A Tale of Two Sisters

The windswept highlands with the sweet fragrance of grass.

The slogan of Verdanturf Town in Hoenn only served to further emphasize how drastically different the small, quaint town was from the metropolis that was Saffron City. The people were friendlier, the Pokémon were approachable, and most notably, the air was much cleaner.

The young woman felt stronger every time she took a deep breath and after four months in Verdanturf Town, Amelie McKinley felt that she was the healthiest that she had ever been. Pushing the windswept, strawberry-blonde hair out of her pale face, Amelie reached down and lightly rubbed her left leg. Her injury had long since healed, but she still felt like her physical health could use a little more focus. She thought of her idea and hoped that her sister would be onboard when she returned.

"Okay, everyone," Amelie called out as she entered the backyard of her family's Verdanturf home. "It's time for our morning circle. Gather around."

Leafeon approached her first with Rapidash trotting along after. Swablu flew out of the tree and landed clumsily on the grass. Mienfoo was the only one who did not hurry to join the circle. Amelie had gotten used to her continuing to practice her kicks well after she called all her Pokémon to gather around and was at a loss on how to build a strong connection with her newest Pokémon. She conceded that it would just take some time.

"Well," she said. "If anything is bothering any of you, feel free to share. I may not be able to understand what you're saying, but maybe you can give each other pointers about any problems that you're going through and we can work through them together."

The three Pokémon in the circle exchanged looks before turning their attention back to their trainer. While others would have thought it was a silly idea, Amelie felt it was necessary to give her Pokémon the space to express how they were feeling. Still, there were times where she wished they could actually talk since it would make communicating a lot easier.

"I guess I'll speak a bit before we start meditation," Amelie began, briefly glancing over at Mienfoo. "I'm feeling pretty good. Therapy has helped, Dad's Audino has helped, and you all have helped. I know that we should go home soon, but I'm worried that being back in that environment might undo all the progress we've made here. On the other hand, staying here makes me feel kind of useless. I feel like I should have been there to help Dad deal with the fallout of the fire. And I definitely miss Lyndon and the others…"

Amelie felt as if she could drone on for hours. She decided that it would be best to speed things along since Elyse was finally returning from Meteor Falls after several weeks. Sitting comfortably on her mat, Amelie closed her eyes and attempted to clear her mind. Almost instantly, she was met with images of burning buildings, people and Pokémon running through the streets in panic, and a scarlet-colored night sky. The images in her head reminded Amelie of the nightmare she had right before leaving Saffron. She remembered how she had been trapped in a burning building with the smoke filling her nostrils as she felt her life slipping away.

"I told you that your sister owes us a life, Amelie. Time to collect that debt…"

Mona Barlowe cackled and wrapped her chains around Amelie's neck and then the dream ended. Amelie had awakened from her nightmare screaming and knew then and there that she had to leave Saffron City. Elyse, who in Amelie's opinion had it far worse than she did, had been onboard with the decision to take a sabbatical.

"Have to bring myself to the present," Amelie said aloud, remembering her teachings.

She took a deep breath and started the process to ease her mind, Leafeon's sweet scent quickly proving to be very useful in this scenario. Verdanturf Town was one of the best places in the world for breathing exercises and within moments, Amelie was able to center herself. She was proud of how far she had come but knew that the real test would take place once she was back in Saffron.

"Alright, everyone," Amelie started, rising to her feet. "That's enough for now. I'm going to go make breakfast, so you can all play for a while. Elyse should be here by the time everything is ready." She gestured towards Rapidash. "Jessie's in charge."

Amelie made her way back into the house and saw that Audino had been tidying up. It was unnecessary since Amelie always made sure to clean up after herself, but it was a kind gesture. The healing Pokémon belonged to her father, and he had insisted that she come along with the two sisters when they left Saffron. It had been the right choice as Audino had helped tremendously with both physical and mental therapy. So, when she came towards Amelie and ran her feelers on her left arm, the trainer accepted it. When Audino gave her the nod of approval, it confirmed that Amelie had indeed made progress.

"Hey, Audino," Amelie told her. "If you want to play with everyone or relax while I make breakfast, you can. You deserve a break."

