A/N: The arrival of my favorite OC submission is finally here, and I am absolutely giddy about it. No idea if the submitter is still in the fandom, but they'll know who they are if they find their way here (Come back, Dolce), but if you've read chapter 10 of Tales of the Phoenix, then it comes as no surprise that ths submission is my absolut or i t e, and that over the years I've added small little things (mostly building the world around her established history) that adds to her. I've waited two weeks to get to post her updated introduction, and I hope that readers, especially those returning from the original, enjoy this take. The biggest shout-out to DolceBrio for the submission from 12 years ago, and if you ever see this, I really hope you enjoy!
Chapter 6: Connection
The badge glittered as Jaret rolled it between his fingers in the sun. Virgil thought that Jaret would have been ecstatic at his first badge win. Instead, he was relieved and pensive more than anything.
"I thought you'd be a little more lively on your first win. You're on your way to the Silver Conference now." Jaret sighed. He worked the badge between his fingers again. "The Pokemon Center did say that Pidgeot is going to be okay. He just needed some rest. I can't remember the estimate they gave him for his recovery though."
"It's supposed to be around three days or so." He reached into his bag to retrieve his badge case, and clicked the badge in place. "But still, Falkner was only the first gym leader. I know that gym leaders have different teams in rotation, but I didn't think Honchkrow would be so strong. Pidgeot wanted to battle Falkner's one-on-one; it would have meant the world to him.."
"Honchkrow wasn't so tough. It was just the Thunder Wave and Foul Play Falkner snuck into play. Besides, Falkner seemed like he knew what to expect. It sounded like you guys battled recently." Jaret gave a soft chuckle.
"Well, I wouldn't say recently, but I've definitely battled Falkner outside of the circuit before. He probably knew that I was gonna' wanna test Pidgeot's strength." Virgil thought of Leavanny. "I don't think I took Falkner seriously enough if I'm honest. I pushed two of my Pokemon near the limit because I wanted to gauge them."
"But Arcanine really did away with his Staraptor though," Virgil interjected. "And you got the badge because of that." Another wide grin and smile.
"Yeah, but Arcanine is Arcanine, and I'm really proud of him. I just wish that Pidgeot wasn't so stubborn when it came to his battles, but I guess we have made a tradition out of it…" Jaret stopped mid-stride, turning to Virgil. "But, you didn't get your chance to make an attempt at the badge. I know that Ecruteak is the goal, but we could've at least let you knock out two Pidgey with one stone." Then, Jaret made a face at that. "That…was in bad taste…" Virgil laughed.
"Yeah, tell me about it. But, you won and that's what's important. And when Pidgeot's all patched up, me and Ampharos are gonna' take a crack at you guys!"
"Yeah, that sounds like a plan!" Jaret drummed against his belly. "But first… do you think we can get some food?"
Avila Square was even more lively the second time around. That was to say that Virgil had made note of more shops and eateries that lined the main street. A tea shop called "Daylily Delights" had caught his attention, alongside an "Illumina" -styled matcha that the staff had been especially diligent in pushing on him. A taste test had led to Virgil choking down the bitterness, and then buying more than he should have when a fuzzy warmth rose from his gut and into his limbs that left him wired and tasting sweetened aromas; he had had them ship the orders directly home after he had bought two cups for himself, one of which Dewott had snapped from his ball to steal. Jaret, by the time Virgil had given up on trying to get his tea back, had settled into one of the tables on the outside of one of the shops, loaded with multiple plates and bowls of food, and without a doubt Arcanine would have been right at Jaret's side had it not been for a size limit ordinance in effect at the square. Instead, sitting at the table with them had been Jaret's copy of one of Virgil's Pokemon: a Lucario.
"Hey, Virgil, where did you get that tea from again," Jaret asked, chewing. "I definitely think that'd be something that Lucario would like."
"...What did I say about talking with your mouth full?" Jaret swallowed, then laughed.
"Geez, thanks dad. But, I mean it. Lucario is…Well, let's just say that he actually wanted to get into the meditations with me at the Sprout Tower. Matcha would be right up his alley."
"I don't think that's smart…"
"Huh? Why not? If I remember right, tea is a really big deal for Johto." Virgil rolled his eyes, exasperated.
"There'd have to be a special Pokemon blend. Don't you think human tea might be, I don't know, bad for them?" Jaret swallowed another mouthful; a pensive expression fell over him.
"You know, you actually have a point. Well, you seem to know a lot about tea and stuff. Do you think you might be able to do something? You seem like an enthusiast."
"It's really my mom who's really a fanatic about the stuff. Besides, I don't see why the tea shop wouldn't have something like that. One of the attendants said that they have a Meganium-inspired blend, and that sounds like something of the sort."
"A 'Meganium' blend," Jaret repeated incredulously. "You mean they actually have something like that. Violet City really does take the craft seriously I guess. Could you imagine getting a Meganium to let you use its leaves?" Virgil grinned.
"You really are clueless about the stuff aren't you?" Jaret shrugged. "But, speaking of Violet City…" Jaret swallowed another mouthful, which placed Jaret solidly two plates through his five-plate course; his Lucario picked at his plate, a reminder that Violet City really was superb when it came to accommodation. "What happened at the tower?" Jaret cocked a brow.
"I should be asking you the same thing. You sort of had one of your meltdowns or, something like it at least. And, you had been saying that you saw the guy that had been causing all of your problems; I did hear what you said, but I don't exactly know what that means."
"It means exactly that. You had asked me who Mira was, but Marus is the one that's more important and the one causing my problems. I've told you that before, didn't I?"
"Well, something like that." Jaret slowed to a stop, opting to pick at his food. "Since we're talking about seeing things, what happened with you and that girl?" Virgil had forgotten about her. "She hit you pretty good before she stormed off, but did you at least apologize?" Virgil winced.
"...She didn't really give me a chance to…"
"I guess that makes sense, but still, what possessed you to call her that?"
"I-I don't know, okay? I just…got a little heated was all, and the next I knew, it just…rolled out… The boys in Johto can be a little…weird, but I didn't ask to be lumped in with them."
"And you retaliate with a slur?"
"It wasn't like I meant it! If I actually felt different about Hoenn, then I wouldn't be so driven to go look for her!"
