Warning: Reader Discretion Advised. Pokémon x Human relationships. I do not own Pokemon.

Avery's Pokemon

Evangeline/Eva (Umbreon)
Gender: Female
Nature: Rash

Lady (Kirlia)
Gender: Female
Nature: Modest

Chastity (Buneary)
Gender: Female
Nature: Adamant

Dusty (Furfrou)
Gender: Male
Nature: Hardy

Sprite (Surskit)
Gender: Female
Nature: Quirky

? (Zoroark?)
Gender: Female
Nature: ?

Avery and Lady

Chapter: A Weak Spot

We never really stood a chance against Roxanne. We were outclassed. While I struggled to speak up above the winds, and struggled even harder to project my thoughts to Lady while she tried to stay away from the pair of enemy Pokemon, Roxanne just stood with her hands on her hips bellowing into the sandy air.

She had a very simple tactic, divide and slowly conquer, and now that Eva was down there was no way for me to stop her from repeatedly ordering her mons to use Sandstorm whenever the harsh weather abated.

It was my own personal hell. I couldn't even see what was going on, my human eyes were failing me just as they had in the underground. Whenever I reached into the storm with my mind, and let my thoughts brush Lady's, she violently expelled me.

Not on purpose, she was in such a panic, and pain. So much pain. Supposedly, mons were more durable than human beings. Maybe that was true, and Lady would never admit it, but when we let our minds touch like that I could feel each individual cut, each bruise on her soft, precious skin. It rapidly healed, but it was my fault she got them. There was no use connecting with her… my so-called "powers" were useless.

She was in a different world from me, far away but close, not listening to any command I gave. Not for lack of trying, she just couldn't focus while getting constantly buffeted by the harsh sand particles. She obeyed when I told her to teleport, but other than that, my Kirlia fumbled, froze up, not elegant at all as she made her escape again and again. It was inevitable that we'd lose.

The desperation I could feel emanating from her made me nauseous.

Cacturne pressed the attack, meanwhile his Probopass buddy floated into the vicinity, ready to press my little Lady into the earth in the same brutal fashion he had with Eva. It's not like Lady did a bad job. I'm proud of her. She did her best, she really did, and she was soft with Eva even if they completely ignored me while they had their girl talk. We'd made progress, but I resented the fact that I'd never stood a chance.

I wanted to forfeit, but knew Lady would never forgive me. I didn't want to see her get hit around anymore; she had two opponents and could barely keep herself from getting knocked out when she tried to fight back. It didn't matter that the Probopass was slow as molasses, I had a feeling that my assumption about Roxanne's cacturne being a weak Pokemon was entirely wrong. He was an exceptional battler, he didn't even need his partner. Even slightly incapacitated by Eva's final toxic, the speed boost on Roxanne's Cacturne was impossible to reckon with. I'd picked Teleport on Lady thinking it'd be useful for positioning, but it didn't matter.

The Cacturne seemed to be a speck of sand himself, here one moment, in another place the next, all while letting loose that disturbing, hooting sound. It didn't escape my notice that this was a cacturne's hunting cries; long ago if I heard that sound I'd know I probably wasn't making it through the night. Visitors of the desert, night walkers, they were one of the many Pokemon that - at least in the past - devoured human beings.

He terrified me, and so did her Probopass. Lady probably felt my fear.

Zoey always said I wasn't cut out for battling.

She was right. For some reason, I got this idea in my head that she was wrong about me, that I just needed experience… but I realized now that Hardy had gone easy on me, and this was what battling was really like; this battle being practice meant nothing when Roxanne was giving it her all. She'd sent out a weaker mon against Chastity, but the two Pokemon still on the field were not weak or undisciplined, and the Cacturne being a grass-type didn't mean shit. Rox had clearly spent hours training him, he didn't do anything without being ordered, but I was sure that even if she shut up he'd be just as capable a battler.

In comparison, I…

I tried so hard. To keep in mind tactics, strategy, but Roxanne just spoke faster than I did, more aggressively, and when she threw off my ideas by cutting in with her counters, tearing apart my strategy, my brain struggled to come up with new ones. My instinct, everytime, was to just give up. I didn't want to see either of them get hit, it felt like I was the one doing it; most of all it reminded me of a past that I didn't want to remember, the reason why my dad always called me talentless, why he kept Zoey around, and not me.

