And finally, finally, we have our character moments. No battles this time, I'm afraid. The last battle just knocked the wind out of me haha

W.R. Winters - Warren, huh? Well it technically was an intense situation there haha, but he's still coming to terms with a lot of things. There's a reason for that, is what I'm trying to say, though you're probably well aware of that already. I'm happy to see you like Kaitlyn though, I was hoping she wasn't coming off as clingy or too dependent on Warren, but I'm happy to see that she can stand herself alone as a character too. As for backstories, we'll dive into some of those later on, no prob!

SnapshotSilica - It has been a while hasn't it. But no worries, story's still going strong, despite the slow update schedule heh. I'm happy you've found this interesting so far, though I must say, this fic is still very much in its beginning stages. As for Chase and Aster getting development and spotlight? Well, just read through this chapter haha

mmcnmb1 - Kaitlyn seems to be a crowd favorite so far hasn't she? Though that could be because she's the main focus for now. But yes, she's a sweet child that must be protected at all costs. As for her backstory? Well, I wouldn't say it's that tragic hehe. Also yes, Kit is also a precious Pokemon that has a lot of room for growth too. I've honestly fallen in love with all of these characters really, though that should be kinda obvious as of this point.

Chapter 6: Epiphanies and Annoyances

2149: Present

Aster woke up with the sun.

The moment the sun would peek out from the horizon, some part of his body would always scream and nag at him to wake up. He would stir from his slumber, groggy and perhaps the slightest bit disorientated, before he would shuffle his way to the nearest water source away from the campsite just to splash onto his face.

Whenever he'd return Warren was usually already up, but they wouldn't exchange any words. In any usual time, Aster probably would've bantered with Warren about anything, doing everything he could to push at his buttons. But morning was usually a sacred time, and his mind would be too unhinged to even bother thinking.

Kaitlyn would then wake up an hour or two later, with her movements slow and her wavy hair a mess. She would always attempt to brush it with her fingers, but would give up midway to tie it into her usual braid, her eyes sleepily blinking as she did so. Sometimes Aster didn't know what was going on in that pretty little head of hers, but he didn't really want to know otherwise.

Chase would always be the last up, though Aster supposed it was mainly due to her injury. The arm was swelling up, and if he were a more compassionate person, he would've been more concerned. However, he didn't really care much. It was obvious that Chase wasn't a morning person either, with her stomping around the site and complaining about anything she could get her hands on. The air was too hot. The site was too messy. Someone was being to loud. It always made Aster want to tear his hair out (which of course, he never would, but it's the thought that counts).

He didn't really want to stay with them. If anything, he found Chase too whiny and Warren too broody. Kaitlyn wasn't much of a step up either, with how flighty she was.

However, he was stuck with them for the time being.

As he leaned against a tree, he heard Chase complain once again to Warren. "Hey, can we get moving already. I want to get to Fallarbor as soon as possible."

That reminded Aster of their current predicament. A few days had passed since they left Petalburg, but now they were stuck in the foresty depths of Petalburg Forest. It wasn't much of a step up, per say, but Aster would take what he could get. He didn't mind staying in the forest to get some down time, even though he didn't like staying at a single spot for too long, but Chase always wanted to get moving as soon as possible. For a brief moment his eyebrows furrowed in annoyance as he remembered how bossy Chase was.

"I want us to head to Fallarbor," Chase had demanded the day after they all escaped Petalburg. They were all walking along a trail that led them into Petalburg Forest, though they'd remained cautious just in case of any looters.

Warren had stopped walking and turned to face her. "Why?"

He was only met with crossed arms. Or at least, as much as Chase could've crossed them with her injured arm. Aster had tried not to snicker as she replied to Warren's question. "I'm trying to find someone. I know I'll find him at Fallarbor, but last time I was there, he was nowhere to be seen. I need to check back just to see if I've missed anything."

Warren had waved his hand dismissively in the air, before turning to walk again after her explanation. "Yea, sure. Whatever. It's on the way anyways."

And of course, that leads us to the situation we're in now. Aster huffed under his breath as he remembered Warren's aloofness. Honestly, if he wasn't such a pushover, then maybe Aster wouldn't have to deal with such an annoying traveling companion. Though the word "companion" was already pushing it.

He finally snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Warren's reply to Chase's demand. "You literally just woke up, Chase. You're in no shape or form to start moving now. Besides, we have to redress that wound."

