Dusk's eyes opened when he felt a small poke in his lower leg. The active sun instantly blinded him, forcing him to shut his eyelids again. After a brief moment of preparation, he looked at his leg to see a curious Kricketot jabbing him with its tiny arms.
He gently moved his leg, which resulted in the small Pokémon becoming terrified. It ran away as fast as it could, shouting obscenities along the way.
Finally, Dusk forced himself to sit up. He rubbed his eyes, determined to stay awake. "Uh...That was random," he stated out loud.
The sentence along with the movement woke his human partner up as well. She squinted, angered at the sun for being in the sky already. "What time is it?" she mumbled.
Dusk checked his watch. Upon spotting the time, his eyebrows perked. "Wow. Half past nine."
"Guess that's what happens when you stay up until two..." Dawn bounced up, getting somewhat comfortable on her bottom. She put a hand behind her neck and attempted to twist it. "Sleep well?"
"All things considered, yes. You?"
"Sure. I slept better here than I did most nights in Sinnoh."
Dusk frowned, his eyes locked at the sleeping Wizard. He hated when Dawn brought up that certain event from her past. "So, now or later?"
Dawn paused to stretch her arms. "Drama already? Starting early today?"
"Latias...wanted me to tell you a few things."
The girl's morning cheerfulness sank like a rock. "...Oh," she said quietly, watching the back of Umbreon's head. "What did she say?"
"The first thing was that she wanted to apologize to you for doing...that."
"It's fine," Dawn instantly replied, not caring that her words didn't mean much to who she was talking to. "Like I said, I actually think it's interesting. I just wish I was...you know, here to see it."
"Funny you say that." Dusk scratched the back of his neck. He couldn't thank luck enough for letting him be in a position that blocked his face from Dawn's view. "After she apologized, she told me to ask you if...she could start doing it a little more often."
Dawn blinked. She played his words over in her head multiple times. "...What?"
"That was basically my reaction, too," Dusk said. "Still told her that I'd ask, though."
Dawn fell silent. In fact, the entire route seemed to do that. After a minute, Dusk continued the subject.
"I also asked her why she changed how she looked soon before we left Littleroot."
"What'd she say?" the girl inquired shakily, still paralyzed from the last question.
Dusk put on a small smile as he remembered her exact words. "She said that she was afraid that she was becoming clingy to you, so she switched into an old picture of May that she'd found."
Dawn did her best to force a smile. "It kinda sucks. The only person who doesn't seem to know that much about Latias is me."
More silence. A sharp wind cut through the morning air, stirring the grass up a bit. The distraction went mostly uncared for.
Dawn crawled over to Dusk's back. She turned around and leaned on it with her own back. "Latias..." she started almost sadly. "...What does she sound like?
Dusk let out a playful "hmph." "You." Knowing that response didn't necessarily answer her question, Dusk continued on with the description. "She pauses a lot. At least, last night she did. I don't remember her doing that back in Littleroot. She's kinda quiet, too. She didn't usually talk before I started conversation. She's also...kinda hilarious. She stared at Roark for a few minutes, and with a straight face, politely asked him, 'Could you leave?'"
Dawn laughed, which Dusk grinned at. He didn't want her to get too upset over this.
"She also ain't too bad at English, either," he went on. "I'm assuming that us meeting her in Coronet was one of her first experiences with humans. Considering that, I only noticed a couple things she said, if that, were off."
Dawn chortled. "Considering it's 'our meeting her in Coronet,' I'm doubting your ability to judge Latias on that."
"Oh, whatever."
The light bellowing from the girl turned into a happy laugh. "I was just saying!"
Dusk reached his hand backwards. He managed to grab Dawn's arm that was still bandaged. He trailed it downwards until he found her hand, which he promptly gripped. "But, Dawn. Whatever you decide to tell Latias...Don't be afraid to say 'not often.' Or even 'no.'"
Dawn's head fell. She was always frustrated at herself after falling into Umbreon's traps. This wasn't the first time he got her to laugh, only to bring a depressing topic back up. "...I-I know, but..." Expecting to get interrupted, Dawn stopped. She was a little surprised when her partner said nothing. "...It sounds like she had a lot of fun, finally being able to talk. For the...well, second time, she probably...really felt like one of your friends. How am I supposed to deny her of that?"
"She didn't even want to ask the question," Dusk replied. "She felt just as awkward saying it as I just did. If that means anything to you."
"I...I don't know." Dawn turned her head to the sky, and was grateful when she didn't spy a thick cloud anywhere. "I just need some time to think about it, I guess."
"...Company."
The contemplating girl turned her head half-way over her shoulder. "Hm?"
There wasn't an answer from Dusk. However, after a few moments, several footsteps were heard sneaking up on Dawn's back, coming from the direction of Fallarbor Town.
"Good morning, you two!" a cheerful voice started, increasing her pace to reach the Sinnoh Trainers quicker. When she hit her destination, she got to their side and bent down on a knee. "You actually didn't go as far as I was figuring you would. Did everything go okay?"
"Good morning, May," Dawn replied, not being bothered enough to move from her position. "Yeah, everything went fine. I take it nothing happened on your end?"
"Not quite that far back..." May murmured, hoping it wasn't clear enough for the other two to understand.
