Kunolo Island - Main Hall Banquet

[Shiny Phantump]

Her eyes wandered around the room, and they landed on a mysterious young man. She wandered over to him.

Gladion noticed a Milotic watching him.

“What, never seen someone stuffing pastries in a bag before?” he snipped, assuming nothing he said would be understood one way or another.

 

[MintyMimix]

A cream pie met Violet's face.

Hazel smirked as the bacon still shook in her lab coat's pockets, satisfied with her playful vengeance. Violet blinked, slowly licked the pie around her mouth — Wow, that tastes good — before returning an equally impish smirk. Oh, it was on.

Violet wiped the cream off of her face and took a deep breath. She returned Hazel's challenging smirk with one of her own as she reached for the nearest dessert. The trainer rolled back her arm ready to toss it at the Weavile before she overheard a loud *AHEM* behind her. She turned to see one of the staff members had been giving the pair a death glare. They had been warned not to fight, and unfortunately, food fights counted, it seemed. With an anxious chuckle, Violet gently set the delicacy back down on the buffet table.

Her expression softened as she approached Hazel, who had been collecting more food for their scuffle. The Weavile hastily gathered as much as she could onto plates with a wild grin. A feverish gleam raved in her eyes as the thrill of the challenge had excited her.

"Hazel..." Violet started, before noticing that her partner hadn't been paying attention, "Hazel," she said with more conviction. The Weavile kept clawing and clutching onto the food as though she had been a feral that just caught its prey. "Hazel!" Violet called out a third time, snapping her fingers.

Hazel's head popped up as her feather stood on end in attention. Her eyes had widened, though the stare was still blank. "Remember we are, Hazel. We are the guests here; we must be orderly and follow the law of the land," Violet firmly said, nodding her head, "Is that not what science does?"

Hazel's pupils dilated as the frenzied look of excitement blanched into alarm. She lowered her head, letting out a whine. An embarrassed flush burned over her cheeks. She knew better than to act like that in public, but she couldn't help herself; the excitement was just... intoxicating.

"I'm sorry," Violet said, lowering herself to Hazel's level. She gave her a pat on the back of her lab coat while giving a pitied smile. "I was the one who started it, after all." The trainer carefully picked off any bacon that still clung onto her Pokémon.

Hazel covered her face in one claw while grabbing hold Violet's hand in the other. This time, Violet was escorting Hazel to the buffet tables — or at least, the ones that weren't a mess. The methodical process of choosing the food put the Weavile at some ease, at least. She mentally calculated which ones would be the most tasty while still giving proper nutritional value. Violet just picked whichever dishes looked the weirdest. When in the future, you try out everything it has to offer!

The pair walked over and sat down one of the tables, hoping to put the awkward situation behind them. Violet snickered when she saw Hazel was too short to reach the cutlery, and quickly found a small box for her to sit on top of. Climbing up to her new throne, the duo smiled at each other as they set down their plates. Hazel pulled out her phone and scrolled through before showing Violet an image on the screen. The two began loudly laughing to each other and making gestures, as though they were two siblings out at a sports restaurant — going just a bit above the noise level appropriate for the fine dining environment.

 

[kyeugh]

Steven jumps as someone makes their presence known at the table, and he realizes he's been spacing out into his salad. He blinks several times to find himself staring across the table at a woman who would put Bruno's stature to shame. He's so startled he only catches part of what she says.

"Oh, dragon? No, you might be thinking of Lance. Aggron here is a steel type." He fondly patted the armor at Aggron's neck to emphasize the point. But when she only stared back at him in reply, Steven drew his hand back, adjusting his cravat to fill the silence. "You know, like Steelix, Bastiodon, Metagross..." He trailed off awkwardly.

Feeling Steven's touch disappear, Aggron downed the rest of his curry and sat upright, now aware that he was the topic of conversation for some reason. First he spotted the woman who was much closer to his eye level than any human Aggron had met before. Then he noticed another pair of eyes peeking at him from across the table, but these ones belonged to a fluffy pokemon that sort of looked like the Mightyena he met earlier, but was brown instead. Aggron rumbled quietly and pulled his berry stash a bit closer.

