Warning: Ralts' past rears its ugly head again. This should be the darkest this fic ever gets, but it was impossible not to confront it eventually. There's a reason Greek mythology is basically a bunch of gods doing whatever they want - and the mortals shouldering the consequences.
We had supper in the cafeteria of the pokemon center; no reason to cook myself in town: I'm not cheap enough for that. We got our bedtime routines done, before settling in on the bed to watch more Naruto... or at least, that was the plan.
"So," Ralts began, curiosity mixed with a small amount of suspicion emanating from her, "how did you know Brawly was the new Dewford gym leader, when he's been in his position for such a short time?"
That definitely brought me up short - she had determined that just from context? Wow, psychics are no joke. I thought about bluffing out a lie, but honestly, my real past is definitely something my partners should know about me, if we're going to be in serious long-term relationships.
Espeon showed her own curiosity openly, "I too, have been wondering what you're hiding from us... I don't have any memories of my own life for instance: not before waking up beside you in the hospital. There's no way that is a common occurrence."
I sighed, before resolving to just get it over with, "that's because I'm quite sure you didn't exist before that moment in the hospital; I'm pretty sure the ROB... or Arceus... whatever: the point is, I'm pretty sure fickle gods are essentially using my existence as entertainment."
This brought stunned silence to the room, as both Ralts and Espeon tried to wrap their heads around that huge bombshell. Eventually, Espeon gained enough wherewithal to continue asking questions, "you have been mentioning this ROB quite often... I thought it was some sort of personal in-joke... I suppose it is in a sense. You truly believe they lead Ralts to us... and... made... me?" Espeon was starting to really spiral downwards with the realization she was just spawned into the world by a god at random.
Ralts didn't look any better; dark emotions were beginning to spill out, but predominantly: rage was building. "You're saying the reason I endured years of torment by my own family, was so some god could satisfy your... capricious whim!?
I was cringing so hard it hurt as the two of them basically had full-on meltdowns. I didn't dare try to cheer them up with my fairy aura: not only was my control awful, it would be a real asshole move to try and weasel my way out of their justified reactions at being basically a god's playthings - ostensibly because of me.
"Do you know how many times I had to pretend not to notice my own mother's fear that I would somehow bring misfortune to everyone around us with my very existence!? Or the number of times I had to watch as all the other kids got to play together, but never included me! No, I was only openly shunned by the whole coven!"
This brought a stop to Espeon's own morbid introspection, as she came to my defense, "to be fair, Tobias himself didn't expect any of that to happen - nor even remotely desire it."
Ralts was shaking and leaking tears by this point, "That doesn't change that it happened! Now I'll never know if my own birth was natural... or some cruel joke." Ralts seemed to run out of steam at that point; just sobbing, as she tried her best to distance herself from us on the bed.
Neither Espeon or I dared to say anything else at that; just letting her get out her pain from years of abuse. Espeon crawled closer to me and I took her in my arms: she was shivering, but her emotions were beginning to stabilize.
Eventually, after what felt like an eternity, Ralts had calmed down enough to demand of me: "return me to my pokeball: I need time to myself." She sounded like she was emotionally dead and I couldn't detect anything but weariness from her: I immediately got up and returned her to her ball.
The two of us just looked at each other in awkward silence, wondering if Ralts would even want anything to do with us - with me specifically - after those revelations.
I couldn't find anything to say after that, so it was Espeon who eventually broke the silence, "for what it's worth: I don't blame you for being essentially created from scratch. In the few weeks I've existed, I believe I've lived a rather charmed life. And I wouldn't trade you for the world." Espeon's love was shining brightly for me to feel, and I felt like the world wasn't really as awful as it had seemed a few moments ago.
Neither of us were in the mood to do anything else, so we just lay in each other's arms, as we tried to fall asleep. Eventually, I fell into an uneasy slumber filled with tumultuous dreams...
XX
The next morning, Ralts had eaten breakfast mechanically, while deliberately keeping her emotions hidden from us. I asked if she wanted to go surfing again, but was instantly rebuffed: she said she was going to go for a walk around town by herself. The table returned to awkward silence.
Instead of walking slowly out of the cafeteria, she used her powers to levitate slightly off the ground and move at a much faster clip out of the pokecenter. Espeon and I just watched her go; I still felt a little guilty, despite not really being at fault. Fortunately, Espeon had helped me see that; but Ralts had just had all of her traumas shoved in her face at once: she deserved time to herself, at the very least.
