Lights from skyscrapers, short buildings, and black lampposts flowed up from the ground colored the dark, starry sky.
Underneath the forest of lights, the kingdom of Valor made enough noise to cause a miniature earthquake. Furret Abigail passed by street performers, the stinging light of cell phones, and some stores with aggressive pokemon out front who claimed to know what she wanted.
If the pokemon weren't noisy, they acted jolly or relaxed all the time without fail. Abigail didn't buy that it was real. It was all shiny on the surface, like how the skyscrapers made the skyline look beautiful and hid the suffering on the streets.
Abigail kept her hazel eyes down to avoid eye contact. A brown cloak covered Abigail from head to toe, although some of her tail was left out. She gripped her hood closer over her face feeling a bit of comfort with all the pokemon around when she had her own space with her.
Tonight, Abigail had to make a delivery for her boss at the restaurant. It was overtime, but she didn't mind the fresh air. Her foster mother at home was a little too talkative for her recently, so it served as a nice break.
The gray cobblestone streets she walked along were quieter, too. There were other pokemon passing by, but they were only whispers compared to the sweet sound of the wind against the leaves of evergreen trees.
The apartment building she traveled to was a concrete and brick block on the edge of the street. Lights came out of all three stories, and loud bass from the music playing rumbled through Abigail's feet as she went up the single step to the doorway.
Abigail made sure to knock hard as she pulled out a white paper bag from under her cloak. The doors opened both ways, so she stayed back in case the pokemon was rude and pushed it open instead of pulling it.
The Bunnelby that opened it pushed. He was cracking a smile as he turned to her from further inside, giving a gross look up and down at her.
"Thanks for ordering. Come again," Abigail recited. She pushed the bag into his arms.
"Woa, thanks," Bunnelby said. "You know, we've got a good party going on… Is this your last delivery...?"
"No, I have plenty more."
"That's a shame. We could use a few more pretty girls."
"Bye now."
Abigail turned while giving a wave. She was already walking back down the street by the time Bunnelby closed the door.
She'd had about enough of that today. It was like city boys had to try for every "pretty girl" they saw. Ridiculous.
Though annoyed, Abigail finished with deliveries. She had to deal with things like that a lot. She just wanted to go home, but at least that's what she was doing now. She partially agreed to enduring one more delivery since it wasn't too far from home, her day neared its end. She had tomorrow off, and looked forward to it.
The skyscrapers faded behind short trees. Crickets were starting to chirp at each other among the grass around the street, reminding Abigail of back home before she came to the city. The familiar song made her forget what had been bothering her in the first place.
A shout shattered the peaceful air. Abigail's ear perked up on her head, moving the hood of her cloak off of her face. Annoying noises were common further in the city, but something about it put her off. Her eyes were stuck on a pair of lonely buildings behind where she came from. They were too broken down for her to be able to tell what they were supposed to be, but that just made her feel worse about it.
Abigail turned around and started hustling over. When she heard a bunch of stuttering and struggling footsteps, it made her go faster.
The noise came from between the rotting wood walls of the two buildings. The back of a Weavile and wings of a Charizard were blocking the rest of the alley. In between them, Abigail could make out a hint of a red pokemon's body.
"Hey!" Abigail shouted, "everything alright here?"
Weavile whipped around. As Charizard turned, Furret Abigail caught a glimpse of a Charmeleon in the light of the Charizard's flame on his tail. He was back against the wall with a bag spilling random objects clutched in his shaking arms.
"Don't move a muscle," Weavile said. "What are you doin? You a Nightlight?"
Abigail wasn't law enforcement, but she didn't know how she should answer. Nightlights didn't usually police this area, but it's obvious that they were robbing him. There wasn't anyone else around to hear.
"No," Abigail said.
"Then run on home," Weavile said. "It's late."
Abigail changed the way she looked at them. Their postures were hunched over, and none of their limbs were straight. They weren't fighters at all, but she had to focus on getting the Charmeleon out of danger.
Tonight would at least be interesting enough to remember.
"Whatever you want, I'll give it to you," Abigail offered. "Just let him go."
"He has something one-of-a-kind," Weavile explained. "Can't be copied. You did your good deed for the day, but nothing's helping this thief.
"If he's the thief, why were you asking if I was a Nightlight like that?"
Abigail made eye contact with the Charmeleon. He rose to his feet.
"It's alright, get out of here," Charmeleon said, "I'm good."
Abigail noticed something that had fallen out of the Charmeleon's bag. It was a phone lying face down, but it had an emblem of two white wings that were hands on the back of it; the symbol of the Nightlight Association. He was in law enforcement.
