Fairy 6.7: Bargains Kept
Kekoa
June 22, 2020
The bandana keeps slipping down your face. Of all the problems you though you'd have tonight, that wasn't one of them. The cloth is damp from the rain and simultaneously sticks to and slides off of your skin. The rain is also going to make it a pain to get the fire going. You don't know why they couldn't just reschedule this. Not like the place won't be there tomorrow.
Well, it won't. But that's because you came anyway.
You can't fan the flames until they're visible from the outside. If you kicked up a tailwind inside, you'd risk burning yourselves or putting the fire out. Machoke says so anyway. Sounded like he'd learned from experience. Cranidos had shuddered when he'd told you. Betting he's the one who got set on fire.
There's movement outside the building. Two figures leaving. That's your signal. You send out Ihe and prepare a Z-move. You go through all the steps and hold the pose, feeling power course through your arms. "Tailwind."
And nothing happens. You look down to see a damp rufflet glaring up at you.
"Tailwind on the building."
He shrieks and pecks your shin.
"Fuck!" You hastily withdraw him before crouching down, putting some weight off that leg. The Z-power courses through your body like an electric shock before dissipating. Everything still tingles afterwards. What got into him? He wasn't too happy about leaving Cuicatl and Coco, but nothing like that.
Probably can't do a Z-move anymore. Don't have another defog user. Best you can do is a gust. You reach down and send out Moe. The drifblim immediately pivots to look at the fire. His species don't like it very much. They're very flammable.
"We aren't getting any closer," you tell him. "Just use gust on it."
Moe swells larger before rapidly shrinking back down as the winds pick up. The fire rises slightly higher as the oxygen hits it. "Good. Keep—"
Something pops. You look at where Moe was standing and see he's gone. Well, fifty feet away, blowing around uncontrollably. You withdraw him and send out Anuenue and Mahina. The miltank paws the ground nervously as you look around into the rain. What did that? You can't see anyone.
A shadow rises from the ground and forms into a cloaked figure slightly taller than you are. The edges dissolve into smoke shifting in the wind. Blood red eyes shine out where the head should be.
"Rollout, beak blast!"
The figure glows and a blast of static rips through the air. Mahina cries out as Anuenue gets rolling. Not a full thunderbolt. Shock wave? Thunder wave? Something small to buy time. Your miltank keeps barreling straight for the ghost as it stands still, staring at him. A tenth of a second before he hits the ghost moves. He's suddenly right beside you. He smiles terrible, like chemicals you can't place and steps back. You see his long, thin arm stick out of the cloak, a sphere of light in hand. It cracks and hisses like a bomb about to go off. "Get away!"
Anuenue manages to turn to the side. Doesn't matter. The focus blast hits him head on and sends him skidding away on the pavement. Then gunshots sound off as bullets pierce through the ghost in ten different places. No, not bullets. Seeds. Beak blast. The ghost figures that out right as you do and turns around, lightning arcing across its entire body.
You scream something. You don't know what. It's already too late. You dive to the ground and feel electricity fill the air above you. Don't even have to look to know that Mahina's unconscious. After withdrawing your pokémon you steadily get back to your feet, ignoring the ache in your leg. You can't win. Nothing a carbink can do to this thing. But you can stall for time.
"What are you?" you hiss out. "Why are you here?"
A light, airy laugh fills the air as something old, something fearful stirs in the back of your mind. The ghost glides away before turning back to you. Its form ripples and changes, the bullet wounds instantly being patched up and smoothed over into a new form. Soon you're looking at a woman in her 20s with dark skin and long black hair. She's wearing a tank top, jeans, and combat boots. Would look entirely normal if it wasn't for the slight shifting at the edge of her silhouette, her hair billowing in every direction at once, and her bright red eyes.
"Aww. Don't recognize little ol' Envy?"
You freeze up. You've met her. Briefly. Only saw her human form for a moment. Jabari's gengar.
She stretches her arms above her head, standing on her tiptoes and lifting slightly off the ground. "That was a decent warmup. I'll give you that much. Wasn't really expecting to get hit. Just didn't think your toucannon would shoot so close to her trainer." Envy settles back to the ground and turns around to face you. "Well? Nothing to say?"
"Is he here?" you ask. The rest of the team might be able to handle one of Jabari's pokémon. The full team could trap and knock out the abra and round up the rest of you for arrest.
"Nope. Just me."