Audino was ultimately going to do whatever she wanted, and she often chose to continue working, but it was worth it to extend the offer anyway. The Pokémon made her way towards the stairs and Amelie was unsure if she was going to take a nap or start cleaning up the second floor of the house.

"If Elyse is coming today…" Amelie muttered to herself. "Then I probably should make something with a lot of protein in it."

Amelie was vegetarian, her anemia preventing her from being entirely vegan. However, she was somewhat unsure of Elyse's dietary choices. She knew that Elyse had supplements that she took to prevent nutritional deficiency, but there was still a possibility that she was pescatarian. In the end, Amelie decided that it would be best to make something that they could both eat.

The poached egg power bowl consisted of protein-packed legumes, seeds, and crisp greens to go along with the egg. Asparagus was the only vegetable that Amelie hated with a passion, and she was fortunate enough to have other options as far as legumes went. After preparing the quinoa, Amelie decided to multitask by cooking the egg and lentils while she peeled and sliced the avocado up. In no time, everything was ready, but her mother always taught her that presentation was as important as anything else whether that was cooking or organizing a peaceful protest. She organized the contents of the bowls until they looked perfect and placed them on the table a split second before the door opened and her sister strolled in.

"Talk about timing," Amelie teased. "Did you smell the food all the way from Meteor Falls?"

"No," Elyse replied. "I sensed that you were the one cooking, so I rushed here to prevent a nuclear disaster."

"Insulting a woman's cooking!" Amelie feigned offense with an exaggerated gasp. "Have you no honor?" She grinned and playfully shrugged her shoulders. "Well, I guess you don't have to eat my cooking."

"I surrender!" Elyse said with a laugh. "Trust me, I'm for real starving. And I'm disgusting right now."

Elyse was covered in sweat, dirt, and grime and Amelie wondered how long she had hiked before getting transportation to Verdanturf. Knowing Elyse, she likely made the entire trip on foot. It was difficult in such a short amount of time, but not impossible.

"We can eat after you clean up," Amelie suggested. "You'll probably see Audino somewhere upstairs. If you see her, make sure she's actually taking a break and not doing any more work."

"Will do," Elyse said and hurried to the shower.

While her sister was showering, Amelie went to make sure there was enough food for all their Pokémon. Occasionally, she would glance outside to the backyard in order to check on her Pokémon, specifically Mienfoo. Having a fighting type, especially one that was so eager to battle, had been an adjustment for Amelie. Lyndon usually did most of the battling when they traveled and got into skirmishes while Amelie handled the administrative tasks such as communicating with community leaders and spreading awareness about issues. It had been so effective for her that Amelie had not realized that Lyndon's battling expertise had become a crutch for her until it was too late. They were a team, but she recognized that it was important to be able to handle herself as there was no guarantee that Lyndon would be around every single time she was in danger.

"Listen, Amelie," Elyse started as she made her way back down the stairs. "I appreciate you taking care of my laundry while I'm gone, but I'm going to start looking into dry cleaning. I swear the washer and dryer here keeps shrinking my clothes…"

Amelie wondered if she should tell Elyse that it was not her clothes that were shrinking, but she had an inkling that Elyse already knew that. The younger McKinley sister had always been small and slight, with a narrow body much like Amelie herself. However, thanks to years of gymnastics, Elyse had always had much more defined arms, legs, and abs. As athletic as Amelie was, she was certain that Elyse could run circles around her. Thanks to the circumstances that had impacted their lives over the past year, Elyse had been experimenting with different exercise regimens with gymnastics being on the backburner. That, along with puberty, had brought a few changes. She was still slim and physically fit, but she now rocked a large chest for her frame along with thicker hips to balance her shape.

"I don't know, sis," Amelie teased. "Looking at you now, it looks like your clothes are getting smaller because your butt is eating your shorts."

"I see you're still playing comedian," Elyse said as she took a seat at the table. "Let's eat so I can show you-"

She was cut off by the sound of barking coming from upstairs. Elyse's Growlithe happily ran down the stairs. Amelie opened her arms and the canine Pokémon jumped into them, happily licking her trainer's older sister.

