‘Damn, time is really flying,’ Dani thought, as Bo started wrapping up another early morning gathering. Though she hadn’t actually voiced the thought out loud, she wasn’t particularly surprised when someone responded nonetheless.
‘Indeed,’ Witch’s silky voice crooned in her mind. ‘It flows all the more quickly for having been stagnated for too long. In just another breath, the tournament will be upon us.’
‘A month is a might longer than a breath, but I get your gist,’ Dani thought back with some amusement. Witch’s words were pretty accurate after all. After spending so much time idling about, the last month of training alongside Bo, Carter, and the others seemed to have gone by before she knew it, and she had no doubt the following month leading up to the tournament would be the same. It had still been a good month though, Dani and her team easily falling back into a routine alongside their friends.
Each day, they all got up early and met within the compound grounds like they were doing now. They’d then split up, each trainer running groups of pokemon through various drills, until Astra reached out to their minds and called for them to switch to a different drill. Generally, they spent the mornings working on conditioning before transitioning to working on new skills in the afternoon. Finally, at the end of every day, they capped the evening off by battling amongst each other. Nothing too serious. No knockouts or anything, but sparring with her two friends had still been some of the most fun Dani and her team had had in years.
‘It thrills me that you’re enjoying yourself once more, lovely,’ Witch commented. ‘Though I know you are still missing the beaches.’
She snorted internally at that, her lips curling up a bit. ‘A little bit. Mostly, I’m just gobsmacked that no one here thinks a constant fog blotting out the sun is normal. Even Galar wasn’t this bad. Honestly, all the times Skittles complained about “that damnable ball of fire in the sky,” I figured he was just taking the piss. I mean, I knew he was serious about bleaching under sunlight, but bloody hell.’
‘Yes, it does seem Mt. Moon’s climate is certainly more agreeable with your idiot,’ Witch’s voice once again popped unbidden into Dani’s head, causing her eyes to narrow at the psychic’s wording.
Deciding to quickly change the subject, Dani turned her focus to her pokemon. ‘And what about you, Witch? Are you doing alright with all the dark type energy in the area.’
Witch chuckled perhaps a bit too long for Dani’s comfort, but eventually accepted the new topic. ‘I’ll be fine. There’s enough fairy type energy in the air as well to cancel out any harmful effects. Other than not being able to teleport across large distances, I haven’t noticed any problems. Honestly, this village reminds me a bit of the old home.’
‘Good,’ Dani thought back softly, glad that her friend was comfortable. She too had thought more than once that the little mountain village reminded her of Ballonlea, though she had only really had the chance to explore the Moon clan compound. That in and of itself had been interesting enough. Sure, the fact that the place was mostly occupied by perfectly silent Kahales that seemed to disappear if you looked away for too long was freaky as all hell, but a few of them stopped to chat every once in a while, and the reserve was fantastic.
Though the Moon clan kept their breeding of feline pokemon indoors, she had spotted a few other lines nested within the reserve. She’d asked the Old Man about them, and he’d explained that most of the parents were retired battlers that hadn’t felt like staying with their trainers once they were done with their journey. Instead, they were perfectly happy to cuddle up with a mate and ‘hang out’ as they saying went. In particular, little Bancho had been excited to meet a Pangoro and Throh watching over a Pancham egg.
In addition to the breeding pokemon, she’d also been surprised to learn that there were actually quite a few other pokemon living there as well, though most of them didn’t actually belong to the Moon clan. Rather, the clan allowed for every trainer out of Carmine Village that was out on their journey to board up to two pokemon at the reserve for free, with the option to pay for the ability to board more. Apparently it was sparser than it had been in the past, but she’d still seen a good two dozen assorted pokemon that belonged to various traveling villagers. Even now, Dani spotted several curious faces poking out of the woodwork to watch the gathered group.
“…And Dani,” the sound of her name snapped her focus back to the present as she turned to find Bo looking at her. Right, time to focus. “You had mentioned wanting to work with Shogun on something right? Old Man can take the rest of your team to do speed drills if you want to do that now.”
“Perfect, thanks Old Man. Also, Demise,” Dani called out towards Old Man’s Kingambit. “You mind coming along? We’d love to pick your brain a bit.”
“The weight and lower center of gravity?” Bo asked once the older steel type nodded, the vague but perceptive question causing her eyebrows to lift.
“Yup,” she responded simply, eliciting a nod before he turned towards one of the others standing in the clearing.
“Suzu, can you go with her and spar?”
“Sure thing Bo.”
Dani’s brow rose further at the cheerful agreement, but she didn’t have a reason to object. A few minutes later, she and Suzu were following after Demise as the Kingambit led Shogun towards her personal training area. The two steel types were talking to each other in low, measured voices while the two humans moved in silence. Well, almost silence.
