"Hmmm..." Koume hummed as she walked out of the motel and into the dark street barely illuminated by the ocassional lamp post, having put on additional grey jacket to accomodate for night temperature change because tracksuit, beanie and sneakers just aren't always enough. "I wonder where she is right now."
Vrrrrr*
"Oh, that must be her." She reassured herself as she heard, then saw, full black jeep without registration numbers drive up to her and stop on the edge of the pavement.
"Get in." Officer Jenny said from behind the barely lowered window.
"Mhm." Koume nodded as she opened the doors and went inside. "What now?"
"Close the doors first." Officer responded with cold tone.
"Oh right, it's confidential." Koume realised while following the order and then fastening her seatbelt while the side window went back to being fully closed.
"Sorry for rudeness, but we can't approach this light-hearted." Jenny said as the jeep began to move forward.
"Erm, it's fine." Koume said, looking forward at the oddly tame and empty street in front of them. "Excitement got the better of me."
"Go figure, helping the police stop crime just has that ringtone to it." Jenny responded as they entered a light turn to the right. "And since I can ask, do you have any specific trauma?"
"Eh?" Koume yelped in suprise.
"If we want to be efficient about the operation, we need to know on what we stand." Jenny explained as they stopped at the intersection's red light and let a long truck pass. "What if something you fear happens during the operation? How will you react? How am I supposed to know what will you do in a pinch if I don't know what to expect from you?" She continued, tapping her gloved fingers against the steering wheel as one truck over time turned into a ten plus few cars. "Case and point, we cannot gamble with safety."
"... I fear drowning." Koume said meekly, clentching her hands as she put them in the pockets. "Not water itself, just, being trapped inside of it."
"Mhm, thanks for telling me." Jenny smiled as their traffic light turned green and they drove off across the street towards their new destination.
"How do you like the school so far?" Fondue asked, as she ended the tour of the school in a relatively large room that seemed to be a magazine turned into animal daycare center. "Metagross... Right?" She asked, looking up at the bigger of the two.
"Metagross." Pokemon nodded with soft, deep voice.
"Umm... This is your room." She explained with akward tone, taking three steps to the side so he could look around. "Food and water dispencers, fittingly-sized den, data access point, some other commodities and my room behind these doors." She added, pointing aside at the grey doors that seemed to match the inner decal of the place they were in. "The way we entered is the Sensha-do team's storage facility, so I will be passing by from time to time and check if you need something, alright?"
"Nnnnn... Meta-g." Large Pokemon wiggled up and down with satisfied tone.
"Great! Enjoy your new room then." Fondue smiled before turning her attention to concerned Glaceon. "As for you, there is someone who you may want to meet." She added as she started walking towards her room, being followed swiftly after.
"Quooou?" Glaceon said, letting out a sound coming close to a crossroad between fox, dog, cat and dingling ice shards.
"Hmm, were you told about why did you come here?" Fondue asked as she opened the doors.
"Gla."
"I have to take it as a yes." Fondue responded as she walked into her own room. "Now, she haven't unlock her door in three hours, so I need you to first check if at least her window is open, her bed should be right alongside it." She added as she walked over to the double window at the end of her room and opened them wide.
"Nhn!" Glaceon nodded energeticly as he speed up and leaped throu the opening onto the security railing.
"Her room is the first one to the right." Fondue added as the Pokemon looked around the place, mostly obstructed by the giant tree in front. "Return if you can't walk in." She ended, then turning around and heading back to close the doors to Metagross's room.
"Hmm... Ho?" Glaceon hummed, quickly finding the instructed place and jumping into next railing before looking inside and seeing mixed clear and green substance inside a tall bucket near the edge of his view. On top of that, the windows were clearly closed shut.
Not good.
"Vuoww..." Glaceon scowled, looking behind back at the Fondue's room with disappointment. That is, before...
"Graegghhh!"
"O!" Pokemon gasped, taken by surprise with the sudden groan from the inside. "Hueh!" He smacked his mouth, momentarly rising his frontal part of the body to peek inside and see a figure with black hair curled up sideways on the edge of the bed, head lying almost right above the bucket which filling level was slightly, but noticably rising.
The situation was real.
And the damn window wasn't exacly helping.