He was probably just trying to protect her. Abigail appreciated the thought, but he didn't know about her.
It had been a few weeks, but an excuse to fight could make her night better.
"It's alright," Abigail said. She cracked her neck and loosened up her tail. "I got you."
"What?" Charmeleon questioned. "Hey, look. Go."
"Go," Weavile repeated. "This isn't a movie. You're going to get hurt."
"I'm not an actress. And how would I lose if you're already off balance?"
Abigail darted forward. She faked out a straight lunge on the Weavile, then pulled on her cloak to obscure his vision. She brushed her tail along his shoulder on the side of the Charizard while running past on the other side.
Weavile lashed out in the direction she brushed her tail. With his vision obscured, his claw hacked the Charizard's wing. His cry made Weavile reel back and stare in shock for precious seconds Abigail used.
She scooped up the Charmeleon and his bag in her tail. He looked older, but he was small enough for her tail to wrap around him twice over. Weavile's attention was still a little torn, but she couldn't just run past him.
Abigail dug into the concrete wall with her claws. She hoisted herself up and over it.
"Hey!" Weavile shouted.
Abigail landed on damp grass. She ran back towards the same street to avoid the dark woods at night. She kept the Charmeleon in her tight grip.
"Which way's the closest Nightlight Dome?" Abigail asked.
"Mmph! Mph!"
Abigail shifted her tail a little.
"All of them are far!" Charmeleon said. "Uh, just keep going this way. There's a shopping center!"
Abigail didn't hear footsteps behind them. Even though Weavile slashed the Charizard's wings, it could probably still fly them both. She didn't bother to try to pick them out from the blazing stars in the sky, focusing on the group of buildings in the distance at the end of the block.
There was no activity on the roads, Abigail didn't have to slow down. The shopping center Charmeleon pointed out was a semicircle of buildings on a street perpendicular to where she came from. There was a pair of active restaurants on the ends, and the rest were closed flower and clothing stores.
It was a nice, open space. The line of lampposts ran along the buildings, so Abigail stopped running in the center and set the Charmeleon down.
"This looks like a good battle spot, right?" Abigail asked.
Charmeleon turned around and stared at her. "Wait, no. Please, you need to go. I can call for help."
"Uh, I am help."
A pokemon landed and shook the ground behind them. Furret Abigail and Charmeleon both turned to Charizard and the Weavile hopping off of his back at the same time.
"Here," Abigail said, "just stand back. You can probably snag some popcorn over there."
"...O-kay..."
Charmeleon shuffled further behind the Furret. Abigail cracked her back and stretched while standing up one last time.
"Listen, you're being a nuisance," Weavile said. "I'm going to show you something so you understand, but that's it."
More pokemon strutted out from the darkness of the street. A Honchkrow and Skarmory came down from the air. On the ground from the left side of the street, a Hitmonlee, Houndoom, and Breloom walked in the scene side by side, swinging their arms as if they were trying to make themselves look bigger. On the right side, an Alakazam and Simisear walked in, doing the same.
From behind, Abigail could feel pokemon watching. Their steps on the ground were so sloppy it made her sigh to herself. Some came out of the restaurant, probably curious.
"Coinflip for first move?" Abigail asked.
"Last chance to beat it, kid," Weavile said.
"Uhh... Which part of you are we talking about...?"
Alakazam teleported behind her. Abigail reacted, but she let Charmeleon bite his arm instead. Houndoom and Simisear ran up and using flamethrower at the same time.
Abigail focused energy in her hands and fired a Water Pulse. The blue orb pierced the lance of fire straight down the middle and slapped against Houndoom's face.
She cleared the distance while Simisear stumbled and looked at Houndoom. It cost him reaction time. Abigail ducked under Simisear's sloppy punch and jabbed him in the chest with her left. As he keeled over, Abigail grabbed under his chin and flipped him over on the ground.
Scraping claws let Abigail know the Houndoom was rushing her from behind. She aimed and uppercut. Houndoom's open mouth shut as he flew up in the air.
Charmeleon still gripped Alakazam's arm in his teeth. It gave Abigail time to deal with the fighting types heading in her direction.
Breloom pulled back his arm as he went and extended it out as a green vine. Abigail leaned to her right and grabbed his arm as a Hitmonlee fell down with a High Jump Kick.
Furret Abigail had time to align herself to catch Hitmonlee's leg and avoid his glowing red knee. Once his momentum stopped, she whipped him to the ground face first on the Simisear trying to get up close behind her. With Breloom's arm, she pulled him through the air in her direction and punched him. He tumbled across the ground.
