So, with every new update, I'm going to post a new poll! Same place as always, you do need a Fanfiction account to vote, so if you can't, don't worry. It's just for fun and such!
The current question is: Who is your favourite character in Warped Skies? Using just species names.
And the results of the previous poll will be at the bottom of this chapter!
Lastly, for our opening AN, I'd like to thank everyone again! My placement was a bit rough, as you could expect considering the pandemic. Nursing placements are interesting places at the moment. But your comments and readership kept me going, and I passed!
Let's GO!
They had sneezed. They had coughed. They had beaten back a machamp wanting to tug their tails. They had survived.
And thrived.
"Okay," Scout breathed, sighing in relief as they passed the happy sign proclaiming this was Yellow Petal Town. "Civilisation at last."
"I'll never give Sunflora a hard time again," Mane agreed.
"Alright, you two!" Rai chirped, undaunted and unperturbed even with his fur a mess, twigs stuck in it, and a bandage around his tail. They all had bandages around their tails. "We've made it!"
His enthusiasm was infectious, and Scout and Mane stood a little straighter and stepped a little faster. Their time hadn't been all that bad, to be fair. Uncivilised, 'wild', pokémon had given them something of a hard time thus far, but not everyone was unreasonable.
And the world was beautiful. Scout could only lament a lack of a camera or other recording device when they passed the Thousand Falls. A titanic, bowl-like, natural formation that had nearly a thousand different waterfall points cascading down.
But Nine Hundred and Seventy-Eight Falls didn't sound quite as snappy.
The vegetation surrounding the rim of that area was the greenest they had ever seen. However, Mane had soured the moment by waxing ironic lyrics about how their green was nothing to Scout's own green eyes.
Rai had joined in, and Scout hurried them out of there, spluttering furiously.
Even so, it had been utterly gorgeous.
Not far past that was Rivers Bank, a nice little place with friendly pokémon. Quite the tourist location. While they had no Psychic member of the network, someone had been able to point them along the way they needed, having seen a nasty pyroar a month or two earlier.
Now they had reached Yellow Petal Town. A fairly small place, although thankfully not covered in pollen like a certain other town. This town had a multitude of tabebuia trees, but nothing nearly as excessive.
This town was a part of the Psychic Network, but Chimecho hadn't contacted this place besides a brief mention a while back.
"Let's find someone who can give us a push in the right direction," Rai declared, as he often did when they entered a new place.
"This place has a Psychic, right?" Mane asked as they began to look around. Smaller than Treasure Town, but still in a river. The town was thatched similarly, with squat buildings for homes or highly personalised shops. They counted a kirlia pattern, a different shop in every colour of the oricorio species, and one with horns stylised like a sawsbuck.
They decided to ask Oricorio.
She was… peculiar.
With red and black feathers, she waved them in with a pose dangerously close to a dab. "Come in, come in indeed," she said, circling around the trio. Her shop, unlike many, was an actual building.
Its theme was hard to place. There were flowers in specific bundles, arranged plates of food, mysterious-looking pendants, and also what was undoubtedly clothes. Not just scarves and other neckwear, but actual clothes.
Oricorio, in her baile style, observed the three with half-closed eyes. "Marvellous," she said. "Truly divine."
"What is?" Rai asked, happy to be the speaker.
"This." She swiftly slid between them and picked up Mane with surprising strength. "The eyes." She ran a wing down in his face. "The fire." Plucked a bit of fur out of his mohawk and evaded back as he reflexively tried to snap at her. "Your power." She stepped back, one of her feathers tied into the Silver Bow he wore.
Oricorio observed the single red hair she had in her wing, clasping it well despite a complete lack of fingers.
"What was that for?" Mane growled, rubbing the top of his head. She didn't answer, simply continued staring at the strand of hair.
Team Ion all exchanged glances, a common thought in mind. "Maybe we should go somewhere else?"
Right as Rai opened his mouth to bid her goodbye, she moved. Still dangerously fast, she gave a single peck at a yellow pot, and her body rapidly changed.
"Oh my GOOOSH!" she squealed, red body going a pale yellow with fluffy balls of a deeper yellow take the place of the elegant feathers she had before. "Shinx! Shinx! Shinx!"
She danced around, voicing out the footprint runes that made up his species name, before picking Rai up. "I've got JUST the thing for you."
She dropped him on a cushion and grabbed a plate of food. "My marvellous, simply divine, Electric-type power-up food! Try it!" She leaned in. "Try it!" Leaned in even closer until she was a hair away from Rai's face. "Try it!" Still at the same, shrill, volume.
"Hey, don't get so close to him," Scout, and Mane, said at the same time. Oricorio jerked back as if she had been struck with a hammer, gasping loudly. "Oh no! Fire-type and…" she paused, staring at Scout in confusion. "I…" She blinked several times. "Meowth? Normal? No…"
"Dark," Scout said, explaining without explaining.
Oricorio stared at him blankly, unable to put 'Meowth' and 'Dark' together in her head. She walked over and dunked her head in a purple pot, the colours seeming to grip onto her and rapidly change her body again.
"I see," Sensu style Oricorio said softly. The tips of her wings broadened into fan-like shapes and feathers extending to form a kimono-like shape. "How curious, such a form is not seen here or there but where and when?"
Shrugging off yet another change, Scout decided he'd take advantage of what seemed to be a calmer oricorio and do what they came here to do. "We just came here for some information. We're new here; I'm Scout." Both Rai and even Mane covered their faces at his blatant disregard for names. "This is Shinx and Litleo; we're Team Ion. We were just hoping for some directions to the Psychic of this town. They should know we're coming. Unless that's… you?"
"A form that I can take is indeed of the Psychic-type," she answered, "but I am not designated as Yellow Petal Town's representative of the Psychic Network. Journey to the highest point of the town, there you will find the one you are looking for."
"Thank you," Scout breathed, very thankful she'd calmed down. "Have a good day."
"Bye."
"See ya."
"Farewell, Team Ion," she called, as the three of them departed the cosy building. "May you find what you seek without delay."
Yellow Petal Town was reasonably small, yet somewhat larger than Treasure Town. Treasure Town really only had a central town and a residential district, Yellow Petal had a larger town square with almost twice the number of pokémon.
It was still a small place, but they were small pokémon. Finding the highest point in town didn't take long, there was an extremely obvious tree that towered in the distance and getting closer revealed grooves and apparatus' cut into it to facilitate a climb.
"I'm just going to… wait here," Mane nervously chuckled, after staring up at the mountainous climb in horror. "Make sure no one tries to trap you up there."