"Hrrrgg..." Glaceon rattled his vocal cords before pulling his head back and charging some blue light inside it, with only external indication being sparks of blue light Ing escaping from his mouth.
"Plese... Hep..." Barely noticable words echoed from in front of him before he opened his mouth and unleashed a wave of air against unfortunate pair of modeled plywood frames and glass that filled them, turning both 2x2 windows into a frozen chunk of decoration.
" Haap!" Glaceon cried as he leaped forward onto overly narrow balcony, hitting the window on the left with both palms before using them to hang itself on the edge as his body simply didn't fit. "Aaap." He commented to himself as he leaped to the right, expecting the frame to fall outside. But instead he saw it fall inside, which was followed by a loud thud and a sound of shattered ice.
"Aaa..." Weirdly calm sound came from inside, almost as if unpaid actor made a scream that came out as calm realisation.
"Har!" Glaceon barked to boost his confidence as he quickly got himself up onto the space on both sides of the frame and jumped inside to take a look at the situation.
"Eegh?" Poor grunt sounded from behind him, to which Glaceon turned around and saw a beautiful face with light blue eyes illuminated by tears as her body undeneath thick quilt yanked backwards under the wall. "W-wha?..."
"Cio!" Pokemon woofed as he quickly huffed at the bucket, quickly covering it with thin layer of shining ice.
"... Oh." The girl said with lifeless tone as newcomer jumped onto her bed and touched her near the stomach with his tail. "Eeegh. That's... Chilling?" She asked, clearly confused at how little she unwelcomed the temperature change.
"Glac!" Pokemon said before jumping on top of the nearby desk and noticing a closed plastic bottle at the opposite end of it.
"Can you pass this to me, please?" Girl asked, lying back down on the bed with slightly shaking legs.
"Hap!" Glaceon nodded, instantly jumping forward and grabbing the bottle with his mouth before making a sharp turn and returning back to her in two quick leaps.
"Merci." Girl smiled, taking the bottle away from him and slowly opening it. "Also the water to drink..." She added to herself, reaching with the free hand over to half-full plastic water bottle right in front of the bed as the other hand held two tablets in ready.
Knock, knock*
"Open, of you can." She asked, before looking down at the tablets and opening her mouth on the up-down axis.
"Hruh." Glaceon grumbled as he run up to the doors and jumped up, getting the grip on the handle and swinging to the outside while holding onto it.
"Oh, hi Glaceon." Fondue greeted him with surprised face. "Is Eclair in here?"
Gulp* "Oui" Sincere tone came from the room. "Excuse me for keeping you waiting."
"It's fine, Commander." Fondue smiled, peeking inside and facing the somewhat messy interior and smell. "At least the emergency bucket was in use."
"Mhm, it helped me not spill over the uniform." Eclair nodded, as she shooked the quilt down to her legs and revealed a Boko-themed/beaten-up-plushie-bear-themed night shirt. "I had to use backup clothes."
"At least you feel better now." Fondue titled her head lightly as Glaceon dropped down and started to chewing on one of the ice shards he made while breaking in. "But what happened to the window?"
"He had to get in somehow." Eclair explained, looking down at Glaceon, who sat down in front of the bed and starred up at her with the ice piece still in the mouth. "I couldn't even move to take the medicine."
"Next time have it closer to the bed." New irritated tone joined them, making Fondue turn around and see several girls dressed in their school uniform: White Victorian-style ruffle blouses, navy blue pleaded skirts, black socks and loafers.
"Now, now. You don't have to be rude." Fondue said, turning to face the group and closing the doors on the ocassion.
"Neither we had to be so tame in a battle." Other voice responded as the situation in the corridoor was loud enough to be clearly heard by the duo still in the room.
"I need to speak up with them." Eclair commented to herself as she quickly stood up from the bed and headed towards her warderobe.
"Gyngh, woof?" Glaceon howled, consuming the frozen piece as he starred at her with confused face.
"It doesn't make such rude behavior justified. Especially to The Commander."
"I know I should take care of myself, but I cannot let my loyal ones be shunned." Eclair continued, quickly taking most of her school uniform and turning back to the bathroom doors. Leaving Glaceon to look away at the doors and listen to absolute festival of accusations flying in the air.
"Your commander."
"Not ours."
"Still-"
"Only 'Still' thing here is level of the incompetence you two spread."