"I'm fine. I want to get moving right now," the girl once again demanded. Aster rolled his eyes from where he sat on his fallen log.

"You're an idiot then," Warren deadpanned.

"Excuse me? Mind repeating that?" Chase glared. She attempted to get up onto her feet from the ground but unknowingly got up from her injured arm. The pressure caused her arm to falter, and she awkwardly stumbled right back onto the ground. Her Meowstic attempted to catch her fall, though there wasn't much he could do with his tiny body, and he was forced to back away for risk of getting crushed. Aster hid his grin with a snort.

Warren still hadn't moved from his spot however, obviously unimpressed with her false bravado. "I said you're an idiot. We're not going to make any progress if you disregard your health."

"Well, did I ever ask you?" she retorted, her pride clearly not shaken yet.

If anything, their obvious one-sided argument was rather laughable, with Chase's failed attempts to provoke Warren. In fact, it was rather amusing as Aster snickered quietly at the scene in front of him. If anyone thought the he was the uncooperative one in their little group, Aster would probably point them to Chase's direction, because it was as if the girl wasn't even trying to get along with Warren. Though Aster supposed it had to do with her distrust with three complete strangers. Well, I probably don't count as a complete stranger, but I could be classified as one.

Ignoring Chase's shrill shrieks, Aster shuffled his way to his Pokemon who were hanging around with Warren's. Despite him and Warren not getting along too well, surprisingly, their Pokemon had little to no problems with each other. Their personalities corresponded with each other's perfectly, Aster noted, as he saw each of his Pokemon split with another one of Warren's.

Vex and Echo were in the middle of sparring, though if anything, they seemed to be playing instead. It was obvious the two were making a game out of Vex's Grass Knots, as Echo didn't bother to attack Vex and hopped around on the grass to avoid a cheap shot. It wasn't until one of the bigger Grass Knots snagged Echo's foot that he finally tripped and face planted onto the ground. Aster could hear Vex's gruff laugh as Echo jumped back up again, ready for another round. The Azumarill had too much excess energy for his own good.

Celestine, on the other hand, was only relaxing with Vera, most of her guard completely down. Frankly, it was a bit surprising to see Celes so relaxed under another Pokemon's presence besides Echo, but he was happy to see her let loose for once. He saw Vera twirl her stick in the air, letting out a small burst of flickering flames. From that, Celes used a light Psychic attack on the flames, manipulating them to create miniature shapes of their respective trainers in the middle of an argument. Aster frowned when he saw Vera sport a smug grin, and Celes knowingly looked at Aster with amused eyes.

Nevermind. Celes didn't deserve to make friends if she was going to treat him like this. Vera was a bad influence indeed. Reading his thoughts, Celes let out a good natured chuckle, causing Aster to grumble under his breath. Sometimes he forgot she could read his thoughts like that, years of partnership aside.

It was then when he realized that Leo and Kit were nowhere to be found. For the past few days, Aster had noted that the two smaller Pokemon always stuck to Vera like glue. Or at least, Kit would follow her around like a lost Lillipup, while Leo would reluctantly trail after him.

Now that he thought about it, Kaitlyn was nowhere to be seen around the campsite either. In any usual case, the brunette girl would be sitting by herself while sorting through supplies or hanging around with Warren. To be fair, Warren always seemed to be hovering over her, either to make sure she didn't fuck anything up or just to keep an eye on her. Aster was willing to put his bets on the latter, since the older boy did carry a sort of soft spot for her.

If Kaitlyn was missing, and Warren hadn't noticed, Aster had no doubts the older would soon scour the entire forest to look for her. And Aster wasn't willing to deal with that.

Grabbing his steel rod, Aster stepped out to the edge of the site. He made sure to make eye contact with Celestine, signalling to her that he was going to be heading out. The Gardevoir only nodded, pointing him towards a certain direction behind a mess of logs, before turning her attention back to Vera.

Well, that would make his search for a certain lost Skitty ten times easier.

It didn't take long for Aster to find Kaitlyn.

There was a nearby lake that Aster had found earlier in the morning to wash his face, and he knew he'd find Kaitlyn somewhere around there too. Crouched near the lakeshore, Kaitlyn had her Vibrava on her lap as her Petilil leaned against her side. She didn't stir when Aster stepped through the foliage around him, preferring to stare into the water instead of acknowledging his presence. He moved to stand beside her, and an awkward silence unfolded.

