Pokémon: A Perfect World (Rexcalibur & BKenScout)

[Rexcalibur]

​

"A subject?" Exandra chuckled at Zeke's curiosity. She waved it off before returning her eyes to the Oddish hybrid. "Oh, come now, you fool. Just because I'm a scientist does not mean I lack my own Pokemon... companions. You've met"--she sneezed--"Sniu and Snippet already. Mandy enjoys it here pleeenty more than she does the ocean, no? Mandy?" (Snippet being the Lampent downstairs - not that the boys had any idea, though Annabelle did.)

The Carvanha's mouth popped open in response, revealing double rows of dagger-sharp teeth. Ignoring the gleam in her fangs, one could interpret that face as a smile. Exandra too gave a soft smile to herself, not that the other three trainers saw her. Her voice calmed down for only this moment. "She was... my first. Anyway!" Her voice snapped back to its normal jumpy pitch, and immediately they were back to business about the attack on Silverton.

Exandra nodded with every detail Zeke could indulge on, also taking into consideration Annabelle's input. Being the Professor, Exandra herself was not keen so much on battle strategy as much as she was on battle habits, biological response, and improvement rates. She never needed to rely on other trainers - much less children - to carry out continental quests to examine these things. Annabelle was plenty help already.

Once Zeke concluded his explanation, Exandra's smile had reached its widest point. When she turned to face them, Farid jolted from fright. "You have my gratitude. This knowledge you have provided me from what you've witnessed will assist me in my... examination." Exandra sniveled and wrinkled her nose. Her shaky hands gave life to every word with exaggeration. "This is... a brand new phenomenon. New! One completely unheard of here in Ellenses! At least, not since Unova's Kyurem Crisis or whatever you fools call it nowadays."

She pushed her glasses up her nose. "Now, I work best without much interference. Especially none from... her." She stole a glance to Annabelle with a sly smile; it was truly in jest. "So you must understand... Do please make your way back out the doors, hmm? Sniu can guide you if you're too imbecilic to find it on your own." She lifted her finger. "It's happened before, you know. Annabelle remembers him quite clearly."

With a nod, she turned back around and leaned forward to closely examine the Oddish hybrid once again.
​

Farid wasn't quite ready to go, however. "Wait... wait no," he scratched his mohawk in confusion (he typically removed his hood indoors). "That's it? That's all you can tell us...?"

Exandra didn't even look back to them, but they could almost hear her roll her eyes. "Well, yes, what else did you expect? I assume you know that these creatures were experimental - that is, hybridized by someone rather than by natural forces."

"Well, yeah, but..."

"But what?" The Professor glanced over her shoulder to the trio behind her. She twitched her nose again. "This specimen, it has no... date stamp. No signature, no fingerprints - other than your own. Nothing of telling detail to point in whatever direction you were hoping to find here. At least no direction that I'm aware of. Tell me," she pressed her glasses back up her nose again as she returned her attention to the Oddish. "Is there anything else I could answer for you?"
​

Meanwhile as Xavier dashed about, Coco hopped out from Farid's backpack and followed him around. She mimicked his odd posture as he ran, including arching her back whenever he did. Mighty, who followed everyone up the stairs as well, merely watched with curious eyes and a twitchy nose.​

 

[BKenScout]

​

Zeke ran a hand through his hair a bit awkward as Exandra babbled on, his hands resting idly in his pockets. She was absolutely bizarre, but at least she seemed to be good at what she did. She was too quirky to be a terrible person, he figured. With Zeke, everybody was innocent until proven guilty, even if he felt they weren't the most trustworthy of people, they all got a chance. One chance. He wondered if Exandra even knew how insulting she was when she spoke to people that way, though he was sure that she didn't and that she was simply either an undiagnosed narcissist or she was being truthful and everybody seemed like an 'imbecile' to her. In perfect honesty, Zeke couldn't care less, everybody had their good and bad qualities, wouldn't be fair to fault her for hers when it wasn't directly causing massive harm to anybody. If somebody had a problem with her, they'd just as easily be able to walk away and never see her again.

As they were getting ready to leave, Farid seemed a bit cross and finally voiced his thoughts to Exandra. Zeke just shrugged, he had assumed she told them all she could, or would, before Farid asked his own questions. On the other hand, it was indeed rather disappointing, as he wasn't quite sure where to start their search anyway... As Farid was chastised by the professor for his 'idiocy,' Zeke knelt down just before Xavier ran by him and caught the Riolu pup with a smirk. The small Pokemon wriggled about, trying to get free and continue running.

