It was one thing to know that the land to the east of Striaton was hilly, Dana mused, and another to have to travel it. They'd spent the last hour hiking across endless rolling hills, wading through grass that was waist-high on her. They were alone but for a few wild Pokemon that scattered as they approached. Patrat and Rattata scurried into their burrows, Pidoves and a few Pidgey took flight. These last made Dana put her head down, her face suddenly hot from something more than the sun.
"I can see the ruins from here!" Harlan's voice carried down to her from the top of the hill.
"Be there in a minute!" she shouted back.
She huffed and puffed up the slope, one hand clutching her backpack, the other holding her tabard out of the way. It was a long way up the hill. Harlan was about ten feet taller than she was, and each one of his steps was worth three of hers. He'd pulled ahead almost immediately on their journey, and she'd urged him on, not willing to let him slow down for her.
Harlan came into sight as she closed in on the top of the hilltop. The big man had a bottle of water in one hand and his hood down, rubbing fingers through his short, dark hair and making it stick up oddly. She put on a burst of speed to close the gap, and came to a halt at his side a few moments later.
"Didn't you say you were a trainer?" Harlan said, his tone more curious than scolding. "I thought you'd be used to hiking."
Dana shrugged. "I am, it's just not easy when I have this uniform on." She pulled off her backpack and withdrew her own water. She was tempted to pour half down her back; the sun had come out an hour ago and her bodysuit was practically glued to her skin.
Harlan looked at her for a moment and then frowned. "Who gave you that thing?"
She blinked up at him. Had he just now noticed? "Fay. They didn't have anything in my size, so she loaned me one of hers."
She held out one sleeve of her uniform to show him. Her gloves had been a total loss, and she'd had to roll the arms and legs of her bodysuit four times. It hadn't done much to make the underlayer fit better. Fay had ten years on her, and Dana was acutely conscious of how the uni bagged out at the chest and hips. The gray surcoat they both wore over their bodysuits was the real problem though. She could roll her sleeves up, but there was nothing she could do with the tabard. It was sized for a woman, not a girl, nearly ankle-length when it should have been to her knee, and she'd had to use one hand to hold it up the entire journey.
"Honestly," Harlan said, rolling his eyes. "Just take it off. You have spare clothes in your bag, right?"
"What? No!" Dana shook her head vehemently. She'd earned this uniform, and she wasn't about to take it off at the first opportunity.
"You look ridiculous."
"I…" she trailed off before managing a weak, "It's our uniform though."
Harlan shrugged and set off down the other side of the hill. "Your call."
Dana stared at his back for a moment. Harlan's uniform fit him perfectly; the surcoat's cut and color painting the picture of a modern day knight. Someone dignified. Someone strong.
She looked at herself.
Like a little girl playing dress-up.
When she caught up to Harlan at the bottom of the slope, he looked at her for a moment. She glared back, daring him to say something.
The surcoat felt much heavier when it was in her backpack.
XXX
Their destination was only a few miles away after that. Harlan had sighted it at the top of the hill, but she didn't see it herself until they crested the next rise. The ruined factory known to the locals as the Dreamyard was half-submerged in the trees, its crumbling walls and collapsed ceiling covered in greenery. A few broken windows caught the sun, shining at them and beckoning them onward.
She kept pace with Harlan for the final leg, pushing herself to keep up. Neither of them said anything, only concentrating on getting there and out of the sun.
Before long, they stood before it, a dome-like building ringed with a tall wall. The front gates were closed with a rusty padlock, still strong and sturdy despite their weathering, but nature had given them a way in. An oak had fallen on the wall, smashing a V into the concrete. The tree was too high to reach, but the gap in the wall was just low enough for Harlan to get his fingers onto the edge.
He jumped for it, pushing his feet against the wall to propel himself upward. Harlan struggled for a moment, his teeth clenched, before finally pulling himself over the lip and onto the gap, leaning against the tree to stay up.
