Rubeloff House, June 27, 2021

-Nods-

I can certainly understand wanting a place away from it all.

Delta's Ship

Oran Obliterator: <It'll be gone faster than a sub sandwich!>

Fortran: <Please never say that again.>

Oran Obliterator: <Also again I can help with the hacking if need be!

Meat Palace

-Lead Monkey is here-

Lead Monkey: <So what's the objective this time?>

Earth Vellumental Temple

-Evelyn gets the STRETCHY ARMS-

Jackie: <Whatever those are USE THEM ALREADY!>

Edited by Umbramatic on Jun 9th 2022 at 10:15:57 AM

Sinnoh, A Certain House

Oh yeah, she must be there for yardwork. Or. Something.

But the yard looks fine?

Shhhhh-

Celeste: (gesturing) <Hmm. Can you get behind my ears? I can't always quite reach the right spot.>

Celestescape

The trapdoor smooths out into a long, winding slide full of loops. It'd almost be fun if it weren't in complete darkness and accompanied by ominous sounding creaks and almost-human laughter on the rushing wind.

The slide unceremoniously lets out into another room, where another... creature is waiting. This one errs more on the side of Ninetales than human, though she presumably walks upright... At least judging by the way she's seated on the wooden crates that fill the room.

<Oh, a game!"

<Hm, let's see. If I find you before I finish recounting my tale I win, okay?"

One of the decoys off to Molly's right bursts into flame.

<So there was a girl...."

"Well, it's a short story. At least from this perspective.>

"My mother told me this one. It's from long, long ago. She learned it from her mother, who learned it from her mother... Though, we are Ninetales, so I suppose fewer generations have passed than if we were human.>

"So there was a Zoroark...>

Jubilife Contest, Evelyn VS Kendall

Marian: And Helmsman's Seamitars are positively glowing with Psychic Power and sunlight! TRULY DAZZLING!

Evelyn: Hatty, grab the Esper Shell Blade out of the air with Brutal Swing and return it to sender! Simon, Dunk on Kamui with Shadow Ball!

-Hatty surrounds her braids in a dark aura of violence and shifts to the left in midair, dodging the Esper Shell Blade glowing with light from her own Psybeam and grabs it with her braid. She then twirls around with it and throws it back at Helmsman. Simon conjures an orb of shadows between his palms, and moves it around like a basketball before bringing it down on Kamui's head, as if dunking it through a basketball hoop.-

╓────────────────╢ KENDALL'S POINTS ╟───────────────────────╖ 
╠══╡ STAMINA ╞══════════════════════════════════════════════╣ 
║████████████████████████████████████████████               ║ 
╚═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝

╓────────────────╢ EVELYN'S POINTS ╟───────────────────────╖ 
╠══╡ STAMINA ╞═════════════════════════════════════════════╣ 
║████████████████████████████████████████████              ║ 
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝

Earth Temple, VS The Earth Vellumental

Evelyn: Alright! Though I don't quite know what I'm supposed to do with these arms right now... Any ideas?

Me: Hmm...

-Ian hones his senses and comes up with a solution.-

Me: Evelyn! Grab the Vellumental and throw him into the air!

Evelyn: Me? Alright! I got it!

-Evelyn stretches her Thousand-Fold Arms out and grabs the Vellumental, holding it gentle like burger before throwing throwing it high into the air.-

Evelyn: I HOPE THIS WORKS!

Edited by AnimeboyIanpower on Jun 9th 2022 at 6:26:15 AM

Hitoki Household- Living Room

"Oh, I'm Catarina," she said. "This is my husband Kouchirou."

Kouchirou nodded. "Pleasure."

Catarina paused. "Wait... you only became a Trainer last year?"

Striaton City

"Oh god they're neck-and-neck," said Kim.

"Same," Mitchell responds to Kouchirou. Then, in response to Catarina's question, he says "Officially, yes. I, er, got the idea that I couldn't understand Pokemon well enough to be a good Trainer, so I kept putting off the paperwork for an official license." He rubs the back of his head with his right hand in a nervous manner, as he adds "I'll admit, I'd still be putting it off, if it weren't for a certain someone saving my hide."

