AN: I'm behind on schedule because of last week's hecticness which means I've really been rushing to get these last two chapters out there. This might impact the quality of what I deliver, I know I haven't triple checking for grammar/spelling errors, and I don't like that idea much. So I'm going to take a small break from posting chapters to get my rhythm back, also the new update day will be Monday. Next chapter will be here on april 8th.
Also for those wondering (if you haven't guessed) the psychic from last battle was a male Meowstic.
"Hey, are you the girl that defeated the dragon?"
That was the question that haunted Yun ever since the incident with the Gible a few days ago. After the battle, if one could call it that, the trainer that had challenged her had ran off but not before silently handing over a hefty amount of money. When the general commotion had died down and people realized what happened, they had lined up the challenge her, barely giving her time to use healing items in between fights.
Eventually, an older, more experienced trainer had had to step in to guide her back to the Center because people just wouldn't leave her alone. If they couldn't challenge a dragon, they could battle the girl that had won against one. If she had ever gone looking for a workout, she sure got it. /
So the question aimed at her while she was finally perusing the TM's in the department store, made her flinch. That and her newfound 'fame' for beating a young, untrained dragon felt rather cheap./
"No." She bit, more than a little annoyed. Not just because people kept bothering her but also because she just found out she simply couldn't afford earthquake. One had to be incredibly wealthy to teach their Pokémon league-worthy attacks. "Do I look like I did?"
The girl that had addressed her shrugged. "Yeesh, it was just a question." Then she shifted her gaze to the bug on her shoulder. "I was just told she had a Skorupi. They aren't exactly common around here, you know."
"Yes they are," Yun denied, "You can get them from the great marsh." She had looked that up but also knew that Skorupi sightings weren't an everyday thing.
"Suuure." The other girl gave her a suspicious once over that managed to raise the fine hairs on Yun's neck. "But she is also supposed to have a scar on her face." She made a gesture towards her own eye, mirroring where Yun's scar was.
Yun bristled. "Will you just bug off!" It had taken a while for Yun to come to terms with the fine pink line running from her under her eyebrow to the outer corner of her eye. The healed over tissue slightly pulling on her eye, making it just a bit more narrow than the other one. She had made peace with the change on her face and had told herself it was barely noticeable. To have someone random pass her by and point it out, plain as day...
She scowled at the girl, ugly enough to make her turn away. Yet she didn't immediately leave, instead she pretended to look at the merchandise from a nearby aisle. It was a good thing the store was an official 'no battle' zone so Yun could easily ignore her. It wasn't long before she moved on but not before giving her a long scrutinizing look.
"Can you believe it, Reign?" She murmured to her starter. "That wasn't even your most impressive match and people are going crazy."
Reign raised his claws in a shrug, not caring that much either way.
"Can't wait to get out of here and back on the road." She grumbled. Her supplies and been fully restocked, minus the slew of Akane's healing items she had been forced to use between her many battles, and she had no reason to linger. Except... the Cobble badge.
Yun was in two minds about facing Veilstone's gymleader again. On one hand she was here, stronger than before and one of her Pokémon had evolved. On the other hand, she really didn't think she could stand losing to Maylene again. She had felt so utterly humiliated last time, it was a miracle she had managed to keep her tears at bay. It was stupid of her, losing was part of the game and many trainers had to challenge the gyms more than a dozen times before they managed to win, especially the later ones. But... damn it, Maylene gloating voice still haunted her whenever a battle wasn't going smoothly.
She sighed, and then turned back towards the task at hand. Shopping. There were always a few discounts here and there, mostly on stock they had in bulk. This included a handful of TM's, none of which she had intended to get but there was one she was eyeing and it would free up the budget for a second TM.
Mind made up she grabbed both TM's and made her way to the checkout counter. Both of them combined were still less than what earthquake would have cost but enough to make her wallet feel a lot lighter.
Hit by a wave of paranoia, she took out her jacket and asked Reign to climb to her lower back. With the jacket on he was covered from sight and she kept it open so the lump on her back wasn't so noticeable.
"You alright there buddy?" She whispered as she exited the store.
"Sko-o." It sounded like an affirmatieve so Yun kept walking on. She could have recalled him but she felt guilty that all of her Pokémon were being cooped up so often whilst they were in the city. Even fish, especially fish, who only got the see the center's bathtub for the past few days was starting to show signs of being restless.
So whenever she could, she really wanted her Pokémon out and about.
"I've decided, buddy, it's time to leave this place."
That badge was going nowhere while she was wasting what could be the last beautiful days of the year by staying indoors most of the time. She nodded to herself, smiling at the thought of going back to the peace and quite of Sinnoh's nature.
A glance out of the corner of her eye made her smile drop, she recognized the girl from the store running towards her.
Not in the mood for a battle, especially not against someone so rude, she dashed into a side street. It led her to the commercial district where the beautiful old mansion that housed the casino was central to the area. Having passed by here before, she knew where to go and ran for a servitude that led her to the back ally. Crates and bins of the stores were lined up and Yun squeezed herself between them while focusing on calming down her breathing.