"Cmon," he called down, lowering his hand for her.
Dana eyed the distance before backing up. She took a running start and hurled herself at the wall. She made it three steps up, her feet scrabbling for purchase against the concrete, and then threw her hands up, reaching blindly for Harlan.
He caught her, her hands tiny in his, and lifted. He was a big man, and strong enough that he hefted her up to his perch without strain.
"You okay?" he said.
She nodded, flushing a little. She should have been asking him that. All she'd done was get lifted like a sack of potatoes.
Harlan leaned over to look down the inside of the wall. "I'll go down first. You can lower yourself and I'll catch you."
She flushed deeper. "I can make it."
Harlan raised an eyebrow at that.
"I can," she added. "Trust me."
"I don't want to have to haul you back with a broken leg," he said firmly. "Don't make this some sort of girl power thing."
Dana glared at him. "It's not a 'girl power thing.' I can pull my own weight." And before he could say anything else, she turned and crouched at the edge. The drop was actually longer on the inside, the ground dug out long ago for a cement floor, now scattered with dirt and dead leaves.
"Kid, don't," Harlan protested. He reached for her, but she scooted away.
"I'm a trainer, remember?"
And as if that settled it, she turned and dropped off the side, holding onto the edge and facing inward. Her hands and cheek scraped at the ragged concrete, but her grip held and she dangled there. Beside her, Harlan began scrambling down as well, trying to beat her down in case she fell. Dana hung for a moment, looked down, and took a deep breath.
A fall this long needed space.
She pulled her legs up and pushed away from the wall, immediately throwing herself into a spin. For half a breath she was weightless, arms spread wide, hair flying out behind her, and then gravity asserted itself and she fell. The ground rushed up at her. A little alarm in the back of her head was going off, telling her that she was too far, too high, too-
Her boots struck concrete and she snapped a hand out, not catching her fall but guiding her, turning her momentum into a roll. Dana tucked her head and let her shoulder hit the stone as she went end over end. She had one triumphant instant to think 'I did it!' before she realized she was tumbling straight into a thorn bush.
Ow.
"Kid, you okay?" Harlan called.
Dana popped out of the bush. Her face was scratched, and she was pretty sure there was Pecha berry smeared in her hair, but she grinning, her heart still pounding. Two years of gymnastics had nothing on this, getting out in the world and doing it, being a trainer.
"Never better!"
XXX
Her excitement lingered as they began their search. Traveling was a bore, but now that they were in the Dreamyard her enthusiasm was back.
This was how it began. Her first day and she was already out in the field. Harlan walked beside her, but she took the lead, wending their way through the grass.
The research facility that had become the Dreamyard was large; the pockmarked dome like a second sky above them, and ruined, low walls of stone and concrete running as far as the eye could see. The dome let in some sun, but not enough for more than a few scraggly weed trees. The majority of the plant life was tall grass and underbrush, with a few berry bushes here and there that probably fed the wildlife.
It was those Dana paid attention to. Food sources, watering holes, game trails; these were where Pokemon gathered. It was… she stopped, frowning.
"What do Munna eat anyway?"
Harlan sighed. "Shouldn't you know that?"
"I've never been around one for more than a minute," she said. "I'm eyeballing the berry bushes, but what if Munna are like Drowzee and feed off dreams?"
He groaned. "This was supposed to be quick and easy."
Dana hesitated for a moment, looking between Harlan and the nearest berry bush. A Patrat was perched in one of the low branches beside the bush, gnawing on a fruit. She honestly didn't know what Munna ate. But… she didn't want to look stupid. She was supposed to be the expert here.
"Okay," Dana said slowly. "I think… we're just gonna assume they eat actual food. This isn't rocket science, you know? The dome is only so big. Let's just wander around until we find one."
Harlan checked his watch and sighed. "Lead on."
