," Steven sneered at the way the trainer was looking at him. The same way everyone looked at him when they thought he was just some rich snob who didn't know how to handle his pokemon. "I'm the Champion of the whole damn League, and if I ever hear your name come up again, I will personally see to it that your license is revoked and your pokemon are given to proper trainers who know how to treat others with respect."

Wait- Wait a minute, League Champions can do that in your setting? Or is that the sort of stuff you can pull off when you drop off a case of Lemonades at a local PD and explain “hey, Chuck, I need you and your buddies to do me a favor”? .-.

With a heave, Steven spun the trainer away from the wall and deposited him on his backside in the dirt.

"Consider this your first and final warning. And for your pokemon's sake, I hope you heed my words. Now get out of my sight."

Steven: “... Not sure why I’m saying for ‘your Pokémon’s sake’ since if this guy acts like this to human kids, I’m pretty sure that at a bare minimum he’s a very negative influence on his Pokémon, but whatever.”

Panicked, the trainer scrabbled for a pokeball and released a Wailmer into Sootopolis' Crater Lake. Firing a nervous glance over his shoulder, the trainer scrambled aboard and together they disappeared under the surface to beat a hasty retreat.

… Wait, but didn’t his team just get wiped in the Gym match like 5 minutes ago? How’s his Wailmer well enough to carry him off right about now? ^^;

Steven stood staring at the rippling water until the adrenaline faded from his system. Suddenly he felt so drained, and he nearly jumped when Wallace's hand came down on his shoulder.

"Think he learned his lesson?"

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I mean, I really, really doubt it. But at the very least, I doubt you’ll ever need to hear from him again.

Shaking his head softly, Steven sighed, "I hope so Wallace, but I'm not holding my breath."

"You did what you could."

But Steven's expression clouded at what Wallace had hoped would be reassuring. "I just hope it's enough to make sure no one actually gets hurt."

I mean, with the way that they guy is trash talking little kids… uh… yeah, I can totally see him running his mouth off to the wrong guy and turning up dead in a ditch.

"Let me just say I'm glad you didn't hurt anyone. After you told me to message you when he left the Gym, I thought for sure there'd be blood."

Steven blinked, startled, "Did you think I was going to hit the guy?"

"I mean, you basically had murder written across your face. So, I'd be lying if I said 'no'."

I mean, I was kinda worried that we were going to see Steven murder a man onscreen and dump his body in the local caldera, so I take it that Steven really was getting genuinely scary in-setting.
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Nervously, Steven knitted his hands together, twisting one of his rings. "I'm sorry Wallace, I guess I got carried away."

Wallace: “Gee, you think?
:what:


But Wallace just shook his head, "You've got nothing to apologize for. I'm pretty sure you showed more restraint that I would have."

Oh, so if Wallace had found out, that guy probably would’ve been found floating dead in the caldera. That’s… a lovely thought there. ^^;

Steven gave him a startled look. "You would have gone after him?"

"I would have punched him right in the nose. I may be forward with my romantic endeavors, but people like him make me sick. But enough about that creep, what do you say we race back to Mossdeep? I know Skarmory won't be able to carry the both of us, and I heard there are two twins waiting there that could use the best sleepover party of their young lives tonight."

- Wallace produces a tape -
Wallace: “Also, I’ve got the surveillance footage if you’ve got the popcorn.”
Steven: “... Wow, you really did come prepared for this, didn’t you?” .-.

"Who told you that?"

Grinning, Wallace brought out his PokeNav and showed the picture to Steven. The twins had taken a selfie with Metagross, and the latter was covered with marker scribbles all over its steel hide.

I can already see Steven face faulting right now, since you just know that’s not going to be easy to get off his Metagross.
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Too drained to do much else, Steven brought a hand to his face in mock exasperation. "Well I'm glad they're feeling better at least."

"Shall we go rescue poor Metagross from its fate?"

Steven: “Uh… yeah, and I should probably buy a few tins of polish to try and get all that off of it.” ^^;

Nodding, Steven brought out Skarmory's pokeball just as Wallace released his Gyarados.

"Just next time you get mad, a little warning would be nice. I almost forgot how scary you are when that happens."

Steven gave a sheepish smile as he tossed his pokeball, "I'll try."

Yeah, I’ll admit, that I didn’t peg Steven as getting this scary when this upset either. Though then again, I’m pretty sure that he Hyper Beamed TR with his Aggron in an episode of the Hoenn season, so… maybe it’s less shocking and off-brand for him than I thought. ^^;

Prompt #31

Glacia sighed as she slid her traveling boots on and headed out to the cabin's small living room.

She wasn't sure how he'd done it, but Steven had somehow convinced her to join him on a visit to Fallarbor Town. Professor Cosmo had called and invited them for a short expedition to search for fallen meteorites.

I mean, if it’s a cold season, I could see how you’d get convinced. Since that sort of terrain with sufficiently cold weather does feel like it would be fairly ‘Sinnoh’ there.

The first day of their trip was uneventful, full of introductions and logistics. The tour around Fallarbor was just as dull, with everything from the houses, to the trees, to the soil being made up of the same ruddy red tones.

Random Resident: “Wow, rude.”
Glacia: “Look, would it kill you to put up some green or something? Or how about some ice whites?”

Except when Glacia glanced out the front window of the cabin that morning, something had changed.

"Is that…?"

Having grown up in Sinnoh, Glacia was no stranger to snow, unlike the rest of her native Hoennian Elites. The climate of the sub-tropical region meant that even at its highest elevations and coldest season, snow and ice were a foreign concept at best. Which was why when she spotted puffy white flakes tumbling down from the sky, she had to blink and rub her eyes in disbelief.

"It can't be…"

It’s an Abomasnow from her team with Snow Warning or something like that that’s causing this, isn’t it? :V

Cautiously opening the front door, she stepped out onto the porch and extended a hand out from beneath the cover of the roof.

She watched in wonder as her palm slowly filled with the light, fluffy substance. But when the flakes didn't melt and vanish from the latent heat of her fingers, her brow furrowed in confusion.

Glacia: “... Can’t tell if this is climate change, or if my Pokémon are pranking me right now.” ^^;

So focused on the puzzling nature of Hoenn's physics defying precipitation, she didn't notice her traveling companion had approached until he found himself unable to contain his laughter.

Glacia jumped, startled and more than a little embarrassed, and she gave Steven a sharp look of disapproval as she tried to hide her outstretched hand behind her back.

Steven simply grinned in reply, standing out in the offending flakes where they gently coated his jacket and hair.

Glacia: “... Wait a minute, Steven. Is this your doing?” .-.

"It's not the same thing, but I thought the ash might be an acceptable substitute."

… Oh right that’s a thing in Hoenn. I should know better since I literally made a gag about it being like snow in Context Switch. Guess all that’s missing is the bike ride and Soot Sacks, huh?

Glacia could only hold her grumpy expression for a moment longer as Steven ran a hand through his hair, disrupting the ash that had gathered there. She smiled as she slipped her hand into the one he offered to guide her down he steps of the porch. Even though it really wasn't snow, she still coudn't help but look around in wonder as the red of Fallarbor disappeared beneath the growing blanket of ash.

"Merry Christmas, Glacia."

Well, that’s certainly one way to have a white Christmas there. It’s probably much worse for your lungs than a real one, but hey, it helps with dodging the cold. :V

Prompt #32

Sidney spared only a short glance toward the open office door as he hefted a box of recycling recyclables in his arms. The distinct noise, or lack thereof, caught his attention.

Is that implying that the box is empty? Since you’d think you’d notice the box was suspiciously light, Sidney. ^^;

It was the yearly clean up day for the League, the time to get rid of all the things that collected dust for the past 365 days and make room for the new dust magnets. That also included outdated League records and files, which Glacia gleefully accepted, mumbling something about a Lampent as she took a bin of papers with her to the back.

… The Lampent’s just casually setting all those papers on fire, isn’t it? Definitely a bit less boring than just dumping it in the recycling bin.
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But it seemed as if the flurry of activity around Ever Grande had skipped one particular room. Far be it for Sidney to pry, he had his own cleaning to do after all, his lingering glance at the door was not unnoticed.

Phoebe hesitated at his side, following Sidney's gaze toward the door in question.

"Looking for Steven?" she asked, nonchalant.

I wonder if it’d have made sense to have been a bit more forward that the skipped room was Steven’s. Whether by out and out saying it, or some sort of indirect method like “[...] one particular room, the champion’s.” But meh, it still works decently well.

"Well, I might be," chimed Glacia as she stepped up to the duo, dusting her hands off against her dress's skirt. "I haven't collected any paper from him to, um, dispose of yet, and I know he's got to have piles of paperwork that we can clean up."

inb4 Steven’s turned it all into bedding for his Skarmory. Since birds tend to be pretty open to using paper to line their nests.

"That's odd..." mused Phoebe, bringing her hand up to her ear to scratch it with her feather duster's handle.

After a shared look, the group reached a silent decision. All three Elites quietly approached the open door and peeked their heads inside. What they found, they weren't quite sure what to make of.

Sitting cross legged in the middle of the room was Steven, surrounded on all sides by haphazard files overflowing with paper. He was meticulously thumbing through every sheet, brow furrowed in concentration.

Oh, so Steven’s one of those guys who can’t throw away stuff easily, huh? I mean, I can kinda empathize with him there, since that doesn’t come easily to me either.
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"Um, Steven?"

A sheaf of paper took to the air as Steven jumped with a startled yelp. Watching the paper flutter down around him, the Champion rested a hand against his head in exasperation. Whether it was in embarrassment at being surprised, or the fact that now there was even more to clean up, no one could be sure.

Gathering himself quickly, Steven coughed once, but didn't bother to get up from his spot on the floor. "Ah, I'm sorry. Do you need my help with something?"

"You're throwing all that out, right?" Glacia went straight to the point.

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I’m pretty sure that this joke is building up to Steven being unable to throw any of this out, just saying.

Steven's eyes dropped to take in his handiwork. "Well, I'd be hesitant to throw everything out en masse. I thought it might be best to go through these files and see what we should keep..."

Yuuuuup, I called it. :V

"Ohhh no you don't," Phoebe was the first to move, striding forward and crumpling papers in her wake. She finally cut a path through to Steven before reaching down to grab his hands and attempted to haul him to his feet. "We're not having a repeat of last year!"

Sheepishly, Steven relented and let the ghost-type specialist lead him away from the pile.

"Last year?"

This happens every year with him, doesn’t it? Though I can see why there was chatter about needing that Litwick earlier. o<o

Glacia laid a hand on Sidney's shoulder and shook her head. "It's better if you didn't know."

But Phoebe was not one for secrets. "Last year he did the same thing, except no one caught it in time, and before we knew it he'd stayed up for 36 hours straight going through every last document." She shot a disapproving look Steven's way, and he winced under her accusation.

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I mean, I should probably be less surprised with how much of a thing this guy has for his rock collection, but still.

"Ah, but it turned out okay in the end -" he tried to say, but Glacia cut him off.

"He's lucky Drake pulled off a last minute victory against the challenger that came the next day. When we opened the door to his chamber to tell him, he had fallen asleep on the platform."

I’m guessing that Steven getting kicked from his throne in the games happened to overlap with another one of those ill-advised marathon sessions going through paperwork he wasn’t ready to bin, didn’t it? Since that sounds like a sure-fire way of throwing someone off their game. :V

Steven shrunk back even more. "It's true..." He nearly whispered the admission.

