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Chapter Text

Pokegirls Of Justice

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fia.

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"Fia, I love you."

Those were her last words, before Fia had been sent sprawling out and away, away, away. Hours, days even, it seemed to take to get to Earth, so she had quite a bit of time to ponder on her situation.

Time had slipped from her paws. If they had just had a little more time, than maybe they could've avoided the invasion. But he knew their weaknesses, and moved his army accordingly, like playing chess. Checkmate , the Sylveon imagined his raspy voice wrapping around the word. She shuddered in her fur, starting another grooming session to take her mind off him.

She hadn't even told Cynthia she had loved her back. Not before she had started running, cowardly fleeing the scene, and her Queen. 

The smoke had clogged her nose, burned her eyes until she knew only of it. The fires could be seen from floozels away, in the field where she had unfurled her star. 

Where she had said goodbye to her world, and left it.

When her star had started to sputter out, she had a moment of panic, glancing up and around. Her eyes caught a blue-green orb in the sea of stars, and her eyes narrowed in attention. Earth. She had seen it a few times in the Prophecy Room. Devoid of magical properties, few of those on Terahia considered it worth investigation. Lo and behold, that's where their latest pack of Pokegirls came from.

When she came down, it was without theatrics. Her star turned dull, and she folded it up, watching it blink intermittently and start to float upwards, returning to its rightful place. Now that her ride was over, a new wave of anxieties washes over her as the reality of her situation truly set in. 

The Queen is dead. She's dead, but she gave me a mission, tasked with helping form the Pokegirls of Justice and guiding them, so they can defeat the Organization. 

She started pacing, one, two, three , one, two, three . What if the other Partners never arrive? What if they are bratty, spoiled, weak? What if we fail…

What if I fail?

Already, her magic was weakening, cut off from its source.  She always carried a bit of it with her, of course, as it was innate to her.  But Fia was unsure how good a help she would be without her powerful Moveset magic. Before the doubts could creep back in, however, she took a deep breath, blinked slowly and started noting her surroundings.

It was nighttime, and the air was filled with a fresh, slightly tangy scent, which Fia knew was the smell of a forest. Blinking to adjust to the dark, and she realized she was right. Tall, thin trees covered the area, and the grass barely tickled her feet. It was trimmed, she realized, a practice they did not share on her homeworld. Something panged within her, and she wondered how something so small could make such an impact on her. 

Fia had a hunch she was not close to a civilization. Though the grass was short, it was also unevenly so, and she deduced it was the work of one, maybe two people. She would need to walk.

But the mere thought of travel brought a headache to the forefront of Fia's mind. It dawned on her that she hadn't gotten a wink of sleep since she had hopped onto that star. Surely, a small nap wouldn't hurt…

Her eyelids drifted downwards, paws sliding out, and then the darkness greeted her happily.

~°~°~°~°~

serena.

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Serena's heart raced as her mom slowed the car down, driving through the acres-wide forest known as Glimwood Tangle. Roots that had grown onto the road caused little bumps here and there, and the canopy of the forest cast odd shadows and tricks of the light. The glowing flora were truly a sight to behold, and so she took a few pictures here and there.

Checking her reflection in her mirror for the tenth time that day, she gave herself a wide smile. Her honey-caramel hair curled around her waist, and her sapphire eyes shone with excitement for the first time in months. Nothing was stuck in her pearly whites, and no pimples had appeared overnight, thank goodness. Her crisp blue blazer was emblazoned with the Academy logo: two golden hawks facing right and left, a lightning bolt striking the center of the circle, right on a badge she'd gotten for way too much. It seemed like a good idea at first, but now she wondered if it was tacky. 

Serena tried to resist the urge to squirm in her seat. While the forest was beautiful, it was almost offsettingly so, and Serena’s stomach was full of those nervous butterflies, fluttering and bouncing off the walls.

Of course, once the car pulled up to the extensive driveway of the Academy, the butterflies increased tenfold. Serena insisted on applying another round of makeup to her face, trying to balance natural and woke up this way without veering into please notice me.

Getting out, she refused her instinct to hold her mother’s hand as they walked through the crystalline doors. I am fifteen, she reminded herself, I am mature and cool.  

Her mouth opened in an O of awe as she took in the sights. The place was overwhelmingly pale, with baby blues denoting the girls, robin pink for the guys, and a soft lavender for everyone in between. Pins caught Serena’s eye every which way: Ashley, 16, they/her said one, Xavier, 13, xem/xim another told her. A particularly cute guy was looking at his cell phone, grinning, his navy hair almost black in the shade. 

Light shone through the translucent ceiling. Serena tried to see the top, but found it was so high up she couldn’t. The front desk seemed miles away.

“I can’t believe I get to go here,” she murmured, mostly to herself. Her mother turned to her, looking like she was about to say something, but a harsh, plucky voice spoke over the PA.

Okay, more like shouted.

“ATTENTION ALL STUDENTS!! I AM YOUR ANNOUNCER, BURGUNDY RIVERAS, AND YOU’RE WATCHING DISNEY CHANNEL!”

Silence, then a few chortles. Serena held her laughter in as the mic echoed what sounded like angry shuffling. 

“WHO - ALRIGHT, GEORGIA, I’M REPORTING YOU! ALRIGHT, ANYWAYS. NEW STUDENTS, PLEASE REPORT TO THE AMPHITHEATER IMMEDIATELY FOR YOUR FIRST ORIENTATION. PARENTS CAN CHOOSE TO STAY OR LEAVE. BURGUNDY, OUT!!”

Turning to her mother, Serena started to speak, but her mother held up a hand. “I know, I know. You don’t need an old hoot like me here. Just know that I love you and that you’ll always be my little star.” She pecked Serena on the head once, patted her on the shoulder twice, then turned and headed out the door.

Leaving Serena to fend for herself in this new high school.

Breath in. Breath out. Head into orientation. Shouldn't be too hard. Right?

~°~°~°~°~

She shouldn't have thought that. Serena wasn't superstitious, but somehow, she just knew that once she brought those words into existence, the opposite would become true.

She was late, late, late ! 

"Come on, it has to be here somewhere," she huffed, dashing up and down hallways and skidding left and right. She checked her phone routinely, and she was missing the first half of orientation. She was, without a doubt, lost.

Tears were starting to prick her eyes, as they always did when she was the tiniest bit stressed. She pushed them back forcefully. Not now. I just need to find someone to tell me what happened, and then -

"Are you lost?"

She looked up, quickly rubbing her eyes. She knew her makeup would be smudged, and it bothered her even more when she saw who it was.

Blue-black hair. Freckled face. A kind smile. And a pin that said Ash Ketchum, 15, he/him they/them. Aka, the cute boy she had spied in the lobby.

 Closer up, she could see every detail of his face, and affirmed that he was more than cute. He was gorgeous . But staring into those beautiful brown eyes was emotionally taxing, mostly because she was a mess of a girl.

Was she staring silently? Crap.

"I-I… yes," she finally stammered moments later. There was no point trying to deny it. Her dignity would just plummet further. "Did I miss the whole thing?"

The boy nodded solemnly, and Serena grasped her temples, groaning in frustration. Just my luck.

"All you need to know is that you need a uniform in class and that your schedule is in your dorm. Oh - I guess you need to know that too." He shrugged nonchalantly, the smile never leaving his face. "I can get it for you if you want."

"That - that would be nice," she squeaked out. She hated confrontation, and so the relief was immense when he offered. Plus, it meant she'd get to see him again! 

He lingered a bit, mouth quirking, then turned and went his way. 

Sometimes, good things can come out of the bad. Serena slumped against the wall, checking her reflection and sighing. Then again, I'm going to have to clean up before he comes back. There goes twenty minutes of my life down the drain. 

~°~°~°~°~

fia.

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Thorns stuck to her pelt like glue. Her scowl scared baby birds to first flight. Otherwise known as a regular Tuesday for Fia, Intertwining Pokemon.

After around six hours of searching, running, fleeing, eating, running again, calling, mouthing off, and running again , she was exhausted, and rightly so. Monsters lived in the forests, and she needed to escape as soon as possible.

That was when a glint caught her eye. Many glints, actually. I found it! Heaven! 

Er. Or the village where my Pokegirl resides!

Pushing herself to run, the change in scenery was astounding. Fia found her feet pounding against a dull, hard rock surface. The desert of grey seemed to stretch on forever, and when she was in the middle, a horrendous sound filled her ears. A monster - actually, really, this time - was racing towards her like a Bouffalant on steroids. Black wheels skidded, and, using the last of her magic reserves, she used a Teleport.

Please take me as close to my Pokegirl as you can.

~°~°~°~°~

serena.

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"So, you're my roommate, huh?" 

Serena was stuck in the hallway, blushing furiously. After another awkward (but cute) conversation with Ash, she immediately headed to her dorm. She was in the middle of unpacking things, but she couldn't seem to pull her eyes away from her new roomie.

Her hair was a dulled sky blue, cut in a lob. She was dressed only in a bra and shorts, laying on her luxurious-looking bed. But what struck Serena speechless were her eyes, though they rarely met contact. Bright red, with hints of crimson, mischievous and teasing.

Serena shook her thoughts away. "Yes," she said with more confidence then she had. Moving onto the next bag, she surveyed her room with an approving eye. Her side's walls had a baby pink color, and her furniture had different cherry wood hues. It contrasted against her roommate's cooler blues, but not enough to hurt the eyes. She sat on her bed and turned her attention back to her roommate. "What's your name?"

"Miette."

"I'm Serena."

"Nice."

Silence. Serena fiddled with loose locks of her hair with a nonworking hand, since the conversation was less than stimulating.

"Just so you know, Serena ," Miette snarked, startling her. Her tone was cool, as if stating a fact. "Ash is already taken. So don't even bother."

"I wasn't - I don't - " The smirk on Miette's face made Serena's darken to crimson red. After an embarrassingly long time of not saying anything, she retorted loudly, "Mind your own business!" 

To make herself feel better, she added under her breath, "He didn't even give you a sideways glance."

"What'd you say?"

"N-Nothing." She decided not to say anything else aloud, lest she actually get caught. Serena doubted she'd get expelled just for having a mouth, but hey, Miette seemed like the high-status type, judging by how expensive everything on her side seemed. It was very possible she could worm her way into getting the best outcome of any fight, or at least bribe her way out.

Then again, they'd just met five minutes ago. So what did Serena know?

The next step of her day was placing everything picture-perfect. After she was satisfied, the last thing she needed to do that evening was attend the Student's Convention, to meet-and-greet and pick electives to do. Of course, she needed the perfect outfit for such an event; something subtly flashy, to show she was friendly, but not IN-YOUR-FACE-LET'S-BE-BESTIES friendly. 

While she was picking out her clothes, she had discreetly noticed Miette's disappearance. She'd mostly been on her laptop, sometimes giggling at whatever she was looking at, and blatantly ignoring Serena's existence, which the blonde decided was infinitely better than teasing her about her new crush that wasn't a crush maybe.

A quick look in her body-length mirror, and Serena smiled. The pink shirt she'd put on was an old favorite of hers, and the red vest dress she wore over it had pockets, which was an amenity hard to find on clothes she'd like. A boater hat topped off her meticulously brushed head of hair, another favorite of hers. Ready to go.

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fia.

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She landed in the middle of another concrete horror. Getting up uneasily, Fia swayed, head banging against her skull. Carefully, she remembered how she'd got here, and her vision returned to the present.

She was surrounded by humans. Adolescent humans, by the looks of it. It was amazing the first few seconds, but a quick realization led her to groan in despair. 

Arceus, no! Does this mean that Fate decided… the next Pokegirls are teenagers?!

She winced. The last group of teenaged Pokegirls had been rowdy, wild, and hardly helpful. Then again, the biggest disasters back then had been fights between the Sectors. Nothing that threatened the worlds like this.

Fia wondered if the girls of this world would be up to it. Did they have formal training? Or innate abilities, perhaps? Solarians trained for seven eons before becoming guards. Klaqits went into a deep slumber, learning the secrets of the universe. What did Earthians have?

She closed her eyes and focused, and a small string of magic appeared to her, a bright pink aura calling to her through the sea of students. Feet jostled, bodies twisted, and - My Pokegirl! She realized with a jolt. 

Electricity ran through her veins, waking her up like a supercharged coffee. She felt refreshed, and to her delight, her magic had been refreshed as well, as if she had already Rested. All because of a 13-year-old, she thought jokingly. Huh.

A drop in her stomach quickly overshadowed that feeling, though. She activated her Mind's Eye again, and nearly collapsed then and there. No, no, no. Please. Not again.

A Shadow was hanging over their very heads. The Organization was here. 

~°~°~°~°~

serena.

~°~°~°~°~

It was cloudier then earlier. A shiver ran through Serena's spine as she walked through the crowd, eyeing all the stands with a smile. Cheerleading, hockey, football, and so many more. You couldn't possibly feel out of place with the warm faces shining at you.

She considered the fashionista booth, but eventually passed when Miette approached before she could. If Miette was there, she'd rather avoid it for now. 

Instead, she walked up to a large stand with two demonstrating masked faces. One was a golden snake, the obvious heroine, and the other was a pale lion, shrewd and angry. They were both making animalistic noises at each other, using their body language to convey what they really meant.

It captivated Serena so much she almost didn't snap out of her admiring gaze when the show ended, and the cowardly lion came up to her. She blinked a few times, not catching whatever the lion had said. "Sorry, what?"

"I was asking if you might be interested in partaking in the art of theater." Serena's eyes guided themselves to the pin on their shirt: Clemont Belmont, they/them. 

"Yeah, actually. What play are you doing this year?"

"We aren't doing one, actually." Clemont bashfully scratched the back of their neck. "The school said too many clubs sent in applications for funding before us. We're still a club, of course, but - well, you know. "

"That's disappointing. Maybe we could do a fundraiser? Those are pretty popular."

Clemont's eyebrow arched playfully. "'We'? Already planning to join, huh?" 

Serena blushed. "If you'll have me. I just wanted to be in a musical since I was a kid. Could I maybe help pick what we could maybe do?"

"Sure. I'm sure Nati wouldn't mind. Right, Nati?" they called over their shoulder. 

"Huh? Whatever, I'm reading," the snake dismissed from where they sat on their mini-stage.

Clemont turned back to Serena, a wide grin on their face. "You can be an organizer. Take this pamphlet with you and send it to the vice principal when you fill it out." They pressed a small piece of paper into Serena's hands; Serena focused on their gorgeous nails a bit too long, taking a moment to look up again. "We meet up on Tuesdays."

"See you there!" Serena called behind her, grinning big. A loud commotion from the center of the plaza called her attention, and she waved goodbye to her (hopefully) new friends. Things are looking up.

That's what she thought, at least. Until she came to the central.

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fia

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Fia clung tightly, mouth tasting the grime on the Recruit's clothes too intimately. The taste disgustingly stuck to her tongue, sticky. 

"Get - off - of - me! " The dark-clad recruit screeched, waving about wildly. A surge of light overtook Fia's vision, and in panic she let go of the grungy sleeve. 

She fell, face first, into the water of the fountain the Recruits were standing on. It was huge, glistening pale stone pouring and guzzling water at a calm speed. "My Pokegirl…"

Before she could do any more, Fia was pinned to the ground by the agent of Shadows, who giggled behind a fanning hand. "A Pokegirl? Really? Pokegirls haven't been around for a millennium . " 

The name spoke to her uproariously, as if Fate were outraged at the mere thought. Her name is Serena, it roared to Fia, almost begging her to do the same. 

And so she did.

"SERENA!"

A gasp, and her head swiveled as it could under the agent's hands. A girl in the crowd had a piercing pink heart stamped onto her chest, bold and bright.

"It - it can't be - " the agent dropped Fia, who sprinted towards that golden - er, pink - sign. "The Pokegirl - "

"Go! Shadow Absol!"

Fia had nearly forgotten about the other Recruit until now. To her horror, he raised a shiny black ball and threw it upwards, releasing a terror she'd never thought she would see again. 

She was closing in on Serena now, who was frozen in place, eyes locked with the abomination in front of her. That's when, with a squelch , a slimy tentacle grabbed her hind paw. And another, and another, until they nearly swallowed her up, undulating all over her and the fountain until she wanted to vomit.

She was so close….

"Serena! Here!"

Fia didn't know what she'd done, but suddenly, a small amulet phased right through her chest, and into Serena's open hand, where it dazzled in the evening sunlight.

And then everything went black.

~°~°~°~°~°~

serena.

~°~°~°~°~°~

Serena didn't process anything thoroughly. All at once, she was bombarded with information left right and center.

The smell was what had reached her first, a nasty clean sort of scent that overtook her nostrils. Even when she plugged her nose, it lingered, and she could taste it in her mouth as well. 

Then she had heard her name, called by an unfamiliar, yet non-threatening voice. She felt pulled, magnetized by whoever it was, and started running, searching for the source.

When she had reached the fountain, which, as in her pamphlet, sat in the center of the plaza, her mouth went agape, her hands briefly covering it before returning to clogging her nose. The beast in front her was more frightening than anything she had ever seen in a horror movie.

It was constantly reforming, but maintained a basic shape in the form of a malnourished dog. It consisted of a dark goop, which, Serena realized, was probably where the rank smell was coming from, and it had thrashing tentacles that grew by the second, trapping the fountain in its grasp. But it's eyes were the most terrifying part.

Though they had no pupils, Serena shivered when their eyes made contact. They didn't glow, like a blockbuster's monster would, but instead showed all the minute details; veins popping, the vaguely shiny surface. It knows bloodlust, a strange voice whispered to her.

A few things happened in the next moments.

First, Serena's chest began to glow a deep pink, rimmed with gold and in the shape of a heart. Second, a light, if dirty, creature came up to her, crawling on her front legs. It looked like a cross between an arctic fox and an orange tabby cat, though it had no orange on it whatsoever.

Before she could react to THAT , the pretty creature was ruthlessly consumed by the writhing masses of Medusa hair, though not before it screamed "Serena! Here!" and started glowing.

The fox-cat threw a small metallic object right at her, but as if on instinct, as if they were old friends, she caught it in the palm of her hand. The metal was cool to the touch, and a gem sitting in the center of it glittered hopefully.

That was the last thing the creature did before getting cocooned by the tentacles of the beast.

"Wait - "

"Well, well, well, " a sneer came from atop the now-defaced waterwall. Serena's eyes shot up and met with a uniformed, soldier-like lady who greeted Serena with disgust. "So the myths are true. So what! I'm still gonna pound you to pieces, little girl."

It very much appeared like she could.

Yet, something compelled Serema to retort, "Not if I can help it!"

"What're you gonna do? Cry?" The older woman laughed,  mimicking a crying child. Her accomplice snorted, though his attention quickly returned to his pet.

Despite her heart racing, Serena continued, "Just who do you think you are, harming that innocent creature!"

Serena assumed a fists-raised stance, energy piling in her. The heart pulsated, and in the mass of tentacles, a similar heart pulsed back in sync.

Serena! You must transform!

And… uh… How do I do that? Serena responded to the voice in her head, dumbfounded.

Raise the Trinket over your head and repeat after me, aloud.

Okay.

Together they spoke these words. " I pledge myself to the good for all. With this power, I will protect the innocent, fight the corrupt, and become my ultimate form."

The energy, Serena realized quickly, was actually power . Lots of it. It soaked her, spreading through her veins and giving her a vision of a past, present, and future -

The past had been a good place, eager to improve. But they had fallen into the traps of evil, and - 

the present had to deal with the consequences. Evil once again was gaining power, and -

the seven worlds depended on her, and four others, to save the future.

" Rise , powers of Love! Bring me the promise of Hope!"

A silk-like fabric slipped over Serena's skin, replacing her previous clothing with airy ease. Shades of warm blacks and pinks slashed the air around her, forming a dress that hugged her waist and circled her like a halo.

Her hair twirled around her head, lengthening a considerable amount before curling at her sides into long ponytails. 

The light rushing around her was dizzying, but easing, too. Unlike the cruel creature in front of her, who was cowering at the sight of her, her new form didn't scare her at all. Only empowered her.

Striking a final pose, arms outstretched ahead of her, Serena shouted fiercely,

" A beacon of Hope in the blinding Darkness! Pokegirl Serena!"

That's when instinct failed her, or she lost connection with the goddess guiding her body. She plopped down from where she was floating, unceremoniously falling on her butt.

Looking at her new clothes, she screeched, "What the FUCK?!"

Everyone was now staring at her, so that was fine. Of course, she also caught the focused attention of the - didn't the man call it a Shadow Absol? Yeah, the Shadow Absol. It licked it's jowls with a tentacle-like tongue, and nausea rushed over Serena. Ewwww.

Serena! That voice was getting annoying. Almost like her mom. You've got to use a Move!

And, uh, how do I do that, exactly?

Seriously? Serena could practically hear the eyes rolling. 

Yes.

Okay. So. Arceus, why didn't I pay attention in history class…. Uh, think of a powerful Fairy-type move!

She didn't know what a Fairy -type was, but just like that, the words came to her again. Love Crush .

Got it.

Now, to use a Move, I think you have to call out the name first. Then -

"LOVE CRUSH!"

Serena's fists began to sparkle, shooting out hearts of blue, pink, white. She waited for whatever it was to take control again, but apparently she'd used up all that. 

And the Absol knew, and pounced.

Before she could sidestep it, the creature screeched when it's tentacles touched her, turning to light.