Espeon and I finished up breakfast and then we started walking back to the ocean. I may not really be feeling like surfing right now, but I'd feel bad about just leaving Milotic by herself. I'm also sure Brawly will be waiting for me: I did promise his mom we'd come over for supper tonight.
Brawly was indeed waiting for us, as he watched together with the usual growing crowd as Milotic continued her shenanigans; she likes the attention a lot apparently.
"Hey bro, that's your milotic, right?" Brawly turned to greet me as I approached - Espeon was already propelling herself over to Milotic; I could sense fond exasperation from her. Espeon and I had decided that she would tell Milotic about my past and that we wouldn't keep any new party members in the dark about it moving forward - they really should know everything that they're potentially getting in to. "Whoa, what happened man, you look like a zombie!"
I internally cringed as I tried to give him a wry grin; it definitely came out as a grimace though, "Yeah, I don't know, just weird nightmares kept me up - it happens."
Brawly looked dubious, but seemed to decide it was a reasonable-enough excuse, "that sucks man; hopefully they don't come again tonight - I've had some weird ones over the years: actually, this one time..."
Brawly and I continued to shoot the shit as we meandered over to the water - we had a good time surfing, but the Ralts issue was in the back of my mind the whole time.
XX
After we were done surfing, Brawly sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, "my mom's really looking forward to making dinner for you - I haven't seen her this fired up in a long time."
I cracked a much more genuine grin this time, "heh, your mom seemed awesome from what I could see; you're really lucky to have her."
"Ugh, she's okay sometimes, but she's always riding herd on my ass: can't get away with anything in that house. Dad's the only one who seems to be able to mollify her easily - all he has to do is grin at her and she just forgives him." Hmm, interesting; I didn't get to meet Brawly's dad the other night: I wonder what he's like. "What're your parents like?"
I cringed externally this time as thoughts of two sets of loving people went through my mind, "they died in a plane crash recently - it's actually why I'm going on my journey so late: I couldn't stand to be in that house anymore," it was mostly true too.
Brawly just turned ashen as he spluttered out apologies, "crap bro, I didn't know, sorry, that was awful insensitive of me!"
Taking pity on him, I put my hand firmly on his shoulder, "relax Brawly, breathe, deep breaths... there you go. It's fine, you didn't know; everyone has parents, it's just I lost mine earlier than most," I did my best to make him see that it wasn't his fault.
It was Brawly's turn to cringe, "I still feel awful about it... you wanna watch for free at the gym again today as an apology?" he offered as a peace offering.
I gave him a small but real smile, "I'd love that dude: you can never get enough live gym leader action," I tried to help him feel better about his inadvertent mistake.
Brawly looked relieved, "cool man, sorry again about that."
"Say no more: now let's get to the gym for lunch this time; wouldn't want to be almost late again, would you?" I decided some teasing would help put him fully at ease.
Brawly only pouted at me, "that's not cool man - hey wait, what happened to the food from yesterday, I totally forgot."
I blinked - I had forgotten too, "Uh, still in my bag of- err, my Silph Co. bag: those things are amazing." I don't even know why I bothered to refrain from calling it a bag of holding - it was actually a common meme on the pokenet. Force of habit as a repentant body-stealer I suppose.
"Well, I guess that will supplement the break room snacks - they never fill me up enough," Brawly bemoaned, as we finally started on our way back to the gym.
*Espeon POV*
The gym battles had been very informative today: knowing was half the battle as Tobias liked to say. She supposed that was a phrase from his old world, just like most of his random sayings of wisdom - which were apparently all taken from various historical figures and fictional people from various media. Milotic had taken the news with her usual grace - as far as she was concerned, ROB meddling was the best thing that had ever happened to her; she was very concerned about Ralts however, in her own slightly condescending way: she was becoming more and more of a narcissist every day... Espeon was going to have to keep her head from getting too big. Hmm... big head: wait... forehead... pink hair... oh, she knew exactly who to compare Milotic to, to bring her down a peg later.
Earlier, Espeon and Milotic had put their heads together to analyze all the things they thought they could copy and to decide what they thought the various challengers and Brawly's pokemon had done right or wrong. Tobias encouraged these habits, as he made his own analysis of the human battler's decision-making; knowledge was half the battle indeed. Tobias had also admitted to them that he had a ridiculous amount of knowledge on the theoretical aspects of competitive pokemon battle: because he had been a 'competitive pokemon battler' in his his old world for many years - just in video games, not real life. Even Milotic had been intrigued at the possibilities of other worlds that could apparently interact between themselves: Tobias had told them the humorous stories of catching Arceus himself in his game - such hilarious blasphemy.