"So!" Phoebe began, "Sidney..." At this she handed Steven off to the newest Elite. "It's your job to keep him occupied while Glacia and I go through his office for him." Both women wore wicked looking smiles and Steven paled.

… Is there going to be anything left of his office at the end other than a bunch of ashes from that Litwick doing its thing? ^^;

"W-wait!" he protested as Sidney turned and steered the both of them from the room. "Just please, don't touch my rock samples!"

"Wouldn't dream of it Steven, dear!" came Phoebe's singsong voice, and Sidney had to chuckle.

"Don't worry, Boss. If you promise to stay outta trouble, I'll go make sure your collection is safe."

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I mean, they might have some scorch marks afterwards if the joke is going where I think it’s going, but still.

Steven obediently sagged into a waiting lounge chair in the common area with a sigh. "Thank you, Sidney. I will behave."

"Hell hath no fury, am I right?" said Sidney with a wink, disappearing back down the hallway. Suddenly, Steven felt like Sidney might need some back up if he were to succeed in keeping his precious samples untouched.

Yeah, this is why you dump all that paperwork someplace outside of your normal office and sort it out there. Don’t have to worry about the others accidentally yeeting stuff like your rock collection into the bin.

Prompt #33

The mood was light as the Elites scrolled through the newest batch of challengers to emerge from Victory Road. Some showed promise while Glacia huffed at others, saying there was absolutely no way they'd even get a sniff of her chamber.

Pretty sure that sort of attitude is a fast way to get embarrassed by a gimmick team or something like that, Glacia. Since there’s a lot of surprising stuff you can pull with Pokémon even before movement and positioning come into play.

Sidney had to agree as they casually flipped through the trainer information until one name popped up on the page.

"Gray Schofeld, Mauville City hmm?" muttered Glacia, "Looks like he'd do okay. Seems like he favors dark types just like you, Sidne-" she turned toward the Elite in question, but he wasn't there. "Sidney?"

Oh? Wonder if that’s a reference to anything, or if it was just a randomly chosen name for the story.

A cold sweat prickling against his collar, Sidney was already down the hallway on his way to the Ever Grande Pokemon Center. He hoped his hasty retreat was well covered, since it was strictly forbidden to interact with the challengers once they'd reached the Center. He was no stranger to rule breaking in his earlier life, but after he'd fallen into this position at the League, he was determined to clean up his act. And yet here he was, back at it without a second thought, except this time there was a damned good reason.

Oh, so Gray’s an old criminal buddy of Sidney’s, huh? I mean, it’s never explicitly confirmed that Sidney has a criminal background, but as stereotypical as it is for someone who favors Dark-types… uh… yeah, Sidney does kinda give off those vibes now that you mention it.

Quietly he slipped up to the front desk, the lobby was thankfully empty, and put on his best fake smile.

"Hello Sidney, how may I help you today?" chimed the Nurse, none the wiser.

"Hey Nurse Joy, I need a favor. Could you tell me which room the trainer from Mauville City is staying in? Absol found a lost item in Victory Road, and we need to return it to its rightful owner."

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Yeah, okay Sidney. What are you really up to here?

"Oh!" she said with a smile, "You needn't bother yourself with that, Sidney. I can return the item for you."

Sidney backpedaled, trying to save his hastily made plan. "Ahh, it's a... rather personal item. I'd prefer to return it to them myself, y'know, just to make sure it's theirs."

inb4 you get yourself into hot water just from this hairbrained plan to deal with Gray on your own without anybody knowing.

The Nurse's smile faltered a bit, but quickly returned as she bought his shaky lie. "Of course, forgive me for suggesting otherwise. Let's see..." she tapped a few keys on her computer. "Looks like that trainer is in room eight. Gray Scho-"

But Sidney was already retreating back toward the rooms with a curt wave, "Thanks, Nurse Joy! You're a lifesaver!"

"O-okay, you're welcome! Have a nice day!"

Somehow, I really, really doubt that this is going to end well, but let’s see what’s going on here Sidney. Since this ‘Gray’ guy sure has you sweating bullets all of a sudden.

Sidney's fingers drummed nervously at his belt, running a pattern up and down his pokeballs as he raised his other hand to rap quietly on the door to room number eight.

"C'mon, c'mon..."

A shuffling inside the room made him jolt straight upright, and as the door clicked open, he quickly thrust a hand forward and barged his way into the room before slamming it shut behind him. The man who answered the door stumbled backwards as Sidney shoved his way in.

"Whoa, what's going on - wait, Sidney? It really is you!"

Gray: “... What are you doing here anyways?”
Sidney: “I’m part of the Elite Four. The better question would be…” >_>;

"What are you doing here, Gray?" he snapped.

Gray: “... I’m here for a Gym Challenge? That’s not seriously a crime now, is it?”
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Gray laughed as he sauntered over to the room's chair and lounged back against the cushion, hands behind his head. "What do you think I'm doing here? I'm here to see you, man. It's been a while."

… Or he could be there for that. Sure are a determined one to get 8 badges just to get your foot in the door, but hey, people have done crazier things.

A scowl had formed on Sidney's face. "Was kinda hoping it'd stay that way..."

Wow, rude.

"Aww, c'mon now. You can't be serious. You didn't miss me even a little bit?" Gray gave a fake pout, but his eyes were laced with something else.

"I got outta Mauville to leave that life behind, man."

Well, how’s that working out for you huh, Sidney? ^^;

The sneer that twinkled in Gray's expression melted to the rest of his face, lips upturning not unlike a Mightyena's snarl. "You oughta know better than that, Sid. You can take the punk outta Mauville, but you can't take the Mauville outta the punk."

… No, I’m pretty sure that this series has very effectively demonstrated that Sidney’s moved on from this implied criminal past here.

"I'm done with your gang, Gray. I've made my own life here now."

"You ain't done with shit, Sid. You're mine. Always have been. Always will be." Gray's fingers dug into the armrests, as if he could squeeze the life out of them.

Sidney: “Gray, you do realize that my team eats League Challengers for breakfast now, right? And even if you did manage to beat them, that I’ve got four other buddies who are-”
Gray: “Not here right now.” >:|
Sidney: “... Right. Guess that was a bit of a downside about coming here alone.”
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Sidney wasn't sure when he'd averted his gaze, but all of a sudden the pattern of the flooring was a lot more interesting.

"I don't know how you gave my guys the slip after you got that last badge, but you did. I almost gave up lookin' for ya too. Almost. And then what do I see? A big ol' headline of my boy walking out of the League like he's king o' the castle. This is a big step for us. We're in, big time."

Bold of you to think that you could bully around an E4 member like this Gray. And even if Sidney was willing to play ball, the others would literally eject him overnight and just replace him with Wallace or something like that.

"There is no 'us'!" The words ripped from Sidney's lips before he could stop himself, but he still couldn't stare Gray down. "You treated me about as well as that Poocheyna that ran away with me. And now you show up here thinkin' I owe you something. Well you're wrong." A sudden rush of courage blazed through his veins, and Sidney's eyes shot up, filled with fire. "The day I left Mauville was the day I was through with you."

Bold words there, Sidney. I mean, I’m sure you can back them up in a Pokémon battle, but the vibes that Gray’s giving off here make me feel like he’d pull a knife or a gun on you.

… You know, a situation where you’d want to come with others besides just your lonesome. ^^;

"Sidney, Sidney, Sidney..." Gray tutted. "You've got it all wrong-"

"No, you're the one who has it wrong. Your gang was never my family. You didn't raise me, you didn't teach me, hell, you barely even fed me. I was just some dumb kid who thought anything had to have been better than my real family. And-" Sidney's breath hitched just for a second, and the pokeballs at his hip rocked in response. "-And now that I'm here, I know what it means to have a real family. So, I'm going to have to ask you to leave, and never come back."

Sidney: “... In retrospect, I should’ve had someone like Absol out for all of this, since boy do I feel alone and vulnerable right now.”
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"And if I don't?" the menace practically dripped from Gray's tone.

"If you don't," Sidney unclicked Mightyena's pokeball from his hip, "I'll make you leave."

Gray met Sidney's hard stare unwaveringly before bursting into laughter. "Ahahaha, what are you gonna do, attack me in my room? That's a good one."

Gray: “Need I remind you that if you try something like that, that you’re the one who’s going to get into hot water since I haven’t done anything illegal yet?”
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Sidney's gaze fell before he placed Mightyena back at his belt with the others. "No..." his voice was quiet. "No, you're right."

Gray cackled again, "Aww, looks like things haven't changed after all. Little Sidney, giving up, just like you always do."

A soft exhale sounded as Sidney's hand found the doorknob. "Good luck in your League challenge, Gray." And he closed the door behind him with a soft click.

Oh, so you’re going to have to take him apart the hard way, huh Sidney? Well that’ll certainly be quite something to see there.

Glacia smirked as she watched the scoreboard tick down the last of Gray's pokemon. Not a single member of Sidney's team had fallen. In fact, it hadn't even been close. Turning to Steven, she gave the Champion a sly smile.

"And you're still not going to tell me where you found this kid?"

Wew. I see hatred and resentment is a pretty powerful motivator there with how brutally effective Sidney is being with wiping the floor with Gray and his gang there. o<o

Steven shook his head with a mysterious grin, "Nope. He asked me not to share it with anyone, and if nothing else, I try to be a man of my word."

"Well, I can only hope a little bit of your influence might rub off on him."

- Steven cocks his head and looks out at Gray sulking off the battlefield -
Steven: “Oh trust me, I think that it did.”

Steven had to laugh, "He may be a bit rough around the edges, but if there was any doubt I'd have never extended the request. If I'd have known you'd be so sour after he nearly took out your whole-"

"Don't you say it!" warned Glacia.

Oh, so that’s how Sidney first caught Steven’s eye. I can understand how Glacia would still be salty about taking a hard L to a scruffy street kid back in the day.

"I wouldn't dare," said Steven with an apologetic wave. He let his gaze drift back down to the battlefield where Sidney stood triumphant with Mightyena at his side. He'd taken a gamble, inviting a rogue trainer into their midst. But he'd had a feeling back then in Victory Road... It didn't matter what led Sidney to that cave. All that mattered is what he brought with him when he stepped out of it.

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I mean, let’s not get into how that turned out really, really badly in Kalos, but hey, it worked out here, and we’ve gotten over 30 cute little vignettes out of it, so I’d call that a worthy gamble on Steven’s part.

Prompt #34

"So what's got you headed to Slateport?"

When his question was met with silence, Drake peered back toward his passenger from his place at the helm and cleared his throat.

"Glacia?"

"Hmm?" Clearly not paying attention earlier, the ice-type expert tipped her book to her chest and looked at Drake expectantly.

"I asked what yer doin' in Slateport. Y'don't leave Ever Grande much, so something special's got to be happening."

inb4 it’s a chance to see proper snow or something like that.

"Oh, I'm going to stop by the marketplace. There's a vendor there that specializes in goods from Sinnoh, and I wanted to restock my supplies. I'm finally beginning to run low, so I didn't want to miss her. Thank you for the ride, by the way."

… Okay, yeah. That’s a bit more plausible than waiting for snow. And I guess Glacia has given off some vibes of having nostalgia/longing for home in prior entries of this series so you can’t say that it’s not fitting.

Drake nodded as he growled a 'welcome', and Glacia smiled. She hadn't known the Dragon Master long, but she knew the last thing he wanted was to be seen as polite.

