Prepare yourself, for this is another character interaction chapter. Which means very slow progress. Action? What action?

W.R. Winters - Ahh, I loved to hear your thoughts about them all! Yea, Kaitlyn's and Warren's point of views have already had their parts, so I decided to shift the point of views for now. We'll return to them… eventually. When more characters get introduced, their pov's will be interchangeable. Also of course, not everyone's gonna get along in the beginning, but that just makes it better by the end when everything works out. As for Chase and Warren having father-daughter vibes, huh, I actually never intended that, but in a way, Warren is the oldest and a sort of pseudo-leader despite how aloof he is. But he knows when everyone's limits are and is much more cautious than someone like Chase. As for Launa being a breath of fresh air, she certainly was for me too! She actually was the easiest to write out of all of them, compared to her genuine cheerfulness versus Chase's. And hehe, Hoenn's champion? We'll see, we'll see…

Guest - Aww, thanks! I'm aware it'll take more time to read fics that are centered around OC's, so I'm grateful that you decided to give this a go!

PBComplexion - Haha, welcome back! And wow, you wrote a lot, but yes, 9K words. I actually didn't expect the fight to last well, that long and was concerned about it quickly growing stale. And woops, I guess in my hastiness I forgot about erm… type effectiveness and immunities. Tbh, I erm… actually forgot that Azumarill now has a sub-Fairytype to them. I'll have to keep an eye out on this stuff later, but perhaps I should go back to previous chapters and re-edit them. Also, Aster and Celes' relationship is a pleasure to write, as well as his and Kaitlyn's little bonding session. Though she'll have to do a lot more if she wants to continue gaining points from him haha. As for Laura, she has her reasons on still being rly… Laura, but yes, I don't think it's just Aster who's gonna be getting a few headaches. And well, yea, these next few chapters are gonna be rather fillerish, as we're gonna be meeting new characters and touching up on old ones. Hope you'll still stick along for the ride!

Chapter 7: Trust

2149: Present

It was like she never knew how to shut up.

They were all still trekking through the mess that was Petalburg Forest, and Chase was already beginning to sweat under the extreme heat. She wiped off some sweat that was building up on her forehead, and glanced at everyone else in the group. They all looked completely exhausted, with Kaitlyn tying her hair out of her usual braid into a ponytail, and Warren chugging down some of their excess water. Aster's clothes had also finally dried out from his swim in the lake, but instead of his usual remarks, he was silently panting. Then again, Chase didn't blame him.

However, Launa was somehow still skipping along the dirt path, giggling as she went. "Come on! We're almost out of the forest already!"

Really? The forest still looked the same to Chase. She could've sworn they just walked past the same tree. How was Launa able to tell the difference?

"Oh, you can tell just by looking through the patterns on the rocks. See here, this has a minor indent to this one compared to the rocks we walked past twenty minutes prior. And if you look up at the sky with the leaf arrangements, you can tell minor differences as well, I mean they do change occasionally but it's not much of a difference. There's also all these sorts of different trees and such, Hoenn is such a vast place! Did you know that there's a city that is comprised of only trees? I mean, I lived there so of course I would kno-"

Damnit, she spoke out loud. And how was Launa able to speak all of that under a single breath?

Chase's injury throbbed as she continued to walk, and she could feel her irritation build up. "Could you just shut up? Some of us would appreciate some peace and quiet here," she demanded.

However, while Launa did stop speaking, she seemed unperturbed with Chase's retort. Sporting a giant grin on her face, she was now humming a light tune under her breathe, her arms swinging as she went.

From beside Chase, Aster snorted. "Aww, Chase, you don't have to be so mean. Don't rain on her parade like that." Even under the extreme heat, he still had the energy to mock her like this.

"Was I talking to you?" she scowled.

"Woaah there." He brought his hands up, taking a few steps away from her. "We got a fiesty one here everyone! I might need some help here guys." The raven side-eyed both Warren and Kaitlyn who were trailing behind them.

Despite this, while Kaitlyn immediately looked away to glance at the trees next to them, Warren had a single eyebrow raised in annoyance. He then picked up his pace to position himself between Aster and Chase. Aster pouted.

While Chase was still rather indignant to Aster's behavior, she was rather grateful for Warren's interference. Though she would rather drop dead then actually admit it.

The group then began to travel in silence, save for the sound of their scuffling feet. While the heat and humidity were still unbearable, Chase could be thankful for the hanging canopies above them to offer them shade. At least, that was until she noticed a giant opening between a small group of trees.