Now the three of them plus Brawly were making their way again to Brawly's family home. Apparently, Brawly's mother wouldn't hear of Milotic not being a part of such a special occasion - it was funny seeing the usually unflappable Milotic splutter as she tried to find a good reason to go back to the ocean instead: Espeon was glad she had an ally in keeping Milotic humble... somewhat.
Brawly was getting even more excited than usual, "oh man, I can't wait for you to meet my dad! He was so put out that he didn't catch you yesterday; especially when I told him you could use your aura - he almost freaked out, I've never seen him do that before!"
Tobias kept his uneasiness at his inability to control his own aura abilities to himself - and Espeon of course, "I guess I'm something of an anomaly when it comes to aura. I honestly thought you would be as far along or farther than I am currently - it feels like it comes to me naturally." Espeon knew Tobias well enough to know that he blamed the ROB for this too... honestly so did she. Tobias' perfect circumstances were all a bit too convenient to believe sometimes. The three of them had even theorized, in the time at the gym between matches, that aura-capable trainers probably produced naturally stronger pokemon - explaining their own rapid growth in such a short time.
"Oh, I expected it to come up naturally last time, but I never did catch your parents' names," Tobias asked, as sheepishness swept over him.
Brawly's embarrassment equaled yesterday's, when he had realized he hadn't asked his mother if guests were acceptable beforehand, "Oh my Arceus you're right; dude, there's always such interesting stuff to talk about: I never even thought of it."
"Ugh, don't I know it - sometimes I feel like my attention span's a hair wide," Tobias replied - the two shot each other commiserating looks: these two really were peas in a pod, huh?
By this time, they had finally once again reached Brawly's house - with a replaced member of their party; Espeon could only hope that Ralts would be okay and that she would come back to them: she was absolutely still a part of their family, even if she was currently estranged.
"Mom's name is April, dad's is Brian - I was kinda sorta named after him," Brawly said, as he opened the door to his home. Standing right in the doorway was a man with spiky hair the same style as Brawly's - just blonde. His grin lit up the hallway as he took in the visiting group - wow, Brawly had not understated his father's power over his mother: even Espeon was becoming slightly infatuated with him. Where Tobias' default grin was goofy, this man's could be more accurately described as roguish.
"Brawly! Who's your friend? Is he the aura-capable one you were talking about!?" he asked quite boisterously, his grin becoming a large smile instead - thank Arceus, Espeon had almost looked away to prevent shaming herself with her budding arousal.
"Yeah, this is Tobias; he's the dude who not only can use his aura, but he claims it's fairy type of all things!" Brawly stated excitedly, matching his father's energy - it was easy to see where he got it from.
"Whoa, that's wicked, I didn't even know there was a fairy type... although I think my mentor must have known... he was a little disappointed that I never understood his strange metaphors on that particular subject - but he would never outright tell me anything; always making me figure it out for myself," Brian replied, alluding to a rather knowledgeable figure, if what he said was true.
"Dad, please don't talk about the 'Great Politoed Sage' or whatever in polite company - that dude sounds madder than a hatter," Brawly chastised his own father.
Brian guffawed at this, "oh he was! But he was also a brilliant man - and a powerful aura user." That got Tobias and Brawly's attention.
"You learned aura use from a master of it directly, sir?" Tobias asked Brian respectfully.
Brian twisted his hand in a so-so gesture, "I didn't learn that much honestly; like I said, he was horribly eccentric and never gave me easy lessons. I'm pretty sure he knew a dumb kid like me wouldn't understand them at the time... hmm, I wonder if he's still kicking - I would probably learn a lot more from him now..." Brian trailed off, beginning to look lost in thought.
Brawly face-palmed at that, "let's go talk to my mom - when he gets like this, he's basically dead to the world for a random period of time: one time he even tried to shape his aura in to an aura sphere like a lucario afterward... mom almost killed him after he ended up in the hospital because of it."
Tobias shot Brawly a sharp look, as surprise and then incredulity suddenly sprouted within him; he then rapidly looked between Brawly and Brian before face-palming himself, "the ROB just loves his jokes..." he muttered under his breath. Hmm, what was that about; she would just ask him later - more ROB nonsense obviously.