The engine revved to life as she took a seat on the deck, and as Drake hauled in the last of the moorings, he muttered something as he walked back to the helm.

… Can’t tell whether Drake’s just different from his anime incarnation or if he just has multiple boats, since I could’ve sworn that Anime!Drake had a sailing ship.

Glacia had already buried her nose back in her book, but she knew he had said something. "Pardon?"

"I said, you might not want to do that."

"Do what, exactly?"

"Read."

"And why not?" she looked mildly offended at the suggestion.

Drake: “... Glacia, have you seriously never heard of people getting carsick when reading as the scenery goes by? Just how do you think you’re going to fare doing that out at sea when you’re being jostled around by the waves constantly?”
:what:


Drake pursed his lips and raised an eyebrow, "Y'haven't been on many boats, have you?"

Glacia huffed, "I've been on enough."

Drake: “Again Glacia, this is literally a phenomenon that affects people on-”
Glacia: “I heard you the first time, Drake! I’m not that fragile!” >_>;

Both brows raised in resignation, Drake simply shrugged and tended to the wheel. "...Don't say I didn't warn ya."

As much as Drake's words sank in, Glacia was too irritated by the insinuation that she was just some clueless foreigner to pay them any mind, and as the boat left port, she settled back into her novel.

Cue the seasickness in 3… 2…

The sloping walls of Sootopolis barely had slipped over the horizon when a loud snap sounded from the deck. Drake craned his head and caught a glimpse of Glacia gently massaging her brow, book closed in her lap.

"Y'okay?" he called back to her.

"Hmm, oh yes, I'm fine. Just taking a break." She defiantly snatched the book back up and opened it again.

… Surprised that she’s not looking more visibly nauseous right about now, but wow. Barely out of port and Glacia’s already feeling unwell, huh? :V

Drake turned back around before she could see the smile hiding beneath his mustache.

They had just passed through the slim shadow of the Sky Pillar when a groan issued from behind the captain's chair.

Drake chuckled as he plotted a clear course that would allow him to step away from the wheel. He was soon standing by Glacia's side, offering her his hand. She looked up at him as if he was handing her a Seviper, but the pallid color of her cheeks told him he was right.

… Scratch that about her not looking more visibly nauseous. ^^;

"I told ya not to do that."

Drake: “Again, Glacia. This affects people in motor vehicles on well-paved roads!” >_>;

"Ugh, I... I'll be fine. Just..." one hand flew to clutch her chin, and Drake smiled.

"C'mon, it happens to the best of us."

Without further protest, Glacia placed her other hand in Drake's, and he gently guided her to the railing of the boat.

Well, Glacia certainly deteriorated fast there. But yeah, I kinda saw that this was coming since… yeah, reading in a moving vehicle is literally a fast way of baiting motion sickness, especially if you can see the world go by as you’re reading. ^^;

"Don't... don't watch," she stuttered, but Drake was having none of it. As she wobbled on her feet, he steadied her shoulders as she kneeled down at the rail. After a few minutes, it was over, although the color still hadn't returned to her face. She turned to regard the sea captain with a stony glare.

"This never leaves this boat, understand?"

"Sailor's honor."

592603469265764372.png


I mean, not that Glacia has many options here, but I’m not sure how much I trust a ‘sailor’s honor’ given his stunt with drinking everyone under the table and then sending his Flygon out to help Steven’s Skarmory troll everyone by screeching up a storm while everyone was hung over. ^^;

She glared at him a moment longer before relenting, "I'm sorry, I should have listened. That... wasn't fun."

Drake gave an amused huff, "Don't have to apologize to me. Sure didn't hurt my feelings."

Drake: “I mean, I only warned you over and over again in and out of canon, but hey. Sometimes you’ve just got to learn things through experience.” ^^;

The sour look returned, but Drake ignored it. He offered his hand again, and helped Glacia back to her seat.

"I'll get y'something when we get to Slateport. But for now, how about y'leave that book alone?"

Nodding, Glacia sighed, "I guess the scenery is pretty nice."

"Atta girl."

… Shouldn’t Glacia be getting motion sickness pills or something right about now? Since I’m pretty sure that the text implied that she just vomited over the railing and I’d think that she’d be feeling a bit worse right about now. ^^;

Dejectedly, Glacia leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes.

"The Champ puked three times the first time we went through the Pacifidlog currents."

Oh boy, so what advice did Steven ignore back then in order for that outcome to happen?
701630550720512120.png


"What?" Glacia rolled her head to look at Drake, surprised.

"So yer doin' fine."

"Why would you tell me that? What about sailor's honor?"

But Drake just shrugged. "Steven never asked 'bout that."

Glacia: “... Somehow, I’m suddenly a lot more dubious about ‘sailor’s honor’ right about now.” ^^;
Drake: “Glacia, relax. Just take it easy on yourself right about now.”

Glacia managed a weak laugh. "Just... be gentle please."

"Already plotted a course 'round the nastiest ones," his eyes twinkled beneath his cap. "Can't have anyone settin' a new record just yet."

Oh boy. That now makes me morbidly curious if Drake has ever deliberately taken someone through the rougher currents to get them sick as a troll, since I see that eye twinkle mentioned in the narration there. ^^;

"It's very much appreciated," said Glacia with a smile. Perhaps the surly sea captain wasn't so surly after all.

I mean, I wouldn’t have had pegged Drake as having a soft side, but between this and his moment with Briney earlier in this review… yeah, it’s a bit of a nice touch that helps give him a bit more depth than “scary sea captain with a thing for scary flying lizards”. It’s a shame that canonical materials haven’t really done that with the Hoenn E4, since this series has always excelled in bringing these guys to life in a way that I suddenly have a hard time un-imagining as the way that they’d tick as characters.

Prompt #35

"So Steven, I was thinking..."

"Were you now?" Steven didn't bother trying to turn around to regard his friend while the tailor was taking the next measurement.

Wallace ignored him and kept going, "What if you were to try something different? More flashy."

"No."

Oh boy, this is gonna be a “Wallace tries to shill Steven to become flamboyant” prompt, isn’t it? ^^;

"Well why not? You're the Champion, you need to reinvent yourself every so often, lest the people get bored."

"Bored?" This time Steven did find Wallace's gaze with a look of incredulity of his own.

"Yes, bored!" Wallace was unfazed as the tailor motioned for Steven to turn back around. "You're in the eye of the public constantly. What would they say if you were seen wearing the same old look day in and day out?"

Steven: “... But you literally have the same outfit constantly in the games and other official media-”
Wallace: “Medium limitations! Don’t mind them.”

"I do wear the same thing..."

"Exactly!"

"But it's what you told me to wear in the first place!"

"All the more reason to continue to listen to your official League stylist then."

Steven’s going to wind up getting stuck in a clone of Wallace’s outfit, isn’t he? :V

Steven sighed as the tailor moved his arm to a new position, still dutifully working with his tape measure. "I am listening to you, I'm getting remeasured."

"That's only a matter of cut, Steven. What I'm talking about now is a matter of style. Fashion is always changing, and as the face of the region, people will be looking to you to lead the way!"

"I'm not wearing a cape," Steven grumbled.

Oh lol, I’m feeling pretty good about that hypothesis of Steven winding up looking like he walked out of Wallace’s wardrobe by the end of this prompt.
803821849384583219.png


"Heavens no! Capes are fringe fashion at best. Yours truly's not withstanding."

Steven: “Wait, why is it cringe for everyone but you, Wallace?”
:what:

Wallace: “Because the rest of my outfit makes it work, of course!”
476581281094828033.png


"What did you have in mind then," Steven's voice was defeated as the tailor tugged and pinned some of the fabric of his jacket.

Wallace instantly cheered up, "I'm so glad you asked!" And as soon as the tailor's tools were laid back on the table, he grabbed the man's hand and whisked away with him to the back room, leaving Steven standing alone in the fitting area.

Steven is going to regret this in about a minute, I can already tell. ^^;

When Wallace reemerged looking rather pleased with himself, Steven raised a finger to inquire about what sort of stylistic choices were made behind his back, but Wallace waved a hand and winked, "You'll see soon enough."

Shooting a disgruntled look at his friend's retreating back, Steven gave his thanks to the tailor and left with an appointment to pick up his suit in two weeks' time.

Again:

de7.png


Yeah, this sounds like a recipe for a fashion disaster. But hey, moments like those are what make this series entertaining, so let’s go ahead and see what sort of ridiculous getup Wallace suckered Steven into wearing, hm?

Steven was fairly sure he would be able to manage the feat of picking up a new suit on his own, but Wallace was insistent that he tag along. Steven wasn't sure if that gave him more or less confidence in what he was going to uncover once they arrived at the tailor.

"Ah, welcome back Mr. Stone, your suit is ready."

Steven gave a lopsided grin, "Please, Mr. Stone is -"

"Yes yes, 'Mr. Stone is my father', let's go see it shall we?" Wallace was quick to cut his friend off and drag him toward the back of the shop where the tailor waved them in.

Steven: “Wallace, if we’re going someplace that’s so stuffy that it makes it feel like that I’m my father...” >_>;
Wallace: “Hush, Steven! Every artist has his eccentricities!” ^^

Frowning at his friend's rudeness, Steven followed the two men into the back room where the garment awaited. Wallace was practically beaming as Steven stepped through the door and spied their joint handiwork.

"That's... tamer than I was expecting, actually."

Wait, but isn’t that a good thing considering how Wallace isn’t exactly ‘Mr. Subtle’ normally? ^^;

Neatly hanging from the lone stand at the center of the room was a pristine suit of charcoal black. The fabric had a soft sheen to it that seemed to soothe the crisp lines of the slim cut jacket. The sleeves bore a subtle purple hue that climbed nearly to the shoulder seam. Complementing deep violet lines hugged the side of the jacket before plunging behind the pockets on either side. As the tailor deftly swept the jacket from its perch, the matching light violet pinstripe vest peeked out from underneath, compete with delicate silver clasps that matched the shining embellishments at the end of the jacket cuffs.

"I'll take that as a compliment," said Wallace with a grin.

I had to look this up, but oh. This is Steven’s ORAS outfit. Nice little detail and canon blend there, since it is pretty visually distinct from his RSE outfit.

"You had me worried after you unveiled your latest Contest attire," Steven said as he slipped into the new jacket, giving a gentle tug to the comfortably weighted cuffs.

"Contest attire? Oh no, Steven. That outfit is part of my day to day rotation."

Steven froze mid-button. "You're joking..."

Steven, I don’t see why on earth you’d expect Wallace to joke about that sort of thing when this entire series, he’s basically been constantly flamboyant. If anything you should be wondering why his day-to-day rotation isn’t even gaudier. :V

"I would never joke about fashion. You know that." Wallace looked hurt.

Steven gave a wary look toward the tailor who just shrugged. "Well, I appreciate you showing restraint for my new suit. I quite like the look of it."

I mean, I don’t know if I’d go so far as restraint since by IRL standards, Steven’s ORAS outfit is still fairly flashy, but it’s tamer than Wallace’s normal get-up, at least.

"You're very welcome, my friend." Wallace bowed, "I'll let you two go through the final fitting then." And with that, he ducked from the room.

Steven sighed as he walked up to the mirror to regard his new look. "I appreciate you reeling Wallace in. He can be quite the handful when he gets to work on fashion."

But the tailor just shook his head. "I didn't have to do much. Leader Wallace has a great eye when it comes to style."