"Aaaand, we're finally out!" Launa squealed, confirming her thoughts.

The first step back out under the Hoenn sun was… blistering to say the least. Say what she will about the humidity and darkness in the Petalburg Forest, but despite finally being able to relatively see again, the hot sun beating down on her made Chase want to scurry back into the forest again. Instead, she huffed loudly and quickened her pace. "Can we hurry it up? The faster we get moving, the quicker we can get out of this heat."

Launa giggled, bounding over to Chace to walk beside her. "Now that's the spirit! Besides, we just need to cross that bridge to get to Rustboro City!"

Looking up, Chase finally noticed the giant lake that seperated Petalburg Forest from the battered city that was Rustboro. And… there was no bridge to be seen. At least, not a stable one. Shattered timber logs were half sunken into the water, and parts of the bridge were cut off. Some of the planks didn't look like they were attached to anything either, and were even seen floating on the water instead.

"Cross that bridge?" Chase echoed, her eyes furrowing in confusion.

Launa paused for a bit, staring blankly into the lake as she did so, until she laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of her neck. "Oh, sorry. Sometimes I forget that this bridge isn't exactly a bridge anymore."

"How do you propose we cross it then?" Warren asked.

Launa placed her hands onto her hips, and sported the brightest grin Chase had the displeasure of ever seeing. "Well, we swim of course!"

From behind Chase, Aster groaned.

Surprisingly, the swim went by a lot faster than Chase had expected.

Especially with the scorching heat, the cool water was rather refreshing. But once they all got out of the water at the other side, Chase soon regretted their decision of swimming across the lake. Her clothes were plastered to her skin, and the humidity wasn't helping matters once again. Couldn't they just have traveled through the thick shrubbery around the lake instead of swimming?

It wasn't only her that was miserable either, as Warren was now salvaging through the contents in his backpack, looking for supplies that weren't already wet. While everyone was using floating wooden planks as temporary paddle boards, Warren and Laura had to place their backpacks on theirs to prevent their stuff from sinking into the lake. Aster was able to ask Echo to carry his own backpack above his head, and Kit easily carried Kaitlyn's supplies across the lake by flying over them. Mothim also gave Chase a hand with her backpack. Compared to Launa however, it looked like Warren was having a bit of a harder time, as he had more contents in his backpack.

Needless to say, it was rather amusing to see the aloof Warren struggling with swimming of all things. His battle against the sinking wooden plank was something Chase would never had thought she'd bear witness to.

Meanwhile, Kaitlyn was wringing water out of her long hair, wincing at the loose hairs she managed to pull out. Kit flew down next to her, handing her backpack over, and she thanked him with a tired smile. And of course, Aster was grumbling under his breath in annoyance, especially since he had just taken dive a few hours ago, and it was just his luck that once he had finally dried up, he had to go jump into another lake once again.

It didn't help matters that shortly after, Chase realized that they all could have rode on Launa's Milotic. When she interrogated the younger girl about it, she only got another bright grin in reply.

"So we all could've gotten our daily dose of exercise, duh!"

Chase had fought the urge to wring her neck.

Fortunately, Rustboro City was right there, so Chase supposed that was a small win there.

It didn't take much coaxing to get everyone moving once again, as they hitched their separate packs and made their way into the city. Some of them returned their Pokemon back into their Pokeballs, just to spare them from the heat. Chase didn't want Mothim to be too tired, just in case if she needed him at any moment.

Luckily, with the intense heat, they all dried off pretty fast.

It was strange though, as it had been years since Chase had last been to Rustboro City. Last time she had went was with her father, as he apparently had some meeting with the prestigious Devon Corp. She could still remember her ten-year old self staring at the building in awe, with its quartz pillars and velvet hallways.

Rustboro City had always been a beautiful city to her, but the ruined landscape was a far outcry from the previous city of stone. Previously towering buildings were now crumbled, and pebbles and rocks littered the floor. Chase supposed that erosion could've done its part on the buildings and landscape, but still...

While it was fascinating, it was also terrifying to see what eight years could do to a city alone.

The group traveled in silence, taking in the cityscape. Perhaps Aster had already trekked through the city numerous times before, but she figured someone like Kaitlyn hadn't ever stopped by Rustboro City once. It was eerie with how quiet the atmosphere was in Rustboro compared to Petalburg.