They continued their meandering trek through the undergrowth, Dana once again took point, while Harlan stomped along in the rear. She didn't really know him well enough to say if she liked him yet, but he was beginning to get on her nerves. He was just so loud. How were they supposed to find a Munna with him thundering along like a Tauros?
Despite what she'd said, the area under the dome quickly outstripped her predictions. The only Pokemon she saw were the typical grassland vermin: Rattata, Patrat, Pidove. Once or twice, she thought she glimpsed what might have been a Jigglypuff, but it was impossible to tell through the tangled brush. The wild Pokemon all scattered as they approached, uninterested in a battle. Her steps grew more hurried the longer they searched, the need to prove herself, to do this right like an iron weight in her chest. She had one shot at this. One shot to impress them.
They walked high and low through the Dreamyard. Behind her, Harlan was grumbling. The big man wasn't used to this kind of environment, and she could tell the hike was wearing him down.
When the brush finally parted to reveal an open space, Dana nearly jumped for joy. The gap in the undergrowth was formed by the remains of a room. Three lopsided walls held back the greenery, and the sagging remains of a stone ceiling loomed overhead.
"Here," she whispered.
The room was centered around a flight of stairs. They led down, descending into the darkness of the Dreamyard's lower level. A Munna would live down there, wouldn't it?
"I'll go first," Harlan said. Dana opened her mouth to protest, saw Harlan's face, and stayed quiet. She opened her bag and withdrew her flashlight.
"Here."
He took it and flicked it on, illuminating the steps. Thick cobwebs hung in the corners and across the yawning hole in the ground. The stairs were mossy, damp from rain and water, but didn't seem to be crumbling too badly.
"If it'll hold me," Harlan said, testing the first step with his foot. "It'll hold you."
They descended slowly. Dana stayed close to Harlan, trying to look in every direction at once. Looking for Munna seemed suddenly secondary. The basement was pitch black; she didn't like the way the darkness opened up all around them. The sunlight died off alarmingly fast, and by the time Harlan's light lit up the bottom of the stairs there was a subterranean chill in the air. It was like walking into a cave, somewhere old and deep, untouched by man and-
Harlan stopped so suddenly that Dana walked into his back.
"Wait. I thought… I thought I saw something."
She peered over his shoulder. "Where?"
Harlan lifted the flashlight, shining it around them. The narrow beam lit up only empty, dusty concrete walls and floor, and a few rusty oil drums sitting in the corner. He made a second sweep, searching more carefully this time. He-
A flash of color.
Dana hissed, pointing. "There!"
He jerked the flashlight up just in time to catch a handful of bright, segmented insectile legs in the beam. The thing scuttled into sight. An Ariados, its shelled, multicolored body as big as Dana was.
The arachnid Pokemon gave an angry trill, its black eyes glittering in the light. Before either of them could move, it fired silk from its mouth and plucked the flashlight from Harlan's hand. The tool spun wildly for a moment before the Ariados pulled it in and ate it, smashing it to bits in its mandibles. The basement went dark.
They both screamed. Dana managed a single, stumbling step backward before Harlan took matters into his own hands. The big man grabbed her around the waist and ran back up the stairs, Dana tucked under his arm, both of them still yelling bloody murder. Behind them, the Ariados fired another string shot, narrowly missing Harlan's shoulder.
Returning above ground was like falling into another world. Dana blinked rapidly, her eyes burning in the sudden light, but Harlan hadn't stopped running. Trees and brush whizzed by them as Harlan put as much distance as he could between them and the stairs.
"Harlan," Dana cried. "Harlan, stop! It's not following us!"
He kept going, not seeming to hear her.
"Harlan!"
Dana punched him in the ribs. Harlan 'oof'-ed and his steps faltered enough for him to trip over a tree root and go down. She went sprawling as he fell, landing in a thick mound of dead grass.
For a moment, neither of them moved. Harlan knelt, panting, and Dana laid there, her hands still shaking.
Finally, she managed to stammer, "L-let's t-take a break."