"Madeleine at least had contact with reality. All Eclair does is binge-watching her own failures and vomit."
"She wants to learn from her mistakes-"
"She has learning capabilities of a tissue box!"
"The one she uses to clean her own spills nothenless."
"That's just rude!'
"Ooohhh. So making over sixteen precent of our Sensha-do members leave wasn't?"
"It was their choice, which you encouraged."
"Because frauds like you can't be allowed to waste our time!"
"With the old style, we were at least losing in a way we wanted against big schools. Now we are bested by an Oarai! OARAI!"
"Stop screaming and listen to me!"
"You listen here, Glass Cannon!"
Thud*
"Harg!" Glaceon barked, leaping onto the handle in reaction to danger and pulling it down. Quickly enough, his mass made the dooors slowly swing to the outside for the group of twenty plus girls to see.
"... Wooow." One girl with blonde french braids tied in a bun said, pushing Fondue to the side by the collar as she made two steps to the newcomer. "So Eclair got herself a paintable mutt." She added with a scowl.
"Oqquo?" Glaceon squeaked, using Charm as his eyes widened and started to imitate slowly melting ice.
"Why is it so... ADORABLE!!!" Other girl from the back screamed in ave, making spins on one leg out of sheer excitement.
"Hmph, at least it has a redeeming quality." The girl commented, looking back at Glaceon with unamused face. "Glad that you wrecked her room."
"Hrr..." Glaceon rattled his teeth as they earned barely visible light blue shine.
"What is going on here?!" Eclair asked, storming out of the bathroom in hurry, finally dressed for a daytime even tho the Sun began to set down with orange light illuminating the marble-like corridoors throu large windows.
"Go on, barking won't work here." Uprfont girl continued to provoke, making few others step closer to her with cocky smiles.
"Elysse, stop!" Fondue cried out with sweaty face.
"Foooh!"
"Wha-!" Blonde girl screamed, byt was cut short as she, and four others students around her, git themselves covered in a cold breath that covered everything save for their backs in thin layer ice.
"Hey! Stop this behavior at once!" Another, far more gentle, but still serious tone cut the air as almost everyone turned their heads deeper into the corridoor. "This behavior is beyond reprehensible for Maginot Girls' College." The voice continued, frowning from undeneath her evenly cut mane as whole wave of other girls stood behind her distinctly taller body, diffrenciating from bystanders who had to pretend they weren't enjoying the agressive chaos.
"K-k-cckkhh..." Girl most forward in the icy trap began to cackle her throat out from the cold.
"Elysse, Regia, Damone, Wilfrieda, Poemis. As soon as you're out of the ice, go to The Student Council." The girl said, walking forward with serious glare as the other girls in the middle that could stepped out of her way to the sides, her light-brown hair following so furiously that burgundy headband barely could hold it in a twintail shape.
"M-M-Madeleine..."
"No discussions, this crossed the line by a far margin." The intervention girl said, making a single chop with her arm to free the nearest girl from the ice. "To the office." She said to her in a tone that despises discussion, then getting to the next one. "To the office. To the office. To the office..." She paused, before breaking the one around Elysse. "To the office." She added, pulling her by the arm up to herself. "Everyone else, make sure Eclair is alright and join us with her in the office in any way possible. Understood?"
"Yes, yes. Madame." The chorus responded as she left, holding onto the suspect as the group started being escorted by few taller girls from the crowd.
"Eclair, are you alright?" Fondue asked, walking up to the doorframe of prior's room.
"No, no. Just..." Eclair responded, grabbing herself by the most top part of the chest. "A little high heartbeat. That's all."
"Oouu."
"Here, here." She added, crouching down to pet Glaceon on the head. "Thank you for protecting us." She added as a smile began to appear on her face.
"I am so sorry, Commander!" One of the remaining girls cried, breaking out of the gathering and bowing down to her.
"Erm, I appricieate it." Eclair responded, looking up to notice more and more girls giving her homage.
"I'm sorry!"
"Please don't freeze us!"
"I now see the error of my ways!"
"Everyone, hold it, hold it please." Eclair said, making them all stop and make up three rows of five each. "I accept your apologies. However, I also know you were, maybe still are, angry at how I command our Sensha-do team." She paused, turning her head towards Fondue while standing up. "All I want you to do is not participate in such actions again. Things get worse easier than anyone can think of."