"You sure?" Rai asked, cocking his head. "I don't think this is a dangerous place."
"Totally sure."
"Stay safe," Scout said, before winking. "Don't fall."
Mane flicked an ember at Scout for that, and the meowth scuttled up the tree. "Don't fall either!" Mane yelled after them, flushing under all his bluster.
The climb was thankfully, eventless. After helped Rai climb up the first step and jumping up after him, the climb to the top was easy. Wide, as per grooves cut into trees go, with flat, sanded, footings, it was a leisurely trip.
"Do you think Mane's afraid of heights?" Scout asked Rai as they climbed.
"Why do you think that?" Rai asked, entirely seriously.
"Well, you saw his face. He didn't look excited about climbing, and since when does he offer to stay behind and watch?"
"Besides in dungeons?" Rai raised an eyebrow.
"Besides 'watching the rear' yes," Scout returned, equally as dryly.
Rai laughed and shook his head. "He might be, I'm not too thrilled about climbing a tree either." His claws were fully extended and ready to grip onto anything he could if a powerful gust of wind came. "You don't mind the height?"
"I don't like it," Scout said, shaking his head. "But I don't hate it. If I fall I'm sure I'll land on my feet, I'm supposed to at least."
"Supposed to?"
"Feline joke," Scout said, a little hurriedly. "Not… anything else."
"Ah, okay."
The rest of the trip took only a few minutes, the two chatting about the view of the town from their height, before reaching the summit of the tree.
Atop the gargantuan tree was a little cove. Branches curled up and around, spreading millions of little leaves to blot out the sun, but there was a clear path. Woven between curls of brown, yellow, and green, a well-worn path.
At the end of it, was Exeggutor. The heads of the pokémon all had closed eyes, and it was sitting down in complete silence.
With the tree so large, it didn't move. And with the branches so thick, the only breeze that could be heard was a distant whoosh. It felt a little too quiet, something that shouldn't be intruded upon.
"What brings you here?" a voice called out, startling the two quiet cats. The head-on their left opened its eyes. "Team Ion?"
"Team Neutron?" The middle head opened its eyes.
"Team Noi?" The third head smiled.
"No," the other two heads said immediately. "Shut up."
The third head continued smiling.
"We're Team Ion, yes," Rai said, stepping forward. "Litleo is just at the bottom of the tree. But we're all here. I'm Shinx, and this is Meowth."
"Scout," corrected all three heads at once. Rai sighed in defeat.
Scout buried a laugh at Rai's discontent and came forward himself. "Chimecho's spoken to you, then? You know why we're here?"
"Yes," said the first head.
"Perhaps," said the second.
"No," said the third. One of Exeggutor's arms came up and smacked the third head. "Yes."
"Do not mind my circular way of addressing you," said the first head. "It is the unfortunate result of trying to sway myself to be both serious, mystical, and playful as an exeggcute. This head speaks clearly."
"This head," the middle one said, "speaks frustratingly."
"And I am an idiot!" the third head laughed.
"We are all the same person," the other two snapped.
"I know! That's the joke!"
"Is this the town of multiple personalities?" Rai and Scout wondered. First Oricorio, now this.
"My apologies for my behaviour," the first head said. "Now, before we get side-tracked further, what can I do for you, Team Ion?"
"We're searching for an outlaw," Rai explained, falling into old patterns easily. "His name is Pyroar, and we've got some information here…" he looked to Scout, who was already pulling the items out.
Exeggutor levitated the offered items over, and all three heads read through it quickly.
"Ah, yes," the first nodded wisely. "I believe we can give you some assistance."
"While the reed of knowledge may not be from us, perhaps another."
"Totodile!" the third head shouted. "Totodile knows!"
"Thank you," the first head said, very flatly. "Must you be so blunt?"
"It was going to be fun to go in circles for a while," the middle head sighed.
Ignoring them, the final head said. "Totodile totally totalled uh… well, he and Sudowoodo can help you. Totodile's in town; you can find him dancing in town normally. He's friends with Sudowoodo who tried to capture Pyroar a few weeks ago, but it didn't go well I think?"
"No," the first head said.
"Probably not," the middle said, before sighing louder. "Stop giving definitive statements. You don't know, Sudowoodo might be absolutely fine! We barely leave the tree as it is, how would you know?"
"I know because I DO get visitors," the first head snapped as Rai and Scout exchanged uncomfortable looks. "Perhaps you were asleep at the time?"
"Have you seen Sudowoodo?"
"Have YOU?"
"See ya, Team Ion!" the third head said, giving them an excuse to leave. "Run while you can. Seriously."
"Thank you, Exeggutor." Rai bowed. Scout did the same, and they left with some haste.
Mane happily re-joined them once they tumbled their way down, happily announcing that no one had tried to chop the tree down as he was watching it.
Upon learning who they needed to talk to next, Mane took the lead eagerly, racing ahead of Rai and Scout and nearly leaving them behind.
"Come on, we don't have all day," Mane called back at them, laughing at their slowness.
"You climb a giant tree and tell us that again," Scout huffed back, panting for breath. Sure, he didn't sweat in this body, which was nice, but the overactive panting he had to do was annoying in a whole different way.
"What's got you all fired up, anyway?" Rai asked once Mane had slowed enough for them to keep pace with them.
"Nice joke," Mane laughed, "I just can't wait! The sooner we find and beat this Pyroar guy, the sooner we'll graduate! Us, graduate from the Wigglytuff Guild. Ha, who would have thought?"
Scout exchanged a look with Rai. "Were you sniffing flowers or something while you were waiting?" he asked, really not sure about this enthusiasm from Mane.
Mane was not the most enthusiastic of pokémon around. Filled with sardonic remarks and purposefully dragging his feet to irk others. This energy was not expected, and Scout wondered if he was trying to make up for sitting around while he and Rai climbed the tree.
"Maybe," Mane answered. "There's a lot of them around. Now let's go!"
"Pikachu and Eevee," Scout muttered under his breath and jogged behind Rai and Mane.
"Lagging behind, eh?" Mane said, not looking back. "Respect."
"You know it's just because I'm on two feet, not four like you two!"
"Respect."
"Shut your mouth."
"Mmspek," Mane hummed, not opening his mouth.
Scout sneered at him, but it was a bizarrely endeared one.
It took a few minutes of questioning and walking to a different part of town, but they found Totodile without trouble.
The small Water-type was busy with a crowd of pokémon, riding a ball of water that somehow was not popping while juggling softball-sized water balls. Despite the aggressiveness, he tossed them, none of the water was splashed onto the crowd, each maintaining their form.