Dani’s eyes once more shot towards Suzu as the other woman whistled a quiet song to herself while just shy of skipping along. Dani really didn’t know what to think about her. She just seemed so… happy. Dani almost expected baby Sentrets to come rushing out of the woods in order to sing alongside her. With her slender build, vulpine features framed by short, red hair, and clad in a dark yukata that actually seemed to suit her, Suzu looked like she’d fit perfectly alongside the images of old money Kantonians and Johtoans Dani had seen, rather than skipping through a forest in the mountains. Overall, while the two hadn’t really spent that much time together since the first night Dani had met her, Suzu was definitely not what she’d been expecting.
Bo had mentioned his childhood friend occasionally when they were younger, but he hadn’t really gone into detail. He had definitely mentioned Zuzu reminding him of her, but, for some strange reason that only Arceus knew, Dani had just assumed that that meant Suzu and Zuzu acted at least vaguely alike, rather than remembering that Skittle’s Morpeko-powered head was rubbish when it came to judging people.
Really, other than the fact that the fox-like pokemon liked to disguise herself as the Kahale, Dani couldn’t see any similarity between the two. Instead of being aloof and withdrawn, the other woman seemed to constantly be smiling and outgoing. Dani would be tempted to call her empty-headed, but she’d spent too long training in the Master Dojo to be fooled.
Despite practically bouncing, Suzu’s every movement was smooth, graceful, and utterly silent. Each step barely even disturbed the grass under foot. Anyone who could move like that had extensive training, and was definitely dangerous, cheery tunes or not. Her pokemon too, from what Dani had seen of them, were fairly powerful as well, if not quite as strong as Dani’s own team.
“…Something on my face?” Suzu suddenly asked, even as her head remained facing straight ahead.
Internally kicking herself for being caught lost in her head twice in one morning, Dani hurried for a response. “Ah, sorry. Still getting used to the whole familiar-but-not-actually-familiar face thing.”
Suzu laughed in response. “Yeah, I get that a lot around here. When Zuzu first started copying me, I thought about asking her not to, but she just seemed to like it so much, ya know? Plus, she’s probably the one I get along with best outside of my own pokemon.”
“Really?”
“Uh-huh. Most of my fam ain't too talkative, and a lot of the villagers are a bit nervous around us Kahales. Zuzu’s a quiet sort, but she's actually pretty easy to talk to once she opens up to ya.”
“Damn, I probably should have tried to get her talking more back when we were traveling then.”
“Eh, I’m sure she likes ya just fine,” Suzu responded optimistically, before raising an eyebrow. “Though, if you are looking to make new friends, why don’t ya give me a shot? I’ve been dying to meet you and Carter for years. Bo didn’t really write all that often, but whenever he did, he’d always talk about the two of ya. Well, the two of ya and what I thought was a baby Togepi, right up until a cranky Deino named Princess showed up and tried to bite me.”
“Glad to know it wasn’t just me at least,” Dani laughed along with her. Turning to face Suzu, Dani felt herself reflexively smiling at Suzu’s enthusiasm. “And yeah, I’ll definitely take you up on your offer. We’ve got a rest day coming up soon, right? Any chance you could show me around the village a little? I’d ask Skittles, but I’m pretty sure he’d just take me to the top of a cliff and say, ‘look, you can see everything from here,’ and then push me off of it to get a closer look.”
“That’s…” Suzu started slowly before shrugging with a chuckle. “Ok, yeah, that sounds exactly like something he would do. At least he’d make sure to catch ya before ya hit the ground, though.”
“Here’s hoping.”
“Oh, I’m speaking from personal experience on that.”
“Same here.”
Dani found herself grinning and laughing as the two of them carried on bantering companionably for a few minutes, before they finally arrived at a small clearing deep into the small bamboo forest. Once there, Demise planted herself at the edge of the clearing with a decisive huff and looked at her expectantly. Suzu, too looked at her curiously.
“So,” the redhead began. “Bo mentioned sparring, but what’s the actual goal here?”
“Making up for lost time really,” Dani answered while nodding towards her Bisharp, who snapped to attention in response. “Shogun’s been on the fence about evolving into a Kingambit for a while now. We’ve talked about it a little, but we always put off making a decision. Now, even if he decides he wants to, we won’t have time to evolve him before the tournament, but I’m done putting shite off. Demise, we’ve never actually met any other Kingambit, so I’m hoping you can chip in with some advice while he spars with Suzu’s team.”
The squat steel type nodded decisively, but Suzu still looked a little confused. “If ya don’t mind me asking, what exactly is the concern? Kingambits are supposed to be ridiculously powerful, ain’t they? Demise herself is a damn terror.”
“Bish-bisharp,” Shogun’s brassy voice interjected, as he gestured towards the Kingambit’s heavy frame before gesturing again towards his own, comparatively slender body.