"So true, Eclair-Samaaa!" Girls cried out, bowing again. Sometimes even hitting eachother in the backs.
"Now, now. Please calm down." Eclair continued, doing her best to get them into shape. "But still, we need to head for a meeting with our Student Council... But I have a plan."
"Huh?"
"If you apologise to Fondue too, I will forfeit all negative claims towards you."
"And I will too in return." Fondue added with a weak smile painted on her face.
"We apologise to you, Fondue-Sama!" The group said like a choir, turning around and bowing down in unision.
"Thank you everyone." Clair nodded, feeling a small rise in temperature of her legs as Glaceon run up a few steps and pointed it's tail deeper into the corridorr. "But now we have to go and uphold our agreement."
"What about your room?" Fondue asked, to which Eclair turned around and reminds herself of dislocated window and ice shards everywhere.
"... I think I have an idea."
"Enter." Madeleine said, turning around to see the group of seventeen in total enter the large oval room in which there was a multum of seats on the sides, middle and the end, which was reserved for a very large wooden desk and trio of The Student Council. Needless to say, other seats were partially take by the others involved in the incident. "Take your seats." She continued, walking away to the left side of The Council while the newcomers took seats alongside the walls.
"Well." A short, but weirdly menacing girl with short black hair and long pencil in hand said from her central seat. "I already interviewed the five friends Madeleine brought to me, I also watched the security footage from the entire day." She added, instantly making Fondue extremely sweaty on the face. "Has anything happen between intervention and you coming here?"
"Me, Fondue, and other girls involved apologised to eachother on amicable basis." Eclair said, sitted second last from the left before Fondue.
"Is that true?" The girl asked, looking over the others.
"Yes, we did." Other girls replied one after another, mostly in the same lines and words.
"I'm glad to see your realisation, but consider yourself watched from now on." The main girl of The Council said, then continuing her talk. "Eclair, do you have anything to say?"
"... I do." She responded after a short while of thinking.
"Say it then, please."
"Elysse, Regia, Damone, Wilfrieda, Poemis." Eclair began. "I want to exchange apologies."
"..." The whole room fell silent, even to the point of the leading speaker making side eyes left and right out of suspicion.
"I know you are frustrated with how I manage our Sensha-do team. And I accept it, this is how I reached the position I have." Eclair continued, earning more genuine attention by the moment's notice. "But we cannot turn disagreements into attacks. We should not be attacking eachother over it." She paused, checking the attention and recieving a short nod from Madeleine to continue. "So please, accept my apology and give it back to me. That's all." She ended, resting her back on the chair with minor relief.
"Well then..."
"Yes, President." Madeleine nodded, turning her head right to the five girls of focus. "Any response? Even a word?" She asked them, not earning any responde other than black stared and lowered heads looking at the floor. "You five have time until twelve A.M. tomorrow. Until that, full suspension in student rights and viability of disciplinary expulsion. Dismissed." She said, to which all five slowly stood up and walked towards the double doors at the end, resembling a line of miserable people in Dance Macabre motive of painting.
"Vomit Girl." One of them whispered to Eclair as they left the room and closed the doors, las one closing the doors behind them.
"Very well, with negativity out of the way..." Council President said, turning her attention to those who stayed. "Ladies, fiveteen minutes of social labor in the school's garden for good measure. Botanic Club said they need some help watering the flowers on the main square."
"It will be done!"
"Excellente, now go." She added with a French accent at the start, after which the whole group in question left outside with positive attitude. "Eclair, Fondue. Madeleine will talk with you in private. This part is beneath my direct jurisdiction and I don't want to make this school a dictatorship."
"Yes, President." The three responded while standing up, after which the latter waved for the two to come with her into the left wing of the building.
"Not you, Eclair. Right now I want to talk with Fondue first." Madeleine said, rising her index finger in order to stop. "I will come to talk with you later. Now, go take a rest and eat something."
"Oh, thank you." Eclair smiled, noding politely as the turned away and headed to the main doors.
"..." Fondue began to feel her body boil from anxiety as she kept the stress inside. Like, given the whole context she recieved today, it was becoming fairly obvious that things could not go well for her.
