Erin

  —

  Dinner was slightly bittersweet that night as we sat in a nice restaurant.

  I still wasn't a huge fan of people in general, but by now Heather, Ian, and Zavier were friends. I felt bad about it, but they were kind of second-string friends. I didn't mind my family or close friends knowing my secrets, but there was literally no reason to tell them anything.

  Still, they were nice, and I would miss them… but I wouldn't miss them like I would miss Alex if she were to leave for some reason.

  The feeling wasn't exactly mutual, though, as Heather apparently found tomorrow's separation slightly hard to deal with. She had really enjoyed having someone other than two boys to talk to. Not that Ian or Zavier were annoying or rude or anything, but they were still thirteen year old boys, along with everything that came with it…

  "I mean, you're all going to just run to Pewter?" She was slightly incredulous, and I wouldn't have blamed her a week ago. Now? After she rode with us, even if we were going somewhat slowly because of Tinkatink?

  I snorted in amusement as I sipped on some delicious peach tea.

  "Mom makes distance a non-issue, really. As long as there's not a huge, deep river or something she can cross most terrain, and she could technically make a bridge for those… Mountains would probably be rough, though. She can easily move over them for the most part, sure, but it would be… not so fun in the basket." I enjoyed how everyone's face went pale or green at that. Yeah… There was being shaken around as she sprinted, then there was being thrown around as she leapt… The run up to Freezingpoint had been bad enough, and that had been smoother than, say, Mt. Moon…

  Ian looked more confused, though.

  "I thought you were all used to her? I used to ride Mamoswine at home and on hunts, and you eventually get used to the bouncing." Huh, that made sense, actually… He had been almost okay with the ride here…

  "Yeah, but I bet you had straps and stuff to hold onto. That was riding. Mom won't 'submit' to stuff like harnesses or saddles, though. We only have what's in the Ride Basket… Even the nice one we bought isn't really the same." She wouldn't hurt us if we tried to put a harness of some sort on her, or even suggested it… Her punishments didn't need to hurt, though. Just be horrific and disgusting…

  "Maybe we could meet up in Saffron? Or maybe Cinnabar, we still have to go there, and so do you…" I frowned at Zavier's words. Not at him, just…

  "Maybe? I mean, yeah, we should meet back up if we get the chance, but if we miss each other in Saffron and have to do it in Cinnabar… Well, none of our Pokemon can carry all of us, so we'll have to take a ferry or something, I guess?" I got some weird looks from the other group at that.

  Oh, yeah… It should be common knowledge that you do take ferries, not somehow swim across on top of a Seadra. Sure, something like a Lapras could transport people across water, but most people would rather take a boat, not sit on a Pokemon's back for hours as waves almost certainly hit you.

  I was saved from further idle conversation by our orders coming out. We had gone to a nice restaurant for this goodbye, one that had hunted meat. I had eaten farmed Pokemon, but I preferred hunted for obvious reasons, especially after talking with Ian.

  Even if you couldn't farm Basculin, since they were one of the aquatic species capable of floating… I hadn't known I would order this, though.

  My mouth watered as a huge bowl of this world's version of 'fish soup' was placed in front of me. The smell wafting off of it was insane, and I knew for a fact that Basculin was delicious…

  It was, and the thick broth the vegetables and Basculin chunks swam in was so packed with various herbs and spices it tasted more like one of my dishes than one of this world's… In fact, it was the best thing I had tasted so far that I hadn't cooked or provided a recipe for, now that I had… 'adjusted'. I got the feeling those raviolis in Pewter would still taste better now, though… Maybe we could go while we were in Pewt-

  Shit, I couldn't afford to eat there, though! I remember how many zeros were on that bill! I mean, I could ask mom for some money, but unless it was for Pokemon-related things, I wasn't going to do that… Not to mention the reservation needed!

  —

  —

  I smiled as I pulled our new Ride Basket out of its special Storage Ball the next morning in front of the west gate of Celadon. This one looked less like a picnic basket, considering the folding seats and armrests that we probably wouldn't use… I got the feeling they would be nice if we had a flying Pokemon capable of lifting all three of us and the Basket, actually… Not to mention the padding! Not that we really stumbled much anymore, at least on decently 'smooth' terrain, but I'd rather not get my skull rocked again...