"What do you mean?" Dusk inquired.
The comment made May flush. "Uh, nothing! Forget I said that!"
"...And then I get dragged up on stage to do this stupid karaoke thing."
The sound of Gold exploding with laughter successfully killed the previous moment for the Sinnoh Trainers. With a weak smile, Dawn gave two small squeezes to Dusk's hand, then started getting to her feet. Umbreon and May soon followed her up.
Dawn failed to turn around to face the rest of the group before getting choked by two arms around her stomach. She looked down to see one arm wrapped in a bandage, one arm in a cast, and neither of them her own. Her smile increased in strength, if not by a little bit. "Good morning, Latias."
With all the footsteps and noise, it was inevitable that Wizard finally woke from his slumber. He blinked his eyes, then looked upwards and beamed at all the familiar faces. "Pika!" he shouted loudly, catching everybody's attention.
"Good morning, Wizard," was heard from everybody but Latias and Gold, the latter calling Wizard "P," for some reason.
He jumped from the ground all the way to Umbreon's shoulder. "Pika, pika," he repeated a bit quieter.
"Feeling good, buddy?" Dusk scratched Wizard's head before turning to the group. "Well, since we're all here, we might as well head off. I-"
Gold clapped his hands together. "Actually, I got some weird news for ya'll. I gotta split."
"What? Why?" his closest partner immediately asked back.
"Man, I got a some work to do in good ol' FA." Gold slapped Brendan's arm. "Don't worry, bro, we'll keep in touch!"
Brendan pointed his thumb in the general vicinity of the team. "We'll wait for you, if-"
Gold put his hands on his hips. "Nah, dude, that ain't cool. You guys got to get to tracking down heavy D's imposter, and sittin' around here all day won't do you no good. Like I said, man, I got your 'Nav number, so it ain't like I'm going far. We'll meet up in a few days, and you can eat that one!" Without turning around, Gold started on his way back to the quaint town. "You guys keep tabs on that moron, will ya? Oh, and hey, May, real sorry about last night!"
May scratched her cheek. "D-don't worry about it..."
"Cool! Cool, girl! A'ight, see ya'll around somewhere!" The boy finally shifted on his heel and dashed back into where he came from with a surprising amount of agility.
"...What's FA?" Dusk questioned once Gold was gone.
Brendan rubbed the back of his head. "Fallarbor, I'm assuming." He let out a short, but strong sigh. "That kinda sucks. Ah, well."
"Anyway, like I was saying, I obviously can't head back there in blinding daylight. Combine that with..." Dusk turned his eyes to Dawn specifically, who was watching him while in another of Latias's holds. "...another reason, and Fallarbor's pretty much off-limits. Where will we end up if we just keep heading down this route?"
"The next big city we'll probably hit would be Mauville," Brendan answered from memory, confirming it with May with a silent glance. "Before that's just this route and Route 111, both of which are pretty long."
"Fantastic. Long routes." Knowing that his word was law as far as Team Missile was concerned, Dusk headed eastward. "Trouble never finds us on long routes."
Brendan and May followed him, and after detaching herself, Latias happily kept alongside Dawn, who had fallen into the rear.
"So, what was wrong with Wizard?" May asked, hoping the day would go by faster with early conversation.
"Turns out..." Dusk stroked the Pokémon on his shoulder. The mouse had gotten tense from the subject alone. "...our favorite Pikachu is a Hoennite."
"What? Really?" Excited about the news, May reached her arms forward and grabbed Wizard right off of his perch. She held him high in the air. "You never told us that!"
Wizard scratched the side of his own ear. "Pika...Pika, chu?"
May brought him back down and cradled him in her arms. He didn't mind snuggling up to her orange shirt. May used her scarf to tickle his ears, which got an amusing twitch out of him. "So what was the problem?"
"...Remember his first Trainer?" Dusk started off quietly, forgetting that Wizard's incredible ears would pick up anything he said anyway, "Wizard said that Fallarbor's where he was captured by him..."
"Oh, Wizard..." Feeling sympathetic for the creature, she let him hold the tassel to her scarf.
His slightly sad expression changed to curiosity, then happiness as he shook, tugged, and blinded himself with the warm material. "Piika!" he yelled, his voice getting muffled from being behind the scarf.
"On a brighter note, I see that Wizard's just as speedy as I left him..." Brendan noted, his eyes turned to Wizard. "Not that I expected anything less."
In the back of the group, Latias was beginning to get worried. The two were far enough back to hold a semi-private conversation, so she didn't understand why Dawn wasn't saying anything. The girl's head was lowered, watching the grass below her disappear as the team began treading on more of a dusty trail.
It wasn't much longer until the human-Pokémon couldn't stand it anymore. She tugged at Dawn's shirt.
When Dawn saw how scared Latias was for her, she smiled, once again failing to get much strength behind it. "I'm fine, Latias, really..." Her head returned to its previous position. "Dusk-I mean, Umbreon...He...told me about the things that you wanted to tell me."
Latias bit her lip. She would have given anything if it allowed her to give a verbal apology.
"I can only imagine how excited you are for the answer, but I just wanted to tell you that..." At this point, Dawn figured that Latias's expectations had sank like a rock. She figured correctly. "...I-I just need more time."
