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 Posted: Sat Jul 14, 2012 1:02 pm
"Awesome. Okay, I tell you what," said Skye, surveying the different paths they could take, "We could split up and try to cover more ground that way. If those guys are still around they could be anywhere. So you go that way, and I'll go this way... and if you need anything or see anything or... anything... just text me, and I'll do the same for you."
The girls headed off in their separate directions, but not before Skye shared a couple of extra Potions with her friend, just in case Wurmple got hurt while training. You never could be too careful or prepared.
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Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2012 5:58 pm
Ginga and Wurmple headed off into the forest. When they found a suitable clearing, Ginga placed Wurmple on the ground and looked around, strategizing about what sort of moves they could use for Contest combinations.
“All right Wurmple,” she said. “Try using String Shot on that rock over there.”
The Pokémon did as commanded, following it up by jumping up and swinging around, cutting the string with Poison Sting, and then spinning in the air and landing on the ground safely.
“That was great!” Ginga said happily, running over and picking up her Pokémon.
The two spent another half hour together, laughing and strategizing about the Contest, almost forgetting about investigating the strange people that resembled Team Aqua. When the girl did remember, she and her Pokémon decided to look around the forest some more.
But they wouldn’t have to look far; someone very interesting was already in their midst.
A slight rustling could be heard nearby, and shortly after what sounded like someone falling out of a tree caught Ginga’s attention. The girl whirled around and in a period of three seconds three things happened.
First she blinked.
Second she saw flashes of color. The most prominent one was blue.
Third, two words came to mind: Team Aqua.
“Wurmple, use String Shot!” Ginga yelled, her Pokémon executing the attack with unusual precision. She heard shocked screams coming from the brush. “All right, show yourself!” she said sternly, picking up her Wurmple. Together the two of them tugged and out of the bushes came flying…
…a young man in a red capelet.
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Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2012 6:15 pm
Skye felt like she must've done three full laps of the beaten track before she decided that it was not enough. "I never did get anywhere in life by sticking to the path everyone else takes!"
Pancake cooed her enthusiastic agreement, and held on tightly as her master leapt into the undergrowth. "TALLY HO!!"
"ACKPBFFTTTGAHAHGH SPIDER WEBS, FREAKING SPIDER WEBS!! IN MY ******** HAIR OMG"
Thus, the young songstress' foray into the wilds came to an abrupt, premature end. She returned to the safety of the track and promised to never, ever dream of leaving it again.
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Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2012 9:58 pm
“Whoa, whoa, what the heck is going on?!” the young man said, wondering why all of a sudden he was wrapped up in silk threads. He had just hidden in a tree to hide from pursuing Aquas when he’d lost his footing and fell a few feet. His arm hurt…he didn’t know why. “What’s with these threads?!”
A shadow appeared in front of him. Looking up, Ginga towered over him, hands on her hips and Wurmple on her head.
“Who are you?!” she asked.
“I should be asking you that, tying me up like this!” The red-clad young man said, struggling against the bindings. “What did I do to you?!”
“You’re with Team Aqua aren’t you?” Ginga asked.
“What?!”
“Are you back for round two?! Well I’ll tell you one thing; you’re not getting away from me!” she said. “Tell me, what’s the deal? Is Team Aqua reformed or what?”
“Look lady, I don’t know anything about Team Aqua!” the guy said. “Take one look at me; do I look like I’m from Team Aqua?!”
Ginga took a look, a real close look. He looked nothing like a Team Aqua member; there wasn’t even an ounce of blue coloring on him. In fact, he looked a lot like…
…Team…Magma?!
Then…what was the blue she’d seen?
The guy saw the realization on the girl’s face and realized he had possibly just screwed himself over. He alluded to the fact that he not only knew some inkling about Team Aqua, but also that he knew about their counterpart, Team Magma, as well. Talk about letting the Delcatty out of the bag…
“You’re…You’re in Team Magma, aren’t you?” the blonde girl asked. “That red capelet…your arm warmers and legwarmers…they’re a lot like Team Magma’s uniforms back in the day...”
The young man looked up at her with surprise in his eyes. “How would you know about something like that?” he asked. “Don’t tell me you were…”
“I remember reading and hearing stories in the news about Team Aqua and Team Magma,” Ginga told him. “For some reason whenever these stories were on TV or in the newspapers, I paid extra-close attention. I ended up nearly memorizing the uniforms, so much so that if I ever saw one of their members I could identify them. I guess it was probably for my safety. But that was a long time ago. I was a kid then.”