She seemed to be deep in thought, with her furrowed eyebrows. He briefly considered taking a jab at her apparent sullen behavior, but with her Pokemon there with her, he decided not to. Aster didn't know what she could possibly be pondering about either, as it wasn't like she had dealt with much loss before.

But then again, in times such as these, everyone had at least lost something.

Scratching the bridge of his nose, Aster finally spoke. "Leaving without telling anyone huh? You got a death wish or something?"

She flinched at the sound of his voice, but then relaxed when she realized it was just him. She turned herself back around to avoid his judgemental gaze. Her grip on her Vibrava tightened. "There's no one around here anyways," she mumbled. "Besides, I didn't want to bother you guys."

Was she really that stupid? Even if she thought that no one else was around, it didn't mean there wasn't anyone ready to ambush her. Aster forced down the exasperated sigh that nearly made its way out of his lips, and crouched down next to Kaitlyn instead. It was until then that he realized the stillness of the water, and took note at how strangely tranquil it was. It'd be a waste if he didn't make use of such a prime opportunity.

He felt around the ground for a single pebble, and with a practiced toss, he flicked it into the water. The rock bounced across the water several times before sinking with a splash. "Huh, I did worse than usual."

Kaitlyn blinked. "Huh?"

"Rock skipping. You even know what that is?" He grabbed another rock and tossed it across the lake.

"O-of course I know! Last time I've ever done it was when…" her voice trailed off into a hushed whisper.

He didn't pressure her to keep speaking, as he only continue to toss more pebbles into the lake. For a moment, he considered getting up to leave, but decided not to; Warren and Chase were probably still having their one-sided argument anyways. As much as it pained him to say it, Kaitlyn would be much better company than those two at the moment, even though it was obvious she was completely distracted.

One, two, three, four… He counted the amount of skips in his head and took note of the rock's distance. It had been a while since he indulged himself in such a mundane activity, but rock skipping always had served as a nice distraction for him. After a few moments passed, Kaitlyn finally broke the silence. "I'm useless," she stated.

She continued on. "The only thing I can do is be a healer, and even then I've barely got the basics. I can barely even fight as I am now either. I'm not quick enough to read my opponent's attacks and give out orders to my Pokemon before they or anyone else get hurt."

Aster continued to toss another pebble out into the water while Kaitlyn fumbled with her fingers. "I can't even fight myself. I don't have any experience with hand-to-hand combat and I have no idea how to use a weapon. As of this point, I'm just dead weight."

Her voice trailed off into a hushed whisper, her self-loathing evident from the tone of her voice. Now if Aster were Warren, despite how dangerous the older boy was, he probably would've given her a nice pat on the back and assured her that she wasn't useless. But he wasn't Warren. It wasn't his job to coddle her. Instead, he raised an eyebrow. "Yea, and?"

A look of confusion settled onto her face, obviously unused to such bluntness. "What do you mean by and?"

His hand grasped for yet another pebble and he prepared to toss it. "All you have to do is do something. Stop making such a big deal out of it."

She frowned. "You make it sound so easy."

The arm that was swinging back in preparation to throw the pebble halted, and Aster let go of his grip on it. He scratched the bridge of his nose once again, trying to push down his frustration. "Look princess, I don't want to repeat myself. I told you to do something about it."

She stared at him.

He started to rant. "You can throw yourself a pity party all you like. Boo-frickity-hoo. But when you're actually fighting out there, it's a matter of life or death. No one's gonna care about your feelings because the only thing they're gonna want to do is to stab a knife through your body." He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, letting himself cool down for a bit. Life wasn't supposed to be easy in the first place, and Kaitlyn's attitude rubbed him in all the wrong places.

Survival was a game after all. You can't just wallow in despair; you have to play to win.

After a few more breathes, he opened his eyes again to bend down and grab yet another pebble. That was until he faced Kaitlyn.

She was still staring at him.

"What," he scowled.

A look of contemplation passed over her face before she spoke again. "Train me," she said.

Now it was his turn to stare. "What?" he echoed.

She tilted her head to the side, the side of her lips quirked up for a small grin as she stood up. "So now you want me to repeat myself? You're quite hypocritical, aren't you?"

"No, I mean-" he momentarily fumbled with his words, taken aback by her sudden snark. He composed himself quickly though, his tone hardening once more. "Do I look like I'm taking students here? Instead of asking me, go ask Warren instead or something. He'll be more willing to put up with you more than m-"

"No."