"I hope that's to apologize." Virgil glared.
"Well, duh!" His voice shrank. "Besides…I wanna tell her thanks…"
"Thanks?" Virgil nodded.
"I didn't have any nightmares last night." Jaret gawked.
"Y-you didn't!?" Virgil shook his head with a timid smile.
"No. And, it might sound crazy, but I think meeting her, and maybe even getting slapped might have done something. Either way…I actually got to sleep…"
"You really think she had something to do with it?"
"I don't know, but what I do know," Virgil stumbled, and turned his attention to Jaret's Lucario that watched him evenly, and expectant. He gestured to his trainer and Virgil sighed, deflated and a bit anxious. "What I do know," he continued, "Is that it's the same feeling when I'm with you, but different. I feel calm, or at least, not… angry, when you're here and okay."
"But you still weren't able to sleep back at Happy Town."
"That's where she's different." He cast his eyes down. When you're around, the anger is put down. With her, it's… gone. With the way she helped me out, there's no way I would have talked to her the way I did. I don't know why I did it…But, I need to find her and apologize. But, I don't know where to start…" Jaret didn't respond, and Virgil looked up to find him staring at a flier posted on a community board in the pass-through window. "Hey, what are you looking at over there?" Jaret turned to him with a grin.
"An answer to finding that girl. There's a contest happening tonight at the Zephyr Contest Hall. Can you believe our luck?"
"How do you know she'll be there?"
"How do you know she won't? Come on, it couldn't hurt to try!" Virgil's lips pulled back into a small smile; he forced a frown instead. It didn't matter: Jaret and Lucario had already grabbed hold of him to drag him down toward the Zephyr Hall; the pull at his lips came back stronger, and so did embarrassment. They each had an arm, guiding toward and into that large dome. They had made it time to secure seats, and to good ones at that much to Virgil's surprise; summer saw a multitude of festivals, from the Sunflora Festival in Bloomingvale to Florando's Pokemon Exhibition. There were even some from Johto gearing to make their way over to Kanto for an annual fire race or the P1- Grand Prix in Saffron. Jaret had been with him for sometime now, and without question he had taken a liking to Virgil as well, and even as Virgil figured that much, it was too impossible for him to believe.
It was so utterly terrifying to have friends.
He snatched his arms away and bolted loose, ignoring Jaret's calls after him.
Her mother would have scoffed. Violet City's Contest Hall supposedly had been making waves in the 'Blue Moon Country' as a lot of the traditionalists called it. It wasn't something that she would have been familiar with. After all, she wasn't exactly from the region. Traditionalist seemed to be the best word that she had for the architecture, a dome adorned with archaic marvel borne from a kind of wood, cypress more than likely; she could thank her Kalosian cousins for that info.
Still, she had plans on getting her hands on the Violet City ribbon, the first step on her way back for another win at another Grand Festival. Sinnoh's competitions, for contests and battles, both outclassed what she had seen during her short time in Johto. If anything, the contest scene in Johto was just getting started. Either that, or Johto just simply didn't have it and from what she had seen from the first of the two appeal rounds, the former seemed to fit best.
She wandered aimlessly around the Avila, looking over shops, and nearly stopping at the regionally famous "Daylily Teahouse", passing through to a clothing shop, partially driven by her confusion on exactly why none of the participants had even attempted to coordinate their outfits with their Pokemon. They were called coordinators for a reason. Her glittering thigh-slit dress she had gone for brimming with Angel's colors had gotten her plenty of looks, but her choice in style had broken the focus of many of the coordinators and their Pokemon too no less, exactly like she had thought it would, and that was such an amateur mistake. She had botched her first appeal round too, clinching a 26 out of 30 total points and had been floored when the audience and her competition had simply all been in awe. It had been that implication that had all but confirmed what she had thought: Violet City's contest was definitely for beginners.
Juliet Grey was dying of boredom.
She had been one of the early performers, the third to be exact, and the contest hall had let a lot of hopefuls sign up and it made the process slow. Even with a botched performance, Angel had loved the attention, meeting the audience with flamboyant tosses of her head and coy mewing and sometimes even downright house tricks. For Angel, any attention was good attention. Juliet watched as her Glaceon darted between and under the tables of the guests dining outside,catching— demanding their attention causing a good few of them to gush over "how conditioned" she was. Non-coordinators always tried so hard.
Juliet sighed as she took a seat at one of the window bars, and Angel had slunk in next to her with a frown.
"I know," Juliet murmured through a sigh. "I'm bored too, Angel, but Violet City was the closest contest we could make it to." Angel huffed, and Juliet rolled her eyes. "Basking in low-effort attention is not my style, Angel. You know that." She leaned onto the bar, arm angled upwards, head resting in hand. She missed Kalos sometimes, at least when it came to having a good time. She was two years too shy for alcohol in Johto. Sinnoh did share the same rule as Johto, but unlike here, Juliet knew her way around Sinnoh. That, and she was Juliet Grey, after all.
She scanned over the square, noting all of the faces, and all the noise, less than before the start of the contest, but still lively. It was all good, squeaky clean fun. It was all tedious, monotonous and bland.
Her eyes settled on a particularly seedy looking space, at least for Johto standards and it sent a tingle up her spine. Every place had their black markets and maybe there were degenerates in Johto after all. She lifted herself up from her seat and stretched, doing her best to hold down the buzzing in her body and on her lips. Cold wind swished about her legs, and she knelt down to scratch behind Angel's ears.
"Just hang out here, Angel. I'll be right back." She bolted for the alley.
Virgil's fingers popped as he slugged one of the thugs; that one had flickered out as quickly as he showed up. The big talkers were never strong, unless they were Jaret.
Jaret…
"What are you guys waiting for?" Virgil snarled. "I'm outnumbered four to one! Don't tell me you're scared! Are you fucking kidding me!?" The four others hesitated. For roughnecks, they were all certainly cowards.
Two of them moved in and Virgil turned them, eyes blazing. The glare by itself froze one of them on the spot. The other one met him head on, and Virgil went under his wild swing before he made quick work of him: a violent blow to the ribs, a sharply rising headbutt that clipped his chin and full-bodied punch sent the oncomer off his feet and rolling at the feet of the last three.