Steven coughed into his napkin, trying to figure out why this woman was still just staring at him, and not in the usual way he attracted stares when he went out in public. "Uh, Prim, was it? You wanted to know about how Aggron and I met?"

More silence, but the way she leaned in in her seat every so slightly told Steven he was on the right track. Inwardly, he sighed in relief.

Beside him, Aggron was paying rapt attention to the conversation now, the glint of a smirk in his eye as if to say, "Oh yes, Steven, go on. Tell her how we met." Steven wished his partner didn't look so smug.

"Yes, well, Aggron and I have been together a long time; nearly eleven years now. We met when, ah, let's just say I might not be here to tell the tale if it weren't for him. He found me when I had fallen in a cave and guided me back to the surface, and he's been with me ever since."

Aggron continued to look incredibly smug, nodding along to corroborate the story.

Suddenly, Steven looked a bit solemn, as if remembering something he'd rather have forgotten. "There's a little more to the story than that..." but that's the basic gist of it." But the mood was gone in an instant, and Steven's expression brightened back up with a warm smile. "So you could say I was rather lucky to have met my partner. Or unlucky, depending on how you look at it."

The legs of Prim's chair creak as she leans back, her legs crossed. She twirls a strand of hair around her finger as Steven tells his story.

"Hmm," she says when he finishes, frowning. "So you met him when he was young. Makes sense. Still, he's better-behaved then some adult humans I know. You must really know what you're doing." She looks at the dragon with an almost bitter longing, then averts her gaze. How many mon had been killed because of conflicts with humans? How many had she slain herself? She'd lost count. How many of them could have lived long, happy lives if only they'd been fortunate to meet a human whose touch was gentle as this man's?

She shakes her head a little and looks back at Steven. Such a polite look about him. "I've been known to fall into caves myself," she says at last, smiling just a little. wandersword chapter 3 easter egg zomg! "What brought you to a cave filled with pokémon anyway? You don't look like the wild adventurer type. No offense."

 

[Hanafuda]

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"Okay, so for important historical context, the Jade Movement is usually considered to have started in 2978, with the collapse of the Hoennese economy..."

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"...while the Revivalists drew upon old Sootopolitan literature as inspiration for their works..."

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"...I myself was among those who took part in student protests, for Sootopolitan government autonomy, environmental legislation, liberties and rights..."

Wallace rambled on and on and on. Victoria sighed. Well, maybe he wasn't the best at social stuff, but at least he could talk about his passions well.



Her eyes wandered around the room, and they landed on a mysterious young man. She wandered over to him.

"...and Dionysios was known for darker black comedies pertaining to... Victoria?"

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"Where are you going?"

He looked back at the three. "I'm so sorry for this, my friends. Excuse me for a moment."

“Alright.”

Seb turned back to his plate after Wallace left. “Well, that was quite the infodump,” he muttered. “And this Wallace is pretty passionate, but he’s definitely different from the one I know.”

Jack looked around, seeing all the guests in the building. Multiverse, eh? The Farfetch’d found that concept… well, far-fetched at first, but once he learned about the Ultra Wormholes that appeared in Alola, and now that he was on this island, he now had more reason to believe it. But what exactly was this island? Some kind of in-between? A small universe between thousands, or even millions? He decided that it was worth answering this question. He would look around tomorrow when he and Seb had time.

And since Zack would be out of timeout in the morning, he would have some nice company, but he’d look after him in case the Pidgey did anything too rash.

 

[Dragonfree]

A luxury buffet. Everything here was big and ostentatious and on some level it wigged May out. She walked cautiously around the table, picking out some foods that seemed like safe bets - some spaghetti and meatballs, macaroni and cheese, a slice of warm garlic bread. All of it distinctly fancy but familiar enough.

She approached the nearest empty chair she found - not a lot of those left. The seat next to it was occupied by... an entire Tropius, and an Oshawott? She glanced at them. "Hi. Is this free?"