Screek*
"... We need to oil the door again." Madeleine shaked her head with sarcastic frown as they enter the side room and tan medium-height girl with deep blue bandana closed the doors behind them. "Can you tell me more about the... Friends, you brought in?"
"How did it go?" Sushil asked with relaxed face, turning on his chair to face returning Mako.
"Easy. One move and he was over." Sleepy girl replied, looking unamused as she made her way up to him. "His only Pokemon was a Golbat." She responded, passing by him on the way to the rooms.
"Glad to see you in form. Goodnight." Sushil responded, not earning any response before he turned back to face the depth of his table with a sigh.
"Koowl?" A Noctowl grunted, landing on the table to his right and turning his head with worried face.
"Meh, it's late already. Sleepyness isn't always a choice." Sushil calmed him down, waving his hand away in lackluster manner. "Either way, I need to sleep to, so cheers for you. The nightshift is on..."
"That must be them." Koume whispered, crouching behind several rows of bushes and taking her sight onto two off-road trucks and a helicopter which situated themselves near the cliff of a local lake, somehow managing to not be illuminated by the moonlight reflecting from the lake's surface. "Trapinch, Sandshrew. It's our silent turn." She added, looking down at the two picks she made for the night. "Let's make slow approach towards them. Officer Jenny will join us when needed."
"Kr."/"Ka." Both Pokemon replied shortly, knowing to not make loud noised before the trio set forward, moving in zig-zags between the nature and using it as a cover while approaching from Moon's direction.
In other words, noteworthy night ambush tactics. Something Koume definitely learned while studying Sensha-do in extend she had, even if general tactics of Kuromorimine weren't usually as refined as that.
"Look at these..." A slow, strong male tone eventually made the whole group instantly drop down on the ground. "This will make a looot of money."
"Hmm... Exquisit' Slowpoke tails, I'd say." Another, far more poosh one, added before a collection of sound typical for a loaded crate began to sound. "What's new tho? Furs? Living money?"
"These little bluds." A lavish female accent responded, after which two doors of the trucks began to rise up, progressively being replaced by moans and scowls of all sorts. "Enough for a month?"
"You undervalue yourself." The second voice responded. "But do not worry, that's the sole reason ma' Boss does the business with you two." He added, which was followed by several footseps coming from the helicopter. "Ma' men will take these quickly. Here's da' pay."
"Hnn..." Koume narrowed her eyes, finding a gap in her cover for safe observation as she found out a total of nine people around. Man and woman in stereotypical industrial clothes, six people in dark suits and one very tall man with metal-like dark business suit, long silver hair and eye-covering stripe of red tape handing four large stacks of money to two people who presumeabely delievered the Pokemon.
"Not good, we are vastly outnumbered and they already began the transfer." Koume thought, narrowing her eyes. "But we must at least stop them from further action. How?" She asked herself, then looking around the place in search of a clue.
And that's when it hit her.
She had multi-strike options.
"Sandshrew, set up an Avalanche on them. But not strong enough to wound the Pokemon." She instructed her snowy boy before turning to Trapinch. "You, set up Laser Focus and follow it with Astonish. Then Sandshrew will strike."
"K." Both Pokemon nodded shortly, agreeing on what to do before dingling the fingers and briefly turning it's eyes red respectively.
"Great. Now let do this!" Koume smiled, standing up to a low crouch as Trapinch opened it's mouth and...
TRRRKKKEEEE!*
"Now!" Koume shouted, to which a whole barrage of snow fell onto the heads of geniurnly surprised and shocked people, buring their shouted heads under snow. "Good job you two. Now let's approach slowly." She added, moving forward with Sanshrew while Trapinch lowered his stance and began to prepare something.
"Aagh! We're getting jumped!" The man in metalic suit shouted, standing up from the snow with white misty flying up and around him. "Time to abandon ship!" He added, running away towards his helicopter as it's rotors began to slowly spin.
"You won't!" Officer Jenny retored as she jumped out from behind with Poliwag, who sprayed main rotor with Bubble Gun, making it stall.
"This won't stop me! Get 'em Staravia!" The man shouted, stopping to throw a pokeball up into the air where it released a large starling-like birs with curved forward head fur.
"Hey! Help the boss!" One of his grunts added, standing up form the snow and turning towards startled Koume. "Take out the weaker link!" He added as he grabbed his pokeball.