"Hey, Sarabi!" Amelie cooed as she rubbed Growlithe's back. "Looks like someone got out of her poké ball again! You're such a good girl! Is your mommy still being mean to you?"

"I was never mean to her," Elyse defended.

"Calling her 'dumbass' was tough love then?" Amelie questioned.

"I never called her dumbass," Elyse replied. "I said she did a lot of dumbass things. There's a difference."

"If you say so."

The first day Elyse had gone training on the nearby Route 117, a curious, wild Growlithe started nosing into her bag while she had been distracted. The Pokémon found one of her spare poké balls and had gotten herself captured. It was the second time Elyse had captured a Pokémon by accident and Amelie had spent the rest of the day crying from laughter.

"She's grown on me," Elyse admitted as she dug into her power bowl. "Like she's goofy and it annoyed me at first, but now it's part of her charm in a way. It's kind of like having a less intelligent Mike or Loki around."

"Speaking of which…" Amelie started and handed Elyse her cell phone before sitting down herself. "You have like a thousand alerts. I won't ruin the surprise for you."

Elyse gave her a puzzled expression before turning her attention to her cell phone. She always left it at home whenever she travelled and instead used a second burner phone in case of emergencies. Amelie understood the reasoning, but she was curious as to how long a person could cut themselves off from the outside world before they lost their mind.

"Mike's back in Saffron?!" Elyse beamed, her excitement keeping her eyes glued to her phone. "And…Loki has a new car? He sent me exactly one message about Mike and about a dozen pictures of his car."

"That's nothing," Amelie said. "He updated his trainer profile video online and…I can't even describe it. You have to see it for yourself."

She remembered Loki standing in front of his new car with Rhyperior and his new leather jacket. The image had wormed its way into her brain and when Elyse started playing the video, Amelie had no trouble picturing it from across the table.

"¡Hola a todos! Loki Del Grove here welcoming you to my new trainer profile video! Now, on the surface, I look like a cool, good-looking guy with a cool jacket, a cool car, and the best rock Pokémon on the planet in Rhyperior. Well, you're right about all those things, but here on my page you're going to learn even more about me. Strap yourselves in for a ride ladies and gentlemen because you're gonna see a future Frontier Brain in action! ¡Cambio y fuera!"

In Amelie's opinion, Loki's parents had given him a name to match his fun but utterly chaotic energy. There was a bit of his personality that reminded her of Lyndon, but Loki had all her best friend's silliest traits dialed up to eleven.

"At least he hasn't changed, right?" Amelie said with a laugh.

"Looks like he's actually gotten worse," Elyse responded without looking up from her phone. "He actually has a video of himself washing his car in just a black tanktop. If that wasn't enough, it's the video with the most hits on his page. Pure silliness."

Despite Elyse's statement, Amelie noticed that she still watched the entire video through instead of clicking off when she had enough of Loki's antics. It was likely Elyse just being a supportive friend, but Loki was indeed as good-looking as he proclaimed. She recalled Laila telling her once that she thought Loki was so astronomically obnoxious that he actually circled back around into being charming. He was also the person most likely to spend time with Elyse which led to her being more social than she otherwise would be. With that in mind, Amelie thought it would be amusing to test the waters.

"Loki gave you that bracelet, right?" Amelie asked curiously.

"Oh, this?" Elyse said and lifted her wrist to show an orange bracelet that read: Sheer Cold Cola, the name of a popular beverage. "Yeah, he knows how much I hate fizzy drinks like sodas and such, so he thought it would be funny to give me this bracelet."

"That sounds like Loki," Amelie said. "You know, he's pretty cute. Even cuter than he was last year."

"Your point being?" Elyse questioned and then squinted her eyes at her older sister. "Wait…are you trying to get me to set you up with Loki?! Come on, sis, you wouldn't be able to deal with him for an hour."

She laughed and Amelie wondered if Elyse had truly misread her cue or if she was just deflecting. It did not matter though as Amelie was not going to press the issue. There was a difference between light teasing and an outright interrogation. She laughed along with her sister, thankful to have at least one lighthearted moment after a year of utter strife.