Soon enough, Launa stopping by a semi destroyed building. Some broken stone bricks were scattered across the ground, and the corners of some of the building seemed to have eroded as well. Other than that, however, it seemed rather intact. If she could even look a bit more closely, Chase could see a makeshift garden at the side through the cracks of a walled fence. It was pretty well hidden.

With a clear of her throat, Launa then pounded onto the door. "Heyyyy. Heyyy! I know you're in here you hermit!"

There was no response. From the side, Chase heard Kaitlyn whisper to Warren. "Maybe her friend isn't home?" Warren shrugged in reply.

Launa then huffed loudly, puffing out her cheeks. "Three seconds! You better open this door!"

Still no response.

Meanwhile, Aster sighed. "Yea. This is a hopeless cause. You sound like a fool, screaming at an inanimate object." Despite this, the younger girl in question ignored him, and only proceeded to start her countdown.

"I'm counting down now! One…"

"Two…"

"Three!"

Absolutely nothing.

Aster rolled his eyes. "See? Nothing's gonna happe-"

With a sharp kick of Launa's foot, she shoved the door wide open. The wooden panels slammed against the wall as it opened, causing a loud bang to echo into the empty street. For a moment, Chase couldn't fathom that such a secure looking door was actually so flimsy.

From the other side of the door though, revealed a boy who looked like he'd just woken up. His hazel eyes were narrowed as he blinked slowly, and his posture was rigid. Dirty blonde hair was mused up and messy bangs covered a part of his eyes before he swept them aside with a quick brush of his hands. His feet tapped the floor. "Launa, did you really have to kick open the door? I just fixed it and I don't want you to break again anytime soon."

Warren raised an eyebrow. "Again?"

Launa shrugged. "Not my fault. Connor was just too slow."

"And is a little patience gonna kill you? Of course not. It isn't so hard to stand outside the door and wait for once," the boy, or Connor, Chase supposed, replied. Despite that, Chase couldn't blame him too much, Launa seemed like the type of person who never thought before she spoke. The girl never knew how to stand still.

Launa purposefully ignored Connor's remark on her character though, and instead changed the topic. "Anyways, guys this is Connor. Connor may be a shut in, but he's really smart. He's pretty much got a fully sustainable house here that he's developed by himself."

Now that Launa explicitly stated that, Chase could slightly understand what she meant. Clearly, this Connor guy knew what he was doing. His little humble abode was hidden away a bush of shrubbery and vines that painted the walls of the building. Had Launa not led them straight there, Chase probably wouldn't have noticed the door. The door was probably made out of wood for a reason - to blend into the greenery.

From afar, the building looked abandoned, with erosion eating away parts of the walls and weeds sprouting from the ground. Chase could only assume what was inside the building about what resources he had, as seen such with his makeshift garden she had previously noticed.

Lost in her thoughts, Chase almost didn't hear Connor speak up. "And you thought it was a good idea to drag along…" He paused in between his sentence, his eyes carefully scanning the people in their group, before he looked back skeptically at Launa. "Four other people?"

Launa frowned. "Hey, it's actually five people? Can you count?"

"I'm not counting you, obviously."

"That doesn't matter."

Connor rubbed at his eyebrow, probably to ward off an impeding headache. His eyes wandered across each member of their group, and he looked rather confused. Chase wasn't too surprised though, they did make a pretty interesting group. With Warren's standoffish nature, Kaitlyn's anxiousness, and well… Aster, Chase would've reacted the same as Connor.

The boy in question sighed. "Well, even then, I'm rather busy right now, so your little spontaneous sleepover will have to wai-"

He stopped in the middle of his phrase, and it was then Chase realized his gaze had landed on her. It was like he was singling her out, his hazel eyes directly focused on her and her alone. She automatically crossed her arms and leaned back. "What's your problem?"

Connor didn't reply, his scrutinizing gaze looking more intense by the second. He wasn't even that tall, only having an inch or two on her, yet it seemed like he was looming over her. "How long have you had that injury?"

Chase uncrossed her arms to take a quick glance at her bandaged arm. Oh yea, that was still there. "A few days. Why's it matter?" she grumbled.

His mouth opened, whether it be because in disbelief or bemusement, she didn't know. But in the end, Connor shook his head and raised his voice. "Did you guys even treat this before hand?"

Chase opened her mouth to speak, but of course, Warren ended up speaking on her behalf. "We got into a fight with someone's Bisharp. Didn't have the necessary supplies to treat this.