Gav's ears perk up at the sound of Mitchell's last statement.

Hitoki Household- The Living Room

"Oh, no, it's nothing to be ashamed about," said Catarina.

Then, after a pause, she noticed Gavroche and her face instantly lit up as she started to pet him.

"Awww... did this widdle cutie get you out of thewe?" she cooed.

MEANWHILE...

Hitoki Household- Cole's Bedroom

Laurie, D'Autry, and Emcee eventually approached Cole's bedroom, and Laurie in particular took a few moments to look around. It had been years since they'd last seen it, but it was almost as if nothing about it had changed from since Cole had initially disappeared. The room had bright yellow walls, blue curtains, and a ton of dark blue trimmings and decorations. There was a blue bed on the right side of their room, and tons of childlike books aimed at 8-10 year olds adorned the shelves. Galvantula plushies were everywhere, along with plushies of other Bug-type Pokemon, and hanging on the wall was a Pikachu clock and a picture of Cole and Laurie- the former smiling happily at the camera, and the latter giving a loving smirk over at their sibling.

The biggest thing of note in the room, however, was the massive collection of CD's on a shelf in the middle of the room— and it was the first thing that Emcee noticed. Instantly, they floated up to the shelves and started glancing down at the CD's.

~Well, isn't this great~!~ said Emcee happily. ~I didn't know that Cole listened to music in their spare time!~

Laurie, meanwhile, glanced up at the picture of them and Cole for a few moments and sighed with grief, before they heard and turned to face Emcee.

"O-oh— oh yeah, they used to listen to music all the time while they were alive," said Laurie. "Most of it was children's stuff, but D'Autry introduced them to country music and Flogging Molly."

~I can definitely see that!~ said Emcee. ~They've got every single Flogging Molly album!~

"Yeah," said Laurie, approaching the album shelf. "I never really cared that much for the children's music that Cole listened to, but I was willing to let them listen to it regardless."

It was at that moment that Laurie noticed one particular album on the shelves. They glanced down at it for a few moments, then took it out and looked down at it. D'Autry, also recognizing the album, soon joined them. The album was decked in blue save for the white center image, which featured a bunch of hand-drawn children and a Cacturne holding hands on a grassy hill with a massive tree overlooking it. Hills and Pokemon were in the foreground. ^note  This is the Pokemon version of the Coles Whalen children's album The Wiggly Scarecrow, which I used to listen to when I was a kid and absolutely loved. Yes, it is a real album and all of the songs are on YouTube right now. The artist served as Cole Hitoki's namesake, and the title of the album, as well as several songs, served as inspiration for the names and personalities of some of their team members, who will debut when Cole eventually does.

"...At the very least, I still have this I can listen to to grieve," they said.

Emcee heard him and floated over.

~Well now! What are you looking at, Laurie?~

Laurie promptly showed them. "It was Cole's favorite album. They used to listen to it all the time."

They set it down on Cole's bed, where Emcee floated over at glanced down at it.

~...Songs for Sensational Kids Vol. 1: The Wiggly Cacturne?~ they muttered to themselves— and then their eye went wide. ~Oh! I've heard of this album!~

Laurie blinked in surprise. "You have?"

~I love this album!~

<You do?!> cried D'Autry in surprise.

In response, Emcee started up their radio, and within seconds the initial track on the album began to blare from it. D'Autry immediately started dancing to the song.

~Of course I do! I've picked up the entire album via radio waves! I've picked up all of Whalen's songs on radio waves!~

Then, after a beat:

~Didja know she did a cover of Chasing Cars?~ ^note  Yes, as in the Snow Patrol song, and yes, this is Truth in Television; look it up.

Pastoria ~ Present Day

"Figaro qua, Figaro là..."

