"They are back! Prepare to pull the net!"
The vice-captain of the ship allowed a small smile to grace his face. What they were doing had gathered quite a number of curious observers of all ages. The Vera heiress had made a suggestion after learning about the potential food shortage problem that they might face on this trip and had offered to help with that.
He admits that the possibility of enlisting civilians to help out slipped his mind because most of the VIPs on this list weren't pokemon trainers, and those who have pokemon largely kept them as companion pokemon that would not be of much help. Only a few could possibly be of use- assuming their trainers were willing to lend a helping hand- and the Vera heiress is one of those.
Speak of the devil.
Far ahead, a far too excitable lapras was having the time of its life herding a frantic school of fishes towards the humongous net near the military vessel. The fishes were caught in the net as planned and the sailors and their pokemon immediately tightened the net in preparation to hoist their catch up onto deck.
"Bigblue!"
The girl riding the lapras called out for the swampert patiently waiting up on the deck. Swampert is a species of pokemon born with terrifying physical strength, historical records in Hoenn also described that there was once a swampert which managed to easily drag a boulder weighing more than a ton. The swampert easily lifted the net full of their catch up on deck and the excitable children crowded around while also giving the adults and their pokemon enough space to do their work. Fishes of all kinds flopped about helplessly within the net once they were out of water.
A cradily easily stuck itself to the side of the ship and waddled down to pick its trainer from her lapras' back and bring her back up to the deck. The girl thanked her lapras before recalling it to its pokeball and rejoined the vice-captain.
"So how's the catch?"
"Not bad. This amount should guarantee that we have enough food even if we split it among the other ships, the only thing to nitpick would be that we would be having fish again."
Another collective groan sounded from both the sailors and the spectators alike at the thought of eating fish again, but it was all in good fun since they understood that now is not the time to be picky in the face of survival. There had been increased interactions between the sailors and the passengers ever since Velda and the vice-captain had put the arrogant Savic family in line and everyone was made aware that their situation is not as rosy as it looked, especially after learning the sacrifices that these soldiers willingly made for them. Some of the civilians willingly reduced the portion of their meals, saying that they don't usually eat that much anyway and that their portion should be given to those who needed it more. Some who have pokemon that are able to help out volunteered their services too, and there were one or two whose expertise was able to offer some valuable input, like the woman whose business empire relates to mining of resources from the deep sea.
The situation that they are currently in certainly is not the best. If any unforeseen emergency were to strike nobody knows if what they currently have would last them until they made the trip back to Hoenn. Of course, being here is still better than being stranded at Unova since nobody knows if those insane zealots had any other ace up their sleeves that might once again plunge the region into danger on an unprecedented scale. The memory of Reshiram raining fireballs down at Castelia was still fresh on everyone's minds.
Both soldiers and civilians working together to collectively work towards a single goal lightened the atmosphere. To be able to work in the face of adversity has always been humans' greatest and brightest quality, and especially so when they have trusted pokemon companions by their side.
"This is poisonous, take it away. This is okay, that is okay… Huh, we caught a bluefin tuna. Anyone want some sushi?" The vice-captain said out loud and everyone cheered for finally having a better change in their menu even if their main course would still be fish. "Don't tell the other ships that we have bluefin tuna though, it's our little secret, alright?"
Boisterous laughter erupted from the crowd. The crew swiftly got to work and sorted out their catch. Some would be sent to their kitchen like the bluefin tuna, some would be packed and distributed to the other ships that had been cruising alongside their ship as a fleet. Some of the civilians offered to help as well and it certainly made quite a sight. All of them here are VIPs, owners of business corporations or influential figures of a certain standing in their respective fields, but right here everyone seems to be equal and nobody seems to be more important than anybody else.
"Had fun?" The doctor asked with a smile while Velda wringed her hair to squeeze out some of the seawater that had gotten on it when she was riding Chill. He had worked with the ship's doctor and took stock of the medical supplies that they have. It would be enough until they are able to make a stop to resupply in an estimated two to three days time, but if an emergency were to happen halfway on their journey there then things will be very uncertain.
"I hardly see you on the deck."
"Being in the sun for too long will not be good for me," the old man with a deceptively youthful appearance told a half-truth. The sun is his strength, there's no way being in the sun would not be good for him but being exposed to too much of it might unknowingly expose his secret, especially when there are so many people around.