She'd always been special, and that was why I'd tried so hard to grin and bear it while she went through Jubilife Training School… and I was left behind. Zoey, my dad, my mom, everyone… they were right about me, because seeing Eva, Lady get hurt, hearing them cry out in pain… ruined me.

And seeing Eva fall had torn me apart in a way I didn't understand, I'd just stared at her body for a long, hard second, and then grabbed her Pokeball. The same pink ball Marissa had given to me so long ago…! It hurts to think about it.

Marissa had tormented my little Eva. When she was just an Eevee the Wainwright sister had trained her day and night, pushed her past her breaking point, abused her…and all for what? For me to fail her, again and again, resulting in the same agony she'd grown up with.

How was this battle any different? Marissa hurting her intentionally to train her, versus my incompetence?

I couldn't believe that a person could do this for fun, that my last words before Eva fell unconscious were just more orders. It wasn't an incredibly irrational thought, but if she had died somehow our final moment would've been… so devoid of everything I wanted Eva to see me as. Accidents with Pokemon happened. My desperate plea for her to do one last move… when really I'd wanted to run across the field and hold her in my arms.

And it'd be the same for Lady.

Battling… was there a way for me to get better at this? A way to cope with seeing the girls you love getting the shit beaten out of them because YOU failed them?

I doubted it… my instinct was to numb my emotions

Finally, the "stalemate" shattered.

Lady just didn't have the energy to teleport anymore, each burst of energy as she flashed across the field had been intensive. Her body was catching up to her, slowly and steadily, and all its weaknesses. So, the cacturne landed a hit, then another, and once he was in she was doomed. His spines were terribly painful as they sunk into her skin, his barbed punch knocking all thought out of her head, followed by another quick jab, hand seeped in poison.

"Now I've paid your little friend back," The cacturne hissed, "except my poison will actually matter. Sad for you!"

It was true. She wanted to scream as the chemical pain surged through her. She could barely stand, not to mention get away as he pressed on the attack, and behind him that huge, bulbous-nosed creature loomed - floating inevitably toward her. She'd do anything to not get hit by the stone creature again, but as a poison tremor tore through her frame, wrenching out all thought, Lady found she didn't care how she fainted.

It couldn't get worse than this weakness of mind, this acidic feeling in her veins. She tried to bite back all sound, be brave and fall with dignity, but when she tried to teleport away, body rippling with psychic energy, the Cacturne grabbed her by the throat and lifted her in the air.

Master was yelling at her but his words were forever away as sound was finally forced out of her, for another venomous jab ruined her attempt at being strong; the little kirlia's ruby eyes were like huge moons, body coated with sweat, as she screamed. A long and shrill cry.

Her mother had always told her to avoid poison, and now she knew why. If she ever did die, she wanted it to be anything but this… so painful, so awful, that she couldn't even feel Master's presence anymore… the poison stole everything away; and the sandstorm entered her mouth and eyes, blanketing her, drowning her. It'd been terrible before, but now it was unbearable as her own fairy-energy dissipated whenever she tried to summon her natural instinct, fizzling off into nothing.

The Cacturne released its hold, the next jab sent her slender little body backwards through the air. The freckled kirlia tumbled across the ground a few times, her flesh gathering dust and dirt, before she finally halted with a crash. Coated with pain-sweat, she tried to raise herself, failed, and collapsed. She couldn't see Master, couldn't feel him, but from this side of the battlefield she could see Roxanne through the storm, far closer to her than Avery was.

The pig-tailed, sweatsuit-wearing human had a smug look on her face.

"What did you expect?" Roxanne called out, "You're a second-stage Pokemon, little one, and when you take into account that you have a third stage, you should've known keeping your distance is crucial. Letting your partner fall was the worst thing you could've done. She was your only chance of winning. Really, I've only been testing your strength. That's how weak you are. You never stood a chance."

Lady thought she knew what hatred was before this – she realized, then and there, that she was wrong. Lady glared at her with all the anger she had left in her body. She was so weak there wasn't much. She memorized all of Roxanne's features, that annoying smile, her dark blazing eyes… that Lady had ever been friendly to her was a mistake. This feeling in her belly, in her heart, as she stared upon this filthy human. This was hatred. Lady pushed herself up on one arm, gasping as she tried to stand, slender legs failing her. She couldn't get up, not anymore.