Totodile did a flip, landed on the water ball, and it rippled violently as he tossed all seven juggled balls into the air, each in a different direction with varying amounts of force.
Part running, part paddling, he maneuvered the water ball he was riding on and opened his jaw to the sky, zipping back and forth and catching every tossed ball in his mouth and drinking the water down.
He did a jump, flip, and landed on his ride with more force than before, popping it and spraying water up. As several pokémon, mostly Fire-type's or Ground-type's, tried to evade the falling water, it all missed them and splashed onto Tododile.
"Tada!" he called, doing a pose. The assembled pokémon all cheered before Totodile gasped. "One more!" he said alarmed. A single water droplet was falling, and he dashed, using a krokorok and rhydon as stands to leap into the air and catch the drop on his tongue. He did one more flip and posed once more.
The whole crowd applauded for him, and Poké were tossed into a scarf shaped into a hat.
Scout clapped as well, Rai and Mane couldn't exactly do so themselves, as the crowd dispersed and Totodile returned to his hat of prizes.
"Hello," Mane said, stepping forward quickly to introduce them. "You're Totodile, right?"
"Sure am!" Totodile replied, propping the scarf-hat on and beaming at them. Not a single coin slipped out, even when he began to dance around them. "Hello! Hello! Litleo, Shinx, Meowth! I bet I know you. Team Ion, am I right or am I right!?"
Totodile rapidly shook hands with Scout, taking the paw Scout had offered on reflex, nearly jolting the meowth out of balance.
"You're right," Rai said, grinning with just a touch of embarrassment. "We saw you perform, that was really impressive."
"Thanks." Totodile grinned. "I've practised that so many times. I can't even begin to tell you how many times I've messed up that last part. Well, actually, I could definitely begin. The first time was when I just crashed right INTO Fearow and the second time I accidentally kneed Bronzong in the face. Although that hurt me more than it hurt them."
He giggled, so did they.
"So, what can I do for you besides share stories!" Totodile asked, flipping back and landing in front of Mane. "I'm sure you could tell me a few good stories about saving the world, but if you were here for stories, you probably wouldn't be talking to me."
"We're on the trail of an outlaw," Mane said, confidently stepping forward again. "Meowth, pull the stuff out."
"He might just recognise the name," Scout pointed out, although he did begin to pull the stuff out again.
"Right, Exeggutor said you are friend with Sudowoodo who tried to bring in an outlaw a while back?"
"Oh!" Totodile nodded rapidly, his hat jingled, but still, no coins slipped. "You mean Litleo's evolved form? Pyroar?"
"Yeah." Mane nodded, a little aggressively. "We're on the hunt for him. Dragging the good name of my species and me down the dirt! Reason enough to destroy him."
Scout smirked at Mane at the mere concept of Mane having a 'good name' before explaining. "Part of it's a guild mission, but yeah. Here." He handed the stuff over, and Totodile read them in seconds.
"I know the guy!" He nodded rapidly. "Yep, know him, know him well. He came around, stuck around town for a couple of days. Didn't tip well, pay for drinks, not nothin! Sudowoodo found out he was a bit of a bastard baddy no good fella and so decided to take him down."
Totodile shook his head sadly. "Normally Sudowoodo is our town mascot, you would have seen him coming in just standing around near the start of town. Unless you came from any other direction, you wouldn't see him then! Or anyway, because he's still not standing around but sitting around and that's terrible. Just awful. Truly the worst. Nasty Pyroar, I'd try to help, but Sudowoodo is a bit scared of water."
"I'm sorry to hear about that. Is Sudowoodo okay?" Rai asked.
"And where did Pyroar go?" Mane added.
"Sudowoodo's okay, just a bit completely and utterly humiliated at losing to Pyroar. And as badly as he did, ouch. You'd think Rock beats Fire, but no, as it turns out, Fire just burns Rock until Rock faints and is then half-buried, just so that he can, and I quote from the note left behind 'Be as useful as the tree he pretends to be' and, well, that's just a bit harsh."
"True," Totodile added, musing on the point before anyone could respond. "But harsh."
"But what a burn right?" he laughed, again before any of Team Ion could respond. "Ah… yeah, I'm not willing to tell you where Pyroar went. At least, not yet."
"Oh, what now?" Mane growled, rolling his eyes. "What do you want? Poké? An autograph? To sleep with us? All three things have been asked many times, and we've acquiesced."
"To the first two," Rai and Scout both shouted, noses going red.
"Yeah, yeah. But the offers come in anyway. I'm getting what Lucario was whining about now."
"As fun as all three certainly sound." Totodile laughed, then winked. "I've got something else in mind. You're definitely strong, but Pyroar is too. I'm not just letting you go get yourselves hurt, so you've got to prove to me you can handle him."
Mane frowned, a spark popping off his mohawk. "And how are you gonna do that? Fight us?"
"Oh, good gracious no!" Totodile said, shaking his whole body in refusal. "Not at all. I'd destroy a little more than just your pride." He had the gall to wink, Mane took a step forward and was pulled back by Scout.
Mane yelped, as Scout tugged him back by his tail. "Heel boy."
"Uh, no offence," Rai said, taking Totodile's declaration as a joke. "But he has a point. How are you going to be sure? Isn't saving the world enough to justify us taking on a single outlaw?"
"Yeah, probably," Totodile agreed, going back to dancing circles around them. "But hey, I hear lots of stuff. Most stuff is just pokémon bragging and all."
"You don't believe us?" Mane demanded.
"I'm not saying you didn't save the world," Totodile laughed, shrugging any and all verbal barbs off. "But you can't blame me for being cautious? He severely wounded Sudowoodo, and he's more than just the mascot but the self-appointed guard of the town! He's probably the strongest pokémon here, cept for me and Exeggutor." He winked again and sprayed some bubbles. "So he if lost so badly, what might he do to you?"
"We can handle it!" Rai said, confidently.
"Then you can definitely handle my test!" Totodile retorted back, ten times as friendly and three times as excited.
He had them there. So, Team Ion shared a collective nod.
"Alright," Scout began.
"What do you?" Rai continued.
"Want us to do?" Mane finished.
"One: That's adorable, finishing each other sentences." Faster than they were prepared for, he booped them all on the nose one after another. "Numbero two, our poor town's got some trouble. With Sudowoodo out of order and Exeggutor never leaves that tree… huh." He blinked. "The tree never leaves the tree. That makes a lot of sense and is like a pun at the same time! Hahahahaha!"