"How are you feeling now? Are you able to adjust to insomnia? Do you feel Emil's ability making a comeback anytime soon?"
"Yes to the first, no to the second. It's weird how being seasick is able to suppress it," she sighed with a tinge of helplessness. "Actually, I just want to hurry and be home as soon as possible. After this journey I don't think I would want to experience another voyage anytime soon."
"Great minds think alike," the doctor chuckled at her remark. "Now then, let's get into the shade. You might feel fine now but being exposed to the sunlight for too long might cause you to experience heat exhaustion without realising it yourself until it's too late." The doctor gently ushered his newest patient to start making their way back to the shade, walking past a pair of children playing with the zigzagoon that their family kept as a companion.
"Ziggy, catch!"
The girl threw a ball that their zigzagoon jumped to try snatching the ball mid flight. The ball ended up rolling until it stopped by the vice-captain's feet where he was standing nearby supervising the work progress. He smiled, bent down to pick up the ball and handed it back to the zigzagoon who happily took it from him with a happy bark and wagging tail.
"Don't stand too close to the handrails!" Zades reminded the children and they very obediently moved closer to the middle of the deck to play instead. The grandparents of the pair of kids looked on with a warm smile on their faces from where they were seated in the shade, waving at their grandchildren when their gazes met. It's the same area that Velda and Dr Lott decided to take a rest at as well.
Sebastian had already very thoughtfully prepared a cup of cold drink and a dry towel for his young lady when she arrived and she accepted it with gratitude. The doctor laid back relaxedly on his chair. It's not too bad being on a voyage if he actually ignored the part where their ships might be running low on supplies to the point that they had to hunt for food themselves, but at least nobody is going to bother him about work while the journey is still ongoing.
He could also spend time with his granddaughter that he never had the time to get to know of until very recently, even if she would never know of his true identity.
"Your pokemon looked well-trained. Are you from a family of trainers?" The grandmother of the children asked with a warm smile on her face. While everyone here had learnt by now that everyone else had to have a powerful background or be an influential figure, they might not necessarily recognise each other until they introduced themselves. The old lady had observed that the girl was being accompanied by an espeon and a pachirisu most of the time, and then there was the gengar whose fearsome presence kept the arrogant Savic family in line. Now, she had further displayed possession of a swampert, lapras, and cradily. It's natural for her to make such an assumption.
"Instead of trainers, I would say that we are a family of breeders," Velda answered politely in kind and the old lady's spouse mouthed a silent "ah", his mind already forming a suspicion that he knew is most likely true after spotting that swampert lying down near where its trainer was seated in the shade and dozing away. Despite not being a trainer and technically not a part of the pokemon industry he had a great many connections as the man who sponsored and supported the construction of New Mauville. He's aware of certain information that some might not know and that allowed him to make such a guess.
"That's not an easy job," the old man and owner of Belzer Energy said. More specifically, any job that requires the person in question to personally handle pokemon is a dangerous one. Be it trainers or breeders or even coordinators, there will always be people who unfortunately pass away in an accident simply because pokemon are involved. It's an inevitable occupational hazard in this industry, which is why the pokemon industry is lucrative as it is dangerous. The risks justify the rewards and there will always be people who will be willing to bear that risk when the rewards can be justified.
"Perhaps, but I like it. I love working with my pokemon," the girl replied in kind as the mischievous pachirisu climbed up to sit on the top of her head, only to be swatted down by the espeon that was curled up in its trainer's lap.
"It's not easy to find a job that you love," the old man remarked with a knowing smile. "There's nothing we have on hand now to thank you for your help but if you ever drop by Mauville, come down to say hello. My wife and I would be happy to have you."
"I didn't do anything to warrant that," the doctor idly watched as his granddaughter immediately declined the offer.
"Nonsense! If it wasn't for you sharing your portion of your meal those two little troublemakers might have gone to bed hungry. If anything happened to them we wouldn't know how to face our son and daughter-in-law."
"We insist," the old lady gently held Velda's hands in her wrinkly ones with that same kind smile, "and the kids like you too."
The conversation was interrupted when the swampert resting near them suddenly sat up in alert, looking far ahead in silence for a short moment before turning to its trainer and releasing a low bellow. The espeon that was similarly resting earlier had also woken up, immediately translating the swampert's message in a way their trainer can understand.