After what she had been counting on, the answer that Latias received was actually quite positive. It made her perk up.
"Latias, I want you to know that it means the world to me that you actually asked for my permission. But, even with that, it's...scary, thinking that somebody else is in my body. It's not that I don't trust you, it's just...the thought itself. You understand, don't you?"
Latias nodded her head somewhat reluctantly.
"You're awesome, Latias." Dawn leaned over with the sole intention of kissing her female friend on the neck, as they did so much in Littleroot. "Thank you," she said quietly, still close to Latias's neck.
Latias retired to standing behind Dawn a bit, hoping it would prevent the girl from seeing the blush on her face. As far as she was aware, it succeeded.
-OAM-
"Prepare for trouble, we work from home..."
"Make it double, but hold up, I'm on the phone..."
"To protect-Huh?"
Somewhere along Route 113 was a house, and in that house was a glass workshop. Two people, along with their feline pet, worked tirelessly at crafting objects from glass. Shelves placed inside the glass counter held their skillful works on display.
Behind the counter were the essential items involved; a fire stack, the expected tools, and a fridge. The medium-sized cooler didn't help much in the creation of glass objects, but it worked for when hunger struck. On top of the counter was a phone, which was currently occupied.
"Who's he talking to?" Jessie wondered snidely, aggravated that the motto had been interrupted.
Meowth raised a hammer into the air. "Like I'd know 'dat."
Jessie's eyes turned to the talking cat. "...Why do you have a hammer?"
"It's for when youse twos start actin' all stupid on me," Meowth replied, somewhat surprised that Jessie had needed to ask that question.
"Mm-hm...Uh-huh...Mm-hm..." While muttering into the phone, James was jotting down notes of the conversation on a slip of paper. "But what about the Absol? When we-Oh, I see..."
"Hmph." Jessie frowned. She opened the refrigerator door and found a healthy apple to satisfy her hunger with. "Don't tell me he's talking to that Magma slut again."
"He's too obsessed with 'dat," Meowth agreed, temporarily resting the hammerhead on the floor.
"Super groovy!" James suddenly exclaimed. "Thank you so-What? Oh...But, I like saying the word 'groovy...' It-All right, fine. Talk to you then, then." Without a usual farewell, James hung the phone up.
Jessie took a deep bite out of the fruit in her hand. "So, let me guess. Another failed attempt to get us back into Team Magma?"
James spun around to face his teammates. "We don't know. They might let us back in. They're deciding whose fault it really was for losing that Absol."
"Hm. Well, duh." Jessie walked over to a small table near the fire stack, where a half-completed project stood. "They're the ones that told us to retreat. If they didn't say anything, we would have happily continued trumping those twerps."
"All I know is that I miss my Tyranitar..." James said sadly, a small tear working its way up to his eye.
Conversely, Meowth chuckled. "I miss yer green head, Jimmy."
Jessie walked over to James. She ran her opposite hand through James' mostly-purple hair. "Still see a few spots...Glad that you got most of that washed out, anyway."
"Tell me about it," James added, proud of his true hair color. "I-Hey, wait a minute...why does Meowth have a hammer?"
Jessie's sharp eyes interrupted an answer. They looked out the window of the one-story building viciously. "We got bigger problems."
"Huh?" James turned his head over his shoulder, allowing him to also see through the window.
"Twerps."
-OAM-
"There it is! I'm so glad we're here!"
The entire team couldn't help a smile at May's cheerfulness, Wizard included. Dawn was starting to miss Ionu, who remained in May's possession, but didn't want to say anything to her at the moment. While walking up the dusty, smoke-smelling road, the female Hoenn Trainer had actually taken a small lead on Dusk.
"I used to come here all the time! It's owned by two really nice, older folks, and they..."
As May droned on, Brendan chuckled to himself. "Yeah...All the time," Brendan said quietly enough for the other three to hear.
"And then they even gave me free candy sometimes!" May continued with a laugh. Out of nowhere, she stopped both talking and walking, and turned to Dusk. "Oh, Umbreon, I've been meaning to ask you. How come you never mentioned that your mother works as a radio host?"
"She does?" Dawn wondered.
Dusk raised an eyebrow. "...She does?"
The entire group had stopped at that point, to a little of Latias's dismay. She wanted to see what was in that building that got May so excited.
May turned blank. "Er...You didn't know that?"
Knowing it was still a ways up the path, Dusk started walking again. "No, but I'm slightly curious how you do."
The woman gave a few big steps to catch up to Umbreon's side. "Max asked her about it when she was at our house."
"She was where?" Dusk shouted, jerking his head toward May.
"Um...At...our house," May repeated, fearful that maybe Dusk didn't get along with his mother. "Umbreon, I'm sorry if you don't want to talk about it. We don't have-"
"Why is she in Hoenn..." Dusk mused to himself. "Last time I checked in with her, she was unemployed," he finally answered.
May watched the ground beneath her pass while trying to come up with a way to continue the topic. "Oh...Well, maybe she just found the job since the last time you talked with her?"
"Unlikely," Dusk thought to himself.
The group turned awkwardness to the extreme as they continued in silence towards the shop.
