ITT: We are all Pokémon Trainers

Dress Shop

-Kieran smiles at Fortis and Noelle, then notices Joseph coming out.-

Kieran: ...

-On one hand, he doesn't look deathly pale anymore. On the other, he's blushing a ton.-

Kieran: ...Wow, uh, you, um, look really cute in that!

Dress Store

-Joseph's blushing quite a bit, as well-

Joseph: B-b-but you look so good! You look so natural in it...!

-he sounds astonished and a bit embarrassed in his own self-

Dress Store

Noelle: Aww, that's kind of cute.

Dress Shop

Kieran: T-thanks, I, um...

-He quickly shuts himself back in the dressing room, blushing brightly-

Palace of Shadow

Nico: What the heck are you doing here?

Polly: Isn't it obvious, kid? I gave you advice on your whole hero thing, and you went ahead and took it - and damn if you didn't take it to heart! The Shadow King's nuked, the X-Nauts are on your side, and your resolve and bonds with your friends are stronger than ever. I'd call that some damn good progress on that big dream of yours.

Nico: -smiles- Heh... Thanks.

-Frowns-

Though now that I think about it... I know I want to lead the X-Nauts to a new goal, but I'm still not sure what... And I'm not sure how I'll do it while I'm still crippled... And I'm not fully sure how I'll handle this with the rest of the J-Team, especially with Team Umbra and Maggie...

Polly: Geez, kid, you should remember your own words.

Nico: What do you mea-

Polly's Dunsparce: <Hint, it starts with b and ends with rave party.>

Polly: Shush, he needs to figure it out for himself.

Nico: ...

-smirks-

I get what you mean, don't worry.

Polly: -smirks back- Perfect. And if you need any help remember that old leader of theirs is now yours to boss around.

Nico: -winks- Noted.

Polly: -chuckles- On the note of him... I learned much of the Alakagross in my time with Chrome... And apparently there was some smelly old prophecy saying Grodus was the one who was supposed to do the Shadow King in for good.

Nico: -blinks- ...Wait, what?!

Polly: The prophecy said "The Metagross with a powerful staff shall gather the Stars to enter the once-great city to deal with our civilization's nemesis once and for all". But the douche got wind of it and assumed "nemesis" meant humans, which led to him doing all the awful stuff he did... Which in turn led to your and your girlfriend teaming up and doing the job he was supposed to do.

Nico: ...How... How's that even possible?

Polly: I've gotten a bit of wind of stuff your video game-y friend's been up to recently... Caused quite a ruckus, you'll need to ask him the details later. But he mentioned several times during it all that destiny's for chumps, and you and him both proved that damn well right!

-She smiles-

Nico. You always had the potential to be a hero. All you had to do was find out to use it.

Nico: -smiles back- And now that I have, I'm all too happy I finally did.

-Polly extends her Aura Guardian staff-

-Nico extends his own staff, and the two clang together before their owners pull them back-

Polly: Now I gotta go... But I may very well see you again. For now, though, there's another descendant of mine on the J-Team I need to meet up with...

Nico: ...Who?

Polly's Dunsparce: <Spoiiiiiiiiiiilers~>

Nico: ...Not very helpf-

-but the two suddenly vanish, and time promptly unfreezes-

-In addition to the events with Maggie and her mons unfolding, everyone is celebrating in some way; mostly by dancing, especially since Arika has sent out all her mons and Samba and Jeremiah are providing music-

-Nico staggers a bit from going back to his crippled self before smiling widely at the proceedings-

-Before noticing a certain someone doesn't seem as happy as they should be-

Nico: Hey... Maggie... Are you OK?

edited 19th Dec '15 2:16:39 AM by Umbramatic

Dress Store

-Joseph looks over at Kieran, then at Noelle and Fortis-

Joseph: ...are you sure I look OK...?

Palace of Shadow

-Maggie notices Nico, but speaks while fidgeting a bit and not making eye contact-

Maggie: "Uh, well... kinda..."

Palace of Shadow

Nico: -frowns sadly- You can tell when I'm not OK... I can do the same with you. You're not fine. Why?

Palace of Shadow

Maggie: "...True."

"Well, it's about what you said about being brave was being afraid, but doing what's right anyway."

"I've just been thinking... I don't feel like I've been brave at all."

"I've been going through all this like things'll be fine in the end and I don't know if I've ever really been personally afraid."