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Wallace smiled and bowed dramatically. "Well hello there. My name is Wallace. And you are...?"

“Hello. I’m Gladion,” he offered, matching the bow. He was grateful they were omitting last names. He probably shouldn’t have given it to Laura, had she known more about Aether, she definitely could’ve started deducing things with that information.

“I think I’ve heard of you before. Nice to meet you-”

"Hazel!"

Gladion winced. Who was that? Didn’t sound like the only person who should know her. Someone on the staff chasing her down? He wasn’t keen on that. He reworked his plan for the sentence on the fly: “-but I should be off. I ate before coming here, and I ought to be getting my partner out of her ball sooner rather than later.”

Half-true, all of that was.

 

[IFBench]

Coleane looked up from her bowl of fruit, and said, in human language, "Yeppers! Nice to meet you! My name's Coleane!" She proceeded to fan her wings out, a smile on her snout.

Taking a break from nibbling on his burger, Gen waved at May, and said, also in human, "Um, h-hi. My name's Gen."

 

[MintyMimix]

Gladion winced. Who was that? Didn’t sound like the only person who should know her. Someone on the staff chasing her down? He wasn’t keen on that. He reworked his plan for the sentence on the fly: “-but I should be off. I ate before coming here, and I ought to be getting my partner out of her ball sooner rather than later.”

Half-true, all of that was.

Unaware of the blonde trainer's plight, Violet kept loudly egging Hazel on. "Come now, surely that device of yours has something like that?" The Weavile barked a 'Sadly not!' in response. "But with all that fancy tech back there, surely, there's something?" Her Pokémon shook her head with a half-smile. "That's a shame, really; I was hoping to see them again, Hazel."

They had been talking about whether or not they still had some funny photos saved from last year, when they were still trying to figure out how to battle.

 

[Dragonfree]

Coleane looked up from her bowl of fruit, and said, in human language, "Yeppers! Nice to meet you! My name's Coleane!" She proceeded to fan her wings out, a smile on her snout.

Taking a break from nibbling on his burger, Gen waved at May, and said, also in human, "Um, h-hi. My name's Gen."

May blinked. So did Spirit.

"You speak human? Both of you?"

"That doesn't make sense," Spirit muttered, in Pokémon speech. "Suicune and Entei gave us--"

"I mean," May interrupted, shooting a pointed glance at Spirit, "it's not like it's unheard of. Wasn't there that one Meowth or something?"

Spirit hmphed. "I suppose. But I hear it took him years to learn. And why would you now most humans understand Pokémon?"

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

The legs of Prim's chair creak as she leans back, her legs crossed. She twirls a strand of hair around her finger as Steven tells his story.

"Hmm," she says when he finishes, frowning. "So you met him when he was young. Makes sense. Still, he's better-behaved then some adult humans I know. You must really know what you're doing." She looks at the dragon with an almost bitter longing, then averts her gaze. How many mon had been killed because of conflicts with humans? How many had she slain herself? She'd lost count. How many of them could have lived long, happy lives if only they'd been fortunate to meet a human whose touch was gentle as this man's?

She shakes her head a little and looks back at Steven. Such a polite look about him. "I've been known to fall into caves myself," she says at last, smiling just a little. wandersword chapter 3 easter egg zomg! "What brought you to a cave filled with pokémon anyway? You don't look like the wild adventurer type. No offense."

Steven listens to Prim's reply, but he's becoming ever more embarrassed with each word. He's careful not to show Prim as much, (time in the spotlight has taught him how to keep a carefully crafted expression when he needs to), but beside him he can feel Aggron chuffing with barely contained laughter.

Knew what he was doing? Maybe now, but back then? He was young and dumb and very lucky he didn't end up drowned in a cave on more than one occasion.

Of course, that was for him and his pokemon to know, and others to never find out, so Steven folds his napkin and opts for a polite, "Ah, you give me far too much credit," instead. "We've had a lot of time to come to understand each other. I'm sure you and your partner are no different, seeing as you're here at this festival as well."