"Anyone else!?" Virgil was angry, so very angry, and all of this, this brawling was to let off steam.
Jaret…
He was the first friend he had had in a long time. The first one that dealt with him, the first one in so long that dealt with him and didn't run. But everybody had their breaking point; there was no way that Virgil would let himself be caught off guard. It would be the only thing that would hurt more than a national embarrassment.
Jaret couldn't be real. He wasn't going to let him be.
He watched them all, their body language giving him more understanding than they would have ever thought, and they all wanted to turn tail, and it made Virgil want to scream. Roughnecks were supposed to fight dirty. Virgil had looked for them because he figured that they would have attacked him all at once, and had expected an uphill fight; he had never planned on winning. They were supposed to beat him into a mess so he wouldn't have to think about anything.
But he fought way better now than he did in old schoolyard scuffles he got into as a kid, and it became particularly noticeable after the Indigo Conference and the terrors. Something had always been wrong with him and it always came back to the dreams. He knew where to strike, how to dodge, and read his fight space exceedingly well, and it had gotten him two easy wins, and terrified opponents. The anger threatened him with tears.
The violence wasn't working.
Another ran in for him but he needed more; disrespect would do just that: Virgil spat in his face. The world slowed as the others roared, or something like it. People responded to the feelings of others around them. This was perfect.
This was what he wanted. He couldn't stand the turmoil.
Hurt me!
The first strike beamed spots across his eyes.
Destroy them…! His mind was feral with the thought, and his body nearly obeyed; Virgil fought it down.
No…they have to hurt Me…! He stumbled back into one of them, who pushed him forward into a second blow, then he was thrown into a third. It went on like this, swinging from push to punch and back again, his mind rattling and skull pulsing.
But it wasn't enough. They needed to hit him harder. But one of them slipped up.
Do it! Rip them apart…! He obeyed, swinging around one, and dipped low with a sharp elbow to the ribs. When they dropped to a knee, Virgil saw himself lunging with a guttural cry as he drove his knee into their face; the snap against his knee brought him back to his body and he stumbled to keep his balance. That left just two.
No… Feet shuffled behind him. Good, they were bringing more. Hurt me…! They were coming in fast and with plenty of momentum. If they hit him the right way, it would be a good one, but when he turned to face them, he was caught off guard.
She was a woman.
She was a woman and more than that, she was dressed formally; Her dress, a deep, dark cyan, tied to the side and just above her knees, certainly reached to the floor, and Virgil had no idea why or how she ran in it so easily. The slit at the thigh caught his eyes, and so did her legs, and he followed them all the way to—
She punched at him, no—past him. The thud into the ground confirmed she made contact, which meant that left just one. She turned to him, batting her eyes.
"What are you looking at, you dolt?" before she turned to the last one and did away with him. She was quick about it, taking only seconds before the man was buckling under his own weight and crumpling into the ground. Virgil's throat ran dry when she turned her focus onto him, and he turned away flushed.
"I saw you looking," was all she said. "Did you like it?" He turned to her incredulously.
"What's that supposed to—!" She cut him off, dabbing under his nose with a handkerchief and wiping over his lip; he hadn't realized until then that he had been bleeding that much.
"Relax. I'm on your side." She folded the cloth, wiping over his nose again before sealing it in a small bag and tucking it away. "I'll get rid of that later, but I gotta say, you handled yourself pretty well there."
"What the hell is a dressy girl like you doing here? From what I got, this is where all the wrong people are anyway." She slid him a coy grin.
"Well, I could ask you the same thing. You don't really seem to be the fighting type with your long hair y'know." Virgil's jaw clenched.
"It's not all that long. Not like yours anyway." She shrugged, working a finger through curls. He thought of the girl from the tower. He could admit that he had taken her accusation too personally. She had been touchy, and that probably meant she had been dealing with questionable men before she had even ran into him. It didn't warrant a regional slur that was for sure.
Even so, whoever she was, she was nothing like the girl in front of him: She was closer to what he liked more than the tower girl could ever be. She stepped in close with a smirk and small snicker.
"That fight really got you worked up, huh?"
"Who says I'm worked up!?"
"Tsk Tsk. You don't have to be so indignant." Her eyes dropped, and Virgil tucked his legs in embarrassment, and her eyes came back up immediately, a feint; their eyes locked. He pressed down the need to get close but was at a loss at how she was so very close and far at the same time. He looked past her.
"Shouldn't you be going to some party in that glossy thing?"
"You mean the dress?" She untied the knot and stepped back with a twirl. "It's part of a series." Another bat of her eyelashes. " 'La Danse du Dragon'…custom-tailored and fitted. And, I'm glad you noticed. I'm going to a very special one at that. Why don't you tag along? You seem the type."
"Wrong. I'm not even from here." The girl shrugged again.
"Maybe not here, but Blue Moon Country is bigger than just Violet City isn't it? 'No-Eyes Arcanine' was supposed to be around here I thought."
"That'd be in Cattalia, and that place has been closed for years. You know the area?" She shook her head.
"Not exactly, but I do know that it was a favorite for the Phantom Thief, and maybe a girl could get that famous 'Cat's Tail' drink. Just thought I'd try to fit in."
"Figures. Only a tourist would show up and get lost in a seedy alley. And 'No-Eyes' is a misnomer. The actual speakeasy was called the "Black Cat'." Virgil folded his arms, and gave her a derisive toss of his head; her fingers caught his chin mid-toss and brought his eyes down to hers.
"What can I say? A girl loves her fun." His chest tightened; he desperately needed to change the topic.
Nothing came to mind.
Just my luck… One of her fingers drew a soft line from his chin to rest just above his collarbone, eyes burning into where her finger settled. His waist was suddenly too tight.
"You know, I think—" Virgil stepped back.
"I-I should go…!"
"So soon?" He nodded brushing past her and her fingers flitted over the scruff of his neck as he did; the shudder he bit down pressed into his legs and he nearly collapsed.
"Y-yeah…Maybe like now…!"
"Have you never had this much attention before?"