Not expecting Suzu to understand him yet, Dani translated. “It’s like Bo was saying earlier. Kingambits are definitely powerful and their defenses are amazing, but they’re also built differently from Bisharps. Their bodies are heavier and have a naturally lower center of gravity, causing them to be more stable, but also slower and less agile. Shogun’s trained his swordsmanship for years now, and it relies a lot on being able to move quickly and efficiently. His fighting style is bloody work of art if I do say so myself. If evolving costs him all that work, then it’s really not worth it as far as we’re concerned. Plus, it’s debatable whether or not Shogun’s got the right disposition for being a Kingambit.”
“King?” Demise queried in a slightly haughty tone, causing Shogun to stiffen slightly.
Dani just snorted and stared the Kingambit down. “Don’t get me wrong miss kingie, I’d bet on Shogun over any other Bisharp in the world. It’s just a matter of style. All Bisharps are natural leaders, but they fall into two groups in terms of how they do it. On one hand, there’s ones like Shogun that have Defiant as their ability. Those Bisharp tend to lead from the front, getting good and bloody along with their little Pawniards.
On the other hand, while there’s not many alive today, records indicate that the most historically well-known Kingambits were ones that had Inner Focus as an ability when they were Bisharps. Bisharp like them have their troops attack enemies first and then step up afterwards to finish off any powerful foes or mop up. Those Bisharp are also the ones who gain the Supreme Overlord ability when they evolve, which is probably the biggest reason so many people were in awe of Kingambits back when they were more common. The ability massively powers up a Kingambit when their comrades fall, like they’re somehow loaning the Kingambit their strength while they’re unconscious. It makes Kingambit a truly ridiculous threat when your back’s to the wall.
Now, it would cost me an arm and a leg, but I could pay out for an ability capsule and help Shogun change his ability. It’s just that…”
Suzu just nodded as Dani trailed off and Shogun shifted uncomfortably. “It’s just that standing back and waiting for everyone else to fall isn’t Shogun’s style, I’m guessing.”
“Sharp,” the pokemon in question nodded sharply.
“Okay, I’m following ya,” Suzu rocked eagerly on her feet. “What’s our plan of action then, coach?”
“Basically, we decided to have Shogun see if he can incorporate his skills into fighting styles that focus on lower stances. Back when we first considered this, I reached out to my old teacher and he sent us some videos and diagrams about martial art styles we could try, primarily Boltund style and something called Torterra style that practically has Shogun crawling on the ground. They’re still a work in progress, but they do seem to work. For today, I’m thinking we can have your team spar with Shogun while Demise watches. Demise, if you can give us any advice based on what you see, I’ve got a wicked metal polisher with your name on it.”
Suzu chuckled as Demise agreed with a little gleam in her eyes. “Sounds good to me. I’ve got the perfect crew for this.”
Dani watched as Suzu slipped a hand into her yukata and pulled out four miniaturized pokeballs. As she expanded them, Dani was briefly bewildered to see that all four of the balls had an unusual, purple tint, but her attention was soon drawn away as Suzu tossed them into the air. First, a gangly Sudowoodo emerged amidst a ring of shimmering light pillars. He was shortly followed by a chill-inducing Mimikyu that sprang from a swirling cloud of black hearts. After her, a Starmie floated in place, surrounded by rings of cyan light.
It was the last one that really caught Dani’s attention though. The fourth ball had released an amethyst haze that seemed to suck in light. It was only after the three other pokemon were revealed that the haze flowed away to reveal a familiar pokemon.
“Huh, long time no see,” Dani greeted with a raised eyebrow as a silent Zuzu stepped out of the cloud with a nod.
“Hah-ah,” Suzu laughed cheerfully at her reaction, before smiling towards the Zoroark. “Like I said, we get along really well, so she usually leaves her pokeball with me when she’s not traveling with Bo. I thought she might enjoy helping with this.”
“And the…?” Dani gesticulated vaguely towards the last bits of the impromptu light show were disappearing.
“Stickers. They’re mostly used by coordinators and other performers, but as far as I’m concerned, ya can never go wrong with a touch of pizazz,” Suzu stated confidently. “On a more serious note though, I want to introduce ya to Duo, Yumiki, and Irma.”
“Sudo!” “Pi#k):a-pi:)!” “Star.”
“Pleasure to meet you. Thanks for helping out. You too Zuzu, it’s good to see you.”
Still smiling widely, Suzu gestured towards the clearing where Shogun stood ready. “Alright then. Simple plan folks. Duo, you’re going to go high. Yumiki, you’re going low. Make sure Shogun there can fight at a full range of movement, and throw in some pincer maneuvers while you're at it. Zuzu, you’ll be hitting and running to push his reflexes. Go ahead and use some ranged attacks when ya want to as well. Irma, you’ll be on barrier duty. Keep us from catching a stray shot, won’t ya?”