Rai awkwardly laughed along, not getting the joke. Mane raised an eye, while Scout blinked. "Did you just say Exeggutor has his head up his own ass?"
"Anyway," Totodile continued, not responding to that at all, "with Sudowoodo out for the count, both physically and morally, we've had some trouble here. A collection of those wildies have been entering the town to trash the place, cause mischief and general tomfoolery, and stealing our stuff! It's really annoying, but they are pretty strong, so no one's really been able to do anything about it yet."
"You mean no one has stepped up to do anything about it?" Mane said, looking Totodile up and down.
"What? Me? They're always across the town when they come, and I can't get there fast enough! Honest! Truthfully!"
"So, you need us to drive them off?" Rai asked. "We can do that. Where do they normally live, we don't really want to wait around for days hoping for them to show up. Taking the fight directly to them will work!"
"Oh, don't worry about that," Totodile said mysteriously. He waited, blinked, and looked around. "Well, if they had ANY sense of dramatic timing, there should have been a crash and commotion by now. You can tell they're troublemakers when they won't even play along with my show, darn them."
Shaking his head, he generated another water ball and began to zoom off riding it. "Let's just look around, they're bound to show up eventually!"
Sighing as he didn't give them an answer as to where the wild pokémon were, Team Ion pursued him. Totodile was fast, but he rolled in circles a lot, and they were able to keep pace.
When the pokémon began tossing more Poké to him, they began to suspect he was using their appearance to drum up some more cash.
If that was the case, they may never know. For Totodile's tomfoolery was spoiled when his water bubble exploded inexplicably.
And then the most annoying laughter rang out. "Hoi-hihihihihihihihi." There was a collective groan, and the townsfolk all began to back away as four pokémon made themselves known.
The high-pitched giggling came from none other than a jynx, with her arm entwined with a rather large electabuzz. Trailing behind him was a snivelling magby and strolling up by jynx's other side was a croagunk.
"There they are," Totodile grumbled, rubbing his tail where he landed on it. "Can you handle them?"
Team Ion stepped forward, standing between the rest of the town, and the retreating townsfolk, and the four interlopers.
"Stop right-AH!" Rai had stepped up to warn them away and was immediately attacked. A jet of ice from Jynx cracked into his head and knocked him sprawling.
It took Scout even less time to leap after Rai and for Mane's mohawk to explode into flames. But he didn't attack yet, simply jumped between the four and Rai, giving Scout whatever time he needed.
"I'm fine," Rai said, pushing Scout off him and strolling up next to the snarling Mane. He bumped him with a grin before turning to the four, eyes narrowing as his pupils constricted.
Mane grinned, and Scout bared his claws. The battle has begun.
"And I can teach them how to tie a knot and braid fur and purge our enemies in holy flames and sing nice songs!"
"It's a psyduck. No flames with them."
"Drown our enemies in holy water and sing nice songs and comb little hairs and I'm just SO EXCITED!"
Saniya, for none else, could express such enthusiasm, flew circles around Team Sunrise as they walked an unfamiliar path.
Well, it was familiar to a degree. Sean and Striker had both walked this route a few times beforehand, and Dusknoir had moseyed his way along with it himself. Saniya had only seen it three times, but each time she seemed to grow more excited.
Potentially because things changed, however minor.
"This flower is blooming!" Saniya squealed. "It wasn't before! AHH!" She flew to it, booped it right in the middle, and then sprinkled it with magic celebi dust. "Grow long and spread your roots small flower, for this world is alive for you to do so!"
She giggled and zoomed back to the group, falling onto Guardian's shoulder for a moment before sliding off and landing in Striker's arms. "Oh, you caught me. You're so nice. You're so wonderful. I love you."
Striker smiled fondly at her as she gave him a peck on the forehead and buzzed her wings again. "How is everything so wonderful? I thought everything was going to be terrible with our kitties gone, and it's not as fun as if they were here but look AT THAT!"
Striker spluttered as the knockback of wind went up his nose from her rapid acceleration. "IT'S A MUSHROOM!"
"It was there yesterday," Sean helpfully pointed out. But Saniya then burst into tears.
"Yeah," she sobbed as Sean panicked and ran over to her with apologies on his lips. "But it's slightly bigger now and turned slightly to the left. It's beautiful." She grabbed his chin and pointed his face at the mushroom, forcing him closer as she continued to cry. "Look at it."
"I see it," Sean said, awkwardly as she still was holding his face. "Very nice."
"It is. It IS!" She released him and went back to flying around in delight. "Ah, such a beautiful morning. Did you see the sunrise? I sure did," she giggled, giving them all a very focused and obvious look, winking several times for good measure. "Mane would have laughed at that one."
"No, he wouldn't," Guardian retorted. "On the other hand, Scout would have."
"True," she acquiesced and sighed. "Look at us. Back on the road like old times."
"You said that yesterday," Sean said, smiling at her and re-joining the three. Saniya gave his head a ruffle.
"And the day before that," Striker pointed out, smirking. She poked one of his arm leaves.
"And, as it happens, the day before that," Guardian teased, joining in. She grinned at him and bonged the sensor on the top of his head.
"And I'll say it tomorrow too!" Saniya declared. "Just so I can be a part of this!"
"You're always a part of it," Sean said, winking at her. "Wouldn't have it any other way."
Team Sunrise had taken to their new, still limited, but extended freedom with gusto. There was a hard limit of not going too far from town. However, the guild either underestimated their speed and stamina or was playing fast and loose with Magnezone's rules and giving them more freedom without stating it.
They had to come back every night, and that was fine. However, all four of them could go quite the distance and back, further than the rest of the apprentices for sure. Between Sean's Fighting-type stamina helpfully being about the same as his human stamina, Striker's speed, Guardian's endurance, and Saniya's pure haxx, they found it possible to go about as far as Amp Plains and back in a single day.
Which Guardian knew to be uncommon in town. It had taken Team Ion an entire day just to reach Amp Plains when they first went, a story he retold as best he could to an interested audience.
"I'm glad you didn't leave Mane to die," Saniya said happily, giving Guardian's face a brief hug. "That would have been sad."
"Yes," Guardian said gravely. "I am relieved I didn't make that mistake, at least."
"Plus, have you heard him talk? He's hilarious."
"I'm surprised you approve of him being around Scout in the way that he acts," Striker said neutrally. Saniya gave him a deeply offended expression and Guardian decided to keep a firm, but gentle, hold on her, so she didn't decide to sock the lizard in the nose. "I like him," he added, and she calmed down. "But still." And back to offended.