"Lady, don't stand! I don't want you to get hurt. It's over, we're done, I forfeit!"

She hated Master's words.

Lady didn't notice it when the sandstorm stopped. One moment she was living in a world of agony, and the next…. Master's arms. Big, strong, warm. His voice was echoing a thousand times and far too loudly, incoherent. Shame and pain made it impossible to think. She wanted to apologize for losing this stupid battle, ruining his chance to spend time with the human woman she now despised, but it felt like she was fading away.

So the kirlia laid there, panting heavily, a bit of blood lacing with the saliva that seeped down onto her chin. Red eyes half-lidded, they temporarily lost their glow. 'Sorry….'

'Please don't say sorry. Neither of you have a reason to apologize. It's my fault. I-I didn't give you proper orders. I-'

She moaned softly when Master's hand touched her face. It wasn't a sensual sound, it was pathetic and sad, she seemed like a delicate doll not a Pokemon. Not the imperious, proud female she always made herself out to be, just a weak, precious little thing.

"Look what they did to you," Avery whispered, and Lady stared at him in confusion as she felt his tears drip onto her wound, the salt burning in the most delicious of ways. She leaned into his touch. It hurt, it really did, but it was better now that she was with him, now that the battle was over.

Master stared at her like he'd been the one to hit her. The Cacturne's fist had left a thick dark bruise upon the left side of her face, purpling the delicate flesh on her cheekbones. He traced it with his fingers, touch full of tenderness and love. That made everything worth it. The look on his handsome face, she never wanted to see it again. How could he blame himself? It was over because se'd ruined everything, she'd failed. Eva and everyone had trained, while she sat aside. Eva's sacrifice had been for nothing.

She lost. Eva was so incredible she even got a toxic off before she passed out, determined to win, even though Lady was so weak compared to her. When it came to splattering humans Lady had no problem, but she couldn't win a simple battle. She could only blame herself if Master never let her battle again.

That was her final thought. She fell asleep in the cage of her beloved's arms. She didn't mind if she faded away there, it felt like home.

"Oh wow," Roxanne panted, laughing as she returned her own mons, "that was… an incredibly fun battle! I have so much to teach you."

I muttered something, and the busty professor's face grew dark for just a second. I didn't care who she was at that moment, or what she meant to me. I didn't care about anything but the tiny Pokemon in my arms, my girlfriend, my fucking girlfriend; I'd let her get beat up by some guy. That's that's what it fucking felt like. What the hell was wrong with me? Anger made my head ache.

"Excuse me, Avery?"

I repeated what I'd whispered, it ripped its way out of me: "I said how can something like this be fucking fun to you!?"

I didn't mean to yell it, and I wasn't sure if the heat in my face was rage or embarrassment as all my Pokemon stared at me in shock, my unexpected outburst getting everyone's attention. Dusty whimpered. And once I started, I couldn't stop.

Roxanne tried to touch me, and gasped when I shoved her away.

"Don't fucking touch me! What are we doing? Why? You could've just… gone easy on them! Not on me, but on them! The way you let your Pokemon knock mine around-"

"Avery, they-"

"They what? Are built for this sort of thing?! Are more durable than human beings!? They liked it, were trying their best, for what?!"

I clenched my fists.

"Avery, I think you should calm down."

The way she said my name… I was having terrible, irrational thoughts about her.

"I don't want to calm down! Okay? I want to be angry! I want to say what I have to say!"

"Then say it! What you truly feel inside about me. Since you're so angry."

I slumped. Her gentleness made it hard to stay mad without feeling terrible. Not the first girl I met with a personality like that, and as I stared at her, my heart hurt. I hugged Lady's body, held her against me, a small comfort. Such a delicate little frame… how could I ever let her do something like this ever again? Or Eva?

"... I can't do this shit. I can't battle."

"Of course you can. Everybody does. You made a couple mistakes, Avery, and got unlucky with your Kirlia's trace. If she had sand veil-"

"It wouldn't have made a difference! I can't fucking do it! My friend said I'd make champion material! Champion material? I can't even beat him. Some random hiker. You know, I've never won a single thing in my life! When I first met Lady, some guy wanted to take her away! He was chasing her, like she was some mindless thing with no will of her own, he was determined to capture her. I interfered, and she almost broke her fucking body trying to get away from him! Me… I was useless! I couldn't do shit but punch him, while his Pokemon beat up Eva again and again! And in that mansion, in that terrible place I… Vanessa, she…."