- Beat moment -
Steven: “... Wait a minute… you didn’t? But he’s the guy constantly strutting around in a cape!” .-.
Tailor: “Which he was also adamant wouldn’t work with your design, so…”
720106605982646283.png


"Huh," Steven mused as he turned, admiring the rich materials and meticulous handiwork. "I just might have to stop caving in this if that's the case."

"Caving, sir?"

"Ah, it's nothing!" Steven quickly backpedaled, not wanting to offend the tailor with just how much abuse his formal attire had to put up with. "Just a figure of speech."

Narrator: “It wasn’t just a figure of speech.”

The tailor gave him an uncertain glance and began to inspect the final fitting. "Perhaps it's all the better that Wallace suggested our most durable fabric."

"Ahh, the Delcatty's out of the bag then, I guess?" Steven gave a nervous laugh.

Oh, so Steven literally takes his clothes with him when he goes out spelunking huh? How much of a mess do they turn out to be when he comes back, huh?
803821849384583219.png


"If you should ever need repairs, please don't hesitate to bring the suit back, I will be happy to mend it for you."

"Thank you very much. I'll take good care of it. I'm pretty sure Wallace would kill me if I did anything less."

The tailor simply nodded sagely as he made a few notes on his pad, and Steven made a mental note to thank Wallace for all his help. And for not putting him in a seafoam green cape.

inb4 Wallace does that next time as a troll since he’s now got Steven’s guard down. The sort of dynamic those two have had in past chapters honestly made me think that that was where things were going to go with this prompt, but it was still a nice surprise to see Wallace take things seriously and whip up something familiar and not totally tacky for his buddy.

Prompt #36

Glacia sat stiffly in the chair in the kitchen of Phoebe's childhood home. It wasn't that she was uncomfortable; the house was incredibly inviting and more homely than she thought possible for a dwelling on the slopes of Mt. Pyre. But even with welcoming chatter all around, Glacia still felt as if she was intruding somehow.

She knew it wasn't the case. Phoebe had been the one to invite her over for the League's short recess. Short enough that there wasn't time to make the trip back to Sinnoh, but long enough that the younger Elite felt it was important for Glacia to get out of the empty halls of Ever Grande for a spell.

I wonder if Glacia sees any resemblance at all to Mt. Coronet on Mt. Pyre, or if it’s too warm and snow-deprived for her to feel homely about it in that way.

… Then again, it could just be talking about the house, that would also make sense too.

"So, dear, how long have you been in Hoenn?"

It took Glacia a second to realize Phoebe's grandmother had asked her a question. The elderly woman was happily preparing the evening's meal at the nearby counter.

"Oh, um, about five years now."

Wait, but isn’t Glacia herself elderly? Wonder what on earth led to her breaking through the E4 in Hoenn in such short order if she’s only been here for 5 years.

"My, that's quite a while. Do you get much time to go back to see your family?"

A small frown flitted across Glacia's face. "Not as much as I would like."

I’d say “well, of course, she’s an E4 member”, but then that wouldn’t explain Phoebe, now would it. Guess Sinnoh’s pretty distant in this setting such that it’s not just a casual plane ride that takes a couple hours from Hoenn before you’re in Jubilife.

"Mm," Phoebe's grandmother sagely nodded as she began kneading the dough of whatever dish she was currently working on. "Well, I know it won't be a true substitute, but hopefully we can be your home away from home, if you'd like."

Glacia felt a bit of heat rise in her cheeks at the woman's sincere smile. She hadn't really thought about feeling homesick. Her mother would chide her if she outright admitted to it. Sinnohan women were strong and able to stand on their own two feet. But admittedly, she was feeling a bit overwhelmed by the warmth of the kitchen and the sound of the matronly voices, and the smells of the food…

Translation: Glacia’s totally feeling homesick right now.

She quickly rose and excused herself. She needed to get some fresh air, lest her composure crack in such an inconvenient place.

Phoebe watched Glacia leave the kitchen with a worried expression, but her grandmother just chuckled and began to heat a pan on the stove. "She'll be fine, leilani. Your mother was just as proud when it came to her independence. Independent or not though, there's one thing no one can resist..."

Leilani’, huh? Not that it isn’t fitting for Phoebe thematically, though that now makes me curious if your imagining of Hoenn gives it some sort of connection to Alola. Or if Phoebe and her family themselves have a connection to Alola / Alolan roots.

Wide-eyed, Phoebe realized what her grandmother's cryptic words referred to, and the older woman gave a sly smile.

I’m… not sure if I follow Gran’s logic there. I think it might be tilting towards “yearnings for home”, but I legit can’t tell. It might be worthwhile to drop in some stronger hints one way or another.

As Glacia stepped back into the house, she was met with the smell and sound of crackling oil wafting through the air. She poked her head cautiously into the kitchen just as Phoebe's grandmother was lifting the last batch of fried dough from the pot. Golden brown and puffy, the dough bites glistened with hot oil before they were patted dry and dusted with powdered sugar.

Oh, never mind. The answer is apparently “malasadas”. So Gran and Phoebe really do have a connection to Alola. :V

Phoebe giggled at how Glacia was unable to tear her eyes away from the sugary treat. "These were always my favorite growing up. Grandma's zeppoli are the best."

Okay, nevermind. Not malasadas after all. The “fried dough” and sugar threw me off a moment.

… Though those pictures I’m getting for ‘zeppoli’ from online are kinda making me drool right about now. ^^;

Glacia watched as the plate moved from stove to table, and the memories flooded back, unbidden. Except this time they were filled with warm fondness of cozy winter mornings gathered around the table, digging into her own mother's donuts, the familiar smell, the sweet taste of the icings, the sticky fingers that reached for another when her back was turned.

Her smile melted through, and Phoebe's grandmother returned it knowingly, offering her the plate.

Daintily picking one of the warm treats and bringing it to her lips, Glacia's eyes closed as she took a bite.

"It... it tastes just like home."

D’aww. Though I can’t tell whether that’s a cute outro that’s going to lift Glacia’s mood, or if her mood’s just gonna crash from really getting homesick right after this. The ending’s a bit ambiguous like that. ^^;

It’s been far too long since I last read these, and at once, I immediately am reminded of why I fell in love with this series over the course of Review Blitz. The different prompts do a really good job of feeling fresh and varied, and they do a lot at giving characters that are otherwise kinda flat from their canonical portrayals a lot of life to them. I think that my favorite one this time around was the one where Steven goes off to avenge Tate and Liza’s no good, horrible, very bad day at the Gym, since it does a lot to show off both his protective side, as well as a more single-minded side of Steven that while not fully healthy, feels fairly in character for him both from his past depictions in this series and from what I can remember of snippets of his canonical portrayals.

I didn’t have too many gripes, but the ones that I did have were primarily related to things like description being light in a couple areas or ambiguous pronouns. I don’t think that they were enough to derail the overall effect of your vignettes, but if you do ever go back to give things a once-over for them, they’re things that you might find worth the time to smooth out.

Thanks again for bringing these over @Panoramic_Vacuum , and I’ll be looking forward to crossing paths with the other 14 that are still chilling and waiting to be brought over to TR. ^^
 
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37 - Valentine's Day Mail

Panoramic_Vacuum

Hoenn around
Partners
  1. aggron
  2. lairon

Prompt #37: Valentine's Day is much less fun when you're famous.

"Oh come on, Steven, it's all in good fun."

"Wallace," Steven regarded his friend from over the top of a pile of pink envelopes, "You know exactly why I don't like Luvdisc's Day."

"Because you don't like getting mail from your adoring fans?" said Wallace as he popped another piece of chocolate in his mouth.

Steven sighed and shook his head, "That's not it and you know it."

Wallace snapped the box of sweets shut. "You should be enjoying this day so I can live vicariously through you."

"Live vicariously? Wallace, you get hundreds of letters like this all the time!"

"I know," the Master Coordinator whined, "That prevents today from feeling as special as it ought to."

Steven just rolled his eyes. "Stop being ridiculous and help me clean this mess up."

"Fine," Wallace sighed as he picked an envelope off the pile. "But you don't see anyone else complaining about it. Phoebe was skipping down the hall earlier practically glowing with excitement."

But Steven had given up arguing with the water-type trainer, and simply began dumping the letters into a bin. He only paused when the sound of ripping paper filled the air.

"What are you doing?"

"Well if you're not going to read them, then someone has to."

"What?"

"Think of the poor soul who wrote this letter to you. They could be sitting at home right this very moment, wondering if their words would ever reach the Champion's eyes!" The melodrama of Wallace's story was sickening, and Steven gave him a flat look before snatching the letter from his hands.

"You're not going to read my mail."

Wallace pouted at the snub. "Steven, you heartbreaker! And on Luvdisc's Day no less!"

"Don't you have fan mail of your own to be reading?"

"I do, but you always seem to get the better chocolates," grumbled Wallace as he reached for the box again.

Steven ignored him as the last of the letters found their way into the bin. He hefted the whole thing and began to head for the door.

"Wait, where are you going?"

"Outside. Skarmory needs plenty of space to spread out his wings."

Wallace's eyes widened with a gasp, "Steven Stone, you are not going to let Skarmory shred your Luvdisc's Day mail!"

"Who's going to stop me?"

And that's how Steven found himself stuck at his desk on St. Luvdisc's Day, sifting through a pile of pink envelopes under the watchful eye of a very angry Milotic.
 
38 - Primetime TV

Panoramic_Vacuum

Hoenn around
Partners
  1. aggron
  2. lairon

Prompt #38: It's the grand finale of Phoebe's favorite ever TV show.

Phoebe's foot tapped nervously on the deck of Drake's boat as she leaned over the railing at the bow, as if she could get the boat to go faster with the force of sheer willpower. Rather than affecting the boat, her anxiousness was easily picked up by the ship's captain, and he poked his head out of the cabin.

"What's got you all wound up today, lass?

Phoebe jumped at the sound of his shout over the wind, and she quickly composed herself before answering, "Oh, I just have a lot to do when we get back to Ever Grande, that's all."

The casual flutter of her hand didn't really work on Drake, he simply quirked an inquisitive brow but decided to not press the issue any further.

"We're nearly there. 'Bout another half hour," he replied before ducking back into the cabin and out of the wind.

After a quick glance at her PokeNav, Phoebe seemed to deflate against the railing. She didn't really have any work to be doing once they got back. It was just that tonight was the last episode ever of 'Lovers in Lilycove' and she wasn't going to miss it for the world. Drake didn't need to know that though...



By the time they arrived in Ever Grande, Phoebe was practically hopping up and down on the deck waiting to disembark. As Drake eased them slowly into the dock, she'd had enough.

"Let's go, Dusknoir!"

In a flash, her pokemon was out and she was clambering onto one of its upturned palms.

"We gotta hurry!"

At his trainer's urging, Dusknoir swiftly carried the two of them from the dock as fast as it could float. Drake looked up from his moorings just in time to see a shadow slide up the staircase leading to the League.

As Dusknoir swept down the hallways toward her quarters, Phoebe checked her PokeNav again for the time.

"Oh man, we're so close."

They had already nearly run over Glacia who sputtered and fussed over the stack of papers that scattered as they rushed by. So this time it was sheer luck that Dusknoir managed to pivot out of the way just in time to avoid a collision with Sidney as they rounded the corner.

"Whoa there, sis, slow down!"

"Sorry Sid, talk later, it's about to start!"

"What now? What's starting?"

But Phoebe was already whizzing past and her shout of "I'll tell you later!" left Sidney looking on in puzzlement.

