Soar high and fight!

                          ⭐ Carry your world                                                 I'll carry your world ⭐

These were some heavy questions, and Spikes couldn’t blame him. She wished that someone would have told her about these things when she was younger, too. “Well… I don’t know,” she admits with a light shrug of her shoulder.

“Maybe you just got a new interest out of nowhere and your current job doesn’t do it for you anymore. Or you might end up doing something you really like, but the management is pants,” she chuckled softly. “Ah well, the correct answer is there may never be something that you’ll do forever, and maybe there will. Different for everyone, innit.” She gave him a reassuring smile. “Just take it one step at a time, yeh? And do things for yourself, and not cause some bloody rich prat tells you to.”

Toma wasn’t expecting a definite answer. It was a hard truth to swallow, but he started to understand that not all adults had their life figured out - and that it was perfectly okay. 

“I understand what you mean, but I just can’t help worrying ... I love exploring the world and discovering new things, but I know I can’t keep doing that forever.” Or could he ? This might be what the lady was trying to tell him. That it was okay to hesitate, as long as he followed his heart.

Her last few words struck a chord. It was almost as if she read his mind ...

“Just because you don’t wanna battle doesn’t mean you’re not a trainer, bruv,” Spikes replied with a casual tilt of her head—made more apparent by the tall mohawk on her head. “Just means you’re a different kinda trainer. Maybe you’ll figure it out one day.”

“You can bond with them while you travel… maybe you’ll get into contests or… you know, just have a different job when you’re older.”

“You really think so ?” If it wasn’t already obvious, Toma was desperate to get approval from other people. All he needed was some validation, and a little bit of praise - all the things he could never get from his stubborn brother.

For a second, he was distracted by the young woman’s hair, and had a little chuckle at the way it moved with her neck’s movements. He was almost tempted to reach out and touch it ...

“I’ve tried taking part in contests ! It was only once, and I didn’t win, but it was a lot of fun !” Toma exclaimed, his smile only brightening as he recalled the good memories. “But there are so many other things I could do, and I don’t want to make a choice to early. I don’t want to make the wrong decision.”

Hau blinked in confusion before realizing Dingo was talking about the bandaids. He gave a nervous laugh, bringing his arms down to pick at one of the bandaids. 

“It wasn’t the kids, it was their Yungoos! Well, some of these are from their Yungoos and some are from the ones I have at home, their teeth are a lot smaller than a Sharpedo’s but just as sharp!” He sounded like he was speaking from experience, but luckily he’d never actually been bitten by a Sharpedo before.

“Rai?” Raichu perked up at the mention of training. “Chu rairai!” 

“Hey, I thought you wanted me to brush your fur? It’s just gonna get even messier if you go into the mountains,” Hau warned, smiling sympathetically as Raichu’s ears drooped in disappointment. He gave his partner a pat on the head before turning his attention back to Dingo.

“That sounds fun though! I haven’t been up in those mountains since I took on Soph’s trial, but there were some awesome Pokemon up there!”

“Don’t they make toys for Pokémon to chew on ?” Dingo questioned, a little puzzled by Hau’s attitude. It was almost as if Hau enjoyed letting the Yungoos try out their teeth on every square inch of his skin. 

“Training up the mountain ain’t that hard. I was on my way back to town, and I ended up ‘round that big geotha ... geother ... the power plant thing.” Dingo tried wiping off some of the dirt from his cheek, but only managed to spread it more. “Then I kept running into those big turtle Pokémon. Y’know, the ones that explode if you hit them. Not that it stops us from winning.”

“Pokemon have senses humans don’t,” Spikes replied, lowering herself to a kneel in front of Toma. “And when you form a proper bond, your hearts will synchronise–that means beat in time wif one another.” She placed one of her black fingernails to his chest. “When that happens, you don’t need to be afraid.”

“I’m sure you’ll meet many Pokemon and bond wif many people also,” she said softly. “It’s every trainer’s destiny, innit.”