You look at her, trying to figure out if the ghost has any tell.
"What? I was just going on my usual late-night walk when I smelled fire and sensed you near it. Couldn't resist the chance to drop in."
"And you didn't tell him?"
She rolls her eyes. "Come on, we're not joined at the hip. And it's not like I can carry a cell phone anyway. If I went back and woke him up you might already be gone."
Oh.
"I'm disappointed, you know?" You could guess. "That's, what, some guy's house? What was the play? Extortion? If you have to make good on your threats you weren't doing it very well."
"It was a local business," you tell her. "A corporation bought it. We're sending a message."
She stares at you like you were speaking gibberish. "Wait. This place didn't have any strategic value? Just some random rental? Holy shit, that's depressing. If our enemies were pulling that shit in the field, we'd have wrapped all our missions in a week. No, they wouldn't have even bothered to deploy us. What's the point of counterinsurgency when the insurgents aren't doing anything important?"
You blink and try to digest that. "You're disappointed I'm not, what, attacking the navy?"
"Better than throwing away your future for nothing at all."
The wind picks up and something collapses and falls into the fire beside you. You don't look away from the ghost. Don't want to know what trick it would pull. The heat has gone from barely noticeable to comfortably warm. At least the wind is keeping the smoke out of your eyes.
"Is he mad at me?"
She laughs. This time there's not even the illusion of joy to it. "Very."
A few people are talking behind the gengar. Hard to tell who from this distance in the darkness and rain. No idea what they're planning. You can just give them time.
"What do you want?"
"To keep you from making your brother's mistakes." Envy sighs and she almost looks… sad. It's hard to tell. Her face ripples every time a raindrop hits it and her red eyes don't show much feeling. She sounds sad at least. "He was so, so angry and he found someone who fed the anger and gave it purpose. By the time he'd worked it out a lot of people were dead and he couldn't live with the man he'd become."
Great. He felt bad about the people he killed. You want to ask how many was enough for him to learn his lesson. She plows on before you can.
"They're just doing that to you. You'll burn down a few buildings, make insurance companies write some checks, and then you'll die in prison without having a chance to do anything else in your life. You can stop. Please. Go back to Jabari. Go back to your friends. I don't care which. Just don't throw everything away to burn off some rage."
The people behind the gengar start popping out of existence one by one. Leaving you here. A siren approaches in the distance.
You're being abandoned. They're leaving you to, what, go to prison? You aren't sure what you expected but not this. Loudred has her froslass and houndoom. She can do something. At least try. Or do they trust you to get away from your brother and go back? Is that the plan?
The gengar must notice as she glides forward. The anger disappears. Not slowly. Her features don't gradually relax, they just go straight from anger to compassion like reality skipped a frame.
"Come on. Let's get you home."
You stiffen up. No. They aren't leaving you behind. There must be a plan. You can just. Stall. A little longer.
"That's not my home," you tell her. "He had his choice and he made it."
Reality skips again and the gengar is furious. "Oh for fuck's sake, why—" she keeps ranting in a language you don't understand, the shadows around you twisting to both her will and the fire's light as her form loses coherence, turning back into a black silhouette with red eyes. At some point her words turn into a language you're pretty sure no human understands in a sinister chorus that comes from all around you.
The last two Skull members remaining turn and start walking towards you. One seems way too short. Smaller than Cuicatl. Toddler size. A pokémon? The other towers over you. And their clothing is too loose to be the uniform.
Close your eyes and turn around.
The words are too calm to be Envy's and at this point you'll take any help you can get. The ghost's words cut off as you whirl around. And then she screams. Light blasts through your eyelids brighter than any day before abruptly leaving. Are you blind? Did the attack end. You open your eyes, afraid of the answer. No. You can still see the flames through the spots dancing in your vision. And the spots are getting smaller and smaller.
"Come, child. We must go."
You turn around to see a woman in dark robes. Her face is unnaturally pale. Almost translucent. A kid with similar skin stands beside her. Both have equally pale white hair. And they're really, really thin under the robes. Not humans. Pokémon pretending to be.
The florges. She's back.
Abra blinks into existence beside her and she raises one of her sleeves. A vine extends from it and wraps around your hand. The child shuffles closer to her mother's side.
"Brace yourself."
The sirens get louder and louder as the flames grow taller. And then it all twists in on itself as the abra takes you away.