The city of Pastoria.
A jubilant town, one may say, home to the Great Marsh. Oh, and also a Gym, and also a lot of Croagunks.
'Tis in this watery land that our Andrea is walking, their hands in their pockets as they hum a tune to themself. Though they hail from Unova, they had recently come to the Sinnoh region on a trip. Partially to find new inspiration for contest performances, partially just to sight-see and relax.
Well, it's not like they haven't been training all the same. You'd be hard-pressed to get them not to. They're the kind of person that just has to try out an idea the moment they come up with it, and then get stuck on it until they get it right. And sure, sometimes their team will be a bit cross with them for it if they were relaxing, but they all respect the effort they're putting in.

Well, aside from the few cases where Andrea had a genius (or so they say) idea in the middle of the night and could not wait until morning to see it in practice and so the unfortunate Pokèmon who the idea is meant for has to attend to a 3 AM practice session.
But they have learned to live with it, and despite the trainer's eccentricities, this has been a very nice trip so far.

And so, on a slightly windy day, Andrea is walking around town, enjoying the breeze in the shade of the trees.
A shadow flies, cutting the air mere centimetres before their face. Andrea stops dead in their tracks, with a little yelp of surprise. On the ground in front of them is a knife. They look around, puzzled. They don't remember having any mortal enemies who would conceive of such a plot. Even if they did, surely- they hope- they would use a method more refined and dramatic than just tossing a knife their way? Come now, at least face them in single combat...!

They sigh. That aside. They are quite sure a knife should not have come flying their way. So they keep scanning the area, hoping to find the source of this quite dangerous flying object.

Gav's body stiffens as Catarina pets him. <Lady,> he squeaks through clenched teeth. <A little warning before you start petting Rattatas like me, please?>

Chris struggles to stifle her amusement at the sight of Gav being fawned over by Catarina. She resorts to covering her mouth with both of her ribbon appendages.

"Er, yeah," Mitchell says, hope he understands Catarina's question through her suddenly changed accent. "That Rattata you're petting saved my life, and I'm training him as his payment for the debt I owe him." He then notices Gav's distressed state, and adds "He's uh, still not quite used to human contact, I think. He's lived in the sewers most of his life, you see."

Outside Sandgem Town

Accompanied by the fumes that come with the operation of dozens of trucks, Zangoose Fair arrives in the large open space outside Sandgem Town. Wild pokémon gather at the edges, curious as to what what might be happening, while those with older memories remember when it has come before, and depending on their perspective either remember them fondly or scowl.

The project lead, one Henry Lenton, dismounts from his truck and begins barking orders to the workers. "Okay everyone, we have until tomorrow to get everything set up! We'll have the food stalls over in that direction, between here and the town itself. Then we'll have the hall of mirrors there, the rollercoaster that way, and the spinning drum over there."

He walks over to a worker who is taking a bite of his sandwich. "You can snack later, Travis, now I need you to oversee the reverse bungee construction."

Travis tries to protest, so Henry slaps the sandwich from his hand, where it lands in the mud. Within moments, the Starly have taken it.

"Fine, boss," Travis grumbles, going to do as he is bidden and plotting Henry's murder.

The rest of the day is a flurry of activity. It is said that Jubilife wasn't built in a day, but under Henry's heavy hand Zangoose Fair is. By the time night falls, the open space is full of all kinds of rides, games, attractions, and food vendors, all of whom are ready for the fair opening the next day.

Stormchaser

Beck is on the phone with Professor Yew, who is in Galar at present.

Professor Yew: Again, I send my apologies to Dr. Yhap-Waite for failing to secure a better location for the Stormchaser in Galar. Unfortunately, my younger brother has proven quite stubborn in using my family's land as parking space.

Beck: No worries, professor. Prolly for the best that the kids are on a travellin' airship. You don't want to stay anchored in one place even if you've got the best fortress on the planet on your side. Ain't that right, Stormy.

He affectionately pets the walls of the airship.

Professor Yew: Still, there's got to be something better for them than being kept in a secure box all day. Remaining indoors all day will do no favours for their mental health. But there's the issue of safety.