-OAM-
"Welllllcome!" a red-haired lady greeted excitably. The hair reached even farther down her back than Dawn's. "We're so glad you could make it!"
A man with short, purple hair, contained slightly with a green headband, nodded his head.
May blinked as the woman lifted May's hand up to shake it. "Um...Hello."
Both shopkeepers were dressed in something similar to medieval Chinese folk. They both wore flamboyant robes and a holster for a sword on their waists. However, there was no sword in them. The man's robe was yellow on top and green from the knees down, while the other's was red on top, and a dark blue on the bottom.
Dawn suddenly jumped in the doorway from behind May. "Hey! You're Team Rocket!"
Due to the declaration, Latias also looked closer at them. She squinted her eyes threateningly, ready to transform at a moment's notice.
Both shopkeepers stumbled back a few steps. "Uh, no, really, we're-"
"What are you talking about, Dawn?" May wondered, turning her head to her companion. "They don't look anything like Team Rocket." She turned her head back to observe them some more. "I mean, yeah, the hair colors are the same, but that doesn't mean anything...Besides, they don't have a Meowth."
"She's right, Dawn," Dusk stated, also walking into the shop. His Pikachu watched the two people curiously, but didn't look ready to attack. "You eager to have a battle or something?" he added with a chuckle.
Dawn blinked her eyes at both of her teammates. "You're...kidding, right?" she asked quietly. She turned to her last hope. "Brendan?"
"Uhh..." Brendan cocked his head to the side. "Well, if you do kinda tilt your head a little, there definitely are some resemblances...But, hey, I haven't seen 'em that much before, so don't take my word for it."
Dawn was forced to look at Latias, who was getting confused. She turned her head back to the shopkeepers. "Are you people...blind?" she wondered, once more, so quiet that it was basically to herself. "Just...Put an 'R' on their shirts, and..."
Though sweating bullets, the woman decided to speak up. "Yes! Yes, that's correct! We do not know anything about this...What'd you call them? Team Rocket?"
The man bobbed his head up and down at an awkward pace. "Right! She's right!"
"See, Dawn?" May comforted, putting a hand on her shoulder. "There's nothing to get so upset about. You must have just had a rough night."
The other three Trainers walked into the shop and looked around. May and Brendan headed for the glass counter, while a painting on the wall seemed to enrapture Dusk.
Dawn, meanwhile, couldn't get herself to move if she tried. She couldn't believe that she'd just gotten shut down by her closest friends. "...L-Latias?"
The human-dragon wasn't able to do much more than Dawn could.
"So, did something happen to the other two owners?" May wondered, squatting down on her knees to get a closer look at an item. "I was really looking forward to seeing them again."
"They...died-"
"No!" the man shouted, interrupting his partner. "They, um...went on vacation! To...the...Sevii Islands! Where it's...warm. Very warm. Old bones get cold much faster than us young age folks, you know."
May blinked her eyes. "...Oh."
Brendan was a bit more willing to challenge the call than May was. "But northern Hoenn has Mount Chimney sittin' right next to it. It's always warm up here."
"Yes...Well...um..." The man gulped. "It's...even warmer in the Sevii Islands. Have you ever been there, by chance? It's a wonderful place to travel to, if you ever have the time, if I do say so myself," he mused thoughtfully, nodding his head to agree with himself.
"Uhh...Yeahh..." Brendan shook his head, then knelt down to see what item May was looking at.
In contrast, May got to her feet and leaned over the counter, allowing herself a view of different glass figures. The petit smile that stayed on her face as she observed the surprisingly well-crafted objects suddenly vanished, replaced by suspicion when her eye happened to catch cream-colored fur hiding on the opposite side of the see-through bench. "Hey...Is that a Meowth?"
Brendan was quick to his own feet. He had his own reasons for despising the alleged feline that was two feet away from him, but didn't have enough time to express them.
Before he could, both shopkeepers bolted over to the Hoenn Trainers and forcefully pulled them away from the counter. "Uh, please, don't lean on the counter!"
"It's very, um...breakable," the woman added. "Right, partner?"
The man nodded nervously. "Ri-"
"Meowth, 'dat's right!"
Dusk swerved on his heel to turn toward the sound. May and Brendan raised their eyebrows, while Latias seemed quite surprised. Dawn pointed at the shopkeepers. "I told you so!" she gloated.
The woman smirked. "We had something good, but since the cat squealed..."
"I guess you have some Pokémon that we would like to steal..." the man finished.
The female shopkeeper yanked her robe off to reveal her usual outfit. "On the wind!"
The man copied her, throwing his accessories behind the counter. "Past the stars!"
Meowth dragged himself from behind the counter. His head and arms were sagging low to the floor. "These two are gonna eat me for a meal..."
"Bringing-"
"Okay, okay, we get it," May moaned, shifting back to her female friend. "Dawn, I'm sorry we didn't listen to you."
"It's fine," Dawn replied, waving the apology off. "Let's just wipe these two-"
"Aw, no," Dusk interrupted, walking forward with a Pokéball in his hand. "They fooled me and May. We need some revenge."
May smirked at the invitation. She turned back around to Team Rocket.
"Hey, fine by me," Brendan stated, backing off to the wall to get out of the way.
