Dino smiled. "You think Areina will be strong enought to beat me in Cyllage?" he asked as they walked down the streets of Courmarine. The town was a peculiar one- it looked like buildings and cobblestone paths had grown from the ground the same way the trees and flowers had. It gave the whole town a charmingly rustic vibe.
They had separated from Team Pomarose, who would hit Lumoise then go around and meet them in Cyllage town, and Valerie.
They had arrived via Valerie's Altaria and Togekiss and Dino's Whimsicott using fly. It was a sad and slightly tiring goodbye, but Dino wouldn't of had it any other way. Valerie hugged them and kissed their forheads before she flew off.
"Be good!" she told them sternly. "Don't anger any other cults , understand?"
Dino suspected that she was only half joking.
Now they were exploring Courmarine, ssnacks in hand and Pokemon in toe. It was kind of weird to be travelling normally, like nothing had happened two weeks ago.
"Probably." Topher said. Like always, Allison had picked out new outfits for them when they got to town- Topher now wore a thin black sweater with thin baby blue stripes and blue skinny jeans (Allison loved those on him). The sweater was too long, so it hung off of him and the sleeves covered his thumbs. He still wore his beanie. "You only beat her by trickery."
Allison laughed. She herself wore a white dress shirt under a pink sweater with blue skinny jeans and pink sneakers. In addition, her hair was now in a side pony tail. "True." Allison smiled at a Bellosoom( a pokemon that appeared to be wearing a crown made of red and gold flowers and a dress of leaves) as it glided by them.
Dino stomped his foot, which had a new sandel on it. In addition to that, he had an orange poncho and new jeans. "You said I didn't cheat!"
"Technically, you didn't..." Topher grinned. Ever since the incident with Masa, he did that more. Odd. "But I think you did. You wouldn't of won if not for cheating."
Dino spit his tongue at him. "Jerk."
"Child."
"Shut up, both of you!" Allison smacked both boys on the side of the head.
"Ow!" they both exclaimed.
Yep, everything is definitely back to normal. Dino thought.
"Ice Beam, Gyarados!" A man in a white poet shirt and black pants yelled.
The blue serpentine Pokemon bared his fangs and thrashed around, before shooting a ice blue beam that would freeze anything it came in contact with.
"Tangela, Vine Deflection!" His opponent , a girl, twirled as she battled, showing off her short flower print dress in a whirl of pink and yellow. If she weren't wearing tight black leggings, the man would of seen something he shouldn't have.
A mass of green vines hid a small Pokemon. This creature created a wall of vines that blocked the beam. "Now, Power Whip!"
Vines connected to Tangela erupted from beneath Gyarados and wrapped around him.
"Gyarados , Thunderbolt!" Gyarados shot a jolt of electricity threw the vines and electrocuted Tangela. Her vines loosened and fell off of Gyarados, a sign thay Tangela had fainted.
"The winner is Rios." the temporary referee, a scarlet haired girl in a black tank top snd form fitting jeans, said boredly.
"Me and you next!" She declared, looking at the other girl. "Let's go, Scarlett."
Scarlett shruged lazily. "Ugh. Do I have to?"
The man, Rios, nodded. "Yes. We must train, if we are to beat the children from Laverre." he said. "Now get up and fight Cedar."
"Areina, you okay?" Lucy asked. The trio was traveling along the familiar red sands of route 13.
Areina looked up. "It's nothing."
"You sure?" Nayeem asked. Despite her usual habit of not openly displaying her emotions, she looked worried. "You look like you're regions away."
Areina shook her head. "Y'all, I'm fine. I was just thinking about what Dino told me at the hospital, is all."
Lucy tilted her head. "What'd he tell you?"
Areina bit her lip. It wasn't her secret to tell.
But was it even a secret? Dino said it so effortlessly, so casually, like it didn't matter.
"What is it?" Nayeem asked. Both girls had their eyes trained on Areina.
"Dino..." Areina paused. "I arsked if that girl visiting was his momma, cause she looks far to young to be, but maybe she just looked young, ya know? But he just laughed and..."
"And what?" Lucy asked.
"And said that him and his friends didn't have parents. They're all dead."
"This sounds interesting." Allison said. She showed Topher and Dino the flyer on the Pokemon Center Bulletin Board.
Topher and Dino looked up. Topher took out his headphones and Dino lowered the book Allison told him not to read as they walked. "Huh ?" Topher said. "'Pokemon per trainer per team?" he read incredulously. "All this for one Pokemon? And only one being used in a team of two? These trainers must be something."
"Or the Pokemon ." Allison said.
Dino grinned wildly. "So we're taking on a super powerful mystery Pokemon tomorrow?" Dino raised his fist to the air, and Numel set it's jaw. "Alright! Team Laverre is going to beat this Pokemon and win their second medal tomorrow!"
"Nume!"