Beck: Not to worry, I've got just the fix. The carnival's coming to town.

Professor Yew: The carnival? Are you sure that's a good idea, Sterling?

Beck: I'll run it by the doctors and see if they agree with it. We've got new allies in places now, too, so we can call on them to beef up our security up a few notches.

Professor Yew: Hmmmmm. Ordinarily, I would approve of amusement parks and fairs, but...

Beck: We're one of the most powerful scientific research organizations on earth, professor. If anyone were to try to spoil their fun, we can see to it that they get their arses handed to them. The only way they can be any safer is if we hired the Aurabolts themselves to guard the kids.

Professor Yew: You can do that?

Beck: I mean, we probably could but that's overkill...

Hitoki Household- Living Room

"Oh, sorry," said Catarina, pulling her hands away. "I didn't realize that. I'll just..." She laughed sheepishly.

Kouchirou, meanwhile, smiled over at his wife, shaking his head. "Forgive her, Mitchell," he said. "She... has a soft spot for cute Pokemon, if you can't tell. So did Cole, by the way. Galvantula was their favorite. They had it all over their room."

MEANWHILE...

Hitoki Household- Cole's Bedroom

And at that, Laurie stopped short— the original version by "Snow Patrol" was their favorite song of all time. They used to sing that song to Cole at night in order to put them to sleep.

"...she... she covered Chasing Cars...?" muttered Laurie, barely holding back tears.

~I don't suppose you'd like to hear it?~ asked Emcee.

"I... I would," said Laurie.

<YES-!> cried D'Autry with delight.

~Alrighty, then~!~ said Emcee. ~Here it is!~

And the song suddenly switched to the Coles Whalen cover of Chasing Cars.

D'Autry and Laurie immediately stopped to listen to it. The moment that the song's familiar intro started, Laurie instantly found themselves reminiscing about all the good times they had had with their sibling— them listening to music together, them talking about all the adventures that they would have together and the Pokemon they would have— adventures, now, that would never come.

We'll do it all

Everything

On our own

We don't need

Anything

Or anyone

If I lay here

If I just lay here

Would you lie with me and just forget the world?

And that did it.

Laurie Hitoki looked down again and sniffled, then started to cry. D'Autry and Emcee both noticed.

<...Laurie?> asked D'Autry. <Y-you alright?>

~...Laurie?~ muttered Emcee.

Laurie didn't respond. They just grabbed on to D'Autry, glancing up at the picture of them and Cole, and then hugged D'Autry as tightly as they could.

Mitchell chuckles. "It's fine, Kouchirou," he says. "Although, Rattata aren't exactly known for being cute back where I come from." He then mentally notes Kouchirou's remark about Cole's love for Galvantula, and says "Oh. I knew some places where they nested. Cole could have come see those nests, if they were still around." He then sighs. "I hope Laurie's doing okay. Well, relatively speaking."

Meanwhile, Gav has buried his whole body inside Chris's ribbons, blushing from head to toe. <He called me cute!>, he squeaks. <He called me cute!>

<He's right, you know.>, Chris whispers back to Gav, as she gently hugs him.

Hitoki Household- Living Room

"You do?" asked Catarina.

"Of course he does; he lived in Castelia," said Kouchirou.

"Oh yes, of course," said Catarina. "They're so cute and fluffy~! Have you ever thought about catching one? I—"

And then she was suddenly interrupted by a sound coming from upstairs. In an instant, she and Kouchirou turned.

"Laurie?" she asked.

She promptly headed upstairs to Cole's bedroom, with Kouchirou following.

Hitoki Household- Cole's Bedroom

The moment that Catarina and Kouchirou saw what was happening, they stopped dead in shock as they saw Laurie sobbing their eyes out on Cole's bed and hugging D'Autry tightly, with Emcee looking on in concern. Next to them was a copy of The Wiggly Cacturne, and playing in the background, from Emcee's antennea, was the Coles Whalen cover of "Chasing Cars":

Forget what we're told

Before we get too old

Show me a garden that's bursting into life

Catarina and Kouchirou looked on, horrified.