Dawn and Latias both quietly followed him over.
"Annoying twerps...Interrupting our motto! Seviper!"
"Carnivine, let's go!" James shouted devilishly.
Both of Team Rocket's classic, if not competitively-challenged Pokémon exploded onto the small arena. For some reason, neither Rocket was very worried about any of the glass creations being destroyed.
"Um..." Dusk took a step back. "Wait. What happened to their 'I'ma-destroy-everything' Pokémon?"
May turned her head back to the underused Pokémon and agreed. "Hey, you're right..."
Jessie folded her arms stubbornly. "If you must know, we were kicked out of Team Magma because Blue over there stole that Absol."
May opened her mouth to speak, but a foot being stomped on the ground stopped her. She turned her head to Dawn, who seemed quite frustrated. Both hands were clenched. "Okay, you know something?" she angrily began. "I'm sick of it always being called 'that Absol.' There's nothing different about her! What is it, her coloring? All Pokémon have slightly different colors! My fa-" She allowed herself a pause to bite her quivering lip. "P-Professor Rowan was studying this same thing! It's really not that odd!"
Dusk closed his eyes... "Dawn..." ...Which didn't last long, as his eyes suddenly sprung back open. "Wait, she has an Absol?"
Brendan turned his head in another direction. He'd already figured that May wanted to stay out of the topic, so he was forced to fill in Dawn's blanks. "It's...not really the coloring..."
Instead of giving an angered look at Team Rocket, Dawn gave a surprised glance at her own partner. He did his best to avoid it. "What? You know what this is about?"
Negating Brendan's theory, May began walking towards the girl. "Dawn..." She got down on one knee and set a hand on Dawn's shoulder. "Your Absol's caught in something called...a Magma Ball."
"Magma Ball?" Dawn echoed, her mind slightly blank from May kneeling in front of her.
"It's a, um...type of Pokéball that Team Magma used to use. It greatly strengthens the Pokémon, but...sometimes, it'll go blind with rage, and won't be afraid to attack anything...including its own Trainer."
Dawn scuttled through her holdall and found the Magma Ball. She stared at the insignia in complete silence.
"Another team, known conveniently as Team Magma, used to use them all the time. When Team Magma was driven out, we thought all the Magma Balls went with them, but..."
Brendan sighed. "...Apparently not."
"Well...This is long," James stated, also folding his arms.
May turned her head and glowered at the opposing team. "Dawn, we'll help answer your questions later. Right now, it seems that I'm holding the party up." She stood up and got next to Dusk once again. She raised a Pokéball up to neck-level. "Wouldn't want that."
Dusk took a last hard grip onto his own Pokéball, then threw it towards the crowded battlefield. "You need more air time, Vesera."
Vesera twirled around and taunted her opponents with her paw. "Bunnneary!" She turned her head over her shoulder and immediately locked eyes with Wizard, who was still perched on Umbreon's shoulder. She gave him a wink. "Bun."
Wizard flushed. "Pi...ka."
Dawn giggled. "Hey, you watch yourself, Wizard. Ionu won't like getting played."
Wizard gave a nervous laugh. After his Co-Trainer's eyes were finally off of him, he turned to Dusk and whispered. "Pika, Pi chu?"
"Er...Not exactly..." he answered just as quietly.
May blinked at her teammate. "Umbreon? Is everything okay?"
"Fine as everything can be," he replied as casually as he could.
"...R-right. Let's go...Cherry!" May happily released her own Pokémon.
"What?" Brendan shouted, his eyes watching May's Pokéball like his life depended on it.
"What?" Dusk instantly echoed.
Vesera didn't appreciate no longer being the cutest Pokémon on the field, but did her best to forget about it. Instead, she watched as her partner ran around in circles, attempting the impossible task of catching its own pink tail.
Dusk narrowed his gaze onto the Pokémon as well. "Uh, May. Where did you get that?"
"Uhm...Gold traded it to me. Why?"
"Any idea where he got it?" Umbreon continued, ignoring May's question.
"Uhm..." May forced herself to think. The previous night had so many events happen in it, it was hard to remember a small detail like that. "I think he said somebody gave it to him. I don't remember the name, though." A smile grew on her face. "Why? Do you recognize it?"
Dusk finally faced his opponents once more. "Well...Yeah."
May blinked, stunned by the serious response.
Her attention was soon diverted. Without any warning, Brendan took two steps to the side. His eyes were on the Skitty the entire time. After hesitating, he turned to his side and bolted out the door.
May threw her hand up and started running after him. "Brend-"
"No, May, I'll go!" Dawn intervened. "You finish off Team Rocket already!" She started running for the door, but stopped when Latias began following her. "Latias, you stay here in case you need to fight Meowth, okay?" After getting a sad nod out of the silent girl, Dawn continued through the doorway.
Feeling no need to stay in her human form, Latias transformed into the red- and white-colored dragon everyone had come to recognize. She quickly hovered over to Team Rocket's side, where a depressed Meowth stood. She made a quick yelp.
"Nah, don't even bo'der," Meowth moaned, heaving a disappointed sigh. "I'm still too shook up from bein' caught like 'dat..."