" No! Shadie!" Standing dumbstruck, the woman sobbed her eyes out, comforted by the man solemnly. "Your beautiful globgloops!" Her expression quickly grew furious, however, face redding to a ripe tomato color. "YOU LITTLE SHIT!"

The Absol, on the other hand, seemed a lot calmer than before. The huge pile of raging tentacles, wrapping around the central fountain, slowed their rampage to a stop. 

Now, Serena! Strike now! Jump and punch the poor Absol out of its misery!

Her jumping was boosted, and she tried not to look down as she soared twenty, thirty feet in the air, face to face with the floating creature. Already, her magic had an effect on it; it's eyes looked more doggish, and it's body seemed to solidify. One last blow, here we go!

Pulling back, she launched a fist right through Absol's head, a loud explosion following, her head now only of the light, and then….

She was in her normal clothes again. Standing. Looking at the fountain, which was spotless. Those two troublemakers were gone, with no trace left of the whole debacle. And everybody continued on.

Well, almost no trace.

" Serena! "

Before she started questioning her sanity, she felt a rub against her leg. A cat, white with orange spots.

" We have a lot to discuss. Come, come. "

Who would she be if she said no to a talking cat? (Did it count if the cat was, apparently, only heard by her?) So she followed the voice, if only because of curiosity.

~°~°~°~°~°~

fia.

~°~°~°~°~°~

"You mustn't rely on luck next time. You're lucky they were easy, non moving targets." Fia clicked her tongue, grooming herself atop Serena's bed. 

"Okay, okay, I get it. I barely got anyway with living, literally. But you still haven't told me why I can turn into a superhuman that has magical heart hands." Serena meanwhile, was playing a game on a pink device, which Fia was informed was called a "Nintendo Switch". Not that she cared.

"You are destined for great things, Serena. You are a Pokegirl, one who will right the universe in a way none of us could have foreseen. You - "

"Hold a minute, just gotta chop some trees down." A triangle-sound played on her rectangular-purple device, and Serena's eyes widened. "Oh! That's the dinner bell. I better get going, I'll check to see if they allow pets too. Bye Fia!"

Before she could get in another word, Serena was up and out the door. With a sigh, she curled up and felt her eyes droop downwards, magic exhausted for the day.

This is gonna take a while.

Chapter Text

~°~°~°~°~°~

amber.

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Stay positive.  

That was Amber's mantra, as she rode her blue star across the skies, everything else a blur.

 It wasn't like Amber didn't care about everything happening, or that she had forgotten the mission placed on her shoulders. The stress of carrying the seven known worlds on her back, coupled with the fact that she was alone on this sputtering star, would most likely send her spiraling if she gave it a second more of her time.

Rumble, rumble.

Worst of all, she was starving. Hungrily, she let the bigger things fade to the background, focusing on minor questions like what if the food is horrible? and what if my Pokegirl can't cook? 

Then, the Flareon would pick a random somebody from back home to voice an answer. 

I'm sure they'll have things there you'll enjoy, Mama told her, eyes twinkling despite her age. Not that you would never refuse to try something.

And if there's truly nothing you like, her sister Theodora added, there will be a hundred thousand different ingredients to try. You did say you were getting bored of having the same thing, right?

It was easier on her mind this way, easier to hold out hope in such a desolate time. Easier to block out the self doubting she'd been doing for the past - what? How many weeks have passed? Maybe the war was already won. Maybe she was too late. Maybe - 

Rumble!

However small the distraction was, Amber allowed it. With a groan, she pawed at the smooth surface of her shooting star, wondering if maybe it was true they tasted like starfruit. It didn't leave a scratch, though a faint scent did seem to rise from where she had scratched it. Mmm… lemony…

Lemons. Will they have lemons on Earth?

Amber pondered quite a bit on what Earth was like on her ride there, and not just about the food; the whole planet was a ginormous mystery to her. Rumors around the Palace said that not a drop of magic had touched the Earth's soil during the Time of Beginnings, but Amber had simply scoffed at them. Imagine! A world without magic. Pffft. 

But nobody had been to the planet before. It was only known through readings of the stars, and telescopes. And now she was hurtling there at the speed of light. Away from everything she'd ever known.

A memory pulled forward. When she was just an Eevee kit, and her parents had brought her to the edge of the Forest Beyond, outside the Sectors.

"You mustn't go past this point, Amber," warned her Mama. "That is where the Queen's magic ends, and all sorts of monsters live."

"But are we sure that's what's lurking out there?" Mother had argued. "Or is that just what she wants us to think?" After her Ma had... left, both Mother and Mama had become more prone to arguments. And one of Mother's favorite things to argue about was the Queen. "Why are we forbidden exploration?"

"Shush." Mother's mouth shut tight at the sight of Amber's trembling body, and Mama's glare. "Do not go out there. Follow our Queen's wisdom, dearest."

I'm doing what you wanted, Mama, Amber thought now, opening her eyes to quite a sight. Following the Queen's wisdom. Her new home - her new place of existing - was right in front of her. 

Before she landed, Amber swore in her head, curling into a ball: I'll make you all proud.

~°~°~°~°~°~

may.

~°~°~°~°~°~

" May . May, wake up."

Groggily, May slapped her oddly-human-sounding alarm clock's snooze, muttering something incoherent. The last thing she remembered was thunder cracking, and drinking quite a bit of sofa before bed. The following yelp broke through her sleepy haze, and she blinked the fog away, yawning and stretching. "What?"

Iris, her roommate and best friend since elementary school, was glaring at her rather sharply, rubbing her cheek and wincing. Oh. Guess that wasn't my alarm clock after all.

"Nothing's wrong at all," Iris snarked, waving her unoccupied arm dismissively. "Not like we're gonna be LATE FOR SCHOOL OR ANYTHING! WAKE UP, PEREZ! LET'S GO!"

Shit! Eyes glancing at the clock, May facepalmed. They had both slept in way too late.

Throwing off the sheets, May ran into the shower, the time seared into her head. Iris hopped in with her, and they helped each other get squeaky clean, washing hair and backs. It was all natural to them.

Pulling on her uniform, May gave herself a swift onceover before sprinting down the halls, Iris hot on her trail.

"This is all - " - huff - " - your - " - huff - "FAULT!" Iris called out, clearly letting exhaustion get the best of her.

May, meanwhile, was barely breaking a sweat. "Iris - if I miss - breakfast - because of YOU - "

But of course, before they could reach the last corridor, May collided right into a body, too distracted by Iris to notice until it was too late.

"Oww…" She peeked behind a hand at who she bumped into. Two red eyes shot daggers back. Great. The mythic bitch, Miette.

"Watch where you run," Miette sneered, picking all her books up in one sweep. She smirked as May struggled to get up, refusing to lend a hand and instead choosing to open her mouth. "This isn't the track, jockie. We don't need more brainless dumbasses around here."

May's eyes narrowed sharply. "Oh yeah? Think you can take me?" she growled, snapping her neck and knuckles. 

Ring!

"I think ," Miette twirled a loose lock of hair with her index finger, "that you are late."

Before May could retort, or worse, get physical, the final bell rang through the hall, too annoying to be ignored. With one last glare, the brunette grabbed her friend's arm and started up a sprint again, before the cafeteria closed. (Yes, the doors did close, due to being in the middle of the FUCKING GLIMWOOD TANGLE, creatures of the wild tended to crawl in uninvited. Such was the way of the outdoors.)

~°~°~°~°~°~

"May Perez-Quinnoes. Roll call, Quinnoes."

She could hear the teacher calling her name. One stop to drink from the water fountain had turned to glugging as much as she could down, and that turned to May gripping the doorknob and rushing in, too balled up in adrenaline to care about her probably-messed-up makeup, flinging herself into the classroom and, like a lunatic, screaming, "I'M HERE, MISS XANIA!"

"Ah, there you are." The delivery was comedy-gold deadpan, if you weren't May. The class was granted two seconds of snickering before the geography teacher silenced them, eyes cutting across the group of them maliciously. "Unfortunately, you are late. One more late walk-in and you will get a detention," she warned, pushing her oversized glasses onto her thin nose. 

As she settled into a seat, May shot Iris a flip off from under her desk, to which Iris rolled her eyes from across the room.

You're overreacting, she signed to May, as the class began to take out their books.

One more time and I get a detention! And it's literally the first week of school!

Yeah. They haven't sharpened their weapons yet. You'll get a mild beating at best.

May would've shoved her had she not been seated in Miss Xania's class, one trip up away from detention. She'd make sure to mess up Iris' Kalosian braid real good at lunch, though.

Dragging her eyes back to the blackboard, May prepared herself for the boredom to kick in. Classrooms were really not her thing; she liked physical activities best, but anything where she moved was ideal. Even homework was easier, because she wouldn't be scolded for sitting upside down in her own dorm.

But a small paper airplane, lined up perfectly, flew onto her desk. Inside the calculated folds, she found a note.

You should've seen your face. You looked hilarious. - D

She scouted the room, search ending at the very far left corner. A green-haired guy, who waved a hand at her flirtatiously when May found him. She scowled, scribbling on the airplane how about I punch yours in? and sent it on its way, temporarily satisfied.

Then it came back with an answer. Sounds like a date. ;) - D

May's face was entirely too hot now. She didn't dare look at him now, only write with greater annoyance, definitely not. but I bet you wish. For added measure, she crumpled the paper up, yeeting it across the room whilst everyone else was miles ahead in learning. But hey, this was important too! She was developing skills in telling off nitwits.

The next time it came around, it actually hit her head. And when May bent down to grab it, her chair gave a most mortifying squeal, directing all eyes to her.

Including Miss Xania's.

"Miss Quinnoes, is that a paper airplane?" the teacher said disdainfully. No, it's a puppy. "Give it to me."

May handed it to her silently. Shit.

"And who is the 'D' that was having such a succinct conversation with our Miss Quinnoes?" 

May immediately raised her hand, cursing her reflexive instincts. "It's all me," she spat out hastily, making it up as she went along. "I was, uh, thinking of scenarios, of uh, when a guy might ask me out."

The class giggled. Miss Xania groaned. "Teenagers," she muttered under her breath, before announcing, "Alright then, you'll have detention this afternoon alone."

May slumped into her seat, giving Drew a look of contempt that he didn't return. In fact, it seemed he was quite alright with her taking the blame. I officially hate you, Drew Hayden.

~°~°~°~°~°~

amber.

~°~°~°~°~°~

When things looked dire, Amber always defaulted to searching for food.

Amber had grown in the rougher parts of her Sector, her mothers owning a family restaurant called "Fiery Delights!". It was ingrained into her, all the directions, methods. And when she was promoted to a Palace Chef Assistant, everyone in her family had cried. 

More than that, Amber could always count on food to comfort her. When all seemed lost, she could make an ice cream sundae with Theodora, or eat some Cheri berries with Mama under the stars. Food was intrinsic in her connection with those around.

Following her nose, Amber had found a human establishment. The doors had been open, so she had assumed the people inside would be fine with her walking in! She hadn't meant to scare them!

They had screeched at her, calling her unfamiliar names, "fox" and "mutt". Grabbed long sticks with bristles and swung at her. Until one, with bright orange hair, had heroically saved her. 

She swore something had changed; maybe she had used a spell or a Move? Either way, in the middle of her dash around the building, the person gasped and grabbed her, bringing her into another, less crowded room.

The human that had rescued her cooed, rubbed her ears, and offered her a plate of strange food. She gobbled it up, and before she knew it, she had drifted off to sleep.

When she got up, Amber found an open window and jumped up and out, careful not to wake the human. It was raining lightly, and she carefully treaded the cement wonderland, exiting where she'd come. It was nice, but it's not where my Pokegirl is. She's somewhere else…

Amber took in her surroundings, chirping softly in delight. Before her, the forests had come alive; mushrooms of all colors were lit in multiple colors, and the roots added texture to the ground she loved to knead.

Amber started a run, leaping about and purring. It reminded her of the homeland forests, where she'd play with her sisters and mothers.

She took out her Pokegirl's Brooch, and had closed her eyes for just a second - a second! 

Her legs hadn't stopped moving, though. A gnarled root tripped her, and she was sent tumbling down, down, down.

And when she opened her eyes again, the Brooch was cracked.

Cracked!

Thunder cracked, and the rain began to pour. She had managed to find a good place to hide away, but her fiery coat was drenched. Clenching the trinket in her teeth, Amber prayed to Arceus to keep her alive.

Her fire was slowly fading away…

~°~°~°~°~°~

may.

~°~°~°~°~°~

Ah, lunchtime. The best time.

The cafeteria was packed to the brim, since the sun was shining through the clear dome of glass. May could see how they liked it, but she'd been blinded by the sun everytime she'd entered, so it really seemed like the sun was looking for a fight.

There were quite a few choices for food, but May quickly learned the best were often the ones at the end of the line. That space was reserved for beginner chefs that hadn't given up on life. With a nod, she ordered a kebab and sandwich, with grape juice as a side.

The next step for the perfect cafeteria experience was to grab a seat with friends. In this case, she went with Iris, Ash and Bianca. 

"Heya." She plopped her food down, pulled the plastic chair out with her foot and slid into it. Iris slapped her shoulder, the typical greeting, and Ash grinned, accidentally showing a mouthful of taco.

"Hey, hey!" May mock gagged. "I want to keep my appetite, thanks, Ash."

"Oop! Sorry." He swallowed. "So what's up with you guys?"

May let Iris do the talking, her focus dissolving to someplace else. In a blink, she was staring at Drew, who was seated diagonally from her. What a coincidence.

And of course, he had a band of fangirls with him, giggling . An extremely annoying and childish trait of womankind, in May’s opinion. Especially if it was giggling because of a stuck-up stupidass like Drew .

She painfully added dialogue to their moving mouths. Oh, Drew, you’re so cool! Is that a muscle I see! Ooh! I would die to touch your hair! 

Gradually, her scripts became less realistic, it seemed. Okay, so what? Still, they all said pretty much the same thing: that they viewed him like an object more than a person. Which annoyed May, of course, but also cast doubt on why they couldn't ogle over him without busting her fucking eardrums!

Forcefully, she snapped her gaze away, afraid she'd be caught staring. (Not that she cared, but imagine if he took it as an invitation!) When her eyes landed on Ash, her thoughts turned to another subject.

Ash.

May had already figured that she wasn't attracted to him herself. Lots of girls were, and they all seemingly had the universal reason: he was hot.

She also decided her own non-existent attraction was probably due to the fact that they had grown up together. He was like a twin to her, and her to him. Besides, crushes are supposed to account for ninety percent of high school drama! At least, her very reliable sources told her so. 

But anyway.

So May simply sat there, content to drop in an opinion when the conversation needed it.

Until a tap on her shoulder disturbed her. 

"Hey, can I sit with you guys?"

May prepared to invite whoever it was over, until she saw exactly who it was.

Oh, so that's how we're playing.

Before she could "politely" decline, Ash kicked a chair out. "Sure!" 

May swiveled to give him a glare, which went right over his head because of course it did. 

"Thanks." Drew picked at his meal with a critical eye, before turning to May. "Uh, so - "

May laughed loudly, slapping Iris on the back hard and earning an inquisitive look, before Iris started playing along. "Haha! That was such a great joke, Iris, old buddy old pal!"

"Oh, uh, that's - what I'm trying to say is - "

"Wait, what joke? Sorry, got lost in my thoughts." Ash scratched the back of his head, awkwardly chuckling. 

May leaned onto her elbows, ignoring Drew pointedly. "Oh, obviously I have to explain! So, there's this camel - "

" May !"

A smug grin on her face, May raised an eyebrow at Drew. "Hmmm?"

"I wanted to apologize."

"Okay."

Silence.

"So? Do you forgive me?"

She hummed. "Nope."

"Ah, that's a re - " The stricken look on his face? The cherry on the top. "Wait, what?"

"I said no. Is that it? Wanna leave?"

"Fine," Drew snapped, grabbing his tray in one swoop. But right was he was leaving, an idea struck May, and she grabbed his arm.

"Wait."

He didn't look at her, and his expression was obscured. "What?"

"You and me. A race, after my detention ." He grimaced at the words. "If you win, I'll forgive you. Deal?"

"And what happens if you win?"

May shrugged, impatient to let go of him. "You decide."

Though he wasn't facing her, May swore she heard his smirk in the following response.

"Deal."

~°~°~°~°~°~

P.E. Oh, how she loved P.E. A rush of adrenaline went through May as she walked through the beautiful field that contained the school’s physical activities. Everything thrown her way in this large yard was a challenge that both strengthened her body and calmed her mind, letting her rage and other negative emotions out through physical exercise. And today, it would be against the target of her displeasure.

She walked up to Coach Morrison, ready to ask for him to officiate the race, when she stopped in her tracks. What she saw only fueled her disdain for that dumbass. 

Drew was already there, talking to her coach, asking for her race. Well, to be fair, it was their race, but she was too irritated with him to indulge in logic. The little shit. He beat me to the coach. He probably thinks he’ll beat me in this race too.

She didn’t let her aggravation show, though. She strutted towards them, a wide grin on her face. Drew had a slight smirk on his face, and Coach seemed surprised by the proposal.

“So, what you’re saying is… you want a race between the One and Done Wonder?"

Ah, so my name has reached the Academy. The other schools she had attended called her the One and Done Wonder, because she had the tendency of trying a sport for one year, absolutely killing it, then leaving to repeat the process with another. May's heart started to hammer. Maybe I'll find a new sport this year!

Drew motioned with his arm towards May.  I see his confidence is back. Or should I say, arrogance. “Yep. That’s the one. Hey May, nice timing. Thought you might’ve, dunno, backed down or something.”

He’s trying to rile you up. Don’t give in. She let in a deep breath. Save all that anger for on the track.

“Hmmm, that’s funny. Because I thought the same of you.” She shrugged, then turned to Coach Morrison. “So, when’s the race?”

The man nodded, cracking a smile. "Always ready for running, I see. I think I'm gonna like you." He checked the schedule. "I figured we could lead with the race, then you two can cool down with some yoga or some shit while the others run.”

Drew nodded nonchalantly, and May had already dashed over to the running field, warming up her limbs. She made a show of being much more limber than her adversary, easily bending her leg up higher than necessary. The only reaction she got, unfortunately, was a bit of a flushed face from Drew, who averted his eyes. Ha. 

The coach came up, sat in his chair, and blew his whistle twice, calling over everyone. “The race between Drew Hayden and May Williams is about to begin. Please watch quietly,” he looked sternly at Drew’s posse of fangirls, “and afterwards start your own warm ups. Ready! Set!” He blew his whistle loudly, and with that, they were off.

It started out evenly, but after a few moments, Drew took an easy lead. Huffing, May seemingly struggled to keep up with the green-haired boy. At least, that’s what he thinks.

Still keeping a close lead, Drew ran towards the first mark. His first checkpoint, with him in the lead. Things were good. “Hey, May? Guess you’ll have to change your title to ‘former record holder’, eh?” He chuckled.

And then, just as they were reaching the second checkpoint, something major happened. Adrenaline running high, May felt that familiar feeling, and knew it was time to shine. She pumped her limbs faster, harder, changed her stance from “jog” to “run”, and flew . She ran like fire was flooding her veins; she felt like she could fly.

Something blurred past, and she was sure that something was Drew. She didn’t care, though, it was all about getting to the finish line first. She saw the third and last check mark up ahead, and ran like her life depended on it.

She whipped through, panting hard. Wiping off her sweaty face, May looked up at her beaming coach. He informed her that she had beaten the previously-held record of 39 seconds with   37.

And it's only Thursday.

Loud cheers erupted from the crowd of students, even the pack of Drew admirers. May felt her face heat up, though she was sure that it was because of her exhaustion. She then noticed that Drew was running up to her, and prepared her gloating, but his swagger wasn't diminished at all. In fact, he had an even bigger smirk on his face, it seemed. 

"So, you won."

She put a hand on her hip, rolling her eyes. "Yes, Mister Obvious."

"So I get to pick what happens?" He pretended to check his fingers nonchalantly, while May let his words sink in.

Her eyes widened. "Wait - "

"So I sayyyyyy… wanna come with me to a fashion show."

Thank God. Not a date. 

May's hands curled into fists, still very aggravated at him but unable to find the words. "You - I - "

"You can say no, of course." The mischief on his face knew she'd say yes. Because...

Because then I'll have to forgive you. They both knew it. And so, with the most begrudging expression, she nodded in agreement. 

"Alright. Fine. We'll talk later. I'm dorm A113."

He nodded agreeably and sauntered off, giving her a final wave off as the crowds ate him up.

It doesn't mean anything. So why is my heart still racing?

 A drop of rain hit the tip of her nose.

~°~°~°~°~°~

amber.

~°~°~°~°~°~

“WHAT HAPPENED TO IT?!"

Amber pawed at her ears, wanting to get buried underground. "It was an accident, I swear!"

A few things had happened before this. First, Amber had woken up in a wet crevice. Shaking off the moldy water droplets, she'd felt a pulse of power emit from somewhere nearby. So, she had ventured out into the wilderness once more.

And she had found another Partner. Who was furious at her. What a way to make an impression.