Harlan only nodded, his face grave.
XXX
They ate where they'd fallen. Dana walked a circle in the grass, tamping it down until they had a place to sit. She unpacked her lunch and dug in while Harlan opened up a couple granola bars and a water. Both of them were quiet, eating without looking at each other, alone with their thoughts.
Dana barely tasted her box lunch of cheesy chicken and rice. She couldn't stop thinking about the Ariados. What if the Munna really were down there? How were they supposed to get into the basement if it was filled with monsters like that?
"Hm," Harlan grumbled. It took Dana a moment to realize she'd voiced her thoughts aloud. He chewed for a moment, finishing off his bar before he spoke. "You really want to go back down there?"
Dana shook her head. "No. But…" She worried her lip, thinking about it. Giving up was failing, and she could not fail. "Let's keep looking up here. Maybe… maybe Munna wouldn't hang around down there?"
Harlan perked up a little at that. "Yeah?"
"Munna would be weak to a Bug-type like Ariados," she said slowly. "So why would it live in a basement where Ariados are?" The words sounded truer as she said them, and by the time she was finished, Dana felt a little spark of hope bloom in her chest. "Let's keep looking."
Harlan managed a small smile and nodded to her. Dana smiled back and returned to her lunch. She-
"Harlan!"
He jerked where he was sitting. "What?"
"Did you steal the last piece of chicken?"
"What- no!"
"Then where is it?" Dana waved her lunch box at him. "It didn't eat itself!"
"You probably ate it and didn't notice!"
She scowled at him. They'd finally connected a little bit, hit the same wavelength, and he turned out to be a food-thief.
"I didn't take it, kid," Harlan growled. "I-"
The grass rustled, and they both froze. Slowly, Harlan reached out and parted the thick stalks. There was a Pokemon there, facing away from them. Dana leaned forward to peer at it.
It was a Purrloin. The purple and cream colored feline Pokemon crouched in the grass, its long tail swaying back and forth as the creature chowed down on her missing piece of chicken.
Dana's eyes lit up, her stolen food instantly forgotten. Harlan had a Pokeball in hand, but Dana waved him back.
"Hey, Purrloin!"
The Purrloin jerked its head up, staring over its shoulder at them. It had bits of cheesy rice in its whiskers.
"Wanna join my team?"
"Pa-pur?" the Purrloin said. It turned around, and after a moment, mewed at her. Dana felt her heart melt a little. So. Cute.
"Kid, you need to back away," Harlan whispered.
She shook her head. The Purrloin was listening to her. Slowly, very slowly, she reached out, holding out a hand for it to sniff. The feline twitched a little, its body tense, but finally stretched forward to smell her hand. Dana withdrew her hand, but the Purrloin stayed where it was, almost close enough for her to touch. It was a good sign.
"We can team up and be partners," she said cheerily.
The Pokemon cocked its head at her, and then looked meaningfully at the rest of her lunch. "Pur-pur-loin."
She took the hint and pushed the box over to it. The Purrloin immediately buried its face in the food, eating so rapidly that bits of rice flew everywhere.
Dana took the opportunity and started talking rapidly. "There'll be more food, but more than that, we'll be on a mission. We'd be equals. Teammates. I wanna rescue Pokemon- save them from captivity and slavery, change the world so we can all-"
The Purrloin finished eating. It looked between her and the empty lunch box, and immediately turned and ran back into the grass.
"Wait!"
Dana staggered to her feet, ready to run after it, but Harlan grabbed her arm.
"Are you crazy? Why didn't you just catch it?"
"That's not how I do things!" Dana cried. "Purrloin, come back, please! I just want to talk!"
The Purrloin vanished into the undergrowth in a flash of purple. Dana sagged and slumped back into the grass where they'd been sitting. She stared into the space where the Purrloin had gone. The warmth that had filled her at the sight of it bled away, replaced with a cold, sinking feeling.