  Still, I also really liked the colors! Instead of the simple brown that our old one had been, this one was a deep red, close to moms scales in color, with light green streaks throughout, like my hair color. I would have been more surprised that there was a combination like that, but considering the dozens upon dozens of miniature display models? I wasn't that surprised. They'd had a lot of choices there. Celadon was known as the place to shop in Kanto for good reason…

  I was still smiling as Dexter flew out of my jacket, a wide grin on his face. I couldn't help but get slightly nervous, though, honestly. I would kill for Dexter at this point, easily, but I swear he was going to give me blood pressure issues as a teenager…

  "Hey Erin, remember how you wanted to do certain things with your team? Things that involve planning and practice you haven't done yet?" I frowned at him in confusion for a long moment… Then mom popped out and grinned at him.

  Oh!

  "No way! Really?!" He smiled at me.

  "Yep! I've been reaching out to them for weeks now! One finally got back to me last night while you all slept! There's one in Saffron in a week and a half, actually!"

  I couldn't help it.

  I began to chuckle darkly… Then my chuckles transformed into dark laughs.

  Alex and Leaf were giving us worried looks, though.

  "Sis, that's not a nice sound… Why are you so amused?" I just smiled at her. Through my laughs, of course, which hadn't stopped.

  "She has to be planning something mean or horrible. That's the only reason she laughs like that." I stopped laughing and glared at Alex for that. I might have pouted slightly…

  "No, it's not mean! Or horrible! In fact, it's great and nice! Well, I'll have to figure out who's participating…" Mom growled from behind me and I shrugged.

  "Well, I guess mom demands that she participate…"

  Leaf's eyes widened in surprise a moment before Alex's.

  "There's a Contest that will accept mom?!"

  I looked at Dexter and raised an eyebrow. He grew slightly nervous, though.

  "Well, actually, no, they won't accept her as a contestant…" He trailed off as mom growled quite a bit louder. I felt slightly bad for the trainers milling around the gates that were… actually, they didn't look scared?

  I knew mom had a reputation that wasn't just 'vicious maneater' these days, and I was extremely grateful for it, but it was still sort of weird seeing a bunch of kids our age just… not terrified of her.

  Dexter was grinning now, despite the continued growling.

  "She's far too powerful to compete in the Battle portion, and she's a bit too large to really perform indoors for the Performance part… They did extend an invitation for 'The Tyrant Queen to be a guest judge' at the contest, though, now that she can reign her aura in! Along with you participating, of course!" My mouth was hanging open now.

  Mine, Leaf's, Alex's… even mom looked shocked! Happy, but shocked!

  "They said they've already gotten the forms ready, they just need her consent! Yours too, technically. I guess they trust that she'll be impartial judging you…" I gulped a little at that and met moms stare. Moms piercing stare and huge, vicious grin.

  "Yeah… she's going to be harsher on me than on any other contestant, actually…" The dark, rumbling chuckle from her told me I was correct…

  Well, shit. I haven't done any routines with any of my Pokemon! I didn't think we would actually get in!

  I didn't want to actually get in!

  Fuck!

  ""Erin no curse!"" 'You're one of the ones that was interested, Hecate! You need to help me brainstorm!'

  I felt her grow wary, then worried.

  ""Fuck…"" 'Exactly… Also, neither of us should curse! Still, it fits, huh?'

  ""Fit too well…"" 'Yes, yes it does…'

  I ignored the amused glances of everyone as my mind began to frantically race.

  I barely noticed it when mom picked up the Ride Basket and started sprinting…

  —

  Alex

  —

  I think I understood why Lance disliked Pewter City so much. I mean, it certainly had a nice defensive position in its valley, and I knew that Stampedes, which could include Onix Stampedes from the north here, rarely managed to even get close to the city…

  It was also so boring! So bland! The Museum and the Breeders were basically the only things in this city worth visiting, other than restaurants!

  I still enjoyed our walk through the city. Not so much the bland, utilitarian city with tight, curving streets itself, of course. No, instead I enjoyed the slightly wide-eyed look on Erin's face as her lips barely moved. She wasn't talking just to Hecate, either. Artemis and Kallen both wanted to perform in a Contest as well, but we still hadn't heard who would actually be competing with her.

  Contests were divided into two portions. An appeal portion, the Performance, and then the Battle portion. Most Contests were a single trainer and a single Pokemon performing some sort of act, but some were Double Performances with two Pokemon… Not that we knew which one this would be. Not until Dexter got back to us with their response…

  Either way, one of them wouldn't be participating for certain, and if I had to guess, it would be Kallen. He seemed to enjoy Contests when we stayed in Pokemon Centers, but Hecate and Artemis loved to watch them. He was also far more easygoing and laid back, so my guess would be that he sat this one out… Possibly in return for a favor from the other Pokemon.

