Mycroft cursed under his breath the whole time they sneaked through the tall grass, trying to get past the cabin.
"Bunch of clueless baboons, each and every single one of them," he spat out, voice full of venom.
Next to him the girl with the cat eared hat twiddled with her fingers through the fabric of her long sleeves. Worry was written all over her face.
"It's been a while since they've gone in," she said, looking towards the cabin. "Maybe they need help."
Mycroft rolled his eyes at that. "Muffin, was it? I'm sorry to interrupt your train of thought…" he said, not even fazed by her stupid nickname due to how angry he was, "…but it looks like our companions lack all semblance of common sense and manners. They kicked the door down for god's sake!"
"Wait…" Samantha whispered, raising her arm to the side. "I hear something. Stay still."
They didn't need to wait much to see what she was referring to. The sound of multiple steps reached them, and after a few seconds they noticed dark figures approaching from the mist, headed toward the cabin. At least six people, and the only thing visible about them was the weapon one of them held: a scythe similar to the one Silver had, except the blade went both ways and was considerably bigger. Just above where the pole met with metal there was a strange inscription or rune: what appeared to be the letter A with an eye in the middle of it. The man holding it was draped in a long, purple cloak which had certainly seen better days, its tattered hood covering most of his face.
While Mycroft was too busy freaking out over the sight of that weapon, Samantha spoke. "That must be them! We need to hide until they pass us."
Rhin let out a short laugh, as if her words were the most ridiculous thing he'd heard in a long time.
"Come on Sammy, that just looks like a group of trainers to me," he said. "Besides, we're not a bunch of criminals like the rest of the group; why should we hide as if we were?"
He stood up before Sammy could stop him, and a moment after all of the dark figures turned towards him. Six pair of cold eyes fell on the boy, who tried his best to smile cheerfully.
image [https://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h28/Johtoboy/Imagen177.jpg]
"Hey there! Nice night to travel, eh?" He waved with one hand. "Oh of course, where are my manners? My name is Rhin."
As he approached he was finally able to make out their appearance. The one in front was a man with curly hair and a heavy looking sword, the handle of which rested upon his right palm. He studied Rhin from tip to toe, though judging by his expression he didn't consider him much of a threat.
"Hello… Rhin, was it?" he spoke with a rather calm voice, curling the corners of his lips into a smile. "My name is Ryan. This guy over here is Dexter." He leaned his head in the direction of the man with the scythe. He was the second tallest of the group; his bare arms and what he could see of his face were covered in a multitude of scars. "And this one next to me is Travis," He pointed to the boy at his right; he was at least two heads shorter than Ryan, with vine tattoos curling around his arms and a multitude of piercings on his face. He held a drumstick in each hand.
Rhin bowed to both of them though he could feel the raw animosity hitting him like a blizzard. Dexter hadn't moved an inch, and neither had the grin of sharp teeth he showed him. He could barely make out the other three people behind them.
"By the way…" said Ryan, his eyebrows knitting together in a way he didn't' like. "Isn't it… dangerous, to travel alone through these parts?"
He caressed the handle of his sword as he said that, and for a moment Rhin thoroughly understood the stupidity of his previous actions, as he tended to do a few seconds after making them.
Luckily Ryan turned to look away a second later, as more footsteps approached. Rhin noticed the silhouette of Silver's scythe breaking through the mist, soon accompanied by the rest of the group.
"Ah, I see you have friends," Ryan whispered, frowning.
Ñako was the first to spot them and, surprisingly, he ran towards Rhin and smiled as he put one arm around his shoulder, a bit more… tenderly than he'd expected.
"There you are!" the smelly ninja said, letting his weight fall on Rhin's shoulder. "Thought we'd lost you!"
"Agh!" Disgust was clear on his expression as he shoved the ninja to the side. "Don't touch me, scum!"
Ryan raised an eyebrow, amused, and a few giggles were heard from the people behind him.
"Ah… I'm sorry you two, I didn't mean to interrupt," he tried to stifle his laughter. "If you want some time alone I'd be happy to…"
His words drifted into the night as he noticed something behind one of the nearby bushes. A long mane of red, bright hair attached to a pair of eyes he knew too well. The mist had cleared enough for their gazes to meet, and they both pointed at each other simultaneously as they yelled:
"YOU!"