"I'd probably bore him," Amelie joked. "Plus, there's the dynamics of the older woman, younger male scenario to take into consideration. So sadly, our love can never be."

"Didn't even know you still believed in love," Elyse jested. Straightaway, she recognized the gravity of her words and quickly apologized. "I'm sorry, Amelie. It was a bad joke. You know I didn't mean it like that."

"It's okay, Elyse," Amelie said reassuringly. She sighed and composed herself. "Things didn't work out how I hoped with my…well, let's just call it a 'situationship.' But at this point, I've accepted it and the only thing I can do now is move forward…"

Elyse held the incubator up for her sister to inspect. Inside was a light blue egg that moved every now and again and whatever was inside was clearly going to hatch soon.

"I found it waterfall when I was at Meteor Falls," she explained. "Sarabi had come out of her poké ball without orders for the millionth time and as she came out, she tripped over a rock and fell into the lake. She's a fire type so obviously, I couldn't let her drown. When I pulled her out, this egg was just floating towards us in the water."

"I heard poaching has been a problem at Meteor Falls for a little while now," Amelie replied. "That egg is probably safer with you. Any progress with meditation or any of the coping mechanisms that the therapist taught us?"

"Hard to meditate in a dark cave with poachers and dangerous creatures," Elyse retorted. "So, I've been coping by winning battles. Besides, that stuff just doesn't come easy to me. I've always been calm and been able to control my emotions. Dealing with actual trauma is something different entirely. Honestly, it's unfamiliar territory for me."

"I know that feeling," Amelie said. "I need some more battling experience. I got so used to Lyndon doing all that to the point that I don't even know where to start with Mienfoo. Obviously, I've been in battles here and there, but all the research I've been doing pretty much says that fighting types need to battle to thrive."

"Looks like we're both stuck…" Elyse lamented.

"Maybe not," Amelie piqued. "I'm struggling with the physical stuff and you're having a hard time with the mental stuff. So, how about we swap roles for the time being? You go walk around Verdanturf and the nice clean air will help you focus on your thoughts. And I'll go to Route 117 and try to get some battling in with Mienfoo. We've been learning all these things so now, let's learn from each other."

"Guess it couldn't hurt…"

They spent the next hour getting ready which mostly consisted of Elyse watching Amelie try on different athletic attire for her small journey outside of town. Looking good helped her feel good and Elyse felt that they shared some commonalities in that aspect. There was also a part of her that was concerned about Amelie being on the road by herself, even for a small amount of time. However, Route 117 was no Meteor Falls and logically, the chances of danger were slim.

"Alright!" Amelie said as she grabbed her bag. "I'm off!"

Once her sister was out the front door, Elyse went to her room and started getting prepared only to realize that she did not need much to go on a walk. After looking in the mirror to make sure her bangs were in place neatly across her forehead, she was ready to go for her stroll. As she headed out of the room, Elyse noticed the white gloves hanging on a hook in front of the closet. She was in the house so infrequently that she had forgotten that Mike's bubble gloves that he used for his role as the school's mascot had accidentally gotten mixed in with her things when they were packing up to leave Saffron. Since he had returned to Saffron earlier than she had expected, Elyse wondered if she should ship them back to him.

"Just…whenever you look at them, think of me…"

Mike's words from their last in-person conversation echoed in Elyse's head and suddenly she found herself noticing other items that she had either received from her friends or that they had inspired her to get in some fashion. She saw the small jewelry box on the dresser and spotted the birthstone earrings that Nadine had gotten for her for her birthday the previous year. On the bed was the Slakoth plush that Lilly had given her after winning a dance competition. The macho brace that Drake had traded her for the power bracer and power lens that she owned had proven to be even more effective with training her Pokémon to be more well-rounded and it had been one of the few items that she had purposely packed. The book, Extrasensory Internal, that Ellie had recommended had actually proven to be a great way to past the time and she even had the admittedly stylish, baby blue crop top that Relena had given her on what had been the worst day of her life.