That's not important…!" He was on his way to the end of the alley, and was prompt about it. The fighting hadn't done anything he had wanted it to. It instead had landed him an out-of-place flirt of a tourist that had everything that he only had an inkling of what he wanted until then. He was too dangerous, and didn't have the time; he had to leave.
The want seized him mid-stride. He was so close, a stone's throw around the corner and back into the main view of Avila and fresh air to help him smother whatever it was a tourist of all people had done to him. He wanted to look back at her, to drink in her appearance so that he never forgot. The ghost of her fingers still lingered on his chin.
But he had to keep forward.
He managed a step, and then another.
So close…!
The dress.
Her legs.
The touch.
Her.
He needed one more glance, and maybe another flitting touch, just one; it was already in his blood.
He turned back, hungry.
She was gone.
And he wants to give me hell for running off…
Jaret made his way back to his seat, sitting down with a sigh. The lobby for the contest hall had been much busier than he had thought. Hearsay in the lobby had communicated to him that contests in Johto were just beginning to take off, but the contest in Violet City or, "the Blue Moon Country" as he heard increasingly from the locals, were especially new. The competition had been so positively received that the local Pokemon Activities Committee had broken the appeals into two separate rounds.
That would explain the sheer number of applicants…
The first round had been…lackluster in his opinion. He had never followed contests all that closely per se, but contests had their foothold in Kanto, and he had seen quite few savvy and clever uses of techniques, even a few that would have been good for battles too. The Blue Moon Country Contest didn't have anything or anyone that really caught his attention, save one woman and a spoiled Glaceon that seized the focus and attention of the entire audience with intentional coordination with both techniques and her outfit choice; she clearly had no business being in a beginner's circuit. Virgil had been gone for the entirety of the first round of appeal, and knowing him, he could have gone anywhere. Bigger cities were fine for him, but Virgil's understanding of them far outclassed his and Jaret could only hope that he had gone on one of his city strolls; his father was a person that mapped out cities after all.
Virgil running off when he did also meant that he would have a hard time if he did decide to come to the contest. Zephyr Hall had sold nearly every seat it had. He had to be particularly early on his return from the brief intermission so he could get comfortable, even if he had the particular luck to have one of the few open seats next to him; chances were it wouldn't last long; someone sank into the space on his right.
Of course…
"I hope I'm not taking up too much of your space," they said. Jaret threw a quick glance in that direction, registering how small she was just before she sat down. Her smile was sincere and inviting, a faint flash of teal and green glimmered in the air around her, and a little behind her pale eyes. Jaret blinked hard and looked at her again; the colors had gone.
"Oh," he strained to even his tone. "You're fine. That seat is actually one of the last freebies. I'm guessing you just bought it then."
"Actually…I didn't," came her timid admission. "I'm…actually kind of…avoiding someone at the moment."
"You…are…?" She pinked a little as she nodded.
"The gym leader here is…rather interested."
"And you're not, I'm guessing." A tepid laugh.
"I can't say that I am, and I've told him such, but he's convinced that he'll win me over."
"...That sounds like Falkner…" Her eyes widened.
"You know Falkner? As in, personally?" Jaret chuckled.
"Well, maybe not personally, but I've battled him enough times to really get a feel for the guy. So…I don't know. I guess so?" She brimmed with something, either desperation or hope; it was hard for Jaret to tell.
"Do you think that you could maybe get him to listen? That, I don't know, I'm not interested?" Jaret raised a brow at that.
"Is he here?" She nodded.
"He's stage-side at the moment and, well…he insisted that I see Violet City's first 'Blue Moon Country ' Contest. It's been in the planning for some odd years now. To be honest, I really was passing through for a project that I'm doing…"
"What kind of project?"
"That doesn't matter," she replied, shaking her head. "What does matter is that I think he's more enamored with my foreignness than interested in me. It's…" she paused. The smile had been gone for a while now. She was staring toward the stage, a deep frown lining her lips.
"Annoying?"
" Disgusting." Jaret's jaw dropped.
"That…wasn't the word I was expecting, but…I guess I can see that."
"It might be harsh, but frankly, I do not have the time for that." She turned to him, expression neutral now. "It seems like all of the men from Johto make awful first impressions." That jolted Jaret to attention. "But, you seem nice. I appreciate it."
"Yeah…" He looked away for a moment. "No problem." He went quiet.
"You look like you want to ask me something." He gave her a look of admission. "Go ahead," some of her levity came back to her. A smile pulled at her mouth.
"Before that, we should leave…" Her eyes went back toward the stage-side seats. "I would rather be…unnoticed…"
"Oh, well uh, sure." He followed her from the stage, out into and through the contest hall lobby, the both of them coming to a gradual halt into a wide span of rolling fields; a place for coordinators and their Pokemon to warm-up no doubt, courtesy of the Contest Hall more than likely. All of his Pokemon had been quick to take from their balls and socialize others,
Like a daycare… Jaret would have to keep his eye out on the space.
Arcanine was the one that stayed with him; he was more interested in the new girl, Viola. Viola turned to him.
"Your Arcanine is certainly attentive," she remarked with a small laugh.
"He likes meeting new people, that's for sure, but…also, I'm pretty sure we've seen you before…"
"Really?" Jaret nodded.
"And I think you've had a run-in with a friend of mine."
"What makes you say that," she asked.
"Because I can definitely understand why you lost your cool over the word 'Fire-head'."
The second appeal round came to a close, and the contestants had found their stride quicker this time around. He had seen flurries of flamethrowers, thunderbolts and a daring routine with Metronome that the coordinator had adapted to effortlessly, even if the attack was always at random. It didn't take long to realize that the first round had been a testing ground. The lukewarm performances (by his untrained standards at least,) had weeded out those who were truly beginners; the seasoned coordinates had simply used the first round as warm-up and a gauge for the other competition.
He had seen the coordinator from earlier, "The Grey Prestige" the announcer had called her, with another dress of hers with a split up one of the legs. She matched the color of her Pokemon again, this time a Dragonair she called "Argo", and despite the somewhat rushed entry, she placed at the top of the appeal round again, with a perfect 30 out of 30 through a combination of at least 4 highly controlled techniques to leave stage-sized constellations. It was impressive, Jaret had to admit, but far too showy for a battle. There had only been one other coordinator that had managed to strike over a 25 but the crowd had been roaring in approval for the prestige; they should have never let that woman go first.