"Ah, no, we're leaving, Xav. C'mon, before you break something and I have to feed you to Mandy," He warned playfully, turning the Riolu to see the Carvanha in the water tank. The small Pokemon yelped and turned away, shaking its head enthusiastically. "Running is for outside," He instructed, shouldering his bags with one arm while he held the Riolu in the other. Coco, on the other hand, would be Farid's job.
​

​

"UGH!" Annabelle scoffed, crossing her arms in agitation, muttering, "You know over a table of beakers one time and now everybody thinks you need to be escorted out of the building whenever you come in... Geeze... It wasn't even my fault, you guys were blowing things up and nobody told me that it was gonna happen, so of course I stumbled... Not even my fault, really..." She looked away in mock-pouting, "She's just mad cause I'm the prettier sister and she's cooped up in this stuffy tower all the time," She told Farid, nudging his shoulder with her elbow. "It's ridiculous how jealous she gets. C'mon, we're not getting any answers here, I'm sure there's somewhere else with more information," She suggested with a smile, "No, Exandra, we don't need Sniu showing us out," She teased in a sing-song voice.

Once everybody was outside again, she bit the inside of her cheek pensively, thinking about their next course of action.

Zeke looked to them, raising an eyebrow, "I've not been here long, guys, so... Uh... I dunno, there's gotta be some kind of lead to follow-up - something people always turn to first when something bad happens. Organized crime's a big problem over in Hoenn... God, we've got two... mafias, I guess you could call them. They're pretty childish, but they're also pretty screwed up in the noggin, and they've got ways around the law most of the time, so only their grunts ever get arrested or have to escape. The damned leaders pretend like they run a legitimate organization and just launder money, but the cops haven't been able to catch them on anything. They're pretty good at what they do. You guys don't have something like that?" He asked, rocking on his heels after placing Xavier on the ground again.

Annabelle looked to Farid, hesitating as she thought about how best to answer the question.​

 

[Rexcalibur]

Exandra chuckled as Annabelle fondly went over the incident she had referred to. Every time she had mentioned it, her sister threw a fit like this. It was amusing to say the least. Without even turning to see them out, Exandra waved off the trio as they departed down the stairs and soon out of the building.

Coco was the last to depart though, as she was caught staring eye-to-eye with Mandy; Farid had to swoop her up to knock her out of whatever trance she was in and catch up with Zeke and Annabelle. As they exited, Farid plopped Coco onto the ground and put his hood back on.

He raised a brow to Zeke's explanation of problems back in Hoenn. "Organized crime, huh?" He crossed his arm. "Yeah, Teams Rocket and Plasma get a lot of chatter here, but I don't know of any other ones. Come to think of it," he slowly turned to Annabelle with a quizzical look, "I don't think we've really ever had one here. Right?"

At a loss for words, he looked to Mighty for a second. The canine had situated himself between Annabelle's foxes; already they seemed to be pretty acquainted. "We tend to be pretty uptight on security, at least on this side of the continent. Heath - the water gym leader - and all the leaders like him usually keep watch over the towns themselves. I mean yeah, there's robberies here and there, or some fights that need to be broken up..." His eyes dropped to the ground next as he furrowed his brows.

"Well, we did have one recent "organized" problem, if you can call it that. Dunno if you remember, Annabelle, but it was all over the news when it happened. Maybe two years ago?" Farid gestured for the two to follow him as they stepped down and away from the lab and towards the city's center, as denoted by a golden fountain - featuring nothing less than a bunch of solid shiny Magikarp, of course. "A bunch of rogue scientists were caught trying to steal from Moonstone City's library. I heard the Professor herself had to chase a couple of 'em out from her own lab.

"But these guys were all apprehended and arrested pretty quickly. They were total amateurs, but there was just so many of them at once. Yet they didn't even have a fancy team name." Farid twitched his lips. "We never found out what they were after, though. Haven't heard of 'em since they were caught.

"It's not surprising if you think about it. Ellenses is kinda overflowing with scientist-wannabes. You always have so-called intellectual elites doing crazy stuff just to compete with one another for the headlines. We don't really have anything "special" about this region, so to speak, so..." He ran his hand through his hair for a second. "It's probably connected. Just dunno where to start."