Aggron nods again, and glances at the small, fluffy not-Mightyena at the table. Were they this woman's partner? They didn't appear to know each other. Then again, looks could be deceiving. That Mightyena's trainer didn't seem that boring. He was involved in a knife fight, after all. Regardless, if this lady was willing to shower him in compliments, the least he could do was act the part. Sorting through his pile of berries, Aggron selected the least spicy one he'd picked, and nonchalantly slid it across the table to the other pokemon. See? Civilized. He better be getting a nice buff and polish for being on his best table manners tonight.

"But, oh, you know a thing or two about caves as well? I may not look it but I'm a bit of a geology enthusiast. You see, I'm very interested in--"

Oh no. Aggron's good mood crashed back to earth as he saw the distinctive sparkle in Steven's eyes when he talked about caves. Or rocks. Or both.

"--and I wouldn't exactly call it a wild adventure, but the things you can find in the depths of a cave are--"

Aggron's tail "accidentally" collided with the back of Steven's chair with a loud thunk, causing his trainer to jump in surprise.

"Ah, I'm sorry," said Steven, rubbing the side of his cheek with a finger. "I got carried away there for a minute, didn't I."

Aggron snorted in the affirmative.

Whether it was the jolt from Aggron, or the excitement surrounding the cave conversation, Steven looked to be rather more awake than when Prim first sat down. "My apologies, I've been rather rude. I haven't even introduced myself. My name is Steven, and you've met Aggron. I'd rather like to learn more about you and your partner, if you'd be willing to share." It was then that he finally noticed the furry brown pokemon at the table, curiously sniffing at the berry Aggron had offered. They looked like a cross between an Eevee and a Ninetales, but it certainly wasn't a species he recognized right away. Perhaps it was a species from a different timeline, and that's why Prim was so confused about Aggron's type.

"Is that them?" he asked Prim.

 

[HelloYellow17]

Enora's a bit of a priss, so she prides herself on her manners. Been like that since I was kid. But your partners seem like they would get along swimmingly with my Mimikyu, though."

Ah, and then she got names. Neo and Novo, how absolutely adorable. Very fitting. And the man's name was Wes. Huh.

The more the looked at him, beholding his light hair and trench coat (that the weather obviously did not call for), the more Guzma vibes she got.

Yeah. Maybe this guy was a delinquent at some point. He gave off that same kind of energy. Weirdly enough, the familiarity of it was soothing.

"Oh, ah, I apologize," she said when he asked for her name. "Je m'appelle Odette." She paused and closed her eyes in slight irritation. "Sorry. Force of habit. My name is Odette. And, I suppose you already met, but this is Enora."

Oh, Kalosian. Odette was a bit different than the few Kalosians Wes had met traveling through Orre—much more informal and less stuffy. He supposed maybe he shouldn’t have assumed all Kalosians would be like that…though Enora, what with her proper mannerisms, sure fit the bill of a pampered Kalosian mon. Not that that part bothered Wes, though—a pampered Pokémon was far less aggravating than a pampered human. Though, damn, that grooming routine was something else. Neo or Novo would definitely have lost patience and bitten him before he ever got halfway through such a routine.

“Why all the fuss, anyway?” he said before he could stop himself. “Fur is fur, hair is hair. As long as it’s not tangled or matted, that’s enough for us.”

Neo chirped in agreement. Novo was still staring at Enora in wonder.

Kimiko listened intently as Odette -she’d overheard her telling the other boy her name - described Enora’s routine in great detail. “I’m gonna need you to write that down for me at some point,” she laughed. And then, “actually, believe it or not, this is all far outside my area of expertise. Would something similar work for an espeon?”

With another quick glance down at Olivia and Neo, she asked, “Um… would either of you mind if I joined you? You know, for dinner, I mean.”

No, I want all of you to leave me alone. Not like he could just say that, though. Besides, Neo was having a great time chatting with—Olivia, was it? The other Espeon. It wasn’t long before they’d all get to go to their rooms in peace and quiet, anyway…
He managed to hold back a sigh and simply nodded. “Sure, why not.”