The world twists back into places and you manage to remain standing. Had to get used to that feeling over the last few weeks. Still feels like everything is twisting and nothing is quite where it should be. You just don't show it anymore.
The florges keeps gripping your wrist so tightly that your hand tingles.
"Will that be all, Lady Florges." Machoke says. He's standing closest to the florges and you while the others stay a few steps back. Some have pokémon out. Most don't.
The flower turns to look at him. His shirt clings tight to his body in the rain. He's taken his balaclava off to show his face. You slip yours off with your free hand. Was getting a little hard to breathe through the wet fabric. "From you, yes. You and your comrades may go." She still doesn't take her vine off your wrist. You don't think she's going to.
Machoke's eyes drift to it as he has the same thought. "If it's his business, it's also mine. Sorry."
The florges tilts her head as the hood floats off. Her illusion fades and her face becomes far less human. Her hood billows down as her hair expands into a full flower and she rises up to her full height, well over seven feet tall. Power radiates from her. Machoke looks pathetic. Like a child staring down a god.
"Your devotion is commendable," she murmurs. "I am tempted to let you stay on principle. Alas, this is a private matter I intend to address privately."
Machoke stands just a little taller. "I'm not changing your mind, am I?"
She shakes her head.
"You going to hurt him."
"Not physically."
A chill runs down your spine. What does that mean? Gen's family taught you there are a lot of ways to fuck someone up without leaving a mark.
"I understand." He turns to you with a smile that doesn't make it to his eyes. "Come back, you hear? Cranidos doesn't want to go back to being the rookie."
"I'll try." And that's all you can promise.
The florges keeps her hold on you until all the others have reentered the base. And then she gradually unwinds her vine. Even lets you take a few steps back. And then she just stares at you. waiting on you to make the first move.
"So. Uh. Thanks for the save?"
"Your thanks are noted."
The child giggles beside her. A floette? The floette that you were hunting for months ago? Is she trying to guilt you or something.
"Why are you here?"
"To bring our bargain towards fulfillment."
Shit. Lyra and Cuicatl were right. This wasn't over.
"I left the floette alone and you helped me catch Leilani. I thought we'd wrapped things up."
The child scoffs. Her voice is lighter, airier than her mother(?)'s. A little more like the gengar's at the end. "What a dull one. Do I have to be stuck here?"
Stuck here? Is that the bargain? You have to train her? She went to a lot of effort to keep you from catching the floette just to drop her off here.
"Do you need a reminder of the actual terms of our deal?"
Your mind is still on its last track. Deadly threat before you. Stall. Even if no one is coming to help.
"I didn't ask for your name last time."
"No, you did not."
The rain continues to fall. She doesn't provide it.
"Will you tell me?"
"Names have power, child. You do not need mine. Instead, you may know me as The Lady of the Scarlet Forest."
"There's a story there." And you really hope it's a short one. She came from a forest that was always in autumn. Not the other scarlet.
"There is. The title is a reminder. To myself and others."
…you're going to go out on a limb and guess it's the other scarlet.
"Our bargain," she continues, "was that you would passionately defend those seeking justice, specifically including refugees seeking shelter in these islands and a child lost in darkness trying desperately not to be taken by strange men and sent away from their only home."
That's really open ended. What does passionate even mean?
"That is mine to interpret," she says. "You may also notice that it is not bound to a time or accomplishment. It lasts for as long as you do."
Okay. Care for refugees. And the child. Setup to adding a new pokémon. Whatever. The six team member limit doesn't matter when you're already breaking the law. Ihe might not even want to stay. Very, very annoying that you bargained this badly but you were terrified and can't even remember saying all that.
"Why me?" you ask. "If you'd wanted someone to care for her, Cuicatl would have been better. She was also going to look for floette."
"No shit," the floette murmurs. So, so weird hearing an ethereal voice swear.
"She wants one thing above all else and it is not something I can give her. And it is hard to threaten someone who welcomes death."
You… kind of pieced that together. That she'd been in a really shitty place when you first met. You'd still never realized it was that bad, even as late as January or February or whenever the hell that was. Is she better now? You leaving… it could have been bad for her. Really bad.
"Couldn't you have just stolen her hydreigon? She would've done anything for that."
"I would have done so if it were within my power. Alas, her sister no longer lives."
Out of everything tonight, that's what makes you freeze up in terror. She. She's going to take that really fucking badly. The hydreigon was the only thing keeping her going and you really, really hope that she's found something else to take its place.