 

[BKenScout]

​

"Ebony, Ivory, use Psychic!" The pair of evolved Eevees let out a cry in unison as their eyes flashed a brilliant pink and several men carrying sacks of books were frozen dead in their tracks. Slowly, they rose from the ground and were forcibly turned about to face the group of trainers - some in officer uniforms, others paired with rather weak Pokemon, but all of them trying to stop the thieves from running off with the books. Some were research notes, others were simple textbooks, it didn't matter because none of it was theirs. "Ariana, Constrict," She instructed placidly as a massive snake-like Pokemon emerged from an alley behind the thieves and wrapped around them, blocking their escape once they were released from the Psychic attack.

"Are there any more, Lieutenant?" She asked, turning on her heel to a man of about thirty. He was clean-shaven and one of the highest ranking police in Moonstone City.

"I believe the Professor reported having to run some out of her lab, but I don't think they managed to hold onto any of her research... She's a firecracker. The other teams reported catching some of the stragglers and runners, but this is the bulk of 'em. We don't know how many exactly there were, though. No positive ID."

A few cries of pain came from the scientists being constricted, "Hey, let us go, you caught us, geeze!"

Annabelle looked to them, "That research isn't yours. What were you going to do with it?" She snarled, starting after them. However, a hand was placed on her shoulder and she cocked her head to see the Lieutenant behind her, holding her back.

"Don't cross your boundary. Let us handle it from here," He ordered her. The girl snorted in agitation, wanting to protest, but instead she simply withdrew her Milotic and walked away without another word. She wanted to know what they were planning - but nobody was going to tell her anyway. She loved her home region, it was peaceful and safe. Cretins like this threatened the sanctity of Ellenses and she wouldn't stand for it.

Back then, she wore a high-collared, stiff cloak of navy blue and a black sundress, detailed and highlighted in pink. The belt around her waist held the Pokeballs of her team, but two of them were nearly always empty. As she walked past the thieves, she grabbed one by the shirt and met his gaze with more than a little bit of electricity, "If you or any of yor buddies here do anything... anything at all - on Lugia I swear that I'll stop you. You got that?" The man simply nodded in terror as she threw him back to the ground and continued on her way.

"What's her problem?" One of the officers asked, turning to the lieutenant with a bit of agitation, "Like we can't handle it on our own? We could've had those guys. There's plenty of us."

"Do you expect anything from a dual-Champion? She has so little competition here in Ellenses that she moved to Johto and only came back stronger. Just because she doesn't head the League doesn't mean she doesn't deserve respect for being a Master," The senior chastised, shaking his head, "Even if she's a bit controlling at times."

"Master..? She's only... what? Nineteen? Tops. There's no way she's that Annabelle..."

The lieutenant rolled his eyes, "Whatever. Believe it or not - just watch yourself, okay?"
​

--- Present ---​

Annabelle stretched as they left the lab and smiled as the sun bathed her skin in light. However, beneath that smile was a fair amount of disturbance and tension. Anybody would have been rightly shaken by the gene splicing - what terrified her was who it may have come from. No, she wasn't leaving this investigation behind and she damn well wasn't getting the police involved herself. It was better not to seem too involved yet, either, just in case it led to a dead end or could be written off as a shameful mishap in a random laboratory somewhere.

"Yeah... I guess I kinda remember hearing about it. Nobody ever found out what they were up to or why." She pointed out, "I would say let's start with the guys who were apprehended. Oh yeah, forgot to mention, you're stuck with me now," She teased, poking Farid. "So, starting with the ones who took the books quite a while ago, we could figure out where to go from there. Assuming, of course, that they have any connection to what's going on now... The police never released what exactly they took, so we don't have any idea what they were up to. Honestly, they don't likely have anything to do with it, but then I'm sure that the police would completely forget the lead because it was so long ago... Since we don't have any other routes, I'd say that's a good starting point, yeah?"
​

​

Zeke watched the other two speak back and forth - none of their stories were ones that he remembered or witnessed, so he kind of remained out of it, however, after Annabelle proposed they go talk to the ones involved in the long-forgotten robbery, he nodded. "That sounds like a plan to me, but I really don't know enough about this region to weigh in beyond that. They don't sound like dangerous guys - maybe what we saw was some kind of accident by some scientists who made a huge mistake and didn't want to fess up to it?"​

 

[Rexcalibur]

​

With a grunt, Farid ran his hair through his mohawk again before decided to plop back on his hood. Coco brushed up against his leg in response; it was typical of him to play with his hair like that when flustered or upset. He looked to Annabelle as she replied, then frowned worriedly at Zeke. The former implied that there may be a connection, while the latter implied otherwise. Both were possible, absolutely. The question in all their minds was where they should start investigating.