As if it would ever want to be with you.
Harlan only sighed. "Better luck next time, kid."
XXX
Harlan led the way after lunch. Dana was content to follow in his wake, her head down, her steps heavy. They were retracing their steps from earlier, down the ragged path Harlan had made in his flight. They gave the stairs a wide berth and continued on into an unexplored section of the Dreamyard. There was more rubble here, the crumbling walls closer together, enough that it was almost possible to see what the layout had been before the building burned.
Harlan helped her over a particularly high bit of rubble, and Dana mumbled her thanks to him. He paused, looked at her, looked away, sighed, and looked back.
"Was it really that bad? It was just a Purrloin."
She kept walking for a few feet so she didn't have to look at him. "No… not really, no." She swallowed. She couldn't tell him. Not now, not ever. They'd just met, but she wanted him to like her, wanted this to go well. And if she told him… no, it couldn't happen. "Look, it's personal."
Harlan seemed taken aback, and shrugged. "Oh."
The next wall was covered by a slab that had fallen at an angle. Dana walked up it and balanced on top of the cracked divider. Visibility was still low, but she surveyed their surroundings anyway. She might see a Munna. Or Purrloin.
After a moment, Harlan joined her. "I was thinking," he said.
Heat flared in her chest. "I told you," Dana snapped. "It's my business."
"About the basement," Harlan interrupted. "You're a trainer. Would you be able to handle the Pokemon down there? Because I'm not seeing any Munna up here."
Her anger died as quickly as it had come, and Dana flushed. He must think she was a total bitch now. "Oh."
"You're pretty good, right? That's why they stuck you with me – I don't know Patrat from Pikachu." Harlan gave her a crooked smile. The expression softened his craggy features and made him look younger, enough that for the first time that day she realized how narrow the decade between them really was. More than that, she realized that he really wasn't angry at her.
"I only got the one badge," she said softly. "It's not a good idea."
"You're sure?"
"I'm sure." She turned away and started looking for a way down the wall. It wasn't more than a four foot drop, but the ground was rocky. Landing wrong and turning her ankle would be an amateur mistake. She-
Dana's jaw dropped.
There, through a gap in the trees, was a tiny, pink and purple shape. She blinked, not believing her eyes. And then it moved, and she saw it clearly.
Her arm rose of its own accord, pointing straight at it. "Mu-mu-Munna!"
"Shit!" Harlan whispered. "What's the plan?"
"We'll get close and I'll talk to it. If that doesn't work…" She paused, biting her lip. "You can catch it."
Harlan looked at her in surprise, but nodded.
"How to do this…" she murmured, examining the Pokemon. It had started snuffling around in the dirt, using its immature nose to root around. She wondered briefly if it was searching for food.
"Ah," she said softly. That was an angle. "Harlan, give me a granola bar."
"You're going to bribe it? Like with the Purrloin?"
"Wild Pokemon love free food." Rose loved granola, a tiny, inner voice added.
Harlan withdrew a bar from his bag and tossed it to her. Dana pocketed it and nodded to him. "Let's go."
Harlan went down first, the distance insignificant for his long legs. Dana had to drop to her butt and scoot to the edge. She slipped off as slowly as she could and landed where Harlan had. The fall was jarring, but she stuck it.
They turned as one and moved toward the clearing in the trees.
The Munna had moved on since they navigated the wall, but she could still see it ahead, just visible beneath an Oran tree, chomping away on a berry. She walked carefully, stalking, her steps nearly silent in the thick grass. Wild Pokemon were jumpy, quick to flee if they didn't want a fight. Harlan trailed behind her, but she waved for him to keep his distance. Even if he didn't frighten it away with his size, two-on-one certainly would.
Dana closed in. Fifteen feet. Ten feet. Almost- the Munna looked up and Dana froze.