"And no one's figured that out?" you ask.
"At least one did. I considered telling her myself. Both of us decided the girl was not yet ready to hear it."
Probably smart. Still. She doesn't like being lied to. Her brother was doing it her entire life. Hard to come back from that and still trust anyone at all.
"Let's be clear," the floette says. "I'm not going to be your pokémon. You're going to defend me, passionately, by doing whatever I say. And if you don't then you'll find out what happens when you break a bargain with a fairy." She sounds excited. Like she wants that to happen.
Whatever. You're stuck. This can't be too bad, right? You were expecting worse.
"My first command is that you get me out of the rain."
See? You wanted that, anyway.
The conversation abruptly stops when you and the floette walk into the building. You know you aren't supposed to use the front door, but everyone else did. Not like anyone's going to be out and about on a rainy night to see you.
Machoke walks over and bends down a little to talk to the floette. "Hey. You going to be staying here?"
"Yes," she responds. "I'm his boss now. If he's here, I will be, too."
Machoke smiles. Or smirks. Both? "I'm also Jigglypuff's boss. How is that going to work?"
"Jigglypuff?"
"He's short, cute, and loud. I'm Machoke, by the way."
The flower starts giggling hysterically. It sounds wrong in a way you can't quite put your finger on. Too high? Or is it not even sound at all?
Eventually she slows down and curtsies to Machoke. "You may call me Armoranth of the Reeds, or just Armoranth." She gestures back at you. "He calls me Boss."
Indeedee nods like that's a very normal thing. "Is there anything you're going to need Miss Armoranth? I handle supplies. I don't really know what floette eat. Or if you'll need a heat lamp or UV light or something."
The flower shakes her head. "I appreciate your kindness, but I feed on moonlight rather than sunlight. Jigglypuff." She giggles again. "Jigglypuff will be watching over me as I bask."
Oh sure. She's kind to everyone but you.
"I must bid you adieu now. I would like to have a private conversation with my servant."
"Sure, sure. Make yourself at home," Machoke says. Betraying you. For real this time. "Let me know if you need anything."
"Rest assured that I will." Armoranth finally turns back to you. "Now, show me to my quarters."
"Wait."
"Oh, what is it Jigglypuff?" You take most of your pokéballs off your belt and hand them to Indeedee. "I don't know how badly the gengar hurt them. Can you make sure they're okay?"
She purses her lips. "No promises, but I'll see what I can do."
"Thank you."
You leave the others and walk to your room. She immediately falls behind. Because she's just a plant. So you stop and wait for her to catch up. "You want carried?" you ask. She can't be that heavy.
"No. I simply need you to slow down."
You do. It's not even that far to the room at her pace. You hold open the door and let her shuffle in. you nod to Leilani and she does nothing in return. Par for the course with the charjabug. Just sits by her thunderstone. It's all she wants to do so you won't interrupt. She's your simplest team member, really. "We have extra beds. If you need stairs built to the bunk, I can do that." Try to play nice. You're going to be suck with her.
"Please do. And then make yourself a bed on the floor."
You pause and look down at her. "We have free beds," you repeat slowly. "We can both have one."
"I heard you the first time. Now, prepare my bed and yours."
"There's no need for that."
"You are correct. But have you considered that I want to?"
You take a deep breath. "I haven't even done anything to you, Armoranth."
"That's Boss to you, Jigglypuff."
"Kekoa, Armoranth."
"Boss, Jigglypuff."
You continue to stare her down.
"Enjoy your bed while you have it. On clear nights I will be resting outside and you will keep watch."
"And when can I sleep?" During the day if you wish. Or at night. I don't care when so long as you are not busy with another task."
You take a deep breath. "Can you talk to other pokémon?"
"If I wish."
Good. Another translator. Not having one has hurt you.
"Could you let me talk to my rufflet, then? He's been acting up."
"I noticed."
"Okay. Can you, then?"
"I could. I will not."
"Because you don't want to?"
"Because I don't want to."
You walk over to the bookshelf in the corner and pull down enough books to make stairs with. "This is going to go better if we're civil," you remind her. Even if you hate being the one pleading for civility.
"Trust me, child, I do not wish to be here."
You look down at her. "Child?"
"Child."
"So why are you here, then?"
"My aunt is going to be too busy to look after me and my mother's meadow is no longer safe. She thought I would be safe with you."