"I would have been surprised," Sean said, voice so dry the two Grass-type's could have wilted from it. "But he wasn't nearly the first pokémon I met that was so forward. Was it like that in the future?"
"Yes," all three said immediately, then all exchanged an amused look.
"If not worse," Striker said, blushing slightly. "In those times pokémon would… not be shy about making advances. I'll leave it at that."
"Oh! Oh-oh-oh! What about that time?" Saniya began. Guardian clamped his hand over her mouth.
"Do not soil Sean's ears with that story," Guardian said, horrified she remembered it. But then again, they all did. Some things could not be forgotten even with reality-altering paradoxes.
"Aww come on!" Sean said. "Everything I got was second hand, I should at least know some things?"
"I am afraid that, as you so helpfully made it clear many times, in human terms you are still a juvenile," Guardian said, as the responsibly adult of the team.
Saniya bit his hand. The only adult of the team perhaps.
Sean huffed and crossed his arms. "Fine. I won't talk to you until you tell me."
"Is that not a child's response?"
Sean stuck his tongue out. But then winked. "Anyway. We were talking about you being oddly okay with Mane around Scout. Not feeling any empty nest syndrome yet are we?"
"Preposterous."
"Is it though?" Saniya asked.
"Yes."
"Are you sure?" Striker added, smirking himself. "They're all alone now, without you to be watching and making sure."
"Raigeki is there," Guardian said haltingly.
"And that is… helpful, why?" Saniya grinned. Guardian had no answer for that point.
The mood remained light as Team Sunrise chatted.
"I really do miss them though," Saniya sighed, they were getting close to their destination now, but she had more words to share. "It isn't the same without them."
"It is a hole Team Ion has left in town," Guardian agreed.
"Ion? What? Forgot them, I'm talking about the OTHER world-saving team."
"I did not get that from what you said," Striker said.
"Me neither," Sean said. "But I agree." Guardian gave him a sharp look. "On the miss point, not the forget our friend's point."
"Pish-posh. How could they go so soon?" Saniya levitated up some leaves in the vague shape of a charizard, she took a pear off a tree, and a couple of sticks she formed into a wartortle.
"Sorry, Saniya. We are going now," she said, in a surprisingly good impression of Chikorita. "Bye."
"Bye-bye," 'Charizard' said. "You are the best and greatest around, we are shown up by your amazingness."
"Other pokémon need to be saved, and we are the saviours first, so we get to go, and you don't," 'Wartortle' finished.
Saniya sighed and let them all drop. "Everyone is leaving me, and I don't like it!"
"We're not going anywhere," Sean soothed.
"Who said you are everyone!?"
"I did."
"Well, alright, then." She hugged him. "Don't leave me, please."
Saniya did not deal with parting well. Having known every time she left the group in the future could be the last time she saw them. They could be killed, or even she could be, was beyond difficult every time.
Team Go-Getters had left a short time after Team Ion had. After the Time Crisis, many new dungeons had appeared over the continent, and they had been personally requested to go save some pokémon that had been lost in a new, dangerous, dungeon.
"We will really miss you," Chikorita had said, hugging Saniya, Sean, and Striker very tightly with her vines. "We'll try to come back soon, but duty is always calling."
"Stay safe, okay?" Wartortle gave Sean a very human handshake, both smiling at the normality of a handshake to them while it was alien to everyone else. Then Wartortle pulled him into a brief hug. "I mean it. Stay safe."
"Charizard, I cannot." Guardian had been given one of Charizard's books but couldn't accept the gift.
"I insist, please," Charizard rumbled, pressing it into Guardian's hands until the Ghost-type relented and took it. "May it serve you as well as it served me."
"Goodbye." Team Go-Getters said. They had been given a send-off by the town but had enjoyed a far more personal one with Team Sunrise. They truly did have to go, they were some of the best rescuers around, it wasn't right for them to remain around when pokémon needed help.
And so, they left.
"I hate them, and I want to see them right now," Saniya said, pouting. "I lied, I love them too. Why couldn't we go with them? That'd been the fairest thing."
"We still get to move around out here," Sean said.
"I guess…"
"And I believe we're approaching now," Guardian said, nodding forward.
"Oooh!" Saniya said, enchanted by the sight before them so much that she didn't zip forward in excitement.
It was a waterfall. Truly a novel thing to these pokémon of the frozen future, to see that water crashing down with boundless life.
"It's so loud!" Saniya yelled, needing to for once to be heard. "So much steam? Is it hot?"
"Just the impact of the water falling down," Guardian explained, "causing it to be tossed up as mist."
They walked onto a rocky outcropping, leading up to the bursting waterfall.
"This IS the Waterfall Cave, right?" Striker asked. "Are we certain?"
"Let me try!" Saniya said. Guardian grabbed her before she could zip forward. "Aww, come on, let me goooo."
"We need to be careful," Guardian said, and she crossed her arms at him and stared. Guardian was far better at staring, and she broke first.
"Fine."
"Want to take my hand?" Sean asked, holding his paw, not hand, out to Saniya. She grinned and took it.
There were three reasons why they were here. The first, and most obvious, was that there was a lost pokémon inside and they needed to extract them. Some Psyduck or so had entered this dungeon and not returned. Clefairy, Psyduck's friend, had come to the guild in alarm and Team Sunrise had taken the mission.
The second, and far less obvious, reason was that they wanted to see the place. Team Ion had spoken about the Waterfall Cave, and it sounded beautiful, if damp and moist. It was an exciting dungeon to go to, and all four were eager.
The final, and least clear, reason was that Scout had mentioned a Dimensional Scream apparently could occur here. Or, at least, it did in his idea of the world. No one entirely understood how it worked, even Saniya, and Sean had very few Dimensional Scream's in his time in the now present.
It was a disorientating experience to have for sure, but one capped with inner jokes and bonding. It only worked with a partner one trusted entirely, after all.
Guardian still sometimes thought about the Dimensional Scream Sean had experienced during that awful time way back when. He himself had been holding Sean at the time, and Striker was meters away. They weren't entirely clear on how close that trusted partner had to be, but no scream had ever occurred without one of them being within arms distance of Sean.
The idea that even then, even when he was carting them off for execution, Sean still trusted him enough to have a Dimensional Scream was a little too much for Guardian to bare, so he refused to think about it and quashed the line of thought before it went too far.
"Anything?" Saniya asked.
"Mmm," Sean said, eyes unfocusing. That was a classic sign. She steadied him as Sean's eyes and ears heard something from another time.