“You were a kid?” the guy asked. He sighed with relief. “Okay, so you were too young to…never mind. How old were you?”
“Fourteen,” she answered.
“Fourteen?” the guy repeated. Not exactly a kid, but hey. Wow, that’s just three years younger than the youngest age requirement for membership, he thought, but didn’t say. “Isn’t that a bit old for a ‘kid’?”
“Not exactly,” she said. “But anyway, what does this have to do with anything? Are you in Team Magma or aren’t you?!”
Sighing, the young man realized it was futile. He had fallen out of a tree on his butt, was tied up, and his arm was inexplicably throbbing with pain. “All right, you got me,” he said. “I’m a Team Magma member, a field agent in the reformed Team Magma, to be specific. And I’ll make you a deal. If you let me go unscathed, I’ll spill absolutely everything I know, including what little I know about Team Aqua. That sound okay?”
Ginga thought a moment. It would not be a good idea to let someone so valuable go so easily. Maybe she could trick him after he started talking. She decided to go with this.
“One more thing,” she said. “You tell me your name.”
The guy looked at her for a moment. “You first.”
“Fine,” Ginga said, thinking this was fairly safe, seeing how he was the one in the compromising position. “I’m Ginga. And you are?”
“Raven,” the Magma said.
“Nice to meet you, I guess,” she said, not really sure what to say to a Team Magma member. He replied with a nod. “This may be kind of random,” she added, “but shortly before I had Wurmple tie you up, I saw a flash of blue. What was it?”
Raven looked at her, confused. He was about to ask what, but then it dawned on him. “You mean this?” he said, gesturing toward his left pocket. He turned so she could see. In his pocket was a scrap of light blue fabric; on it Ginga could see the beginnings of a stylized “A”. “Earlier I was being chased by a group of Aquas. I managed to evade them, but one attacked me and in the scuffle I ripped the bandana clean off his head. Knocked him out pretty good too. That’s when I ran and hid in the tree up there.” He pointed upward toward the tree he sat under, arms still at his sides.
Ginga laughed, finding the attack on the Aqua somewhat amusing. For some reason she got the feeling that this Raven was going to be honest with her, so she felt obliged to do the same. “Do you need this bandana for anything, or can I have it?” she asked.
“Why do you want it?”
“I’m investigating Team Aqua,” she said. “I told you before, I saved this Wurmple from their evil hands just yesterday and I wanted to know what they were up to. Beyond that I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
Raven thought a moment. She was investigating Team Aqua? He recalled that one of the Aquas that was chasing him yesterday said something about losing twice in one day, once to him and once to some girl.
Could that ‘some girl’ be her?
“You fought Team Aqua yesterday?” he asked. “One of their members mentioned you yesterday while they were chasing me. He was pretty pissed about it too.”
The blonde girl laughed. “Good! They deserve it. Harassing my little Wurmple like that!” She took the Pokémon off her head and nuzzled her. “So anyway, can I have that bandana?”
“Sure, take it. I don’t need anything related to those Aqua scumbags,” Raven said, doing his best to dig it out of his pocket. He managed to get it out but it landed on the ground just out of his reach. Ginga picked it up and put it in the pocket of her dress, making sure no edges of it were exposed.
“Thanks,” the girl said. “Now, what were you going to tell me about the two reformed teams?”
For the next few minutes Raven told Ginga everything he knew. The two teams had reformed, but only to a certain extent. Neither teams’ members knew exactly who their leaders were, or if they even had one. Raven was deployed to the forest near Slateport to steal a research sample that Team Aqua had acquired, not only to hinder their research and further his own team’s but also to flesh them out.
“Flesh them out?” Ginga asked.
“Yeah,” Raven said. “You know. Scope them out, see what they’re capable of.”
He was successful, but they caught onto him and began to pursue him. There were countless Team Aqua agents deployed in the forest to gather more research samples. The one he’d stolen was their most valuable. Raven was able to thwart them, but he couldn’t completely get away because he’d missed the deadline for his teammates to meet him. They’d said they’d meet him at precisely 6 p.m. sharp; he got there at 7. So he had to camp out for the night. The next morning he was chased by more Aquas, got in the fight with the one guy, hid in a tree…
“And then you know the rest,” he finished. “I don’t know much about the Aquas. From what I’ve gathered they’re not too well-organized in groups, but as a whole I’m not sure. They are a persistent bunch, that’s for sure. I need to get out of here or they’ll find me soon.”