"...What could possibly be starting now? It's 7 at night on a Tuesday -" He froze as the realization set in. "Oh, this is too perfect."

He heard the door slam to Phoebe's room, and a grin spread across his face. In that moment Glacia huffed noisily as she stomped up behind him carrying a disheveled lump of paper under one arm.

"I swear that girl better have a damn good reason for running through the halls like that. Look at this paperwork!"

Sidney turned to her with a sly smile, "Want to get back at her?"

Glacia looked at him, suspicious, but not turned off to the idea, "What did you have in mind?"

"Meet me back here in an hour. Don't be late."



The final scene faded to black, and Phoebe drew the last tissue from its box. The finale had proven to be a roller coaster of emotion, and she hadn't been able to hold back the tears. Just as she crumpled the tissue and tossed it into the trash, a knock sounded at the door. Sniffling a giddy hiccup, she rose and headed to answer it, trying to compose herself. She'd never live it down if the rest of the Elites knew about her favorite show...

Sliding the door open, she was greeted with a flash and the snap of a camera shutter.

Eyes wide and blinking, Phoebe froze as she saw Sidney and Glacia peering over he shoulder at the closing titlecard that was scrolling by on the screen.

"Did you get it?" asked Glacia, ignoring Phoebe's stuttered protests.

"Oh yeah, it's right there in the background," said Sidney with a grin, before turning his attention to the stunned ghost-type trainer with tear streaked cheeks. "Just remember this moment the next time you want to bring up that sunburn picture."

And both Elites beat a hasty retreat down the hallway, blackmail safely in hand.

"Sidneyyyyyy!"
 
39 - Migraine

Panoramic_Vacuum

Hoenn around
Partners
  1. aggron
  2. lairon

Prompt #39: Migraines are evil.

Steven squinted at the meeting agenda he held in his hand and wondered why it suddenly was so hard to make out the words. Concentrating on the blurry mess in front of him, he was vaguely aware that at some point his hand had balled tightly around the paper, and he quickly released his grip and smoothed the crinkled document flat against the tabletop.

"Steven?"

"Uh, boss, you okay?"

His gaze shot up, embarrassed at his lapse, but he immediately regretted the action, the room beginning to lilt unsettlingly to the side. A hand flew up to brush at his temple with a wince.

"Ah, I'm terribly sorry everyone. Would you mind if we adjourned this meeting until tomorrow?"

A nervous shuffling of papers echoed through the room, and the scraping of a chair against the hardwood felt like someone had taken a rock pick to the backside of his eyeballs.

"Sure thing, boss... You don't look so good - ow!"

Phoebe hissed something inaudible as the group shuffled toward the door.

"I'll be fine. Thank you everyone, we'll see you tomorrow." Steven weakly waved them out.

As his hand pressed down over his eyes, he missed a lingering glance from Glacia as she hovered in the doorway, concern etched on her face. When Steven didn't move, she waited only a moment longer before silently drifting from the room.

Steven waited for the wave of nausea to pass before he dared open his eyes again. Rising from his own chair caused the room to spin once more, and he had to slam a palm flat to the table to steady himself. The resulting clatter as his chair skittered backward sent starbursts dancing across his vision. He'd never experienced an onset as fierce as this. He had to get out of there.

One hand clamped to the side of his face, he lurched for the door. The frame had somehow twisted itself clockwise, and he was left staggered as his shoulder made solid contact against the jamb. Stumbling into the opposite wall, his fingers snaked up to his scalp where they dug in, fighting back against the invisible ones trying to claw their way out of his skull. A shaking hand plucked one pokeball from his hip.

"Skarmory... Home... Now..."

Its trainer's weak voice sent alarm bells ringing, and Skarmory made good on his command, gently scooping the dazed Champion onto its back and beating a hasty retreat back to Mossdeep.



It had been over an hour since Glacia last saw Steven at the meeting, and when he hadn't turned up in his League office, or the study, or the infirmary, or even the rooftop, she began to grow worried. It wasn't her business to pry into their leader's health, but at the same time she felt obligated to check up on him. It was the least she could do given how far she knew he would go for one of them in the same circumstance.

Drake had been more than happy to lend her transport, although Altaria was slightly on edge given Glacia's preference for ice types. With extra reassurance that no frost would touch her cloudy wings, Glacia perched atop the dragon and set out for the only place she hadn't looked for the Champion.



She had only been to Steven's house once before, and thankfully her memory served her well as Altaria touched down on the secluded cliff side on the outskirts of Mossdeep. When she reached the door, Glacia frowned as she saw that all of the window shades had been drawn tight. Suspicions confirmed, she was hesitant to knock and instead tried the handle. Amazingly it was open, and she ushered Altaria inside with a finger to her lips.

The interior was shrouded in dusk, and it took a moment for her eyes to adjust from the sunlight outside. Altaria cooed a quiet tone of worry, but Glacia gave the dragon a reassuring look. This was expected. What wasn't expected was the low rumble that came from the back hallway. Two red eyes rimmed with a faint psychic hue peered through the twilight at the uninvited guests, softening in recognition.

Glacia swept forward and greeted Metagross with a gentle hand to its brow. The steel type hummed beneath her touch and turned its gaze toward the room it had been standing guard in front of. The door was ajar, and both Glacia and Altaria slipped inside at Metagross' urging.

Standing just inside the doorway, Glacia hesitated at the unspoken threshold of privacy she had just crossed. But when Metagross' unwavering gaze flicked back to her own, she realized she had already been granted permission; if it hadn't wanted her here, it would have been a simple matter to remove her from the house. Altaria ruffled her feathers nervously as both pokemon looked toward the figure curled up on the bed.

The room was just as dark as the rest of the house, but it didn't take much light to see a shock of silver hair intermingled with the messy sheets. Glacia approached the bedside, cautiously stepping over the blazer and cravat that had been haphazardly discarded on the floor. Steven lay on his side with his knees drawn tight to his chest. His shoulders shook with tension at every breath and even in the dim room she could see how white his knuckles were as he grasped at the fabric of his disheveled shirt. Every so often he would shift and squirm, one hand releasing its death grip on his arm and reaching up to tug on a lock of hair.

Glacia shivered as she took in the Champion's sorry state. She was no stranger to the feeling of having such a beast inside your head, trying to force its way out. There would be only minimal relief until the episode passed. At least she knew she could try to make him as comfortable as possible until then.

Beckoning Altaria near, she whispered, "My dear, can you sing our Champion a lullaby, quietly if you please?"

Eyes shimmering with sympathy, Altaria nodded. She waited until Glacia had slipped out the door before beginning her soft song.

Brushing past where Metagross was waiting in the hall, Glacia withdrew a small bottle from her pocket. Tapping two pills into her palm she recapped the bottle before placing the pills on the bathroom counter.

"When he stirs, have him take these," she directed the watchful pokemon, "I know you're doing your best, but the pills will help."

Metagross hummed in understanding before delivering another soothing pulse of psychic energy to its trainer.

Glacia smiled. She could only imagine how much better her migraines would have been if she had a psychic type pokemon by her side as well.

Satisfied she had done all she could, Glacia slipped a book out from her travel cloak and settled into the lounge chair in Steven's living room. She would wait it out, if only for the fact that when Steven was finally released from the demon's hold, he wouldn't be waking up alone. It was what her mother had done for her all those years ago, and Glacia knew it would make all the difference.
 

Flyg0n

Flygon connoisseur
Pronouns
She/her
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. swampert
  3. ho-oh
  4. crobat
  5. orbeetle
  6. joltik
  7. salandit
  8. tyrantrum
  9. porygon
Oh boy I love these so much I ended up reading 5 instead of 6! And I'll definitely be reading more later. I found each of these so charming and appealing. You do such a fun job of making all these characters and the Elite 4 really come to life. They have unique voices and the interactions between them are such a delight.

1:

"Are you wearing a caving headlamp?"

"Yes, and?" His head flicked toward the sound of the voice, and Sidney winced as the light found his eyes.
Bless Steven, what a caving nerd. The mental image of him popping in like 'yes of course the closest light on hand is my caving headlamp' like of course. These kinds of little details are what sell the character moments.

Steven just smiled, face upturned towards the heavens. Silence settled over the group, letting the sound of the waves filter up through the air, unobstructed by the sounds of civilization. They remained that way for some time until the hum of the nearby air conditioning unit stirred to life.

"Power's back on," murmured Sidney.

And no one could have cared less.
This first one was such a sweet and heartwarming place to begin. From the moments of telling stories by the fire to coming up here and seeing the stars, it was just very simple but meaningful. I kinda feel like these quiet moments are something I struggle with, but I'm taking notes here for sure.

Also digging the prose, esp the bit above.

Story 2:

Oh glorious glorious! Wallace tormenting Steven is always a delight. I have a special place in my heart for friends teasing each other in ways like this, its just such a fun friendship dynamic.

"Body... parts...?" By now, the young heir had turned a sickly shade of pale.
Oh my poor sweet Steven, so mortified. I have to say, I relate, this is me. I hate crowds and hate attention like the plague

"Hello lovely citizens, behold, your Champion!"

Steven groaned.
Oh Wallace.

I just love the display of friendship here + the opposites attract thing in their friendship. Wallace is so flaboyant showoff-y and loves attention and performing, Steven being queit and reserved and hating crowds. But despite all the playful behaviour its actually really nice of Wallace in a way to be there to support Steven in this. A+

'Chapter' 3

Oh this one was really glorious. I just love poor frantic Sidney flying into a panic over realizing he didn't feed Drake's dragons. I love the characterizations so much too. Little bits like Phoebe gliding on Dusclops or the comment about 'who designed these corridors' and Glacia's little 'I wonder what angry Salamence is like.' I know I've said it before but the interactions between your elites are just so lovely.

Salamence was sitting calmly on the floor of the arena along with the rest of Drake's pokemon, but they weren't alone. Steven stood at the center of the group, giving each dragon an affectionate head pat.

"Oh hey, Sidney. Great timing, it's nearly time for Altaria's grooming appointment. You can handle taking her to Lilycove for me, right?"

But Sidney hadn't moved, he stood lost in a stupor that only left him able to sputter incoherently.

Steven just smiled as Phoebe and Glacia giggled. "Drake called and said you'd volunteered to help me take care of these guys while he was away. I know you're sometimes the forgetful sort, so we couldn't pass up the opportunity to have a little fun at your expense."

"You... you... but... the dragons... and... the flamethrower...how..."

Phoebe gave him a playful nudge. "Maybe now you won't show up halfway through the next League meeting?"

"No," Sidney breathed. "Definitely not."
HAH
They take so muh pleasure in tormenting poor Sidney here. And they were all in on it, lol.

ALSO HEADPATS FOR DRAGONS

However I'm deducting a point for not having a Flygon cameo. Truly a horror and a tragedy :sadbees: (/j)


4:

OKAY THIS WAS MY FAVORITE SO FAR.

Everything about it was just hilarious to me. Wallace's over dramatic behaviours and comments was pure gold my gosh. I fully love and accept the idea of Wallace acting like this every time he so much as has a sniffle.
So with a dramatic huff he collapsed back on the sofa and reached for another tissue.
I can picture this in my head so clearly

"Oh Steven, finally! I was worried something terrible had happened to you too."

"Something terrible? What's going on, are you okay?"

"Steven, it's just awful! I have been bedridden with the most wicked illness. My nose will not stop running and my head feels like it is going to explode!"

To Wallace's surprise, the only thing that sounded through the receiver was a hearty laugh. After a moment, Steven composed himself.