  He was kind of devious beneath all that 'go with the flow' energy he had.

  "Ready for your Challenge, Alex?" I glanced over at Leaf and she smiled at me. Erin just continued to walk and 'talk' to her Pokemon, of course…

  "Yeah, I actually am! I get the feeling it's some sort of rock climbing, maybe? Or would that be too on the nose?" Leaf snorted a little.

  "Nah, that sounds about right. I assume Unity is going to fight?" I shrugged.

  "Maybe? For sure during the Challenge, of course, but Honor's probably going to get us through the Gym Battle, I doubt Unity could fight four Pokemon."

  He was looking forward to it, actually. Quite a bit, in fact. Honor hadn't just adjusted to being bipedal during our nearly three weeks of training, of course. He had trained extensively in the two TM's I had managed to purchase for him, but his Brick Break was learned naturally… By punching boulders, in fact. I would have thought it stupid when Erin suggested it, and I actually had for the first couple of days…

  Then he managed to crack one slightly. After that, it had only taken another day for him to form the Move, even if it had started out weak.

  No, Honor was going to have a lot of fun utilizing his new typing in battle. Drain Punch would keep him in the fight, Brick Break was fast and convenient to use, and if he ever got pushed back? Well, Close Combat was practically what he was built for. Some fighting types focused on speed and evasion, and Close Combat was something of a last resort for those Pokemon, considering you threw defense out the window. For them, it was dangerous.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  Honor had some speed, and could evade, sure… He preferred to get in close, take the punishment, and return it, though. Usually with punches, but he really enjoyed fighting Hazard these days, even if Hazard still had to go easy on him for the most part now that he took Honor seriously. He had picked up more than a few un-typed moves from more than just Hazard, actually. Grace's style of fighting didn't translate all that well, Honor having a more forward-leaning posture to go with his long tail, but the footwork translated well enough.

  He was slightly intimidating even to me, honestly. Especially when he would challenge Hazard to a spar with a clanging dance followed by a huge battlecry…

  "So Honor is going to be your main battler for Brock, with Unity as backup?" I shrugged at Leaf's question.

  "Unity will probably start us off, but yeah…. Brock or Flint, I guess? I'd prefer to fight Brock, though…" Erin looked up and blinked rapidly.

  "Yeah, not sure how accurate it is, but I'd rather not fight Flint… I would just glare at him the whole time…" We both frowned at her and she shrugged.

  "Deadbeat dad that abandoned his children and left his oldest son to raise a ton of his younger siblings alone? Even if he came back years later? I know it's at least somewhat accurate here... Screw him. Actually, I kind of hope I can fight him, just to kick his as- butt hard!" Huh… She did have some abandonment issues, I knew that from her memories…

  We'll have to see, I guess?

  —

  —

  I don't know why I was even slightly disappointed by the Pewter Gym Challenge. I had guessed that it would be rock climbing, and I was correct. Sure, it was rock climbing with no ropes or guides, and should be kind of scary, but the Gym had a Kadabra watching to catch anyone that fell. I had kind of looked forward to it, a little?

  I hadn't expected it to be so easy, though!

  Not that I was able to practically run up the course cut into the mountain behind the Gym, of course… I almost could for the first two sections, though! It had honestly been very disappointing. The same with my first trainer battle!

  Seriously… Unity had barely had to exert any effort to knock that poor Graveller out… I felt really bad for both of them, actually. That Graveller had been so enthusiastic, looking back at its trainer with obvious affection… Unity had looked so disappointed when it went down to a single barrage of Bullet Seeds, managing only a single Rock Throw that had broken on Unity's Protect.

  Still, I eyed the huge, vertical wall ahead of me with a smile.

  I hadn't exactly ever been rock climbing before, but there were plenty of rocky cliffs near the Blackthorn compound, not to mention in the Aerie, so I wasn't entirely inexperienced. Combine that with Dexter's training regime, I was more than strong enough to pull myself up with the convenient handholds. They were very obvious, actually. Not painted or anything, but you could see where people had scuffed the rock face with their shoes and simply look up to find them.

  I was barely winded when I finally pulled myself over the top of the cliff. I had jammed my left pinky badly at one point, actually, but it would be fine by tomorrow.

  The Gym trainer that hurriedly stood up from what looked like a small picnic up here was red in the face as she moved to her side of the small battle court.

  "Good job, trainer! Most people take at least twice that long to get up here!" I smiled at her and nodded, even as she pulled a Pokeball from her belt.