Fia looked like she'd pop a vein. “DO YOU KNOW THE EXTENT OF YOUR MISTAKE YOU COULD’VE -“

Amber sighed. “Yeah, yeah, I know. I was just looking at it, while looking for my Pokegirl, and, well, I tripped.” I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

Fia started taking in deep breaths, putting a ribbony feeler to her head. “Ugh. Hand it over, I’ll see if I can repair it with my magic.” She took the ruby-red emblem into her feelers, rubbing it with her nose. The crack faded away, to the instant relief of them both.

Amber's tail raised happily. “Great! Anyways, do you know where I can find anything to eat? I’m hungry.” Her stomach rumbled loudly, to enunciate her point.

Fía shook her head, to Amber's dismay. “We’ve got to get you to the regional school. That’s where your Pokegirl is, I’m sure of it – and where mine is too.”

“You already found your Pokegirl? Luuuuuucky,” she grumbled. “Hopefully my Pokegirl’s a chef. Or has Pokedollars to buy some food.”

“They don’t have Pokedollars here as currency, Amber.”

“WHAT?!”

Fia rolled her eyes. “Cmon. I’m sure she’ll have some kind of snack for you.”

“Yay!”

But just as she cheered, rain began to hiss down again. Purple clouds covered the sky. Fia shuddered, creating a shield for Amber. "It's them. "

Amber peered up. Two silhouettes floated perfectly still, occasionally highlighted by a lightning bolt.

"I think we outta introduce ourselves, don't you, Butchie boy?"

“Prepare for trouble…” 

“ …and make it double!” 

“Here’s our mission, so you better listen!”

“To infect the world with devastation!”

“To blight all people in every nation!”

“To denounce the goodness of truth and love!”

“To extend our wrath to the stars above!”

“Cassidy!”

 “And Butch, of course!”

"We’re Team Rocket, circling Earth all day and night!

Surrender to us now or you will surely lose the fight!"

~°~°~°~°~°~

may.

~°~°~°~°~°~

A flash of pink, and someone out of a superhero movie stepped out. May was frozen in place, not even realizing she was alone on the field. Everyone else had fled, why was she still here?

" - Pokegirl Serena!"

Pokegirl.

Why was that familiar…?

"Go! Shadow Venusaur!"

Cassidy threw down a small shiny ball, and out popped a grotesque caricature of a toad. It was goop-like in texture, its palette consisting of ugly, muted colors like faded green. It made May want to barf, was she not stuck in place. Like watching a movie, only worse. This is real.

Somehow, she knew.

The Pokegirl and the monster traded blows, but it seemed whatever attack Serena used - all of which caused a flash of pink to overtake May's vision - the Venusaur was unaffected. A small, wiry creature by her side was shouting about "type advantage", but soon, Serena was overwhelmed.

May finally gave in to her instinct and screeched. "Watch out!"

It happened in slow motion. A vine, connecting with Serena's spine. A crunch . Victory howls from the two Recruits - was that what the creature had called them? 

But May only focused on one thing: the Love Pokegirl knocked aside, landing like a ragdoll. 

" Serena!"

May was processing everything so fast, it was like watching it on a holoscreen. The colors were too sharp, and her nose was filled with a soothing perfume, something akin to what she vaguely remembered her mother wearing. May was lulled into a memory…

Her mother seated beside her, leaning right over her. The scent wafting downwards calmed May - who considered this a near-miracle - and slowly, carefully she fell into a deep sleep…

But then, instead of soft blankets curling around her, May felt bouncy fur under her hand; and where her mother's voice once was, now was a near-crying, harsh one.

" May, please. You gotta… you gotta do something !"

Her eyes slid downwards. Something orange, red - it was pushing something into her palm. Turning it over, she watched the colors bounce off it; it's some kind of trinket . But when she peered into the reflective surface, somebody else stared back.

" May, it's you."

There was that voice - faint but distinctive, as if May had always known it. 

The words were blurring into each other, burning into her mind, waiting. She whispered them into the world, unsure.

 " I pledge myself to the good for all. With this power, I will protect the innocent, fight the corrupt, and become my ultimate form."

The change was instantaneous. Her veins began to glow red, the power coursing through her, throbbing like a heart. May yelped, the air raising her, and her limbs flailed a bit as she tried to steady herself. 

A sparkling fire swirled around her, burning away her clothes to ash but leaving her skin stainless. Her yelp became a yell, a primally-charged release; she was a torch and nothing more, nothing less.

"Burn, powers of Fire! Bring me the promise of Tomorrow!"

The flames wrapped around her, blanketing her naked frame. The ashes of her previous clothes made a return, melting in the heat, morphing like coal into a diamond. 

The dress that resulted faded from light gray into darker shades as it traveled down her body, the skirt pillowing out from her waist, leaving room for kicks and any other action. The hems, however, were igneous; as she twisted all around, they glimmered like a real fire would.

The knee-highs and fingerless gloves retained this color scheme, and as she neared the climax of this metamorphosis, May saw, through the corner of her eyes, her hair grow and grow, brushing her shoulders as it finally reached her thighs and stopped. 

She was let down gently, but as soon as her feet touched the ground, a ring ignited around her, showcasing her power to the world. And she relished every second of it.

Making a peace sign, she gave a curtsy and shouted these words: 

" The charging incendiary, wrath incarnate! Pokegirl Haruka!"

Cassidy shuddered, shielding her eyes away from the bright flames. "Arceus, another one!" A sly smile slid onto her face, clearing away any trace of fear. "Not like you're much of a threat."

"I'd rethink threatening a Pokegirl," a voice retorted; Haruka's head bent downward. The fox - thing - from before! 

" My name is Amber, " the voice told her, and Haruka reconciled it and the body it belonged to. " You have to attack them with a Move! "

"How?" Harukas gaze wrenched away as a horrible squelching sound resounded. The frog-like monster charged at her, headbutting her hard in the stomach. She crashed into the school, cement crumbling around her like clay.

The Shadow was advancing again, and out of the corner of her eye Haruka saw Cassidy fumbling with a small orb. "Venusaur! Return!"

A small beam of blue light shot out, but the - the Venusaur jumped out of the way, beady eyes locked on Haruka. Her heartbeat filed her ears, blocking everything else out, as it made its way to her. She pressed herself against the wall, but it was no use. A goopy vine thrashed her side, knocking her aside.

She cried out, but didn't feel much pain. Funny. There should be a huge gash in my side by now. 

" Haruka! Haruka !"

Haruka tuned into her mental conversation again. Amber sounded urgent.

" Haruka! You've got to call out the name of a Move! "

And how do you suppose I do that, Amber? She leaped barely out of another vine. The Venusaur was picking up speed again, lashing out. Cassidy cheered it on, ball in her hands forgotten, while Butch was mysteriously gone from the scene. I don't know any moves!

" Easy! " Amber's voice was way too cheerful. " I know plenty of Fire-type moves! For example, Fire Blast, Fire Punch, Flamethrower - "

" Flamethrower! " Haruka called out, if only to stop Amber's rambling. To her astonishment, her hands ignited, and a moment later were shooting bursts of blazing-hot fire. "Whoa! Hot, hot, hot!" Strangely, the fire didn't immediately shrivel her hands to ash - the only ways she even felt them on her skin was a slight tingle, like hydrogen peroxide, and the heat.

Heat. Torrents of it burned through her body and off it. Haruka felt at home in it, but the monster seemed to react oppositely. It shrieked as soon as a spark flicked its way, dodging sloppily with its huge body. 

Haruka turned the Flamethrower onto it, pushing forward slowly, like a predator stalking her prey. The two humans dove out of the way just in the nick of time, but their pet was not so lucky.

"How do you like that?" It roared in response, torn between fear and fury.

"Too bad. Flamethrower!" The flames increased twofold, and the creature gave one last cry of anguish before disappearing in the void of orange and red.

The rest of it blurred in her mind. The sky reverted to dusklight colors. Haruka became May, and suddenly, someone clad in baby blue - just like her - came up to her. Her dirty blonde hair grew past her shoulders, and she wore a serious expression on her face. A cat followed her as well. 

"Did you -"

"Yes. And you need to come to my dorm. Now."

"But - "

The blonde gave her a pleading look, the cat almost otherworldly annoyed. 

"Trust me. We need to talk."

~°~°~°~°~°~

…?

~°~°~°~°~°~

"We got it. Some Bad Soul Energy."

Butch sounded incredulous as he said it. Cassidy simply stared at the small vial.

"I… you…"

Nobody dared speak it into reality, acknowledge what Butch had just accomplished. But it was seared into their minds.

"Who was it?" Cassidy finally broke the quiet.

"A kid. Ritchie, I heard some calling him." Butch tucked the vial away, trying to smile. "It's fine. It'll - " His voice broke off, and he covered his eyes reflexively, like he always did when he was near tears.

"Yeah. I know." 

"Was it always this hard?"

Cassidy bit her lip, the metallic taste of blood tipping her taste buds.

 "Yes."

Chapter Text

~°~°~°~°~°~

sapphire.

~°~°~°~°~°~

Sapphire wondered, in her downtime, if people noticed her. Always, the answer was no.

They overlooked her in Battles, never expecting it when she struck from behind. The look in their eyes always got to her; it was just... such an intense fear. 

They ignored her in public, always surprised when she ordered something from a café or otherwise interacted with another Pokemon. Acting as though they were Battling, always on guard. Ironic, of course.

It was less of a sore now, just annoying. Or maybe she had buried her emotions too deep,  drowning them in the ocean of the Greater Good, and now they were stuck. Not that she'd try to rescue them.

Sapphire knew that the way she acted affected other Ice-types. She was perpetuating the Arceus-old stereotype of Ice-type Pokemon being withdrawn, unsympathetic, introverted. But she didn't necessarily care; it was just how she was.

You weren't always like this , her father's voice chastised her, not unkindly, in her head. Reflexively, her claws began to stick out, though invisible to anyone who didn't know her. Her face stayed perfectly still.

I'm not that Pokémon anymore. I can't be a stand-in for her, she imagined her gritted-teeth reply. Silently, to herself she'd add, I could never replace her .

I just want the best for you. 

She would sigh. You don't know what's best for me.

Besides the scenarios playing in her head, the star-ride was uneventful. She landed softly on a hill of golden grass, and putting a paw into the soil, she put her past behind her.

~°~°~°~°~°~

dawn.

~°~°~°~°~°~

In the blink of an eye, it seemed, dusk turned to day. And as easily as she had gone to bed, Dawn got up, pulling the sheets off her bed with her enthusiasm. She sent a wince back, but then shook her head, making silly faces in the pastel bathroom's mirror until she cracked up. It's the Dawn of a new day, she thought to herself, giggling at the pun as she bounced into the shower.

The water was the perfect temperature, of course; she had programmed it herself. It hadn't been too hard, with only a few bumps in when it executed her code. The sensors had to be dulled as to not think she was entering every time she went for a piss.

When Dawn stepped out, soaked, two small pieces of wall shrunk away to reveal fans of warm air, drying her like a car. She revisited the mirror, preening to perfection efficiently, not a hair out of place under a white hairband when she exited into her equally light-hued bedroom.

She frowned at the emptiness of the room. Her father had vouched to keep her living with him, and the Academy had agreed, due to their… unusual living situation. Dawn had stayed silent, despite wanting to have a dorm and maybe meeting more people and maybe making some friends. But whatever worked for her father made her happy, she swore.

So she ignored the twitch of annoyance and carried on, pulling on her baby blue uniform and walking down the steps to the kitchen, where her father stood with breakfast.

"Morning, darling," he greeted her with a kiss on the head before sitting on a backless restaurant chair. "Eggs or bacon?"

"Eggs." She sat opposite to him, trying to look him in the eyes, which were glued to his phone. He'd nearly scraped off the eggs onto the counter, had she not moved her plate under them. "What's so interesting?"

"Oh - nothing!" He put the phone in his front jeans pocket, face flushing pink. "Just work stuff."

"Just work stuff," Dawn repeated, quirking an eyebrow. She crossed her arms in mock sterness. "Surely it can't be a man my father is interested in?"

He nearly choked on his coffee. "No - no, I will not be having this conversation with my daughter." He put a hand to his forehead and sighed, then chuckled, scooping some bacon into his mouth. He checked the hovering time and rubbed his stubble-ridden chin. "Enough of that, you playster. Go on, don't want to keep them waiting."

Dawn stuck her tongue, but obliged, continuing her taunt through a mouthful, "Alright, but I'm watching you. If you bring a strange man here - "

" Dawn! "

Swallowing and laughing to herself, she gave a bow and waved goodbye to him. "Love you!"

"Love you too, you pain in the ass," he called back. At that, Dawn walked past the open glass door and drew in a breath of fresh air. Clouds wisped around her feet, and she giggled like a little girl, playing a game of hopscotch on her front yard.

Things had been weird between them for the last few months. Her father had divorced her mother after realizing he liked guys, and though it was an amicable parting, everything still had this unreal aura around it. Maybe it was because she had been admitted to the Academy right after? Dawn wasn't sure. 

But that was behind her now.

Staring down at the world beneath her, Dawn felt a surge of adrenaline. She spoke aloud, "I wanna take the bungee cord."

"As you wish, Mistress of Doom."

Dawn suppressed another fit of giggles. It was a wonder her father hadn't figured that one out yet. Then again, he had installed the rope for Dawn, not himself. He'd just take the elevator like a coward. 

Gripping the rope with confidence, Dawn closed her eyes -

And lept.

~°~°~°~°~°~

sapphire.

~°~°~°~°~°~

  Knock knock knock.

Sapphire held her breath. This is it. You have to make a good first impression. 

She started pacing the hallway, carpet catching on her claws. She should've been going over introductions in her head, but words evaded her, swirling farther and farther everytime she grasped at them. She knocked again.

Knock, knock, knock.

A groan erupted from the other side, along with some muttered "fuck yous", and then the door opened. A girl, no older than fifteen, stood scowling at empty air.

"Ahem." 

Sapphire pawed at the adolescent's foot, backing away when the girl shrieked as if in intense pain. "Cold! Cold! Cold!" The Glaceon grimaced; guess humans aren't as cold-resistant as an average Pokemon.

This is not the way I wanted to be introduced.

"May? What's wrong?" Another voice entered the fray, concerned. May quieted down to a whimper before grabbing Sapphire by the waist; to which Sapphire reacted with a bite on the wrist. Blood flowed from the wound, but May grit her teeth and threw the Glaceon into a small white room, with a big tub in it. When the door closed, all light left the room.

She pressed an ear to the door, straining to pick up the voices. When they started talking again, it wasn't hard. They spoke very loudly, for people awake at two am.

"What happened? Are you bleeding ? Who do I need to kill ?"

"It's fine, Iris, I tripped." Sapphire felt a twinge of guilt and licked her chest self-consciously. Still, you didn't have to grab me so roughly. Any Pokemon with a lick of sense would act as I did.

The vibrations in the floor told Sapphire that another being had entered the room. With a jolt, she realized they were pawsteps.

"Can't believe they let you keep that dog," the human Sapphire had recognized as Iris sleepily mumbled. 

May chuckled forcefully. "You know me. Very convincing. Now, I think it's time for you to go to sleep. Go, go."

A door shut. Then, Sapphire's door opened.

"Sorry," May began. "She doesn't - "

"It's fine," Sapphire swept away briskly, slipping through May's thin legs and eyeing the room critically. There seemed to be a wall right between the two, and this room was quite… red. "Do you know where my Pokegirl is?"

"No, I - "

But May was cut off, yet again, by another Pokemon sliding towards Sapphire, trilling happily. Before she could skid to a halt, however, the momentum carried her all the way over - and into - the Glaceon. Heat flooded her pelt as Sapphire quickly realized what kind of Pokemon she was.

A Fire-type.

"HimynameisamberandohmygoshyouaretheprettiestcanIthinkIloveyou." The Flareon nuzzled Sapphire's neck, and to her horror, looked ready to begin grooming her.

Backing away, she frowned at the energetic state of Amber, who wasn't diminished in the slightest by her dour attitude. Huh.

"Sorry about that, uh, I get excited around new people…" Amber anxiously licked her neck fur, and Sapphire barely managed to hide her displeasure. "Uh, anyways… you are a Partner, right? And any Partner needs to know the basics of a human's room. Follow me!"

With all the bumping around and enthusiastic shouting, the Glaceon was unsure how the other - presumably non-Pokegirl - adolescent had yet to notice them. 

Amber caught onto her thoughts, or maybe was just less of an idiot than previously expected, because she hastily added, "Don't worry about Iris, by the way. Apparently, when we came to Earth, our magic takes a little time to settle and camouflage us. Or so Fia says."

Fia?

"Oh!" A lightbulb went off in the Flareon's head. "We should tell Fia we've found a Partner! May! May! "

I can see that this is going to take a while. Her thought process is all over the place. "Weren't you going to show me some human amenities?" Sapphire blinked; but Amber was already around the bend and away. Her claws slid out in frustration, but she carefully sheathed them. These are the only magicals I'll have to trust. I have no other choice but to trust them.

A whisper in her mind disagreed quietly. You can run away. Live on Earth, start a new life. Fate, Destiny… they do not have to entangle you in this. 

She calmly declined this alluring fantasy. Much as I would love to escape, it would never be that easy. I chose this path the moment I got on that star. Now I must live with it.

Amber returned just as she'd come to this conclusion, along with May and two unfamiliar characters. One was a Pokemon; a Sylveon to be precise. A Fairy-type. Hmmm… A Fairy for Love, a Fire for Fire. How odd that I, an Ice-type, was chosen for the Sky Pokegirl.

The other unknown figure was a blonde-haired girl with big sapphire blue eyes, ones that reminded Sapphire of him. Ones staring directly at her.

"Oh my gosh, she's so cute ," the Glaceon's ears caught the girl murmuring into her hands. 

"I know right," Amber replied easily.

To this, Sapphire's smooth facade broke a bit, her eyes widening just the slightest in surprise. A rush of heat flooded her body, leaving no visible mark; still, she felt like covering her face with her feelers.

Cute?

"Salutations," the Sylveon - whom Sapphire assumed was Fia - greeted briskly. Everyone snapped back to attention. "My name is Fia, and this is my Pokegirl, Serena." She gestured dully at her accompanying adolescent, who stuck her tongue out at the flat tone.

"Salutations. I am Sapphire, the Sky Pokegirl's Partner - "

"Wait, wait, wait," Serena interrupted, hands flailing around. " Sky ? How many Pokegirls are there?"

May slung an arm around Serena's shoulder roughly, to which the latter winced. "Yeah! What she said!"

Sapphire turned her gaze to the two Partners, eyes narrowing. "You didn't explain the Five Elements to them yet?" 

Fia took this as an accusation, pelt sticking up on end and face flushing. "I - I did ! Serena, don't you remember when I started explaining the universe to you?"

A blank look crossed the girl's face, trying to recall something that quite obviously did not stick. "Was that what you were babbling to me about when I was playing Flightless Birds Go ?"

"You were playing a game on that thing? I thought you were recording me! You told me that was something that device could do!"

"Yeah, but you were starting to blather on about physics, so I got bored."

As the pair began to bicker, Sapphire padded over to Amber. "Did you have any luck with your Pokegirl?"

Amber avoided Sapphire's eyes, like a kit who was caught eating sweets late in the night. "W - Well, I - you see - it wasn't - I didn't - "

Sapphire sighed. "I should've expected it. Ahem."

" - well, maybe if YOU had led with 'this is important Pokegirl stuff' - " Serena poked Fia right on the nose.

"Ahem."

"Please! I would never start an important discussion with such an idiotic phrase! Maybe YOU should assume everything I need to talk to you about is - "

"AHEM!"

Both Pokegirl and Partner stopped mid sentence, giving each other petty looks before facing Sapphire.

"I will explain it, then. There are five basic elements in our universe – Fire, Water, Earth, Sky, and another, which goes by many names in different worlds. The Solarians call it Spirit. The Crested, Aether. But Terahians use the name Love."

 "The Pokegirls have not always been based on these elements. Nor have they always consisted of five individuals. It very much depends on the climate of Terahia, since that is where the tradition comes from."

She noted to herself, The last time there was a band of Pokegirls based in the Five Elements was… it was the very first group. Things must be dire in Terahia if Fate chose such important magicks to give.

"Terahia is in trouble. And you must bring together the rest of the Pokegirls to bring peace to both of our worlds. Now, how are we going to find my Pokegirl?"

May slumped against the wall of the closet. "Don't look at me. I'm too sleep deprived for this." Sapphire didn't object; the bags under May's eyes were evidence enough.

"I think I might have an idea," Serena announced. Fia scoffed, earning a too-hard slap on the back from her Pokegirl. "There's going to be an 'official' welcoming party hosted by some seniors out in the woods, in some teacher's building that didn't get used this year."

"Serena, this is no time for your 'school activities'," Fia shook her head disapprovingly. "I think - "

"Let me finish, darnit! Sapphire, you can sense when your Pokegirl is nearby, right?"

Sapphire nodded. Serena continued, "So we bring you to the party, and you can find your Pokegirl there." She sent a scathing look at Fia. "That sound good, Miss Prissy?"

Fia's mouth opened, then closed, then opened again, and Sapphire almost - almost - laughed at the sight. It was pretty clear that the Sylveon was trying - and failing - to find a hole in the plan. Which is a pretty solid plan, Sapphire ascertained. At least two of us have half a braincell here.

"Fine," Fia huffed at last. "We can do that. But one thing needs to be confirmed before we leave." She ignored the loud groan that came from May. "Where are you going to sleep for the time being, Sapphire?"