All of a sudden his arm started throbbing even worse than before. The pain had completely overtaken it. He leaned forward, moaning.
“What’s wrong?” Ginga asked. She looked down and saw that his right arm looked pretty mangled. Was it broken? “Wurmple, let’s cut these strings.” The two worked together and soon the Magma was free. Instead of running away, he fell over on his left side, holding his right arm and writhing in pain.
“Oww!” he yelled. “What the hell’s wrong with my arm?!”
“It looks like you might have sprained it,” the girl said, looking at it closer and seeing it wasn’t broken. “It’s as red as your clothes. Here, hold on a sec.”
She fetched her bag, pulled a first-aid kit from it, and began treating his arm.
Raven sat up. “What are you doing?”
“Fixing your arm up the best I can,” she told him.
“Why? I’m your enemy; doing something like this…it’s not normal.”
“It’s what’s right,” Ginga said, looking him straight in the eyes. To her surprise, they were purple, and staring directly back into her blue ones. She continued to disinfect the injured arm and wrap it up in an ace bandage. The Magma stared at his arm, at her, then back again, unsure of the situation. Once his arm was nicely bandaged, the girl cleaned up the mess. “All done,” she said.
“You know, that wasn’t necessary,” he told her.
“It absolutely was!” she replied. “You were writhing in pain. What was I supposed to do, stand there and guffaw?”
Raven just stared at her, but under his breath he laughed ever so slightly.
“Where is he?” a voice in the distance asked. “Did you lose him?”
“No! I just saw him a little bit ago, he ripped the bandana off Joe’s head!” someone answered.
“Did you get Joe to a medic?”
“Yeah I did.”
“Then shut your yap and keep looking! We gotta find that Magma dirtbag before he gets away!”
The two sat bolt upright.
“Craaaaap,” Raven said quietly. “What am I gonna do?! They’re right here…they’re gonna surround us!”
“Don’t worry,” Ginga told him. “If they surround us I’m involved too, and there’s no way in hell I’m gonna lie down and let them win.”
“All of a sudden you’re my ally?”
“Not quite,” she said. “I don’t like Team Aqua or Team Magma, but I guess I can say I dislike Team Magma slightly less.”
The Aquas continued to get closer. Raven attempted to get up, but Ginga forced him back down.
“Hide there,” the blonde girl told him, gesturing toward the brush. “I’ve got an idea.”
For some reason, the Magma did as he was told. He had no real reason to object.
Ginga gathered her bag, picked up Wurmple and trotted off, but before she reached the edge of the clearing three Aquas appeared before her.
“You! Tell us! Did you see an idiot dressed in a red capelet?” one of them, a tall female, asked.
“Someone in a red capelet?” Ginga replied as though she was talking to an average person. “Sure I did. Just a bit ago, actually.”
That little…! Raven thought. She’s gonna sell me out! He turned to flee, but then he heard one of the Aquas’ voices again.
“You said he ran off into the forest?” the woman asked. “Toward the beach?”
“That’s right.”
“So he ran east.”
“No, north.”
“But the beach is east.”
“No, it’s north.”
“It’s north?”
“Yeah. Unless you’re talking about a different beach. If you’re talking about the main beach where people sunbathe, it’s north. But if you’re talking about the private beach, it’s southwest.”
“Okay,” the woman said, taking it all in. “We should be able to figure it out then. Team, let’s go!”
The Aquas ran off into the forest and a few minutes later their footsteps were nothing but rustling noises in the distance.
Ginga skipped over to where Raven hid.
“It’s okay,” she told him. “You can come out now.”
Out of the brush came an utterly stunned Raven. He was a native to Hoenn and even he didn’t know the directions the girl had just given the Aquas.
“Where did you tell them to go?” he asked.
“Anywhere they wanted,” she replied. “I pretty much threw them off your trail; you should be okay for a while.”
“How…why…how did you know what to do?”