"Yeah!" Another one added, joining him as the two released their Rattatas into the battle.
"Powder Snow!" Koume ordered, standing sideways and pointing her finger towards the two as Sandshrew spread it's arms widely, sending a lot of thin particles onto two rats.
"Hah?" One of the grunts flinched, seeing two Pokemon being pushed away by a white mist that seemed to cause small chunks of ice on their legs and tails.
"Heat Wave!" Angry shout cut the air as the air behind the helicopter turned into a wall of flames.
"Officer!" Koume shouted, running forward only to be stopped by Sandshrew's 'open arms' stance.
"If you wanna help her..." Third grunt said, standing up from the snow with a Yanma buzzing in the air before him. "Then get throu us first! Tackle!" He shouted as his Pokemon flew forward.
"Bite that igloo!" Two other grunts followed him, encouraged by hsi bravery as their Rattatas followed Yanma with shining teeth.
"Hm!" Koume startled, taking a step back before reminding herself of something. "Jump!" She shouted, leaping to her right with Sandshrew following her just in time for a tube of yellow light energy to not hit them.
"Wha-!" One of the grunts gasped, but was cut short as he, his two buddies and three Pokemon were blasted away by the attack.
"Great work Trapinch!" Koume thanked her partner before rushing with Sandshrew towards the helicopter. "Now let's go-"
"Heat Wave!" Shout followed, as the wall of flames rushed across the space behind it, igniting trees on the way.
"Officer!" Koume cried, speeding up to the point of leaving her Sandshrew behind.
"*Cough, cough*"
"Mamma Mia! You actually stalled me' whitt' a Poliwag!" The top man said in theatrical fashion as the body of Officer and her Poliwag were yeeted away deeper into the forest. "But no one stands up to a' Mister Master Hunter Leirooo!" He proclaimed proudly as the helicopter's main rotor blade began to spin again.
"Heh." Koume gasped, realising that she was now alone in a middle of enemy group.
"There she is!" A female shout came from behind, to which Koume turned around and saw her Sandshrew facing off against the pair of trick drivers with a pair of male and female Nidoran.
"Swarm her and get this job done!" And grunt shouted, giving them orders as two others moved a large crate full of shocked Pokemon behind him.
"Children auxiliare' forces! How the police had fallen nowadays..." Hunter said sarcastically. "No, seriously. What the hell are you doing here?" He asked, earning her attention back to face him and his landing Staravia directly. "And I'll pass on kids beating the grunts up. That's actually the norm nowadays."
"Eeehhh..." The three people on the other side groaned.
"But!..." Hunter said, striking a mid-tier 'power pose' with a serious face. "I still have to cut the loose end." He added, starring Koume dead in the eyes. "Staravia... Take Down."
"EeeEEE!" Koume screamed, being overwhelmed by the large bird jumping straight into her with swings prepared for a hammer-like smashing of her body in between.
"WRYYY!"
"Huh?!" Hunter gasped, barely being able to react as one of Koume's pokeballs opened with a red flash, making a weirdly cut Eevee come out and launch himself at the Staravia's head with an open mouth.
"Hap!"
"KHRUUUHUHUU!" Starling Pokemon cried as it was bitten straight in the eye, flying backwards above it's trainer with a scowl before crashing down in a buring part of the forest.
"Staravia!" Hunter shouted, turning around and facing the fire.
"... E-E-E..." Koume stuttered, not being able to comprehend what happened.
"Whoa! Who the hell was this freak?" One of the grunts asked dropping down the carte as the helicopter began to rise up, making their hair go haywire.
"STARAVIA!"
"KREE!" Sudden, choppy and characteristic scream sounded as the yellow beam of light cut throu the air and striked the helicopter directly into it's upper rotor, making it fly up like a baloon as the rest of the machine fell down whole two feet onto the ground and made a lot of dust upon crashing with a bang.
"Pii! Pii! Sandshrew cried out, turning around and quickly leaping forward to find Koume down on her knees with a right hand placed on top of her chest.
"*Cough* I'm fine!" She responded before standing up and running away with him from the smoke. "Go find Officer Jenny, I'll stay here." She instructed him as she took two more pokeballs from her pockets. "Spheal, Ducklett! Help me!" She shouted as the two Pokemon came out onto the ground before her with red light around them. "Extinguish the flames in the helicopter and help Pokemon in here escape!"