"This is bad," the girl immediately stood up and her action had already caught the attention of the vice-captain who had been nearby.
"Something wrong?"
"Bigblue detected a large school of water type pokemon heading straight for the fleet. Rena- my espeon- tried scanning with her psychic abilities too and felt a void in her senses, meaning to say that it's most likely a large school of water-dark dual type pokemon. If they do not change their course we will run into them soon."
"Either sharpedos or crawdaunts. None of them are good news," Zades agreed with a grim voice and immediately grabbed the walkie-talkie attached to his belt and spoke into it. "Control, do you hear me? This is Sealord, all hands to battle stations. I repeat, all hands to battle stations. I'm issuing a level 2 alert, all hands are to be on standby. Evacuate all non-combat personnel to their rooms, alert the other ships to prepare for a possible run-in with hostile wild pokemon. Please acknowledge, over."
A reply was immediately heard over the comms in acknowledgement and a siren was immediately sounded. Zades continued to succinctly fill in the information that he had just learnt to the other ships via radio. The civilians were alarmed at the sudden blaring of sirens but quickly cooperated and started to head back to within the ship for safety.
"How far are they away from us?"
"It's not really a matter of how far but how soon they would reach us," Velda replied after learning of the answer from her espeon.
"Means that they swim fast. Usually this means that it's likely sharpedos, but they are not really seen in these parts so I'm guessing it's crawdaunts. Maybe they are riding the undercurrents beneath the surface which is why they are able to close the distance so rapidly."
"Spotted bogeys incoming! ETA less than one mike!" One of the sailors keeping a sharp watch on the gallery up above warned with a loud shout. Several curses could be heard being muttered from the other sailors nearby when everyone realised that the civilians wouldn't be able to evacuate the deck in time. True enough, a huge splash of water burst forth from the side of the ship at that moment and a shadowy figure could be seen within the violent waves. A large red pincer grabbed onto the handrail with a ear grating screech, using it as a pivot to pull itself up onto the deck.
Zades gritted his teeth and clicked his tongue in annoyance.
Crawdaunts. Just their luck.
The screech that the crawdaunt's pincers made when climbing up onto the ship really grated onto my ears. Despite the threat they posed I found myself thinking that these crawdaunts really do know how to make an impressionable entrance. Jumping up in a blast of water to climb up on deck gave it style points.
The wild crawdaunt released a hostile roar and more crawdaunts began to follow its example to climb onto deck in violent sprays of water, probably a display of the move Aqua Jet and was how they shot themselves up here onto the deck. There was no time to hesitate, something must be done now. Zades clearly understood that better than anyone when he immediately reacted and gave his orders.
"Protect the people and the ship! Do not let them inflict any structural damage and keep them away from the engine room! Throw them back into the sea, avoid engaging in direct combat on the ship!"
The sailors charged alongside their pokemon with a warcry and Zades released his skarmory and manectric. Compared to the battles I had been through this really could be considered a walk in the park, but it still didn't make this wild encounter any less dangerous. To be exact, this battle is one of the trickiest ones that I came across thus far due to the large number of restrictions we faced. Fighting on a ship without any land in sight has its own perils. It could be seen from the instructions that Zades handed down immediately. He only had two objectives that must be seen done: Protect the people, protect the ship. If the ship suffered structural damage then everything would be lost. We would all be stranded out at sea or worse, drown in a watery grave.
Protecting the ship is as high a priority as preventing the loss of lives in this instance. That also meant that we were subjected to several constraints. We couldn't use our more flashy and destructive moves because that might damage the ship too. Trainers like Flannery who excel in commanding their pokemon to dish out destructive AOE damage would be the most affected here by such restrictions. We have to be very careful and precise in fighting our battle. It's a lot harder than it seems to be able to do that.
Fortunately, I think I can help with that.
"Dolly, whisk them away."
Dolly's cackle could be heard even if she wasn't seen. Shadows bloomed around me and enveloped the crawdaunts in a dark embrace. I could tell that Dolly was having a little difficulty with Shadow Sneak due to the crawdaunts' natural resistance to ghost type moves thanks to their dark typing, but that would not hinder Dolly too much. I signalled Bigblue to charge and he ran on all fours to the nearest crawdaunt, grabbed it, and threw it off the ship with a toss that drew a beautiful arc in the air and Fuzzy zapped it with precise blasts of lightning before it even touched down on the sea surface. Lily easily prevented a handful of crawdaunts from getting closer and quickly sucked them dry of energy with Giga Drain, allowing our allies to make quick work of them and pushed them overboard.