Sabrina, the second one to arrive, raised an eyebrow as Sammy and the sword guy she'd met in Saffron stared at each other, too stunned to say more.
"Night of coincidences?" she whispered, eyes going from one to the other.
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Outside of Saffron – A few hours before.
》Ryan raised his sword effortlessly with one hand, its edge only inches away from Sammy's face.
The two stared at each other for what felt like an eternity, a cavalcade of emotions storming inside them.
"I saw you running around with that group of trainers," he said, voice coming out a lot rougher than he intended. "Have you turned into a babysitter, Sammy?"
The raw anger behind that pair of golden eyes almost made him regret his words. She took a deep breath before replying.
"I believe I've always been one."
He formed a smile that didn't extend to his eyes. "Always so quick with the snark. But I doubt the rest will be happy to see you. Especially after…"
He didn't need to say anything else. Both trainers shared a knowing look with too long of a history behind it. 《
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Sabrina didn't like the idea of butting into other people's business, especially when it had nothing to do with her. Still, judging by the way Curly and Sammy were staring each other down, she figured one of them might jump at each other's throat any second now. She didn't care much for the redhead, but would've preferred to postpone the bloodshed until a later date.
To tell the truth, she somehow knew she'd run into that guy again, though not in the circumstances she was currently in. The wisest choice would've surely been to run away as fast as possible, though at the same time she had the inkling these guys would be their rivals for the rest of their mission. This was a good, and somewhat low stakes, opportunity to get to know them better.
"Hey, Curly," she said, making him turn towards her. Almost indifferently she grabbed a Pokeball from her belt. "Looks like our teammates are busy getting to know each other."
Indeed, the rest of the group had not only caught up to them, but they'd gone to where the rest of Curly's friends were and were, hopefully, only striking a conversation.
"What do you say we find a way to pass the time?"
He looked her in the eyes, and Sabrina understood she was playing with fire. Still, sometimes one had to take risks.
After a few moments of silence, the man smiled.
"A battle, eh?" he said, brandishing an Ultraball. "It's been a while since I've done this officially."
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Sabrina curled up her lips into a snarky smile. "Already making excuses? The fight hasn't even started yet."
She could feel the burning hatred of Sammy's gaze stinging her back, and knew she might come to regret her actions later. It was a risk she was willing to take, however.
Both Pokeballs opened simultaneously in a cross explosion of light. In front of her appeared the familiar silhouette of Rokon, who still shook his head from side to side, froth coming out of his mouth.
She immediately recognized the Pokemon they would face. Almost as tall as its trainer, with a segmented body which was entirely blood red. One metal pincer in each hand, and four small wings coming out of its back.
"Sean, this one's yours," Curly told his Scizor.
"Alright Rokon," she replied, looking down at the small fox. "Let's see what you can do."
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Silver thought he was having a pretty surprising day already, and that was before meeting the guy with the giant scythe.
First he got an actual job, then he got a personal assistant and then it turned out he secretly was both a singer and a lead guitarist all along? If only his mom could see him now; she'd probably regret kicking him out of the house for being such a screw-up.
Those kinds of thoughts were the ones crossing his mind as he followed Ñako and Sabrina through the thick fog. Life was good, as far as he knew. Things were certainly looking up.
Then that group of people appeared. At first he didn't care much for them; a loser with a sword and a short guy with drum sticks? He wasn't even motivated to kick their asses. That's when his eyes fell on the person behind them.
Their gazes met, sparks flying between them, and Silver couldn't help but smile. That familiar heat started running through his veins as his fingers curled around the pole of the scythe. Next to him Molly seemed to notice something different, and raised an eyebrow at him.
"This is the only one who doesn't look like a scared boy scout," the man said, his voice sharp and rough like sandpaper. "Just what I wanted."
A shiver of excitement ran down Silver's spine as he brandished his scythe, pointing it at the man. The smile on his face was somewhat unfocused, and some might say a bit too deranged.
"Whaddaya know, that's what I was thinking too!" he hollered. "I wanna test you here and now!"
He was about to jump forward when a voice broke through the clearing, startling them both.