Sapphire pondered this. Serena and Fia seem nice enough, but I'd rather not have to listen to them bicker like cubs. Amber, on the other paw…

She didn't like Amber one bit. She was entirely too happy in a situation like this, and - to be blunt - confusing. Really, it was just a battle of who she disliked more.

"I'll stay here."

"Really?!" Amber exclaimed, tail wagging like a Arcanine. "I mean, uh, cool. Cool, cool, cool." She giggled to herself.

This was a bad idea.

"Before you offer anything, I'll sleep on the couch." Sapphire cast a glance behind her, only to hastily turn away. The pure rejection in Amber's eyes sent a black hole into her stomach.

The others whisked around amd away from her as she settled on the "couch" - actually a beanbag chair in the center of very mismatched room.

And for the first time in a long, long while, Sapphire yearned for a close, sleepy warmth. 

~°~°~°~°~°~

dawn.

~°~°~°~°~°~

Dawn casually strolled through the dense undergrowth, careful not to step on any purple mushrooms as she trekked through the Glimwood Tangle forest.

She thought back to her home in the sky. Her father had assured the Academy's high-brow leaders that his house would not obstruct or trespass school property. So far, this had been the case. But how long will this last?

Dawn's father was very eccentric, to say the least. His pride and joy was his daughter, and he spent his life inventing day after day to accommodate her. And yet, he never took an excessive amount of money off them. Only what they needed for supplies, and food. The rest went to bank accounts, friends, or charities.

A small chirp ! came from Dawn's wristwatch, and she hastened her pace to a jog. I always wake up too early and just take in the surroundings. It really is beautiful here.

She entered through the curlique black gates, steps echoing against pavement in a delightful acoustic melody, as students poured into the hallways with the bright smiles of the morning.

Over the speaker, Dawn could hear more of Burgundy's and Georgia's wrestling for the microphone, with accented halfassed censors that most certainly would get them in detention, once the day was done.

Of course, before Dawn got to her actual classroom, she got a few accidental intrusions. I really do need to put a map on this thing . She glanced irritably at her useless watch.

When she finally got to History, most seats were already taken. Thankfully not "her" seat though. And by "her" seat, I mean the desk right behind Zoey Prescott.

There was no official claim on this chair as of yet, but Dawn was seriously considering getting one. Then again, the rational part of her mind went 'what if Zoey moves' and that settled it. She needed fluidity, you know, just in case .

Zoey had yet to notice Dawn (or her consistent seating), and Dawn didn't blame her. Zoey was a part of the skateboarding team - yes, team - that Dawn cheered for; or at least, one of the teams she cheered for, but I digress.

Her red hair looked ready to ignite, in a cut her father would've called "spunky". Her head bobbed to the beat of unheard music, streaming through glittery blue headphones. She always pulled them out right before class started, though Dawn could only guess as to why. Isn't she afraid to get caught?

But then, once Miss Hemmings arrived, the headphones always mysteriously vanished.

After about an hour of staring and writing exactly nothing helpful (and doodling little chibis of herself and Zoey making out), Dawn began to pack up for the next class, when Miss Hemmings stopped her.

"I have an announcement," she spread her arms wide, a serene smile on her face. "Today we are starting projects on the upcoming school-wide trip to Qurity, the capital of the United."

Zoey's head tilted ever so slightly, so little that Dawn should not have turned all her attention to that movement. Dammit. The teacher’s talking. Gotta stop being so gay.

"Each pair will get their own subject, like the arts, the culture, or even the advancements made by Qurity in its history. All of you will receive an o-flyer with more information. Now, for the pairs."

Usually, Dawn had to wait quite a bit for the teacher to get to her in pairing assignments. But today was an unusual day, it seemed.

"Dawn Roseberry and Zoey Prescott."

Oh shit. Shit shit shit shit shit .

Zoey turned, tongue sticking out at the corner of her mouth. “Hey, looks like we’re working together. My name’s Zoey, I don’t think we’ve met? So, uh, hi.” She stuck out a wow her skin is flawless hand for Dawn the melting puddle to take.

Touching. Zoey touching me Zoey Zoey Zoey oh shi -

Dawn’s brain was speeding lightyears ahead of her body. Do something! It screamed at her. “Yeah, um, I’m Dawn. Yeah, hi.” 

The fuck was that?

They maintained eye contact for just a tad too long to be heterosexual, and then -

"Okayseeyoulaterokaybye - " Dawn scooped up her belongings and scurried out as fast as possible, face burning.

Well, that could've gone better.

~*~*~*~*~*~

The late sunlight burned Dawn's skin as she began her warmups, bouncing over her easily. One two three, one two three, it was all muscle memory by now. Cheerleading since middle school did that to a girl.

Coincidentally, the skateboarding team was also out, doing a scrimmage to practice their skills. Obviously, all of the teammates were cute enough, but only one seriously caught Dawn's eyes. 

Bright red hair that really glowed, now that the outside light shone on it. Teal eyes flickering with determination. Strong muscles flexing in the daylight. Yep, Dawn was about ready to faint - Zoey was like the sun; exceedingly hard to look. 

"Dawn!"

Dawn's face began to flush, and not just from exertion. She had been caught red-handed - er, red-faced? Red-eyed? It didn't matter. She was caught.

Her coach, a peppy short woman with twin blonde pigtails, gave her a slap on the back, as if to wake her up. "C'mon, Dawn! Warm ups are over. Let's go over to training."

But - 

It was too late for protests though. Dawn was already being pulled away from her vantage point, and Zoey was obscured by the others on the half pipe.

Dawn's mood plummeted, but she kept a smile on her face almost all throughout practice. Almost.

Then this girl - or person - approached Zoey.

Okay, so maybe Dawn had sneaked off again to see Zoey from the rosters. And maybe she had gotten a little jealous when she was another girl talking to her crush.

They held a conversation better than her, at least. It had gone on for at least two minutes - three minutes! Her watch was useful after all!

What she didn't expect was for the same girl to come up her later. She inwardly winced, expecting the brunette to have taken notice and asked her about her stalking, or worse, pulled her aside to tell her off for staring at her girlfriend.

But the girl, May her pin said, seemed cheerful enough. "Heya! You heard of the party this weekend?"

"No, I haven't. What is it for?"

"It's a welcoming party for all the newcomers. Which is us! I think." Her mouth twisted. "Are you new?"

"Yeah. I'm Dawn."

"May." She put up a hand, and Dawn slapped it with ease. "Anyway, Zoey or somebody just wanted me to tell you about it, in case you didn't know."

Zoey?

Wanted me?

To go to a party?

Dawn accidentally let out a squeal of delight, then tried to hide it horrendously with a faked cough. "Oh, uh, that's nice of her. That stranger. Haha. Oh, I gotta go now! Bye May!"

Before she could fully escape May's confused gaze, Dawn clumsily bumped right into somebody leaving the field. 

Zoey.

"Oh - Oh - Sorry! I'm such a dumbass - "

"No, no, it's fine, it's fine - "

Something about this rushed moment of adrenaline pushed Dawn to blurt, "WILL YOU GO TO THE PARTY WITH ME?"

Zoey looked taken aback, probably questioning Dawn's sanity, but then she smiled, and nodded. "YEAH, I'D LOVE TO!" she dorkily replied in the same tone of voice.

Dawn was now twice as flustered. Her face was definitely a different shade entirely. "OkaythankyoubyeIloveyou -"

And then, now twice in a row, she ran off. 

Everything around her was sparkling with an aura Dawn couldn't describe, except that it radiated happiness . Not only was she going to the school of her dreams, she was also attending a (semi-legal) party with the girl of her dreams! (Only the most recent dreams, of course.)

A genuine grin grew on her face. My first high school party. Wait until I tell Dad!

~°~°~°~°~°~

sapphire.

~°~°~°~°~°~

A claw slashed her chest, once, twice, thrice. "Pathetic. You aren't good for anything, are you, Sapphy?"

"Please." She begged, loudly, publicly. Nobody seemed to pay her any attention. "Please show some mercy, Zera."

"Now, come on, Sapphy. This isn't the time to beg." Zera's draconic smirk turned into a snarl as her clawed hands wrapped around Sapphire's throat roughly, drawing blood in small streams. "I heard that a certain someone was chosen by the Queen herself, to be an assistant. How incredible! But surely, she wouldn't leave her poor girlfriend all alone?"

Sapphire couldn't respond, the world fading at the edges of her vision. She was coughing blood now, and she was positive that a hole was punctured in her esophagus. 

The Charizard's breath was hot on Sapphire's face, now singed with the heat. She was going to melt like an ice cube in the Time of Lumiere.

"You were going to break my heart, weren't you?"

"No! Zera!"

Sapphire awoke in a cold sweat. Trembling all over, she silently peered at her surroundings. I'm okay. I'm okay. She repeated the mantra until she was sure it was stuck in her paranoid brain. It was just a stupid -

"Sapphire?"

Sapphire's pelt rose in shock, and she hissed and swiped, just missing Amber's little hair tuft by a thread. "Apologies. I… yeah. Nightmares. I'm fine now, though."

Amber looked at her sleepily, eyelids drooping. "Are you sure? You know, I can still come over if you - "

A scent wafted from the Flareon. Warm, smoky. Like her.

"No! I'm fine! I promise!" Sapphire winced at how high her voice had risen. But she needed to be alone.

Amber stepped back, eyes widening at Sapphire's sudden outburst. "O-Okay."

Sapphire just stared at her retreating form, and when it disappeared, she stared at the wall. She told herself rejecting Amber was for the Greater Good. Fate didn't want unneeded attachments. And while there wasn't exactly a guide to this partnership, Sapphire was one hundred percent sure that romance - or whatever this was - between Partners was unnecessary. 

So why do I feel so guilty?

~°~°~°~°~°~

Human kits, much alike to Pokémon children, were loud.

It was the night of the party. Sapphire was mostly protected from view in Serena's sack or "backpack", but a feeling of unease made itself known in her chest, tightening frequently. Magic still hadn't kicked in and camouflaged her.

The blue sack was cramped and kind of smelly, and now Sapphire was regretting all her life choices.

Constantly, Sapphire was bombarded both by the pumping music and the questioning voices of the teens who came up to Serena and asked why she had "a fucking backpack in at a school party" (whoever asked that got a particularly rude response from Serena).

From the small hole where the zipper was unclosed, Sapphire could peek outside, watching the ice slowly break and the other humans beginning to dance. It reminded her of the Moonlight's Eve Ball, which was moons away from happening - or was it? Who knew what time it was on Terahia. Homesickness hit Sapphire hard for the first time. 

Soon, Serena joined the crowd, and Sapphire was jostled this way and that. Ordinarily, she was just annoyed, but then her paw began to shine a gorgeous sky blue, and she knew.

"Serena!" She whisper-shouted. "Serena!"

"Huh? What is it?" Serena sounded slightly annoyed, but Sapphire ignored it. No time to dwell on human oddities.

"My paw is reacting! Come on, we have to go find my Pokegirl!"

Serena stayed stagnant, and Sapphire heard her breathing deeply. "Alright. Okay. Remember, you can talk to Ash later."

Then they began to move.

Whoever this Ash is, I might have to dispose of them. No distractions.

"Okay, so pay attention to your paw, and we can pretend to play Hot and Cold. Y'know, for cover reasons."

"Okay." Sapphire shrugged. It was a child's game, but then again, Serena was closer to a child then an adult, right? Sapphire peered at her paw, willing it to glow. Nothing. "Hot."

"Hot? Already?" Serena hummed a tune and kept heading in the same direction. Sapphire then realized that they might have gotten their games mixed up, but she held off on correcting Serena. Why? 

A smirk tugged at the corners of her mouth, and Sapphire let it grow into a side smile. "Cold."

"Aww, man."

"Hot. Cold. Hot."

It went on like this for a while.

Then, Sapphire's paw actually began to glow again. Faintly at first, but then all at once. And Sapphire decided to end the little game she was playing. Nosing the zipper open, Sapphire leaped out, scrambling into the throng without looking back.

Serena, of course, caught notice, since all the belongings spilled from the open backpack, but it was too late.

"Sapphire! Sapphire!"

Sapphire had made up her mind. Weaving and bobbing through feet and legs, she crawled through the crowd, following her instincts instead of her logic for once.

Soon, Serena's voice was nothing but a nuisance echoing in the back of her mind, and she could finally focus on her paw, which was blinking repeatedly. She must be close.

"Hey, isn't that - "

"Move it," Sapphire told the human - who she recognized as Iris.

"Wait - you can TALK?"

I'll deal with that later. First - Dawn.

Her name was Dawn.

"Dawn!"

A girl with a light blue sleeveless dress perked up, looking excited at her name being called. Sapphire took this as proof of her identity, and immediately walked up to her, placing a paw on her shiny black shoe.

"Hello - "

But before she could get another word out, the blunette screamed . Clearly, she had never seen a Glaceon - or anything adjacent to one - before in her life.

 Then a crawling sensation creeped over Sapphire, and a loud crash sounded from the center of the large building. A voice spoke up from the darkness.

" Guess who's crashing the pa-rty !"

Sapphire strained to see what was happening.  Cackling, a Recruit jumped out of the shadows, throwing a ball out of her hands. "Go, Shadow Butterfree!"

As it cut through the air, it opened, and streamers of blue light burst from it, revealing a dreadfully familiar figure. Sapphire felt like vomiting; the creature was dripping substance , and it's colors were all too muted. No wonder it's called a Shadow Butterfree.

"Come here, precious," the woman outstetched a finger, cooing the horrendous creature to her. She took out a vial, pouring a suspiciously dark red liquid onto the Butterfree. The Butterfly Pokemon screeched, and Sapphire had to bend over and cover her ear with her paws. No, no...

"Now, find a target and use Leech - "

"Stop right there! A beacon of Hope in the blinding Darkness! Pokegirl Serena!"

I have to go, and wait for Dawn. The Pokegirls will take care of it. And with that, Sapphire blended into the background, unnoticed by all.

~°~°~°~°~°~

dawn.

~°~°~°~°~°~

" Rise , powers of Love! Bring me the promise of Hope!"

Silk-like fabrics flew through the air over Dawn's head, shades of warm blacks and pinks that blurred into each other. They gathered to a cylinder of water-like light, forming a dress that seemingly attached to no one at first glance.

Then, Dawn looked a little closer.

There's somebody in there!

Hair twirled around their head, lengthening a considerable amount before curling at their sides into long dirty blonde ponytails. As Dawn subconsciously stepped forward, a wave of heat blasted towards her. But it was… it was easing, as much as it dizzied her too.

Then, the person struck a pose, head tilted to the side flirtatiously as they made a heart gesture with their outstretched hands.

" A beacon of Hope in the blinding Darkness! Pokegirl Serena!"

"My turn," someone else shouted, and Dawn recognized May, holding a small silvery object in her hand, raised above her head.

"Burn, powers of Fire! Bring me the promise of Tomorrow!"

Another torrent of heat blasted Dawn, but she ignored it, watching May's clothes burn away in a pillar of fire. Then, the flames wrapped around her, obscuring her from the world. Bits of ashy gray and black twirled around her like spring blossoms, becoming something else entirely.

The dress that resulted faded from light gray into darker shades as it traveled down May'd body, the skirt pillowing out from her waist in a cut Dawn didn't think May would ever wear. It was gorgeous nonetheless; the edges resembling a flame as she twisted all around,  glimmering like a real fire would.

Her hair also grew, though not growing into another style like Serena's. Dawn watched, speechless, as May stomped down, a ring of rainbow fire ignited around her feet. Making a peace sign and winking, the remade girl gave a curtsy and called out these words: 

" The charging incendiary, wrath incarnate! Pokegirl Haruka!"

Blasts of light burst all around the battlefield, and Dawn grunted as it pushed her to a crumbling wall. The sheer force of it was incredible…

But the other two newcomers did not seem impressed. One - yellow-headed, the owner of whatever that thing was - put a hand on their hip, tutting and shaking their head.

"Are you done yet? We haven't even gotten a chance to introduce ourselves!"

"We know who you are, dumbass! We just don't fucking care!" Haruka crossed her arms in a huff, body flaring. It took a bit of mental reconciling for Dawn to put two and two together. May, Haruka. She was so sweet earlier, though! 

"Enough chitchat," the other dark-clad figure said impatiently. The Pokegirls seemed surprised he'd spoken at all; Dawn guessed he was a quieter type. "Butterfree, use Poison Powder."

Dawn's focus snapped back to the Butterfree, whose eyes glowed eerily purple. They reminded Dawn of the mushrooms in the forest; some were harmless, but others shot out spores that made her sick on a camping trip once. 

Stranger than that, a voice, clear and slow, began to speak in her head. 

Butterfree. The Butterfly Pokemon. The final evolution of Caterpie. In battle, it flaps its wings at great speed to release highly toxic dust into the air.

As the voice spoke, the Butterfree's wings began to flutter at higher and higher speeds, until Dawn could barely tell one from the other. A purple gust of sparkly dust blasted what was now an arena of battle.

Haruka had dodged the attack completely, leaping out of the way, but Serena was hit full on, and it took a number on her. She clutched the fabric covering her stomach and doubled over, groaning loudly in despair.

Poison Powder is a Poison-type move. It's super-effective against Fairy-types, which is what Serena is equivalent to.

"Serena! Are you okay?" Haruka called from the other side of the room, safely away from the purplish smoke. A look of concern was plain on her face, warring with caution at the gradually approaching smoke. 

"Cassidy, quick! Use Rain Dance to knock out the other one!"

"I know that, Butch," Cassidy retorted, giving him an irritated look. "Don't give away our plan!" She swiveled to her Pokemon. "Butterfree, use Rain Dance on the Fire Pokegirl!"

Butterfree gave a distorted cry, one that hurt Dawn's ears. It was impossibly high, and yet she could still hear it…

Then, the butterfly flew up into the night sky from the hole where Cassisy and Butch gad broken in. Everyone held their breath, frozen, Dawn included. What's happened to Serena? And how is Haruka going to rescue her?

Pitter, patter. Rain was falling through the hole, right on top of the two Pokegirls like a wet spotlight. It washed away the cloud of purple, but Dawn still felt anxiety tug at her gut. Serena still hasn't gotten up…

The pink Pokegirl lay on the floor, motionless. Haruka let out a harsh laugh.

"Of course you go and faint on me again, Serena! Leaving all the work for me again? Seriously?!" The rain not only wet her clothes, but her flames too. When Haruka tried sticking out her hands in what should've been an attack, nothing happened. It did evoke cackles from the crew of evil. "Oh, come on! "

Rain Dance is a Water-type move, the mysterious voice narrated as May tried to get a spark of fire out of different limbs. It powers up other Water-type moves, and significantly decreases the power of Fire-type moves. In this case, so much that Haruka cannot even attack.

"Alright, Butterfree, you've gotten this far! Finish them off with Sleep Powder!"

The Butterfree nodded, gave another earsplitting cry, and rose, flitting this way and that, scattering what looked like small scales of its wings. Everyone took one whiff and slumped over.

Well, almost everyone.

Dawn now stood out against the floor of bodies of teenagers, catching the eyes of Cassidy and Butch. "Hey, come you aren't asleep?! Butterfree, go!"

The shadowy creature locked eyes with Dawn for a few heart-stopping seconds, before Dawn did the sensible thing and got the fuck out of there .

Diving into the closest room she could find, Dawn took a few moments to catch her breath, before she realized she was not alone.

"Hello, Dawn."

"Agh!" Dawn jumped back, peering down. A small, suspiciously familiar -

You screamed at me before those Recruits came. The voice from before briskly cleared up any confusion, then interrupting any apologies with I'm Sapphire.

"Sapphire… why… how…"

"You are my Pokegirl." Plain and simple, just the way Dawn liked it. Except in this case, when it opened more cans of worms then it closed. "And as you can see, you are needed out there."

"But - " Dawn shook her head. This day definitely has gone in a different direction then I'd ever expected… but I'm needed out there. "Help me, then."

Sapphire concentrated, closing her eyes, and a golden-azure talisman out of her chest. She padded over softly to Dawn, placing it in her hand.  "Hold this Brooch and repeat the phrase."

" I pledge myself to the good for all. With this power, I will protect the innocent, fight the corrupt, and become my ultimate form."

The next words in the incantation, Dawn spoke alone. "Come, Winds of Change! Bring me the Path of Happiness!"

The light pouring out of the tiny trinket was unimaginable, shining all sorts of blues. Rushes of air carried Dawn up and off the ground, beams of flowing sky-blue light accompanying them. Each beam carried an emotion; first a wave of calm passed through her hands like water, then a determination struck her head like fire. 

Her hair became longer and undone, cascading down her back like a soft cloud. Her dress had shoulder-sleeves of the lightest, shimmery blue Dawn had ever seen, the colors blending in a dark to light ombre like Haruka's. The trims held a golden color that glowed when the light hit it, reminding her of sunlight on a clear day. The skirt didn't poof like the others' had, instead flowing down her easily. 

The accessories accented this as well, with some elbow length white gloves for her hands, a transparent cape adorning her shoulders, and small, sandal-like shoes covering her feet..

Now that her transformation was complete, Dawn couldn't help but give a twirl of delight, her arms flinging out like she was about to give Sapphire a hug.

" The calming wind! The dancer in the sky! Pokegirl Hikari! ”

"There! I saw a light flash in there!"