"Hi there," she said softly, putting on her best closed-lip smile. Most Pokemon saw smiles as bared teeth until they got used to people. Body language was something she'd tried to pick up for Rose. It hadn't worked, but she remembered all the same. With painstaking slowness, she dropped to a crouch, making herself as small as she could.
The Munna stared at her, the spot on its head flashing, its body still tense. She'd thought about catching one the first time she came to Striaton, so long ago now. Munna were telepaths. Body language didn't count as much when it could hear what she was thinking.
I don't want to hurt you, she thought, trying to impress her sincerity into the words. Let's be friends.
The Pokemon crept forward.
We need your Dream Mist to help Pokemon. We just want to help. Let's be friends, she repeated. Slowly, she unwrapped the granola bar and held it out to the Munna. I brought food. Good food. There's more where this came from.
The Munna blinked its red eyes at her. "Mu…" It moved a little closer. Dana couldn't hold back her excitement. Just a little more. Just a little-
A twig snapped in the woods. The Pokemon jolted and immediately shot off into the brush with a squealed "Muuun!"
"After it!" Dana screamed.
She threw herself into the undergrowth. Twigs and branches poked her face and tore at her bodysuit, but she ignored it, concentrating only on catching the little Psychic. Behind her, Harlan thundered into motion. Faintly, she could hear something else moving through the trees; whatever had startled the Munna was still there.
"Munna, come back!"
The Munna ignored her, hovering a little faster through the brush. She raced after it, leaping a log that the Pokemon zoomed under. Harlan came up hurtling past her a moment later, his long legs easily outpacing her.
The Munna rushed toward a thick tangle of thorns and brambles. If it made there, they'd lose it.
"Grab it!" Dana shrieked, forcing herself to run all out, already knowing she'd never make it in time.
"Patrat, go!" Harlan shouted. "Get the Munna!" He hurled a pokeball out in front of the Munna. His Patrat appeared in a flash of red and immediately darted after their quarry. The rodent Pokemon slammed into the Psychic and they tumbled, a ball of flailing limbs, the Munna screeching as the Patrat snapped and bit at it.
Harlan dove. Dana lost sight of the Munna as he grabbed for it. For a moment, Harlan struggled on the ground, grabbing for the Pokemon. Dana got to him just in time for him to lift the squirming Psychic, his Patrat still hanging gamely on, drawing blood from the Munna's flanks with tooth and claw.
"Gotcha!" Harlan panted.
The Munna shrilled its distress, its spot flickering erratically. It wriggled harder, gouting Dream Mist, and Harlan nearly fumbled it. Dana grabbed for it as well, trying to hold it back. Her fingers brushed through the Munna's short coat of pink hair and found a hold. It gave a disturbingly human squeal of pain as she seized it around the legs and clutched it to her chest, curling around it to keep it close. The Munna struggled for a moment more before going limp, its immature body quivering, already exhausted from the race.
"Gotcha," Harlan repeated.
Dana grinned. "Gotcha."
Harlan's Patrat pulled itself out of the grass and came to sit at his heel, staring as its partner started fumbling around in his pockets. "I've got a spare ball here somewhere."
Dana hesitated. "I'd really like to talk to it first…" She glanced down at the shaking bundle in her arms. Blood was oozing from a bite on the Munna's side, one of the floral patterns turning slowly red. She grimaced and pressed a hand to the wound, putting pressure on it. They could talk to it when it wasn't bleeding everywhere. "Go ahead and catch it."
"Hey! What are you doing!?" someone shouted.
They turned. Two people stood across the clearing from them. A boy and girl, both around her age. The boy wore dark blue, his black hair a tangle beneath his hat. The girl was round-faced, blonde, her bright clothes slightly scuffed like she'd fallen in the dirt.
"Leave that Munna alone!" the girl cried.
"What do you think you're doing?" the boy repeated, his face stormy. "It's hurt!"
Dana looked at Harlan for direction. He raised his eyebrows at her.
"You're the vet here," she hissed.