"Couldn't you just tell her no?"
She shakes her flower. "Alas, no. The Lady of the Scarlet Forest is one of my only allies. I did not wish to strain our relationship over a temporary stay. And one way or another, this will be temporary."
Good. She can't leave soon enough.
June 23, 2020
"How'd you sleep?"
You glare at Golbat and grab a banana. She sleeps in the same room. She knows where and how you slept.
"Quite the little headache, isn't she?"
You can only nod. Too afraid to say it aloud. She's already being a brat. Don't want to make it worse.
"She still in the room?"
"Found herself a buck," you mutter. Probably slur it. Too damn tired to talk like a normal person.
"Hmm. And I'm told you're having problems with your rufflet?"
"Yeah." You sit back and watch her fry up some eggs. Smells delicious. You just have no hunger right now.
"Indeedee said that your pokémon will be fine. Just need some time off."
"Good."
And more food for Moe. You aren't sure when you'll find the time to feed him with the floette acting up. Maybe you can listen to audiobooks at night? How mad would she be if you fell asleep out there as long as one of your pokémon was watching over both of you? It shouldn't actually matter. You're sure it will.
"Maybe talk to Simisear or Cranidos about it? They're better at training than I am. Simisear with birds in particular."
"I will." You've talked a little since your teams are similar and you've been stuck in the same place. Usually. She's gone more often than not. No idea where she goes or what she's doing. Seems nice enough. You've just been clinging to Golbat and Machoke more than you should.
"Sorry your first mission went to shit. Things usually go better."
"My brother," you tell her. "One of his pokémon thought she could save my soul or whatever."
"He's one of the VStar higher-ups, right?"
You take a bite and force down a sigh. "What's even the point of the nickname if you all know everything about me."
"So none of us are left out." She looks at you and flashes her fucked up teeth. "None of us."
"Except Machoke."
She snorts. "Even him. He was a been pole when he joined. He decided to start lifting weights to lean into it and, well, three years later he managed to own it."
"He's been here that long?"
"Yup. Another vet from Old Skull. Don't know too much about his past but I'd take a bullet for him. He'd do the same for me."
"And me?" you ask.
"I would hope so."
Great.
"What would have happened if the florges hadn't showed up?" you ask.
"Loudred was about to try something. If that failed we would've tried to get you out of prison. Not the first time someone here has gone to jail."
Could've led with that in the sales pitch. "Thought Loudred hated me."
"She dislikes you. There's a difference."
You're too tired to come up with a witty response. You just grunt and leave to find Simisear.
There's not much point in going to the golf course. Moe, Anuenue, and Mahina are still resting. Leilani doesn't really love going outside. Or moving. Or doing anything. Armoranth is still reading. How does that even work for plants, anyway? Since paper is just wood pulp. Is it like reading on pages made of skin? Would she prefer e-books? You could try to pirate some.
Anyway, you're at the golf course because simisear wanted to get some sunshine and you're asking her a favor. You catch her frisbee and toss it back. It goes wide. Way wide. But she still manages to lunge and catch it. She's more athletic than you thought at first. Lots of lean muscle. A nice smile. Probably the hottest girl in the base. And you're not stupid enough to complicate things at work when you haven't even solved the first wave of problems.
"What'd you want to talk about?" she asks.
"Rufflet."
"Figured."
She tosses it back. Hard. You only catch it after it bounces off your chest. She mouths an apology and you wave her off.
"He didn't take orders last night. Been acting up since I took her here."
"Any idea why?"
You throw it again and it goes over her head. She tries to jump but only makes it wobble with her fingertips. You answer as she walks away to get the frisbee. "He was friends with one of a traveling partner's pokémon. I don't think he likes being separated."
"And how'd you two meet, anyway?"
"Rufflet? The traveling partner?"
"Rufflet. I know they're a pain to get. Have to prove yourself to the world's most judgy parents."
You catch the frisbee this time. Even toss it back well.
"During the Blackout. His parents dropped him off because we had a young bird and they were struggling to catch enough. I had to fight him myself. Barely won."
"And the young bird. Was that your toucannon?"
"No. That was someone else's pokémon."
She catches your next throw and tosses it slightly to the side. You reach out and touch it but can't quite stop it. You walk over to where it landed beside you.
"And did he want to be with you?"
"Not sure. Uh, I couldn't really talk to him at the time."