After the humans removed their shoes and the pokemon made sure they wouldn't track in dirt, the group was moving through the hall towards the kitchen. Fortunately for Milotic, Brawly's parents' house was the kind built with very large pokemon in mind: being a gym leader was obviously quite lucrative.
The kitchen was the same as before, with the same woman inside, now hard at work cutting a huge amount of vegetables, "your father's doing the thing again, huh?" she asked without even turning around.
"Yup," came Brawly's succinct reply.
April sighed, "figures - oh well, that's not important: get your butt over here and help me chop; this is a big job for one person!" She punctuated her command with a particularly hard cut through one of the vegetables.
"Yes ma'am," Brawly acquiesced meekly.
Tobias moved forward with Brawly and picked up a knife right beside him - Brawly shot him a thankful look. As they both started to chop alongside April, she glanced to the boys' side, double-taking at Tobias, "sugar you don't have to help - no guest of mine needs to work in my own home!"
"It's no problem ma'am; I'd feel bad sitting around while you two worked - my mom didn't raise no slouch," Tobias felt a pang of loss at the mention of his mother.
"If you insist..." April replied; relief, quickly followed by shame at said relief, flowed through her.
"It's no trouble at all - honestly I've been looking to improve my own skills as a chef - a man's gotta know how to cook for himself on the road," Tobias reassured her, obviously also having picked up on her shame.
This mollified April, who began to become quite excited, "then you've come to the right place: I'm queen of the kitchen, and my boys will attest to it!"
"She's not wrong: there's a reason I still live with my parents," came Brawly's impish reply.
"I thought that was because you couldn't get a girlfriend?" came his mother's cutting reply - oof, a critical hit.
"I'm just too busy with gym leader duties to date right now! I could get one any time I want!" Brawly protested... perhaps too much.
"Sure sweet-pea: any time you want... sometimes I wonder how a catch like you can be so oblivious..." April mumbled the last part under her breath - Espeon's keen ears were the only reason she heard the woman; Milotic also perked up at the statement. Espeon was very intrigued at the potential romantic partner for Brawly that April was alluding to - the three of them would have to go have some girl talk later.
Tobias decided to spare Brawly any more embarrassment, "So, April, I wonder if you have any insights into Unovan cooking I could use - I've always had a soft spot for it..." And thus, the group relaxed into a nice homey atmosphere as they prepared the evening meal.
*Milotic POV*
Milotic wasn't initially sold on going to Brawly's house for dinner; but the comedy routine the three humans put on was already making the trip more than worth it. Brawly and his mother played the clowns, as Tobias desperately tried to play the straight-man; truly comedy gold.
Eventually, before the meal was ready, Brian had emerged from his own thoughts, joining Espeon and Milotic at the - admittedly impressively large - table. Brian turned towards Espeon, "can you mentally connect the three of us? Might as well chat while Tobias tries to wrangle those two clowns."
Espeon complied quickly, "a pleasure to formally meet you Brian - Brawly said you can use aura yourself?"
"Yeah, I've got fighting type aura - a family tradition for sure. As for being able to use it... honestly, I think Tobias already surpasses me in that category," Brian easily admitted.
"Oh, what makes you say that?" Milotic piped up.
"The things that Brawly said Tobias can casually do already... let's just say that I've never heard of anyone else under the age of 50 who could perform similar feats: even if his control is as shaky as Brawly told me, the raw power and ease-of-use is already ridiculous," Brian stated matter-of-factly.
Milotic was unruffled by this - Brawly had already stated that Brian had been unprecedentedly surprised by Tobias' abilities after all.
"Do you know any methods of potentially controlling his powers?" Espeon asked Brian.
Brian grimaced, "my training was for fighting aura exclusively... lacking as it was."
"That's unfortunate..." Espeon mumbled, suddenly sounding distracted by something.
"Alright you three; enough of the Mr. mime act: supper's ready!" April declared with gusto. This brought their silent conversation to a halt, as both of the younger men brought food over to the table.
Milotic looked hungrily at all of the Unovan delicacies that April and her slaves had produced: she had known true famine in the past; she would never let such a bounty go, without sampling it thoroughly first.
*Ralts POV*
As Ralts psychically listened in on the conversations going on in Brawly's family home, she couldn't help but feel envy: Brawly and his parents seemed like the perfect example of a family. It didn't help that the longer that her travelling companions spent here, the more they relaxed - the more they forgot about her.