  The Bastiodon she sent out gave me slight pause, but only for a moment. It was Rock/Steel, so Unity wouldn't be doing double energy damage, but oh well! I still sent him out.

  He popped out with a little hiss at the Bastiodon. Unity looked slightly ridiculous, actually. His physical body, or bodies, hadn't actually grown all that much to match his huge apple, so he looked very awkward and tiny, even more than usual. He couldn't even move himself effectively anymore without Moves, considering his tail-wyrm could only barely touch the ground anymore. It couldn't push him forward more than an inch or two at a time, actually…

  He was going to Evolve soon, for sure, but I got the feeling it wouldn't be against this unfortunate Bastiodon…

  We nodded at each other, and she raised her arm up, then brought it down with a simultaneous order.

  "Bastiodon, Iron Head!"

  "Unity, sticky barrage!"

  The Bastiodon scuffed the ground a few times, its wide shield-like forehead crest shining with steel energies, before it sprang forwards at Unity. It was halfway to him before my little apple dragon got his first Move off. Not because we hadn't practiced this Move extensively, no…

  Unity liked to lead with one huge, overpowered Syrup Bomb before switching to much smaller, faster ones.

  The first one splattered across Bastidon's lower jaws and front legs, and it stumbled slightly but kept charging. The following three Unity managed all struck it in the legs, but despite the stickiness, Bastiodon were heavy Pokemon, and this one was charging.

  Its wide head slammed into Unity's rapid Protect. The Protect cracked slightly, but while Unity took no damage, he did get knocked back into a very awkward-looking roll. His tail-wyrm stopped the roll and propped them back up rapidly after a half dozen feet, though.

  "Bastiodon, Rock Blast into Take Down!" I smiled as I heard the order.

  "Unity, Seed Barrage!"

  My not-so-little apple dragon popped his head out of his apple with a wide grin, even as the huge stone shattered on his Protect, tail-wyrm able to brace against it.

  Then he opened his mouth, dropped his Protect, and let Bullet Seeds fly out like a machine gun.

  That poor Bastiodon wasn't even close to him by the time it went down. Its legs weren't stuck to the ground, but they certainly took effort to pick up after each step, so it had been slow.

  The gym trainer returned her Pokemon, smiling at me as she shook my hand.

  "That was my first time seeing a Dipplin fight! He's a deceptively cute little guy, isn't he?" I laughed as he hissed up at her.

  "He is, isn't he? He's going to Evolve soon enough, though. He'll still be cute, but he won't be little anymore, that's for sure!" He turned to me, but didn't hiss… He just glared at me. He knew I wasn't exactly lying.

  Well, that had been slightly disappointing? I mean, I kind of expected the trainer beatdown, but I had wanted a bit more of a challenge for my Gym Challenge…

  Ehh, screw it. Maybe Brock or Flint would put up a good fight?

  —

  —

  That night at the Pokemon Center Dexter finally got a response from the Saffron Contest Center.

  "It's a single Pokemon performance, Erin! One three-minute Performance before the Battle portions!" He was grinning at her, but Erin?

  She looked mildly distraught, almost. It was clear why when she started muttering to herself.

  "If I take Artemis, I'll have to… No, Hecate would… fu- crap, no, that won't work… Maybe if I…" She trailed off, but considering her lips were twitching, she was having a conversation. Judging by the idle, empty looks on Kallen and Artemis' faces, Hecate had pulled them in for a four-way chat.

  I met Leafs vastly amused eyes and smiled before looking over at Dexter.

  "So, I have to assume you've already bought us tickets?" Erin's head rose slightly, eyes panicked, before she closed them again.

  Dexter laughed a little.

  "I've got both of you some very nice seating booked! One of the larger booths, in fact! You should be able to let everyone out to watch, even if more than a few will have to sit on Dignity. She's kinda big compared to everyone else." Yeah, she was…

  "Luckily the seating is apparently modular, because they had to clear out a small section behind the judges table for Leto's tail… Then widen it when I told them her tail wags when she gets excited, and they have to sell those seats at reduced price, considering Leto's going to block more than a few views… Oh, and guess who gets to play interpreter?" Dexter was grinning, but when his eyes met Leto's piercing stare he shook slightly.

  "I won't mess with the interpretation, I swear!" Leto huffed, but her stare returned to its normal level of piercing.

  Kallen blinked a few times before moving away from Erin, Hecate, and Artemis, so…

  "Not going to compete this time, Kallen?" He looked at me, gave me a serious shake of his head, then floated over to watch TV with the rest of our Pokemon.