"Oh... oh, Laurie..." muttered Catarina.

Mitchell hears the sound coming from upstairs, and sees Catarina and Kouchirou ascend the stairs to the upper floor. Sensing that something was amiss, he scoops up the bundle formed by Chris and Gav into his arms and follows the Hitoki parents. "Sorry, you two," he whispers in apology to his two Pokemon, as he carries them up.

Mitchell arrives just outside the bedroom, looking past Catarina and Kouchirou to see the contents within. Just as Kouichirou had said, there are several bits of Galvantula paraphernalia (plush toys, to be precise) visible inside the room, along with those of other Bug-type Pokemon, shelves full of books and compact discs, and various decor coloured in blue and yellow.

But none of these details matter to Mitchell at the moment, for his attention is focused on one specific sight.

At the right side of the room, lying on top of a blue bed, is Laurie, sobbing quite deeply and hugging D'Autry with a grip that could only have been borne from their grief. Hovering nearby is Emcee, whose look of concern, combined with the song playing from their antenna, conveyed a mix of sorrow and dread upon Mitchell's heart.

Gav and Chris slip out of Mitchell's arms, and each makes their separate ways into the room.

Chris, her heart wavering at the sight of the grief-stricken human before her, nonetheless puts on a brave face and hovers a short distance from the bed. She clasps her ribbons together and wishes for peace to come to Laurie's heart.

Gav hops onto the foot of the bed and stands at vigil for Laurie. No longer in his stupor from moments ago, he bears a solemn look, one which shows he knows something like the grief Laurie is feeling now.

As for Mitchell, he is too stunned to move into the room. His vision blurs, as if some fluid is covering his eyes. It's only when he blinks that he realises what's happening to him.

He's crying. Whether it's in sympathy for Laurie's grief, or if it's in shame at his own powerlessness, he does not know. All he can think to do, and all that he does, is to close his eyes and clench both his teeth and his hands.

Edited by AnotherMan on Jun 10th 2022 at 2:00:05 PM

The Hitoki Household- Cole’s Bedroom

Catarina and Kouchirou approached their child, stunned, and proceeded to hug them as well while D'Autry freed himself from their arms. Laurie just profusely sobbed as Catarina petted their back.

"I know," she whispered, also starting to cry as well. "We miss them just as much as you do."

"...it isn't right," sobbed Laurie. "T-the idea of a world without Cole in it— o-officially, now— I- I don't think I— especially since-"

And then they saw Mitchell, crying himself.

They got up off of Cole's bed and approached Mitchell, stopping and staring over at him for a few moments.

And then:

"MITCHELL—!"

With that pained scream, they immediately collapsed into Mitchell's arms.

Mitchell holds Laurie in his arms, not daring to let go. Though he did not quite hear what they had just said, he would have agreed that it wasn't right that they had to live in a world without their beloved sibling. There are so many things he could have said to Laurie, any sort of sermon or speech or homily that he could say to ease their pain.

But Mitchell cannot say those words. He blubbers like a new-born babe, his cheeks stained by the flow of tears and his throat seized with convulsive sobs. Only a few words manage to escape his lips.

"Live!", he bawls. "Please!"

Gav and Chris watch Mitchell and Laurie at a distance, their sympathy for the two plain to see.

Edited by AnotherMan on Jun 10th 2022 at 3:27:11 PM

Hitoki Household- Cole's Bedroom

Laurie just continued sobbing, while D'Autry, Emcee, Catarina and Kouchirou looked on with sympathy. D'Autry in particular went up to Laurie and patted them on the back.

At that moment, Catarina looked down and noticed the copy of The Wiggly Cacturne on Cole's bed.

"Oh... you found their favorite album..." she said.

Laurie nodded, sniffling, as Catarina brought it over.

"D-don't— don't play it, please—" they muttered. "N-not right now—"

Mitchell blinks back the tears in his eyes, and he sees the vague outline of Catarina holding something in her hands. He can't quite tell what it is, but it looks like an album case with something like drawings on the front.