Ralts had gone for a walk all throughout Dewford Town. In the morning, as the streets had been sparsely populated, it had felt relaxing; but as the sun rose higher in the sky, the number of people on the streets had grown - and Ralts had begun to feel their wonder at her very existence. Normally, Ralts would try to remember Tobias' advice - that she was desirable and that they were all enthralled by her shiny status. But now... she just felt ugly, like her unique coloration was a stain on her very soul.
Eventually, as the sun was beginning to set, she found herself at Brawly's house - her group was supposed to be here after all and she couldn't quite bring herself to abandon them. But instead of asking for a plate, she was eavesdropping like a scoundrel. She could be partaking in these conversations, yet she held herself back.
Ralts understood that Tobias wasn't truly at fault for her shininess - if anything, it was Arceus that she should be mad at. She felt ashamed of her earlier conduct, but her emotions had been running high: the ralts line were supposed to be above such pitiful displays of open emotion.
Eventually, the meal came to an end - with her psychic abilities, Ralts could sense the basic layout and movements of the house's inhabitants. With this information she could sense that after clearing the table and putting away the leftover food, the group broke up in to two groups based on gender. The males went off to some sort of exercise room; the females however went to the outdoor area behind the house.
Ralts decided to follow the women, while keeping herself hidden from them: she liked girl talk too. When Ralts arrived in the back yard, she spotted the reason that the other women had chosen this destination - a large swimming pool with an attached hot tub; Ralts had never been in a hot tub before...
As the other three settled into the water, - two in the hot tub, while Milotic took the pool - Espeon mentally spoke up, "so, who were you referring to, when you said that Brawly was an oblivious catch?"
April emanated amusement at that, "caught that, did you? Honestly it grinds my gears a bit, but he has to figure it out for himself: it's his childhood friend of all things. Her name's Sara; she works at his favorite Unovan diner, but he just chats her ear off and has no idea she's been pining for him for years - ugh, men. I had to bash my Brian over the head to get him to realize I was in to him!"
As the other girls chatted, Espeon sent Ralts a private mental sending, - she knows! - "you don't have to hide: you're more than welcome to join us in the water."
Ralts' initial reaction was to decline immediately... but then she gave it a bit more thought: sure, maybe all her hardships were caused by capricious gods - but why should she let that impact her happiness here and now?
Feeling the worst embarrassment of her entire life, Ralts began walking towards the hot tub. As she came in to view, April spotted her right away, "ah, there you are little one - I was wondering where you had been tonight. Come over here; you can sit on my lap and I'll braid your hair - it's girl's night now!"
Ralts momentarily paused at April's offer; but she swiftly took her up on it - girl's night sounded wonderful right now.
*Tobias POV*
The boys and I may, or may not, have had a few drinks last night - all perfectly legal here in Hoenn. But my new body was apparently not used to them - this is the worst hangover I've had in years! I took in my surroundings - I was in the room that Brawly had offered me after our boy's night in. Espeon - oh and Ralts had been there! Nice... - had just shook her head at my stumbling, giggling self: that's so embarrassing, ugh! At least it had amused Milotic and Ralts...
I found a glass of water on my bedside table; realizing my throat was horribly parched, I drank it all down with gusto. I had known water was king in my past life, but Brian wasn't one to go slow on the alcohol - Brawly had done much better than I had: prior experience, I suppose.
I was roused from my thoughts by a knock on the door, "breakfast's ready man - don't want to miss out!" came Brawly's disgustingly chipper voice - you should be suffering along with me!
After I got dressed, I found the bathroom, and then made my way to the kitchen again. April had obviously been busy, as the table was jam-packed with all of my favorite breakfast items: pancakes, bacon, sausages, eggs in three different styles, hash-browns, waffles, fresh berries, toast - Arceus have mercy, how did she have time to make all of this!?
"Thanks for your help girls - this is the biggest meal I've made in years!" April complimented my girls - all three of them. Well, I suppose that was one mystery solved.
I decided to pretend my horrible anxiety wasn't acting up, "hey Ralts, glad to see you could make it." I tried for casualness.
"...Yes, I decided that I wouldn't let my past dictate my future anymore," Ralts 'spoke' up publicly. Privately she sent to me, "I'm sorry for my overblown reaction the other night - I've come to realize that it truly wasn't your fault that I was born shiny."