Dani smiled as the various pokemon agreed. “Perfect. Shogun, you ready?”
“Bish,” he nodded before dropping into a low stance with his legs planted wide and thighs parallel to the ground.
“Good. Demise, I’ll leave you to run thing the show for now.”
With her role largely out of the way for the moment, Dani watched, slightly anxiously, as her pokemon began exchanging light blows with the others. He looked to be doing well, paradoxically meeting the Sudowoodo’s height with low kicks and jabs while striking downwards at the small ghost. It was the Zoroark that he struggled most with. Planted low as he was, Shogun just couldn’t dance out of the way of her attacks as he was accustomed to, instead having to block or even roll out the way. It worked, but Dani could tell that the comparatively clumsy maneuvers frustrated him. Intermittently, she or Demise called out to him with advice, and Dani would see him make minute adjustments to his stance or movements.
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“Hey,” Suzu spoke up softly from the side, drawing Dani’s attention. “Ya mind if I ask ya something?
“Sure, what’s up?”
“I’m just wondering how exactly ya plan on evolving Shogun if he does want to go through with it. Demise is really the only Kingambit I know of, and she apparently evolved back during the war. I don’t think she was even trying to evolve then either, it just happened at some point during all the fighting and killing. Short of flying you out to Ransei, I don’t know how we’d mimic that kind of thing.”
She chuckled at that, more amused by the idea that shipping her off to a perpetual warzone was even considered. “Yeah, apparently Bisharp evolve through two ways. The first is actually being a part of leading an army to conquer others, which we will not be doing. The other way is more like a ritual. The Bisharp in Unova and other regions have forgotten how to perform it, but the Paldeans recently rediscovered it. They’re still keeping the exact process confidential but, uhhh…”
Dani paused for a moment there, an uncomfortable feeling stirring up a little. “Well, back when we weren’t speaking, Bo would try kind of reaching out on my birthday or something. He never actually showed his face, but he’d send gifts. The first was a research report on methods to channel a Primeape’s anger in order to allow them to evolve. Then it was a prototype held item that was really useful for Brute. The last one was a file containing details on the evolution ritual for Bisharp.”
“Ahh,” Suzu nodded understandingly. “Just what every girl wants. Over-the-top, thoughtful gifts from her crazy ex that are too nice to just toss into the nearest dumpster fire.”
A loud bark of laughter escaped Dani’s mouth before she could think about it. “Pretty much. If over-the-top, thoughtful, crazy, and too nice to light on fire doesn’t sum up Skittles, I don’t know what does.”
“Yeah, I get it. I've known him since we were infants, but even I was ready to strangle him for a second,” Suzu sighed. “After he came back from Hoenn, he was basically in a daze for a whole year. Barely spoke to anyone besides his pokemon. Barely even acknowledged we were there most of the time, no matter how much anyone tried to cheer him up. Then, when he finally does start to feel better, he was gone, just like that. Hah. Ya’ll never guess how he told us he was heading to Paldea.”
“Left a note?” Dani guessed dryly, causing Suzu’s face to screw up in confusion.
“Yes actually. How’d ya…?” she trailed off as her mouth dropped open in horror. “Oh Arceus above, please tell me he didn’t.”
“Yup,” Dani popped out, even as an old spark of anger flared up a little at the memory. “Left the note for me at the pokemon center front desk and was out of the region before I even woke up.”
Her companion groaned into her hands, rubbing at her forehead in frustration. When Suzu finally did look up, her face was contorted in confusion. “So don’t get me wrong, cause we’re all damn happy about it, but what the hell are ya doing here again?”
Dani thought about how to respond for a few seconds before ultimately sighing with a shrug. “What can I say? I missed having actual goals and I missed my friends. Also, time and copious amounts of petty revenge apparently go a long way to healing old wounds.”
Suzu just shook her head. “Ya’ll have to fill me in on that last one someday. I still lean towards pissed every other day or so.”
“Eh, you looked happy to have him back. That’s good enough for now.”
Suzu laughed, but nodded. “Probably more relieved than anything, but I am happy that he’s doing better now. I honestly don’t know what would have happened if Baron hadn’t woken up.”
Dani’s eyes narrowed. “What?” she asked sharply.
In response, Suzu just looked at her in confusion. “What?” she Chatotted back.
Turning to fully face Suzu, Dani’s voice came out low and ominous to her ears. “What did you mean by ‘if Baron hadn’t woken up’?” Why wouldn’t he have woken up?”
The other woman’s eyes widened in realization as she started speaking slowly, almost as though hoping Dani was just joking. “Baron, he got hurt back in Hoenn… He was in a coma for over a year.”
“No…” Dani spoke with a distant voice, trying to deny the words. “No, he got hurt, but he was fine. Bo practically drenched him in full restore and he was fine. Unconscious, but fine. Baron was fine.”