Reign too was quiet, though she could feel him moving down her spine to peak out from under her jacket.
There was no other sound in the ally and no one passed them by. After a few minutes Yun began to wonder if she might have overreacted or if that even was the girl from the department store. Looking back she found it hard to remember any distinctive features and that might just have been a kid running around.
"Oh wow, this city is driving me crazy, Reign."
She crawled out from between the crates. There were only a few people around, mostly staff throwing stuff out or checking up on deliveries.
Just to be sure she walked a bit further down and chose a different servitude than before to go back. There was a single other person standing in the narrow path, making it difficult to pass him by. But once he noticed her he pressed himself to the side against the wall and gestured for her to go on.
"Thank you." She said before moving forward.
The familiar click of her Pokébelt made her tense up as she heard a deep timbre voice respond. "No, thank you."
Yun looked down in horror to see two of her Pokéballs missing and turned around in time to witness the man dashing out of the servitude, into the back ally. Opening her mouth to scream, nothing came out as her legs automatically moved.
Running as fast as she could, she bumped into a crate as she emerged from the servitude but continued to run. She saw the man run into a different side street and her eyes were starting to blur with unshed tears. There was no way, she knew there was no way, a girl like her could keep up with a full grown man yet she couldn't stop running. This was worse than when her Pokémon got stolen by another Pokémon. She had known it could do nothing more with them than drop them at some point, had assumed the Mismagius had been messing with her.
But this? If she lost sight of the thief she would never see her Pokémon again. Panting she followed him through another street she didn't recognize and caught him disappear to the left.
"No!" She managed to cry out.
A rustling beneath her coat distracted her and she felt Reign drop from her back. He was on the ground and racing ahead of her before she understood what was happening. Easily twice as fast as her, he gave chase.
"R-reign!" She gasped.
In the blink of an eye, he too vanished at the end of the street. By the time she managed to get there, she heard a pained yelp coming from her left, followed by a terrified scream.
The man was there on his hands and knees, trying to get up but he staggered and fell back down. Reign was there, claws raised high and stinger uncurled in a clear threat. The rest of the street was empty.
"You bitch," He growled when he noticed her approach, "you poisoned me?! I'll get you for this!"
Her blood ran cold when he got up, both his hands making a grab for her, only to stumble and fall back down again. Reign had struck him again. Sweat was starting to bead on his forehead and his eyes looked unfocused.
Something settled in her just then, something dark and vengeful, making her breath even out and her eyes turn frigid. Bending down she grabbed the two Pokéball she had dropped and recognized the heavier one as Twinkle's. A spike of rage surged though her, so strong it almost surprised her. They were her everything, her entire life, and he had almost taken them away.
Before she got up she looked the thief dead in the eye and whispered. "Just wait a few more minutes and you won't be able to do anything, ever again." Her voice crackled from running, lending it a severe quality.
She took not a small amount of pleasure out of the panic rushing along his face when he realized what she had implied. People didn't have the natural resistance to potent venom that Pokémon had. There were very few Pokémon that could die of poisoning, but humans, there was a reason Rangers fought so hard to keep the higher leveled poisonous Pokémon out of the routes.
Reign hadn't been deadly when she first got him. But now... she could only wonder as she rummaged through her bag. She hadn't needed them and had honestly almost forgotten about them but they should still be in there somewhere.
"What, t-that's... there's no way you'll get away with that!" His breathing was coming out harsh now.
"Won't I?" She said indifferently, numb to his accusations in that moment. "I'll tell everybody it was a terrible accident. And what will you tell them, when you can't talk anymore?" The hard stare she gave him sold it.
Her hand finally closed on the item she was looking for but she wanted to watch him squirm for a few more seconds.
"N-no, wait, I'll tell you everything!" His gaze was no longer on her but appeared to be staring at something in the distance.
"About what?" She wondered.
"Cipher." He gasped.
She cocked her head in question and took out a vial of antidote. "That doesn't concern me-"
But he wasn't listening to her and continued. "Tonight at nine, a ship, the Ichiban, w-will take off... with all g-gathered Pokémon to c-c-cipher. And-"
Becoming more and more concerned that someone may walk in on the scene and get the wrong idea, Yun cut him short.
"This is antidote." She dangled it in front of him. Having his attention as he made a grab for it, she tossed in down the street. "Go, get it." He scrambled after it on all fours and she used his distraction to recall Reign and run off.
She ran all the way back to the Center, hood drawn and ignoring anyone who tried to talk to her. Once in her room she sunk back into the empty bathtub. In the quiet of her room she whispered to herself.
"What have I done?"
AN: To answer a question from a reviewer: Yun will not likely get her hands on the Gible. All off her Pokémon have been decided through a random generator (with only one rule to keep it a bit diverse) so far. I know 5 out of 6 already and there's no dragon among them. I'm still pretty happy with her Pokémon so far though.
As for a suggestion on Twinkle's move set. Thunder wave will sadly only be available once she evolves into Aggron (which will be awhile). It would be pretty awesome to have her paralyze everyone in her path before she attacks them with idk, focus punch, dragon claw, giga impact... there would be no survivors xD