  Huh, well, Erin could just flip a-

  "Agh! Screw it! I'm not having one of you upset with me for choosing the other! Lets just flip a coin!" Yep, I kind of figured that would happen…

  Erin paused for a moment, then looked up at us with a very embarrassed expression.

  "Uhh, I don't suppose either of you have a coin I could flip? I don't exactly use physical money, not with Dexter. Everyone has a PokeNav…" That was true. PokeNav's were free to any citizen at Pokemon Centers, actually, even if the free ones were horribly slow at everything other than basic video calls.

  I laughed at her… then grew puzzled, myself. Shit, it had been a long time since I used physical currency, too. Judging from Leaf's face, she didn't have any either…

  Erin frowned, then looked at Tinkatink with a wide smile.

  "Tinkatink, sweetie, think you could make me a flat disk out of any metal? I'm not using it, so you can eat it after, or just reuse it?" Tinkatink jerked and tore her head away from the Pokemon Battle being shown, thought for a moment, then shrugged.

  She wasn't enthusiastic about it, but in quick order Erin had a thin disc of bronze. Enthusiastic or not, about to be recycled or eaten or not, Tinkatink hadn't left the disk plain, of course. One side had a fang etched into it, while the other had a peaked hat. Erin took it with a smile and thanks, but Tinkatink had already returned to the TV, of course…

  Erin looked at her two youngest Pokemon and smiled.

  "Okay, no matter who gets to be in this contest, no hard feelings, right?" Hecate easily nodded, but it looked like it hurt Artemis. She still nodded, though.

  "Good, good… Now, I'm going to flip this and let it land on the floor. The side that's facing up gets to compete this time, okay?" They both nodded, and Erin flipped the disk into the air. It hit the tightly-woven carpet of the Pokemon Center room, bounced once, then came to a stop.

  I didn't even need to wait for Erin to announce it. Hecate's short wail, both audible and mental, was more than enough to tell me that Artemis was going to be competing.

  That and Artemis' thankfully small, non-Move roar of joy.

  —

  —

  "So, did you hear back about your eighth badge challenges yet?"

  Erin completely ignored my question, but honestly, she might not have even heard me. She was huddled with Hecate and Artemis, silent as they tried to plan out a performance. Hecate wouldn't be participating, but while she was disappointed, she wasn't the kind of Pokemon to hold a grudge or get jealous, and was eager to help brainstorm. Kallen had joined them briefly, but he wasn't nearly as interested in Contests as the other two, and was back to watching TV now.

  Leaf looked over at me with a smile as she cuddled Grace and Tinkatink, even as Hope cuddled her from behind… I understood that they all liked to cuddle, but seriously, it was… almost excessive. Amusing to see, though, especially with Hazard, Morgrem, and Noibat focused on the TV right beside them.

  "Well, they said they would get back to us tomorrow, actually! They asked for a lot of details, and they know we're traveling together. I guess the Gym Leaders share more than just team compositions with each other? If they can work us in, I get the feeling we'll be going before or after you."

  Huh, I guess that made sense? It would be nice to get them all over with in a row, like Cerulean and Vermillion. Not that waiting around for a few days would have been an issue, but still… That was part of the reason I wanted to go ahead and get my fifth badge, aside from being close to Pewter. I wanted all of our fights to be at the same level once we hit Saffron.

  "Well, they have me fighting Brock in two days, so hopefully? We could run to Saffron after that, give Erin and Artemis time to practice… whatever they're working on." Erin didn't even twitch at her name.

  Leaf softly laughed at that.

  "Yeah, she's kind of bad at planning ahead, I guess? She's known for months that they wanted to perform, but did she plan or practice at all? Nooo, not the Tiny Tyrant!" Erin looked up briefly to glare at her, then went back to sitting there, eyes closed, frowning. Artemis's eyes were closed as well, but her tail was wagging in happiness. Hecate glanced over at us, smiled, then closed her vibrant eyes again.

  I smiled back, but I was mildly worried. Erin wouldn't get mad at us if she performed poorly, but she would get all depressed if she did… A depressed Erin sounded like a bad time for everyone else, too. Aside from, you know, me not wanting her to be depressed… I'd really rather not have to deal with Artemis getting depressed or angry, either.

  I had never seen her truly tantrum, but I got the feeling that if she did poorly? Lost? Not even Erin and Leto would be able to stop it.