Connor didn't look too impressed. "And where did you get this… bandage?"

"Came from some cloth. We had to make do," Warren responded. He swept his cloak around his body and gesticulated at the torn fabrics at the end of it.

Connor took a quick glance at Warren's cloak. "Don't tell me it came from that," he deadpanned.

No one else replied him.

Sighing loudly, Connor ran a hand through his head. He seemed crossed, as he tried to keep his cool. "You could've chosen any other piece of fabric. Something clean, something that doesn't have dirt stains or grime or something that doesn't get caught into leaves or branches. But you're telling me that no one decided to use their brains and thought that maybe, using a cloak of all things, wasn't that good of an idea?"

Once again, no one else spoke. Until Kaitlyn awkwardly stuttered, "U-um, we at least cleaned it with fresh water?"

"...Yea, I'm taking a look at this," Connor muttered, swinging the door wider. "Just get in, all of you. Don't touch anything though."

"Yay! I knew you'd give in!" Launa squealed, as she bounced her way into the house, shoving against the side of Chase's body as she did so.

At this point, Chase didn't even have the energy to scowl at her anymore.

Surprisingly, the interior of Connor's house was pretty organized.

Sure, there were rusted pipes that lined the walls and a pretty loud vent that was roaring at the side of the roof. But other than that, a bed mattress was sat at the corner of the room, as well as an old desk propped against it. On the desk was a mug and some papers, as well as a pen, and above it was a corkboard filled with more papers and notes. There was a small hallway that led to a rusted down, but workable kitchen, and a door that led to the backyard. Another table was seated across the kitchen, as well as another chair. At the corner of the room was a sleeping Jolteon and Togetic. Chase supposed those Pokemon were Connor's.

Besides the rust and dustiness, this would've seemed like a typical house a decade or so ago. It seemed normal. Almost too normal. If she was being honest with herself, it was actually a bit unnerving.

Though then again, maybe she just wasn't used to it.

As everyone shuffled their way into the house, Chase noted that it was getting a bit crowded. It was a rather small place after all, and they had too many people trying to squeeze their way inside. As if reading her thoughts, Aster spoke up. "Yea, Kaitlyn and I'll be outside until you finish your little checkup. We got things to do anyways."

Warren squinted at him. "What business do you have with her?"

Aster's eyes widened slightly, before he flashed a cheeky grin at him. "Well, that's none of your business now is it?" Without another word, he shoved his way back outside, but left the door open. Presumably for Kaitlyn to follow after him.

Warren took a deep breath after Aster's little display, obviously annoyed at his antics. He turned to face Kaitlyn, though his stony gaze visibly softened at her. "You don't have to follow along with him."

"No, it's ok. Besides, he's not lying, there are some things I need to at least talk to him about anyways," Kaitlyn reassured him with a shake of her head.

Warren's body only tensed up after her initial refusal, but soon relaxed once she placed a hand on his arm. He glanced up at the roof, before letting out another sigh. "Alright, fine. Just be careful."

Kaitlyn only smiled in response, before lightly jogging out the door. Warren stared after her.

Ergh. If only Chase had the time to gag. A part of her didn't understand why Warren was so hung over Kaitlyn. But then again…

Once you find someone you care about, it was best not to take them for granted. And Chase had to learn that the hard way.

Once Kaitlyn and Aster were out of the house, Connor nodded his head toward the chair at his desk, speaking to Chase. "Just take a seat over there. I'm gonna unwrap this thing."

Chase glared at him, but still complied anyways. She held her arm out to him, and he gently unraveled the cloth around it, wincing slightly as he did so. Of course her injury was a little better than before, and fresh tissue was beginning to develop, but the cut was still pronounced. At least most of the bleeding stopped, but her arm still swollen and ached. And some pus was still peaking out from the wound too.

Connor meanwhile, winced at the sight of Chase's wound. "Huh, I'm surprised you didn't have to stitch this together."

"It was just a cut," Chase mumbled under her breath.

"That's not a cut, that's a gash." Connor rolled his eyes at her stubbornness, but continued his work. He then examined the sides and stretched the skin a little. "It looks like it's healed relatively decently, but I don't wanna take any chances. Lately have you been feeling hot? Any headaches?"

"Um…" she contemplated it over for a bit, but then shook her head. "Not particularly, I don't have the time for those either. Been focused on other things."

"You really are a lucky one aren't you?"