Hikari burst outside, racing down into the fray with newfound speed. "Tell me, Sapphire, what to do next!"

You are super-effective already against Butterfree, you just need to think of a Move to use, the Glaceon helpfully told her.

Moves, Moves , Hikari repeated, as Butterfree prepared to use a Move itself. Come on! Magical brain, go!

"Unleash the Air Slashes!"

Hikari felt strikes of weaponized air hit her right in the stomach, bringing her into the night sky. But gravity seemingly failed to bring her down.

"I can FLY ?!" she exclaimed happily. 

Focus! 

"Sorry! Uh, how do I - "

Hikari paddled through the air, using less force then she would with water, letting loose a few Air Slashes (AIR SLASHES) back, from her vantage point before crashing clumsily back into the ground. "Miss me?'

But nobody was there. Quickly, she scanned the room. Butch was tending to his fallen Pokemon, spraying something onto its wings. I'll take care of that later , Hikari concluded. Something tells me Cassidy is a bigger threat.

When Hikari found the blonde in a closet, bent over none other than Zoey, holding a knife to her neck, instinct took over, or maybe it was fury. But the next thing she knew, Cassidy had a shoe to the face, and then was laying unconscious moments later.

After moving Zoey away, Hikari turned her attention back to the Butterfree, who looked spent. The use of so many Move has cost it energy, plus the fact that you retaliated so hard…

Hikari felt pity for it, even as she charged up her most powerful Move yet. The Winds of the Earth swirled all around her, right in her grasp, lifting her until she couldn't see anything but the clouds dancing around her. Then, she cried into the night.

" Hurricane! "

And the winds flooded out, some escaping in other directions, but most hitting the Pokemon in an eerily similar fashion. Just like when it attacked Serena.

Blurrily, Hikari dropped, power almost fully extended now. She sensed there was just enough for one more Move, and she crawled over to where Serena's body lay.

"Roost…"

Feathers flooded her vision, and she heard Serena gasp awake before she, too, collapsed against the wooden floor.

"You…" Serena looked at her with admiration, and gratitude. "Thank you. Did you - "

"Yes." The frightening thought of Zoey and Cassidy was brushed away when a golden, tiny Butterfree landed on her nose. She instantly felt a little reinvigorated, and knew Serena felt the same.

A swarm of these tiny butterflies flooded the room, placing a little spell of waking on everybody. Lots of confused teenagers surrounded the two Pokegirls, now de-transformed.

Dawn sprang up, trying not to wince and putting on a smile. "You, uh, have experience with this sort of thing?" she asked, lending Serena a hand up.

"Kinda." Serena returned the smile. Then her smile turned into an expression of worry. "Where's May -"

"Over here." May walked over sluggishly. "Hey."

The three girls simply looked at each other. Then, Dawn began to laugh. Soon the other two joined in, and Dawn heard a purr from between her legs. Looking down, she was met with the face of a black-and-white cat.

This is my disguised form, Sapphire confirmed. Dawn picked her up happily, just as Serena squealed.

"Guys! I just had the best idea!"

"What?" May put a hand on her hip, slightly skeptical. 

"Okay, so maybe we can make a Pokegirls club! That way, we can have a place to talk without meeting at two am!" Serena copied the motion. The two girls stuck their tongues out at each other as Dawn digested this.

"I think… I think that could work, actually. But - how many people are there in this, uh, group of ours? We have to organize so none of us have to give anything up."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Serena said dismissively. "We'll wait until we are a whole group."

They all lifted their eyes towards the hole in the roof, still there, and at the stars in the cloudless night sky.

Silently, they left the scene with the rest of the disoriented teenagers. But Dawn felt a warm orb of hope in her chest.

Fate chose me.

~°~°~°~°~°~

Chapter Text

~°~°~°~°~°~

willow.

~°~°~°~°~°~

The worlds were on the brink of destruction, that much was clear.

The worlds were on the brink of destruction, but that wasn't what was on Willow's mind at the moment.

No, Willow was very exasperated because of the celestial body she was currently using to journey to Earth. With a dissatisfied grumble, the Leafeon pushed all four paws hard on the star she was riding, getting a feel of its firmness. Stars must have at least a 1.5 on the Tohs scale in order to be up to code for interplanetary travel. The blobby, smooth texture of the light orb was… disconcerting.

Willow huffed imaptiently, paws itched to pace. It helped her think of solutions quite often - but the small star only let her lay in the same spot, anchored to a small chocolate chip in the vast vat of universe ice cream.

And it's not like there's much else I can do, besides create analogies for my loneliness, she concluded to herself, shutting herself away from the systems blurring by.

Closing her eyes, she brought up an electric blue interface, containing many rows of now-outdated research. This was the journal implanted in her head while she had worked at the palace, an example of their peaks in technology. She thought of Earth, and the image of the blue-green orb came to her immediately, tinted blue by the light. She recited each item she had written beforehand to investigate on Earth, right after she'd launched herself into the cosmic abyss. The entries were commonplace and rather boring to read through: How acidic the water is, how tall the trees grow, how fast creatures mature… 

Still, it was kind of a big deal to go where no Pokemon had gone before. 

She continued looking through her notes as she climbed off her star, tucking it away within her Pocket. When that task was done, she began to wander aimlessly through the dark forest. After she reached the conclusion - finally - Willow first blinked away her blue light fatigue. Then, she examined her newer surroundings. 

She'd ended up near iron-cast gates,  in front of what was quite possibly the coolest-looking establishment she could imagine. The smooth stone was unprecedentedly advanced, the ceiling glass twinkled in the starlight, and the grass was perfectly trimmed. Admittedly, she had been expecting Iron Agers at best, but Earth was clearly in it's Holocene-Era.

She slinked through the gates and slipped through the mahogany doors. The inside was… a bit creepier, in its empty state. “Okay. I can do this. I can do this,” she spoke aloud, trying to calm her nerves.

Fur was sticking up on ends,  no matter how hard she tried to stuff it down, worries crawled into Willow's mind. She won't understand you. She'll hate you. She'll curse you to walk on needles for the rest of your life.

Arceus, did Willow hate needles.

The Leafeon anxiously licked her chest fur as she walked up the long staircase, stopping every few starsecs to mentally note something. A material similar to theirs on Terahia, perhaps, or maybe just to get a feel of the ground under her paws. 

“Just, don’t mess this up, got it, Willow? Yeah, sure, Willow.”

She glared at her paws disapprovingly, like her father would have. It's a very unattractive trait. "Stop talking to yourself.”

She continued her journey, ambling up and down hallways, careful to keep her pawsteps light. Uncharted territory is both exhilarating and frightening, she noted, saving the thought away with some pictures of the interior taken with her eyes. It's not made of solid holographics. This is all real Diorite. Unlike in Terahia.

Terahia...

Briefly, Willow dove into the not-so-long ago past, thinking back to her life in the Gardens Sector, or more commonly known as the Gardens. It was where all the primary Grass-types and Ground-types lived, growing the crops that sustained Terahia's population with their magic. 

Each Sector has its own place in our society, Willow recalled one of her mentors, Dr. Alderheart, had taught her early on. Here, we study the fauna of ours and other worlds. It's our calling.

The thing was, well… Willow was not well versed, nor even largely interested in, the studies of botany. Sure, she knew about the basic scientific names, and the anatomy of some particularly fascinating specimens, but she certainly wouldn't call it her calling .

A part of her echoed what everyone else's sentiments on the matter were: stick to what you know. Learn to love working the ground . It's your heritage. It's tradition.

That was what her family repeated to her ever since she'd announced her apprenticeship to the Palace's scientists. There, she was free to learn everything to her heart's content.

And that, for some strange reason, seemed to really piss her family off.

She shook out her pelt. No need to get all caught up in that. 

Her head bumped softly against something wooden with a soft bump . Willow blinked, peering up. I'm here. Somehow, she knew.

Her paw began to shift hues, brightening the floor around it against the darkness, and that's when she felt her heart truly miss a beat.

She raised a shuddering paw and slammed it against the hard surface. The resounding sting told her she'd probably overdid it a little.

My Pokegirl. My Pokegirl . She's coming. Arceus, what am I going to say?! Why didn't I think before knocking? Now she's going to freak out! Of course she's going to freak out, Willow, humans don't know about us! And what about those - admittedly hilarious - inaccurate depictions of aliens? I -

The doorknob rustled. Willow jumped and quickly recited a spell in her head, scrambling to the side.

“What the… Is this a prank?” A sleepy-looking, messy-haired, dark-skinned adolescent female slammed the door open, a fairer-skinned girl peeking behind, unamused.

My Pokegirl. Her hunch had been right.

"There's nothing out here, Iris, it's probably just my dog."

"Well, you should tell your dog to shut up." Iris rolled her eyes. "Seriously. I don't see why you couldn't just get Kawaii Pets Plus on the Mintendo. You have one, right?"

Willow didn't pick up the rest as the pair staggered back in, most likely to sleep. She phased back, mind struggling to leave the void she'd entered in her panic. Stupid anxiety. 

The Leafeon began to pace, now that she could do so again. She'd learned from Dr. Alderheart about the technique and its scientific explanation: The blood rushes around your body when you move, thus making your brain work harder.

The problem was Willow was horrible at making the first move, especially when she hardly knew the Pokemon - er, human. But waiting for Iris to approach her was definitely out of the picture, because Iris didn't even know she existed. Arceus, why couldn't have Fate chosen an already-explored planet? Or better yet, chosen a different Partner for this.

That's when it came to her, a stroke of genius (in her mind anyway). Aha! I've got it! I'll shadow her with Shadow Sneak until I feel comfortable enough to make contact! Brilliance, really. Feeling more confident with a plan in place, Willow opened a portal to the void realm to rest a bit.

The darkness welcomed her with open arms.

~°~°~°~°~°~

iris.

~°~°~°~°~°~

Breathe in, breathe out.

Iris sat in a wide branch, wood rough against her fingers. It belonged to one of the few trees on campus, but better yet, it allowed the best view of the sunrise, overlooking a space between buildings  where you easily enjoy the sun rise in the sky. It was one of the few habits she'd been allowed to retain from living with her aunts, and Iris sometimes imagined that they were doing the same as her. It helped her forget how far apart they were.

Once she deemed the official sunrise over, Iris deftly climbed down, careful not to let her soft pink nightgown catch on any twigs. She casually strolled back to her dorm, where her uniform and a still-sleeping May were both waiting for her. Plus, of course, May's dog, Amber.

Iris wasn't sure why the Academy had made an exception for May. Why had she been able to keep a random stray when Iris hadn't been able to bring her horse, Ace? It niggled in the back of her mind, and - though she hadn't said anything to May - it brought some one-sided resentment as well. But she didn't let it bring her down. Instead, she worked to get along with Amber.

Which wasn't that hard. Amber was a friendly dog, always making this oddly meow-like sound when May entered the room, and purring, for lack of a better word, when you pet her head. Multiple times, Iris joked how the pup was more like a cat, though it annoyed May pretty quick. Checking for the red-coated dog, Iris found Amber was currently sleeping next to May's (very messy) bed, sheets draped off her head. Cutie. 

Iris checked the holoclock on her side of the room, nodding happily at the time. Not too bad. She carefully sidestepped the sleeping critter, bending over the outstretched May. "Hey, hey," Iris quietly shook her. "Wake up. It's time for school."

May yawned in response, stiff from her sleep, only to cover her head with a blanket and mumble, "Five more minutes."

Okay, so plan B it is. Iris had been waiting for May to do this again. She'd wanted her of the consequences, but the brunette had waved them off. Now, with a childish grin, Iris climbed onto the really comfortable mattress and began jumping, narrowly avoiding May's curled up form with her pounding bare feet. " May! Wake! Up! May! Wake! Up! May - "

" OKAY! " May slammed against the carpet, spooking Amber, whose fur stood on end as she scrambled away. "Sheesh, I didn't think you'd actually do it, Iris!"

"I told you," Iris sang triumphantly, two seconds before May retaliated the improv wake up call with a pillow to the smug face."Hey!" Iris spat out imaginary feathers. "I woke you up for school !"

"Yeah, well, I'm still very mad at your methods." May's playful tone and the ever so slight curve of her mouth told Iris quite the opposite, though. Still grinning like an idiot, Iris let May go to the bathroom - Amber in tow - and pulled on her baby-blue uniform, checking herself in the mirror. 

Nothing left to do here . Iris checked her clock. Ah, still have some time left. I can get in some exploring.

Everyday since Iris had come here, she'd mapped out a part of the huge campus. Yes, there were maps already, but she'd had a little fun making up some names for places (i.e. Horseplace, Good Foods, etc). Pulling it up on her phone, the bright blue holographic slid off the flat screen and into the still air with a small blip! , showing what she had accomplished so far. 

The lobby interconnected every single building with a vast and complicated system of semi-enclosed fiberglass hallways, each with various openings for emergencies. To the west were the dormitories, a two-level building housing the first- and second-years on the first floor and the third- and fourth-years on the second, where Iris was now. To the east was the cafeteria, the man-made fields that hosted P.E., the stables, and a small bit of forest the Academy had left unattended, where Iris could climb one (or more) of the winding, thick trees. To the north was the bean-shaped structure that hosted all the classrooms, and finally to the south was the parking lot where they had first arrived.

Looking at it on a holo was a lot easier than actually navigating the place, however. And Iris had yet to explore the forests beyond, though the horse riding class was supposed to start riding deeper later that week. Glimwood Tangle was marked as advanced to navigate, adding a little to Iris' self-esteem (or ego, take your pick).

Somehow, just staring at her map had taken up all her time. Bells ringing in her ears, Iris pushed a button and put her phone away, taking a shortcut to homeroom so that when her friends arrived, she'd get to grin smugly at them from the best seat in the house. 

Cheren was the first one to walk in after her, looking a little frazzled as always. His eyes narrowed at her smirk as he slid in adjacent to her. "Show off."

"You're just jealous you can't wake up on time to beat me." She stuck out her tongue. Cheren rolled his eyes as Elesa and Skyla walked in.

"I'm telling you, it was amazing !" Skyla was chattering on to her best friend, one arm around the other girl's neck and the other gesturing widely in the air. "First place in the paper airplane contest! I'm one step closer to my dream!"

"Well, you certainly seem to be soaring with joy," Elesa joked. Everyone in her vicinity groaned. "Oh, come on! That was one of my better ones!"

"Better what?"

Bianca announced her arrival by immediately falling headfirst into a chair, right after asking just that. Cheren helped her up as the other two sat themselves down. "Another bad pun," Iris put in.

Elesa pouted, looking betrayed, while Skyla snickered. Then they hushed as homeroom began.

~°~°~°~°~°~

Just one more. Just one more, and then lunch. 

Iris was dying. Dying of boredom as her teacher drawled on and on and on… who needed to know this stuff? It was almost like he was asking for her brain to drift off...

She imagined being in HR (horse riding) already, the sky being tinged with oranges and pinks as she picked up the pace. She was riding Pendragon, his beautiful black mane still tied up in little bobs like they were before she left. The sunlight dappled the forest floor as they flew through, nothing getting in their way. Just Iris, Pendragon, and Mx. Walchoski…

Wait a second.

"Mx. Iris, did you hear me? I just announced your partners for our class' projects on Qurity."

Iris' cheeks burned as the class stared at her questioningly. "Uhhh, could you maybe repeat that?"

"You are paired with Cilantro Romano and Georgina Hernandez," Mx. Walchoski repeated, eyebrows furrowed with exasperation. Iris avoided their gaze, instead scanning the room for her new comrades. Cilantro - Cilan , Iris immediately nicknamed them in her head - was easy to spot - they were waving gently at her, an easy smile on their face. Georgia was scowling a few seats over, looking anything but happy about their new partners. When class was dismissed, Iris bounced over, sticking out her hand for both of them to shake. "Hey, I'm Iris." 

"Yeah, we already knew that, dumbass," Georgia snarked, refusing to take the hand coldly. Instead she crossed her arms and muttered, just loud enough for Iris to hear, "Can't believe I was stuck with you losers."

Cilan ignored her, warmly grasping Iris' outstretched hand. "My full name is Cilantro, but you can just call me Cilan. Pleasure to meet you."

Well, at least he's friendly. "Ditto. Now - "

"Now, I have to get to class." Georgia shoved pasy them both and sauntered away, though not before stopping and calling back, "See you two lovebirds later!" 

Why, I otta - Iris restrained herself. Can't get in trouble at this uppity school for teaching their snootiest to brawl. Breath in, breath out. She acknowledged Cilan's curious stare with an "It's fine." She added, "I'll… see you later, Cilan?" after a few beats of silence.

"Of course." He took a small bow, one arm curved in front of him and the other held behind him. "Til we meet again, Mx Iris." Then he went his way, leaving Iris to walk to lunch alone.

Well, she walked alone for approximately three seconds. Then - 

"Lovebirds!" Skyla shouted, descending onto Iris' shoulders with a squeal. "That was almost painful to watch."

"Oh, shut up, Skyla," Iris quickly shoved her off, though it was too late. Skyla's words had already caught the attention of the Gossip herself.

" Lovebirds ? Iris, when were you going to tell me you were getting married ?" Bianca sounded genuinely hurt.

"What?! I'm not getting married. I don't even have a crush on either of those too." She shot a glare at Skyla, who stuck her tongue out in defiance. Thanks for working her up, Sky. 

"B-But Skyla -" 

"Oh, would you look at the time!" Iris nearly shouted over Bianca's whining and Skyla's snickering. "Gotta run!"

And just like that, Iris was gone.

~°~°~°~°~°~

willow.

~°~°~°~°~°~

To recap: Iris Adler-Reardon, age fifteen, has been assigned the class project. Two other adolescents have joined her, one with short coral hair and the other with light lime hair. Little is known on the project, but now we are entering the "cafeteria", so I assume more information will come to light as time passes. Willow signing off.

Just as Willow finished up her journaling, Iris & co. started moving again on, as Iris called it, "the quest for food". Not one to be left behind, she scurried after them, eager to learn more about what was inside the huge glass dome.

Light burst in rays, the natural lighting almost too much in comparison to the shaded hallways. It hit Willow's retinas like a tidal wave, but she carried on heroically in the name of science .

Under the veil of her Shadow Sneak, Willow tried to bob-and-weave through the throngs of humans, yet it was not always as easy as she'd believed. Repeatedly, she felt her head bump against flesh and bone, with an accompanying yelp from the obstacle in question.

"Sorry! Sorry! So, so sorry!" Willow cried to deaf ears everytime.

When she at last arrived at Iris' table, she let out a breath of relief, dropping her disguise for just a moment. Just need to respirate for a moment. She raised her ears against the bottom of the wooden surface - somehow, that had always helped her hear what wasn't meant for her ears. (Not that she'd ever easedrop on her fellow scientists! To even suggest that would be slander on her good name!)

"I swear, the table just rattled, guys," Bianca insisted, just as Willow had pushed to hear a second time. Oops. "There it is again!"

"Bianca, I swear to The Immaculate One - "

"May she rest in peace," Iris interrupted Skyla, and Willow perked at these fascinating expressions. She turned on her recorder, for scouting out more Earth phrases. 

"For the last time, Iridessa, Dhea was a massive bitc - "

"No! Do not insult my goddess in front of my face!" The emotion fraught in Iris' voice reminded Willow of those who talked about the Queen in a similar fashion. Though, and I should know, that she is no goddess.

The conversation then turned to other heated discussions on what Willow could only assume were important figures in the Earth's history. Even with her extreme interest in humanity as a whole, she was becoming tired of hearing the verbal trading-of-blows. Pulling on her cloak of darkness once more, she decided to venture out and perhaps gather more information for her journal. 

She slid under table after table, giddily recording everything and anything with new voices. When she had at last reached the final table, she let out a small breath. My paw… it's glowing again! 

A mingle of pale blues, reds and pinks lit her paw from within. The other Pokegirl's colors… minus one. There were to be five of them, Willow deduced, because her own had to be the Pokegirl of Earth. It was a little bit of a coincidence, given her home planet, though the naming of Earth had no effect of the naming of elements on Terahia. The two had a distant, indistinct bond; minimal at best.

Which prompted the question: why would Fate choose Pokegirls from Earth again?

Realizing she had lost herself on a tangent, Willow returned to her task at paw, almost asking the girls to repeat themselves but remembering her undercover status, thank Arceus.

"Isn't it strange how we all got assigned to that big project thingy?" Serena tapped her foot on Willow's tail, and the Leafeon bit down a yelp.

"You mean the school-wide Qurity studies? That are school-wide? Or school-high." May snorted at her own joke - was it a joke? "If it were school-high, that'd just be high-school but backwards." Sort of a joke.

"I know that it's all around, but I mean - it feels like it's connected to us being Pokegirls, somehow."

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense. But I think we should be talking about who we got paired with." Dawn spoke with a sly tone that made Willow wonder what they were talking about now. What is it that teenagers like again…

Oh, yeah.

"Anyone get paired with their crush?"

Romance.

"Sadly, the teachers seem to be talking about how I totally kicked Drew's ass, and think I somehow need more time with him. Me 'n him got assigned the arts and cultures section." Willow heard a thunk against the table, which she quickly discerned was May's head. Note to self: dispose of any and all "Drews".

"I think they got lazy with me. I'm with Miette, doing history and stuff." The nonchalant tone quivered, as though the girl was restraining something in her voice. Willow wrote that down too. "What about you, Dawn?"