I caught glimpses of Flannery taking charge of the ship's defence at the other half of the ship and I also saw Norman giving orders to his pokemon from the air by riding on his staraptor. He flew to the nearest ship to offer his assistance because they were caught up in the same situation as we did. I couldn't see the other ships from where I was but if they were in the same plight that we were in then they would need Norman's assistance. This ship has an Elite level trainer and a Gym Leader on top of a vice-captain who was said to be a potential Gym Leader candidate. The other ships don't have such a lineup and neither Flannery nor I are able to extract ourselves from here to help defend the other ships if the wild crawdaunts decided to attack them too. Norman would be the best candidate to go over and help.
Sebastian's medicham was equally vicious as it clashed against the crawdaunts and exchanged physical blows. Unfortunately, the manner and location in which the crawdaunts made their appearances had put themselves in between some of the civilians and the exit from the deck. Crawdaunts are widely known to be brutes without a plan so I believe that this was just an unlucky coincidence, but something must be done about this ASAP.
Sebastian seemed to have read my mind and he ordered his claydol to erect powerful psychic shields that segregated the civilians from the crawdaunts that got too close. Bigblue grabbed one by its tail and hurled it overboard with a powerful throw like he did for his previous victims. That sight honestly looked a little comical with how helpless the crawdaunts were in the face of Bigblue's sheer muscular strength.
I could have evacuated the deck too but I won't choose to do so. I have the power and ability to help as an Elite trainer and I am a Vera. It is my family's duty to protect the region and her people.
I will do my part to protect my people too.
'Rena, are you done locating each and every civilian on the deck?' I asked telepathically and received an affirmative. 'Convey that information to Dolly. Dolly, Shadow Sneak.'
Shadows bloomed once more and confused screams rang out as expected. The civilians trapped on deck vanished seconds later.
"My ghosts sent all the civilians to the business centre! No need to worry about them now, just focus on the crawdaunt problem!"
"Got it!"
The sailors were finally able to fight with greater freedom once they did not have to worry about protecting the civilians behind their backs. I commanded my pokemon to continue to help the sailors to push them back as well and walked past a crate.
I wasn't expecting to see someone hiding behind it.
"Why are you here?"
"Um, hiding from those scary pokemon?" Dr Kolten Lott answered just as confusedly and pointed a finger in the general direction where the worst of the battle was taking place. I'm simply confused how he wasn't sent away by Dolly's Shadow Sneak. Did Rena not sense him? Neither did Dolly? How?
Another crawdaunt yelled while pouncing in our direction, pincers ready to crush us and mouth opened to feast. Bigblue simply decked him with a straight punch to its face that dented its armour, probably giving it a severe concussion in the process, before Wacky kicked it down with a gleeful laugh.
"-the hell are they doing up-"
A panicked yell could be heard from above and we both looked up. To our horror, a crawdaunt had somehow managed to make its way to the gallery up above unnoticed and began to terrorise the very unprepared sailor assisting to man the bridge. He's trying his best to prevent the crawdaunt from entering the bridge and destroying it but it's obvious that he's not much of a combatant. I believed Zades mentioned that he's more of a support staff that excelled in navigation.
I immediately gave Dolly the mental command to go over and help, but even I knew that we would be too late because the crawdaunt had batted the sailor's mightyena aside with a Crabhammer and his pincers were already inches away from cutting him into two in a powerful grip. That didn't stop me from trying to save that sailor, but I was already mentally prepared for the worst until a figure sped past me in a blur, its speed so fast that it whipped up a gust of wind.
A man had put himself in between the sailor and the crawdaunt. Not only that, he had easily stopped the crawdaunt with a single hand and holding its pincers in an iron grip. No matter how hard the crawdaunt tried to pull away it couldn't, the man just wouldn't budge.
"D-Dr Lott…?"
Yes, that was Dr Lott. How did he do that? What is he, superman?
I could see his arm muscles visibly bulging a little under his shirt before he threw the crawdaunt back into the sea much like how Bigblue did it. He returned a smile at the sailor he saved with a finger to his lips in a universal gesture of silence and the sailor nodded in understanding. Dr Lott leapt down to rejoin me and he was magically fine even after leaping down from such a height.
