and as we are 300 away from halfway

coming up soon is the battle with gold

and then gold vs red

dun dun duuun

i wish i could write battles i'm so sorry if they're boring

691. wan: sickly pale; colorless

Machamp was still wan and unconscious when Green released him. Green fed him a revive crystal, and then sprayed his injuries with a hyper potion. He let Machamp and Arcanine take the rest of the day off, and focused on working with the rest of the team.

692. poignant: sharply painful to the feelings

The rest of practice passed uneventfully – none of Green's other trainers showed up for extra practice. Gyarados was making small earthquakes as he reared up to land icy cold fangs in the cloth target Pidgeot was dragging around. Tyranitar was making real earthquakes on the battle platform, with Exeggutor watching and controlling the destruction. That was another thing – Green'd have to hire actual psychics for tomorrow, because Exeggutor would have to battle.

Later in the afternoon, his pokemon were panting and sprawled on the ground, happy and exhausted, and Green recalled them, satisfied with their practice today. He motioned to recall Umbreon, but she let out a poignant cry, and nuzzled Green's shins. Green hadn't let her do anything more than intense tag because of her limp (in tag, she was just shadow hopping anyway), and she was still eager to practice.

693. spat: a small argument or dispute

Green wasn't up to a spat with Umbreon about her health, so he rubbed her head and picked her up in his arms and hugged her as he locked up the building. She purred and buried her head into his shoulder, still sulking. He rubbed his cheek on her head, and scratched her behind the ears.

694. skirt: to lie along the edge of; to pass nearby or around, rather than through

They skirted the main roads, taking the roundabout way home through the suburbs. The sun was falling in the west, and the sky lost its bright blue hues to lavender and peach. Green checked his watch – the days were truly getting shorter, and fall was on its way. It'd become harder and harder to climb the mountain as snowfall increased.

695. obligatory: legally or morally required; require as a routine course of action

He'd gotten to his apartment and was balancing Umbreon in one arm as he unlocked the door (did Latias lock it for him after Gold left?) when his phone buzzed. Green fiddled in his pockets, looking for his phone, and when he picked it up, Gold was on the other end.

"Yo Green! I feel like asking you for your preference is kinda obligatory cause I'm bringing home take-out so: d'ya like traditional Kanto food or Hoenn stuff?"

Green held the phone between his cheek and his shoulder and twisted the key in the lock. "Uh wait a sec- um, get Kanto food. I'm visiting Hoenn in a while so I'll try the real stuff when I get there."

"Cool! See you in like thirty minutes!"

696. profane: showing contempt towards what is sacred; nonreligious in subject matter

Green mentally cheered as he got the door open, but felt his heart stop when his phone dropped from his shoulder. He was about to shout something profane (that phone had way too many pictures of Red to be thrown away) but Umbreon caught it at the last second with a pink ball of psychic energy. She slowly moved it onto the counter and then smirked at Green and rubbed her nose on Green's shirt.

697. inure: to make used to something unpleasant

Latias was happily watching television in the living room – Green wondered if she hadn't been as inured to sleeping all day as she seemed. She waved at Green.

"Hiii Green~! Today, Latios spoke to me, said forr me to take a break for a while! He's awake!"

Green looked at the stone she still had on her lap. Lots of the black rock encrusting it had fallen off, revealing the beautiful crystal within. "…Wow, that was pretty fast. Well, I was thinking it'd take a pretty long time, like a couple weeks."

"Eh, just hearing his voice is far from his body rre-appearring. But big imprrovement, I'm so happy!"

Green flopped down beside her on the sofa. Umbreon wiggled out of his arms and onto his lap. Latias was watching a nature show about deep sea creatures. They watched in silence, listening to the deep voice of the narrator and watching wailords and wailmers swimming in the inky depths of the ocean. When the commercial break began, Green spoke up. "Hey, would getting extra psychic energy from others help?"

Latias blinked. "Mmmm- I think so? Just, it takes looots of energy at once, so for not so strong, it can be dangerrous."

"That's ok. I think Mewtwo would be more than happy to help."

698. tantalize: to torment or tease by showing something desirable while keeping it out of reach

Latias tilted her head sideways, curious as to how that would work out, especially if Mewtwo needed so much heat to just live. They were interrupted by Gold pounding on the door.

Green gently moved Umbreon to the side and stood up to open the door. Gold was sweaty and panting, and smiling like an idiot. A tantalizing and savory aroma wafted from the take out boxes he was carrying in each hand. Gold stormed in the door and plopped the boxes on the dinner table and flopped down into a chair. "Oh my Arceus this smells so freaking good, I thought I was gonna die if I walked home smelling it so I ran the whole way back!"

699. conspicuous: easy to notice; obvious; apparent

Green pulled out forks, and gestured for Latias to come to the dinner table. She stared, then smiled and set aside the glowing orb and transformed into her human form. She was pretty small in either form, so she could've probably just levitated by the table to eat anyways, but she probably was happy to eat at a table.

Gold's preferences were conspicuous – although the kid offered three boxes, he was staring quite obviously at the stir-fried noodles. Green shoved the box of noodles at him and flicked him on the forehead while laughing.

700. puerile: childish; foolishly immature

There was something puerile yet comforting about eating with people at a table – there was a kind of happiness, a sense of together-ness that only came from eating at home with people at a table. It was probably a long shot from what normal kids had and didn't treasure – eating with family wasn't something that happened a lot with the Oak household. There was no conversation over the food, but it was warm and happy and satisfying just eating with people at home with the TV humming in the background.