"So…about Virgil…" He had forgotten about the other girl next to him; she had introduced herself as Viola Almach, and from the way she had repeated Virgil's name to herself, she was quite frankly, annoyed. "He's an abrasive boy."
"He's…not that bad," Jaret quipped. "He's harmless once you learn a little more about him. Although…a slur probably isn't the best first impression he could have made…"
"They say first impressions are everything you know," came a remark. "He could be stuck with his stupidity for the rest of his life." She gave a wave of her hand. "But…I understand that he was… under a lot of pressure. You said that he hadn't been sleeping well for weeks?"
" Months," Jaret corrected. "And, he also said that he had gotten his first full night's sleep yesterday, after he ran into you."
"Didn't you also say that he was actually looking for me, even?" Jaret nodded. "What could he possibly want with 'fire-head', if you don't mind me asking?" Jaret turned to her with a hard stare.
"He's all bark and no bite." a brow went up: skepticism. "He doesn't even know why he said it." she blinked in surprise.
"What do you mean he doesn't know?" He shrugged.
"Exactly what I said. If he felt that way about Hoenn, he wouldn't be looking for you." She went quiet and Jaret saw all of her considerations pass over her.
Right alongside the aurora that grew around her.
"Besides," he added. "What brought you to the tower anyway?" Her eyes snapped up to his; he hadn't expected a response like that; he had struck something. There was a small smile and a look of admission.
"Falkner had told me to stay behind and that he'd go take care of everything." She chuckled. "I found it a little insulting, if I'm honest." She looked back up at him to gauge his reaction but Jaret maintained a face of stone. The aurora had begun swirling, and grew brighter. He had nearly jumped when cold air nipped at him.
"Did you see anything?"
"Did you?" His smile was bashful.
"Didn't expect that, but…" His focus went back to the stage. "Yeah, I have. II'll see fire if I stare at him too long. Sometimes, his face might even change." Viola was silent. "For all of the chaos at the tower, I think the same thing happened to Virgil there."
"What happened there?"
"...He got into a fight," he finished quietly. "And maybe the aurora and cold wind that I see around you might be the same thing he sees, and maybe the thing that let him sleep last night." He turned back to an impassive face and an even stare. She was listening, but he wasn't sure how much she believed. It started out with a small titter that escalated into an amused chuckle that kept on for a few seconds longer.
"That definitely answers both of our questions."
"Yeah?" Viola nodded.
"You asked what I was doing at the tower, and it was something I was wondering about myself. Clearly, it was to find the both of you." The following laugh was small. "I'm glad I'm not the only one seeing things." The stands had thinned again, without a doubt a result of the second intermission he vaguely recalled the contest host mentioning at some point. Jaret sighed.
"How long do you think this one will last?"
"Probably not long. A lot of the competition has gotten knocked out."
"Yeah," Jaret agreed. "So even if Virgil showed up right now, we couldn't even scratch the surface on everything. We'd have to go find him anyway…" He grumbled. "I wish he never ran off."
"You shouldn't work yourself up about it." Her tone was different, malleable even. He doubled his focus and immediately after, Viola smiled. "We'll have the time."
"And, what's that supposed to mean?" She placed a finger to her lips first, before slipping it behind an ear as she strained to listen. Jaret did the same and in the same moment, his limbs became static. He sloshed into the dirt with a yawn. When did he get so sleepy? Jaret blinked once, and then a few more times after that. There was no getting rid of the drowsiness.
"It means," Viola finally said. "That I'll make an exception. I would have preferred to wait until after everything, but finding Virgil sounds urgent. There weren't many notes loaded into it, but Grasswhistle should buy us sometime. I'll go and find him, okay?" Jaret went to speak; another yawn. "Thanks for trusting me." She left with a wisp of a smile.
What do you mean, trust…!? He hadn't noticed until then the Grovyle that was suddenly and deftly in-step with her.
I'll have to be quick about it… Viola figured that time was short, and she had made her way from the contest hall and instinctively turned towards the square. She had only seen Virgil once, and that moment had been fleeting to begin with; it made him hard to remember.
The only thing that had stuck out had been how crass he'd been. She drew in toward the center of the square, looking over, past and around bodies. Foot traffic had picked up and people were frenzied in picking up food and souvenirs to go with all of the hearsay being about the contest entirely. She continued scanning, registering a set of slow, stolid clicks.
"Do you have an idea," she asked, turning to her Grovyle. He clicked again, nonchalant. He startled a few people when he leapt upwards. The stares that turned their way would have immobilized most.
"Is that a Grovyle? What's it doing?"
"Hey, don't you have control of that thing?"
"Are you just gonna's stand there?"
"If it wants to climb around, take him to the Tower…" Viola wished she could have been as unbothered as Grovyle was as she tried to calm some of the more impatient and unruly people down; she had nearly missed a vexed chirp from Grovyle that Viola immediately figured was an admission: Grovyle didn't know what Virgil looked like either. His muscles tensed.
"Hey, Grovyle, maybe you should wa—" He misjudged the distance when he leapt, but was quick, landing deftly on and leaping from a few shoulders (while knocking them over too) to cling to and scale a higher building that when Viola observed it more closely, wasn't even that much taller.
Grovyle was here to test his ability. Viola pinched her nose, now vexed with him. One of the people had gotten back up, their attention turned pointedly in her direction.
"Hey!" He pointed to Grovyle; the Pokemon kept about his search, clicking and chirping to himself. "Is that overgrown weed yours?" Viola sucked in a breath.
"Er, that's right. I'm really sorry about that. We're actually urgently looking for—"
"I don't care," he interrupted. "Pokemon are supposed to be under better control than that! How do you call yourself a trainer…" His voice trailed suddenly, and then, the man crumpled onto the pathway with a soft snore. Viola turned to the rest of the square, noting that the bustle had given way to silence.
Everyone was asleep. She glanced up to find Grovyle smirking, a thumbs up in her direction, catching a single leaf that had drifted back to him. Viola sighed.