Elyse had always been more of an introverted person, especially in comparison to her friends, some of whom were extremely extroverted. When they were all together, she was usually the quietest one only rivaled by Lilly until recently. However, unlike Lilly, Elyse's quietness had not been out of shyness, but more out of impassivity. Elyse simply preferred to let her actions do the speaking for her and she liked to believe that her friends understood since they never raised an issue about it. She glanced down and the orange bracelet on her wrist and could not help but smile as the words of her loudest friend entered her mind.

"Yo! E-Mac! I know you don't drink soda and I know you don't really like the color bright orange, but too bad! You are now the proud owner of this Sheer Cold Cola bracelet! ¡Felicidades!"

Elyse knew that her friendship with Loki Del Grove made no logical sense, but that was what she enjoyed the most about it. They had met in elementary school because Loki heard Elyse's name during role call and thought that her last name was macaroni, his favorite dish at the time. From that point onward, there was no getting rid of him.

Even after she and her family had become pariahs after the federation attack, Elyse's friends had remained supportive of her. It was a small social circle, but she had never been interested in expanding it in the first place and the way she had been treated following the incident had only proved that she made the right decision. She knew that she would have to address her trauma alone, but that thinking of her family and friends would only help her maintain the willpower to do so. Elyse glanced at the gloves on the wall one last time and with renewed confidence, headed out of the room and started towards the stairs.

As she made her way down the steps, one of the poké balls on her belt opened on its own and Elyse, startled by the sudden flash of light, tripped, and went tumbling down the stairs on her stomach. Her gymnastics training kicked in reflexively and she landed at the base of the stairs with a one-handed front handspring. When Elyse turned around and looked up to face the perpetrator, she was met with the panting Growlithe, happily wagging her tail, oblivious to the chaos she had just caused.

"Sarabi," she sighed, resisting the urge to pinch her nose in exasperation. "I'm going for a walk…How about you come with me? Come on, it'll be fun."

The canine Pokémon cheerfully nodded her head and started down the steps, only to trip herself and tumble down much like her trainer, albeit with a much less graceful landing. Without a single word, Elyse scooped her up in her arms and the two began their walk.

The flower gardens and small ponds located on Route 117 were similar to the ones in Verdanturf Town. Even the air was just as clean as it was in the nearby town. Amelie had made it to the route without much issue and now found herself searching for trainers. She knew that battling wild Pokémon would be beneficial, but if she really wanted more experience, she would have to find a trainer.

"Look, Pia, I saw a Surskit gliding across the pond…"

"You better hope I don't see it, Lia, because I'm gonna catch it before you do!"

Amelie spotted the two twin girls by the pond. They looked to be around twelve years old and the only difference between them was that one of them had her hair in pigtails while the other kept her hair in a high ponytail.

"Hi!" Amelie greeted as she approached the girls.

"Hi!" the twin with the pigtails greeted back with a wave.

"Hey…" the ponytailed twin muttered.

"My name is Amelie," she introduced herself. "Listening, I was wondering if one of you girls can do me a favor and battle me? I'm trying to get a little more experience with a new Pokémon."

"Sure!" the pigtailed twin told her with a friendly smile. "By the way, my name's Lia, and this is my sister, Pia. Nice to meet you, Amelie!"

"Did you say you were trying to get some more experience?" Pia asked. "Aren't you a little old to be learning how to battle? What are you, like fifteen?"

"I'm seventeen…" Amelie corrected her, more than a little embarrassed.

"Sorry, Grandma," Pia mocked. "But my mom said to be nice to the elderly, so I can't battle you."

Pia laughed, her nasally voice making her laugh even more annoying. Lia rolled her eyes at her sister's immaturity and as identical as the two sisters were, it was clear that their personalities were the exact opposite. Lia had already agreed to battle, but a small part of Amelie wanted to take on Pia instead. She quickly laughed at herself for briefly allowing a preteen to get inside her head before brushing it off entirely.

"That's fine, Pia," Lia told her sister. "She probably wants to battle the stronger twin anyway."

"What?" Pia asked incredulously. "You must be joking, right?! You've never beaten me in anything. I was even born first."