“Physically,” Suzu replied sadly. “Physically, his body was alright, but he never actually woke up afterwards. Bo spent the entire year he was back here either at his bedside or looking through our records for any kind of cure. His note said that he’d found a reference to some mystical herbs that could supposedly be found in Paldea. He and Princess were halfway across the ocean before anyone even realized they were gone. Honestly, we were all worried he was just going to get himself killed the way he was, but apparently the herbs were legit. When Bo finally called a couple months later, he showed us that Baron had woken up. He was weaker than a newborn, but he was getting better. As far as we were concerned, it was a miracle.”
Dani felt like she’d been slugged in the stomach. Even, Shogun stopped in the middle of training to stare at her worriedly while the rest of her teams’ spirits crowded in on her own. She waved them off, but her head was still spinning, trying to remember the days immediately before Bo had disappeared from her life. After the mess they’d all gotten into, it had been a blur of medical checks, dimly lit rooms, yelling League officials, and questioning InterPol agents, but she had to have seen Baron at some point during that time, hadn’t she? She had to have seen that he was fine.
A sick feeling raced through her as she realized she couldn’t remember having seen him back then, no matter how hard she tried. Once again, several concerned spirits brushed up against hers, but she gently nudged them away. Her mind flashed to what she knew about Bo.
The awkward kid who wholeheartedly supported her when she didn’t have faith in herself and ran around chatting up every stranger he could find. The fool who’d managed to become friends with Carter through pure, undying optimism. The nutcase who’d trekked all across Unova, cooing over a baby Deino he had slung to his chest. The absolute moron who insisted on helping pay for her reconstructive surgery and then blew the rest of his savings renting out the amusement park in Nimbasa City to celebrate afterwards. The best friend who hollered and cheered like a maniac for her even after he’d been knocked out of tournaments himself. The teenager that still burst into tears of joy whenever one of his pokemon evolved… The young man that had wailed and raged for months after Crown died.
Having any of their pokemon hurt as badly as what Suzu described would be hell on any trainer, a literal, seeping wound on their own souls. But for Bo, seeing Baron, his oldest partner and brother, hurt that badly… Just thinking of anything like that happening to Brute or Witch made it hard for Dani to breath. The idea of that emotional, bleeding hearted idiot going through something like that…
“Fuck,” Dani ultimately spat out, a complex mix of emotions swirling around inside her.
“Sorry,” Suzu replied apologetically. “I thought you knew.”
“It’s fine,” Dani sighed. “I’m just stuck between wanting to give Skittles a hug and wanting to kill him for not telling me.”
“…Try both?” Suzu suggested weakly, eliciting a small smile once more.
“Yeah,” Dani chuckled. “That might work for now.”
*
Achoo!
“Bless you,” Carter replied to Bo’s sudden sneeze. “You feeling alright?”
“Oh I’m fine. I just really felt like sneezing dramatically for no reason,” Bo answered with an easy smile, causing Carter to snort and shake his head. He looked like he was going to say something further, when he paused and tilted his head.
“Wait,” he said slowly. “That time you kept sneezing during Cynthia’s speech after you won the Vertress Conference…?”
“Oh yeah. The whole thing just felt so official and grandiose that it made me itchy.”
The larger man seemed to struggle for a retort for a few seconds. “You’re going to get punched in the face one of these days,” he ultimately settled on with a sigh. “Now quit messing around and focus, or we’ll be stuck here the whole month.”
“Who’s messing around?” Bo asked as he pointed with the knife held in his hand, gesturing towards a steadily growing pile of metal shavings in front of him. The folding knife, an old gift from when he first set out on his journey, was a heavy thing, with a bulbous pommel embedded with a marble-like crystal towards the end. The knife had served a variety of purposes for Bo over the years, but currently, it was being used to painstakingly whittle away at a chunk of aluminum, nicking off minute slivers each stroke. Fay too, was shaving away at her own block with her claws, an intense look of concentration on her face.
Carter just rolled his eyes and pinched a small portion of the shavings before sprinkling them onto a piece of paper in front of him. Adding in a salt-like substance, his large hands started folding the paper with deceptive ease. Within a moment, he had formed a fairly realistic paper bird. With a flick of his hand, the imitation flying type was sent soaring into the air. Regina, the Vullaby having been excitedly standing next to him, chirped before spitting out a tiny lick of flame. While Carter had only recently used an old TM to teach her Incinerate, the baby bird’s aim was spot on. As the small flame reached the tossed paper, the origami bird burst with a flash of light and loud snap, causing Carter to laugh and Regina to preen.