Sean resurfaced with a crooked grin on his face and mirth dancing in his eyes. "Well, it wasn't Wigglytuff I saw," he laughed, shaking his head. "I actually got two visions. One was Sunflora and Loudred arguing so much that he yelled loud enough to disturb the waterfall, it's how they figured out it was a cave entrance."
"Oh! So they DIDN'T determine it was an entrance with all that hokey pokey nonsense!" Saniya gasped.
"Nope. Argument."
"Tee-hee-hee."
"Hoo-hoo-ha."
"You all laugh weird," Striker muttered, simply asking for retribution at this point.
"Hoo-haha," Sean laughed, sticking his tongue out. "Second one I saw was just Scout looking like he had a big speech prepared and Rai just leapt right in with no hesitation. Scout said some bad words under his breath but eventually jumped in after him. This is definitely the place."
Guardian entered first, being both the slowest, largest and most durable in case something was wrong. Striker, Sean, and Saniya followed in quick succession.
"Ew, the ground is moist," Saniya said, wrinkling her nose.
"You're not even touching the ground," Sean said, frowning in disgust and lifting his feet to state at his paw pads, now grimed up. "Ugh."
"Moist. Mooiiiist."
"Stop saying moist."
"The moist-ure is very unpleasant here indeed," Striker said, only the barest hint of a smirk on his face.
"I'm going to need some moist-urizer after this one," Saniya giggled.
"Don't you dare think of using this ground as some sort of pre-moist-urizer now."
"Hahahaha. Moist."
"Okay," Sean said, shivering. "Here's the plan. I'm going to go with Guardian. You two can… go off together. That way we can cover more ground."
"Moist ground?"
"Yes," he said through clenched teeth. Guardian's eye shown with amusement. "That. Come on, we'll make a game of it. Whoever finds Psyduck first wins."
"Bully! A challenge! I love competition!" Saniya cheered, grabbing Striker. "Now where would I mount the stuffed head of a…" her voice trailed off as she and Striker disappeared down a hallway.
Sean breathed a sigh of relief.
"Moist."
"Don't!" Sean snapped, fury lighting his eyes. "You start with me here and now, good sir. I will rampage throughout these walls and bring devastation upon us all."
Guardian gave a deep belly laugh. "My apologies, the temptation was far too great."
Sean mock-glared for a moment longer before he cracked a grin. "Alright. I'll forgive you this one time."
Guardian's eye twinkled, but he sharped up quickly. "We have a job to do," he said, and Sean nodded. "Let's go."
"Saniya, do you have your shard?" Striker asked, once Saniya had calmed down and put on serious mode.
"Sure do!" she chirped, levitating it out. "Here!"
"Very good." Striker pulled his out as well, just to be certain.
Once they were permitted to do jobs, Sean had bought a Rollcall Orb for them. It worked simply, break it into pieces, console Striker as he prepared a grave for it, and split the pieces up between them. Any one of them could activate the orb by absorbing the shard, warping the other three to them.
It was a useful thing. Unfortunately, it was an orb that only worked in dungeons, which meant Striker didn't always carry one around, but certainly useful for them now. In cases like this, when they split up.
Whoever found Psyduck could easily summon the others to them, or if anyone got into any serious danger.
They'd need to buy a new one after this, but that was more than fine with the reward money they should receive.
Needing to stop Saniya from trying to toss Armaldo into the sea was a valid concern for the three. She had calmed down greatly on her wrath upon him until Armaldo informed them they were hit with the ninety percent tax the apprentices were on.
She renewed her oath of vengeance upon him that night.
"Are you okay about that broken orb?" Saniya asked, startling Striker out of some thoughts. He realised he had been staring into the light of the broken orb, thankfully no sharp edges, and put it away with a hurried chuckle.
"Of course."
"Striker."
"I am," he insisted. "It's just how those orbs work. I can't… change that or anything."
Saniya giggled. "You're weird, you know?"
"I do." He nodded. "To make sure to remind me at least once a week."
"Am I weird?"
"You are probably the most normal member of our little group," Striker replied. She gave a mock-gasp before nodding.
"But of course. You have to be crazy not to see it."
Striker grinned. "Well, I mean, you are certainly, without question, quirky. But if you weren't, I'd be genuinely worried something was wrong."
"Yeah," she agreed, level tone for once this day. "You don't live through the Dark Future without coping some way or another." She turned to him with a grin and gave him a peck on the cheek. "Isn't that right, my Strikey-wikey?"
"You know I only love the orbs."
"Ugh. The orbs." She tossed her head back, putting on a show of dramatically fainting in mid-air. "Orb this and orb that. You guys worry far too much about your balls."
"Saniya!"
"What?" She said, completely innocently. "Did I say something? Or are you extrapolating something I said as something obscene? I wonder what that says about you hmm?"
Striker gave her a flat look.
"Hmmmm?" She floated in close until they were nose and nose. "Hmmmmmmmmmm?"
"You are a menace to society."
"And you are far too attractive for your own good. Who's the real menace when everyone stops working to listen to you? Huh? Who's the bringer of anarchy then when society collapses due to only wanting to listen to you? Huh? Answer me, you false idol!"
"I am not a false idol."
"Yeah, you're really not. You really are this dreamy, it's crazy really." She floated around him, keeping the tip of her nose on his head as she did so.
"Is this a roundabout method of calling me crazy?" he asked, putting two and two together.
"HA! You must be joking. Ahaahah. A tee. A hee. A hee." She booped his nose. "Fine, yes, you got me. I'm calling you crazy."
Striker laughed and shook his head fondly at her.
Saniya valued her time with all her friends, both in groups and on their own. Striker wasn't the biggest talker when others were around. He had explained to Saniya that he felt like others had more important things to say. He'd put in his two cents if he decided it was appropriate but wasn't one to potentially stop someone else from saying something.
But with her, he spoke much more freely. She loved to hear him talk. Not only because she loved his voice, but just enjoyed talking with him in general. Sean was easy to tease, so was Guardian, neither of them gave it back as good as they got, however.
Striker, on the other hand.
"Truly, your operetta was the most straightforward thing I've witnessed," he claimed after she asked his honest opinion on her one-mon act of the Tale of Lucario. "Every twist and turn masterfully done but seen in advance. Truly."
"Nooo!" She denied him, pushing him in vengeance. "I am the most random!"
"The hot dog song? Saw that coming a horizon away."
"No, you didn't!"
"And the ballad of houndour the wise? I saw that before."
"No, I made it up! AH!"
She giggled, he laughed. They had good times together.
Dusknoir were large pokémon. Riolu were not. It seemed like a natural advancement of things for Sean to ride on Guardian's shoulder since the ground was beginning to genuinely mess with him.