“Based on their disoriented looks, I figured they didn’t know the area well, and since I was able to trick them so easily, I was right. If they head southwest they’ll end up in the city; if they head north they’ll end up in Mauville.”
“Then what’s east?”
“The private beach.”
The two looked at each other for a few seconds and then burst out laughing.
“There’s no mistaking it; you’re definitely a Hoenn native,” Raven said between laughs. “You know the area ridiculously well. I’m not from this part of Hoenn, so I only know it to a certain extent.”
“Then I suggest picking up a map,” Ginga said. “It would do you wonders.”
“Still, why did you help me?” Raven asked. “I’m a Team Magma member, I’m your enemy. You’ve helped me twice now; what’s the deal? Do you follow your own moral code or something?”
“I guess you could say that,” she replied. “Keep in mind, though, I don’t like your Team, or your rivals. But I’ll be keeping an eye on you.”
“And I’ll keep an eye on you too,” the Magma told her. He turned around and ran into the forest. “Thanks for everything!” he called back as he ran, waving his good arm.
Ginga watched him until the red colors of his clothes were completely out of sight. She took the bandana out of her pocket and looked at it. There were obvious signs of a struggle on it; the edges of it were torn slightly and the “A” was marred with dirt.
“Well Wurmple, we have a lead and a lot of information,” the girl said to her Pokémon as she pocketed the bandana again. “Let’s go find Skye.”
“Wurmple!” she replied happily, nuzzling her trainer’s face.
The two skipped off into the forest, leaving behind no traces of their presence in the little clearing.
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Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2012 4:01 am
Skye met back up with Ginga as they intersected on the path - Skye on her way back, Ginga moving forward, looking for her.
"I didn't find anything, but ONLY because the forest conspired against me!" she dramatically declared. Pancake copied her indignant gestures. "There were leaves and there were cobwebs and I'm wearing kitten heels. How about you? How'd you and Wurmple get on?"
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Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2012 5:51 pm
“Well, we got a lead,” Ginga told Skye, producing the bandana Raven had ripped off the Team Aqua member’s head. “We learned that Team Aqua and Team Magma have reformed, and that they both don’t seem to have a leader. The Aquas also aren’t very organized in small groups.”
Wurmple had taken to chewing on the end of the bandana. When Ginga saw, she tore it out of her Pokémon’s mouth and replaced it with a small berry she’d bought earlier that morning. The little worm Pokémon happily ate the delicious treat. Ginga continued explaining.
“Apparently Team Aqua is scouting the place out for research materials,” the blonde girl said. “That’s why they’re all over the forest. But they don’t know the area well, so I’m guessing more often than not they’re just running around aimlessly.” She left out the part about meeting Raven; she wasn’t exactly sure how Skye would take the news. Ginga really didn’t want Skye to tell her that Raven should have been taken to the police. He hadn’t really broken the law, unless you count stealing from other criminals a crime.
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Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2012 1:43 am
Skye's eyes grew wide as she looked at the bandana. "No way!"
She stayed silent then as Ginga explained. She did wonder momentarily how Ginga had gotten all this information, but seeing as she was in possession of a bandana, she assumed she must have caught and interrogated an operative. Just her and Wurmple. Amazing! "Trust us to go and get involved in something like this," she laughed, but she was shaking her head.
"Well, we've got no choice now. We have to go back and report this to the police. Chances are they already know about this, and are investigating. So our information might help them. Maybe."
"The plan was never to stay here the whole time," Skye reminded. "I'd say between this and what happened to me last night... we're ready to move on. We don't need to get involved any further. So how about we be ready to travel tomorrow morning?"
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Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2012 2:38 pm
“But I have my Contest in two days, remember?” Ginga said, looking at Wurmple, who was settling down to sleep in her lap. “We still need to get ready for it, but after that’s over I’d love to go elsewhere. I’m already getting the first signs of wanderlust!” She laughed.
“In the meantime, I definitely agree with going to the police. You’re probably right about them investigating. Hopefully all this info will help them out, at least a little.”
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Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2012 2:50 pm
"Oh s**t, I COMPLETELY forgot!" said Skye, smacking her hand to her forehead. "I'm so sorry...! I guess I'm still not used to you being a trainer yet..."
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Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2012 2:58 pm
The blonde girl laughed.
“Haha, that’s okay,” she told her friend. “Believe me, I’m still getting used to it too. Well, shall we be on our way?” Ginga picked up Wurmple, cradling her in her arms. She stood up and the two girls were off.