I felt like I was going to throw up, faint. My throat burned.

Roxanne suddenly hugged me tight, and it took everything in me not to push her away again.

"Avery, I-I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been so … so ruthless. I just wanted a date with you, more time by your side. I thought teaching your Pokemon a lesson in why they need to work together and love each other would be helpful… but you're new to all this. I didn't need to go so far. I'm sorry."

Why was she so desperate for me to forgive her, to touch me? I wanted to call her a whore for so obviously wanting me, for tempting me, I wanted to say terrible cruel things.

I'm horrible, pathetic. So pathetic. Because Roxanne's body against mine excited me, and when I looked into her eyes my heart raced as I realized how much I wanted her affection for me right now to mean something. Being with Roxanne, her gentle kindness… even the fact that she wore glasses and had brown hair….

She reminded me of Mabel.

'I'm the worst. The worst the worst the worst the worst.'

I pulled out of Roxanne's arms, ignoring her hurt expression. I recalled Lady to her Pokeball, and walked away.

"Let's go guys. Don't expect any payment Roxanne, I'm not giving you shit."

"Avery…."

I rushed to the Pokemon center. Roxanne joined me, but she'd been quiet since I stormed off. It was only when they were resting in the Pokemon Center's machines, safe and sound & with no problem from the Nurse Joy this time, that I took my first unlabored breath. I gasped, clutching my head, fingers digging into my scalp. My headache was agonizing, as was the pain in my throat, a phantom agony that had never faded since the end of that hell in the mansion.

Roxanne darted to my side. "A-Avery, are you okay, do you need me to get a Nurse?"

"Of course I fucking don't," I whispered harshly, and she wore a tortured, sad expression when I looked her way, my dark hair falling over my eyes.

"Why are you being so mean to me? I'm sorry. I really am. I wanted to teach you-"

"You taught me a lot. Like how you're as fucked up as the rest of them."

Roxanne's eyebrow twitched. There it was, the reaction I wanted.

I couldn't help but smile. "But you know that, don't you? It gave you such a thrill didn't it, seeing the look on my face when I realized you were going to wipe the fucking floor with me, you bitch."

I couldn't believe what I'd just said… but I refused to take it back, let it hang in the air.

Roxanne sucked in a shuddery breath, slumped, and nodded, with tears in her eyes. The coldness of the Pokemon center seeped into both of us, there were goosepimples all over her skin. "I know. I'm sorry. I'm not like Roark, fighting for Pokemon rights with every breath that he has… Compared to a guy like him I'm nothing. That's why he won't look at me, why you're being so cruel. It's true… that it excited me. Battling you. I wanted to win, make you see me in a bikini, see your Pokemon all jealous. I wanted to invite you to my hotel afterwards and…. I didn't think about your Pokemon at all, just that I wanted to teach them a lesson, but what did I teach them? The only thing I've ever taught. Battling, brute force… it's all I'm good at."

I didn't know what to say. She was saying all this so desperately, both of us needed to get put into this Pokemon Center for a mental health check it seemed, but being the pokephiles we were, we wouldn't make it out.

"I don't think I want to be a battler," I confessed, "I can't do it, Roxanne."

"You don't have to."

'But I know the truth… that I can't survive in this world the way I am.'

"What the-?! Is this really where you're staying?! Your place is amazing!"

Zoey Higgs, holding open the broad wooden door of her temporary Alolan vacation home, grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of her head, fingers combing through shock-blue and black locks. "Well… it's not really my place." One step behind her and clinging to her toned arm, Alice Wysteria, Zoey's girlfriend, was completely silent; she usually was when Nadia "Dia" was around.

Alice's ghastly Spectra and Zoey's own starter, a shinx named Static, were waiting beyond the doorway, peering with interest at the newcomers. They were rather jubilant, happy their trainers were home. Spectra bounced eagerly around Alice, pressing her half corporeal form into the girl.

Zoey's newest friend stood waiting in the doorway with a heavy-looking brown backpack thrown over her shoulder. Dia's expression held a decent amount of curiosity, and she stared at Alice and Zoey as if waiting for an explanation, which Zoey offered quickly.