"W-what's that?", Mitchell splutters.

The Hitoki Household- Cole's Bedroom

"Oh, it's—" Laurie began, but they soon found themselves unable to hold back their tears. Catarina handed the album off to Mitchell.

"It's The Wiggly Cacturne," she said. "It... it was Cole's favorite album. They used to listen to it all the time when they were younger, and even right up until before they died."

She paused.

"I... take it you've never listened to it before," she asked. "Would you... like to listen to it?"

Route 204

-Hailee nears the end of Route 204, about to reach Floaroma Town, before stopping in her tracks as she realises something-

Hailee: Oh, how could I forget?

-Hailee brings The Egg out from its incubator, and Nugget from her Pokeball-

Hailee: I haven't even introduced you two to the rest of my team yet!

-Hailee brings Timothy, Banjo, and Bubbles out from their Pokeballs-

Hailee: Timothy, Banjo, Bubbles, this is Nugget and The Egg. Nugget and The Egg, this is Timothy, Banjo and Bubbles.

Nugget: Uh... hi.

Timothy: Hey.

Bubbles: Well, this is awkward.

Banjo: So, uh, Nugget and The Egg. Nice to meet you, I suppose.

Nugget: Wow, a Galarian Pokemon... never... seen one before.

-Timothy uses his trunk to smell something-

Timothy: Anyone smell that?

Banjo: Smells like flowers. Lots of 'em.

Bubbles: Wow! Look over there! Its like a whole town of flowers!

Nugget: Well, lets go!

-the whole team rushes over to check out Floaroma, meanwhile Hailee and The Egg are left behind-

Hailee: Guess the place excited them. Well, we should get going too, right The Egg?

-Hailee picks up The Egg, and begins talking to herself in a derpy voice, to mimic The Egg speaking to her-

Hailee: Yes. Yes we should.

Mitchell, still holding onto Laurie with one hand, looks at the album he now holds in his other hand. He can almost imagine a figure like Cole standing with the group of children and the Cacturne on the album's cover, holding hands and smiling.

"Yeah," Mitchell says, choking back his sobbing. "Let's listen to it."

Stormchaser, Vana's Room Door

-Two girls standing at exactly the same height and wearing brightly colored clothed stand in front of the door to Vana's room. The silver-haired twin looks at her golden-haired twin, as if to ask about a plan.-

Platinum: Think this is the right thing to do?

Aurelia: Trust me, Tina. After everything Vana's been through, she needs some fun. And what better fun can we find than at a carnival?

Tina: I understand where you're coming from. But how are we gonna get her attention?

Aurelia: Hmm... Should we just knock?

Tina: I'm already on it, Aurelia...

-Tina knocks on the door. Multiple times. In rapid succession. With her foot.-

Tina: ORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORA!

Stormchaser, Vana's Room

After several seconds of the most obnoxious knocking she has ever heard, Vana finally throws off the covers of her bed. The good news is that she's not as thin as she was before, thanks to a concerted effort to eat more than just other people's leftovers, and there is even a bit of colour in her face. The bad news is the dark bags under her eyes that come with the exhaustion that is now almost constant. She knows that by now she doesn't have long.

She throws open the door, with an expression that looks like she wants to murder whoever is on the other side. Even once she sees who is there and processes who it is, there are still a few seconds where it could honestly go either way before her expression softens.

"Aurelia? Platinum? I didn't know you guys were here, I haven't seen you in months." She raises her arms as if to go for a hug, but at the last second gives each of them a strong punch in the stomach. "Wake me up again and it'll be worse."

Stormchaser, Vana's Room

-While Tina feels the full force of Vana's fist, the Aurelia standing at the door next to her Disappears into Light. The real Aurelia appears behind Tina to keep her from doubling over.-

Aurelia: Are you okay, Tina?

Tina: I'm okay... That really hurt though...

Aurelia: Vana... I'm sorry we woke you the first time. I just wanted to ask you if you wanted to go to the carnival with us.