The city was much more peaceful and beautiful without the lunch-goers bustling about. They continued passed the fountain towards the opposite end of the city, their footsteps clicking along the bristling pavement. Daffodils swayed in smooth, flowing movements beside them as they carried on. Could it really be that the news hadn't spread too far yet? Or was the panic contained?

"Maybe they're connected, maybe they're not." Farid thinned his lips in frustration, but otherwise kept a straight face. "These kinda crooks are nothing new... but that"--obviously referring to Silverton City's incident--"was something else...

"So the Iron Head's just up north, and MSC's just after it," he motioned straight ahead of them. MSC was the common acronym for Moonstone City. "So we could check out the first to see what's up there, before continuing to the second? Maybe? Or uh, we can detour straight to MSC via Iron Forest. That'll take us there quicker." He smiled wryly. "There's uh, there's bears though, so you have to promise to keep 'em away."

In between Vault City and Moonstone City was the Iron Head, a town where Ellenses held its incarceration and rehabilitation systems; the forest connects to all three. Those scientist deviants were jailed there, but not longer than a few months. The region was more organized than others in this fashion and aimed to keep crime and comebacks to a minimum - which explained why Ellenses lacked organized "Teams" that other regions had. Whether or not Zeke was aware, it was a town Farid, Annabelle, and most other Ellenses natives knew or at least heard about, though the former had never been there.

"Do you two think that... this might be an isolated thing? The attack, I mean." He fumbled with the strings of his hoodie, since his hood shielded his hair. "I'd be pretty panicked if I heard about it. I'm kind of more traumatised if anything now, though." He smiled to himself, keeping his eyes on the ground. "I just... why would anyone want to do this kind of thing?"
​

As they continued walking along, Coco shifted to Annabelle and began sniffing at her calves, alternating between them with every step. Mighty meanwhile coolly walked beside her foxes, quiet but curious about them. He recognized that they were battle savvy, based on their scent and a couple of well-hidden scars.​

 

[BKenScout]

Zeke shrugged passively, "Who knows? Isolated or not, this is... unforgivable." The boy shook his head, "Hey! Get back over here," He ordered as he noticed Xavier starting to move ahead of them. As the other two began to talk, Zeke felt a bit backgrounded. He didn't know anything about the places they were discussing. Annabelle laughed when she noticed the perplexed look on his face and explained the two cities and their connection through the Iron Forest.

"If we go to Moonstone City, we could ask some of the people who were there when it happened and find out what they might know. Might not even need to go to the Iron Head at that point," She stated, biting her lip in thought. I can only hope the people there forgot about me... She hadn't fought a battle in at least a year and a half. 'The Prodigal Champion,' she was referred to... But most people had moved on since then. She didn't do anything, so people simply forgot, or stopped thinking about her. It was a simpler life and she appreciated having it to herself. The name 'Annabelle' was common enough and plenty of young girls had imitated her appearance as the fad swept Ellenses. She was gone as quickly as she had come. It could still come with some complications, however, were she to start walking around there. Certainly any member of her team would be recognized in Moonstone City... If by nobody else, the Lieutenant would surely recognize her in the flesh.

The girl let out an audible sigh of agitation, "Ugh, no..." She muttered, as though she'd forgotten something. "You guys go ahead to Moonstone... I have to grab some things - how about I meet you guys there? It might be a couple of days though... As much as I'd absolutely love to, I can't just up and leave. Just realized I'll have to find somebody to watch my place... My sister isn't exactly 'all there' and she'll probably do something foolish like leave the door unlocked... Plus, there's packing and everything and I just can't up and leave. I'll see you guys in Moonstone, okay?" She suggested, already walking backward away with a big smile on her face.

Zeke furrowed his brow as she spoke, "Makes sense..." He agreed quietly as she suddenly launched into an excuse to break off. "Wh- Er, yeah, okay?" It made sense. That scientist chick in the lab was really flighty, or she just operated a level that was so unconcerned with the things physically surrounding her that it made complete sense. Annabelle didn't seem to be entirely screwed on straight either, if he was being honest, so her sudden realization was less than shocking. Not to mention, if she was going to meet them there eventually anyway, he didn't see any problem with it.