Guardian did not permit Sean to wipe his feet on his back. Sean, however, did so anyway.
"I should have tossed you in the water first," Guardian grumbled, now with wet dog smell on his shoulder.
"Well, maybe you should have," Sean retorted, sopping wet but his feet were no longer grimy. Guardian formed a Shadow Ball and tossed it at an offending feral pokémon. Sean copied the move and tossed his own at a different one.
They did make a good fortress team—Spamming Shadow Ball or Shadow Sneak to ward anything off from approaching. The Waterfall Cave was not considered an overly dangerous dungeon, they weren't expecting any terrible battles. Which was why Sean really suggested splitting them up.
Or so he'd claim if anyone asked him. The word rattled in his mind, and he shivered a few times.
With Sean nice and safe on his shoulder, Guardian happily took care of everything that came their way. Something Sean picked up on.
"Are you doing it again?" he asked, turning to Guardian's face.
"What are you talking about?"
"Being all fragile teacup with me?"
"…I don't think you're going to break if I set you down. I just thought you didn't want to touch the ground."
Sean sighed and rattled his head. "Yeah, right. Sorry."
"It is fine, Sean." They floated in a moment of comfortable silence. "It is hard, sometimes, to forget you aren't so frail now."
"I was never frail," Sean replied, rolling his eyes. "Just because I couldn't use attacks like the rest of you didn't make me frail."
"You got sick."
"Once."
"Still."
"That sucked, yeah." Sean's eyes moved off to the past future with a soft smile. "Still, I remember a couple times that 'frail human' saved your butts. Do you remember, uh… aggron? I think it was. It was trouncing you and Striker, and I jumped on its head."
"Nearly scared me to death," Guardian snapped, he did remember this. "Striker may have also ranted about your foolishness for several rest cycles. He only stopped when I forced him too. He was keeping Scout up with his muttering."
"Hahaha," Sean laughed. "Sorry," he added to Guardian's Look. "Still, that was crazy."
"You slammed a Blast Seed on its face and detonated it. That was indeed crazy."
"Awesome."
"Crazy."
"Crazy awesome."
"Heh," Guardian's eye-rolled. "Scout said the exact same. For three whole sets of cycles, he talked about that event."
They enjoyed some more stories between them. Sean's heroics being the topic of choice.
"I swear that gyrados was going to eat Saniya."
"Impaling its tail did require quite the burst of desperation."
"I had a stick. I might as well have used it."
Or his foolishness.
"I thought, back then, that watching you climb a sheer cliff in the middle of a battle to jump onto the enemy tauros was going to be the riskiest and outrageously foolish action you would ever make. I was gravely mistaken."
All in all. A pleasant catch-up session.
"I still remember the taste of pennies from that."
"And I still don't fully understand why we should 'praise the sun'. It is beautiful, but…"
"Did I never tell you?"
"No."
"Hoo-haha."
"…Are you going to tell me?"
"I think I'll leave you guessing for now."
All good times come to a close, however.
"Hm?" Sean voiced, feeling one of his tassels quiver.
"What is it?" Guardian asked, pausing in his story of Scout's thirty-seventh attempt at being, in Scout's words, 'as cool' as Sean.
"I felt something," Sean said, before closing his eyes to focus. He'd been a riolu for probably around a year now, he hadn't really tried to keep track. Nothing was as difficult to get used to as the aura tassels.
Understanding Striker and everyone else? Wonderful. Being as strong as a pokémon? Amazing. Having an extremely strong sense of smell? Manageable. Potentially becoming a lucario like his fu-
"Hm, I can kinda feel something over there," Sean said, the tassels shaking and he pointed to a patch of bare wall. "It feels like, uh… despondence, a bit of anger, and just… fear."
"I'll check it out," Guardian nodded, lowered Sean to a relatively dry patch of ground, and began the work of phasing through the wall.
As a Ghost-type, he could do so well. But being as solid as he was, it did take Guardian a bit of time to fully move through objects.
He emerged from the wall as a spectre of death, startling poor Psyduck half to death. "Oh my GOSH!" she squeaked, startling back several feet in alarm.
Immediately, Guardian felt like absolute grime on the moist ground of this dungeon.
"Of course," he lambasted himself. "What were you thinking, appearing on her like this. The Terrible Dusknoir, arriving when one is at such a weak point. She must think it's over for her, that I am here to-"
His own thoughts were cut short when she slammed into his stomach, desperately clutching on and sobbing relentlessly. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, you're here to save me? Thank you, thank you, thank you."
That was the best he could make out of the tearful blubbering.
Slowly, carefully, Guardian lowered and clasped his hands around her and lifted her up. "It's alright," he said, softly, soothing her. "You're safe."
Looking around, he found a path he could float over, as he couldn't simply phase her through the wall as well and found himself within eyesight of Sean.
"You found her!?" he called, rushing in happily. "Great, are you okay Psyduck?"
"I-I-I'm okay. Thank you for coming out to save me."
"Okay, let me just summon the others." Sean pulled out his piece of the Rollcall Orb and Guardian quickly shed his own so he wouldn't get teleported two feet.
Sean absorbed the orb and activated its effects, Saniya and Striker appearing around him in moments.
"Ooooh," Saniya moaned. "That was awful. Why is it always awful? My teleports aren't nearly that awful. Awful as moist!"
"Do you want to be sent back?" Sean growled.
"No. This orb is the worst."
"Lay off the orb, it did nothing wrong," Striker groaned, trying to get up.
"You and your orbs, jeez. Has Azumarill done nothing to help you?"
"There's nothing to do as I need no help!"
"You're both fine. We found Psyduck."
"I can see that," Striker said, pulling himself to his feet. Saniya had fallen on the ground and stared pitifully at Striker until he picked her up. She vibrated the gunk off her, and incidentally onto him, before zipping around.
"Yippee! You're in the safest of hands now, Psyduck!"
"Y-Yes. You saved the world, I can't imagine I'm in any safer hands. Thank you."
"Oh, do go on," Saniya said, flushed with praise. Striker pulled her away.
"We should be off," he pointed out. "Now that there are five of us concentrated here."
"Does Sean count or have we not figured that out yet?" Saniya asked. "Ooh! We could test it!"
"Please don't," Psyduck whimpered. Taking pity, or perhaps feeling actual compassion, Saniya did drop the matter, and they quickly fought their way to the end of the dungeon.
"Oh, this is gorgeous!" Saniya beamed. "Look at all the pretty gems!"
"This is quite magical," Guardian agreed. "Is this why you came here, Psyduck?"