"Stop it, you two!"
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Rhin thanked the stars someone had stopped his teammate from throwing himself against the guy with a scythe twice as big as his. He could barely believe Silver had challenged him in the first place; the bravado and stupidity of his teammates still surprised him, it seemed.
He took a look at the girl approaching from the mist. Professional was the only word appropriate enough to describe her; she wore a black pencil skirt and a white shirt perfectly kept, along with librarian glasses and shining black shoes. Her black hair was tied into a short ponytail, and in her hands she held what looked like a black folder with a white triangle stamped on the middle.
image [https://i.imgur.com/dmW3r3o.png]
Nancy (back) and Caroline (front).
"I was told you'd only come here to get a couple eggs," she said, eyebrows constantly knit, "and this is how I find you!? This completely ruins our plans of traveling unnoticed!"
Her eyes fell on someone behind Dexter; a short and scrawny looking boy with enormous round glasses which completely obscured his eyes.
"Dick!" she yelled. It took Rhin a moment to realize that was the boy's name. "I leave you in charge for two minutes and this is what happens?"
"M-miss Nancy!" The boy's hands shook as he looked down. "I'm… I'm so sorry, you see… uh…"
She dismissed him with a wave of her hand. "It doesn't matter. And you, Dexter." She shot the cloaked man an icy look. "Put that scythe down, now."
Dexter did as he was told, reluctantly, though the bloodthirsty smile never left his lips.
"And where in the blazes is Caroline!?"
After a few moments a new voice broke through the mist:
"Oh hey! It's the boys from the cabin!" the blonde girl said as she approached them with a Pokemon egg in her hands. "Like, what's up!"
Nancy's frown stopped the girl on her tracks, like a small Pokemon suddenly encountering its predator.
"Nancy! Like… I'm so sorry for not telling you!" she seemed to shrink into herself, smiling awkwardly. "But like… girl, those bags under your eyes! You gotta get more sleep at night and drink water and try to keep the stress down, y'know?"
Rhin heard grass rustling behind him. Mycroft and Muffin had finally stepped out of their hiding spot, sighing in defeat.
"I guess there's no point in hiding anymore," said the former.
A bright idea came to Rhin, as bright as the stars guiding him, or so he would've liked to believe. Now that the librarian looking girl had arrived it didn't seem like there would be any kind of bloodshed; that gave them the opportunity to learn some things about these strangers, were they to meet again in the future.
"Nancy, was it? I see you're the leader of the group," he said, walking towards both girls with a cheerful smile. "Now that you've put a nice leash around the neck of your teammates, and seeing as we're all trainers here, I think I might have a good idea on how to pass the time before we depart again."
Luckily, Mycroft was very quick on the uptake. After only a moment of confusion he chuckled and followed Rhin's lead, bowing to both girls.
"Bonsoir, mademoiselle." He winked, forming his best smile. "Your name was Caroline, was it not? Mine is Mycroft, Enchanté."
The girl scratched her cheek, eyes narrowed. "Uh… some of your words are kinda weird. I'm cool with words, I use them too sometimes but like… what?"
"What do you say?" he offered, ignoring Caroline's nonsensical spiel. "A double battle, like real trainers. My partner Rhin and I against the two of you."
Nancy considered it for a moment, and her lips curled ever so slightly into the tiniest of smiles.
"Caroline," she said raising her head high. "Let's put these tramps in their place."
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Ñako had the strange feeling he was getting left out of something. As he saw everyone else go to talk to a certain member of the opposite team, he couldn't help but wonder what was that about.
Oh well.
He walked to the first stranger he saw that was still alone. A runt with vine tattoos who held two… sticks? They made a pleasant swoosh sound as he hit the air with them. Judging by his closed eyes and the passionate way in which he did it, Ñako figured he was lost in his own little world.
"So…"
The boy looked up at him, eyebrows knit in annoyance.
"…What's up with those sticks?" he asked. "Do you really like noodles or what?"
There was a rather long and awkward silence before the boy replied.
"…What?"
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Vard smiled, satisfied with himself.
"I see you're all participating in practice rounds without any kind of aggressive undertone to them," he said to everyone around him. "That's good; socializing is important if we are to become known all over the world. I'm very proud of all of you."