"What do you think, Farid? I don't see why not. Free country and all that, we might as well wait," He suggested.

The two fox-like Pokemon eyed Mighty with a bit of scrutiny, sizing him up as he did the same to them.

 

[Rexcalibur]

"Good point, good point," Farid nodded in response to Annabelle - before she decided to suddenly leave. "Wait, wait what? You're leaving already?" He thinned his lips, but didn't press for her to join them any further. He let out a sigh once she was gone. Unlike Farid, her hometown (he assumed she lived here as such, anyway) wasn't destroyed the way Silverton City was; she still had a home to protect and quite possibly other errands to run. Still, if only they kept that extra help... "I just hope a couple of days isn't too long."

Again he nodded to Zeke's suggestion as well. "Yeah, might as well. Let's take Annabelle's suggestion. Maybe we won't have to surround ourselves with crooks if we can get what we need from Moonstone... eheheh." He scratched the back of his head nervously, before looking up ahead.

The Iron Forest's entrance was just in view. Like Route 17 and all other routes connecting to Vault City, it was beautiful and lush. It lacked any pavements or pathways for the trainers to walk through, instead being all grass and greens of dark emerald hues - the tree trunks themselves were even wrapped up in their own vines, giving off more green as well. Truly the "Iron Forest" was a misnomer in this sense. Still, it was a relatively linear, save for a few left-right-left maze turns. This forest was less concentrated in bugs and more so with peace-loving deer - Sawsbucks, Stantlers - among other mammals.

Farid shuddered, then patted Zeke's shoulder. A solid reminder. "Remember. Bears. You just let me know if you find any..."

​

Mighty cocked his head in confusion as the two foxes took off with their leader. He was getting eager to fight alongside them - there were fights coming up soon, right? - but now they were gone too. Shrugging off his disappointment, he listened to Farid's plan of action and began making his way towards the Iron Forest. Farid jumped in shock and raced after his canine. No, no no, wait, he wasn't even ready!

Coco let out a playful yap and nudged Xavier on his back. Once she had his attention, she wagged her butt in the air and buzzed off into the forest, hoping the Riolu would chase after her. Nothing like a game of tag to get their trainers moving!​

 

[BKenScout]

Zeke nodded and gave his relatively new traveling partner a thumbs-up with his right hand. "Yeah, bears," He repeated, grinning as he pulled out a Pokeball and released his Flygon. "Stretch your wings out, Java, sorry for keeping you locked up so long," The boy instructed, much to the Pokemon's delight. She launched herself from the ground and into the sky, corkscrewing upward. Zeke looked back to Farid, "That was a nice place, if it a bit... quirky," He pointed out, "But Moonstone City sounds pretty cool. Libraries are... uh... interesting?" He said, shrugging, "I honestly wouldn't know - never seemed like such a... pivotal stop when I'm visiting a town."

The foxes were long-since gone now, having run off with their trainer with the spry energy of a pair of Eevee. As Mighty started for the Iron Forest, Zeke laughed, watching Farid gather his wits and chase after the canine. "Careful, Farid! Bears, remember?" He teased the other boy, glancing to the skies as Java's reds and greens floated every which way. He grinned, wondering what exactly it felt like to give off the illusion of weightlessness...

He was snapped back to his senses as Xavier yipped and ran off after the small Poochyena. Zeke copied Farid and sputtered out a hasty "H-hey! Wait!" Before running after the pair with his hoodied companion. "What are we gonna do with these things?" he asked jokingly, giving a loud whistle, "Xav, heel!" The Pokemon froze and looked pleadingly back to his trainer for a moment. Zeke sighed, "Fine, but you stay close, got it?"

The small blue Riolu nodded excitedly and began to race after Coco once more, making sure they didn't travel more than a few feet away from their trainer's general walking area. They flitted past, between, and over the two boys' feet and where they found all of this energy after such a long day was beyond him.

It didn't take more than a few minutes for Zeke to sigh and stretch out his arms, "Ugh... How far did you say this was? SO MUCH WALKING, FARID!!" He complained, "Can't we stop and like... I dunno, chill by the ocean? I swear we were by an ocean just earlier today, what gives?"

 

[Rexcalibur]

Though Farid gave chase after his runaway canine, he froze up almost instantaneously from Zeke's reminder. "Gah! So soon!?" Was this going to be blackmail material already? Perhaps telling his comrade about it was a bad idea. Nonetheless, both he and Mighty slowed down for Zeke to catch up, though Coco and Xavier blurred right passed the three.