James put his hand on Latias's face and pushed her away. He squatted down on one of Meowth's sides, while Jessie did the same on the other. "Meowth!" the male started triumphantly. "Failure is what Team Rocket knows best! We must play to our strengths!"
Jessie grabbed Meowth's cheek and forced him to look her way. "James is right, and you know how often I say that! So you screwed us up this time. How many times have we screwed you up?"
"Most of 'da third season, and 'dat's right off 'da top of my head," Meowth answered.
"Exactly!" James returned. "Now, go fight that dragon and lose! But do it in a fashion that will make Team Rocket proud once more!"
"You got it, Jimmy-boy!" Glowing with confidence, Meowth sidestepped James and took youthful hops to get to the unsuspecting Latias. "Hi-yah!" Claws extended, he leaped into the air and gave Latias three stinging slices straight across her cheek.
Latias's instinct forced her to hover high in the air to avoid a continued attack. She shook her head to try and recover from the burning pain. Failing at that, she looked down to the ground and glared at Meowth. She roared, not amused with the dishonorable tactic.
Meanwhile, Dusk blinked. "...I think that's the most pathetic cheering-up speech I've ever heard."
"The worst part is, it worked," May added, blinking right along with him.
Jessie and James got back to their feet. They nodded to each other, then turned back to face Team Missile. "All right! Let's go!" they both shouted.
"Vesera, get into the air!" Dusk commanded.
"Seviper, stop that thing where it moves! Use Sludge Bomb!" Jessie retaliated.
Knowing that she had to play a bit of defense to get into the air safely, Vesera used her Quick Attack to leap up instead of a normal jump. The decision helped to dodge a Sludge Bomb, but Vesera froze when she saw a second one flying directly towards her.
Dusk frowned, frustrated with himself that he'd underestimated their opponents. "Pound through it!"
Vesera did a quick roll through the air and ended with her foot extended toward the toxic assault. Gravity started taking effect, allowing the Buneary to pick up some momentum before crashing into it.
The offensive defense was successful, which put a smirk on Vesera's face. It didn't stay long before getting wiped off due to the aftereffects of her actions. The Sludge Bomb had exploded, releasing poisonous fumes near the ceiling. Vesera was caught in it, leaving her with no other option than to inhale. She instantly fell back to the ground and just barely managed to land on her feet.
She fell to the floor on one knee, looking up at Seviper weakly. "Buneary..." she muttered.
"Looks like Vesera's poisoned..." May put her hands on her upper legs and leaned forward. "Cherry, do you know Heal Bell?"
The Skitty turned her head around and looked at her new Trainer. "Nyaaaaa?"
"Okay, then. Sorry, Umbreon." The woman got back into a regular stance and pointed at Carnivine. "Then we'll just use Assist!"
Cherry pranced forward, happily running at her own pace. Three-quarters of the way to Carnivine, and she showed no signs of doing anything but a Tackle.
"Don't make me laugh!" James yelled, but started cracking up anyway. "Wait! Too late! Carnivine, use Crunch!"
Just as the Grass-type Pokémon began to hover towards the nearing Skitty, Cherry's tail caught on fire. Dusk stared at it for a moment, then started laughing. May and James blinked, while Carnivine came to a dead halt.
"Carni?" it questioned awkwardly.
Being close enough to land the hit, Cherry hopped into the air and swung its tail into Carnivine's face. The singing flame left a burn mark where it landed. Having a strong weakness to the lucky attack, Carnivine was slapped back to James' feet. It laid on the ground and didn't get up until a positive cheer was made by its Trainer. It slowly got back into the air, muttering curses at both Cherry and May.
The short silence that appeared in the area was enough to hear how the third battle was going.
"Oh, youse wants some'a 'dis? Oh, I'll give yas some'a-DAH!"
Meowth quieted when he got thrown into the wall by an uncharged but speedy Dragon Pulse. It made both May and Dusk chuckle before the Trainers turned back to their own battle.
-OAM-
While outwardly calm, Dawn wasn't sure what to expect while walking up to Brendan. She tried her best to sound confident, but understanding as she put a hand on his shoulder. "Brendan?"
The older Trainer, who had been leaning against the building with one hand, brought his head around. He caught sight of the blue hair, smiled a little, and turned his gaze back to the ash-covered grass beneath him. "Hey, Dawn."
"What happened back there?" Dawn asked meekly. "Did May's Skitty do something to you?"
"I suppose you could say that," replied Brendan blandly.
Dawn got to her friend's side and leaned on the house with her back. "Then what?"
"It doesn't matter." Brendan got off the wall, specifically so he could turn his back to Dawn again. "If she wants to use the stupid cat, I'm not going to stop her."
The girl said nothing for a few moments, since she was unsure of what she was supposed to say. In the meantime, she reached around her neck and tugged on a red string. She eventually freed the plastic pendant that Dusk had given her in Littleroot. She smiled at the sight of it, after having ignored it for awhile. "Brendan, can I ask you a question?" she asked, her eyes not moving from the letters imprinted on the necklace.
The Hoenn Trainer sighed, overall frustrated with the way that today's been so far. "Shoot."
"Why..." Dawn turned her head up to watch the back of Brendan's head. "Why don't you think it matters?"