"... You are an Ability Holder too?" I asked, because no other explanation would explain what he just did. The doctor simply smiled back in return without a word and adjusted his shirt to iron out the imaginary creases and dust off the imaginary dust from it.
"Hmm, am I? The glare from the sun's pretty bright, it might cause us to see things that weren't there sometimes."
"Ah, understandable," I slowly nodded and played along. Whatever the doctor's ability might be it definitely gave him some crazy boost to his physical capabilities. The first thing that came to my mind was that it might be aura-related but it also didn't really seem like it. I could probe further but everyone is entitled to their secrets. If the doctor doesn't want to explain then I won't ask.
The crawdaunt encounter was resolved almost as soon as it happened with our combined efforts. Thankfully, if we include our ship as well only two ships were attacked by the crawdaunts. No significant structural damage was detected and we could still continue to make our way safely to our original destination. The only change that came up from this was that Norman and Flannery had decided to leave this ship, split themselves up and board on different ships so that in the event we had another of such encounters with wild pokemon, the other civilian ships would be better protected too. Our ship had enough firepower as it is with Zades, Sebastian and me around.
I'm going to miss them both for the rest of my trip.
Meanwhile, I spent the remainder of my time that day puzzling over what I remembered seeing Zades did towards the end of the battle.
"Seriously, how did he make them vanish?" I wondered out loud while slowly stroking Fuzzy on the head from where we were lazing on my bed. One moment the crawdaunts were viciously snapping their pincers at anyone and everyone and the next moment they just vanished from view. Rena had ascertained that it wasn't the effect of Teleport or a move relating to the Mind Arts Trio, she had sensed the crawdaunts being physically thrown off the ship in the same way she sensed Bigblue and some of our pokemon threw them overboard. The only difference was that we couldn't see how Zades did that. It's like his pokemon made the crawdaunts invisible and then threw them off in the process.
I recalled that the crawdaunts immediately returned back to view the moment they were plunged into the waters. Once they were thrown into the sea Zades had easily caught them all in a giant globule of seawater that locked them up in a high pressure water prison, one that I recognised to be an application of his ability. What happened next was a brilliant display of artillery bombardment from his clawitzer. That unassuming clawitzer had fired an Aura Sphere at least ten times its size and it was what obliterated the crawdaunts and scared away the rest as a warning shot. I never knew the clawitzer species could be that powerful.
Personally, the clawitzer's performance was what really cemented my impression of Zades as a powerful Water Specialist. It's largely because clawitzers are a species that are not a popular pick among trainers, even for Water Specialists, simply because there are many other species of water type pokemon that could perform far better than the clawitzer species in a competitive setting. In recent years, the only renowned trainer that was noted to have trained a Pillar level clawitzer was Siebold of Kalos and even then he had other notable water types that could better serve as the cornerstone of his team. Clawitzers tend to be on the lower end of the food chain in the wild as well and most of them don't turn out to be very powerful even under the guidance of a trainer. Hence, most people kept their species around as companions rather than battlers.
Thus, the fact that Zades could train a clawitzer to be this powerful is already very telling in itself.
Could the crawdaunts' sudden vanishing be due to Secret Power? I didn't spot the signs of Secret Power being used that could explain the vanishing. What other moves are there that could tear the fabric of space or obscure someone's vision as a trick of light? Zades is a Water Specialist, so it's most likely an application of a water type move. I would have asked him but it's also kind of rude to go straight up and inquire about what is undoubtedly a trade secret. It's an unspoken rule in our community. Whatever Zades and his pokemon did, it had to be a secret to his strength that made him a potential Gym Leader candidate that could possibly take over Juan's mantle.
A zoroark? Like the one Jayce has in his possession? Maybe, but I doubt it. Why make the extra effort to have the crawdaunts vanish from view while throwing them off? It doesn't make sense. It would make more sense that whatever was done to throw the crawdaunts off, turning them invisible was a convenient by-product that so happened to occur.
What kind of water type move could make its target vanish from view?
My train of thoughts was derailed when my phone started to vibrate incessantly. I checked the notifications and realised that an influx of messages was starting to flood the group chat that Zades invited me into, the chat group named "Mochi-Mochi". I'm not too sure if the delay in activity was due to the timezone difference or the unstable internet connection, but I'm not going to lose my brain cells wondering about it.