"Excuse me?"

She shook her head. "As much as I'd prefer Warren's presence, he's just going to shelter me. I need someone who can take me seriously and not hold back."

To be honest, it was rather surprising, and Aster found himself interested with her response. He thought of her as the type to disregard the problems right in front of her, preferring to turn a blind eye instead. He guessed he was proven wrong. "Well count me impressed, you are self aware after all."

Reaching for his back belt loop, he grabbed the steel rod he had brought with him. He held it in his grip and took a few steps back from her, pointing the rod at her while doing so. "We'll start now. Try to disarm me."

She scratched her cheek. "Right now? Aren't you going to give me any other instructions?"

Aster smirked. "What's the matter? Where's your bravado now?"

The girl flinched in surprise, but then readied her stance. With a burst from her right foot, she sprinted at him, her arm reached out to grab his rod. She successfully grabbed it, and tried to pull it out of his grip, but Aster simply used his other arm to knock it away, and with a sweep of a single foot, he knocked off her balance and sent her to the ground.

Observing her downed figure, he tossed the rod in the air and caught it again. "Sloppy attempt, especially if you don't know much about hand-to-hand combat. I'll give you a piece of advice though. Consider it as your first lesson, if you will."

"Even if you don't have any weapons, use any resource you can possibly manage. Start thinking outside of the box. Try again."

From the ground she stared at him, taking in his words. Her eyes began to dart around the area, possibly looking for a makeshift weapon or something. But then the ground began to rumble.

It wasn't enough to cause Aster to lose his balance, but it certainly did catch him off guard. An earthquake? In the middle of the forest? He wasn't a professional when it came to geography, but even he knew there weren't any tectonic plates near the vicinity of Petalburg forest. For a split second, he considered getting Kaitlyn out of the area to get her back to the site, but then a flurry of petals surrounded them.

Did she jus-

Kaitlyn sprinted at him once more, but this time, it was Aster who was at a clear disadvantage. In an attempt to knock the rod off of his grip, she used her right arm to block his arm to the side, and used the left hand to grab the rod. He shifted his weight into one of his feet just to regain his balance and to snatch the rod back, but in a blind panic, she used her shoulder and gave him a large shove back.

Before he knew it, he was surrounded by water. For a moment, he had to physically keep himself from snorting under the water. He had fully expected Kaitlyn to use a left over tree branch or something instead of engaging with such underhanded tactics. A sneak attack with her Pokemon was uncalled for.

But at the same time, he knew it was his fault for being unprepared.

He swam back to the surface and let out a gasp, just to see Kaitlyn peeking over the bank's edge. Her eyebrows were knitted together in concern, and even her Pokemon mirrored her expression. The mini earthquake was probably her Vibrava's doing with his Earth Power, and the petals obviously came from her Petilil.

She called out to him, her hands moving wildly in the air. "Are you alright? I'm so sorry! I panicked and I just pushed you, I mean, you ju-

She continued to fumble with her words, babbling out nonsensical words that even he didn't understand. Then she finally settled down, mumbling out her last sentence in embarrassment. "I mean, you told me to use any resource available."

He looked at her, before he let out a noisy guffaw until he couldn't stop laughing. Her flustered behavior was too amusing. He probably already looked like an idiot, with his hair plastered to his face and everything, but he couldn't bring himself to care. He swam back to her, attempting to get his composure back together as he muffled his laughs. Stepping back to the bank, he approached the brunette girl, and snatched the rod back from her slack grip.

He sent her a boyish grin. "Looks like the kitten has claws after all."

Her eyes widened, perhaps remembering something, he didn't know. But soon enough, she shyly smiled back. "Yea, I guess she really does this time."

Chase grumbled under her breathe as Warren forced her to sit down.

"We're gonna have to give it a clean first," he said, taking out a wet piece of cloth (courtesy of Echo who sprayed fresh water onto it). He continued to wrap it around her arm tightly, causing her to wince a bit from the sting. "We don't have any med kits or herbal remedies so you need to be careful about this."

She hated to agree with him, but to a certain degree, he was right. Her wound was already beginning to swell up without proper treatment, and while Aster's Gardevoir knew Heal Pulse, the effect the move had on humans was minimal at best. Plus, Aster was adamant on the Pokemon keeping as much energy to herself as possible, the absolute jerk. Because of this, it wasn't like Chase hadn't considered the dangers of infection, but there wasn't any time to wait around.