They arrived at the police station shortly after and delivered the information along with the bandana. The man they saw thanked them for their help and they went on their way. A little while later Ginga realized there was something else she wanted to do, so she and Skye decided to part ways for a bit.
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Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2012 3:30 pm
Skye headed off down towards the beach alone. It was getting to be late afternoon by this time, and she wasn't sure what to do with herself aside from walk and enjoy the scenery. She felt like she'd done enough shopping and bar crawling to last her the whole trip. Pancake rode on her shoulder, singing, apparently oblivious to her mistress' strange, sudden feeling of discontent. It stemmed from the fact that she didn't like being alone with her thoughts at the moment, because her thoughts kept turning back to what had happened to her last night, and that morning.
"Skye?"
The woman jumped out of her skin and spun around at the familiar voice. She was passing by a shady grove of palm trees, and he hadn't been there a few moments ago. He must've stepped straight out of the foliage. What was his deal?!
"I told you to leave me alone. I don't want you near me."
"I just want to talk to you. If you'll just hear what I have to say..."
"I don't want to listen!" she exclaimed, and, adamant that she wasn't going to have any more to do with him, she turned her whole body away from him, towards the sea. She didn't run away, though. There was no point in running.
"Your Mime Jr is sweet," he acknowledged with a smile. Pancake replied by gnashing imaginary fangs at him and roaring like a very tiny dinosaur over Skye's shoulder.
"Her name is Pancake. And she doesn't like men who betray her trainer's trust."
The red-haired man gave a sigh.
"Look, I didn't want to have to resort to waving my badge around," he said, giving her a tap on the shoulder which somehow felt indisputably authoritative. She turned her head, and came face to face with a screen showing his picture, badges, ID number, rank... Skye couldn't take it all in at once. "But my real name is Rowan, and I'm an investigator with the International Police."
She was completely speechless.
"...Am I being investigated?" Skye eventually managed to ask. Her heart was pounding like crazy, but her whole body felt cold and numb.
"No. Not you. I'm leading an investigation into the activity of illegal groups in the area."
Rowan flipped the screen that had displayed his details back down onto the device on his forearm, which Skye dimly recognised as the advanced Xtransceiver he'd been using that morning. "You've heard of Teams Magma and Aqua, haven't you?"
"Of course..." she breathed. Then she blinked, her brain whirring to life again. "Of course!! Yes! Me and my friend Ginga have already run into them! Well, she has. Not me."
"Really?" he replied. His face betrayed no emotion at this information. "Interesting. This was in the forests, I presume?"
"Yes, just today. We already went to the police..."
"I haven't been back to the station yet. Yes, they've been at it out there, scuffling in the woods for a week or more now. I've already hauled a few in for questioning, but without any evidence there was nothing I could do. It's not illegal to run around wearing a uniform, unfortunately."
He paused in thought, and looked away. He didn't appear frustrated, exactly - more like he was solving a puzzle that just needed a few more pieces to make sense. He knew what they were doing, but he didn't know why, nor did he have a firm hideout location, or any indication of a base of operations in the area...
Skye still felt mixed up. Scared? Relieved? Completely blown over? Just a few minutes ago she'd thought this guy was some creepy stalker who wanted something from her. He wouldn't be the first, and he wouldn't be the last, but - a police officer? And not any old police officer - some kind of detective with the International Police?! That was no laughing matter. No small deal. Nobody knew much about what they did, aside from operate on a level way above local policing and petty theft and the normal crap you hear on the news. The best of the best, taking on the worst of the worst.
"What do you want with me?" she blurted. "I - why did you bring me back to your apartment? Wh-why did we... sl-sleep together? I-I don't understand... how I fit into your... investigation..."
He looked at her, surprised. "Sleep together? What are you talking about? We didn't sleep together! Not like, sleep together anyway. You don't remember at all?"
~~~~~~~
Skye and Rowan, both under their fake identities, but only he knowing for a fact that the two of them were playing games with each other, staggered into his apartment in the wee hours of the morning. He was practically carrying her. She'd lost all of her dancer's coordination, and she'd nearly twisted her ankle on the stairs coming up.