"I suppose I am."

Connor sighed. "Well, you should go lie down on my bed for a bit. Relax for a bit. I'm going to grab some yarrow and aloe vera leaves I have growing out in the backyard. We'll rewrap that wound once I'm done," With that, he got up from his knees and began to walk out of the house.

"Heyyy, wait for me!" Within seconds, Launa was up on her feet as well, trailing after his heels. Funnily enough, his pace only picked up as he hastily left.

Chase probably would've laughed to herself at the humorous scene had she not realized it was just her and Warren alone in the room now.

Dear Arceus this was going to be awkward.

Memories of her outburst just a few hours tormented her mind. While Chase knew she could be rather blunt and rude when she was under stress, never had she ever been that insensitive before. Sure, she liked to prod at people's buttons, but even she knew when to stop.

With Warren then, her impatience had clouded her judgment, and she knew a simple sorry wouldn't be able to fix the uncomfortable tension between them.

Judging from Warren's unsure stature, he was uncomfortable too.

Chase cleared her throat, trying to get rid of the nervous lump residing there. "Hey… Warren?"

He didn't reply.

She continued on. "I'm… really sorry. About what happened back there."

Warren stood still for a bit before he responded. "It's fine, what's done is done. Can we move on?" Despite his words though, there was an edge to his voice. It was clear that Warren didn't want to broach the subject.

"No, I mean, it's just-" she fumbled with her words before taking a deep breath. "How do you remain so… calm?"

He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Calm as in, how do you keep your cool? Everytime when there's a problem, you still manage to keep a level head. You don't get carried away in your anger, or collapse under the pressure. It almost makes me jealous. Against William, I was so… pissed off. And I needed help too. How do you do it?"

It was silent once again after that. For a moment, she thought he was going to ignore what she said until he spoke. "If you think I'm that calm all the time, then you're sorely mistaken." He had a faraway look in his eyes, and she looked away.

"Yea, but still…"

Chase fidgeted on her seat. A part of her wasn't sure if this was helping matters at all but…

Warren shook his head again, before eyeing the wall behind her head. "I don't know. I guess I had to force myself to stay calm, at least for the times my anger didn't get the best of me." He sighed. "All of us were forced to grow up fast anyways. We have to shove away our emotions or we'll just get picked off."

"No, that's… yea, you're right," she mumbled. "Really though, I'm sorry for what I said."

He finally looked away from the wall and at her instead. "I'm not gonna say it was alright, since that was really thoughtless of you. But…" his voice trailed off, and then he let out a soft huff. "I, erm… I can understand where you're coming from. Kinda. Your dad is everything to you, isn't he?"

"He's the only one left, and I haven't seen him for years." To be honest, a part of her did think her father might've died a long time ago, but she refused to believe that unless she saw his corpse herself.

"Did you have anyone else before?"

"I mean, of course I had my old group, but our numbers only dwindled over time even before William happened.. There used to be so many of us; Darrin used to complain about having more mouths to feed, but I don't think he minded going out to hunt more food for us. He always had a soft spot for the younger kids. Glenn was one of our oldest members, and though technically he was't the leader per say, he definitely kept an eye out for all of us. He was a really good healer, did you know?"

"And Alexis was… probably my best friend at the time. She was rash… stubborn… and never took no for an answer. We actually didn't get along too well when she first joined, we were always competing against each other. But once we finally reached an understanding, she was probably… ergh." Her breath hitched and she forced down a swallow. "It just… really sucks."

Warren simply stared at her, letting her talk until she was done. Once she stopped, he finally replied to her. "I um… I had a little sister. Her name was Astrid. She was everything to me too. Knew me like the back of her hand. She was a bit hot-headed at times, but she was also very sweet." He shifted on his feet, and his fists were clenched. "I miss her."

Chase felt a stab of sympathy that she quickly willed away. "You make it sound like she's…"

"Dead? Yea, she is," he bluntly replied, his voice curt. He then ran a hand through his hair. "Sorry, I… I don't really wanna talk about it."

"No, it's… it's fine. Really."

The two stood still in silence, which gave Chase some time to mull over her thoughts. Clearly, there was a lot more to Warren than she had thought. Of course, this was probably just menial information, and the older boy was probably carrying a lot more baggage than he had let appear. Even then, a part of her felt honored that he was willing to share a bit about himself to her, especially after the way she'd treated him.

"Hey…" she softly spoke up.

"Hm?"