She had to find her father, before it was too late. She had to have missed something.

Of course she had checked up on her hometown some time before, but in her hastiness she had completely missed the underground cave beneath her neighbor's house. The place was kept a secret and the only people who had known of that place were residents in the farming town.

If her father was hiding out anywhere, it would definitely be that place. And the more she delayed getting there, the higher the chances of him being gone.

She would be damned if she would let that happen.

Chase suddenly winced again when Warren gave a particularly harsh tug on the cloth he was wrapping around her arm as he tied it up. His eyebrow were knitted together, an annoyed frown present on his features with her callousness. "You have to be more responsible with your wound. It's just going to damage you more if you keep up this idiocy.

She could feel her jaw clench after hearing his words. Who did he think she was? It wasn't like he knew her or anything. It was as if he was accusing her of holding the group back, when obviously it wasn't. It wasn't like she asked to be injured in the first place.

In any other case, she probably would've ignored him, sending him a tight-lipped smile in reply with a snarky remark. Such a small statement normally didn't deter her, but instead, her face flushed, and she tore her arm out of his grip, her movements jerky and unstable. Blinded by her rage, she lashed back at him. "What, aren't you a self-righteous prick, talking about responsibilities like that! It's like you're making me out to be some sort of liar or something!"

Warren pressed his lips together. "I never said tha-"

"How about you look at yourself in the mirror before you spout off such bullshit! You talk about responsibility, yet you don't even take care of yourself. Care to talk about that limp you have right now when that root snagged your foot a few days ago? Don't think you're being discreet! Kaitlyn even asked you if you were injured and yet you still brushed it off," she yelled, stabbing her finger at his chest.

"That's not even at the same level as a slash wound, you can't just compare those two," he retorted, knocking her hand off from him as he said so.

"And you just lie to everyone, your 'cold and mysterious' front is so obvious that it's almost painful."

"Calm down. That's none of your business Chase."

"You don't have the right to tell me what to do!"

"Arceus, just take a seat and cool off. We're not going to be having this discussion right now."

"Stop trying to change the subject. Is that what you always do? Avoid all of your problems? Is that why you constantly cry at night? Cry me a fucking river, it's because you've got something to hide isn't it? But guess what, everyone knows but no one says anything about it! Well, I'm not afraid to call you out on tha-"

"That's enough!"

His shout snapped her out of her fury, and she blinked, before a feeling of utter shame washed over her. Clearly, she had struck a chord. For the past few days, it was obvious Warren was a man of few words who never bothered to shout even when necessary. Hearing him raise his voice like that clearly showed that she went too far.

Her concern for her father had caused her to lash out in the worst way possible. She had gotten so angry over such a innocuous statement as well. The back of her ears burned as she immediately stepped down. "... Sorry. That was uncalled for."

He didn't reply, but his jaw was still tense and his fists were clenched. He opened his mouth to snap back at her but then she heard a small rustle from the bushes behind her.

Wait, a small rustle?

She whipped around, but the bushes continued to rustle. Technically, it could be just the wind, or a wild Pokemon, or even another human, but Chase didn't want to take any chances. With practiced precision, Warren also widened his stance in preparation for a potential fight, pulling out his machete in the process. From the side, the Pokemon had stopped interacting with each other as well, focusing their attentions onto the moving bushes.

And then a girl stepped out. Beachy brown hair and bright blue eyes. Her hair was held into twin tails and her clothes were a bit tattered. Despite this, they still held themselves together. However, it wasn't the girl's outfit that Chase paid attention to.

No, it was how strangely open and childlike her features were. Even with Warren pointing his machete at her, and their Pokemon being ready to pounce, the stranger was still rather relaxed. Her eyes only widened a bit before a large grin broke out onto her face. The girl jumped on the balls of her feet, suddenly exclaiming in a high pitched voice, "I knew there were people here!"

What?

"Who are you?" Warren cautiously asked, still not letting his guard down despite the girl's seemingly harmless appearance. Then again, Chase didn't blame him. Looks were always deceiving. Sometimes the most harmless looking people were actually the deadliest. She knew that by experience.

The stranger instead smiled and started to babble. "I mean, I was only searching for some freshwater, since there's a freshwater lake nearby. Did you guys know about that by the way? Oh, and I also thought there would be some wild Pokemon around here, even though there's like none. Buuuut there's always a few roaming around somewhere because even though they're harder to find now, it's not like they're extinct, and oh! You're injured?"