"It belongs to my mother's boyfriend. He's letting us use it for as long as we want… b-but feel free to make yourself comfortable! It might as well be mine for the next few months."

"Us." Alice input in her usual cold monotone. The shaggy-haired ghost trainer's purple eyes simmered with animosity. A single word, yet fraught with meaning.

Dia scowled. "Hey… what do you mean by that? I explicitly asked if I could come hang, and you said-"

"It's fine," Alice interrupted.

When Dia gave her an anxious look, Zoey shrugged. "That's Alice code for 'don't even think about spending the night.'," Zoey said, then nudged Alice slightly. "Be nicer. Dia's our friend."

"Yours," Alice said calmly. "Not mine." Without another word, the dark-haired girl glanced Zoey's way, and walked off into the vast, three-story vacation home that Mason had lent to Zoey. The two girls stared after Zoey's girlfriend as she walked away, and once she was up the stairs, the dark aura in the room seemed to recede along with her.

"Ugh… I'm sorry," Zoey murmured, "she's not used to other people. It's usually just us and…" She trailed off, not wanting to finish her explanation. The last thing she wanted to mention was Alice's dead ex. The memory of that night….

"It's okay! She'll like me eventually," Dia grinned, but then her smile withered into a little pout. Her big gold eyes were beautiful as she shyly asked, "Um… Should I just go?" She put a hand on Zoey's.

Alice claimed Dia had no effect on her emotions, was incapable of having any impact on her whatsoever, and yet the energy in the room always told a different story. Zoey couldn't bring herself to send the freckled Alolan girl away, especially when she had no real interest in doing so.

"No. Alice said you can stay, and you just got here… so we can hang out for a few hours. Alice needs her alone time anyways… she's probably grateful to get some time away from me, I'm a little overbearing."

"It's sweet that you care so much about her," Dia commented gently, "as long as you're sure, I'll stay. But if Alice doesn't want to hang, I'd hate to upset her or make her jealous. If she overhears us giggling, talking Pokemon, I don't think she'll really understand. So, we could always go back to my place. You could stay for dinner. My mom wants to see you again."

There. She'd done it. Dia exhaled heavily. Zoey would reject the offer, and she'd get to stay the night here, away from the overbearing aura of that woman and her father.

"U-Uhm, let me just make sure Alice is cool with me leaving." She nodded vigorously, backing away. It was odd, when Dia mentioned her mother Zoey's entire face lit up.

She liked Dia. A lot. She knew a lot about Alolan Pokemon, but more importantly, her mother was the most fascinating human being Zoey had met in a while. Noella was in a category of her own; she was a mother, a real one, not like fat Amy Higgs. Tall, big-breasted, matronly, with a pair of golden eyes that shimmered like the sun, curves always clad in skimpy attire now that they'd reached Alola. She was truly alluring, and comparing her to her own wretched mother, Zoey couldn't help but feel an intense envy towards Dia… Noella had an infinite purse, even more kindness, and she had so much insight when it came to Pokemon that whenever she spoke Zoey found herself incapable of speech.

She practically leapt up the steps, Static scampering behind her, and burst into the room where Alice was. The girl was curled up, reading a book. She stared at Zoey from behind her veil of bangs, and said in a cool, cold monotone, "I know what you're going to ask. Fine."

"R-Really?"

Alice just smiled.

"You should come, Alice. We agreed we'd be more social."

"You agreed you would be," Alice shook her head, "all I need is you. I hate her, hate everyone else. Except you, and Spectra, and Static." The shaggy-haired girl shrugged, and went back to reading. "Maybe I'll be here when you get back."

"You don't have to talk like that," Zoey snapped, "you're crazy, Alice. We can't exist in a world where it's just the two of us, we need other people."

"You do."

"We do! Damn it." She was done with this tired old argument, the same one they'd been having on the plane. When she came marching down the stairs Dia didn't say a word, even though it was obvious. Zoey appreciated that. Dia hugged her adorable popplio, and smiled. They were such an adorable pair. Almost as cute as Alice and Spectra.

She wished Alice would come along, and stared longingly at the staircase.

"Ready to go?"

"Yeah," The Higgs girl sighed, "Let's get out of here guys."

"Shinx!" Static yipped happily, trailing after her as the group made their way out. Zoey looked back one last time, and departed.