"Wha - me? Already? Uhhhhh…" She murmured something under her breath. 

"What was that?"

Before Willow could hear the rest, however, a new voice pipped up, gruff yet peppy. A tone akin to what Wilow associated with Fire-types... "Guys! I sense another Partner nearby!"

Uh oh!

"Really? Where, Amber?" 

"I don't know exactly… But the scent is close. Almost like it's right under our noses…"

A few moments of thoughtful silence. Then, Dawn quipped, "It can't hurt to check under the table, right?'

The others immediately shouted " Not me! ", prompting a rough sigh from Dawn. She bent down, hands still on the table, and came face-to-face with Willow. 

Her heart pounded as Dawn silently surveyed the underside of the table.

"Nothing here, guys." Dawn's disappointed tone was the last thing Willow heard before she was hurriedly scrambling away, back to her Pokegirl's table. When she was once again out of sight, she let out a breath of relief. That was close .

But why did I run away? Maybe they could've helped me. Willow's brow furrowed in frustration. Why is communication so Arceus-damned hard?

Shaking away her thoughts, Willow turned her attention upwards, to the group of adolescents chatting right above her head.

"I'm telling you, Bianca, you do not want to approach Burgundy," Iris was saying, a serious tone masking her usual playful manner. Willow perked. This may have just gotten interesting.

"But that was so last year ! And you know that I needed that money to buy the car I wanted," Bianca whined. "Besides, she should totally be over Cilan already. There are lotsa other fish in the sea."

Willow huffed, annoyed. Does everything always have to route back to romance?

Willow had never really been into anyone, and, if she was honest with herself, she didn't think she'd ever be interested in anyone. Not that it mattered much; it was just the way of teenagers everywhere, it seemed.

As the conversation died off and the lunch period ended, Willow dragged herself off her butt and began to follow her Pokegirl again. If this is what I'm going to do for the rest of my time here, I'm going to be very, very tired. 

~°~°~°~°~°~

iris.

~°~°~°~°~°~

Leaning against the clear glass wall of the eastern hall, Iris closed her eyes, soaking in the late afternoon sun. School was school - painful, but probably worth it to slog through. It was almost time for Iris' favorite part of the day, and why she had worked so hard to come here in the first place.

Her watch struck 4:30 pm, and she quickly shut off the metallic beeps with a flick of her wrist. Then, with one last long breath, Iris set out for the stables.

One more left, and then I'm there . Or at least, it would've been one more left, if two people had not been blocking the hallway exit. 

"What do you want?" Iris snapped harder than she meant to. I'm so close to getting relaxation - without these knuckleheads getting in the fucking way!

Cilan raised his hands in surrender, voice soothing. "I just wanted to work out when we'll work on the project."

Georgia muttered something under her breath, and Cilan side-eyed her until she fully shut up. "I have a cooking class, and Georgia has her self-defense class. And yes , before you ask, Georgia has brought up that we could just study when we go on the trip, but I said that if we got it done beforehand, we could enjoy it much easier."

Iris drew in a quick breath as she felt a headache coming on. Breathe in, breathe out, fuck you, breathe in, fuck you, breathe out. "I have my riding class right now," she said through gritted teeth, trying to keep her cool. "So if you don't mind. We can talk about this after I get out at five."

Cilan stiffened, looking flustered all of a sudden. "Oh! Oh, uh - "

"Come on, stick limbs," Georgia burst out, grabbing his arm and tugging him away. "You've already wasted too much of both mine and her time. Go back to your dorm." Pushing him away, she turned to Iris, eyes narrowed in scrutiny. "Look, to be frank, I wanted to be paired with literally anynody else. But I'm stuck with you, so all I'm asking is that you don't don't fuck up, got it?"

Iris put her hands on her hips, glaring back challengingly. "You must be real desperate if you're begging me not to fuck up," she smirked, momentarily forgetting where she was meant to be.

"I am not begging. If you don't put in your full, one hundred percent in this, I swear to all that is holy, you will regret it." Georgia returned the taunt with a measured tone, which only fired Iris up even more. Before she could retort, though, the pink-haired sassball spun on her heel, sauntering away. "See you later, lovebird ."

Grumbling to herself, Iris registered vaguelt that she had been granted access to the exit, the sun seemingly lower in the sky than before. Her instructor, Miss Bales, came into view as Iris approached, impatiently tapping her foot. When she saw Iris, she let out a gruff "finally!" and slipped inside without another word.

"Where were you, Iridessa?" Ah. So she's full-name-pissed. Ugh. "It's been almost ten minutes! All the other instructors were looking at me like 'oh, pity her, she such a bad teacher', and I totally would've flipped them off - "

Through all this ranting, Iris tiredly collected her tack, hefting it onto her assigned horse, Rebel Jones, or Rebel as literally everyone called them.  

" - but then I got taken aside by the Director of Board who apparently has 'an image to keep', so that's how I got banned from square dancing - "

And when that had been taken care of, she led them out to the patch of field where the class trained until they were deemed ready to enter the forest. 

" - And when my third boyfriend decided to be a motherf - er, mother hecker - I called his other girlfriend a - "

Iris mounted, and began to trot along the border, her thoughts drifting away to her own, if quite less dramatic, problems.

Georgia is such a dick. It's going to be so fun to have to work on this stupid thing with her. But at least she's kinda cute.

She guided Rebel around a corner. Short pink hair that was covered by a yellow hat, teal eyes that Iris already imagined perfectly, sharp with indignation. Ready with a witty response...

The image was accompanied by another face; kind lime green eyes, chartreuse hair that spiked upwards in some ancient cut . Cilan, who so far had only been gentlemanly. He was nice enough, but Iris sensed he was a bit of a doormat for Georgia.

Rebel whinnied, and Iris had to take a moment to tear herself away from her daydreams and realize where she was.

This is not the pasture.

Indeed, Iris had somehow also drifted off-course physically, as if Rebel had sensed her state of mind and had followed it. But… how…

Didn't the school have a fence around the pasture…?

"Come on, Rebel, let's… go…" Suddenly, everything was blurring around her. When had her hands turned pale? Thud. God, my head is swimming…

Clutching her temples, Iris tried to breathe, but it felt like she was constricting, tighter and tighter. And then she felt no more.

~*~*~*~*~

willow.

~°~°~°~°~°~

In Willow's defense, she hadn't meant to crack the Brooch. All she had wanted was a quick peek at it, but it just so happened that Amber had popped around the corner. And, well - she scattered, reasonably, and dropped it. 

Though, against her defense, nobody would mean to crack such an important artifact. Right? Unless they were a criminal, of course. Still, while theorizing on which villain would try to do what was alluring, Willow had a bigger problem at hand. Specifically, how the Void she would fix the darned thing.

Fudgesticks. I really should have taken that repair magic class. She had been offered, multiple times, but each time she had refused, claiming she'd never need to learn such things. And now look at me.

She observed the Brooch, carefully fondling it with her paws, watching the magic seep out in green waves of smoke. Maybe, uh… maybe she won't notice? Maybe, since it is only a minor infraction, it won't do any harm. 

"Oooh, Fia's gonna flip ." 

" Gah! " Before Willow could sprint away, a weight brought itself down upon her, warm and smelling faintly of cinders. Struggling to right herself so she wouldn't suffocate against the concrete, Willow was now face-to-face with none other than Amber the Flareon.

"Please don't roast me," Willow whimpered, trying to make herself seem small and defenseless. Then, she could employ Attacker Defense Plan C, aka a kick-to-the-ribs-and-run. But instead of raring up for an attack, Amber giggled. Giggled .

"I won't roast you. You're a Partner too, aren't you?" Amber's tail thumped against the ground rhythmically. "My name's Amber. And, well… I also damaged my Pokegirl's Brooch when I'd gotten here," she added sheepishly. 

Willow's eyes widened. "Really? So does that mean we… failed?" Panic began to seize her. Will Terahia fall due to my careless anxiety?

Amber frowned. "No, of course not! Fia, the Love Pokegirl's Partner, has repairing magic. If you bring it to her, she'll fix it, even if it annoys her a little." She shook out her igneous pelt, bits of dried ash and live sparks flying off a short distance. "If you like, I can go with you. I'll even take the blame for it."

"Why would you do that?" Willow asked suspiciously. It can't be that easy. We have no trust, no bond. "You'd earn nothing positive from that."

Amber laughed, and Willow's pelt spiked in irritation. What is so funny? "I'm serious. Why?"

"Because you're my friend, of course!" She really means it, huh? Not wise, always so eager to say what she believes. Attitudes like that often lead to your doom.

Not that Willow had much experience in that department either. 

"Alrig - Fine. I'll go with you, but I'll deal with 'Fia' myself." 

She can't be that bad, right?

Wrong. After nearly fifteen minutes of alternating between lecturing and shouting, Fia proved to be quite a demanding character to be around. "Thus, we must find your Pokegirl immediately. She is vulnerable to attack and may have been snatched up by one of those Recruits." 

Willow recoiled at the word, and Amber and Sapphire - the Sky Pokegirl's Partner, stoic and easily described as creepy - both winced, Amber more visibly so. But now wasn't the time to bring up the past.

"Let's go, then." Willow was taking up her responsibility, whether her anxiety liked it or not.

~°~°~°~°~°~

...iris?

~*~*~*~*~*~

The sunhigh light dappling through the Time of Lumiere twinkled on the river's surface. Iris took a breath in, and sent a breath out. My time is running out , she thought sadly. 

My time is… wait.

Where am I?

She was sitting on an ivory swinging bench, made for two. A bridge was not too distant, so old that it was made of actual material - you could tell due to its apparent wear-and-tear. Many had told her to tear it down and replace it, but she had clearly told them to leave it there as long as she lived as Queen.

Queen…? What… am I… dreaming? Iris couldn't force herself to move. Only go along with the motions.

She looked down. Her hand was laying on a sleeping, cat-like figure. Fia , she thought with such sweetness. My love. Take your time.

She had seen the visions. She knew what was up ahead. I won't be with you for long, my darling. Let me love you like I loved her.

Iris' vision blurred, swirling. A wave of nausea hit her as she gasped awake, feeling as though she'd been buried under a hundred blankets with a fever. What had just happened? 

Blinking away all the remaining unpleasant feelings, the first thing that greeted her in the real world was… a Venus flytrap? And… vines… hanging from a tree?

Where the fuck am I?

Her head pounded as she struggled to get up. She was somewhere in the Glimwood Tangle, and it was impossible to see what the time was; the only natural light was the mushrooms that scattered on the floor, and the mysterious growth of flora that surrounded her with a glowing green aura.

Am I sure this isn't a dream too ? She pinched herself, and blew through her teeth at the minimal pain. Okay, definitely awake. What was I doing before I -

Oh no. Rebel!

The horse was nowhere to be found. She remembered, clear as day now, that she has been riding. But it hadn't been this late… nor did she recall how she ended up in the forest. Had she drifted off? No, I know where the track is and I stick to it. Mostly. 

Before she could continue her trip down memory lane, a scream cut through the woods. And - quite literally - Iris was dragged to its source by those pesky vines. I guess that's what those were for , she thought, actually feeling quite relaxed for being basically kidnapped by plants.

When the leg-pulling finally stopped, Iris just laid there, thinking of her life up to this point and wondering when she might've taken drugs, when a sharp poke in the ribs convinced her to get up again and investigate. She was next to a strange clearing, where trees were completely devoid. The ground looked like cooled-lava; black and crumbly. A long, serpentine indigo creature with long fangs situated itself in the center, and from Iris' point of view she could see slivers of other bodies behind it. Maybe I'll just, uh, stay here. Besides, those three look like they've got it.

Iris watched in awe as the three superheroine-esque girls deftly dodged spats of brackish water spit from the beast's gaping mouth like it was nothing. Her heart began to speed up as the red-clad one lit her own fists on fire and hurled balls of flames at it. Why does she look so familiar… 

While she kept the creature distracted, the sky-blue one leapt through the air, graceful as a dancer, and sent blasts of light - wind, Iris realized rapidly - at the gloomy brute, who screeched in defiance. The pink one looked as if they were charging up, the unstable ball of light in their hands shining like a star.

Iris was calling them Flamethrower, Skylight and Pinky, respectively. 

"My attacks have no effect!" Flamethrower shouted when the creature twisted it's long neck and vomited a big wave of muted blue at them, covering the poor person with what Iris hoped was dirty water. " Oh, fucking come on!"

"That's because you're a Fire-type , Haruka!" Pinky yelped as their attack flew right out of their hands and right into the beast. It hardly seemed to do any damage, instead infuriating it. And now I bet she's thinking 'ah, shit'. 

"Do you think the Earth Pokegirl is nearby?" Skylight shouted from their place in the sky. "I can feel something."

"God, I hope not. You all suck!" Someone snarked; Iris turned her line of vision to a yellow-headed woman wearing mainly black. "Gyarados! Finish them off with Waterfall!"

The creature bellowed, a spout of water bursting from the ground. It swept up the two ground-bound girls, who were then brutally headbashed by the triumphant-looking Gyarados. It coiled in on itself, readying another attack -

"No! Wait!" And, like the stupid compassionate idiot she was, Iris rushed in, still in her riding outfit and all, and outstretched her arms protectively over the KO'ed girls' bodies. She braced herself for the end…

But it never came. When she dared open her eyes, Iris was met with an intricately woven shield of vines, her hands glowing with a green aura.

"That's… new."

"What… the hell… Iris..?" Haruka pushed herself up a bit, eyes narrowed, and suddenly Iris recognized her. The sharp azure eyes, the button nose, and the rough, lightly tanned skin. 

" May? "

The brunette nodded, eyes flicking to the plant shield protecting them both. "You… you're the Earth Pokegirl?"

"I have no idea what you are talking about. Pokegirl?" Iris looked at the other girl for context, who met her gaze with determination as she held onto May - Haruka's body.

"You have been chosen by Fate… to become somebody of great power…" Her breath heaved, as if just talking caused her pain. She was holding herself together by a thread. "You've gotta find your Partner and transform…"

"Don't worry, Serena… I'll… make sure you don't get hurt again..." Haruka's eyes lifted to the navy sky, searching for (Iris assumed) their third teammate. "The shield... won't last long, Iris. You gotta get out of here, it isn't safe for an untransformed Pokegirl."

"But what about you? You're hurt badly, and you said so yourself; your attacks do nothing against that thing. "

"Hey, what's going on over there?!" Iris recognized the woman's voice again and winced. She needed to take decisive action, and now . "Gyarados, use Flamethrower! Destroy that puny shield!"

Heat began to pile up behind Iris' back. It's flamethrowing the shield?! Her thought process needed to be twice as fast now. C'mon, think… please, somebody help...

" Iris! Catch! "

Without thinking, Iris held up a hand, grasping a small, metallic object in it. It was a brooch - intricately designed bronze circling a glowing green center. It reflected back a version of Iris she'd never seen before - and it told her how to achieve this form, too.

" I pledge myself to the good for all," Iris said as a mystical wind lifted her off the ground. "With this power, I will protect the innocent, fight the corrupt, and become my ultimate form."

She crossed her arms over her chest, feeling the pure power of the forest pulsate through her. It coursed through her, releasing itself as thin vines that swirled all around her body, shining bright against her dark brown skin. They absorbed her riding outfit, carrying it away in the most minimal form of it's cellular makeup. 

" Rise , powers of Earth! Bring me the promise of Healing!"

The vines constricted and relaxed like a heart, faster and faster until they were only light particles clustered together, and when they solidified, they became the Pokegirl's battle outfit.

The skirt drifted down, unrestricted and free. It was cut in the front like a diamond and longer in the back; the hems shone with a bronze gleam, akin to her Brooch. The sleeveless bodice shimmered iridescently, draping over her like a Grecian dress would - simple but beautiful nonetheless.

In sync with her outfit change, the tightness in Iris' head loosened as her indigo hair let loose of it's usual pigtails style - the curly hair curled around her like a cape. Vines twisted around her arms in the place of gloves, and to top it off, a leafy crown edged in bronze set itself on her head gently, just as dark green boots sprouted in the place of her old ones.

Metamorphosis complete, Iris uncrossed her arms, doing a backflip in midair. She waved her arms in symmetrical half-circles, shouting fiercely, 

" The flourishing flower! The Earth's Guardian! Pokegirl Iris!"

"Great, there's another one," Cassidy spat. The shield was worn away, a burning hole eating away at the last of the vines. Iris wasn't worried, though - she held her ground, growling lowly at the many-times-her-size monster. 

"Serena, take care of Haruka," Iris ordered, glancing at the small decidedly-less-goopy creature who looked almost as frightened at Iris' eye contact as the huge beast. "And you are?"

"Willow. At your service - your Partner - um, look out!" Iris leaped aside as the beast slammed down, struggling to get up. Exhaustion waved off it; although they hadn't been able to damage it much, the other Pokegirls had definitely still done a number on the Gyarados' stamina. "In order to attack with your elemental power, Iris, you've got to speak the name of a Move - "

"Air Slash!" Iris shouted, confident that she at least knew a Move. But even as she copied Hikari's body movements, nothing came out of her hands. "Why didn't that work?" she asked her Partner as she dodged another Slam. 

"That Move isn't in your Moveset! You can only use Moves that match your Type. Try Razor Leaf!"

" Razor Leaf! " A gust of strong wind blasted from Iris, carrying with it dagger-sharp leaves that cut into the Gyarados, prompting it's horrifying screams of pain. She repeated the Move, and noticed that this time the wind was faster - she peered up and met eyes with Skylight herself. The Sky Pokegirl was supplying her own wind as well, multiplying the force.

With a cry, the Gyarados was sent down, writhing around furiously like a fish out of water. Now that I think about it… it does kinda look like a fish.

"Gyarados! No!" That woman was furious . Fists clenched at her sides and face flushed crimson, she looked ready to cry of frustration. Serves you right, Iris thought indignantly. You nearly killed my roommate and her friends with your Gyarados.

" Shadow Gyarados. "

Wait, what? Iris glanced at Willow - who was hiding out in the woods a few yards away. It sounded as though she had spoken close by.

" I can speak into your mind. It's a part of our Pokegirl-Partner connection, or so I'm told."

Cool. So, uh, Shadow Gyarados, huh?

"Yes. That was a mutated Gyarados - the non-mutated ones are aggressive at most. Shadow Pokemon were a part of experiments back on Terahia led by the Organization, the group you've got to take down. "

Alright. That's -

"Look out!"

This was spoken aloud. Iris turned once more, as the Gyarados sent a blast of chilling wind right at her, bits of ice clinging to her skin. She shivered all over, nearly tumbling over in pain.

"Gyarados! You're still here!" Cassidy cheered, Butch smiling wide beside her. But Iris could barely hear her, an intense migraine taking over. 

"Iris? Iris, don't - "

Breathe in. Breathe out.

Fuck you.

" Fuck you! "

Letting out a cry of rage, Iris used up the last of her stamina to jump up and focus all her energy into her arm. " Leaf Blade! " She plunged it right into the beast's head, where it stayed, the magic bursting at the seams. She could feel something changing in the Gyarados, as though she were stripping it of the darkness coating it, and then light poured out of it, blinding her.

The light twisted and turned in the air, twinkling and drawing away attention from the two Recruits, who plunged themselves into the dark forest beyond.

Falling to the ground now that her arm has been freed, Iris pulled her legs to her chest, de-transforming and completely spent. She felt the presence of the other Pokegirls bent over her, and her Partner, Willow, who was nudging her shoulder. 

“It's over, Iris. Just stay still. Roost, " Skylight murmured in unison with Serena, though the Love Pokegirl spoke the words " Floral Healing " instead. As both of their healing energies flowed through her system, Iris smiled softly, turning to Haruka.

“So does that mean I get a dog too?"

And that's when Iris finally fainted.

~°~°~°~°~°~

When Iris woke up, it was to the face of a smiling nurse in the infirmary. "Hello, Iris," she said sweetly, and Iris read her nametag without a second thought: Nurse Joy . "You had quite the fall there, didn't you?"

"Fall?" That wasn't quite how Iris had remembered it. Her eyes narrowed in thought. May. 

Nurse Joy looked at her, concerned. "You fell off your horse and had a light concussion. Surprisingly, you sustained no other injuries."

Knock! Knock! Knock!

Iris watched Joy's face cringe. "Also, you have some… visitors." She opened the door, just as Georgia crashed in, landing face-first on the floor. Iris bent over, curiously poking the pink-haired offender with her bare foot.

"Hey! What the hell happened out there?!" Georgia jumped up, accusingly sticking her finger right in Iris' face. "You think you can just fall off a horse and get away with it?! I think not! "

"Ahem." Cilan popped his head in from behind the door frame. "What I think Georgia means to say is she is relieved that you are unharmed."

" SHUT UP, CILAN !" Georgia sent one last glare at Iris before stomping back out. " I'm keeping an eye on you! " she called out, as Cilan shrugged at Iris as if to say, Nothing much I can do about that . He took a bow and hurried after his short-tempered friend.

"Okay…" Nurse Joy looked hassled, shaking her head slightly. "But I thought - "

" IRIS! " A certain brunette barreled in, knocking the air out of Iris as she hugged tightly. "Thank the Goddesses you're okay." 

"Kinda need to breathe, May."