"Just...because," he answered awkwardly. "I'm fine, Dawn."
"...Are you afraid to tell me what's wrong?" Dawn pressed on.
At first, silence. "That's stupid," he finally said, forcing a chuckle.
"Is it?" Dawn lifted her head to the sky. Her eyes watched a cloud lifelessly pass. "Brendan, out of our group, you're the only one whose weaknesses...I don't know." Brendan raised an eyebrow while Dawn continued. "May's is obvious. She can't stand seeing anyone, or thing, in any sort of pain. As for Dusk-I'm back on calling him Dusk, by the way- he's shown, and even told me that his weakness...is me. He needs me. But...you..." Dawn returned to looking at the rear side of Brendan's head. "You're just this...rock that can't be taken down by anything. At least...that's what you want me and Dusk to think."
Brendan wanted to say something. He just wasn't sure what.
"Brendan, I'm thrilled that we have somebody to turn to when we just need to laugh. But...that doesn't mean that you're not a human, either." Dawn's eyes returned to the pendant. "You have problems, just like the rest of us. And when you don't tell us about these problems, at least me and Dusk, we start to feel...I don't know, alienated, I guess? Just...Like, we're good friends, but not good enough to come to for problems."
Brendan smirked. He rubbed his eyes, wanting to hide how close Dawn had got to the truth. "Sounds like you and Umbry had a discussion about this once."
"I don't need to talk to him about it," Dawn answered peacefully. "What can I say? The boy's predictable. But besides that, I guess we don't really need to tell each other everything. The other...just knows it. You and May are probably the same." The girl placed the pendant behind her shirt once again. She got off the wall and faced Brendan for a last time. "Anyway, if you don't want to tell me about what's bothering you right now, that's okay. Just remember that...Dusk and I know better than to think you're Superman, you know? You have problems, and we want to help you. Just like you always help us."
Silence weaved its way in again. The girl was getting silently frustrated that her friend wasn't cooperating all that well, but again reminded herself that being understanding was a priority. With nothing else going on in the vicinity, she huffed a little sigh and turned her head towards the door.
"Anyway, I'm going to go see how the other two are doing. You're pretty quiet, so I hope I didn't say anything wrong, or something."
"Nah, nah," Brendan confirmed, waving it off. "I'm glad you told me that. Gives me something else to think about other than how hungry I am. Gold stole most of my breakfast earlier."
Dawn laughed, making her way back around to the front door. "Well...Come in when you're ready, okay?" Not counting on an answer, the girl slowly walked up to the door and pulled it open.
"...Guess that was a long time in-coming." Brendan folded his arms, fixed his posture, and gave a sigh of his own.
-OAM-
"If I'm going down, you're coming with me! Vesera, Pound!"
After minutes of being sapped of energy via poison, Dusk knew that Vesera's number was coming up. Her final moments hadn't gone to waste, however; the Buneary had succeeded in running circles around Seviper, taking cheap shots at the many available opportunities that she had found. Both were equally tuckered out, though Vesera's remaining strength had a time limit, while Seviper's did not.
Getting to her feet one last time, Vesera sped toward the glass counter. She pushed forward, leaping through the air, and crashing her feet into the plexiglass display case. She used that to bounce off of, gaining tremendous velocity toward her opponent.
Seviper was too tired to dodge another attack. It lowered its head and hissed while waiting for the final blow.
Using its own free will and a clumsy shout of its own name, Carnivine opened its mouth and hurled a countless amount of energy balls toward Vesera. The rabbit Pokémon didn't see the Bullet Seed coming in time, causing her to ram into the attack unprepared. She plummeted the small distance to the floor, no longer able to move her body.
Jessie and James looked at each other. The woman smiled and nodded her gratitude. When their heads turned back, they saw Cherry bolting towards them. Before James could even open his mouth, the Skitty hopped into the air and spun around, smacking Carnivine with her out-stretched tail. She repeated the process another time, completing her Double Slap. Carnivine was whacked off to the side, which opened up a hole for Seviper.
The Poison-type Pokémon swung its own tail into Cherry, slamming her back into the earth. The dust on the floor exploded into the room from the single maneuver.
Cherry struggled to her feet and glared helplessly at Seviper, who had somehow gained a boost of energy. "...Nyah..." she gasped.
"Ugh...Dangit!" May cursed. Though lacking the strength that it could have possibly held, Dusk was surprised to hear May say such a rough word at all.
The boy kept silent about it as he returned his incapacitated Pokémon to its home. "You did good, V."
"Pika pi," Wizard agreed, looking at the Pokéball with a depressed expression.
At that moment, the door opened. All the Trainers turned to see who was entering, though Latias was too busy beating Meowth to have noticed.
Dawn entered, then glanced around the awkwardly quiet room. She scanned the battle, only to be surprised to see the challenge in favor of Team Rocket. "...Hey," she said quietly.
"Everything all right with Brendan?" Dusk asked, ignoring the now-impatient Team Rocket.
"He'll be okay. But I did get to thinking of something, though..." Dawn fell backwards, trusting the door behind her to catch her. She leaned on it and slightly cocked her head to the side. "...Why are we fighting Team Rocket?"