"You know, you really didn't have to do that." He ignored her, and turned his gaze out and over the square again. He pointed a little ways out after a bit with more clicks, this time lazy but inquisitive and Viola followed. There was a single person still standing, dragging his feet as he walked. He trudged right through Grass Whistle as far as Viola was concerned; he probably really hated sleep if that were the case. Viola's breath caught at the thought and they both moved closer.
The first thing she had seen were the bruises that formed on the right side of his face, then the shallow knife knicks both arms; the split lip was last. The burst of heat and flowing gold was quick, and she shuffled back but lost her footing and went down with a startled cry. Light was brimming from behind him and she threw a hand up to block some of it out;
She had to be seeing things again.
She would have done better without the surprise, but Viola had always seen sights like these for a long as she could remember and they were always rapid burst of aurora or glints of gold like this one, even if this had been the strongest rendition of it that she had ever come across but it would fade with time, like it always did.
But the voice, feral and unruly, was different. She had never heard anything so raw and frenzied. It brought the feeling of heat back to her, a sense of burning even. It was unintelligible noise at first, but honed itself into singularity. Her blood thrummed into her ears and brought the singularity to her mind.
You. It came with a heartbeat.
You. It came a little quicker then but matched a second one.
You. The word was faster now, much faster and Viola felt her heart quickening with it; the voice split into others as it raced even faster, more frenzied.
You!
You!
You! Her heartbeat.
You! A Pulse.
You!
You!
You…!
Her mind froze. Then, it was faint.
You…
…You…
You.
The hand on her shoulder dropped her into her body and she followed it, wordlessly and startled, to the same battered face from earlier. Except that his face wasn't battered anymore.
What is happening…?
"Did you hear me…?" Viola blinked at him numbly. She opened her mouth.
"...You…?" she said, asked weakly.
"I said, 'are you okay?'. But, yeah, we've met before…" He looked away. "Look, I'm…sorry about what I said at the tower…I didn't mean that. I don't know what came over me…" Her mind clicked together.
He's…Virgil…!
"But you still haven't answered me: Are you okay…?" She suddenly remembered why she had come there to the square, among so many sleeping people. She turned back for the Zephyr Hall, yanking a surprised Virgil after her.
Lightning struck the tower and the sparks snapped about recklessly. A few even pecked at him, making him jump and slap at them. Jaret took a deep breath, and looked over the area. He had only stopped by the Burned Tower briefly, and that had been last year. What was more, The Burned Tower was all the way in Ecruteak. Wasn't he just in the fields at the Zephyr Hall?
Viola! He wondered how much of a read she had gotten on him. It had to be enough for her to realize that she could slip a Grass Whistle past him.
That meant that he was dreaming. He had been put to sleep via Pokemon a few times, courtesy of his travels, but none of them ever left him dreaming, let alone with the same awareness when he was awake. Maybe Grass Whistle left a different kind of effect than others, and maybe that could explain why the spark from the lighting strike had actually hurt him, but he was also unconvinced that Grass Whistle would warp his dreams to put him solidly up a couple floors in a historic landmark.
Jaret grimaced. Dreams weren't supposed to hurt. Scary was normal, and strange was a given but never painful. Burning wood that fell near him and the instant rise in heat that made step back a few feet had told him otherwise: This was close enough to reality.
Some of the tower folded in on itself, and Jaret shifted, avoiding a chunk of burning debris that whisked past to punch a hole into the foundation beneath him and his attention followed, clenching teeth together to stifle the surprise.
Jaret couldn't recall the entirety of the legend of the Burned and Bell Towers; he had fallen asleep standing during one of the tours through Ecruteak he had been dragged through, but he knew the three beasts of Johto when he saw them. Raikou, Entei and Suicune stood, backs to each other and pointing outwards. Heat suddenly nipped at him and Jaret turned his attention back to the rest of the tower, and nearly froze. The tower was burning down, level-by-level and coming after him fast. He scanned his immediate area, catching sight of the stairs a second too late as they crumbled into nothing; Jaret cursed. Unless he jumped, he would die and he had heard that those that die in their sleep often die in their dreams.
No choice…!
He jumped.
A snap lanced into his ankle as he tucked into a roll. Time was too short to care, and instead turned toward the beast and found that Raikou was the only one remaining and with all of its focus and attention on him. Jaret went to stand, wincing as the pain came back sharper. The tower burned beside them and whatever walls remained were swirling in a maelstrom of wind and fire, but nothing was going to distract one from the other. The clouds on Raikou's back crackled with electricity.
So it's a fight, huh..? Jaret went for his belt, finding that only a single ball was there.
" This is Arcanine's ball…" It made sense to Jaret then. Arcanine had refused to leave his poke-ball for whatever reason while all the others had gone about their business: he was the only Pokemon he had. Jaret had been hoping for a type advantage…
He shook his head. They had never fought an actual legend before, but Arcanine was strong in his own right. He clicked the ball open, and Arcanine took to form with a strong-hearted howl. A nervous pang rippled through his chest and a moment of recognition passed over Arcanine as he made sense of exactly what kind of Pokemon it was before them. Arcanine tossed a glance over his shoulder, toward Jaret with a warm smile and a yip, and then, tensing himself immediately into position.
Arcanine wasn't afraid; Jaret smiled.
Then he wasn't going to be either.
"Arcanine, Flame—" Raikou vanished, and directly after that, everything shifted into abnormality, and he and Arcanine were suddenly falling, and the fact that everything happened so sequentially reminded Jaret of how strange everything was to begin with: dreams were never this stable. The world stitched itself together around them, and then, they were just as abruptly back to standing, eyes wide in disbelief as they took in the sight of a graveyard. The homes had been razed and the people had been slain. From the looks of it, the carnage was still fresh. Jaret's eyes fell onto the shadow looming in the background of it all: Mt. Silver.
"Arcanine, look at all this…" Arcanine didn't respond. He walked forward slowly, head turning to and fro to grasp the gravity of the site. He suddenly came to a halt age then sat down on his haunches past the center of the village
Did he find something…? Jaret broke into a brisk pace to Arcanine's side, doing his best to ignore the bodies and dead expressions. The ones that were the hardest were the faces that were a snapshot of horror, or the bodies that were particularly mutilated and he refused to put together the evidence of teeth marks, ripped flesh and missing limbs. He slowed to a halt at Arcanine's side, the Pokemon's face twisted in incredulity. It didn't take Jaret long to understand why. This body must have been the example that was made of the very first victim.