"Sounds like you've caught yourself a head cold. Well make sure you get plenty of rest and drink lots of fluids, it should pass in a few days."

Wallace was flabbergasted. "How could you make it sound so cavalier? I could be dying, Steven. Dying!"
"OH STEVEN IM DYIIINGGGG"

Steven: "yes yes I'm sure you are, drink and rest"

"Mmhmm. Growing up in Snowpoint, I learned a thing or two about cold remedies." She brandished a bag filled to the brim with supplies. "I brought a few of the essentials with me, I hope you don't mind."

Sitting up, Wallace suddenly was overwhelmed. He had spent all day just feeling sorry for himself and yet his friends had arranged for all of this without an ounce of pity; it was pure, genuine caring. It was humbling, to say the least.

"Thank you, Glacia."

She smiled again as she looked up from scratching Victoria under the chin.

"It's no problem at all, Wallace. That's what friends are for. Now how about a bowl of Sinnoh's famous noodle soup?"
I really like the idea of Glacia being native to or growing up in Snowpoint. This must be what she meant in the first short about it always being cloudy where she grew up. Is that canon or something you made up?

Also I love how it went from something comedic and light to still trademark heartfelt and meaningful. These guys really are like a family, always looking out for and supporting one another. Also Victoria and Wallace are so sweet.

5:

Okay I almost think this one is also my favorite. Baby Beldums are so precious and Steven trying and failing to carry a handful of beldums is an excellent picture.

As soon as Steven was able to pry one from the refrigerator door, another had stumbled upon his rock collection and he abandoned the first Beldum in an effort to keep the second from knocking over the glass casework.
AAHHH FRIDGE MAGNET BELDUM. Also the poor rock collection oh NO.

Of course, Steven was not prepared to hold the full weight of a steel pokemon, and the little one fell straight down to the floor, landing square on his foot. He yelled in pain; that had to be a broken toe, and his shout only served to make the Beldum cry louder in his arms.
lol Poor Steven

When the light finally faded, Steven thought his eyes might be playing tricks on him; the new hatchling seemed to still be glowing in the nighttime air.
SHINY BELDUM :quag:

The shiny Beldum chirped once as it processed Steven's soft question, its eye slowly scanning its caretaker's face. And then it broke into a loud wailing cry, loud enough to disturb the other four Beldum that were sleeping beneath Metagross's watch. Soon five tiny pokemon were all screeching in unison and Steven could only laugh at the incredulity of it all.
Also RIP Steven, forget about sleeping for the next week. At least metagross is there to help.


"60 laps should be a nice warm up swim. Then we move on to calisthenics!"
HOLY SMOKES

Wallace must be shredded!?!! Like okay not shredded cause swimming is a little different looking than weightlifting for something but still, if this is a routine he does regularly at all, he must be so fit oh my goodness.

When everyone had finished their laps, and Spheal and Whiscash slipped away under the water unnoticed with a quiet thank you from the ladies, Wallace ushered the group into his private weight room where they could continue to train. As Flannery nervously eyed the intimidating weight machines, Phoebe nudged her with a sly wink and palmed two pokeballs. As Wallace launched into an explanation on the optimal circuit for toning muscle, Mismagius and Duskull quietly slipped into the shadows. Every pull up, push up, and bench press was suddenly much lighter for the the pair, and on more than one occassion Phoebe had to remind her pokemon to keep their snickering to themselves, lest the water-type Leader become suspicious.
eheheh I love this, and love the idea that Wallace is too oblivious and focused on what he's doing to ever notice this.

"So how mad do you think Steven is going to be when we drag him out of bed tomorrow morning?"

"Not nearly as mad as when he finds out he doesn't have any pokemon he can sneak into the workout without Wallace knowing!"

Both trainers laughed a bit too maniacally. Who said getting in shape wouldn't be fun?
AHAHAHAH YES YES

Okay where's the sequel where Steven is miserable the next day and full of ach-y muscles from working out and having no help and Phoebe and Wallace tease him for not being able to even walk properly???


ANways I am just loving all of these. (Also I hope there's at least 1 Flygon cameo here). You have a real gift for brevity and character interactions, and honing in on the small meaningful moments between characters and maximizing them. Loving this, can't wait to read more !!
 

Spiteful Murkrow

Busy Writing Stories I Want to Read
Pronouns
He/Him/His
Partners
  1. nidoran-f
  2. druddigon
  3. swellow
  4. lugia
  5. quilava-fobbie
  6. sneasel-kate
  7. heliolisk-fobbie
Heya, it took a while, but I’m back to catch up with the rest of your series, since there are 50 of these floating around, so might as well give you some incentive to yeet the rest of them out into the wild. ^^

Prompt #37

"Oh come on, Steven, it's all in good fun."

"Wallace," Steven regarded his friend from over the top of a pile of pink envelopes, "You know exactly why I don't like Luvdisc's Day."

Oh, so that’s Valentine’s Day in your setting. Cute use of Luvdisc’s appearance there. :V

"Because you don't like getting mail from your adoring fans?" said Wallace as he popped another piece of chocolate in his mouth.

Steven sighed and shook his head, "That's not it and you know it."

e02e5ffb5f980cd8262cf7f0ae00a4a9_press-x-to-doubt-memes-memesuper-la-noire-doubt-meme_419-238.jpg


It absolutely has something to do with getting swamped with rabid fanmail, I can already tell.

Wallace snapped the box of sweets shut. "You should be enjoying this day so I can live vicariously through you."

"Live vicariously? Wallace, you get hundreds of letters like this all the time!"

No, the idea is to live vicariously by getting lols from you getting flustered and turning beet red from embarrassment for half the week afterwards from a thousand different professions of love in the mail.
:loltias:


"I know," the Master Coordinator whined, "That prevents today from feeling as special as it ought to."

Steven just rolled his eyes. "Stop being ridiculous and help me clean this mess up."

Steven: “Seriously, can I just forward my fanmail to you today and give you a stamp to overwrite every mention of ‘Steven’ with ‘Wallace’?” >_>;
Wallace: “Oi, I said that the crush of mail already made things feel less special for me!” >.<

"Fine," Wallace sighed as he picked an envelope off the pile. "But you don't see anyone else complaining about it. Phoebe was skipping down the hall earlier, practically glowing with excitement."

Steven: “Wallace. I’m. Not. Phoebe.” >.<
Wallace: “Always a first time for everything?”
:gardeshrug~1:


But Steven had given up arguing with the water-type trainer, and simply began dumping the letters into a bin. He only paused when the sound of ripping paper filled the air.

"What are you doing?"

"Well if you're not going to read them, then someone has to."

"What?"

Steven: “N-No they don’t! They can go straight into the paper shredder and then into the compost heap afterwards! Aggron needs topsoil for his project garden!”
:eltyscared:


"Think of the poor soul who wrote this letter to you. They could be sitting at home right this very moment, wondering if their words would ever reach the Champion's eyes!" The melodrama of Wallace's story was sickening, and Steven gave him a flat look before snatching the letter from his hands.

"You're not going to read my mail."

Wallace: “Wanna bet?”
868180565227089941.png


Wallace pouted at the snub. "Steven, you heartbreaker! And on Luvdisc's Day no less!"

"Don't you have fan mail of your own to be reading?"

Wallace: “... I’ll get to it eventually?”
:joltyshrug~1:


"I do, but you always seem to get the better chocolates," grumbled Wallace as he reached for the box again.

- Snerk -

Of course there would be an ulterior motive. :V

Steven ignored him as the last of the letters found their way into the bin. He hefted the whole thing and began to head for the door.

"Wait, where are you going?"

"Outside. Skarmory needs plenty of space to spread out his wings."

Steven: “(Also, it might be a good idea just to fly off to Mt. Pyre for a day until the insanity settles down a bit.)” -_-;

Wallace's eyes widened with a gasp, "Steven Stone, you are not going to let Skarmory shred your Luvdisc's Day mail!"

"Who's going to stop me?"

And that's how Steven found himself stuck at his desk on St. Luvdisc's Day, sifting through a pile of pink envelopes under the watchful eye of a very angry Milotic.

Steven: “... Should’ve just left the mail pile to Wallace and taken off for Mt. Pyre with Skarmory, really.” >.<

Prompt #38

Phoebe's foot tapped nervously on the deck of Drake's boat as she leaned over the railing at the bow, as if she could get the boat to go faster with the force of sheer willpower. Rather than affecting the boat, her anxiousness was easily picked up by the ship's captain, and he poked his head out of the cabin.

Drake: “Phoebe, don’t you have anything better to do right now?”
:what:

Phoebe: “Well, Glacia told me all about how reading while sailing was a terrible idea and the scenery’s a bit samey right now, so…”
:joltyshrug~1:


"What's got you all wound up today, lass?

Phoebe jumped at the sound of his shout over the wind, and she quickly composed herself before answering, "Oh, I just have a lot to do when we get back to Ever Grande, that's all."

Drake: “... And are you going to elaborate, or…?”

The casual flutter of her hand didn't really work on Drake, he simply quirked an inquisitive brow but decided to not press the issue any further.

Drake: “Hrmph. I’ll take that as a ‘no’.”

"We're nearly there. 'Bout another half hour," he replied before ducking back into the cabin and out of the wind.

After a quick glance at her PokeNav, Phoebe seemed to deflate against the railing. She didn't really have any work to be doing once they got back. It was just that tonight was the last episode ever of 'Lovers in Lilycove' and she wasn't going to miss it for the world. Drake didn't need to know that though…

I mean, considering how these sorts of stories work, it’s at least a coin toss that Drake would be a fan of the show himself and being reminded that it’s the last one ever would light a fire under him to hurry up.

By the time they arrived in Ever Grande, Phoebe was practically hopping up and down on the deck waiting to disembark. As Drake eased them slowly into the dock, she'd had enough.

"Let's go, Dusknoir!"

Drake: “Wait, Phoebe? What’s got you in such a-?”
:what:


In a flash, her pokemon was out and she was clambering onto one of its upturned palms.

"We gotta hurry!"

At his trainer's urging, Dusknoir swiftly carried the two of them from the dock as fast as it could float. Drake looked up from his moorings just in time to see a shadow slide up the staircase leading to the League.

Boy does that girl really want to make it for her soap’s series finale.
:loltias:


Drake: “... Rush.” -_-;

As Dusknoir swept down the hallways toward her quarters, Phoebe checked her PokeNav again for the time.

"Oh man, we're so close."

Cue the summons to do chores or actual League work in 3… 2…

They had already nearly run over Glacia who sputtered and fussed over the stack of papers that scattered as they rushed by. So this time it was sheer luck that Dusknoir managed to pivot out of the way just in time to avoid a collision with Sidney as they rounded the corner.

"Whoa there, sis, slow down!"

[ ]


"Sorry Sid, talk later, it's about to start!"

While I get that a lot of these short stories were written as spur of the moment things with a mind for being compact, I kinda wonder if Phoebe’s run-in with Sidney would’ve been a bit funnier if there’d had been a bit more time to slow down and give focus on their mutual reactions kinda like how Glacia is mentioned as being all but run over by Phoebe and her Dusknoir.

"What now? What's starting?"

But Phoebe was already whizzing past and her shout of "I'll tell you later!" left Sidney looking on in puzzlement.

Sidney: “What’s got her in such a hurry?”

"...What could possibly be starting now? It's 7 at night on a Tuesday -" He froze as the realization set in. "Oh, this is too perfect."