The four of them, along with Alice were seated in a clearing, observing several pokemon practice as they worked on developing some of their moves. Despite their bantering, both Bo and Carter’s minds were clear and empty, their tiny assembly line serving as pseudo mediation for the two of them. While they worked, Bo placidly felt Baron’s spirit swirling around his mind. The Umbreon’s thoughts and feelings bounced around Bo’s head and plucked up any ideas that drifted up in response. The process repeated itself over and over as they both worked in unison.
Bo and Carter had asked if Alice wanted to join them in their task to see if it could lull her into a meditative state as well, but she had paled and declined for some reason. Bo had just nodded, even though he felt bad that the anxious teenager was missing out. Sure, if Regina lost control over her new move or even if the passing wind blew the metal shavings into Carter’s oxidizing agent unexpectedly it might blow up ever so slightly into their faces, but other than that, bomb-making was a wonderful team building activity.
At least it wasn’t completely necessary for Alice from a training perspective at this point. Even without meditation, Alice’s team were benefiting hugely from his and Carter’s more experienced pokemon coaching them through moves they hadn’t quite managed to develop yet. As Bo watched, Gizmo was working with her Murkrow and Mismagius on learning Torment, Wicked was goadingly trying to get Tama to use Dark Pulse, and Carter’s Swellow was trying to teach her Mightyena Endeavor. Judging by what he was seeing, Bo was confidant each of her pokemon would have the moves down before the tournament arrived.
In comparison, Baron was struggling with the new move he was trying to create, even with Apollo and Sampson coaching him. It was times like these, that Bo knew the Umbreon slightly regretted evolving when he did, even if becoming an Umbreon had been a dream of his. Back as an Eevee, the tiny battle maniac was able to lean into his normal typing in order to teach himself various moves of a variety of types, often using them to surprise their tougher opponents. And while the Umbreon already probably had more self-developed moves than any other Umbreon Bo had ever heard of, Baron still wanted to squeeze in another.
His latest goal, was to create a fire type move that would burn his opponents. He’d try to learn Will-O-Wisp, but something about the move’s combination of ghostly nature and fire energy kept it consistently out of reach. Now, he was brainstorming with Carter’s pokemon to figure out how to make a new move work. So far, he’d at least managed to tap into fire type energy with Apollo’s help (i.e. the Houndoom had repeatedly set Baron on fire), but the Umbreon was still struggling to actually use the energy, no matter how many times Apollo tried to explain how. Privately, Bo was pretty sure Sampson was going to be more helpful in that regard.
Relying on impressions he’d felt through his pokemon, Bo often internally likened moves to art. The pokemon needed to envision the inspiration and emotions behind the art in order to even begin to create it. Accessing the required type energy meant the pokemon was no longer blind to the needed colors, but that alone didn’t allow the pokemon to envision what they needed to. It also didn’t help them understand the “art” when they saw it or even when someone else tried to describe it, especially when their base knowledge was so far apart, which was exactly what was happening with the Houndoom and Umbreon pairing.
If fire type moves were paintings, then Apollo had the artistic sense of a master. He saw not only the sublime meaning and intent behind the art, but even the work and emotion that went into every step of the painting’s creation, from the artist’s internal struggles to the construction of the dye used. It was beautiful to the fire type, all the more magnificent for being laid bare before his eyes. In comparison, Baron saw a bunch of squiggly lines on a canvas.
No matter how much Apollo tried to explain, Baron just couldn’t even begin to comprehend what the Houndoom saw. That’s where Sampson had the edge as a teacher. The more relaxed poison type knew enough about fire type energy and moves to point out details clearly to a layman, even if he didn’t have the same sense for it that Apollo did. Bo had faith that, between the two of them, they’d be able to help Baron with his goal.
Meanwhile, Bo just needed to keep his mind still and calm, allowing his partner to use his mind and impressions to supplement Baron’s own.
“Hey,” Carter said calmly as they watched Apollo spit forth a stream of flame demonstratively. “Realistically, what do you think Baron’s chances are of learning this before the tournament? It took most of a year to perfect Freezy Frost after all.”
“Can’t really say,” Bo droned while working with his knife, before Carter’s words broke through a little more. “Wait, Freezy Frost?”
“Oh, yeah. I sent a video of the move to Maddie, so it will henceforth be known as Freezy Frost unless you want to be the one to break her heart.”
“…Freezy Frost is fine,” Bo replied upon picturing the seven-year old’s big, blue eyes looking up at him beseechingly. He and Baron hadn’t used to name the moves they’d come up with, but back when she’d first started talking, Maddie had taken up the task. It wasn’t that bad really. Bo was always greatly amused whenever he heard commentators awkwardly announce Baron’s usage of Buzzy Buzz, Bouncy Bubble, Glitzy Glow, Sparkly Swirl, or the infamous Baddy Bad. He could only imagine what this newest move would be named. “Anyways, knowing Baron, he’ll just keep banging his head against the problem until he figures it out.”