I opened the messaging app to see just what the commotion was all about.
[LizaXD] : WELCOME tra~vel~ler !
[LizaXD] : happyralts. jpg
[TaTe] : hello vel
[Nianiania :3] : Oh?
[Nianiania :3] : WE HAVE A NEW MEMBER?!
[Nianiania :3] : HELLO AND WELCOME
[Nianiania :3] : dancingludicolo. jpg
[Nianiania :3] : State your name age height weight background and ability
[Nianiania :3] : Right now!
[Nianiania :3] : investigatorgrowlithe. jpg
[SoSolid] : Damn son why is it always Seaz who gets to meet all the new ability holders in our region
[SoSolid] : And welcome tra~vel~ler
[SoSolid] : Do you gym bro?
[SoSolid] : flexingmachoke. jpg
[Seaz] : She's a lady
[SoSolid] : O.o
[SoSolid] : Do you gym sister?
[LizaXD] : Pretty sure she doesnt
[LizaXD] : smirkingreuniclus. jpg
[SoSolid] : depressedgeodude. jpg
[LizaXD] : Hiyah Rooted come say hello to our newest member Vel! tra~vel~ler
[Hiyah] : Hello dearie
[Hiyah] : Always happy to have new members around. You can call me Hiyako
[Hiyah] : smilingmakuhita. jpg
I'm glad to see that I was being so enthusiastically welcomed into their little group, although I believed the fact that I already knew Liza and Tate played a part as well. I quickly typed a reply.
[tra~vel~ler] : Hello everyone, thank you for having me. You can call me Vel
[tra~vel~ler] : happybanette. jpg
[tra~vel~ler] : Looking forward to meeting everyone
[LizaXD] : When will you be back?
[LizaXD] : excitedbabyelectrike. jpg
[tra~vel~ler] : You will have to ask Seaz. I'm on his ship
[TaTe] : Good luck with him
[TaTe] : May kyogre guide you home safely
[TaTe] : prayingmedicham. jpg
[LizaXD] : OH YA THAT MEANIE WAS SENT TO UNOVA I ONLY JUST REMEMBERED
[LizaXD] : Seaz you better take good care of vel you hear me?!
[LizaXD] : Or tate and i will kick your ass from sootopolis to rustboro!
[SoSolid] : Erm
[SoSolid] : I may be wrong but
[SoSolid] : Isn't zades the more powerful trainer…?
[LizaXD] : IDC
I blinked my eyes in surprise. At this point it's clear to me that Zades is a very skilled trainer but if what was said in the chat was to be believed, he's even better than the twins? If so, it's no wonder why Juan and Wallace wished for him to take over his teacher's mantle.
On a side note, why did Tate say good luck with him the moment they knew that I am on Zades' ship? It feels like I'm missing out on some sort of story or context here.
[Hiyah] : Now now, no fighting. Zades is a good child just like all of you
[Hiyah] : thumbsupmachop. jpg
[Nianiania :3] : He's evil. Plain and simple
[Nianiania :3] : Seriously only you and Rooted can stand that guy cos you guys are freaking saints
[TaTe] : tra~vel~ler no need to be nice to him if you cannot put up with him
[TaTe] : Speaking from experience here
[Rooted] : What's going on?
[LizaXD] : We have a new member! tra~vel~ler
[Rooted] : Oh
[Rooted] : Hello
[Rooted] : Drop me a message if you are ever in Verdanturf, I will be happy to show you around
[TaTe] : Just woke up?
[Rooted] : noddingzigzagoon. jpg
[Rooted] : Wattson came over to talk again last night sigh
[Rooted] : tiredwurmple. jpg
Now this is getting interesting. It seems that a handful of my fellow Ability Holders in Hoenn do have connections to people in high places. First Zades, then Tate and Liza, and now the person who goes by the nickname of Rooted?
[tra~vel~ler] : What did you guys talk about if you dont mind me asking
[LizaXD] : Rooted is very strong!
[LizaXD] : I mean he really doesnt look like it but. BUT
[LizaXD] : He's seriously op. Like gym leader level kind of op.