May backed away, though the concern didn't leave her eyes. "After what happened - " She shot a look at Nurse Joy, who was reordering her medical kit with a sigh. She lowered her voice to a whisper. "With the Gyarados and everything. I kinda panicked and just made up a cover story on the spot, sorry."

Iris waved it off dismissively. "It's fine. But, uh - you are going to tell me what the hell happened out there, right?"

"Yeah, yeah. We've got a plan for that, too. See, we're starting a club…"

As May chattered on about magic and bases and comics, Iris began to replay everything in her mind. The vines. The shield. How she'd almost died… 

"Shoo! Shoo! No dogs allowed!" Iris broke away from her recap with Joy's shouts, as a small gray dog entered, looking up at Iris with what was unmistakable recognition.

" Hey, Iris. "

I get a dog, too!

~°~°~°~°~°~

recruits.

~°~°~°~°~°~

When did it all go wrong?

That was what Cassidy kept asking herself as she made her rounds around their camp in the woods. The singular Shadow Pokeball glinted at her side, taunting her with its finality. You only have one chance left.

The odds seemed to be in their favor, if you only looked at it in a certain way. They only had one chance, sure, but they also only needed one more vial to collect.

That ignored the factor of the Pokegirls, though. Always interrupting them at the worst times. 

She thought back to the bittersweet memories of Terahia, before . Before everything had changed, before he had come, when she and Butch were just two dumb kids in love. They had come for sanctuary in Terahia from a then-unknown world, but when he had come along, stirred up trouble, they'd thought it would be fun to join his little gang.

How wrong we were , she thought to herself now, furious at her past naivete. 

Butch was back at camp, nursing his wounds. Soon, she'd need to return and begin planning again. 

Planning for the end.

 ~°~°~°~°~°~

Chapter Text

~°~°~°~°~°~

nixie.

~°~°~°~°~°~

The first thing Nixie thought when they saw Earth was That is a lot of fudging water. Not very poetic of a start, but you know, Nixie isn't a very poetic Vaporeon.

They could already see the headlines: The Pokegirls Save The Day ! The Partners Revered As Heroes ! It would be a quick one-and-done battle between What's-His-Face and Who-Are-They-Again, and then, well, they'd live happily ever after. 

Thing was, Nixie didn't give a damn about any of that, not really. They hadn't wanted much to do with Terahia to begin with, and now, with him ruling it… 

Was it really a place worth saving? 

But hey, Nixie was fine with going along with this little charade. Then maybe everything could go back to normal .

It disappointed them greatly that their star hadn't aimed into one of the great bodies of water - oceans, they were called. Nixie remembered from a talk on planets they attended that in oceans, water was almost toxically full of salt, but that was the only thing they could recall. The rest had been either too dully basic, or too overly complicated for them to care.

Craning their neck over the edge of their star, Nixie braced themself as they entered the atmosphere, fire brushing around them until they soared past the explosive bits. Tree branches rushed to meet their star, twisting and turning it this way and that, until they finally met solid ground.

Their pocket of stored air bursting with a flourish of sparkles, they gulped down the alien nitrogen like it was their only hope of survival. The star's pocket of concentrated oxygen particles had nearly run out on the trip to Earth, which was actually quite unnerving, though Nixie would never tell anyone that particular feeling.

Quite an overdue arrival, I'd say . Nixie's star had nearly fizzled, crashed into multiple meteors, and bucked them off before finally settling down. Not quite the vibe they had wanted, but hey, sometimes that was life. 

And, yanno, sometimes life was getting picked out of the millions of Pokemon living on Terahia to be sent to a foreign planet, to find a legendary group of superheroines. 

They disembarked, casually stretching themselves out on the soft grass. Oh, how they longed to roll in it (and procrastinate finding their Pokegirl). If I take a short nap, I'm sure nobody will notice...

What harm could come from a little nap?

~°~°~°~°~°~

misty.

~°~°~°~°~°~

A sweet tune filling the room from a conch-shell-shaped clock was not how many students at the Academy woke. Then again, there was only one student who was Misty, and that was, well, Misty. Stifling a yawn, she surveyed her side of the room with sleepy eyes, the colors mixing into each other.

Seafoam waves decorated her muted pink walls, and the light fixtures above held a pale yellow light that resembled early dawn sunlight. Her circular bed anchored opposite to the door, the most logical of positions of course. To her right was the suite bathroom, and to the front the entrance to the tiny lobby between her and her roommate, Ash Ketchum.

Ash Ketchum, who was currently singing a very offkey rendition of "Unto The Unknown" in the shower. Misty winced, wondering how she could have slept through that. I must be as deep a sleeper as Brock said.  

Slipping out of bed, Misty groggily combed her fiery head of hair, glancing picture of her and her adoptive sisters as she did. Lori, the eldest and their technical caretaker, was throwing her arms around the group, sticking out her tongue. Her long mahogany hair was streaked with ice blue, and Misty secretly envied the way her dark brown skin lustered under any lighting. There was Sona as well, who was laughing uproariously at her eldest sister's face; Misty could almost hear the sound, deep and comforting. Her large fluff of hair was tinged with dark purple, and her brown eyes twinkled happily even in the holo-photo. Then there was Rone - who looked very business casual; her black hair was sleek and shiny, done up in a bun in this particular photo. While Lori and Sona were playing it up, Rone - or "Bumblebee" as her sisters called her, due to her tendency to wear black and yellow - was a bit prickly about always looking serious. Even so, Misty remembered how happy she'd been that day, going so far as to quirk her mouth a bit. 

And then there was Misty.

Compared to her sisters, Misty didn't quite have that star look. Her tangerine hair - don't ever call it carrot-colored - fell flat against her shoulders when let loose, as opposed to Sona's curls. Her skin lacked much shade, similar to Rone's, except for the unsightly freckles that dotted her elbows, knees, face… everywhere. But Misty always loved her eyes - she always got compliments on them, and they contrasted nicely with her warm hair. 

Just thinking of her sisters made a wave of nostalgia rush over Misty, who missed them dearly. It hadn't been very long since they'd last seen each other - when they'd dropped her off to the airport, paying for her cab ride to the Academy's gates instead of taking her personally due to the "openness" of it all. 

Ash greeted her outside in the mini-lobby with a smile and a wave. "Heya, Mist!" He ducked the cuff aimed at his head with instinct. "Whoa, hey!"

"What the hell was that in the shower, dummy? My ears were bleeding!" Misty's nimble fingers grasped his ear after a few tries, and she relished the whine that came from her best friend in defeat. 

"Okay, okay! So my singing skills are… subpar." He shrugged away from her, rubbing his ear with mock hurt. He flashed another dopey grin, always bouncing back.  "That's not why they accepted me here anyway."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. You came here to learn more about the animals . And also for your boyfriend ." She poked him in the ribs, enjoying how his face flushed crimson at the boyfriend . "Let's face it. You, Ash Ketchum, are a jack of all trades, but a master of none." 

"Jack? Like that restaurant guy? I'm kidding." Misty glared at him for that jest. Ever since the incident , Ash was officially barred from making dumbass jokes. At least, not with her around. 

Ash gave her a puppy-eyed smile combo, enough to KO any remaining negative feelings. While she rolled her eyes, he laughed and side-hugged her. "There's my bestie! Now c'mon! We have to get to breakfast!"

As the duo left their dorms, Misty began to think to herself, as she normally did when Ash began his long infodumps about whatever he was into at the moment. He didn't expect her to show much interest, but when there was no one else also interested in the Thing™, Misty let him ramble about it anyways. It was nice bonding time for them, she supposed. And hell, time between them was…. shortening quickly.

 Ash, in spite of his self-named "subpar singing skills",  had quickly become very popular at school, with his participation in intramural soccer. And despite their differences, both of them had the same fierce passion about the things they loved; for Ash, it constantly shifted and changed, though that didn't necessarily diminish his love for the thing (currently, he was in love with animal care). For Misty, it was a stable affection for the swim team, and the long term goal of getting into the Olympics.

Brisk autumn breeze blowing through the open glass hallways, Misty let out a breath of excitement. Somehow, the Academy had never ceased to amaze her. Unlike most picturesque fall postcards, the trees in the Glimwood Tangle were evergreen, leaves never falling from their branches. For a moment, Misty was sure she saw someone up in a tree - a student with a blue uniform, looking into the forest beyond. Before she could concentrate harder, however -

“Betchya can't catch me, Mist!” 

Huh? Misty hadn't even noticed the empty space where Ash had been. The boy was already rushing past her, instigating a race while Misty had been captivated.  Furiously, Misty pushed herself to full speed.

" Ash Ketchum! I'll make you pay! "

~*~*~*~*~*~

nixie.

~°~°~°~°~°~

It hadn't been a very long nap. Yet when Nixie's eyes opened again, day was shining through in thin lengths through the trees. Shizzles. Fudgesticks. Funk. The line of curses in their head distracted them temporarily from their rather bleak mission, and they let out a snort, imagining a scholarly type shaking their head in disappointment. What a shame .

They lay still in their swampy spot, unwilling to move.

But their mind always led back to their mission, because that's what got them here in the fudging first place. Why did I have to be chosen, of the hundred thousand other Vaporeons? What was so special about me ?

Well, they knew themself, of course, so they could tell anyone personally: nothing was special about them. They had no dramatic backstory - they grew up learning about their magic in the Oceans Sector, of course, with two fathers who lived their daughter and each other dearly. They had not been emotionally scarred by a romantic relationship, nor did they have underlying anxieties or mental health issues. Their family accepted them for who they were, and they had regulated themselves to a life in the warm beach sun, helping regulate the oceans with the rest of the Water types.

But then… the Organization happened. And those dreams vanished like Cheri berries in a Skwovet-ridden tree. Or like muffins placed in front of them at a café.

Arceus, were they too hungry to be making food metaphors.

Now, when this was to become a grand epic novel and they were a superstar, they would omit some scenes. Like when they might've, sort of, jumped at the sound of their own stomach rumbling . Sure, it was not the most embarrassing thing in the world - that would be being caught without your scales on, which was impossible anyway but thanks, dreams - but right then Nixie decided some things were left better unsaid.

Pulling themselves up from the pits of self-deprecation, Nixie poured their concentration - limited as it was - into finding some food. The mushrooms that scattered the forest floor were delightful scenery - but, after a quick check by Nixie - they were also filled with liquidated poison, that was actually probably part of the process of bioluminescence or something.

They did find a disturbingly furry mushroom, though, so there was always light at the end of the tunnel.

~*~*~*~*~*~

misty.

~°~°~°~°~°~

Think. Think. Think.

Misty doodled yet another heart, adding it to the pile as another pencil fidded between her left index and middle fingers. Somehow, her professor had gotten sick - just a few weeks into the school year, no less - and called in a substitute, who then felt their ego was challenged by some loser and decided to spring a pop quiz on them. Everyone was officially icing out Harold for a reason .

Now, she had already answered most of the questions, so she'd pushed the thin piece of paper away and began doodling in her notebook. No theme in particular; she wasn't that good of an artist. But hey, it passed the time, right?

Or, it was time for a change of pace. In other words, her favorite game - Make Up Random Stories About The People In Her Class. Yeah. Real creative name.

Misty surveyed the room, back hunched in a mimic of hard concentration, as she tried to pick out the ones she knew - via one of the middle schools that funneled into the Academy, of course - and thus the easier ones to base stories off of. Derek – no. Cheren – journalism – no. Bianca – gossip doesn’t count. Harley – NOOOOOOPE. Trace – “ghost hunter” – nah, he’s scared of ‘em. What was his name – oh yeah! Calem – dance – meh. Elaine – photography – cool, but no.  

None of them had that spark , though. That fire that spoke to her.  So she kept surveying, until her eyes fell on this one girl.

Her coppery hair hung at the sides in two pigtails, but Misty swore there were no ponytails in it. She wore a light red bandana on her head, which clashed with her blue uniform blazer, but her stalker guessed she didn't care much about that.

And something sparked . A rush of heat flushed through her, and Misty's face burned as though she was embarrassed. Weirder still - her head spun with something else. Power , she wanted to call it. But it was vague enough she was sure that label was wrong. What the hell is wrong with me…

The stories flooding her head were of mediocre value. Regular magical girl stuff. So she abandoned those shitty narratives and continued on her first goal - pass on the stupid quiz.

It was kind of hard to ignore, however, when aforementioned Sparky Girl crashed to the ground, holding a piece of folded paper in her hands.

Head swiveling, Misty's eyes widened as the rest of the class snickered. She pushed herself out of her seat and walked over, sticking out her palm and trying to look sympathetic. "You need a hand?"

The girl's eyes met hers, bright azure against teal. Goddess, those are pretty eyes . With a firm grip, Misty helped her up.

"Thanks. I'm - "

"Are you done over there?" The sub called, deep from whatever they were doing. "Shut up, losers, and hurry up. I've got places to be."

"Stupid prissy college students." Sparks spat under her breath. "I'm May," she said to Misty, her expression one of delight. Misty swore she could see a flash of flames in those aqua eyes.

"Misty."

"Cool."

And thus, an epic friendship bloomed. Right? Haha, yeah, sure. The closest Misty got with May platonically was not immediately telling on her and some other dude's - starts with a D for sure - paper airplane conversations. She didn't need to - eventually, Shitty College Age Sub found them out on their own, and gave them both detention. Something told Misty this was not the first time they'd had this exact scenario; perhaps it was the way Dr. Dumple flashed a smug smirk at May, who in turn flicked the back of his head when Teach wasn't looking.

Whatever. Nosy as she was, Misty had better things to worry about. Like that flash - 

No. Like what happened at the party.

Not even three weeks in, and Misty was already suspecting this place was haunted. Or that supernatural creatures lived in the woods, or something that explained why at various different times, dates and places, the sky grew as dark as night, and she would shiver as though winter had settled in her veins. Then, ten or thirty minutes later, it would clear up.

She had only come close to seeing the behind-the-scenes of these incidents once, at the big party last weekend. She had been goofing off with Ash, sipping her Koolaid, when her throat began to tighten, and her breathing became quickened. Ash had appeared concerned, until a few seconds later, when he had slumped to the floor, sleeping.

Goddamnit, Ash! Tears were swelling in the corners of her eyes as Misty fought to stay awake. She vaguely heard someone muttering to themselves, and looked up; lo and behold there was a blonde woman, clothes nearly fading into the darkness, wielding a very pointy knife. The two of them met eyes for just a moment - the woman reflecting Misty's shock in her own eyes - before the stranger had scurried off.

"Wait! Who are - " The invisible hold on her throat ceased, and she fell to her knees, gasping for air like she was dying. Crawling towards where the curious person had left, Misty was shocked to find not one - but two overly formally dressed people, one shooting flames from her palms and the other hurling balls of pink light. Both radiated a sense of familiarity and an almost calming presence. 

That was when she, of course, had lost her strength, and fainted. The next thing she knew, Misty was waking up in the infirmary, to Nurse Joy's and Ash's worried faces.

She had almost tried to explain her ethereal experience, before shutting it away to the back of her mind. Misty Waterflower doesn't have hallucinations. Misty Waterflower doesn't have hallucinations. And yet a voice in her mind insisted that she wasn't imagining it. The voice was loud, and sometimes quite rude, mocking her teenagerdom, and it always ended it's long rants with a single phrase:

Fate chose you.

~*~*~*~*~*~

nixie.

~°~°~°~°~°~

 “Whenever I talk to her, I just… feel all tingly, y’know? Like there’s this syrup in my throat that - while tasty - sticks all my words together.”

Nixie nodded to themself, having a conversation with a Croagunk-like creature, whom they had named Gerald. They voiced Gerald's concerned feelings themselves, seeing as he could not talk. Then, they responded, all business: “Sometimes I feel that way around my best friend. But I can usually push it down enough to speak.”

Yep. Totally sane here. 

Gerald croaked at the lazing Vaporeon, then turned and hopped away. Dejected by their froggy companion's abandonment, Nixie pulled themselves from the swampy puddle they were lounging in and took up their trek once more.

They staunchly refused to go along with the pull tugging them north, instead pushing against it in the opposite direction. Nixie had decided, during their who-knew-how-many-hours stay in the forest, that they didn't care about the prophecy , or whatever the Queen had pulled them into by sending them on that star. It was just another responsibility that they would try to avoid as much as possible before doing. But what they did care about was the bet they'd made with Gerald before their untimely break up. 

"Bet you can't go thirty floozels south with dying," he had taunted them.

"You're on." And that was that.

Mind racing, they heaved another step. (Yes, all of that was one step .) They entertained dreams of simply traveling the Earth, forgetting Terahia and the Pokegirls. They had enough magic to sustain themselves here, why not just run away from it all?

But, unfortunately for them, Fate would not take to that idea lightly. Fate was kinda a dick like that.

That might explain why their chest was tightening, and suddenly they were seeing stars, yet the ground raced around them. Their belly was burning with friction - Arceus, were they literally being dragged into this? Something - or someone - was pulling them by the ankles.

This'll make an interesting story to tell my grandkids. Oh, wait -

Either way, they weren't awake long enough to find out.

~*~*~*~*~*~

misty.

~°~°~°~°~°~

5:00 . The school's bells rang out a melody, signaling the end of the school day. Students poured into the hallways, a mix of everything, and Misty pushed and pulled with the living tide, trying to make her way outside.

When she finally made it, she let out a breath of relief. No dark sky today . With each passing day, she grew more certain that whatever had happened back at the party - roof collapse was the official label, of course - didn't matter anymore. They wouldn't be having many teenager ragers for a loooong while; the school board would make sure of that.

Heading back to her dorm, Misty took in the various conversations held around her with a smile. Everyone has a place here. And no matter what happened, I'm free from the past.

Now, what she really deserved was a nice, long nap in her dorm. Sinking into her comfy mattress… It'll be bliss .

But before she could lay her head, there were a few... detours she took.

First, she was blocked by what she'd thought was a train of clothes, chugging at her at full steam. Really, though, it was actually a girl carrying a lot of glimmering costumes, looking quite harried. The girl's tag read Serena, she/her, comic club and theatre , so Misty had a pretty solid idea where she was taking those clothes.

"Need some help?" She asked politely, mustering up a smile. Please say no, please say no, please say -

"Oh!" Serena flushed pink, having been caught staring at Misty in wonder. "Actually, I kinda do…" Godamnit. As Misty swooped up a load of the clothes, Serena began to ramble. "Me and the theatre troupe were able to convince the Board to let us host a musical! It was super cool, but also really, really stressful. And now, since we still haven't decided what we'll be doing - we're trying to find our options." She panted a little before continuing, "Basically, we're either going to do Alexander H., Ambers, or Sevem. Personally, I'm voting for Seven, but what do you think?"

"Hmmmm. I like the songs in Seven well emough, but I really loved the tragic romance in Ambers . And especially when Verona realizes her feelings for Amber Chandler's ghost." She decided not to add mostly just tired of it , because who could possibly be tired of Seven? 

"True. Although Katherine's storyline in Seven is also simply tragical ."

"Tragical? Is that a word?"

"It is now," Serena said with a wink, before letting out a surprised gasp. "Oh! We're already here! Well, it was really nice to meet you - " Her eyes flashed to Misty's badge in typical fashion - " - Misty."

"Nice to meet you too, Serena." Another friendly smile. "Maybe I'll catch you later."

And with that, Misty left her friend (or was she an acquaintance?) and began the now longer trek to her room, her insides all twisted in a sickly sweet feeling. Syrupy sweet. Weird.

The hallways were emptier now, everyone now departed to their own rooms. Like I should be. But alas, Fate had different plans for Misty.

Notably, that she was going to meet up again with The Girl Who Fell Down - er, May - again. 

She had recognized May's hair -  and for some reason felt compelled to go over and greet her, the feeling enough to push her all the way into a hallway. "Hey." Ten out of ten. 

"Heya." May's eyebrows shot up in surprise. Huh. Why does that seem to be a theme now? Maybe she was imagining it. "Guys, this is Misty."

Somehow, Misty hadn't even noticed the other two companions of her friend's. One was dressed in purple riding gear, and the other in a red and blue cheerleader's uniform. "Oh, hey there," she awkwardly raised a hand in greeeting. Pull it together, Waterflower . "I just wanted to make sure May was alright."

Rider Girl draped an arm dramatically onto May's shoulders, eyes half-lidded for extra flair. She spoke with a long drawl, "May's fine. She's just absolutely crushed that Drew got detention with her." Iris , Misty read her name tag as May shot daggers at her friend. "Really unfortunate , right May?"

"Oh, shut up, Iris. I don't care about that stupid twit one bit." May humphed , unraveled herself from Iris, and turned to the third member of her group, a pale, blue-haired girl in a cheer uniform. "Dawn can attest to that."

Dawn rolled her eyes, but Misty hadn't missed the way she had been staring right over Misty's shoulder. Discreetly, the red-head threw a look backwards, where some skateboarders were riding in the grass. 

"Is that all you wanted to know, Misty?"

"Huh? Oh," Misty swiveled at her name. "Yeah, yeah, that's pretty much all I wanted to know. But it was nice to see you again!" She took a small bow at Iris and Dawn. "And it was a pleasure to meet you as well - "

The air was knocked right out of her, however, when Iris slung her arms right around Misty. "Oh, stop with the formalities!" She whispered coyly into Misty's ear, "I can tell we're going to be great friends ."

"Iris! Don't freak her out!" Dawn and May pulled their friend away, whilst Misty blushed and laughed good-naturedly. 