Oh. Oh dear.
:fearfullaugh~1:


He heard the door slam to Phoebe's room, and a grin spread across his face. In that moment Glacia huffed noisily as she stomped up behind him carrying a disheveled lump of paper under one arm.

"I swear that girl better have a damn good reason for running through the halls like that. Look at this paperwork!"

Sidney: “Soap operas, duh.”
Glacia: “Wait, how on earth do you-?”
:what:

Sidney: “It’s the timeslot for ‘Lovers in Lilycove’ right now, so…”

Sidney turned to her with a sly smile, "Want to get back at her?"

Glacia looked at him, suspicious, but not turned off to the idea, "What did you have in mind?"

"Meet me back here in an hour. Don't be late."

I can’t tell whether this is about to be hilarious or wince-worthy from being cruel as hell.

The final scene faded to black, and Phoebe drew the last tissue from its box. The finale had proven to be a roller coaster of emotion, and she hadn't been able to hold back the tears. Just as she crumpled the tissue and tossed it into the trash, a knock sounded at the door. Sniffling a giddy hiccup, she rose and headed to answer it, trying to compose herself. She'd never live it down if the rest of the Elites knew about her favorite show…

Sliding the door open, she was greeted with a flash and the snap of a camera shutter.

Sidney: “Surprise!”
1011010647670149280.png


Eyes wide and blinking, Phoebe froze as she saw Sidney and Glacia peering over her shoulder at the closing titlecard that was scrolling by on the screen.

Phoebe:
tomoko-kuroki-wata-mote.gif


"Did you get it?" asked Glacia, ignoring Phoebe's stuttered protests.

"Oh yeah, it's right there in the background," said Sidney with a grin, before turning his attention to the stunned ghost-type trainer with tear streaked cheeks. "Just remember this moment the next time you want to bring up that sunburn picture."

Ah yes, the benefits of modern technology. If Phoebe had been watching this on an old-timey CRT, the screen refresh would’ve likely saved her since it’d be highly unlikely that Sidney would’ve managed to get a clean image of the screen’s contents at an angle like that. :V

And both Elites beat a hasty retreat down the hallway, blackmail safely in hand.

"Sidneyyyyyy!"

Whelp, guess Sidney’s sunburn picture’s either getting torched or shoved in a closet… or else Phoebe’s just gonna give up since half the Hoenn League now knows her dirty little secret.
:loltias:


Prompt #39

Steven squinted at the meeting agenda he held in his hand and wondered why it suddenly was so hard to make out the words. Concentrating on the blurry mess in front of him, he was vaguely aware that at some point his hand had balled tightly around the paper, and he quickly released his grip and smoothed the crinkled document flat against the tabletop.

Somebody’s having a normal one right now.

"Steven?"

"Uh, boss, you okay?"

Narrator:
bdd.jpg

Sidney: “I mean, that was kinda obvious, but it’s still kinda a courtesy to ask first.” ^^;

His gaze shot up, embarrassed at his lapse, but he immediately regretted the action, the room beginning to lilt unsettlingly to the side. A hand flew up to brush at his temple with a wince.

"Ah, I'm terribly sorry everyone. Would you mind if we adjourned this meeting until tomorrow?"

Sidney: “No, seriously, boss. What’s going on here?”
:what:

Steven: “Sidney, let’s adjourn the meeting, okay?” >_>;

A nervous shuffling of papers echoed through the room, and the scraping of a chair against the hardwood felt like someone had taken a rock pick to the backside of his eyeballs.

"Sure thing, boss... You don't look so good - ow!"

Phoebe hissed something inaudible as the group shuffled toward the door.

Probably a red mark under Sidney’s clothes somewhere, since that must’ve been one mean pinch for him to feel it like that.

"I'll be fine. Thank you everyone, we'll see you tomorrow." Steven weakly waved them out.

Sticker, sceptilisk,


As his hand pressed down over his eyes, he missed a lingering glance from Glacia as she hovered in the doorway, concern etched on her face. When Steven didn't move, she waited only a moment longer before silently drifting from the room.

Steven waited for the wave of nausea to pass before he dared open his eyes again. Rising from his own chair caused the room to spin once more, and he had to slam a palm flat to the table to steady himself. The resulting clatter as his chair skittered backward sent starbursts dancing across his vision. He'd never experienced an onset as fierce as this. He had to get out of there.

Nausea, huh? Can’t tell if this is some sort of health condition of his, or if he saw something really disagreeable on the meeting itinerary.

One hand clamped to the side of his face, he lurched for the door. The frame had somehow twisted itself clockwise, and he was left staggered as his shoulder made solid contact against the jamb. Stumbling into the opposite wall, his fingers snaked up to his scalp where they dug in, fighting back against the invisible ones trying to claw their way out of his skull. A shaking hand plucked one pokeball from his hip.

"Skarmory... Home... Now..."

… Okay, now I’m starting to get worried that this guy’s legit having a medical episode, since exactly none of that sounded healthy or normal.
:wtfuckle:


Its trainer's weak voice sent alarm bells ringing, and Skarmory made good on his command, gently scooping the dazed Champion onto its back and beating a hasty retreat back to Mossdeep.

Whelp, medical episode confirmed.

It had been over an hour since Glacia last saw Steven at the meeting, and when he hadn't turned up in his League office, or the study, or the infirmary, or even the rooftop, she began to grow worried. It wasn't her business to pry into their leader's health, but at the same time she felt obligated to check up on him. It was the least she could do given how far she knew he would go for one of them in the same circumstance.

Drake had been more than happy to lend her transport, although Altaria was slightly on edge given Glacia's preference for ice types. With extra reassurance that no frost would touch her cloudy wings, Glacia perched atop the dragon and set out for the only place she hadn't looked for the Champion.

Glacia: “... How do we not have a CCTV system set up around the hallways and perimeter to help us find Steven here? We literally used it in the past to size up approaching challengers!”
:what:

Drake: “I… think the implication is that Steven either turned them off or deliberately took a route where he knew he wouldn’t show up on it. Why he’d do that is beyond me, frankly.” .-.

She had only been to Steven's house once before, and thankfully her memory served her well as Altaria touched down on the secluded cliff side on the outskirts of Mossdeep. When she reached the door, Glacia frowned as she saw that all of the window shades had been drawn tight. Suspicions confirmed, she was hesitant to knock and instead tried the handle. Amazingly it was open, and she ushered Altaria inside with a finger to her lips.

Actually, wait. How did those two know to check here versus assuming that Steven ducked out to town to go to a clinic or something? Like it might have made more sense to hint more at this being the last destination off the list by virtue of “Steven was obviously feeling unwell, so there were only so many places he’d likely be in his state, and there was only one they hadn’t checked yet…” or something like that.

The interior was shrouded in dusk, and it took a moment for her eyes to adjust from the sunlight outside. Altaria cooed a quiet tone of worry, but Glacia gave the dragon a reassuring look. This was expected. What wasn't expected was the low rumble that came from the back hallway. Two red eyes rimmed with a faint psychic hue peered through the twilight at the uninvited guests, softening in recognition.

Well that quite the effective ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign there. Imagine getting greeted by that late in the evening. ^^;

Glacia swept forward and greeted Metagross with a gentle hand to its brow. The steel type hummed beneath her touch and turned its gaze toward the room it had been standing guard in front of. The door was ajar, and both Glacia and Altaria slipped inside at Metagross' urging.

Glacia: “... Well at least Steven’s alive if his Pokémon’s just sitting out here and not obviously distraught?” ^^;
Drake: “Let’s… make a closer checkup on him.” -_-;

Standing just inside the doorway, Glacia hesitated at the unspoken threshold of privacy she had just crossed. But when Metagross' unwavering gaze flicked back to her own, she realized she had already been granted permission; if it hadn't wanted her here, it would have been a simple matter to remove her from the house. Altaria ruffled her feathers nervously as both pokemon looked toward the figure curled up on the bed.

The room was just as dark as the rest of the house, but it didn't take much light to see a shock of silver hair intermingled with the messy sheets. Glacia approached the bedside, cautiously stepping over the blazer and cravat that had been haphazardly discarded on the floor. Steven lay on his side with his knees drawn tight to his chest. His shoulders shook with tension at every breath and even in the dim room she could see how white his knuckles were as he grasped at the fabric of his disheveled shirt. Every so often he would shift and squirm, one hand releasing its death grip on his arm and reaching up to tug on a lock of hair.

Glacia: “Uh… Steven? Are you doing alright there?”
Steven:
1qlvn77.gif


Glacia shivered as she took in the Champion's sorry state. She was no stranger to the feeling of having such a beast inside your head, trying to force its way out. There would be only minimal relief until the episode passed. At least she knew she could try to make him as comfortable as possible until then.

… Wait, what is that referring to anyways? Since this feels like some sort of traumatic episode, but I can’t really tell where it’s coming from. .-.

Beckoning Altaria near, she whispered, "My dear, can you sing our Champion a lullaby, quietly if you please?"

Eyes shimmering with sympathy, Altaria nodded. She waited until Glacia had slipped out the door before beginning her soft song.

Drake: “Ah… Glacia, isn’t that going to put us all to sleep right now?” ._.;
Glacia: “I said sing a lullaby, not ‘use Sing’, Drake. Surely you’ve trained Altaria to know the difference.” ^^;

Brushing past where Metagross was waiting in the hall, Glacia withdrew a small bottle from her pocket. Tapping two pills into her palm she recapped the bottle before placing the pills on the bathroom counter.

"When he stirs, have him take these," she directed the watchful pokemon, "I know you're doing your best, but the pills will help."

Okay, so Steven in your continuity is confirmed for having a medical condition of some sort. I’m not fully sure what it’s supposed to be, but it’s definitely a nice touch to see your E4 rally around their champion like this.

Metagross hummed in understanding before delivering another soothing pulse of psychic energy to its trainer.

Glacia smiled. She could only imagine how much better her migraines would have been if she had a psychic type pokemon by her side as well.

Wait, that was all from migraines? Boy, that must be one heck of a headsplitter to do that to Steven. .-.

Satisfied she had done all she could, Glacia slipped a book out from her travel cloak and settled into the lounge chair in Steven's living room. She would wait it out, if only for the fact that when Steven was finally released from the demon's hold, he wouldn't be waking up alone. It was what her mother had done for her all those years ago, and Glacia knew it would make all the difference.

:wtfuckle:


You see, now I legit can’t tell what happened to Steven there, but boy was that throwaway line ominous.

Alright, onto the summary:

I thought that this batch of three one-shots was a nice mix. Two goofier stories, along with one more sober one to cap it off. Together they do a good job at continuing to sell a sense of your portrayal of the Hoenn E4 as being much like a family to each other in the way that they’ll banter and tease each other and give each other a hard time, but when the chips are down, they’ll close ranks and look out for one another. It definitely brings them to life in a way that I don’t remember the games succeeding anywhere as well at canonically.

As for things that I was less fond of, it’s mostly the points I highlighted in my rundowns. I felt that Prompt #38 could’ve been a bit more effective with a bit more description thrown in for the mix. For Prompt #39, I was honestly a bit confused as to what on earth was going on with Steven from the way that he and Glacia describe what he’s going through. Having a bit more context would’ve helped clear that up more, I think.