"Maybe I shouldn't have judged you so hard before."

"... Same. I thought you were a cocky and arrogant brat."

"Well, gee, thanks," she laughed. She supposed he was partially right though, she knew she did come across as condescending at times.

Once she stopped her giggles, she turned back her head to look at him, making sure to keep steady eye contact to get her point across. "Seriously though, if you ever need me, I got your back. I guess. But this doesn't mean I'm gonna act this nice to you all the time from now on though!"

While she teased him a little at the end of her phrase, she wanted to make sure she came across as sincere. She held her breath for a bit, waiting for his response.

And then he finally nodded. "I'll count on that."

The moment Aster stepped back outside under the heat of the sun, he let his mind wander. And the first person he thought about, was Launa.

Frankly, the teenage girl confused him. What was her motive? What could she possibly gain by helping them out? He didn't understand her, and he thought she was incredibly suspicious. Especially with her happy-go-lucky personality; a part of him wondered if she had something to hide.

However, a small voice at the back of his head thought otherwise. That some people were just that genuinely nice. He pushed the thought aside though.

Then there was that Connor boy too. Aster didn't feel like he had much of a solid grasp of the blonde, with him being so hostile at first. One moment he wanted nothing to do with any of them, and then the moment he saw Chase's injury, he was ushering them all inside. Of course, he seemed more reluctantly accommodating than anything else, but it was still… strange, to say the least.

Compared to Warren, Kaitlyn, and Chase, who were predictable as hell, Aster knew nothing about Launa and Connor. And that irked him.

That aside though, he thought to himself as he heard Kaitlyn's footsteps making its way out the door. I got other things to attend to.

Kaitlyn's pace slowed to a halt as she approached him. "Sorry I took so long, I got held up for a bit," she said. "Is this what I think this is about tho-"

Perfect. He smirked. "Think fast!"

With a single flick of his wrist, he flung a dagger straight at her. She squeaked in response, but still managed to quickly sidestep. The dagger flew past her and stabbed a wooden panel behind her.

Kaitlyn stared at the thrown dagger. "What." She sharply inhaled, and then wheeled around to face him. "Did you really have to do that?"

Aster shrugged, ignoring her irritation. "Consider it as retribution for pushing me into the lake this morning," he laughed. "But hey, at least you dodged. You're pretty fast."

She wrinkled her nose, but didn't retort. Instead, she went back to pulled the dagger from the panel with a yank. "I mean, I suppose that's fair, and thanks. But what if the dagger actually hit me?"

Aster rolled his eyes. "Pft, please. I wasn't actually gonna hit you with that y'know. Made sure my aim was off and everything."

"How was I supposed to know about that?"

"Intuition? Instinct? Who knows, but you gotta learn to keep your eye up at all times. Don't ever let your guard down."

"Do you always do this to your students?"

"I mean you're my first, so I'm just as clueless as you are. I don't exactly have that many people vying for my attention."

"What, no - I mean, I just - ergh," she stuttered, before huffing loudly. She then shook her head, and a look of resolution soon settled in her eyes. "Nevermind, just tell me what to do. Wouldn't want to waste daylight, right?" Her words held much more conviction than before.

That was more like it.

A smug grin involuntarily snuck its way past his lips, but he quickly forced it down. Reaching for the back of his belt, he grabbed a pair of throwing knives. "First off, quick question." He gave one of the knives a good toss into the air, before catching it again. "Do you do better with daggers or throwing knives?"

"Where did you even get those weapons?"

"Ehh, back at old man Willy's house. Now which one are you better at?"

"I don't exactly have much experience with weapons or close combat," Kaitlyn began, tilting her head to the side. "But... I did have some practice with throwing knives. They're not the best, but I did pretty decently with them."

"Throwing knives it is then. Just hand me over the dagger now, would ya?"

She nodded and walked towards him, handing the dagger. He noticed that she kept a firm grip on the sharp end, making sure to face the hilt of the weapon towards him instead. You'd think she wouldn't want to touch that part with her bare hands at all, but- wait a minute.

It was then that he took notice of her hands. They still looked the same as usual - small and maybe even somewhat dainty. Not many callouses seen on mostly marless skin. However, it was the fingerless leather gloves wrapped around her hands that took him aback.

Where did she find those gloves?

Kaitlyn blinked. "Oh, were you wondering about these?" she asked abruptly.