"Ack!"/"Kwaa!" The two responded before first one rolled towards the widely dislocated side doors and second used Water Gun on the smoking main rotor.
"Kreeerer." Trapinch cackled out, walking up to her with order-ready face.
"Thanks for covering me." Koume thanked him, finally getting to catch her breath as she placed her right hand back on the chest. "Ehh... Hehhh... Where are the others?..." She asked herself, looking to the left and seeing that both trucks were still deep in the snow and had deflated rear tires.
"Var!" A sudden growl made her look to the right, where her Eevee used Iron Tail to stop himself from flying, causing a long line of ploughed dirt to appear before him.
"That freak of nature is on ma' list now!" Hunter shouted, rising above and into the night sky on top of the angry Mandibuzz. "We will have our revengeance on you, you monster breeder!" He added, before quickly escaping into the night.
"Urgh..." Koume groaned, beginning to feel her vision blur. "What is this... Smell?" She asked, making few steps to the left and catching her breath.
"Kwaaa!"
"Arck! Arck!"
"... Huh?' Koume huffed, noticing two Water Guns being directed to her right in front of her. "Wait, what is happ..." She asked, turning right to see the new big problem. "... Ning..."
The part of forest in front of her was on fire.
"Kept watering it!" She commanded in panicking fashion as she turned around and saw Trapinch breaking the cages with Bite. "If you can, take water from the lake and help them!" She called to him before rushing backwards in low jumps. "I need to find Sandshrew and the others." She said to herself while turning around and dashing forward in between the trees and darkness.
"Where are they, where are they, where are theyyy?" Koume asked herself, turning her head left and right in panick as she made a mad rush into the darkness, losing her grip on location. "Wait! She definitely flew in a straight line from behind the helicopter!" She realised, stopping in a middle of evenly cut ground within the dark forest. "I must turn around and run back." She noted to herself as she made a U-turn on her heel and run back to roughly where she came from.
"Sands!" A sudden shout made her stop in place, unfortunately while balancing on a fallen tree.
"Ouch!" Koume cried out, falling down on the ground. "Sandshrew?" She asked, slowly standing up before noticing an odd blue jacket in front of her.
"You alright?' Familiar voice asked her while reaching out with the free hand.
"Yeah, mostly." Koume responded, grabbing onto it and standing up with a single push of the legs. "Sandshrew? Poliwag?"
"Sandshrew is here." The voice, now visible as Officer Jenny, responded as white mouse friend jumped out of the bush on a side. "Poliwag is back in the ball, he's knocked out."
"Egh, I attacked too soon." Koume sighed.
"It happens, now we need to save the forest before the fire takes it all." Officer cheered her up before turning back to action. "Let's go join the others and see what is happening."
'R-Right!" Koume responded, snapping out of the stun. "Sandshrew! Spread Powder Snow over the edges of fire, it will buy us some time."
"Qui!"
"Here I am, as asked." Eclair said as she walked into a middle of the round pavement that acted as an intersection for the paths inside the green area of their school. That is, green during the day. Now it was dark with moonlight illumination.
"Thank you." Madeleine nodded politely. "Say, do you know what this place is?" She asked, walking away towards the small hill to her left.
"Park de la Duchesse" Eclair responded with respectful accent. "Unchanged in it's form and design since this school ship was given to us and the third main spotlight for our school after culinary classes and traditional wine-making process."
"I cannot deny that." Madeleine responded, looking aside to the right and pointing at the darkness. "but tell me then, what is this?"
"Hnn..." Eclair narrowed her eyes, focusing on a rough direction given to her. "Is that... a whitered hedge? In May?" She asked, surprised.
"Indeed." Madeleine responded with a sudden scowl. "Yet no one within our school decided to water them until today."
"What? Why?" Eclair kept on asking.
"Because this park should stay as it is and we have no right to interfiere with traditional way it was arranged. Because modern days by definition cannot replicate the glorious past eras, their methods, their ways and their minds." Madeleine gave a long explaination, moving her head and arms to a staight posture before taking two more steps forward.
"So today evening was..." Eclair said, slowly picking the two pieces of information together.
"First above-standard care this garden saw in tens of years." Madeleine ended for her, turning around with a single swift move on the heel. "Do you get it now?"