Even though Weavile was the talker, he still hadn't moved from his place. Charizard tensed his legs. He flew up in the air, joining the Honchrow and Skarmory's sides. Abigail just watched with her eyes half open as they dove down to the ground.
Flames engulfed Charizard's body while yellow-blue energy surrounded Skarmory's and Honchrow's. Abigail recognized Brave Bird and Flare Blitz, but it didn't concern her.
Even combined, the energy between them didn't match up to any of her attacks. They kicked up dust pulling up before hitting the ground, using their momentum to charge right for her. Abigail took a few steps forward.
She didn't have to use Double-Edge, but she felt a little insulted enough to do it. She didn't bother running to pick up speed, but white aura went around her body, rising up in the air and vanishing like smoke. She balled up her paw and winded it back ahead of time as their last warning.
The explosion's direction stayed on one side of the clash. Hot wind blew Weavile back through in the air, landing on his back. Dark, burning feathers from the Honchcrow scattered to the four winds.
Something landed behind Abigail. When she turned, it was just the Houndoom.
The next impact came from the roof of one of the buildings. The other two were somewhere out on the dark street out of sight, one quickly after the other. Abigail shook her arm a little while the Weavile got to his feet with an open mouth and shaking eyes.
"C'mon," Abigail said, smiling. "Which part of you was it?"
Weavile barreled forward towards her. Abigail let him get close, curious to see just how he'd do.
Instant disappointment. He just jumped at her with his claw outstretched. She kicked it up and away like an insult and grabbed him by the fur off of his chest in her left arm. He only hung for a second before she slugged him in the face while letting go.
From how he fell down on the ground, Abigail could tell he was unconscious. She didn't bother to check, instead turning around to check on the Charmeleon.
The fighting between Charmeleon and Alakazam had stopped. They were both staring at her. They stopped to glance at each other. Alakazam shook his head as he carefully stepped away from them. He moved off to the side and circled towards the street until he made a break for it. Abigail didn't care enough to follow.
"You know," said Abigail, "that just wasn't very fun."
"The hell..." Charmeleon mumbled. "I mean... Thanks. Thanks, a lot."
"You're welcome..."
Abigail hung her head low. She pulled the hood of her cloak back over her head and pulled it back over her body how it was before.
Just out of the corner of Abigail's eye, she noticed a light reflection from the sky. Just before entering the darkness of the street, she saw a white streak of light going high in the air. It came and went fast. She wouldn't have believed it was really there if it weren't for a streak of smoke it left behind, slashing the constellations.
"I wish something would change," Abigail muttered to herself.
It never took much for Furret Abigail to wake up from her sleep in the middle of the night, but it was instant whenever something touched her. Her head popped up from her white covers. Her brown cloak hung on the wall, and the marble water pit she took a bath in had dried out. Moonlight streamed into her room from the window above it.
When she brought her head lower, she saw a Bellossom staring back at her.
"Hey?" Abigail said. "What is it?"
"I'm sorry to wake you up," the Bellossom said, "but they just announced the Royal Parade...!"
"I... What is that again? I forgot."
"Seriously?"
"I'm... sleepy."
The Bellossom's mouth formed an O, then she closed it and nodded.
"You know how when a prince or princess is born in Valor, Verity, and Acuity, they don't show what species they are or their names or anything?"
"Yah...?"
"They announce it on their sixteenth birthdays! And tomorrow's the day!"
"Oh... But why wake me up and not just tell me in the morning?" Abigail asked.
"It's going to be three princes from all three nations. And part of the parade is them choosing dates from onlookers..."
"That's weird as- No."
Ew. It'd be city boys but even more sure of themselves. Like, why?"
"Yes."
"I'm seventeen. That's over the hill. I already started making my grave."
Abigail sighed and turned over with her face pressed in her mattress.
"Hey," Bellossom said, "this is a first in history, and I'm the one who's a little over the hill for this. So you're going. Live a little."
Abigail's voice was completely muffled by her covers, but her irritated mood leaked through.
"We're going to start now," Bellossom said.
Abigail groaned again.
"You have an actual chance here, but I need you to work with me, okay? Just trust me."
Bellossom grabbed Abigail's arm and pulled her up. Abigail stared at her and let her face do the talking. Bellossom frowned, but nodded.
"It's okay," Bellossom said. "I've got you, alright? Let's get started."
She wouldn't stop bothering her until she conceded.
"Mm... Okay."
