Wild Area

Evelyn: Ian? Shall we?

Me: Let's go!

-Ian, Evelyn and their Pokémon follow Kim to the Slumbering Weald.-

S-o-S Pitch

Helmsman nodded and the next Pokeball flying forward, caught a little off-guard by the newcomer.

Now knowing that he wasn't actually up against a water-type unlike last time, he felt a little more confident giving himself some ammunition.

Until he felt himself being bound by a grip.

The Unovan starter, in desperation and annoyance, jabbed his seamitar at where he felt the most weight from the offending Pokemon for all the good it would do.

Especially as he felt himself overcompensate and tumble pretty hard.

He stood up, attempting to shake off the offending Pokemon before gripping him in his teeth and radiating pure cold onto him.

To which his opponent gripped harder.

Pained, but not hurt from being gripped, in a last ditch effort he slammed himself into a wall, attempting to cushion himself with his opponent.

When Grapploct leaped off his back, he smirked and swung.

Slumbering Weald

Gail shook her head, some of her teammates Defogging the forest they had gotten lost in, to no avail since it kept coming back.

The Slumber—

WE INTERRUPT THIS PROGRAM TO BRING YOU THE FOLLOWING ADVERTISEMENT

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT

IT'S...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTHdCcQBrOo

The Slumbering Weald

(Upon entering the Slumbering Weald, Elton, Geddy, Freddie and Kim look around themselves— except, of course, there's not that much to see.)

Kim: "Well. It appears that Ian and Evelyn were right. I can barely even see through my glasses."

Elton: (suddenly noticing) <What does that matter? Look! Someone's ahead, maybe they know Defog! Maybe they can 'elp us!>

(Kim looks ahead— and sure enough, she sees Gale in front of her. Instantly, she recognizes her.)

Kim: "Ah! Well, this is certainly helpful! It's Rever's friend who I talked to during the wedding!"

Geddy: <You know her, Kim?>

Freddie: <I hope she doesn't have any... s-scary Pokemon...>

Kim: "Relax, Freddie. The only one I saw is her Togekiss named Pandora, so... we should be fine. I wonder why she's here, though..."

Elton: <I don't think I've met this person before- 'ave I met this person before?- (then, excitedly) I DON'T THINK I'VE MET THIS PERSON BEFORE~!> (He happily runs up to Freddie in delight.) <Freddie, we're about to meet someone who we've never met before! Forget the fog— let's go meet this Togekiss named Pandora!>

(He excitedly runs through the fog, somehow managing to find his way to Gale. Kim soon follows, and Geddy and Freddie follow her.)

Freddie: (from behind) <I... I hope Elton didn't startle her...>

Geddy: <Me either...>

(He chuckles nervously. Kim, meanwhile, approaches Gale from behind.)

Kim: "Hello again... do you, by any chance, remember me from the wedding? We discussed Peart's death at the Swift Nickit."

Edited by OPALGARNET16 on Sep 9th 2020 at 8:11:18 AM

???, past

Channah: -hovers behind Tagg, staring at the Rapidash-

Jack: <We found you!>

Hale: <Inamannerofspeaking.>

Weald

"Huh?" She asked, looking at the noise and earning the attention of Jamie and Vatista, who had stopped Defogging to return to their trainer.

"Oh yeah. You. You had that conversation with Pandora," Gail recalled. "I mean my bigger concern was the wedding reception around me and whether I'd be asked to leave, but..." she shrugged. "If we spoke, we spoke.

"Lemme guess, you're lost, too?"

The Slumbering Weald

Kim: "I am not lost; I just got here. Specifically, I am here to conduct research on the Legendary Pokemon Zacian and Zamazenta." (She smiles.) "In case you have forgotten... Kimberly Bond, lingual consultant, and these are my Pokemon, Elton, Freddie, and Geddy."

Elton: (cheerfully) <'Ello there!>

Geddy: <Hi there.>

Freddie: (hiding behind Geddy) <H-hello...>

Kim: "And you are...? I am unsure if I ever got your name..."

Weald

"Gail." She said simply. "The Swellow's Jamie and the Corviknight's Vatista."

They both chirped their own salutations.

"What's got a glorified foreign tutor so interested in Galar's Guard Dogs?" She asked.

The Slumbering Weald

Kim: "Well, simply put... for the fun of it. I had heard about the Legendary Pokemon of Galar and thought they might be fairly interesting to study. Also... my apologies, but I already know someone named Gale, so... do you have a surname by any chance?"

(Freddie, meanwhile, takes one look at Vatista and hides away in fear.)

Freddie: <S-scary... C-Corviknight...>

Geddy: (gently) <Ozzy's a Corvisquire, isn't he? Are you afraid of him?>

Freddie: <Y-yes... but I know him, and I know he wouldn't hurt m-me...>

(He suddenly pauses— then looks up at Vatista, and tears start to come to his eyes.)