Banging his head.
The words seemed to ring in Bo’s head after he said them, but he deliberately tried to not to think about it, allowing Baron to reach in and roll the words around himself. Instead, Bo just kept shaving off slivers of aluminum, his hand moving faster and faster.
He heard Carter sigh idly. “Yeah, he and Apollo both. Sampson’s trying to slow them down, but I think they’re about to start setting Baron on fire again.”
“Hmm,” Bo replied as he worked.
Baron on fire.
Banging his head.
Out of the corner of his eye, Bo saw Carter toss another origami figure into the air, this one in the shape of a Magikarp. Like the others, it too quickly disappeared in a flash, though this one left a winding trail of blue smoke falling through the air, causing Bo to smile. Carter really did have explosives down to an art form, even if most wouldn’t consider it as such. So far, Bo’s favorite of the day had been an origami Froakie. Carter had even rigged that one with a small spring and designed it to “hop” after a few seconds. The hopping motion had triggered the spring which snapped down on the powder inside, lighting the paper up mid-leap, even without the Vullaby’s help.
Spring. Snapped.
Banging.
Bo distantly noted that Carter was saying something else, but his attention drifted inwards, joining Baron’s to focus on a slowly emerging, jumbled idea.
‘The spring snapped onto the powder. Banging.’ / ‘Ignition through percussive force.’
[Looks like Baron’s stopping for something.]
‘Will-O-Wisp won’t work. Not enough stability.’ / ‘Ignition through physical contact offers more control.’
[…Can’t hear me…?]
‘Will-O-Wisp has a touch of ghost, but another burning move is,’ / ‘Burning Jealousy uses a touch of dark type energy.’
[Bo…Knife…Hand…Fire!]
‘Dark is good.’ / ‘We know dark.’
[Sup…Astra…Switch…What’s…Skittles?]
‘Need something that sinks into enemy.’ / ‘Foul Play works within their body.’
[Trance… can’t… a thing.]
‘Need to inject fire.’ / ‘Dark sinks into body, then apply heat.’
[Bet…Five…Snap…Out.]
‘No, can’t just generate heat.’ / ‘Yes, need spark for combustion.’
[Skittles…Flaming clown…Popsicle.]
‘High speed means friction. Friction means heat’ / ‘High speed collision with heat. Impact ignites spark.’
[…Robes…Dumpster…Orre.]
‘Once combustion takes place.’ / ‘Use dark energy to push reaction inward.’
[Roland has a huge cock.]
“WHERE!”
Internal thoughts forgotten, Bo was on his feet and looking around wildly before he’d even thought of it. After a few seconds, he saw that Dani and Suzu had joined him, Carter, and Alice. All five of them were now staring at him with varying expressions stretching across their faces.
“Pay up Carter. Also, really Skittles?” Dani held out her hand, palm up, towards a sighing Carter with a smirk, before nodding meaningfully towards Bo’s own hand.
Looking to his right, Bo realized that at some point he’d reversed his grip on his knife and was now brandishing it menacingly in front of him. Quickly dropping his hand while Carter slapped a few bills into Dani’s, Bo shrugged with an unashamed expression.
“It’s a reflex,” he stated, causing Dani to roll her eyes. “But seriously, that giant dickhead isn’t here, is he?”
“Pretty sure you know that wasn’t what I said, but no, Roland isn’t here,” Dani replied.
“Umm, who’s Roland?” Alice asked while still shooting odd glances towards his knife.
“He’s a friend.”
“He’s a jerk.”
Realizing that each other had spoken in unison, Dani and Bo tried again.
“He’s a bloody good bloke.”
“He’s an annoying idiot.”
They both frowned harshly at each other.
“He’s an amazing trainer.”
“He’s a Wikstrom wannabe.
As Alice and Suzu stared at them with bewildered looks, Dani rolled her eyes again while Bo harrumphed. Eventually it was Dani that spoke alone. “Roland’s good people. Skittles is just sore because Roland keeps beating him whenever they battle.”
“He only beat me three times,” Bo protested.
“Four times out of four,” Carter corrected factually.
“Oh sure. Real big man picking on baby Princess.” Bo said sarcastically. “That one doesn’t count.”
“Roland was using a newly caught Karrablast to battle her,” Dani unhelpfully explained for Suzu and Alice’s benefit.
“Still doesn’t count,” Bo declared stubbornly before squinting at Dani. “But seriously, are you still in touch with that idiot?”
Dani glared back stubbornly in response. “Do I still keep in touch with my friends? Why yes, Skittles, I do, unlike some people I know.”
Bo winced guiltily at that as some of the others grimaced. “Right, fair point. Sorry. It still kind of bugs me that he snatched that Frontier Brain job from you.”
She just sighed in response. “He didn’t snatch anything. I turned the job down, remember? And after I turned Scott down, I recommended Roland instead.”