Initially Farid was worried the children would run off too far for them to keep up, and potentially stir up some trouble, but they slowed down enough. Coco was too enthused with their game of tag to allow Xavier to get away, and every time she caught up she tackled him. On her turns to dash, she had a bad case of the Taunts - which worked against her.

All the noise scared off any bystander wild Pokemon, as most of them were deer or otherwise non-predatory. Those that thought they could take on two babies were instantly scared off by Mighty and Java closing in.

Farid chuckled sheepishly as he watched Coco tease Xavier and subsequently get herself tackled. "You know, the more I think about it, the more I realize she must have learned that from my girl... definitely not me. Hah!"

Soon enough Zeke began to complain about the walking, and Farid himself felt a bit like teasing back at him. "Come onnn, that's it? We're not gonna defeat any bad guys if your weakness is walking. Haha... ... I'm just messing, don't kill me." He dug his hands into his hoodie pocket. He'd mention before offhandedly that both he and Mighty were hardcore hikers - it was the perfect exercise routine for the trainer, and a perfect training route for the latter. Farid felt like he could go all day.

"There's a creek coming up if you want to rest," the hooded young man shrugged. "I mean it's no ocean, but... hey, if you wanted to stay a while longer in Silverton, you should've said so!"

Mighty meanwhile was taking his time on the walk, trotting along their grassy trails and poking his head into tree trunk holes and tall grassy corners here and there. He growled at anything making eye-contact with him, but with every flee he felt rather disappointed.

He took note of the creek coming up and made another mad dash after it. Farid nearly cried out after the Mightyena again, until the canine dove into the water. It was shallow, and Mighty shook off the water once the splash dissipated.

"Guess he's still a baby in some ways... oh!" Farid turned to Zeke. "Maybe you can let out your Croconaw too! I dunno, maybe some relaxation will do our boys some good before we get ourselves into any real fights. Haha... hah." He chuckled sheepishly. "I don't think Mighty left a good impression when they met too, really..."

Suddenly there was a yelp. Farid jumped out of shock and swiveled around to see where Coco was - growling at a Magikarp that Mighty had chucked out of the creek at her.

 

[BKenScout]

Zeke shrugged, "Hey, in fairness, we've been on our feet all freakin' day. Save for lunch - you've had to go chasing your Pokemon down a hundred times, maybe some rest is well deserved." He argued practically, "It isn't like we just set off or anything, we've been up and at 'em for hours. Staying in Silverton wasn't really an option if I was looking for a rest, was it?" A creek did sound like a wonderful place to chill out for a bit, though, and he pulled his final ball from his hip, releasing Fang as they came closer to the small water source.

Just as Mighty shook off, the crocodile-Pokémon burst forth in a flash of light, landing directly in the shallow river, causing his own splash. Zeke, meanwhile, shed his outer most layer and stuffed it into his bag, dropping both packs beside a tree and falling on his ass without hesitation, resting his head on them as he crossed his legs and sprawled out. "Ahh... Now that's nice," He chimed, listening to the yips of two small Pokémon as they ran circles about each other.
​

The moment that Fang was in the water, he threw himself into it. The water was not deep, but he could still fully submerge himself and both swim up and back down current, finally jumping up onto two feet with a wide grin. Zeke waved, "Sorry you didn't get to see the ocean, buddy, there wasn't any time while we were back in Silverton." The croc didn't seem to much mind, however, as he proceeded to occupy himself quite fervently with the water.
​

​

The small source of water kicked up quite a shocking amount of liquid as Java swooped down over it and let the beat of her wings cause a splash for herself. She finally pulled back, landing gracefully before resting on the ground with a soft coo. Obviously she saw nothing in the air to raise alarm for now.

Meanwhile, Xavier managed to keep up with the rambunctious Poochyena, tackling and taunting back just as much, emitting high-pitched growls whenever he was tagged.

Zeke peeked through an eye, "So, Farid, you mentioned a girlfriend earlier... Where's she from? I'd think that she'd either be in Silverton with you or on this trip with us. What gives? You even talk to her since everything happened?"​

 

[Rexcalibur]

Farid's stomach grumbled at 'lunch' - Zeke apparently grabbed some with Annabelle while Farid was out, so the scarfed boy pointing it out made Farid realize his own hunger was getting worse. "Okay, first thing we do at Moonstone City and drop by the mart and grab some sandwiches." He grinned cheekily. "Arceus knows I can't afford anything else..." Then he hung his head in despair, a sudden realization dawning on him. "Oh man... I hope I'm not billed for damages..." After all, even once all this hybridization nonsense is handled, it's right back to the real world. That was one form of optimism, if anything.