"Why would I be joking?" Lia taunted. "You're obviously scared to take on this so-called old lady."

"Oh, really?" Pia questioned before turning to Amelie. "Alright, let's do it. Just be careful when you throw a poké ball. Don't want you to break a hip."

Amelie could not help but let out a laugh. Compared to the insults she had dealt with from the likes of Felicity Cole, Craig Kelton, and Johnny Hawkins growing up, Pia's taunts seemed even more childish.

"Ready when you are…"

Once Mienfoo was facing off against Pia's Nuzleaf, Amelie instantly saw that her newest Pokémon was the most excited she had been in their short time together.
Even though it took a bit of effort to remember all Mienfoo's moves, they had been in sync much better than Amelie had envisioned.

"Razor leaf!" Pia commanded.

"Detect!" Amelie countered.

Mienfoo's eyes glowed a brilliant blue as she gracefully dodged the barrage of sharp leaves that sped towards her. The battle continued on like that for several more minutes with Nuzleaf on the attack and Mienfoo defending herself until she had an opening.

"Rollout!" Pia ordered.

Nuzleaf curled itself into a ball and rolled towards Mienfoo, the force pushing her back and pinning her against a nearby tree. Cutting off Nuzleaf's momentum would be their best chance at winning.

"Low sweep!" Amelie called out.

Mienfoo quickly swept her leg underneath Nuzleaf causing the grass Pokémon to go spiraling across the ground. It slammed into a nearby rock garden and struggled to get back to its feet before collapsing onto the ground. Mienfoo had won and Amelie was victorious. Pia was irate and her face was red with anger and embarrassment as she recalled Nuzleaf to its ball.

"You got lucky old lady!" the preteen shouted as her twin sister started dragging her away. "I'll be back next weekend! I want my rematch!"

Pia continued shouting until she and Lia were out of sight. Amelie was amazed that she had somehow found herself in a one-sided rivalry with a twelve-year-old child, but it was far from the weirdest thing that had ever happened to her. She turned to Mienfoo who gave her trainer a nod of respect.

"This victory was all yours…" Amelie told her and held out a poké ball. "You've definitely earned a nice rest."

She recalled Mienfoo and started back towards Verdanturf Town. During her walk, Amelie thought of nicknames for Mienfoo, but could not think of anything that would suit her. Eventually, she decided that a name would come when the time was right, and she and Mienfoo got to know each other a bit better.

By the time Amelie had made it back to the house, it was dark outside. However, Verdanturf Town was just as tranquil as it was during the day. Amelie would miss the starry night once they were back in Saffron and made a note to do some more stargazing when she had some time. Tonight though, she was both hungry and exhausted.

"Elyse!" Amelie called out as she entered the house. "You here?"

"In the kitchen!" she heard her sister's voice reply.

Amelie sauntered into the kitchen, the aroma coming from the room making her stomach growl even more than it already was.

"Did you smell the food all the way from Route 117?" Elyse threw Amelie's joke back in her face.

"No," Amelie replied with a grin. "I sensed that you were the one cooking, so I rushed here out of sheer disbelief. Even more surprising is the fact that you decided to make veggie spaghetti."

"Shut up and eat," Elyse told her, playfully rolling her eyes.

"No need to tell me twice," Amelie remarked as she began digging into her plate.

"I've been thinking…" Elyse started. "How about tomorrow we take a day off from everything and go shopping together in Rustboro City? It might be fun."

The shopping part was nowhere near as surprising to hear from Elyse as the 'taking the day off' part of the sentence. Amelie could tell that she was being sincere, so there was no point in teasing her about it. The older McKinley sister simply swallowed her food and smiled.

"Sounds perfect…"

A/N: And there we have it! We caught up with what our Sis-tagonists have been doing, but we'll definitely be checking in on them as we continue forward. Sorry for the near 3 month long wait, but wasn't expecting time to fly by so fast. Hopefully, I can get the next chapter out faster.

The P.O.V. characters for this chapter were Amelie McKinley (twice) and Elyse McKinley.

As always, feel free to shoot me a PM or drop by the forum to chat!

Until next time!