"He only got mad after you took him away from his friend?"
"Yeah."
She shrugs. "Sounds simple then. He was more invested in his friend than you. Or maybe he just wanted the chance to say goodbye. How would you feel if you got torn away from your best friend with no closure?"
You did that. To yourself. You feel another flash of guilt over how things went with Cuicatl. But at least that was your choice.
"Also might be time to downsize. You're the only one here with a full team for a reason. A lot of pokémon will put up with a trainer for a while. Long enough to evolve and shit. Then they want to go their separate ways. Imagine being stuck with a bad roommate forever because you made a deal with them over a year ago. Or maybe you didn't agree to anything in the first place. Keep the pokémon that want to stay, let the rest go with no hard feelings. I used to have five. Got down to one for a while. Then I found Ebony as an orphaned nestling and nursed her up."
"And your skarmory?"
"My starter. She was captive-bred and likes humans well enough."
"Right."
Shitty roommates, huh?
That describes Armoranth.
And maybe you.
Ihe didn't ask to be stuck with you. You showed up, fed him, and beat him up. And now he should listen to you because… because he's your pokémon, right? Because that's what they're supposed to do. Because you want him to. Is that the point Armoranth was trying to make last night with the whole servant thing?
There's one way to find out.
Armoranth gently closes her book, floating a petal down from her flower to mark her place. "Good, you're back. I need you to find me better reading. All of this is horrible dull."
"I was already looking into it. Only so many romance novels I can take."
The floette scoffs. "Didn't take you for an avid reader."
"Moe." She tilts her head in confusion and summons her flower closer to her. "The drifblim. He needs fed and I can't let him roam."
"Ah." She pulls on her flower and slowly rises to her feet. "I can assist in that, I suppose. They can be quite gluttonous."
"Yeah." You take a deep breath. This can only be put off for so long. "I know you said you wouldn't translate, but the abra isn't very precise and I need to talk to Ihe. The rufflet."
"Oh? Whatever about? The punishments he will receive for disobedience?"
"No."
She floats up until she's at about eye level. "Then what would you have to discuss with a pokémon like him?"
"Where he wants to go."
"And what, pray tell, are his options?"
How did a flower born in Alola (she was born in Alola, right?) manage to end up with Galarian accent? That has to be on purpose, right?
"He can stay. He can go back to where I caught him. He can go to Cuicatl. If he wants something else we can talk about."
Armoranth idly twirls her flower around in midair. "Miss Ichtaca is on the other side of your crusade, is she not?"
"Wouldn't go that far. She's just not in Skull."
The fairy rolls her eyes. Okay, she had to have learned that from humans. What's her story, anyway?
"Then she approves of your current activities?"
You… you don't know that she doesn't. Armoranth takes your silence as an answer.
"That sounds like a very awkward, very inconvenient conversation. Would you really face her for the sake of some bird?"
You take a deep breath. You don't want to. Part of you wants to bargain, to find another way, to thread the needle so that all six of your pokémon stay with you forever. Because that's what good trainers do. If you can't do that then you failed. Then you're a failure. But. He never asked for this. Cuicatl and Kanoa tried to teach this to you when your first grubbin left. You failed to learn. Another failure.
"If I have to."
"Is that it, then? You will only act in another's interest when you are forced."
"I—no. I have to. Because it's the right thing to do."
She continues to glare at you with surprisingly hard eyes for a creature that small and fragile. You're not even sure how she was filling out a full cloak last night. She's barely two feet tall. Probably had to float off the ground and let it billow around her.
"Very well. I suppose I can translate for you under these circumstances. Are you prepared for any answer you may receive?"
"Yes." You already expect the worst.
She nods.
"And will you be giving this same choice to your other pokémon?"
Kapuna was interested in Olivia's team. It isn't really safe to do that handoff in person, but you could probably arrange something. Anuenue might want to go back to Kanoa and that will be almost as awkward as Cuicatl. The others…
You aren't sure how many of them will stay.
You aren't sure if any will stay.
This isn't supposed to happen to good trainers.
How long have you been failing for?
"I'll give them the choice."
Armoranth gives you a slight nod. "Excellent. Now, has the child had his breakfast? I do not wish to speak of heavy subjects with him while he's malnourished."
"He's been in his ball."
She murmurs something in a language you can't understand before twirling around to face away from you.
"Rectify that. Then we shall speak."