But altogether, I thought this trio of short stories was quite enjoyable, and I’ll be looking forward to reading the others after you bring them over to TR @Panoramic_Vacuum . After all, these stories always seem to have a way of surprising me, and with 11 of them left to go, I’m sure that there will be some interesting rabbits to be pulled from that hat of yours. ^^
 
40 - The Pied Piper of Sootopolis

Panoramic_Vacuum

Hoenn around
Partners
  1. aggron
  2. lairon

Prompt #40: Someone makes the mistake of doing their laundry while half asleep


Juan's eyebrow quirked as his mentee stepped through the doors of the Sootopolis Gym. Although, it wasn't fair to simply call him that. He had worked hard in his own right, becoming a Master Coordinator as well as a Gym Leader, and now he sat atop the Pokemon League as its Champion.

But today, Wallace wasn't exactly looking the part, although Juan wouldn't dare say so, not with Wallace looking determined as he strode through the doors. There had to be a good reason for Wallace to come see him all the way from Ever Grande, so instead of speaking the question that sat on the tip of his tongue, the recently un-retired Sootopolis Gym Leader simply waited as his star pupil gracefully crossed the Gym and headed his way.

Except it appeared to be more easily said than done. As Wallace stepped past the pools where the Gym's trainers were instructing their pokemon, he began to cause quite a stir. Gorebyss, Luvdisc, and Corsola quickly began to flock toward the water-type specialist, and to Juan's surprise, Wallace frowned at the attention he was attracting and quickened his pace.

Wallace spoke up once he was within earshot, "Master Juan, may I have a word with you in private?"

Juan eyed the growing menagerie that was trailing behind his former student and hastily nodded, beckoning Wallace to follow him into his office.

Shutting the door, Juan noted Wallace's nervous expression and as Juan settled into the chair behind his desk, Wallace began to nervously pace the space in front of it.

This time Juan chose to speak up first. "Where did you pick up that unsightly habit?"

Wallace paced another two steps before realizing what he was doing, and he froze in place sheepishly. "Ah, I'm sorry Master. I think I've been hanging around Steven for too long. His bad habits are starting to rub off on me when I get flustered."

Juan simply shook his head with a small smile. "Now what exactly has such an unflappable Coordinator such as yourself flustered?"

Wallace's expression fell, and he found himself staring at the ground in concentration as he recounted his troubles. "Well, it only started this morning, but I've been noticing the most odd pokemon behavior, and I've been wracking my brain all day to try to figure out why it's been happening."

"What exactly have you noticed?" Juan prodded gently, although he had a faint inkling of where this was headed...

"You see, I've always been a magnetic personality for water types. My team practically adores me, as do many of the water types I happen to meet in my travels. And yet for some reason today, I seem to be a little too magnetic..."

"Care to elaborate?"

"I mean, you saw it for yourself. The pokemon were following me. Not just following though, gathering around as if my pockets were full of treats!"

"Wallace..."

"Why on my way here I had to duck out of the way of a school of Luvdisc that were practically leaping into my lap!"

"Wallace."

"As I surfed my way here, there was practically a trail of pokemon behind me, Master! For the life of me, I can't figure out why this could be happening!"

"Wallace, I may have a solution to your conundrum."

"You... you do?"

Juan nodded as he rummaged around in his desk drawer.

"By any chance, have you happened to glance in a mirror today?"

His Master's seemingly unrelated question caught the Champion by surprise.

"In the morning when I woke up, but not since then. What's that got to do with -"

But his protests were cut off as a mirror was thrust into his hands, and Wallace stared hard at his own reflection. "Master, this isn't making any sense, I don't look any different than I normally -"

His voice trailed off as Juan tilted the mirror down in his hands, revealing the clothing that peeked out from beneath the white Champion's cloak.

"Oh my..."

Wallace used his free hand to brush back the edges of the cloak, revealing an outfit of pink from head to toe. Somehow his normally pristine white attire had turned a ghastly shade of rosé.

"How did this...? Is this why...? Oh no..."

Juan gave a sympathetic smile as he took the mirror back and tucked it away in his desk. "You didn't happen to have anything red in your laundry basket, did you?"

"No, I mean the only thing I own that's red is the new contest outfit I'd been rehearsing in, but I don't remember washing... it... Oh dear..."

The memory came rushing back, how he'd been feeling lazy a few nights ago and simply reached into the dirty clothes pile without looking or even bothering to turn on the lights.

The sound of rustling fabric snapped Wallace from his daze, and he stared at the set of clothes Juan held out to him.

"Rule number five of a Contest Master: Always have a spare. Just don't wash these ones the same way, please."

Wallace nodded fervently and hurried off to change, wary of the flock of pokemon that still waited for him outside the office doors.
 
41 - Dethroned

Panoramic_Vacuum

Hoenn around
Partners
  1. aggron
  2. lairon

Prompt #41: A lot of people expected to Drake to resent Steven for becoming Champion.

In the immediate aftermath of the Championship match, the interviews were coming hot and heavy. Drake could barely set foot outside without being accosted by some kind of reporter or news camera.

"Drake, what's it like to be a former Champion?"

"How does it feel to be bested by someone under half your age?"

"With Lance still the reigning Champion in Johto, you're the first Dragon Master to fall from the Championship position, what does it mean for the future generation of Dragon type trainers of Hoenn?"

"Now that you no longer hold the title, have you thought about retirement at all?"

"Your supporters are calling this loss a fluke. Are there any thoughts of a potential rematch in the future?"

You name it, Drake had heard it. And it was odd. For all of the constant prodding, not once did anyone stop to ask him if maybe losing was actually a good thing. Not one person thought to see if maybe part of being a Champion is knowing how to step down with grace. Not that Drake had ever considered himself to be a graceful person, but he was at least tactful enough to have enjoyed a comfortable reign atop the Hoenn League. No, he wasn't bitter, or disappointed, or past his prime. Well, maybe that third one, but he'd be the last person to actually admit it aloud. No, he decided, losing to the upstart Stone was probably the best thing that could have happened.

Pokemon training belonged to the young. He'd slowly watched the average age of the Elite begin to drop, and yet the talent never fell with it. New faces, new strategies, new fans; they all kept the region's dreams alive and burning, spurring the newest generations of trainers to pick their starters and strike forth into the world. It was his task to weed out all but the best of the best, and then pass the torch onto them with as much knowledge as he could impart.

It was kind of ironic, watching someone hoist such responsibility onto their young shoulders without knowing exactly how much the burden could weigh. Yet, at the same time, he'd barely felt a thing when he wrested the title free in his own two hands those many years ago. And with one handshake and an approving look at the eager young trainer, the weight had been lifted from him for one final time. Frankly, it was a relief.

But, he wouldn't just drop the burden and leave. Oh no, as cold-hearted as his battle persona was, Drake was no bastard. He may have been the saltiest of sailors back in his young and stupid days, but time had taught him well, and many times the hard way: the failings of a subordinate ultimately stem from the failings of their superior. He would not let the League fall into disarray at the hands of someone inexperienced, and he had no doubt that those hands were not really as inexperienced as they may have looked.

It was funny, he hadn't even made the connection until after the match concluded. The same determined gaze he'd known from his friend's brief time at sea. But for all the fierceness it held during battle, it melted away in an instant, almost too eager to please and more inquisitive than anyone had a right to be. If anyone could do the region proud, it would be Joseph's kid. Besides, he had a heck of an impressive team to boot. It wasn't often that a pokemon could stand up to his dragons in terms of sheer power... The kid would be fine.

Drake huffed as he silently pushed his way through the throng of journalists that stood between him and his ship. The papers might see it as shirking his post-Championship duties. The disgraced former Champ all too eager to run and hide from the public eye. Except, he wasn't running. Oh no, Dragon Masters run from nothing. It was just so damned noisy... Damned Vullaby, those reporters. And yet this was a small throng. For the number of newscasters that wanted to talk to the ex-Champion, he could only imagine how many more demanded an audience of the current one.

Thanking his lucky stars that social media wasn't really a thing back in his heyday, he clambered aboard his vessel and fired up the engine as camera shutters clicked left and right. He had to stifle a chuckle at how much worse that wide eyed kid from Rustboro must be having it right now. Gods, if the paper caught a picture of him smiling, that would truly be the end of things. Nah, Steven would be just fine.
 
42 - An Acquired Taste

Panoramic_Vacuum

Hoenn around
Partners
  1. aggron
  2. lairon

Prompt #42: To be fair, Sidney wasn't really sure what he was ordering off the menu...

As soon as the steaming plate landed in front of him, Sidney started to sweat. The bowl of what undoubtedly had to be inedible made him want to squirm in his seat. Except that he was determined to be polite in his present company, and he returned Phoebe's beaming grin with a shaky smile of his own.

"...Looks... good..." he grated out as he watched the way the spoon slowly sank into the purple goo, and he felt his eyebrow twitch.

Mercifully, Phoebe hadn't noticed his thinly veiled disgust as she already had began to tuck into her own dish; 'poke', if he remembered correctly. The description hadn't sounded great at the time, but as he eyed the colorful cubes of raw fish and herbs in Phoebe's bowl, he suddenly became very jealous.

Sidney gave a listless poke at the slabs of what he assumed to be meat resting on a plate off to the side of his own bowl. It wasn't springy or tender in the slightest, and the nagging thought that perhaps this was all an elaborate prank wormed its way up in the back of his mind. But this was Phoebe's idea, and she said she had loved the food, and she was nearly done with her own plate, so there's no way it was all a prank... right?

He had just mustered the courage to scoop up a spoonful of the purple-gray gunk, silently thankful that it was so goopy it wouldn't slosh from the spoon in his rattling grip, when Phoebe suddenly leaned over to his side of the table with her chopsticks and plucked a slice of meat from his dish.

"I gotta have a piece of this before it gets cold. I love pipikaula!"

With a deft flick of her wrist, she dunked the pipi-whatever-it's-called in the purple gunk and popped it in her mouth. Still chewing, she talked around her mouthful.

"C'mon, you have to at least try the poi. It's a staple dish here!"

At Phoebe's urging, the spoon resumed its trek towards his mouth, slowly, so slowly... He couldn't chicken out now, not when he'd told her he was a casual fan of Alolan cuisine. It was a bald-faced lie, but he had really wanted to impress her... But it was just so slimy...

In a sudden burst of bravado, Sidney took the plunge, and shoved the spoon straight in.

This time, he did shiver, caught completely off guard by the poi's texture, even though he knew it was going to feel exactly how it looked. He sloshed the mixture around with his tongue, there was no way he could consider it "chewing", and felt his nose scrunch as the tangy, starchy sourness of the taro coated his tastebuds. With a concerted effort, he finally swallowed the stuff, and it took every ounce of willpower not to instantly dive for his glass of water.

Phoebe, who had been watching him with interest, suddenly burst into laughter. Chopsticks discarded, she wiped a tear from her eye.

"Sorry, Sid, your face was priceless!"

Too shocked to do much else, Sidney huffed and crossed his arms, but not before sliding the bowl of poi over to Phoebe's side of the table with a scowl.

Still giggling, Phoebe scooped up the bowl and began to eat it herself.

"I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you, I promise. I just had to see your reaction," she dipped another piece of the pipikaula in, "It's definitely an acquired taste. Although I can promise the luau roast will be more to your liking."

Slowly, Sidney nodded, recalling the delicious smells wafting from the resort's fire pit earlier that day. He still might not know how to pronounce it, but anything sounded better than the stuff he just ordered in an effort to impress Phoebe.

"Just, next time you invite me out for traditional Alolan food, warn me before I pick the weirdest things on the menu."

Phoebe simply giggled and finished off the last bit from Sidney's plate.
 
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