Overblown!? "Ralts, that was a perfectly reasonable reaction in that situation - if anything, I hope it was cathartic for you," I quickly made sure to try and set her straight.
Ralts gave a pause at that "... I suppose it was... but girl's night was much more fun than your boy's night drinking," she teased me lightly: oh thank Arceus; she can joke about it now - definite progress!
April's own anxiety was building the longer I just sat and stared at her table, "well, are you going to just look, or are you going to eat with us!?" she asked me, as everyone else was dishing up.
"Right, sorry April - bad hangovers make me zone out a lot," I said - it was true too; if not the real reason in this particular instance.
April felt relief, then amusement, "ah, light-weight are ya? Brian drinks like a fish and Brawly takes right after him," April said, slightly smugly.
"Who're you calling a light-weight?" came Brawly's instant reply, "one drink and you're flirting with any guy with a pulse!"
Brian face-palmed, as April began emanating a downright sinister aura, "what was that Brawly - that sounded like sass: you wouldn't sass your own mama would you?"
Brawly instantly realized his mistake, "no ma'am, I would never sass you - ever!"
April calmed down a bit at that, "I thought so."
XX
The fearsome foursome plus Brawly made our way back to the ocean after an amazing - and highly amusing - breakfast. "Man, I've had so much fun with you guys the past few days - promise me you'll call sometimes!" Brawly implored me; we had finally exchanged phone numbers during breakfast.
"Sounds like a plan - you're my best male friend already Brawly: sad as that sounds," I replied wholeheartedly.
Brawly surreptitiously wiped away a tear from his eye, "man, you're my best male friend already too - though not my best friend of course: that title belongs to Sara."
Brian had been teasing Brawly a lot about this Sara last night - apparently she was a waitress at that Unovan diner we had enjoyed the other day; she just hadn't been working then. From Brian's comments, he's expecting her to provide his eventual grandchildren - much to Brawly's embarrassment. "That just makes sense - word of advice: ask her out sooner, rather than later. You wouldn't want her to end up with some fuckboy, would you?"
Brawly got instantly heated at that, "Sara would never go for an asshat like that - she's way too smart! She's going to Rustboro university come the fall!"
I pretended not to notice his obvious white-knighting, "even more reason to stake your claim - you miss all the shots you don't take after all."
Brawly deflated a bit at this, "I know; it's just scary - what if I ruin our friendship?"
I gave him a flat look, "dude, from what your mom and dad have said, she would already be in your bed if you had even insinuated you wanted her."
Brawly looked like a deer-in-the-headlights, "no way man - really?"
"Yes: really," I continued giving him my flattest stare.
Hope blossomed on Brawly's face, "alright, I'll give it a shot - worst she can do is say no, right?"
"Exactly," I said, feeling mighty fine that he was taking my advice.
By now, we had already been standing on the beach; looking out at the ocean, as the girls all rolled their eyes behind Brawly's back: I particularly thought that Ralts' braided hair was cute on her. "Well, I guess this is where we part ways - but I'm pretty sure I'm gonna settle down here someday: eventually. This town is too awesome not to want to live in full-time."
"Heck yeah man - you can bring your own girl around as well!" Brawly stated ecstatically.
I coughed into my fist, "Um, actually Brawly, Espeon's my woman; since you didn't seem to know."
Understanding dawned on Brawly's face, as he did a double take of Espeon, "righteous bro! I knew some people swung that way, but it's fairly rare here in Dewford - more of a big city thing."
I smiled, glad that he wasn't judging me harshly, "yeah, well, I might feel like a country boy at heart: but I grew up in the city for sure." My own upbringing was technically rural - just ten minutes away from the city is all.
Brawly gave me a bittersweet smile, "well, safe travels my guy - don't forget to call."
Milotic slid into the water, as I began making my way onto her, "will do man - good luck with Sara!"
"Thanks: I appreciate it!" Brawly waved me goodbye, before turning back towards town.
I returned the other two, as I finished suiting up; then Milotic began accelerating. I had bought a rebreather to wear while we were surfing - I'm pretty sure I look like a weird cross between a professional surfer and Hanzo the Salamander right now: but it'll be worth it.
We were on to our next destination: Mr. Briney's cabin. I had had an interesting thought as to where our ultimate next destination would be: I was going to try and milk the ROB's nonsense for all he was worth.
Okay, you get no points for guessing who I based Brawly's dad off of LOL.