The beautiful blonde was giggling manically, as if she were out of her mind. He cooed soothingly as he set her down on the bed, promising to get her a glass of water. However, as he tried to release her, she grabbed both of his arms and pulled him on top of her, deeper into her - though she wanted deeper still. He had to admit, she was very difficult to resist. Almost impossible, even. They kissed, twining together on the bed, for quite some time. She proved to be less uncoordinated whilst horizontal. She struggled with her top, and it ended up flung awkwardly somewhere out there in the darkness of the rest of the room. Her shoes and her skirt got scattered to the winds, too.
But enough was enough. Ro knew far better than to take advantage of a woman in any state - not just because of his position as an officer of the law, but because it just wasn't right, morally, ethically, any way you framed it. So he extracted himself from her, even as she pleaded with him not to. Soon after that, she had other things to distract her - she felt queer, and her face looked pasty and ill in the dim light. He got her to the toilet just in time, where he held her hair back as she was sick, again and again.
Rowan sat her down by the edge of the bath and stayed with her dutifully, drying her tears and wiping her nose and helping her to clean her teeth after the horrible burning taste of vomit had mostly disippated. Then, he helped her back to the bed and tucked her in comfortably, giving her his Porygon2 doll to cuddle, while he himself retreated to the couch. For a while, anyway. She sat up with some difficulty a short time later, crying and shaking and calling his assumed name, clinging to the doll like a scared little girl.
And so he ended up being her doll for the rest of the night. She didn't stir again.
~~~~~~~
He gave her the gist of what happened, but carefully left out what felt like the most important parts to him - like how he'd wanted to sit by her side and stroke her soft, sweet-smelling hair forever, or how he'd felt the most happy and content waking up with her snuggled in his arms that he'd possibly ever felt in his life. He hadn't factored in how confused and disturbed she might feel that morning after such a tumultuous night, because he himself had been so overwhelmingly elated that somehow, he'd expected her to be positive, too.
They were strangers, at the end of the day. They weren't on the same wavelength. All he knew about her was what he'd heard and read, and this person in front of him was very different to what he'd expected.
Skye didn't know what to say once again. It seemed he'd been her saviour last night - he'd taken care of her, where another man might have raped her. Comforted her, where another man might have left her crying in a dark, unfamiliar place. And vaguely, somewhere in her mind, the story did stir memories: of sitting on something cold and hard as someone dabbed at her face, and of lying in bed, drifting into sleep feeling warm and happy and not alone.
"I did follow you, perhaps for longer than I should have," he admitted. "I was in the bar where that buffoon picked a fight with you. I was just about to intercede when you accepted his challenge. It's true what they say about you. You were brave, and your pokemon were incredible. You know what it means to be a trainer."
He reached out tentatively and petted Pancake's downy head. She gaped at him in awe and let him pet her as much as he liked, no more snapping teeth.
Still reeling, Skye replied, feeling dumbstruck and stupid. "I'm sure I didn't see you in the first bar... I would've never missed someone like you..."
He grinned, eyes twinkling. "I was in disguise. I'm sure a gorgeous young fellow like me wouldn't escape your radar," he boasted, "But a nondescript old man in a fedora, on the other hand..."
The woman searched through her memories. She vaguely recalled such a person sitting in a corner across the room. Then again, she couldn't say for sure - there were quite a few nondescript old men in the bar last night.
"I don't know what to say..." she whispered.
"I'm very sorry that it turned out like this. It was all my fault. It was stupid of me to approach you socially like that, when what I should've done from the start was talk business. Having you here is a good opportunity, for me. You and I are the strongest trainers here," he explained matter-of-factly, almost like a banker talking a client through rates of interest. "You're an activist for social justice, and I know you've worked with the police before, busting a couple of abuse cases. I was hoping I could count on you to work with me if I needed your help."
"But I'm on vacation," she said dumbly.
It had been an innocent thing to say, to her mind, but for some reason this seemed to be the last straw for him, without any indication that there were ever any previous straws being worked through. His expression darkened. "I see."
He shifted his weight, fiddled with his Xtransceiver momentarily, and then sidestepped her. "Good for you. Unfortunately for me, the law does not take vacations. Justice doesn't sit on a beach taking a nap. And neither does injustice. If you have any further information, please report it to the station again. Ask for Inspector Rowan to have it passed straight to me. I don't believe I'll be needing to speak to you directly again."