Afterwards, she had a particularly uneventful trip - no more detours. But inwardly, more suspicious emotions swelled in her - fondness, determination, strength. Okay, so they weren't suspicious persay - but Misty usually had those feelings out in the swimmer's league. 

But then a storm rolled in, and the light was wiped away, leaving only darkness.

~°~°~°~°~°~

nixie.

~°~°~°~°~°~

"Wake up, oh my Arceus, WAKE UP -"

"Do you think they're dead? Oh Arceus, what if we KILLED THEM -"

"Technically it will have been Willow who killed them."

"Hey! Don't pin this on me! It was Fia's idea!"

"Everyone quiet! They're waking up!"

"Ugh. My head…" Nixie blinked, eyes blurry with sleep. "Where…. Who…."

They saw four faces staring back at them; one with irritation, two with concern, and one with a blank expression, and instantly pretended they were dead. It wasn't are particularly good impression - tongue lolling out, paws stuck straight out, and the simple fact that they had moved into this position. Still, it evoked a pretty strong response from Flareon, who screamed -

"Ohm yArceus they - "

"AMBER! THEY DIDN'T DIE!" Through the open slits of their eyes, they saw Sylveon say this, and groaned. Well, it was worth a shot . 

"You're right," they said with a sigh, stretching their limbs heartily as the others made room for them. "You caught me. So, we done here?" 

The Sylveon balked at their bluntness. "No, we aren't done! In fact, we've barely even begun our most high-priority quest!"

They didn't twitch an eyebrow, only responded, "Don't care," and began to pad away. Or at least they tried to swagger away, before their paw caught on a vine and they nearly fell face first into the dirt. Oh, so Leafeon must be Willow. "Would you mind?"

"Of course not." Willow retracted the vines, to Fia's sputtering response.

" Willow! "

It took a few seconds before Willow realized her mistake. She grinned sheepishly. "Oops. Sorry, force of habit."

"Wait!" The Flareon skidded in front of them, tail waving playfully.  "I haven't even introduced myself! I'm - "

"Look! A stick!" 

Amber jumped. "Where?!?! Ohhhhh . Very funny." She chuckled, then straightened from her playful stance to a less childish pose. "I'm Amber. And you are?"

Nixie glared, now annoyed that her little trick didn't work. "Doesn't matter. I don't want to be a part of your little Pokegirls group." Mostly because you literally kitnapped me, if I'm being honest.  "Leave me alone." They ignored the microscopic stab of guilt when Amber's tail drooped, and tried to keep on moving. Of course, then their feet became stuck in icicles.

"You're not going anywhere." The smooth voice came from a Glaceon, who Nixie hadn't even noticed until now. "Like it or not, you are a part of the team."

It took them by surprise, surely, when Nixie simply turned to water and back again, absorbing their icy prison with them. "Chilly," they commented, licking their lips as though they had drunken it. "Not enough to convince me to take on a death sentence, though."

"We're not going to die," Pinky Princess scoffed. "If anyone's going to die, it's you ."

"Oh? And why's that?"

"Now that you've come to Earth, your magic source is your Pokegirl. Stray too far, and you won't last longer than a Venonat." Nixie huffed at the Sylveon's know-it-all tone, but grudgingly admitted there was reason in her words. "If you ever want to go home again, you're better off with us."

"And who says I want to go back there?" They shot back. Fia backed away, and they took in a breath. "Fine. You know what? Fine. But just remember I'm not here to make friends . And if there's a chance for me to get home besides you idiots - let's just say I'm open to opportunities."

By the time they were over ranting, however, something else had caught the Partner's attention. They peered upwards.

Damnit Gerald, I knew you'd curse me like this.

~°~°~°~°~°~

misty.

~°~°~°~°~°~

Of course, Misty could attribute the darkening sky to the evening. But when she saw five little creatures racing across the grass - well, that was a little weird.

Okay, so it was a lot weird. She followed them relatively sneakily - there's only so much friction noise you can avoid when wearing wet sneakers - and skidded to a stop.

In front of Misty were four outrageously dressed cosplayers, out of place like hell. Each brimmed with an aura of bright neon colored light, matching their very large dresses, and Misty took a step backward in astonishment.

May…? Iris! Dawn - Serena ?

Her mind flashed back to the night of the party. Serena and May's outfits matched perfectly with those of the pink and red paladins. Hiding and peeking through the glass hallway, Misty from here-on-out was going to find out just exactly the fuckity fuck was going on .

She pressed an ear to the glass, the voices outside muffled, but audible.

“Wonder where they are." May flashed her dress wildly to and fro, actual sparks flying off and making her look like one of those cheap light-up fans you bought at the checkout. A faint smoky smell filled the air as she spun like a top, and when she stopped, she didn't look a bit dizzy. Guess I wasn't wrong in nicknaming her Sparky Girl. “They’d usually appear by now, saying their annoying catchphrase."

"Maybe they're in the forest somewhere," Serena piped up, eyes glancing back over Misty's head. "Like with Iris."

“Yeah. Or maybe they’re chickens,” snorted Iris, crossing her arms. "Honestly, once we have the last Pokegirl, I hope we unlock, like, a super ultra finisher move and just blast them away." She mimicked dual guns in with her hands, pewing at May jokingly. 

"I dunno, guys, I have a bad feeling about today." Dawn shivered in her light dress, even though it had to be eighty degrees out, and Misty had noticed she hovered slightly over the ground. Summer's remnants still resisted against autumn's coming. "The sky is so foreboding…"

Iris rolled her eyes. "This is what the sky's always like when they come, Hikari, or so I'm told." Something barreled into her, a flash of green, and whoosh ! She was swept clean off her feet and head-first into the grass. "What the hell was that for, Willow?!"

"We found the last Partner!" Misty's eyes widened in shock. That leaf - fox - thing is talking? Goddess, I hope I'm not losing it. The creature shut their eyes, concentrating, a ring of light emblazoned on their head. "And I think I sense the last Pokegirl, too!"

Each of the other Partners lifted their snouts into the air in a group effort to find the "last Pokegirl" - whatever the fuck that meant. Then, of course, they spotted her.

Misty hadn't thought they'd notice her, and so of course she had stepped out into the hallway. She hadn't quite noticed how far away she had become from the Lobby's exit, though; she was right smack dab in the center of the corridor.

"There!"

Misty jumped backward, just as a huge crash from behind her sounded. She yelped as tiny shards of glass splintered her skin. To add onto her growing panic, something - a hand, presumably - wrapped around her throat, threatening to squeeze the life of her.

"Stop right there," a voice boomed from beside Misty's ear, tough and harsh. "Or you'll find out what happens before we collect Bad Soul Energy."

Suddenly, the other glass wall fell away, and Misty focused her eyes on the girls before her. Serena had been rushing toward her, that much was obvious.

The pink crusader halted, fists clenched at her sides as she glared daggers at whoever was holding Misty. "Let her go!" Her voice wavered. She can't do anything. It took only a moment to set in, and then a moment more for her to truly panic, trying to claw at the gloved hand, but in response her captor tightened their grip. 

"Misty, just stay calm, okay?" Dawn gently reassured her, even as spots began to edge her vision. It was a miracle she'd lasted this long. "What do you want from us?" 

She could almost hear the satisfied smirk as a feminine voice spat, "Oh, nothing much. Just hand over your Partners and we'll let the girl go." 

"No! That's not - " 

A voice warbled incoherently, interrupting Iris's furious reply. Misty held her breath, battling against the lightheadedness settling in her brain. Then, she heard Iris sigh. 

"Okay." Misty couldn't see the transaction take place, as her eyes forced themselves to look only upward, at the ceiling that surprisingly was still above her head. Her captor hissed delight, and she could only assume it was because they had gotten what they had wanted.

"He will be pleased for sure. No more mercenary work for us, Butchie."

A masculine sigh could be heard from Misty's right, more tired than anything. "Okay, Cass." He didn't sound confident in this plan at all. "Let's get this over with, then."

The vise-grip on her throat loosened, then was lost altogether, and Misty collapsed into Serena's waiting arms. "It'll be fine," her friend reassured her quietly as a light pulsed from her hands, the soft glow overtaking Misty's fragile vision. She felt full of breath again, thank the Goddess, and was able to concentrate on Serena's next words. "It's you, isn't it?"

"Me?" Somehow, Misty knew exactly what Serena would say next. 

"You are the Water Pokegirl. Fate chose you."

Fate chose you.

Serena set her down and unveiled a sparkling, glittering brooch from her palms, the shade of aqua reflecting Misty's eyes perfectly. When her fingers grazed the golden edges, she swore she could hear the ocean, despite being miles and miles away. To herself, she chanted, " I pledge myself to the good for all. With this power, I will protect the innocent, fight the corrupt, and become my ultimate form."

The sky began to pour instead of drizzle, and Misty felt each and every droplet invigorate her, cascading around her. The waters glided through the air and around her, everyone else dropping away. She was vaguely reminded of when she was onstage with her sisters in the spotlight as she was lifted into the sky, and  embracing it, she gave a pirouette in the air, adding some flourish to her performance.

When her voice spoke again, it thundered, a force behind it indescribable. "Behold, powers of Water! Bring me the Wrath of the Sea!"

Like the tide, Misty's anxieties and fears drained away, washing off her as if she were bathing in heavenly water. Her clothes slid away as well, and for a moment she opened her eyes, feeling vulnerable. But she met her fellow Pokegirl's encouraging eyes, and simply let herself go.

The water cocooning her turned inward, splashing and rushing against her skin. If before had been low tide, then this must have been high tide; replacing the negative emotions clouding her mind was crystal clarity, the sharpness of it astounding. The flows of the rivers, the lakes, the oceans - it was all within her grasp now. 

Her sleeves resembled the foamy wave, except cast in a splendid gold; her belt was one of ice, shining iridescently in the light. Her dress flowed around her like a river, riveting to and fro, the gold accents catching any eyes. Her rubbery rain boots added a playful touch - reminding her of the joy that could be found in the rainy days. 

Her hair danced out of it's regular ponytail, now longer than it had been in nearly a decade. Spreading out her limbs like a starfish, she twirled her fingers through the air as if she were strumming a harp, and yelled,

"The World is my Oyster, and I its Pearl! Pokegirl Kasumi!"

Dropping to the ground, Kasumi cracked her knuckles, the power at her fingertips making her cocky. "Alright then, you idiots are about to answer to a heavy beatdown."

The others backed her up, adding in words of affirmation. "We've got your back."

Butch started to take a step back, but Cassidy stopped him. Despite her baggy eyes and hunched back, her eyes burned with desperation. She grabbed the last shiny ball off her belt, flinging it outwards as she hoarsely shouted, "Go, Shadow Blaziken!"

A beam of red light shot out, dissipating to reveal a tall beaked figure that reminded Kasumi of old-fashioned plague doctors of 2020. Its claws raised threateningly as it gurgled what could vaguely be called a squawk, if you really wanted to call it that. It towered over the Pokegirls, at least six feet tall.

I may have bitten off more than I can chew there. Kasumi wondered if her powers granted her a way to revoke threats.

"Blaziken, use Heat Crash!" 

"Stay back for a bit, Kasumi," Haruka warned her, pushing her aside, half with seriousness and half with swagger. "Watch and learn." Kasumi rolled her eyes but complied happily, grateful to be given a little time to learn. Let's see how these Pokegirls roll .

Iris, Hikari and Serena leaped out of the way, but Haruka charged in the opposite direction, going head-to-head with her much larger opponent. They met with a loud boom , fire slashing through the rain but quickly going out. 

They went it like this for a few times, again and again, seemingly equal. But Kasumi had a sharp eye, and she saw how sloppy Haruka's aim was getting. She's losing stamina, but Blaziken hasn't even broken a sweat .

Finally, when the avian sped ahead, Haruka dodged away, panting. "It's not - slowing down… Who should take it on?" She shouted this question to the other Pokegirls. 

"Blaziken is a Fire-type, which is super-effective against me," Iris responded, and it looked to Kasumi as though she were repeating something off a script. Like someone was telling her what to say.

"That's because someone is. " A very flat voice spoke into Kasumi's mind. She jumped a bit.

" Hello, yes, I'm Nixie, they/them, your Partner, and I can also talk into your mind. I'm one of those Eeveelutions you saw earlier, but that's not important. What's important is that - "

"I'll take him, I'm the equivalent of a Fairy!" Serena jumped down gracefully, her dress gaining an iridescent sheen even when the sky was totally covered by clouds. 

" Oh. Well guess you don't need me after all."

The Blaziken turned to her, and Kasumi swore its eyes widened slightly in surprise. "Come on, then, Big Bird! Show me what you've got!"

The bird sent a glance back at its trainer, who nodded and threw out her hand commandingly again. "Use Bullet Punch!"

"Queen's Shield!" Serena crossed her arms in front of her, and a shield sprang up, glowing right in front of her. The Blaziken jumped and began sending a barrage of laser-fast punches down on her. Serena strained, groaning as she tried to hold the creature back, but Kasumi heard it before she saw it. A splinter, akin to when the glass had shattered behind her ten, twenty minutes ago - how time flew by in battle! - and a second later the shield broke. 

Kasumi winced, refusing to watch her friend crumple from the final blow, but when she forced her eyes open she found all were looking up. Hikari was holding Serena by the armpits, setting her on the low roof of the hallway. For a few moments they were just… there. Then Hikari floated upwards again, face set in stony determination.

"You will pay for that."

She swooped down, sending slashes of air this way and that, carrying the torrential rain with them so much that Kasumi figured it was almost like bending rain. The Blaziken dodged most hits smoothly, but after taking out two Pokegirls - one if you didn't count Haruka yet - it was clear that or later one of them would have to lose the stamina war. And to Kasumi at least, it was apparent that Hikari was in the lead.

As it continued on, Kasumi let her eyes wander over to the Recruits, whom Nixie helpfully stated were called Cassidy and Butch, and cages of dark webbed matter that enclosed the Partners. The two were close, Cassidy clutching the Shadowmon's Ball tightly in her hand and in that state - Kasumi couldn't help but feel that, however much they wanted to intimidate - they were only capable of instilling pity.

The Water Paladin drew her stare back to the fight. Hikari had settled on the nearby hallway, whereas the Blaziken kneeled, a claw on the ground to steady it, its labored breathing a sure sign of their victory.

Right?

Cassidy commanded from under the ceiling, "Blaziken, use Thunder Punch, now!" 

Or maybe not.

Giving a screech, the creature ran at Hikari, who panicked at the sudden attack and shot Air Slashes at where it'd been. Fist crackling with electricity, it yielded a great uppercut, hitting the poor Air Pokegirl square in the chin.

" Hikari !" Iris screamed from where she tended to Haruka and Serena. She made a movement as if to go after the falling Girl, but then remembered her type disadvantage to the Blaziken. " Goddamnit !"

Kasumi grimaced, unsure of where to go. Should I fight the beast, or try and help Hikari? 

The Recruits didn't give her much time to decide. Cassidy's gaze raked over to her, and with a twistedly broken smile she shouted,  "Blaziken, finish off the Water Pokegirl with another Thunder Punch!"

No - no, no, no - It all seemed to go in slow-motion. The Blaziken charging up another fearsome Thunder Punch, running full steam at her. And here she was, useless. Frozen like a deer in headlights. She didn't know how to fight - she was a swimmer . 

" God, you Pokegirls are so pathetically needy. Shout out 'Scald'! And lift your hands out too, for fudgesticks' sake!"

Here goes nothing! " Scald! " Kasumi stretched out her hands, expecting nothing but an electric current running through her and those beady yellow eyes being the last ones she'd ever see. Instead, the rain around her threaded into her palms and out in a boiling hot current that struck the Blaziken in the chest, dead center.

It let out an ear-bleeding screech , falling onto its back a few feet away. Kasumi stared at it. Did I - 

"Blaziken!" She heard the footsteps. The Recruits were coming. I need to finish the job. 

And this time, she didn't need Nixie to tell her what to do. 

Dropping to her knees by its side, Kasumi took in a deep breath, stabilizing herself, letting the waters speak to her. She lifted her arms and began to sway them through the humid air, guiding the stopping run. As her arms danced, the currents of controlled liquid swirled around the Blaziken in two intertwined beams. The water shimmered as the light passed through it - glowing a beautiful and deep gold. 

Kasumi watched as the flecks of Shadow cleansed off, revealing a bird whose feathers shone with scarlet brilliance in the setting sun. Then, it too melted away, its spirit vanishing to places unknown.

It was over.

~*~*~*~*~

Kasumi heard the Partners being let free, their joyful yells almost painful to her ears.

And then, all was silent. It felt as though all the air had been sucked from the scene, everyone frozen in place. Waiting . But they didn't know what for.

Cassidy broke the silence, eyes shut tight. She stood a few feet away from Blazi - from where Blaziken had been. "They're going to come any second now. They'll kill us."

Nixie and Willow's eyes widened. Amber gasped, horrified. Sapphire's claws dug into the earth, though it was easily missed, and Fia struggled to maintain her composure by spitting, "Who?"

Cassidy barked a laugh incredulously. Her eyes flared open and cast downward, shoulders drawing back. Steeling herself for what was to come. 

"Who do you think ? Our replacements."

"Your replacements?" Haruka questioned, her scowl masking the confusion all the Pokegirls shared. "What do you - "

A loud bang interrupted her. The Pokegirls were blasted back as a tear tore through reality itself, right under the standalone ceiling. Through the swirl of purples and blacks emerged a woman, hair swirling to her knees as crimson as her lips. She held in both hands an object none of the girls had ever laid eyes on before; metallic and glowing with a purple light, the smell coming off it stringent and eye-watering.

"So… you're Team Rocket?"

Butch embraced Cassidy tightly as she nodded.

"The Organization has been notified that you have run out of Shadow Balls, signifying that your mission has failed ," the woman continued in a scripted, annoyed tone, as though she had much better things to do. "Hereby, you are to be eliminated, as you have failed your given missions many, many times, and thus are not reliable enough to serve our Master and his new world." 

"Now hold on a minute - " Serena tried to interrupt defiantly, but Cassidy stepped forward, shaking off Butch's protective embrace. She refused to look back into his eyes, refused to watch his horror as she spread her arms out in surrender.

"Kill me, then, but leave Butch."

"Cassidy, no ," Butch protested immediately, grasping her hand in his and trying to pull her to the side. "Please, we'll find another way, please - "

But there wasn't another way.

"Butch. My love, take your time." She tucked his hair behind his ear, and pressed a kiss to his lips.  Then, she withdrew away from him, wincing at the heartbroken look in his eyes. And when she had put a few feet between them, the stranger lifted her blaster, looked Cassidy in the eye, and fired .

A beam of indigo light shot through the device, so fast time almost seemed to slow. Serena could only scream " Wait!" a few seconds before the bullet struck Cassidy right in her heart, her body falling limply to the ground.

Butch lurched forward, hunching over his fallen teammate in melancholy silence. " Cassidy, " he whispered, so quietly Kasumi couldn't make it out at first. His voice was cracking as he screamed, 

" Cassidy! "

But Cassidy's eyes stayed glassy, the life that once shone vibrant now dull as the ground beneath him. 

"Cassidy, I'm sorry," he sobbed, holding her body close to his as he physically could.  "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." 

Kasumi could hear her heart beat in her ears. 

When Butch raised his head again, neat hair now all out of place, he faced his audience with a new furiousity. The anger shining in his eyes didn't faze the other Recruit, who simply rolled her eyes - been there, seen that - but the girls were taken aback by his rage.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the vial of Bad Soul Energy, the dark fluid gurgling inside. Staring at his lover's killer, he smashed it against the ground, the liquid seeping into the grass. "You won't use any Energy we collected," he shouted fiercely, baiting unabashedly for a reaction - an emotion - anything . But his fellow Recruit stayed silent, a smirk edging her lips. 

"Done with your little temper tantrum?" She asked silkily, running her finger along her blaster as if she was tracing the ray it would fire in her mind; imagining his death play out in high definition. "I'm ready to finish the job when you are." Butch didn't doubt that he would meet his end here as well, and so he turned to the girls, one last display of rebellion to the Organization he'd served loyally for so, so long.

"You - " His throat clenched with swallowed tears, but he forced himself to continue. For Cassidy. "This isn't your fault, no matter how much I want to blame you. Please , you have to stop the Organization." He bent down on one knee, head kneeling down at the shockstill group. "I wish you didn't have to see this," he murmured under his breath. Only Hikari caught it, the wind carrying it to her ear.

"Tick tock, loverboy. You ready to die?"

Butch met her crimson eyes, lifted his chin, and smiled back.

May not even Death separate us.

Butch crumpled a moment later, that same smile now perpetual on his face.

The woman, hand on her hip, swiveled to the Pokegirls, her grin taking on a predatory edge. "You have no idea what you've just started." Giving them a sassy sidewink, she waved a hand and shouted "Toodaloo!" before jumping backwards into the portal.

~°~°~°~°~°~

Misty closed her eyes, but the images of Cassidy and Butch's bodies were were seared into her brain, the loud zap of dark energy preceeding them echoing in her mind. The trip back to their dorms was a silent one; later on she got a text on her holo-phone inviting her to a Pokegirls of Justice group chat.

But even as she laughed at the jokes and found a new place for herself to belong, Misty still couldn't push away the dread haunting her. And when she closed her eyes - 

Well, let's just say she won't be taking many naps anymore.

~°~°~°~°~°~