He guessed he must've been staring for a bit too long, seeing as she had followed his gaze and answered the question that was in his mind. Wordlessly, he nodded, not before grabbing the dagger from her hand.

Now weaponless, she began to play with the ends of her gloves. A light blush tinged her cheeks. "It's a bit embarrassing, but I actually got them from Warren when we first started traveling together. Apparently he had a pair of extras along with his own." She smiled fondly. "They're a little big, but they do the job. I'd never thought about wearing them until today though, so I just never brought them out."

From Warren. Of course they were from Warren.

Which was rather… odd. Frustratingly odd. Aster knew the Warren was not only a man of little words, but a man with many secrets. Hell, even he had been unable to uncover everything there was to know about Warren. He was such a loner that even Aster sometimes went out of his way to avoid him, banter aside.

Warren looking after Kaitlyn went against everything Aster knew about Warren.

What was it about Kaitlyn? Why did Warren latch onto her so quickly? To be fair, she was just as attached to him as he was to her, but still. Warren was apathetic, abrasive, and prone to anger sometimes as well. Of course, he would hold up that annoyingly unruffled front in front of everyone just to appease them, but he always seemed to be more careful around Kaitlyn. The only other possible reason why Aster would think Warren was so agreeable towards Kaitlyn was because-

Oh.

Actually.

That would make sense.

Kaitlyn's voice finally broke through his thoughts. "... Is something wrong with that? The gloves, I mean."

Aster let his eyes wander over her figure. She was nervously fidgeting on the spot, shifting her weight between one leg to the other. Her eyes were uncertain once again, and she awkwardly avoided his gaze, staring up above his head instead.

He supposed the resemblance was there. Sort of. If he didn't take into account of Kaitlyn's indecisiveness.

Aster then sighed and shook his head. "Nevermind. The gloves won't be a problem, but listen."

She blinked at him. "Mhm?"

Arceus, he couldn't believe he was doing this now. "I suggest you not to get too attached to Warren. He may be nice, but he's also bad news."

She tilted her head to the side, perhaps trying to read into his words. But then she sent him a smile. "Don't worry about it too much. I trust him."

"Look, you don't know anything about him. Do you know about his family? His past? His true nature even? Can you even safely say that you fully trust him when you know nothing about him?"

Kaitlyn paused, but then grabbed the throwing knives from his slack grip. He let her take them. "Does that even matter though? I don't care about what he's done in the past, he's already proven to me that he's a trustworthy. And that's more than enough for me. The only thing that matters for me is what he's doing now, and he's proven time after time again that he isn't out there to harm me."

She scratched the bridge of her nose. "Just, have some faith in me too, y'know?"

Aster fought the urge to face-palm, but held himself back. "Okay, whatever you say, princess." He quickly changed the subject before she could retort back. "Besides that though, you got any of your Pokemon with you?"

She felt around her back pocket to bring out her two Pokeballs. "Yea, Kit and Leo are here. Why?"

"We'll be training them both today as well. Come on, you're not the only one that needs improving." Aster threw out his two Pokeballs as well, revealing both Celes and Echo.

"Have your Pokemon get into a sparring match with mine. I want to see how you do under pressure in the middle of a battle. Don't hold back."

"I…" she seemed taken aback at the quick shift in topic, but she then nodded. "Sure," she said, and then she threw her Pokeballs out. Quickly after, the Pokemon were engaged in combat.

And as Aster simply watched them duke it out, he sighed.

He supposed he gave it a shot, even if his warning fell upon deaf ears.

If anything, hopefully, that blind trust of hers wouldn't lead her to her downfall.

Kaitlyn Brooks - Leo (Petilli) 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

Connor Winchester - ? (Togetic) and ? (Jolteon) - atrt7900

Introducing Connor! Yes, I have my own oc character in here, so sue me lol

Of course, he's not entirely too interesting right now, and neither is Launa I'll admit, but I hope eventually they'll have their times in the spotlight. Eventually. I think my biggest gripe and struggle is to make all the characters at least interesting in some shape or form from the get go, but I guess they're still in their introductory chapters. Honestly, this chapter took me much longer than I expected, though that was mainly my fault and my laziness.

Not sure if I ever mentioned this too, but I've also been helping a friend out with a personal project of hers. Meaning, I've been spending most of my days (or nights?) scriptwriting. Add onto my classes and papers, and it's certainly a handful. But I still work on this fic as much as I can, this is still a priority of mine, despite such slow updates haha

Until next time!