Chase blinked and then noticed the stranger was looking straight at her bandaged arm. She hastily hid it behind her back, gritting as a sharp burst of pain spiked past her arm. She held back the yelp that was itching to pass her lips. "I'm not injured."

Warren exasperatedly sighed. "Yes, she is."

There goes hiding any weaknesses.

The stranger bounced her way over to Chase, still ignoring the Pokemon at the side and Warren's weapon, though he was gradually beginning to lower his machete. She grabbed at Chase's arm and tugged her toward her. Running her fingers on top of the bandage, she nodded. "Yea, that's injured alright. There's a bump right there."

Chase tore her arm from the girl's grip. "Who said you could touch i-"

"But not to worry! Because I know just the person to fix it right up!" the girl interrupted, laughing as she did so. Chase could feel the beginnings of a headache forming from her peppy nature.

"I mean, I was already on my way to visit him, so I might as well drag you along too. Come on, come on, let's go!" Once again, the girl snatched Chase's arm again and tugged her towards the edge of the site. She eyed at Warren too, waiting for him to come along, but he seemed a bit dumbfounded from her behavior.

Hell, even their Pokemon seemed confused.

"What's going on here?" a voice asked from the side. The girl let go of her grip on Chase, and spun around. Chase, who had dug her heels into the forest floor to prevent her from being dragged away, also heard the voice, but she wasn't too concerned. She was already accustomed to that familiar, yet annoying voice.

Her face automatically settled into a scowl, but when she turned around, she immediately broke out into laughter.

Stepping out into the site, Aster was completely soaked, and Kaitlyn shuffled sheepishly behind him. His clothes were plastered to his body and his layered black hair was sticking to his forehead. With the some pieces of the said black hair draping over his eyes and the glare on his face, he looked just like an angry wet Lillipup.

Chase couldn't help but cackle at his appearance. "What happened to you? Decided to take a swan dive into the lake for the hell of it?"

"Of course not. I'd never willingly throw myself into the lake for the fun of it," Aster snarked back, though the state of his clothes proved otherwise. Chase didn't think Aster would answer her truthfully anyways, so she looked at Kaitlyn, who blushed.

"I, um, accidently pushed him in…" Kaitlyn stuttered. Aster gave her a light shove at her side, and she blinked apologetically at him.

If Chase wasn't laughing before, she definitely was now. The idea of meek Kaitlyn shoving Aster, the most insufferable know-it-all in Hoenn, into a lake was certainly a sight that Chase regretted not seeing. However, the knowledge of it happening was already enough for her. Of course, Chase didn't exactly like Kaitlyn that much either with her obvious confidence issues, but she was leagues above Aster. Warren, on the other hand, seemed rather baffled at Kaitlyn's words and Chase's guffaws.

The stranger then spoke up, seemingly oblivious to Aster's current state. "Hey, are these two guys with you as well? They can come along as well, the more the merrier!"

Finally, Aster and Kaitlyn noticed the third party among Chase and Warren. Kaitlyn scratched at the side of her head, her eyes narrowing in confusion, and Aster squinted at the young girl. "Who is this child, and where are her parents?"

Well, that certainly another way to call the stranger.

The girl puffed out her cheeks. "Hey! The name's Launa, and I'm not a child! I'm 15 after all!"

Aster shrugged, still looking unamused. "Doesn't change anything, you still look like a child anyway."

Kaitlyn nudged his side. "Aster…"

He sighed, dropping his unamused stare to face Warren instead. "Ergh, fine. But seriously, what is she doing here?"

Chase tilted her head. It was rare to see Aster back down so easily from just a simple nudge, and from Kaitlyn no less. With Kaitlyn's passive nature, why would Aster waste any time with her? And even then, Warren was also rather protective of the girl, especially with how his eyebrows were furrowed in suspicion toward Aster. Chase sighed exasperatedly. She didn't understand Kaitlyn's appeal. The girl was way too indecisive, yet for some reason people seemed to gravitate toward her.

Warren spoke up to reply to Aster. "This girl came over just now. She offered to find a place to heal Chase's cut."