Merian was so caught up in the sheer thrill of being able to run around everywhere and trying to not get caught that he lost focus for just a moment and crashed headfirst into a chair. Dazed, he quickly shook himself to regain his bearings.

"Oof... sorry about tha--" He had looked up to the person sitting in the chair to apologize, but paled when he realized he had crashed right into the impostor. Merian made an odd sort of squawking noise and scrambled away.

--

Wes saw Merian rushing back over, and quickly knelt to check on him. "Hey, hey, woah, calm down. What happened?" When Merian simply turned his head in the direction he'd come from, Wes followed his gaze and saw the knife-stealing bastard sitting there.

"Oh. That son of a bitch." He drew back his lips, exposing his teeth, the way his partners sometimes did... come to think of it, he had adopted a few 'feral' tendencies, as some assholes had been so kind to tell him a few years back.

Thankfully, his bandana hid his snarling, otherwise he definitely would have gotten some strange looks right about now. Not that he cared what 'people' thought about him.

He shook his head slowly and sighed, muttering to his partners, "Don't worry. We'll make him pay."

Thunk! Wes jumped, dropping his fork on his plate with a clatter. “Wh—?”

He looked down and saw another Umbreon—no, the other Umbreon—had crashed into his chair. Novo was jolted out of his trance by the impact and immediately arched his back at the Umbreon with a snarl. Neo and Olivia stopped their interaction to look at the commotion.

The Umbreon squawked in dismay, then scrambled away. Wes watched him go, skittering under tables all the way to the other wall where…

“Oh, hell,” he spat. The maniac from before was here, and glaring daggers at Wes with even more malice than before, which he hadn’t thought was possible. Why was he still here? They were seriously going to just let him walk free after that episode earlier? Gods.

Not bothering to hide his anger from the other visitors at his table, he picked up his fork again and stabbed at his steak with far more force than necessary.

 

[IFBench]

May blinked. So did Spirit.

"You speak human? Both of you?"

"That doesn't make sense," Spirit muttered, in Pokémon speech. "Suicune and Entei gave us--"

"I mean," May interrupted, shooting a pointed glance at Spirit, "it's not like it's unheard of. Wasn't there that one Meowth or something?"

Spirit hmphed. "I suppose. But I hear it took him years to learn. And why would you now most humans understand Pokémon?"

"Yeppers! We both can! I've always been able to, and Gen is a—" Coleane started.

Before she could continue, though, Gen yelped, "Um, w-we don't need to bring that up!"

Coleane frowned, and said, "Oh...ok. I really don't see why you want to hide it. I think it's really cool that you're—"

"P-please," Gen interrupted, beginning to tremble.

 

[Seren]

No, I want all of you to leave me alone. Not like he could just say that, though. Besides, Neo was having a great time chatting with—Olivia, was it? The other Espeon. It wasn’t long before they’d all get to go to their rooms in peace and quiet, anyway…
He managed to hold back a sigh and simply nodded. “Sure, why not.”

…

Not bothering to hide his anger from the other visitors at his table, he picked up his fork again and stabbed at his steak with far more force than necessary.

After a smile and a quick trip to collect some food, Kimiko returned to their table. The boy sure seemed to have a soft spot for his Pokémon, despite his less than welcoming attitude. “You must be pretty lucky or pretty skilled to get your hands on two eevee. They’re not very common where I’m from. And you’ve never seen a sylveon before, I think? Where did you say you were from again?” She took another look at him, noting his trench coat.

Then their chat was interrupted by a thud, and their Pokémon tensed. Kimiko only barely caught sight of the retreating umbreon, but followed Wes’ eyes to where she spotted his duplicate, staring at them from afar.

“So… I take it you guys aren’t brothers, then?” She’d have to ask about Odette’s twin later, too. “Listen, I think he’s probably learned his lesson. He’s not gonna try anything in this crowd. And if he does,” she looked back at the black-clad Wes again. Something about him made her shiver. But she already froze once this trip. “If he does, Olivia and I have your back, okay?”

She turned back to the blue coatted Wes. “But I want details. Why did he attack you, anyway?”