Limbs gone, the sinewy make up of muscle was frayed about from where they each should have been; it hadn't been a clean cut; they had been ripped and torn.
The way the chest had been left open reminded Jaret, horribly of 'cracking', something Virgil had been telling him about to peel the hard shells from the berries he'd gotten from Mr. Cheri. The insides were lacerated too, picked at by something that had been something much more sinister than Murkrow; the people there were really nothing more than slabs of meat. He had seen a weapon clutched in the body's grasp. They had to have been a fighter or some kind of warrior in life, and it wasn't until that moment that Jaret had fully registered the bodies of Pokemon too. The revelation moved his gaze from hand to shoulder, to neck and finally, the face; Jaret bit back his bile.
There wasn't one.
This isn't dream…this is a nightmare…!
Arcanine's bark centered him, a single, gruff rumble of coercion. His Pokemon stared forward, fur on edge and teeth bared. Arcanine was furious. He barked again, this time louder, more urgent and commanding than the first.
Jaret followed him, mouth dropping at the sight of the sun. The rays of light reflected and split into seven others. Jaret had heard loose pieces of the appearance of the phoenix. He had heard that its feather reflected the colors of the rainbow, that it was a sphere of sacred flames.
Ho-oh… A deeper voice, wrathful even struck Jaret's mind. He buckled a bit, and Arcanine snarled.
"You dare…?" Then, Jaret heard snapping, bones breaking and panicked crying.
Someone's alive!? He clutched a fistful or Arcanine's fur, and the two of them sped directly for the sun.
Arcanine moved fast, touching them down to where the sun had been, but it had pulled away even quicker than Arcanine could move. It was just one of the reasons Ho-oh was referred to as legendary, he supposed. Ho-oh sat off at a distance, somewhere between just beyond reach and not too far. It stared through both of them, to a fighter dressed in old, light armor and hide, caught in the arms of a woman.
Or, at least, she had been. She putrefied and rotted unbelievably quickly, her blood and flesh clinging to that fighter as if he would save her; the fighter dove into what was left of her with his hands shaking and his mind fraying. The fighter screamed, horrifically and powerfully.
It knocked the two of them from their feet, and Jaret tumbled back into a roll as Arcanine did the same. A hand went out for attack; Arcanine was bursting with his own light. With how bright the sun was burning, Arcanine's Morning Sun was going to amp up his next attack by far.
"Arcanine, get ready to—" They both stopped. Arcanine tensed in preparation as they both looked on. The fighter and the Phoenix had vanished; everything did in fact. The blood and rotting bodies had gone, and left the empty ruins alone with the two of them.
Except Raikou.
It stood exactly where the fighter had been crying and stared.
Does…it see us…?
"Hey, Arcanine," a short exhale cued Jaret in. "Are you sure you wanna' take this thing on?" Arcanine responded with a sharp grow; his eyes never left the beast. Jaret slung himself back atop Arcanine. "Right. Me too. I don't know what's happening, but I guess we'll just roll with it." Jaret leaned into Arcanine's fur and the Pokemon crouched low. "Let's go!"
Jaret clutched onto Arcanine's mane, and the Pokemon bulleted forward, appearing first on a flank but Raikou's eyes had already been there.
Did he know what we were going to do? An arm pointed forward and Arcanine snapped to speed again, this time appearing in front of the beast, and again, his eyes were already there. Jaret sensed Arcanine's irritation and snapped to speed even faster, and Jaret felt his body creak a bit from the acceleration. Arcanine had touched a space to Raikou's back just enough to show his presence before vanishing again. Raikou had kept them in its line of sight the entire time. If it sensed their presence, it would turn, and they would be too fast.
The two of them hazed into sight, and to Raikou's back just like they had planned. Jaret kicked himself from Arcanine as he shot forward.
"Close Combat!" Arcanine lowered his head to drive into Raikou. Raikou turned to the both of them, and Arcanine's first headbutt rang solid, striking Raikou strong enough to force the beast back. Arcanine rushed in again; he was only getting started. Raikou's expression shifted, and something twisted in Jaret's chest: Raikou let loose a bursting roar that sent Arcanine from his feet and had knocked the wind from him. Jaret fell into the dirt.
The static nudging at his limbs was abrupt and sudden, burst into a full-fledged disintegration of feeling. They moved when he willed them two, but he felt nothing. Jaret had gathered enough strength to turn his attention over to Arcanine. He was faring better than he was, although he could see visible exhaustion in the Pokemon as he heaved.
It was only Roar…What did he do!? Raikou's footsteps rippled through the dirt and into Jaret's chest, and they brought a single word with them.
You.
The beast was coming closer, and Jaret's mind raced. There was also the immense shadow and winded strength of Arcanine that had come to protect him. But he wasn't going to let Arcanine fight alone. Not against Raikou. Resolution pulsed in Jaret's mind paired with a rare feeling for him this time: Ferocity.
He had to get up, and he had to fight.
He had to fight.
He was going to fight, and he was going to win.
Raikou…!
Jaret gasped for air as he took in the world. He started slowly, twitching his fingers, then his toes. They moved accordingly, and from there, Jaret made his way into his body entirely. His first thought was about how sore he was, and then, it fell immediately to Arcanine. He made an attempt to reach for his ball, and his entire arm bit at him in protest. He hissed in pain, at let it drop at his side.
Clouds rolled slowly over him. He had been the first, if not the only one to come too from Viola's sneaky Grass Whistle. He had made multiple attempts to get back to himself and move, but they all ended in pain. All he could do was watch the clouds. A face peered over him, and he shot upright startled, and then yelped in pain.
"You're awake," Viola remarked, suitably surprised.
"O-of course I'm awake!" The pain in his limbs was sharp. He clenched his teeth to keep another snarl of pain down. "Well, I did say that there weren't many notes loaded into it, but still, Grovyle's Grass Whistle is potent."
"Well," He forced a smile. "Gonna take more than that to keep me down."