He followed after Zeke as well, dropping off his bags and taking a seat, though he opted to rest his back against a tree trunk instead. He laughed after Fang was apologized too. "No need to be sorry. There'll be plenty of time to chill out by the ocean once we're through with this."

As they watched their own Pokemon take a breather, Zeke turned the topic of discussion back on Farid again. His face reddened at the very thought. "Oh, m-my girl? Hah, hahaha. Well, we live together in Silverton, in our apartment which... she'll probably kill me when she finds out." He pouted for a moment, a sort of what-did-I-do-to-deserve-this expression, before laughing it off. "Kotone's wonderful, though. A really adventurous gal. She's got enough courage for the both of us." He scratched the back of his head sheepishly as he talked about her, the red on his face not getting any dimmer.

"It's her sister's birthday this week. Her fam has this thing where they go off-radar a few times a year. Might sound kinda weird but lots of people do it. Camping and hiking and all that." Farid brought a finger to his chin, momentarily in thought. "You said you're from Hoenn, right? So you know how bad the signals can get on those mountains." He shuddered. "I'd've gone with them, but caves give me the creeps."

He plucked his phone from his pocket, staring at the flat touch-screen surface as it lit up. No missed calls. A sigh. "Can't believe the timing of all this. Hey, what about you? You got anybody special~?"

​

While the two boys chatted away, Mighty resumed bathing himself in the creek. To pay Fang back for splashing on him earlier, he made sure to shake out his fur once the Croconaw resurfaced. It was all in good taste, as the two splashed one another here and there in between doing their own thing.

Suddenly Mighty stood to attention, a gleam in his eyes. Some kind of call echoed lightly further down the creak. Rather than rush to it, the Mightyena stood his ground and listened as it grew louder. When the call vanished, a Seaking sprang from the water and soared right at him.

Mighty's teeth hissed with yellow sparks, and he ducked below the flying fish before leaping back up and sinking his teeth into the pray. The Seaking let out another loose cry as Mighty thrust it back into the water. He barked at Fang for his attention, then lifted the fish back up and headbutted it his way. Mighty treated this like a good game of volleyball, though the Seaking was still alive and kicking, doing its best to prepare for a Horn Attack in midair.
​

​

Meanwhile Coco resumed growling and barking at the floppy Magikarp. With every step she took closer to it, each bark caused her to move back.​

 

[BKenScout]

"You won't be if you've got insurance... If not, well then... You're kinda screwed," Zeke said with a small laugh, taking a deep breath of the air back into his lungs. It was so fresh... "I'm sure she'll be okay. It's not like you destroyed it or anything. Looked like a real populated city and the region's so nice I don't doubt there will be plenty of volunteers on clean-up." The trainer pulled himself up and scooted back against the tree, letting out a small sigh as his feet finally rested. "Yeah, Hoenn. The lack of signal in the mountains isn't really a bother. I mean, it's obviously pretty significant, but I love it. Walking and hiking in the snow up there is just... invigorating. Really wakes ya up now and then." Zeke grinned, "Caves bother you? Well I can see why... Bears like to sleep in them, after all," He teased, "But still, that's cool. It's good to kinda just... walk away from it all now and then, so good for them."

"It's nice you've got a backbone somewhere at least. Even if it's not exactly here - I'm glad to know that it exists somewhere," He pointed out, beaming devilishly at the other boy. "Nah, nobody special. I uh... Had somebody for a while, back in Hoenn, we traveled around a lot. But she didn't want to leave the region - not that she wasn't adventurous, she just didn't wanna be that far from home. She also wanted to take the gym challenge at some point and that's just not what I'm about. I'm not much of a formal battle junkie. These guys are my partners, my family, I wouldn't turn them into MMA fighters. We're a team, not warriors," He said with a shrug. "My someone special is that little guy right there, right now," He shared, pointing to the Riolu. "He's only a few weeks old, but I'm glad you've got Coco... He seems to be learning a lot today, having another Pokémon near his age. He hasn't had much time to be social in the past few weeks, what with having just got to Ellenses and everything... Anyway, when we get to Moonstone, I can treat us to lunch. That Annabelle girl wound up paying for mine earlier, so I got some extra cash. We'll need somewhere to sleep, though. Do you... know anybody in the city? Or are we gonna have to find a place and pay for it?"