 

[Dragonfree]

"Yeppers! We both can! I've always been able to, and Gen is a—" Coleane started.

Before she could continue, though, Gen yelped, "Um, w-we don't need to bring that up!"

Coleane frowned, and said, "Oh...ok. I really don't see why you want to hide it. I think it's really cool that you're—"

"P-please," Gen interrupted, beginning to tremble.

May looked searchingly at the Oshawott. What on earth? Coleane sure seemed chipper, but Gen was positively anxious about whatever he was. Was he another superclone or something? He didn't look any different but then again he had a scarf; maybe it was hiding something?

Well, whatever. She put her plate down, pulled out the chair and sat down. "You here with a trainer, then?" she asked as she started to push macaroni onto her fork.

 

[IFBench]

May looked searchingly at the Oshawott. What on earth? Coleane sure seemed chipper, but Gen was positively anxious about whatever he was. Was he another superclone or something? He didn't look any different but then again he had a scarf; maybe it was hiding something?

Well, whatever. She put her plate down, pulled out the chair and sat down. "You here with a trainer, then?" she asked as she started to push macaroni onto her fork.

"I'm the trainer!" Coleane said, wings fanned out in pride. "I'm the only trainer in Hoenn who's a Pokemon!"

Breathing a sigh of relief as the topic of conversation moved on, Gen said, "Y-yeah...Coleane is my...t-trainer."

 

[Dragonfree]

"I'm the trainer!" Coleane said, wings fanned out in pride. "I'm the only trainer in Hoenn who's a Pokemon!"

Breathing a sigh of relief as the topic of conversation moved on, Gen said, "Y-yeah...Coleane is my...t-trainer."

May stopped chewing, looking back at Coleane. "...Huh. You don't know Fury the Hitmonchan by any chance, do you?"

"Probably not, if they're from Hoenn," Spirit said.

"Yeah... I thought he was the only one. I guess you're new? And you train other Pokémon? Pretty sure Fury just trained himself."

 

[IFBench]

May stopped chewing, looking back at Coleane. "...Huh. You don't know Fury the Hitmonchan by any chance, do you?"

"Probably not, if they're from Hoenn," Spirit said.

"Yeah... I thought he was the only one. I guess you're new? And you train other Pokémon? Pretty sure Fury just trained himself."

"Noperdoodles! Who's that?" Coleane asked, tilting her head. "And yeppers! I train other Pokemon!"

Gen had returned to nibbling on his smol burger.

 

[Dragonfree]

"Noperdoodles! Who's that?" Coleane asked, tilting her head. "And yeppers! I train other Pokemon!"

Gen had returned to nibbling on his smol burger.

May shrugged. "He's a Hitmonchan from Ouen. Decided he wanted to do training as a trainer as well as as a Pokémon - just, he travels around and registers for tournaments and collects badges, and wrote a book about it. But last I heard he wasn't catching any other Pokémon, just was officially registered as his own trainer. I remember he used a Focus Band to make sure he wouldn't get knocked out in the wild, where trained Pokémon would normally rely on the trainer to get them to a Pokémon Center."

"What do you mean when you say you've always been able to speak human?" Spirit said. "Did someone give you the ability?"

 

[IFBench]

"Wow...that sounds really cool!" Coleane said with a flap of her wings. "I might have been exaggerating a bit earlier... I think I've always been able to do it? I don't hear any difference between how Pokemon speak back home and how humans speak. But if I haven't, then I think the Voice of Life gave that ability to me when I came to Hoenn!"

 

[Dragonfree]

"Wow...that sounds really cool!" Coleane said with a flap of her wings. "I might have been exaggerating a bit earlier... I think I've always been able to do it? I don't hear any difference between how Pokemon speak back home and how humans speak. But if I haven't, then I think the Voice of Life gave that ability to me when I came to Hoenn!"

May furrowed her brow. Voice... of Life? What was that supposed to mean? "Where did you say you're from?"

Spirit looked intently at Coleane. "Who is the Voice of Life? Is it a legendary Pokémon?"