"Yea, and time's ticking! Best we get there before the sun goes down and it's already the afternoon!" Launa sang. She bounced her way over to Kaitlyn and immediately latched onto her arm instead. "Besides, I got lots of stories to tell all of you along the way. Oh! There was this one time where Absol, he's my best friend by the way, was just a baby, and he would follow me around everywhere. It was adorable, I haven't gushed about him in so long! And also, there's Miloti-"

Launa continued to chatter on, to the point where Chase lost track of what the younger girl was talking about. Even though Launa was directing her prattling to the entire group, it was obvious her attention was fixated onto Kaitlyn, who just looked rather flustered.

Seriously? Even Launa was enamored with Kaitlyn too?

Chase broke out of her thoughts when Aster crossed his arms. "You can't be serious, we're actually following along with this child?"

"I told you already, I'm not a chi-"

Warren cut her off. "Well, Chase's wound might already be infected anyways. That Bisharp really did a number on her."

Aster stalked over to Chase and grasped her arm, and despite her trying to tug it away, he only gripped it tighter. First she had to deal with Warren, then Launa, and now Aster grabbing at her arm like it was nothing. Especially with Aster still being soaked, she didn't want to get wet either.

He brushed his fingers over the bandage and callously felt around the more swelled up areas, before nodding and letting go. "Alright, I'll pack my stuff then and try to dry up. Our Pokemon seem ready to roll out anyways too."

She glanced at their Pokemon, and realized that Aster was right. Meowstic and Mothim were already rolling her supplies into her backpack. It also seemed that Aster and Warren's Pokemon had stopped interacting with each other too, and were also doing what Meowstic and Mothim were doing. Kaitlyn's Petilil and Vibrava were still staying close to Kaitlyn as her stuff was already packed.

Looks like the Pokemon were the ones who were more productive than their trainers. How embarrassing.

Launa also noticed as well, as she immediately perked up. "Your Pokemon are ready right? They finished your packing for you, that means you guys are all set! Come on, let's go, let's go, let's go!"

Chase really hoped she wouldn't have to deal with this kid for too long.

"Sir, I came in here for a report."

The man in question stopped typing on his laptop and shut it upon hearing the messenger's voice. "On with it."

He received a nod in reply. "Petalburg is in a state of massacre. There have been reports of more extreme looting than usual. Not just during the night, but in the daylight as well."

He raised an eyebrow. "Whatever happened to the man we assigned? William, was it?"

"Someone found him dead. There's been a power struggle over there as of now between different people. Your orders?"

"Retrieve William's Pokemon. There's no guarantee you'll find the Pokemon, but do what you can. The city's already destroyed so there's no point in restoring it."

"Understood."

The man gritted his teeth and his fists clenched. "I can't believe we wasted those Pokemon on him. We shouldn't have entrusted him with that power. William was always too overconfident in his abilities and was way too cowardly to get anything done."

The man then shook his head. "But enough of that. You are dismissed." With that, the messenger left and closed the door behind him.

Returning to his laptop, the man opened it back up again and started to look through the Pokemon inventory in the database. While it was a shame that they had lost a valuable asset, in the end, it didn't make much of a difference. William already served his purpose, even though the useless man could've done a better job.

No matter though. He was already getting closer and closer to his goal.

And besides that, he wasn't going to let anyone stop him.

Kaitlyn Brooks - Leo (Petilil) and Kit (Vibrava) - SnapshotSilica

Warren Monger - Vex (Zoroark) and Vera (Braixen) - W. R. Winters

Aster Drake - Celestine (Gardevoir) and Azumarill (Echo) - PBComplexion

Chase McCloud - Meowstic (Meowstic) and Mothim (Mothim) - ShadedLyht

Launa Everett - Absol (Absol) and Milotic (Milotic) - maycontestdrew

I'm. A. Slut. For. Friendships.

Or character interactions in general. I kid you not, I've had that Aster Kaitlyn scene planned out since last December or so. Originally, it was actually going to be Warren and Kaitlyn, but I have an entirely new arc planned out for them later. I decided I would've rather explored relationships I hadn't established yet, rather than go for a relationship that was already familiar. Hence the Kaitlyn Aster and Warren Chase interactions. As for Launa, well, we'll figure out her spot in this story in a bit haha

Also, I didn't expect to finish this chapter so fast. This is certainly a first, though that's probably because this is mostly a character interaction based chapter.

Despite this, any thoughts on these relationships? Characters? Things are finally settling down a bit after those last few action-packed chapters, and I for one am really glad about that. Let me know, I'm interested to see responses!

Until next time!