5 years had gone by since the dubbed ‘Ultra’ incident.
Plumeria was not one for change, but more than just a little had ‘changed’ per se. Make no mistake, the Team Skull Administrator wasn’t inflexible by any means, but the differences in her life now felt unsteady- something in her gut related it to the time her young self still roamed the streets. When Selazzle was but a crawling hatchling coughing out Poison Gas like it was her life’s mission.
Nevertheless, for one, Po Town was no longer the wet prison-kingdom Team Skull proudly called their own; it had been renovated under the questionable courtesy of Alola’s undefeated champion and Plumeria was clueless as to how to feel about it.
Once, the place she called home, felt desolate. Plumeria knew it wasn’t due to the lack of people, but her dumb little brothers and sisters should’ve been enough to fill the empty gap in her heart, yet it didn’t. She blamed in on the off-putting ambiance; the dirty streets and forever-rain.
She blamed her residence in the Shady House to have made her so greedy for things she probably didn’t deserve. The unreasonable dissatisfaction Plumeria held for the place where boxes and broken furniture littered its hallways; where she could wipe the wet soles of her boots on the already dirtied carpets without repercussions; where their little makeshift family went hungry more often than not due to their lack of money to restock the kitchen. Darkrai, they hadn’t enough to even pay any bills, for Arceus’s sake.
The point was, Plumeria was drowning in melancholy she couldn’t explain, for the lack of a better word. The teenager spent every day sparingly. Like some Muk, she spent most days picking up after the trash left by her younger charges.
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For example: whenever the grunts got themselves jailed for being a public nuisance, Plumeria would be the one to bail them out with whatever spare cash she’d got from defeating some poor lass or lad on the spot. Afterwards, Golbat (at the time) would Screech a warning, leaving the grunts dizzy and they’d lay low for about a day. Only to resume their activities anyway. The cycle repeating.
And on one fine day, a single person came along and changed everything.
Plumeria would make it quick, and spare a lot of details. Basically-
Luna was hailed the hero of Alola after defeating Necrozoma. Reporters had thrown the largest fiesta since the last spotting of Tapu Koko. In which was also after the arrival of Luna, by the way. If Plumeria could’ve explained it better or write, she’d probably publish a book about how Luna’s presence changed almost everything. Who’s to say it wouldn’t sell? A book after the young champion could become a real hot cake. Plumeria had an inkling she’d be rich in no time.
Maybe only then they’d have enough money to buy new sets of Skull outfits for their growing family of outcasts.
But that was beside the point. The thing was, due to her fame and strength, Luna had money they didn’t have and she spent it renovating their little town.
Plumeria wanted to scream.
She refrained, though. Because the big sister of Team Skull did not scream like some wild, uncaught Loudred. Because if she did, their home would be an actual grave as everyone would go deaf and die from the frequency and volume Plumeria would have to shout to keep everything under control.
Most days, their leader was a deadbeat father. Someone had to draw lines in this household.
Anyway, it all started about 3 years prior to their current time. Which meant, approximately 2 years after Luna returned from wherever she did; appearing more than just Beat Up from her previous engagement with the morally questionable, light-stealing, Pokémon according to the news. The young trainer looked as though she survived a proper Seismic Toss. Plumeria hadn’t failed to take note that even then, Luna never lost her smile.