  —

  —

  The next morning Dexter floated out of Erin's jacket with a grin as we sat in the Center's cafeteria. The oatmeal and fruit they had for free didn't exactly make for an amazing breakfast, but the highly discounted meat for our carnivores certainly made up for it, even if it wasn't tasty meat.

  Even Leto was out of her Pokeball, and I took great pleasure watching people's reactions as they entered the cafeteria and caught sight of her crouched over eating in our corner of the cafeteria. There hadn't been any screams, of course. Leto was known in Kanto these days, and aside from poachers, hadn't eaten or even harmed a human in Kanto. She was still huge and deadly, so almost every trainer gasped before calming down. Some clutched their chests, some froze for a few seconds… One girl, however, had squealed in glee, and after a quick request to Erin, had gone over to gush at Leto's… Leto-ness.

  Honestly? I understood that one. Terrifying maneater, sure, but when she wasn't a maneater here? Well, Leto was the most physically imposing Pokemon I had ever seen other than a Gyarados, Onix or Steelix, so it made sense. Leto had enjoyed having a fan, as was only proper for 'true Queens' according to Erin's amused interpretation, so she had been kind enough to let the girl touch her snout before going back to slowly eating a light breakfast of three Miltank legs. All carnivores had a certain amount they were allowed to eat from Centers a day, but for Leto? It was just enough that she wouldn't starve in the long run.

  She would be getting some Tauros later, most likely. Not that she couldn't go days without food, or probably far longer, most predators could, but she would rather not.

  Dexter grinned at all of us, dodging a blueberry I flicked at him. Hecate grabbed it out of the air and tossed it into her mouth, so I didn't feel bad about wasting food.

  "Pewter Gym just got back to me! You're all fighting Brock back to back tomorrow around noon! Alex first, then Leaf, then Erin. I actually saw a few promotions for it. Not serious promotions with ads, just little notices on their PokeNet site for those that check… Well, judging by the views, you're going to have an audience, all of you!" He turned to me, and his face looked less amused.

  "Also, they kind of listed you as Alex Blackthorn, so if you were hoping to remain anonymous…" I frowned for a moment, then shrugged.

  "I mean, if I wasn't traveling with everyone here? I'd be far more irritated by it, but now? Nah, I don't really care all that much." Slightly irritating, sure, but not a huge deal…

  We had almost finished our breakfast when we were interrupted by someone walking up behind us from the door. This time it wasn't one of Leto's fans, or even someone looking to talk to Erin.

  The older girl looked to be around twenty years old, and was dressed… very brightly. Bright blue pants, black boots, and a pink blouse made her somewhat distinctive. Long black hair framed a… pretty face, sure, but she looked furious, actually? Furious and very concerned!

  The anxious younger girl our age trailing behind her was dressed more normally in a simple yellow sundress, and judging from their faces was the older girl's sister, possibly cousin.

  The older girl reached out to grab Leaf's shoulder, though, and that was a mistake!

  As soon as her arm rose Hope was there, growling at her! She was swiftly followed by a furiously snarling Hazard, even as Morgrem looked over and sneered at her, halberd-hair rising behind him as he sauntered over to Leaf's side.

  The stupid girl pulled her hand back with a sharp inhale of breath, looking confused! Why the hell are you confused, idiot! Don't just try to grab someone!

  Luckily Leto just glared at her, rather than unleashing one of her thunderous growls. Everyone else's Pokemon were glaring at her now, too. Well, not Yanmega… actually, he was glaring at her! Kind of, I could tell he was, but you couldn't tell by the eyes. The clacking of his mouth-fangs certainly gave it away, though. I wasn't that surprised, though. Her Pokemon or not, Leaf was friendly with everyone here, even my giant murder-bug, and they all liked her.

  The girl went pale as we all turned to glare at her too, but she shook herself slightly before straightening her back.

  "Sorry, I was just trying to get your attention… You are in a lot of danger, with this many fae!" It took a few seconds, but then her words finally registered, and we started giggling. Then laughing.

  She looked upset, though.

  "I'll have you know I come from a family of fae contractors! There's no way you have control over this many fae, and I don't want to see a kid lose an emotion, desire, or their life!" She was eyeing Morgrem warily as he continued to sneer dismissively at her.

  Huh, I guess that… made sense?

  Damnit, I just wanted a nice, relaxing morning! Not to deal with some meddling idiot- Okay, a well-meaning idiot. For a normal trainer, yeah, this was a dangerous gathering… Still, there goes my relaxed mood!

  Fuck!