"Yes," she said, nodding weakly. "I wanted to get something for Clefairy since she's always so nice to me, but I can't swim, and I kept getting attacked and pushed that way."
"You can't swim?" Saniya asked, shocked. "Wut?"
Psyduck cringed in embarrassment. Saniya nodded and tore a large purple gemstone out of the ground with ease, the cracking sound echoing throughout the chamber. "Well, that means we can't press the slippy slide button at the end, or you might drown. Okay, let's just take this back for your girlfriend, and that'll be that."
"She's not my girlfriend."
"She's a girl, right? And your friend?"
"Y-Yeah?"
"So…?"
"Girlfriend."
"HA! Knew it."
Saniya floated off, satisfied with herself as Psyduck protested in mortification until they were out of the dungeon, out of the woods, and into Treasure Town.
"I'm just saying, you're protesting a LOT." That quietened Psyduck. "Silence of defeat, eh?"
There was no winning against Saniya.
"So. We should work out the whole 'does Sean still not count or not' on dungeons," Saniya pointed out once Psyduck was home safe. She was uninjured, just distressed, and Clefairy calmed her down.
"How should we do that?"
"We could ask Bidoof or something to join us in a weak dungeon. Like good old Moist Bluff."
"Drenched Bluff," Sean snapped.
"That's what I said."
"No. You didn't. You said moist."
"HA!" Saniya cheered as Sean deflated. "I got you to say it. You owe me 178 Poké now. Fess up." She held her hand out to Striker, who relented and gave her the money. Sean watched the transition with nothing but a flat expression.
"I think this is where we go… anyway," Guardian said, changing the subject. "Sean and dungeons. Bidoof?"
"Or any of them," Saniya said, brushing it off as she counted her winnings.
"Flaaffy is an option."
"Oh Flaaffy this and Flaaffy that," Saniya sighed. "It's all I heard about from him today."
"This is the first time I've mentioned him."
"And it just passed midnight," Saniya stuck her tongue out at him. "I win. Again. Worship me like the goddess I am."
"Why Flaaffy?" Sean asked. Saniya was a little sleep deprived it seemed.
"His tail is an orb. What isn't there to like?"
And that was all that was needed to say.
Armaldo tried to chew them out for being late, but Saniya again won by pointing out they reached Treasure Town before the day was out and that was the technical agreement. She sailed away to bed, resting in the laurels of victory.
It had been a good day.
Mane grinned, and Scout bared his claws. The battle has begun.
It was Electabuzz who acted next, huffing in amusement at the three tiny pokémon daring to stand up. He rotated his arms and sent an extreme blast of electricity at them. Rai intercepted it and took the full hit, falling back onto all fours as his whole body jerked and shocked.
Electabuzz's cocky grin froze as Rai unleashed the electricity he had just absorbed, right as Croagunk ran in to double up on the leaders move and score an easy win.
Lancing Croagunk right through the middle and dropping him like a sack of potatoes and causing him to fold like a cheap suit.
The three remaining aggressors could only blink. And that was a costly blink.
Mane and Scout both had begun to move right as Rai had landed. As Croagunk fell, Mane sent his mighty Fire Blast, and Scout zipped forward as the claws on his right paw extended into a dark sabre.
Electabuzz's fur curled from the heat as Jynx was blasted off his side and he stumbled from the burst of pressure, tripping over Magby who just keeled over after Scout's lighting fast Night Slash.
Rai stepped forward as Mane prowled the right and Scout raised his claws from the left, surrounding Electabuzz.
"S-Screw this." He got up and ran for it.
"Want me to get his legs?" Scout asked, tensing to rush after him.
"Let him go," Totodile called, wobbling back over on a new water sphere. "Wow, that was… actually impressive! Good job, Team Ion!"
Whispered immediately broke out. Team Ion? Here?
"Give them space," Totodile called, and the crowd obeyed. The threat of being splashed ever-present with Totodile. "Okay, maybe you can handle Pyroar."
"Maybe?" Mane asked.
"Yep! Maybe."
"We creamed these guys with a single hit each."
"These one-pump-chumps are one thing, but Pyroar probably is another. Anyway, I'll tell you where he was seen heading to!"
Several townsfolk came to gather up the knocked-out wild pokémon and find some sort of legal punishment as Totodile pulled Team Ion away.
He danced on his water ball until they reached a different part of town, a much smaller path heading out. "This one isn't used AS often as the other places since no one really goes this way. Anyway, Pyroar was heading in the direction of Blackstone Village, there's not much else out that way reputable folks want to go."
They were in the northwest, the three began to think. But Totodile answered for them. "Further than Blackstone is Towny Town, brr that's a place for sure, and further still is Fissure. Blackstone is the last 'good' town in this particular direction with Indeedee and the Clefable Guild there."
Totodile hummed. "Makes sense that Pyroar would be heading that way. Once he gets past them, he's pretty much in lawless land. I bet he's cocky enough to try. Well, good luck!"
"Thank you, Totodile," Scout said first.
"Yeah, thanks."
"Thank you for your help!"
"You're welcome. If you're ever around again, say hi! And, seriously, be careful. I can see you're strong and appearances are deceiving. For both you and definitely other pokémon. Stay safe, world saviours Team Ion!"
"Stay safe, Totodile. If Electabuzz causes any more trouble, make sure you contact someone."
"Hahaha. Okay."
He saw them off as the reinvigorated team made haste. The day was still young, and this was a real and true proper lead on Pyroar's location. If they could catch up, that'd be great.
Preferably before Fissure. But none of them were counting on that.
Team Ion charged onwards.
Ha. Ion. Charge. I happen to be hilarious.
It's been a while since I updated, sorry, but I am now officially (Well I mean… not officially but actually technically) on break. So, to celebrate, Chapter 44! WOO! Much longer than the previous one ;) with all that lovely Team Sunrise interaction and Team Ion fun we've been missing!
Damn. I got to say. Team Sunrise is a delight to write. I hope Saniya wasn't a bit too much this chapter, she's a little extra crazy due to everyone ever leaving her! Well, Ion and Go-Getters at least. We will see Team Go-Getters again, don't worry I'm not deleting them out of the story just like that! They've still got a few important things to do!
So, the poll result should be viewable on my Fanfiction profile page (link for A03) but just in case:
Rai won! Mane and CHATOT came tied second (how DARE you readers make ME feel bad. How dare you. That's MY job) while Sean, Striker, Soothe (wow that was a surprise) and Team Go-Getters were all next. Thanks to everyone for voting, and there is a new poll up now that this chapter is released :D
See you next chapter ^^