With that, he walked off without a backwards glance, leaving Skye feeling three inches tall, and more guilty and confused than ever.
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Posted: Sat Oct 13, 2012 4:53 pm
The smell could be detected from over fifty feet away. It wafted down the street, inviting anyone who happened to be passing by to be entranced by its sweetness. That said, Ginga opened the door to the pastry shop.
“One of everything please!” was what she wanted to say but the pocketbook wouldn’t allow it. So instead she ordered a couple cookies, four small cakes, some Pokémon treats, and a large chocolate éclair. The blonde girl paid for the treats and walked out, eating the éclair.
“Mmmm! So tasty!” she said happily, as her Wurmple sniffed at the dessert from atop her head. “I forgot all about that pastry shop till just now. I remember going there all the time as a kid. Soooo glad it’s still there!”
The cheerful girl continued her stride down the street. More than once she nearly bumped into a few ignorant passersby, and she wanted to kill one guy for almost knocking her éclair out of her hand, but by the time she had finished it, Ginga and Wurmple had arrived at a small park. She sat down on a bench and the little worm Pokémon crawled down off her head and into her lap.
Across the way there were a few Pokémon playing with a ball. Wurmple seemed interested.
“You want to go play with them Wurmple?” Ginga asked.
“Wurmple!” her Pokémon said.
“Go ahead then! It looks like they’re having lots of fun!” she told her.
Her Wurmple jumped down from her lap and headed over toward the other Pokémon. Almost instantly the group accepted her and they were all playing ball together, happy as little Clamperls.
Still, Ginga couldn’t help but wonder. Who exactly was this Raven, and was he a good guy or a bad guy? Sure he was in Team Magma but he didn’t seem like your average, run-of-the-mill criminal. He seemed…almost decent. What were his motives?
“OOOOOOOH stop thinking about guys already and just get your head together Ginga!” the blonde girl found herself yelling out loud. A few people sent stares her way. A child ran away. “Ehehe…sorry. Shoulda just…kept that one to myself, I guess.”
Crap, how embarrassing! She thought as her face began to redden.
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Posted: Sat Oct 13, 2012 5:01 pm
Skye headed straight back to their hotel room after her run-in with... Rowan. She didn't know what to think. She didn't know what to feel. She sat in a slump at the foot of her bed, Pancake clutched like a living, breathing doll in her lap.
"Mi...me?" said Pancake worriedly, reaching up to touch her cheek. There was stain on it - a barely visible trail of water. Skye smiled.
"It's okay... I'm alright... I promise," she said, wiping the remnants of the tear away. She shouldn't be so upset. Except... it was... upsetting. Very much so. She hoped Ginga would come back soon, but at the same time she kind of wanted to be alone with her non-thoughts forever.
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Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2012 8:06 pm
After a little while, Ginga decided that she should head back to the hotel to see what Skye was up to. She collected herself and got up from the park bench.
“Wurmple, we should get going,” she called out. Her Pokémon turned around to face her, then looked back at her new friends. She seemed upset that she had to leave them. The girl noticed this. “Maybe we can meet up with your friends tomorrow, after the Contest.”
“Wurmple!” The little worm Pokémon crawled over to her trainer. Picking up her Pokémon and waving goodbye to her new friends, Ginga headed back to the hotel.
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Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2012 2:14 pm
Ginga had an unpleasant surprise waiting back at the hotel, as Skye lay on her bed in a slump, her pillow slightly wet with tears. Pancake met her friend at the door and signalled worriedly that her trainer was upset. Skye sat up as her friend began to question her, wiped her eyes and told the story, glad to finally have Ginga to talk to.
"...And then he just walked off," she finished explaining, gesturing helplessly. "I don't know what I did, I don't know what I said to offend him so much. Suddenly he didn't want anything to do with me! I feel like I... let him down, like he was expecting something of me and I just didn't deliver."
She wiped her eyes. When she removed her hands, her expression was steelier. "Well, if he felt like he knew me only because he's seen me on TV, then he's just another a*****e, right?"
"Then again, if he had an image of me, and I didn't uphold that image..."
Her posture drooped. "...Maybe the person I really let down was myself. I do always try to be a figure of goodness... of justice. You know I have high ideals. It's just today I was too scared... I was shocked... too vulnerable. I didn't... I wasn't at my best at all."
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