Freddie: (in tears) <O-oh no... oh no... I-I'm t-terribly sorry if I offended y-you...!> (He grabs on to Vatista's wings.) <P-please forgive me...>

Weald

Gail's Corviknight shakes off Freddie's grip with a simple <Please don't touch my wings.> If needed, Jamie also helps pull him off.

"... Firien. But this Gale character, it should really only matter if they turn up, right?"

Edited by AbsentCoder on Sep 9th 2020 at 5:58:33 AM

The Slumbering Weald

(...which only causes Freddie to burst into more tears of remorse.)

Freddie: (terrified) <G-GAH—!> (He lets go.) <I'm sorry— I'm so sorry— p-please don't... please don't hate me... eep—>

(Meanwhile, Kim takes out her notebook.)

Kim: "Ah. I see." (writes down "FIRIEN") "'Furry-en'." (then, to herself) "Furry-en? Feeree-en?" (She pauses.) "Well, for the sake of ease, I will simply refer to you as 'Gale' since Knight is not here currently."

Weald

???: You make one wrong turn and suddenly you're in the middle of the blasted fog. Percy, are you sure we're going the right way!? Blast it.

Edited by MasterJayAM on Sep 9th 2020 at 9:13:05 PM

Weald

"I literally just said 'Firien'; how do already forget-" She paused upon hearing the new voice, Jamie and Vatista reacting as well.

"Over here!" She called out.

Edited by AbsentCoder on Sep 9th 2020 at 6:19:25 AM

The Slumbering Weald

Kim: "Ah. FEE-ree-en. My apologies. Hold on, let me—"

(She suddenly pauses upon hearing the voice coming near her.)

Kim: "Oh?" (to herself) "Who is that...?" (then to Ian and Evelyn) "Excuse me for a second, I must go and investigate. You two can go and introduce yourselves to Gale Firien in the meantime. I apologize."

(She heads further into the fog, followed by Elton and Geddy.)

Kim: (to the newcomers) "Hello? Excuse me?"

(Meanwhile, Freddie is still in tears over what happened with Vatista and immediately follows them.)

Freddie: (in tears) <I'm sorry— I didn't mean it— please don't hate me— please don't hate me—>

Edited by OPALGARNET16 on Sep 9th 2020 at 9:59:45 AM

Magnus flinched and tried to swat away the steam in his face, he was very upset with this turn of events.

Mauer leapt at Hayon, intending to crush him, Jackal clicked his tongue, "Close combat."

Dochevsky's face fell as Hayon started pounding away with rapid fire fists at Mauer, keeping him pinned in the air.

"Graaaaah! Zugolsky, why do we have to adhere to these rules? These are criminals, they will not listen."

[I maintain my honor, I am not a criminal as you proclaim, all I want is out of here,] Zugolsky signed.

"Unfortunately for both of you, I'm not a man of honor," Jackal responded, gripping his laser rifle and pointing it at Dochevsky. He barely had time to comment before a yellow blast struck him, knocking him out. Mauer was launched beside him, confused as to what the hell was happening.

{Uh... huh... what... what just happened?} Magnus asked.

Zugolsky stared at Jackal and Stranger, confused, and angry, [You dare interfere in-]

"Accusations will get you nowhere, Zugolsky what we have is something that you want, isn't that right Stranger?" Jackal stated.

Hayon smirked, ~We don't always play fair, we're probably going to some place terrible.~

"Well then, your challenge will involve Steeltypes! Are you two ready, be prepared this one will be a doozy!" Denali exclaimed with excitement.

They turned to the 'Audience', "Do you think they can handle it folks?"

There was a loud cheering from the black void where the seats were held, a few Carbinks could be seen as well manipulating what looked to be equipment and crystaline entities.

A pair of gem hands appeared next to Violet and Justice holding a phone, "If things get too rough you can always call a lifeline if you so desire. Ready then?"

Slumbering Weald

At the entrance to the Weald, the trainer emerges yawning from their tent. They stop short seeing footprints leading deeper into the Weald.

"Son of a... Kec, wake up!"

Kec emerges from the tent with similar body language, and reacts in the same way to the footprints. The two exchange a glance, then rush to pack up their camp.

"Kit, come out!" the trainer says, selecting a pokeball. A Nickit appears on the path.

"Kit, I need you to help us follow these footprints," the trainer says.

Kit looks at the footprints on the path, and at the foggy forest which they lead into, and runs to hide behind his trainer's legs.

"Come on, Kit. You know this is important to me. We'll protect you if anything happens."

The small pokemon appears to consider, then nods and begins to sniff its way along the path. The trainer and Kec follow.

After an indeterminate amount of time, the shapes of humans become visible through the fog. They are having some kind of conversation, but the trainer cannot make it out.