His gaze veered left, and found one of the only two of their team not currently fighting or talking to someone. He was a veritable mountain of a man, at least a couple heads taller than him and twice as wide.
Vard couldn't help but be intrigued by his appearance. He wore a leather body armor dyed in bright red, and a strange cross shaped crown that covered his nose. His face was worn and scarred, and he noticed a few grey hairs amidst the light brown adorning his mane and beard. Two of what seemed like heavy battle axes hung from his back.
He walked towards the man with glamorous abandon, and stopped only a few inches from him.
"Excuse my nerve, my good sir," Vard said, looking up at him, "but I find your appearance to be quite jocular."
The man raised an eyebrow, and replied with a gruff, surprisingly polite voice.
"I beg your pardon?"
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Siegfried's shoulders dropped at the sight in front of him. Not only would this delay their trip towards Cerulean considerably, but there was also the very present possibility of someone getting severely hurt.
"Please, there is no reason to fight," he pleaded to his teammates, to no avail. The egg the couple had given him felt heavy in his hands. "We need to get to Cerulean right aw-"
"Hey there."
He almost jumped out of his skin. A voice resounded from behind him, soon followed by a ghastly looking man emerging from the mist like a wraith. As Siegfried turned towards him he realized he'd never seen someone so… worn out, before.
The man had long, light blue hair that fell to the back of his knees, tied just behind his neck with string. Both his face and his body were skeletal looking, as if he hadn't eaten in months, and his eyes reminded Siegfried of those of a snake. A brown, leather whip hung from his right leg, stained with dry blood.
"That egg…" His voice was thin and throaty. "Could it be…?"
With every step he took towards him Siegfried had to suppress his desire to flee. The man took a hand to his mouth and grabbed the butt of the cigarette he was smoking, blowing a small cloud into his face.
"Nobu… I always hated my real name," he said, furrowing his thin brow. "Sid suits me a lot better, don't you think?"
Nobu? The owner of the egg he was holding… Was it really this person in front of him? He could barely believe someone like him would want anything to do with Pokemon breeding.
As if to prove his point, Sid raised his lit cigarette, holding it as if it were a magic wand, and smiled.
"I guess you can keep that trash, boy scout. I already have the one I needed."
He lowered the burning tip of the cigarette, pressing it against the paper with his previous name written on it. A wave of panic hit Siegfried as he took a sudden step back, hugging the egg protectively.
"Don't touch it!" he yelled for the first time in a while, blue eyes glistening with fury. "Whatever is inside of this egg, I will take care of it! And I will prove to you that it's not trash!"
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Invisible wisps of rage traveled through Silver's veins as he saw Dexter lower his weapon and turn away. He stood stunned for a few moments, unable to believe what he was seeing.
"Thank goodness…" Molly said next to him, letting out a sigh of relief.
He clenched his teeth, fingertips turning white from the strength he was grabbing his weapon with. The disappointment was clear on his opponent's face too. His eyes studied the cracks and crevices of his scars, following the way his nose crinkled and his eyebrows became one in irritation. They both felt the same way.
He would not let such a good opportunity slip by, not after everything having gone so well for him today.
"Hey Flaco!" he yelled. Dexter stopped, slowly turning his head to him. "What's wrong, your mommy Nancy doesn't let you defend yourself?"
The man's lips curled into a wicked grin of sharp teeth.
"I knew you weren't going to disappoint me!"
Spinning on the ball of his feet, he made an arc with his weapon, its wide blade lifting the grass into the air as it cut it effortlessly. Silver grinned and raised his weapon as well, their eyes meeting once more.
"Sir, please don't!" Molly complained, eyes wide in terror. "You can't, he'll kill you!"
A few feet from them the tall, muscular guy turned to look at them. Silver heard his sigh even from where he was.
"Dexter, try to contain yourself," he complained, his tone strangely soft.
"Oh come on Mike, this one's asking for it!"
"I sure am! I said I wanted you here and now, and I always keep my promises!"
No sooner did those words left his mouth than he leapt forward, the wet grass rustling under him. Dexter waited for him, feet firmly planted and scythe wound back.
Silver smiled. What better way to cap off such a day than with a battle to the death?