"And you're the trainer," Harlan shot back. "They're obviously trainers, you deal with them."
She jerked her chin at the Munna. "It needs to be treated. Just talk to them while I hold it."
Harlan gave the injured Pokemon a long look before nodding. "Alright." He stepped past her to face the duo, raising a lazy hand in greeting. "Hey there, how are you?"
The boy glared at him. "I asked you what you were doing."
"We were catching the Munna," Harlan said conversationally. "We need the Dream Mist to help us in our mission."
"Mission?" the girl interjected.
Harlan stood straighter as he answered. Dana's eyes widened as she watched the tall man become a knight before her eyes. It was like seeing him smile again, for just a moment his whole presence transformed to something else; his tone no longer dry, but inspired. "Our mission is Pokemon Liberation. We are Team Plasma, and we will save the Pokemon of this world!"
The boy moved forward, his posture stiff, his fists clenched. "Pokemon Liberation? What do you call that?!" He jabbed a finger at the Munna in Dana's arms. It chose that moment to give a pitiful whine, and Dana winced.
"Muuuunn…"
"That was an accident," she protested. "We'd never purposefully hurt a Pokemon!"
The boy shook his head and drew a Pokeball from his belt. "I've heard enough. Bianca, get ready! Go, Tepig!"
The piggy little Fire-type appeared in a burst of red. "Te-te!"
Beside him, the girl- Bianca, tossed out her own Pokemon. A Snivy joined the Tepig, staring down its nose at Dana and Harlan.
Dana took a step back. This was bad. This was the absolute worst. She wasn't ready for a battle. Harlan was going to find out!
"Shit!" Harlan growled. "Patrat, get in there!" His Pokemon scurried forward, its dark eyes narrowed at the two enemies.
"Pa-tra…"
"Tepig, use Ember!" the boy yelled. Tepig inhaled deeply and spat a small fireball at them. Patrat ducked, and Dana was forced to twist to the side as the Ember kept going and nearly hit her.
"You- use Tackle!" Harlan commanded Patrat, his voice shaky. "Kid, anytime!"
"Razor Leaf!" Bianca cried.
Snivy spun, leaves firing from its body like shurikens. They came slicing through the air toward them. They seemed to come in slow motion for Dana, every rotation seconds long. Bianca wasn't aiming at her; probably hadn't given it any thought. But they were close by, far closer than a standard match would be, and there was no time to dodge, and no Pokemon to block the shot.
"Kid, your Pokemon!" Harlan shouted from somewhere far away.
She had time only to meet his wide, frightened eyes. "I don't have any!"
The leaves struck her.
XXX
Did someone say Plasma fic? Because Plasma fic.
I'm a little rusty on writing third-person, so this might start off a little choppier than my regulars are used to. Please bear with me as I get used to it.
This is responsible for delaying the next chapter of Yearning... Whoops. I hit writer's block on that at the same time I got inspired by this. Updates for this are likely going to be intermittent. I'm going to try very hard to make Yearning my main priority.
Concept came directly out of 'Mind Over Matter,' a Pokemon fic by Dora Milaje on Spacebattles and Sufficient Velocity. Go read it. It's got a queer protag and a fascinating take on Pokemon The First Movie.
I've only just recently gotten into Pokemon as a fanfic fandom, though I've played the games for ages. Ironically, BW1 are the only games in Gen 5 that I haven't played. Take depictions with a grain of salt until I manage to find the time to play through Volt White or something. Going to be heavily OC focused here.
Other inspirations and ideas for this fic came out of:
Coli Chibi's 'Pokemon Black and White: Tony's Journey. Someone linked me to it for its depiction of Plasma, and I wasn't disappointed.
Digital Skitty's 'Pedestal' and The Straight Elf's 'Traveler' provided a lot of ideas for stuff with evos and Pokemon interaction, though nothing specific at this point. I'll reference them as they come up if I ever get that far.