"I mean, I've been scared something was going to happen to Squealer, but..."

"And, you talk about recklessness, but I've been reckless too."

"I got reckless with Grubba and it nearly got me and my team drained dry."

"I got reckless with Gloomtail and now one of my arms is in a sling."

"I... kinda feel like I was only able to do what I did because of my knowledge of the plot and the rules the J-Team's adventures seem to run by."

"And altogether, I don't feel very brave..."

Palace Of Shadow

Nico: ...

Maggie... Listen to yourself... You were scared for Squealer the whole time... You kept going despite everything this adventure threw at you... And kept going despite your doubts you just said... That sounds, pardon my Kalosian, pretty fucking brave to me...

To be perfectly honest... You've been braver than I've been most of this adventure... Probably all of it...

...You're just as much the hero of this story as I am...

Palace of Shadow

Maggie: "...Yeah, true..."

"Thanks, Nico."

Palace Of Shadow

Nico: You're welcome... Though... Come over here a sec? There's something I wanna do to show you how much I care...

Palace of Shadow

-Maggie smiles-

Maggie: "Sure, yeah."

-She scootches over-

Palace of Shadow

-Nico realizes she's not within arm's reach-

Nico: ...

This is gonna give me the biggest fucking migraine but what the hell.

-Telekinetically pulls Maggie within reach of his free arm...-

-Then uses said free arm to pull her in further and give her the best Big Damn Kiss he can muster-

Palace of Shadow

-Maggie is a bit surprised at the use of psychic powers for it, but, once she makes sure there isn't pressure being applied to her right arm, kisses him back-

Palace Of Shadow

-Everyone stops what they're doing to look at the kiss-

Metang!X-Naut: <...Why is Lord Tremendous Twap pressing his mouthparts against Shirley's?>

Arika: They're kissing. It's one way humans express deep affection for one another.

Metang!X-Naut: <...Is Tremendous Thwap doing it to Shirley in particular a good thing?>

Arika: -smiles- A very good thing.

Metang!X-Naut: ...

-raises a claw in the air-

<Then FUCK YEAH!>

-Everybody cheers-

edited 19th Dec '15 12:53:40 AM by Umbramatic

Palace of Shadow

Slightly: <Eeeeeeeeew!>

Jones: <...Remind me to keep you far away when the Captain and Slliuq are being lovey-dovey.>

Palace of Shadow

-Nico breaks the kiss and looks out at everyone, smiling-

-Lancelot happens to be right next to Slightly and casually Brick Breaks him to the head.-

-Meanwhile, Bozaka turns to Gorga-

Bozaka: <This is all so great, Sugar!>

Gorga: -freezes- <...Er, Bozaka, don't call me that around these guys?>

Bozaka: <...Why not? You're normally fine with it!>

Gorga: <Yes, but the company...>

Bozaka: <What's wrong with it? Everybody's celebrating!>

Gorga: -twitch- <Look, I'm not sure we should let a bunch of strangers know we're a fucking couple!>

-Record Scratch as everybody's attention turns to them at Gorga's outburst-

Bozaka: <...Oh. Probably should have been clearer.> 3:

Kaguya: -points between them- <You two are a thing just like Maggie and Nico are?>

Gorga: -suddenly very pale- <Er, yes, I suppose you could say it that way?> ._.

-There is a deep silence before...-

Same Metang!X-Naut as before: <FUCK YEAH!>

-Everyone cheers again-

Pudge: <Pudge loves his mommies!> ^_^

Bozaka: -scoops Gorga up in a hug- <See? They're happy!> :3

-Gorga looks out at everyone else... and smiles-

Gorga: <Heh... I guess they are.>

-nuzzles Bozaka affectionately back-

Well, that's it for HTYD proper on my end. Thoughts on how both Nico's character arc and the sidearc as a whole turned out? Alternatively, thoughts on those two being an item? :P

edited 19th Dec '15 1:37:33 AM by Umbramatic

Palace of Shadow

-Slightly is struck by the Brick Break to the head and knocked out-

-Again-

-Volcamel looks at Gorgazaka and smiles a bit-

Slateport, a bit later

-Maggie and her team come out from Rogueport, Jones holding the Emerald Star along with the Magical Map-

Maggie: "Well, that was certainly an interesting span of 354 days."

"Wonder what all's been going on with the rest of the team... haven't seen much of any of them except Tagg on Tanabata..."