​

​

Fang watched as Mighty took a bite out of a Seaking and threw it into the air with a headbutt. He cried out in excitement, inhaling deeply before blasting the prey, who was readying a counterattack, with a powerful Water Gun. It threw the creature off balance and gave the Croconaw enough time to leap after it and deliver an aggressive Crunch, his jaw locking as the small reptile held on for dear life with his powerful jaw. He twisted the mighty Seaking to show the canine down the creek his target, holding it in place. It was Mighty's turn as the fish flailed about, trying to Thrash Fang.

From the sidelines, Java watched the reptile and his newest canine friend playing with what she assumed was their food. She let out a sigh and shook her head, laying down and deciding that they didn't need her help for now.

Xavier watched the small pooch yip at the Seaking, bouncing about as it cried out. He tilted his head and began to mimic it, imitating the barks and bouncing back with each one quite comically as he rested on all four legs.​

 

[Rexcalibur]

Groaning, Farid planted his palms against his face at the mention of bears again. So many times and it was only day one with this guy! Ah, well, hopefully all this talk meant his Pokes would take care of them if any bears ever crossed their path... if being never, preferably. Though the teasing tides turned when Zeke mentioned paying for lunch - particularly, Annabelle paying for lunch. "Wha, got Annabelle paying for your lunch already?? Haha, I bet she thinks you're cute." Farid nudged him playfully with his elbow. "Eh? Eh?"

Zeke changed the subject, and Farid snickered to himself. "Uhh... man, now that I think about it, I'm not sure," he said in response to Zeke's questions. "I studied at MSC for a while when I was younger, but I don't think anyone I knew from then is still living there." He stared at the ground blankly for a moment, before holding his palms up defensively and shaking them. "Oh-- oh, no, I don't mean that like I'm a scholar or something. I just, uh... the gym leader over there, Ivy, she's really knowledgeable about wildlife and stuff, you know? She held a few camping sessions in the past. Mighty and I learned a lot from them."

Farid scratched his head. "Maybe she knows somewhere or a cheap place to crash...? I mean, I don't know about asking her, since she's so... high up there, you know? Plus I don't think my girlfriend would appreciate..."

He flinched, startled by the splashing over by the river. "Speaking of lunch..."

Mighty watched Fang make his moves with what looked like a satisfied grin. He was impressed with how many moves Fang pulled out on the single Seaking in a manner of seconds. He could feel Java's judgmental stare from afar but didn't allow it to bother him. Instead of neared over to his friend and their prey.

Once the Seaking tired out from its thrashing, before it could make another move, Mighty's fangs lit up with sparks again. He then sank his teeth into the fish again until it squirmed about no more. Based on all their interactions with the Mightyena thus far, it was clear his favorite moves were those involving his fangs - and especially considering how beautiful yet sharp they were, he had every reason to abuse them in battle.

Farid nearly gagged at this and turned away, facing Zeke and covering his view of the creek as well. "Ahaha, s, speaking of lunch!" Eughh, it was too brutal to watch. Yes, they had to eat somehow, but in a place as calm as this... "Maybe, uh, maybe we should get a move on now. Yeaaah. Let's do that."

He offered a hand to Zeke and took his sweetass time before looking back to the boys in the water. The Seaking was gone. Okay. Well, at least they washed their faces off before returning to land...

---

The boys and their Pokemon continued their trek through the Iron Forest. Despite having a heavy name, it was surprisingly calm. At least for a while. Wildlife popped their noses between the trees and from the bushes here and there, but stares from a fully grown Mightyena and Flygon scared them back into place.

Well, most of them.

Mighty, who led their team, froze stiff at some point, ears and nose twitching though otherwise perfectly still. Farid stepped forward, furrowing his brows. "Eh? What's up, boy?"

Suddenly the Mightyena snarled and pounced - onto Xavier, knocking the Riolu to the ground. A loud Screech boomed right over the duo's head, missing their ears just barely. Coco yipped in fear and cowered behind Farid as loud buzzing noises suddenly emerged from hiding. "Arceus," Farid cursed, tightening his fists. "We don't have time for this!"

A rowdy horde of Ninjasks, whose territory had been crossed.