[SoSolid] : Especially if he's allowed to fight alongside his pokemon with his ability. Challenged him to a 1v1 once, worst mistake of my life
[SoSolid] : I entered the battle a hopeful man but left the battle a traumatised man
[SoSolid] : tremblingbellsprout. jpg
[Hiyah] : Wattson is persuading him to take over his position when he inevitably steps down
[Hiyah] : Similar to what is going on with Zades and his teacher
[Hiyah] : Good kids, both of them
[LizaXD] : I really don't mind if Rooted becomes mauville's next gym leader! Come join us pleeeeease~
[Nianiania :3] : Support Rooted as gym leader? Yes, definitely, take my vote
[Nianiania :3] : Support Seaz as gym leader? Naaaaaah
[Rooted] : being a gym leader is so tiring…
[Rooted] : i cannot deal with people let alone being a gym leader so just leave me alone man…
[Rooted] : the league just cannot take no for an answer wtf they are like an overly obsessive girlfriend atp and i'm not even their only candidate for the next mauville gym leader go bother somebody else already…
[Rooted] : cryingtogepi. jpg
[SoSolid] : There there
[Nianiania :3] : WAIT
[Nianiania :3] : We sidetracked. We havent got to grill our newcomer for details. The only thing I know is that she's a girl
[Nianiania :3] : tra~vel~ler name age height weight background ability
[Nianiania :3] : expectanttorchic. jpg
[SoSolid] : If her ability just manifested and only got found out now she probably is around the twins' age
[Hiyah] : Highly likely
[Rooted] : I just caught up on the conversation and it seems like she is on zades' ship? Wasn't he deployed to retrieve our fellow countrymen at Unova?
[Rooted] : tra~vel~ler caught up in the Plasma Crusade?
[Nianiania :3] : Whoa i didnt think of that. I saw reshiram on tv raining fireballs, that place got to be chaotic af
[Nianiania :3] : tra~vel~ler you okay?
[Seaz] : Def not. Her ability is giving her some trouble so please help her if she needs it
[Seaz] : Rooted preempting you in advance. Only you might be able to handle her ability at its worst
[Rooted] : stunnedtreecko. jpg
[Rooted] : Details pls?
[Rooted] : Hello zades my man?
[Rooted] : Hello?
[Rooted] : Seaz
[Rooted] : Wtf man you dont just drop me something like this and leave me with nothing else to go on. U know i will get anxiety
[Rooted] : At least give me a scale
[Seaz] : Minimum eight. I'm multitasking trying to chat with you guys while directing a goddamn fleet of warships back home thru crawdaunt infested waters cut me some slack dammit
[Rooted] : OKtyrogue. jpg
[LizaXD] : Wait what
[LizaXD] : Vel what happened why didnt you tell me
[Nianiania :3] : Rating scale of eight sounds dangerous
[Nianiania :3] : tra~vel~ler let us know if we can do anything to help ok?
[Nianiania :3] : We are here to help each other cos we are the only ones of the same kind here in hoenn
[Nianiania :3] : winkingdelcatty. jpg
[Hiyah] : We can help her at our usual place. It's desolate enough
[Seaz] : Doubt it. Her case is a little special, probably will have to jump through several hoops with the League before we can decide on a training plan for her. Even that Dr Lott from Unova is assisting with her case. Troublesome
[Seaz] : Update you guys later once I received concrete instructions from the higher-ups or Wallace. Gentle reminder to try to free your schedules in the meantime, it's about time we have another of our usual meetups anyway
[Hiyah] : That Dr Lott? Interesting
[Seaz] : tra~vel~ler you want to introduce yourself to them properly or do you want me to do it for you?
I sighed. Well, I was kind of avoiding introducing myself to them in full because I do not want to be seen differently due to my background as a Vera, but I guessed it cannot be helped now. Might as well answer Nianiania's questions, whoever she may be.
[tra~vel~ler] : Name: Velda Vera. Age: 14. Height and weight: confidential. Ability: ghost-inclined. Erm, background wise, I used to work as a PWL agent until very recently. Does that count?
[tra~vel~ler] : In any case, please take care of me
[tra~vel~ler] : bowinggardevoir. jpg
[Nianiania :3] : Waaaait a minute
[Nianiania :3] : Something's not right. My brain is not braining
[SoSolid] : I believe there's a typo. I see that your family name is Vera
[Nianiania :3] : Yeah I saw it too. There's only 1 Vera family in the entire region. Typo?