"... Reliance only on the tradition hurts." Eclair said, somehow striking a perfect balance between confident and guessing tone.
"Exacly." Madeleine responded. "Remember when I said to you after our duel for Overall Commander position in Sensha-do team about weight the Spade Bleu has?" She asked her with mild frown.
"That me having it is a proof of my Commander position and my responsibility to carry Maginot's traditions." Eclair responded, slowly feeling the pressure of personal, one-on-one meeting.
"That's right." Madeleine responded. "So let me ask the important question..." She paused, waiting for a while before accidental gust of wind made her look a bit more menacing.
"Where did you carry them?"
"..." Deaf silence fell over the two as Eclair's eyes began to widen.
"Well?" Madeleine asked again. "Did you carry them?"
"I never picked them up to begin with." Eclair responded, looking down onto the carefully placed brick pavement. "And your part at the start about tradition..."
"Unlike anyone else, including me, you saw the problem we have." Madeleine said politely. "But you went about solving it the worst way possible. You abandoned tradition and went on the way of totally changing us, the whole team." She continued, changing her tone to the one of remorse.
"Relying only on change is also hurting?"
"...Exacly." Madeleine continued. "This is the real reason I left the team after you defeated me. You needed to discover the negatives of your idealistic view on Sensha-do..." She paused, now herself looking down while Eclair starred straight at her. "But I did not expect the hurting to be that literal."
"Neither did I." Eclair comforted her. "In fact, I begin to undersand what you mean."
"Really?"
"Oui!" She continued, making Madeleine surprised with her burst of enthusiasm. "What I need to do is adapt to modern day with what we have, not what I want to have. Evolve our Sensha-do, not turn it around on its head."
"Hmm... He, he."
"Huh?"
"Reminds me of the middle school where we met eachother." Madeleine smiled, further startling Eclair. "You're just as adaptable as back then." She paused, turning back to face the hill. "Which reminds me..."
"Yes?" Eclair asked, slightly nervous about the way their conversation went.
"Once I looked after you." Madeleine began her explaination. "Now, it's his turn."
"His?" Eclair asked, before a brief shine on top of the hill caught her attention.
"Quoo."
"Glacion?"
"The one and only." Madeleine nodded as icy Pokemon began to run down towards them over the hillside.
"How did you sneak out of the room?" Eclair asked, crouching down to grab and pet her incoming friend.
"The ice you two used to fill the window gap melted." Madeleine explained. "I didn't knew he was such an agile jumper."
"Oh well, neither did I." Eclair responded, getting to move her hand across Glaceon's back. "In a way, the variety he already brought to me is inspiring."
"I can see that." Madeleine nodded. "In fact, after I had a talk with Fondue earlier on I inspired myself too..."
"Really?" Eclair asked, her eyes gaining a slight shine as the Moon arrived at the right angle.
"But not in a way you expect." She added, giving her a confident look. "I want to come back to Sensha-do."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"... Madeee..." Eclair sobbed, her eyes turning teary as Glaceon began excessively moving his body against her legs to calm her down.
"Eclair, you are my friend." Madeleine smiled as she began to walk towards her with widely spread arms. "Even though it is my last year, I won't just excuse my way out of helping you in your little dream before we part our ways."
"Madee-Samaaa..." Eclair cried, standing up with wet eyes and shaking legs as Glaceon stepped out of the way, shocked at what he witnessed.
"Now, now. You are my Commander." Madeleine smiled gently. "If someone should be called 'Sama', it is you-"
"MADE-SAMAAA-aaa-ahahahaaah!" Eclair cried out, launching herself forward and taking her into a tight hug.
"Oof!" Madeleine gasped under the impact before taking her into her own embrace. "Here, here. I won't just throw my former apprentice into a fire again." She added, then looking down at Glaceon. "But even if I did, please extinguish it for me." She added with a wink to another willingly obligated Pokemon.
Author pow:
Quick disclaimer, I want to inform you that I will use my own Pokemon concepts (Aka: Fakemon) in future chapters. No specific date/chapter given tho.
Also, I want to credit to KruppSherman and Bubble from Girls und Panzer: Der Fanfiction Discord Server for discussing intreting plot topics I will try to use in future chapters.
That's all, see you next time!
Author