“Urgh,” Bo groaned slightly at her words, even as Alice’s eyes shot open in realization.
“Wait, are you two talking about Hall Chevalier Roland?” Alice asked, a tinge of awe entering her voice. “He’s been blowing up on Kilnk-Klang ever since he took over for Argenta. You all know him?”
“Unfortunately,” Bo sighed. “We all met him back in Unova. He’s a delusional jerk and an utter moron who's only nice to Dani.”
“Roland’s nice to other people too,” Carter casually betrayed him. “He’s just a bit set in his opinions on right and wrong, and Bo has a tendency to fall way into the wrong category. Honestly, Roland’s a little iffy on me too, especially when it comes to some of my, er, hobbies. Come to think of it, most dark type specialists rub him the wrong way. He probably gets along with Dani because she’s on the more straightforward side for a darkie.”
“Oh, I hadn’t known that,” Alice said a little disheartened at the news, before tilting her head in confusion. “Doesn’t Roland have an Absol though?
“Uugh,” Bo groaned once more, physically pained by her words. Around him, he saw Carter, Suzu, and even Dani wince.
“Yeaahh,” Dani drawled. “See, that there would be the real Skittles doesn’t like Roland.”
“I’ve got other reasons, like him being an idiot,” he objected weakly, but Carter just carried on for Dani.
“Bo’s always wanted an Absol. He’s been absolutely besotted with them ever since he was a kid. The problem is that, well… How do I put this?”
“They hate him,” Dani supplied, causing Bo to groan once more even as Carter nodded.
“Yeah,” Carter confirmed to the confused looking Alice. “He’s probably encountered more Absols than anyone alive, but literally every single one Skittles came across hated him on sight. Some just flee at the sight of him, but most will outright attack him. Even if he knocks them out, they just start attacking again as soon as they wake up.”
“It’s not that bad,” Bo tried to protest. One day, Bo was sure that he’d find a wonderful, silky-soft knife cat that appreciated him just as much as he appreciated them. Definitely.
Dani was already shaking her head though. “We once talked to some of the rangers who came to relocate one after it kept attacking for three days straight. Turns out, she was actually known to them, but her territory was over four hundred miles away. As far as they could figure out, she literally ran all that way, solely to try and kill Skittles.”
Bo raised a hand to protest once more, but dropped his hand as he realized he actually didn’t have anything to object with. Even Alice was staring at him pityingly now.
“Okay, so all the Absols I’ve met so far have been a little mean to me. Roland’s Absol, in particular, is an absolute snob, which is only one of the reasons why I know Roland’s a giant tool. Can we please drop this now?” He asked pleadingly. “Dani, weren’t you busy training with Shogun?”
“Yeah, we were, and then Astra called for us to switch,” Dani replied. “Suzu and I were just swinging by to collect the rest of my team.
Seeing Bo’s startled look, Carter chuckled before nodding at where the gathered pokemon were watching them. “You and Baron have been zoned out for about an hour now. We tried to wake you up after those shavings caught fire and you nearly burnt your hand off, but you didn’t notice. I thought we’d have to wait all night, but Dani bet me she could snap you out of it.”
“Oh,” Bo responded while confirming that one of his hands was indeed on the sootier side. Glancing over at Baron, he saw the Umbreon nod back at him meaningfully. Minor scorching aside, Bo was fairly certain they’d been on to something, and Baron was clearly eager to get back to it. “Sorry about that. Would you all mind if Baron and I worked together a bit longer? We nearly had a break through. I’ll go get Fay a fire extinguisher first, I promise.”
Dani rolled her eyes, but smiled nonetheless. “Sure thing mate. I’ll look after your team for a spell. Just come find us when you’re done.”
Bo smiled back at her in gratitude as the others started moving towards their next training sessions. He was just about to sit back down when he noticed Dani not moving away. Instead, she was watching him with an odd look on her face.
“Mmph.”
He was just about to ask her what was wrong when Dani quickly stepped in and wrapped him in a tight, wordless hug. Bo’s mouth dropped open in surprise, but he didn’t move away. After a few moments, Bo returned the hug, his heart thudding happily away in his chest.
“Thanks Dani,” he said, patting her back lightly… A few seconds later, he patted her back again, but she didn’t respond. Another few seconds, and he patted her back once more, this time a little harder. “Uh, Dani? You’re hugging me a little tightly. It’s actually kind of hard to breath.”
Creak.
“Yeah, that was my ribs,” Bo choked out a bit wheezily, now tapping her back repeatedly. “Dani? Dani?”
Creeaaak.
“Dani... Please let go. Uncle…Uncle!”
‘Huh, I can see Crown and Grandma. But why are they sitting by a river? What’s that you’re saying Crown? I can’t hear you. Let me come closer.’