"Hello?" they call. "I'd like to talk. Do you know where I can find Zacian and Zamazenta?"

Circhester Streets

Wait so do I owe you a favor or do you owe me one? Now I'm not saying I don't trust you but if it turns out I now owe a favor to the fae I'm not sure I will be able to avoid lapsing into mild anxiety over it.

Macraul Villa, The Past

-Gale suffered through the 'bland' stew with a little smile on her face. Even without a generous amount of spices there was still craftsmanship here that Gale was just loving. And then the roasted meats come out with that aspired-to herb on it and just... Wow-

Teddy. Teddy please tell me your little trade deal to get cultivars is going well cause I really want to make this at home.

The Wall

You want out of this prison, then you best come in the ship with us. Your handler there would probably have put you back in the cage afterwards anyways...

-The Nightingale gestures vaguely at Dochevsky-

What's the ETA on the ship coming around for pickup anyways?

Slumbering Weald

Me: (To Gail) It's a pleasure to meet you. My name's Ian. And this is my buddy, Piku-chan.

Piku-chan: <Nice to meet you.>

Evelyn: My name is Evelyn, and this is my best friend, Hatty.

Hatty: <It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.>

Me: (to Hoops) Honestly, that's what my friend Kim was wondering. She thought they might be here. By the way, my name's Ian. What's your name?

Edited by AnimeboyIanpower on Sep 10th 2020 at 9:08:04 AM

Slumbering Weald

"Oh, right. My name is Hoops, from Ballonlea. I came here to defeat Zacian and Zamazenta in battle, so I need people who can be witnesses when I do. Oh, and this is my partner Kec. Why do you want to see Zacian and Zamazenta?"

Edited by theoncominghoop on Sep 10th 2020 at 1:54:45 PM

Slumbering Weald

Evelyn: Cool! I'm from Ballonlea, too!

Me: Well, we're here because Kim wanted to see Zacian and Zamazenta. It's kind of a quest we're on.

Slumbering Weald

"I see. So, you and Kim, do you travel together all of the time or is this a recent things?"

Slumbering Weald

Me: It's a fairly recent thing. For Kim, I'd say it started around October/November of last year, and as for Evelyn... Well, that's a long story...

Slumbering Weald

"Ah, I see."

Hoops looks to Kec, who reaches into Hoops' pocket and pulls out a set of cue cards. Hoops rustles through them, and speaks as though they are reading directly from the card.

"I am not good socially, so I prepared these cards for social interactions. The following questions were prepared in advance. Are you a trainer? What is your life goal? Do you enjoy battling? What recreational activities do you regularly perform, for the benefit of future conversations? Do you want me to go away? Explain that the last question was added after repeated requests from people to leave them alone."

Hoops puts the cards away, and smiles innocently.

The Ancient Villa

Theodora: I'm still trying to find out what we could trade for it. I earlier assumed that they were wild plants so the idea that we'd need to give them something wasn't in my itinerary. Though I suppose they can be wowed with something rare, pretty-looking, and not likely to mess up the time stream.

Meanwhile, in [Rome]

A Beheeyem: ~Tiberius Caesar! Our people come bearing gifts from our faraway land! Behold, the Radio!~

Tiberius sneers at the Beheeyem and calls on his servants to release the houndooms. The Beheeyems ran off, shattering the radio device on the palace floor, and fled to their space ship.

One of his scribes, who witnessed the events, looked on in disbelief.

Scribe: Caesar?

Tiberius: Let Us Never Speak of This Again.

The Ancient Villa again

Theodora: Gale, aren't you the person from the cooking show sponsored by the spice company?

Meanwhile, a slave, fidgeting, approaches Sylvestra fearfully and presents her with her favorite dish. It seems under-spiced. Quintus knew what was going on at the kitchen. They've run out of black pepper.

Slumbering Weald

Me: Well... to answer those questions...

Evelyn and I: (in nigh-telepathic unison) Yes, we are trainers.

Me: My life goal is to be the best trainer I can be.

Evelyn: My life goal is to be a Psychic-type Gym Leader, like my mentor, Sabrina.

Evelyn and I: (in nigh-telepathic unison) Yes, we do enjoy battling.

Me: I like to play video games, play guitar, sing, dance and every now and again, I do enjoy a good prank...

Evelyn: I like to practice magic, sing and dance among other things.

Evelyn and I: (in nigh-telepathic unison) And no, we don't want you to go away.

Me: You seem like a nice kid.

Evelyn: Yeah.

-Beat-

Evelyn: -thinks to herself- I can't help but feel like I might have seen Hoops somewhere before...

Slumbering Weald

"Well, that was more than a little creepy. What do you guys have like a psychic connection or something?"

Hoops notices that Evelyn is looking at them weird.

"Sorry, did I say something odd? You're looking at me like you can't comprehend my existence."