Banquo: <Probably nothing bigger than that Meteor thing and the Gym Challenges.>

Maggie: "...Right, I was going to do one of those..."

"Ah well, it's a bit late now given it's probably only a matter of time before we head to the next region..."

Kamdida: <Erm, that said, Squealer and I should probably meet up with the other X-Nauts sooner rather than later...>

Squealer: <Yeah, TEC's bound to be worried about me!>

Jones: <Just left the X-Nauts and you're heading back to them already?>

Squealer: <Hey, I'm doing it willingly this time.>

Maggie: "Hm..."

"Well, alright. I'll see you later, then."

Kamdida: <Any time you have need of my services, just call.>

-She waves farewell and heads off-

Maggie: "Mm..."

"Guys?"

-The remaining team all gives some form of acknowledgement-

Maggie: "Do you guys... mind if I swap out the team soon?"

"I... know we've just gotten back to the point where we can relax, but I've been with a lot of you for a bit over a year now and I don't think Squealer and Kamdida are the only ones who have stuff to do..."

Pa-Patch: <I dunno, Cap'n Pink, I just wanna relax here for a while.>

Maggie: "I mean, I'm not stopping you. Just keep me posted on where you are so I know and in case I need any of you."

"Oh, and check out the HQ at some point."

Pa-Patch: <...HQ?>

Jones: <Oh, it's great! It's where we usually hold our pirate meetings.>

Flurrie: <Well, I'll relax a bit, then get ready for my debut on the Waking World stage!>

Maggie: "...Yeah, good luck with that."

"Okay, I guess if there aren't any objections, I'll do that later or something."

"But let me send out something first..."

-Those on the J-Team with phones would get a text-

-A minute or two later, they would get another text-

-Maggie heads for a room in the Slateport Center, when Sweetie suddenly comes into her path-

Sweetie: <My queen! I have awaited your return! I have been collecting honey from multiple sources to make all sorts of new b->

-Sweetie is shushed by Maggie putting her left hand in his face as she heads into the room and flops into bed-

Sweetie: <Hrm. Guess I'll tell her tomorrow, then.>

edited 19th Dec '15 2:17:28 AM by CorvusAtrox

Mossdeep Pokemon Center

-Vivian is telling Alyssa what all has happened since their last meeting. Diane and Skye are listening in quietly as well.-

Vivian: <After that, we had to stop and refuel at this sort of... resort place?>

Alyssa: <Ooh! Was it nice there?>

Vivian: <Um... kinda? Like, the weather was nice and all but it was kinda ruined by my sisters and that weird Ditto escaping. And then we found this weird... thing that stowed away on the train. We drove it away when we got to Sinnoh, though.>

-Alyssa tilts her head-

Alyssa: <Weird thing? What did it look like?>

Vivian: <Well, um... you know how computers and games and stuff get glitches and look really weird?>

-Diane and Skye's eyes widen. Alyssa, on the other hand, tilts her head further.-

Alyssa: <What's a glitch?>

Diane: Something bad. Uh... excuse us for a moment.

-She pulls Skye out of the room, Vivian and Alyssa giving them strange looks as they leave.-

Outside

-Diane tries to call Tagg-

Slateport

-Since yesterday, Kieran has been considering some things to himself, and is now pacing on the beach by himself-

Slateport Center, a bit earlier

-Maggie has woken up and is browsing some J-Team memes she missed on Tumblr-

Maggie: "Hm... Hope I didn't switch teams around prematurely..."

"Then again, it has been a year, they're free to relax around if need be, and I haven't seen some of these guys in a while anyway..."

"Yeah, hope this works."

Slateport Beach, now

-Post-browsing, Maggie has come here with Habakkuk when she notices Kieran-

Maggie: "Oh, hey E-"

"...Wait, right, that text says he changed he's going by another name now..."

"-Kieran."

edited 19th Dec '15 9:53:30 AM by CorvusAtrox

Slateport

-Kieran turns and notices Maggie-

Kieran: Oh, hey, Maggie. It's, er, been a while, hasn't it?

Slateport

Maggie: "Yeah, spending the year trying to save one's Emboar will do that..."

"Er, what's going on with you right now, though?"

Slateport

Kieran: Not much, at least not anymore. I'm headed to see Levi, after... some stuff that happened the last few months. Dunno if you'd heard about that.

Slateport

Habakkuk: <I've heard everything.>

Maggie: "Er, just the stuff from the group texts."