"From the looks of it, you're barely standing. What happened?" He went to speak but paused. They had agreed that they had both been hearing things, but would Viola buy a dream that actually manifested in the world?
"I'm just, uh, more sore than I thought. Me and Virgil did haul pretty hard to get here." Her eyes narrowed.
"I guess that'd make sense…"
"Speaking of, where is Virgil? Did you find him?" Viola nodded. His lips came together in a thin line. "Can I actually trust you about that? You did sneak a Grass Whistle by me, y'know…"
"I'm right here." Jaret looked past Viola and over to the voice, to Virgil.
"Where'd you go, anyway?"
"Eh, don't worry about it." He shrugged. "Also, she didn't exactly find me. We bumped into each other really…" And then he looked around. "...In a scene like this," he finished plainly. "Hey, are you sure we can trust her? People seem to end up, well, like this wherever she comes around."
"Jaret did ask me to come find you, you know." Virgil turned to Jaret with an exasperated breath.
"Did you really?"
"I wouldn't say that…" Virgil turned back to Viola, brow flattened in annoyance.
"Why are we dealing with her again?" She gave him a dismayed look.
"You don't have to be rude about it. You could just ask—"
"We see things, Virgil," Jaret interjected, and for a moment, Jaret thought Virgil had lost his color. "Usually when we're with or near you…"
"...Does that explain why she put everyone to sleep," asked Virgil; a deflection.
"It does," Viola replied shortly. "The contest is nearly sold out, and it's one the biggest contests in your area of Johto, isn't it? We wouldn't be able to get you seats next to us if we hadn't thought of something clever." Virgil visibly shirked away.
"Why'd you do that…!?"
"Because, " she continued. "This is urgent. Otherwise, we could have just met you when the contest was over."
"Are you guys going to steal a ticket for me or something?" Viola shook her head.
"We'll just walk in. Once we get our seats, Grovyle can wake everyone up. Some of them are starting to stir anyway. Are you two ready?"
"Yeah," Jaret answered, I'll be right behind you." She raised a brow at that. "Guy stuff."
"You're a bad liar," came a retort and a laugh. "Don't be too long." Viola disappeared toward the main hall.
"You two are getting along," came a guarded reply. "What'd you two talk about while I was gone?" Jaret gave him a hard stare and Virgil's facade dropped.
"Virgil, what was your last dream like?" The ripple of terror was subtle, but the two of them had been traveling together for a little bit now.
"Why do you want to know something like that," Virgil retorted darkly. "We already talked about it, didn't we?"
"That doesn't matter. The nightmare in Happy Town, did you see Ho-oh?" Virgil blinked in surprise.
"I-I see him in every nightmare…"
"Do you see people die? Anyone at all?" Virgil turned to him bewildered, and Jaret's body burst with a searing pain that made him buckle; Virgil caught and hoisted him upright.
"...Jaret, what did you see…?" He hesitated for a fleeting second, then responded darkly.
"...The same thing you did..."
Jaret was strong and by far one of the strongest people Virgil knew; Jaret also knew that. He was dependable and quick to action. He and his Pokemon were strong-willed and loyal. He had never seen such awe or bewilderment in his eyes before until that moment.
How did Jaret have the same nightmare he had been having for so long?
It was also the reason why he should have left. Viola, as he had learned through Jaret, had been quick at work and when they had made their to the main hall as well, he laid eyes on a clever and intense-looking Grovyle that flitted a glowing leaf to his lips, the undoing of his Grass-Whistle, and shortly after that (or another 20 or so minutes), everything had come back to life. They had snuck him in successfully, but judging from the mass disorientation, it was bound to be easy.
His attention fell to the stage, more so to help him focus his own thoughts. Jaret had admitted that he had been "seeing things" as he put it, a phenomenon that he had said also started, or at least revved up when they had started traveling together. Viola was unexplainable for him though. She had told both of them that she had been seeing things since she was young, something that eventually led to her studying the environment, "The water is always whispering to me," she had said. It wasn't until she had actively bumped into him that she had begun hearing things too. And even now, as he registered bits of the back and forth between the two of them, and even as he had only recently met Viola formally, being with the two of them was… nice.
The thought left a pit in his stomach.
What if I hurt them…?
What if they die…?
The hall burst with cheer that almost jolted Virgil from his seat, and then chuckled to himself. He was thinking too much. He was at a contest, of course it was going to be like this. He glanced over to Jaret, catching a few words about one of his battles from Happy Town; the two of them weren't even talking about all of the strangeness anymore. He was always so casual and laid-back.
"Speaking of," came Viola's voice, and she turned her attention to him. "Virgil, you've been quiet."
"Well, you guys have been kind of off topic," he said with a shrug. He didn't look at her. "But…that's okay. Talking about this stuff isn't as urgent as it really is." He tried his best to smile. "We can wait until after the contest. We'll be able to focus better."
"Well, if you say so." The hall erupted in cheer again, one of the coordinators and her Absol taking a bow before heading from the stage.
"An excellent showcase from contestant no.28," boomed the contest announcer. "A reminder to never underestimate your opponents! But now, onto the final round of the second round matchups!" Virgil sat up then, his focus honing on the stage and to a single person. She waved out to the crowd, the whole of them erupting with even more excitement.
"It's the Grey Prestige!"
"The Princess from Sinnoh!"
"We love you..!"
Virgil cringed. The crowd had utterly lost their minds.
"That Grey prestige is going down!" Virgil turned incredulously over to Jaret. It hadn't taken him long to get into it, and Viola had done her best to stifle her laughter. He turned back to the stage, grumbling.
Are you serious…? She twirled onto the stage, and her dress, cyan blue, followed with her. She summoned a Pokemon, and it took form slowly, light coming around and draping over her until it took to form: a Dragonair. She blew a kiss to the crowd, and for the third time they threw themselves into a frenzy.
She said she was going to a party! Virgil struggled for her name, coming to realize that she had never told him her name.
"Hailing from Sunyshore City and the pride of the Prestigious Grey Family, the young heartbeat and Princess of Sinnoh itself, we give you Juliet Grey!"
Her name had come from his lips with some feeling of a cool rush. No mistake, Juliet Grey was the girl in the alley.