May and Dusk looked at each other, then to Team Rocket. The bad guys were staring back at them, equally surprised by the question. All four turned back to Dawn, expecting an explanation.
Having eight eyes pierce her skin, Dawn suddenly felt uneasy and stared at the floor. "I mean...When we fought them in Sinnoh, they were a part of Team Galactic. And when we fought them in Littleroot, they were a part of, what was it? Team Magma? When you think about it, they really didn't do anything to instigate a fight this time."
"I guess..." May slowly craned her head towards Dusk. "...she's right. It was just sort of an automatic reaction."
"Sooo..." Dusk rubbed the back of his head. He lifted his eyes up to both Rockets. "...Sorry?"
James took a single stomp forward and proudly pounded his chest with his fist. "Now you listen here! If it kills me, I am going to get us back into Team Magma, and you-"
Like a streak of lightning, Jessie ran to her partner's side and covered his mouth with her glove. She put her mouth up to his ear so she could whisper her words. "Now you listen here. Maybe we beat the first round of their Pokémon, but we're going to get crushed, if not by that Pikachu or any of their other Pokémon, then by that stupid dragon that's beating the crap out of Meowth. They're on the verge of leaving, so if we make them feel guilty for challenging us, then they'll get out of our way. We can finish this match once, and if, we get back into Team Magma."
"Oh...right," James agreed softly, though not quite to a whisper. "The blue-haired chick is right, twerps!" he yelled across the building. "You dare to challenge us when we're innocent bystanders in all this? How dare you!"
May coiled backwards, never having been lectured by James before. Dusk's reaction was blank. A part of him wasn't believing how heavily James was milking this.
Without moving her head, Dawn looked at her indigo-haired rival. "...Could you not call me that?"
"Look, twerps," Jessie began while recalling Seviper. "We already know that beret over there is skating on thin ice. If we run off to the cops and tell them that we're being assaulted by him, that will only put him in a worse position than he's already in."
Dusk tapped his foot on the ground. He stared into Jessie's eyes, anger bubbling inside him. "So, basically, you're blackmailing me."
"Well..." Jessie put her hand on her hip. "I could try to weasel my way around that, but I actually like how 'blackmail' sounds. So, yes, basically."
To interrupt the negotiation, Dawn felt footsteps coming up behind her. She quickly jumped off of the door, getting away just in time before it opened. A calm Brendan walked in and was surprised to see the lack of action. "Did I already miss the party?"
James raised a Pokéball up and recalled the waiting Carnivine. Understanding that they were in a mutual agreement with Team Rocket, May reluctantly did the same for Cherry. "Turns out that we should just leave, Brendan..." May explained, eyeing the bad guys suspiciously.
"Oh, uhh...All right," he replied, confused but unwilling to question the decision.
Jessie turned to her side and looked behind her, where the action hadn't yet ceased. "Meowth, stop humiliating yourself. We're done fighting."
Seconds before ramming into Meowth with her head, Latias halted her flight and looked at Jessie blankly. The tip of her eye caught sight of Dawn, who she turned to instead. She yelped, to which Dawn gave a nod.
Nervously, Latias morphed back into Dawn and ran over to the group.
"Yeah, youse bett'a run..." Meowth warned. He was unable to stand up straight, talk coherently, and his right eye was black-and-blue. He fell to the ground unconscious a moment later.
With a "hmph," Jessie and James both turned around and walked behind the glass counter. When they realized that Meowth wasn't conscious, James ran back over to him and grabbed him. He looked at Team Missile, gave another "hmph," and followed after Jessie.
"Oh..." Dawn brought her hand up to Latias's face. She tried touching the claw marks on her friend's face soothingly, but Latias withdrew from her reach in fear. "Latias, you got injured..."
"One step ahead of you," Brendan announced. Before anybody could react, he reached a hand holding a spray bottle forward and squeezed the lever.
The result was frustrating, stinging pain. However, it was only moments before the Potion's effect kicked in and began to heal the open wounds. She not only felt the Potion pain going away, but the injury Meowth had handed her was leaving with it. She nodded to Brendan, but staying true to her nature, it was rather timid.
"That'd be my pleasure." After tucking the used bottle away for later recycling, Brendan turned to the team's one and only leader. "I suppose there's no point in staying here, then. You good with keepin' on moving, Cap?"
Dusk just barely hid a smile as he stepped past the group and toward the door. "Fine by me."
Everyone followed him out with Dawn being the last. She shut the door behind her, though she couldn't get far.
There was a back-up of the entire team, causing her to almost bump into Latias. She peeked around the side. Upon spotting the reason for the traffic jam, her eyes enlarged to an unhealthy size.
Standing no more than thirty yards from Team Missile's leader was a boy in a red beret. He wore a wrinkled black t-shirt, half of it being hidden by his orange-colored vest. His ink-colored jeans covered a portion of his white running sneakers. On his left shoulder was an apathetic Pikachu.
He stared at the group, much like they were doing to him. Unlike them, however, he seemed to be watching them in absolute shock. After a moment passed, he took two baby steps backwards, then turned on his heel and ran.
Dusk immediately tore after the one he's known so long as his imposter. While doing it, the only thing pounding faster than his heart was his legs. "Get back here!" he yelled with scorn in every letter.