[TaTe] : Not a typo
[LizaXD] : Not a typo
[Seaz] : Not a typo
There was a short period of inactivity in the chat, to the point I was starting to believe that the internet connection must have been unstable again, until someone finally replied.
[Rooted] : ?
[Rooted] : idk what's going on but ok
[Nianiania :3] : Omfg asdjashda
[Nianiania :3] : tra~vel~ler YOU ARE SERIOUSLY A VERA?!
[Nianiania :3] : I JUST MET A REAL LIFE PRINCESS TODAY AND I NOW HAVE HER NUMBER OMG
[Nianiania :3] : AHHHHHHHHHH
[Hiyah] : Very grateful to what your family had sacrificed and done for the region for over 500 years
[Hiyah] : thankfulmedicham. jpg
[SoSolid] : idk what am i supposed to do or say?
[Seaz] : You guys can start off by introducing yourselves SoSolid Nianiania :3 Rooted Hiyah
[SoSolid] : Simon Ilung age 32 rock-inclined ability i love hiking and rock climbing and hitting the gym and am still single! Founder of Solid Fitness so hit me up if you want a free gym membership or if you want to gym together!
[Nianiania :3] : I am Nia Yoka! 19 this year, dancer and influencer, fire-inclined ability! Please support my channel, leave a like and subscribe, and very very looking forward to meeting you in person!
[Nianiania :3] : If you dont mind can you be a special guest in my next video?
[Nianiania :3] : shypoochyena. jpg
[Hiyah] : Hiyako Chigusa, 63 this year, fighting-inclined. Now just an owner of a simple mochi shop at Dewford. Feel free to drop by whenever, dear.
[Rooted] : Jason Wayde. 20. I'm a herbalist or florist, I guess? Grass-inclined. Now living the retirement life by running a small shop that sells flowers and herbs
[TaTe] : Imagine living like an old man at 20
[TaTe] : judgementalslakoth. jpg
[Rooted] : Imagine being a kid who does not know what adulting is like
[Rooted] : laughingvigoroth. jpg
[TaTe] : 1v1 solo?
[Rooted] : You sure?
[Rooted] : location
[Rooted] : Come here whenever. I will turn you into fertiliser for my plants
[TaTe] : Omw
[LizaXD] : TaTe you are my bro and you know i love u but… you might have a chance if it's a 6v6 but idt you are going to beat him in a 1v1
[TaTe] : That was last time. This time will be different
[Rooted] : That's what you said the last time
[Rooted] : Kid
[Seaz] : Rooted go pwn that noob
[Rooted] : Yes boss
[Rooted] : wobbuffetsaluteveryseriously. jpg
[Nianiania :3] : I want to be able to retire at 20 too TT
[Nianiania :3] : Nvm imma just marry myself off to a rich guy and mooch off his money muahahahaha
[Seaz] : rolleyesnuzleaf. jpg
[Nianiania :3] : Shut up water hose you dont get to judge
[Seaz] : Bimbo
[Nianiania :3] : angryjigglypuff. jpg
[Rooted] : Fight fight fight
A soft chuckle escaped my lips as I continued to be a quiet spectator to the conversation between my new friends. It's obvious that there probably was some kind of disagreement or discord between a few of them, like whatever had gone on between Zades and Nia and the twins, but it's also clear that they still view each other as trusted friends. The fact that they very readily offered to help me learn how to control my ability when asked so by Zades had also quickly endeared them to me.
Just like how they are looking forward to meeting me, I look forward to meeting them as well.
Character and pokemon list:
Velda Vera, Age: 14, Female, Pokemon Trainer
Pokemon on hand:
1) Rapidash (Flamel), male
2) Swampert (Bigblue), male
3) Banette (Dolly), female
4) Flygon (Snap), male
5) Absol (Kelsa), female
6) Charizard (Toothless), male
7) Cradily (Lily), female
8) Espeon (Rena), female
9) Pachirisu (Fuzzy), male
10) Tyranitar (Kratos), male
11) Clefairy (Joy), female
12) Nidoqueen (Ness), female
13) Pangoro (Hulk), male
14) Porygon-Z (Jarvis), genderless
15) Scizor (Archer), male
16) Lapras (Chill), female
17) Gengar (Wacky), male