Toma’s hand was already halfway up to his own heart, and stopped when the young lady placed her finger there. He almost expected her nail to carve a hole into his shirt, but her touch was gentle.

“I’m not afraid of bonding with my Pokémon ! I really want to have a special link with them !” Toma assured. “I’m just not so sure that I want to be a trainer ... Not in the fighting sense. I want to find another way to bond with them.”

@flyiingpress​ | Cont. from here

“Is that so?” Spikes mused softly. She smirked at the child, and chuckled.“Are you afraid, then?” There was a glint in her eye as she peered at Toma, a mere spark that seemed rather warm, despite her dark, cold attire.

“You got nuffin’ to be afraid of. Besides, they’re probably already worryin’, innit,” she added, running her hands through her fluffy, pink mohawk. “How long have you been travellin’ wif your Pokemon, kid?” The Galarian punk stuffed her fists into her jacket’s pockets as she awaited his answer.

“Yes. A little.” Toma admitted, his gaze dropping to his feet for a second. He couldn’t have lied to the stranger’s face even if he wanted to. “I know it’s silly to be afraid, but ... I just can’t help it.”

“You’re surely right. My Pokémon can always tell how I’m feeling.” Toma had a little chuckle. “It’s like they can read my mind, even if none of them are Psychic-type !”

At first glance, Toma had been terrified of the young woman. She was very tall, she seemed very strong, and even her makeup was intimidating ... yet her words seemed to convey something else. Toma immediately decided that he could trust her, and reply with honesty.

Maylene is, to her chagrin, deeply confused. Again. It’s… too warm for her here. And, from the looks of it, she’s about to be swarmed by biting insects if she sticks still any longer.

“Grh-”

She pulls a branch off of some nearby leafy … thing and hauls herself to her feet, and whistles.

“Cmon- Machoke- stop- lingering-”

Machoke, on the other hand, is loving the heat. To the point of frequently lagging behind the Miss - who, to his mind really shouldn’t be surprised that the oversized monitor lizard is fond of heat. He can be way ahead of the Miss in a few steps- into some sort of clearing-

Maylene has to jog to keep up with Machoke - paying no mind to the amount of noise she makes as she stumbles past the large pokemon and into the open - promptly tripping over herself and falling flat onto her face.

Well. That’s a entrance.

Atlas almost wanted to turn down another fight, or his trainer’s sake. However, the child would probably call it a victory by default, and Atlas was too proud to let his win record be broken. 

The Hawlucha had a sigh, and readied himself again. It would take just one push to send Dingo to the ground, at this point. This should be a short fight.

Just as Dingo rushed to attack with a loud cry, another person stumbled into their improvised battlefield. Atlas easily stepped aside to avoid his screaming trainer, and walked up to the intruder instead. He had an inquisitive chirp - are you alright ?

@flyiingpress​ from here

Shhhnnng.

The sound of a knife screeched against coarse rock as the young girl tried to sharpen it. Raising the weapon closer, she inspected it closely before throwing it at the wooden bullseye, landing with a clunk. 

“Shit,” she cursed under her breath, “I thought I was getting better at this”

A sizeable sandcastle Pokemon stood watching her trainer yank the knife from the magpie before retreating to her side once more. She had reached the inner bull just the day before, so her frustration with herself was clearly visible. In an effort to comfort her trainer, Aina waited until the girl sat back down to pat her back. 

“Thanks. Guess I’ll quit for the day and get back to-”

Footsteps tapping lightly on the cement interrupted her as a young man approached the trial site. He looked confident and prepared, a sight that this trial captain loved to see. The perfect candidate for a broken spirit. Holding the knife visible, she grinned as he made his way towards the duo. Aina faithfully situated herself to the right of her. With a slight chuckle, she greeted the trialgoer.

“Well would’ya look at that, Aina. Fresh meat,” her grin stretched wider, “Say kid, you came here to take on my trial, huh? Here, catch!”

She tossed a Roto-Polo in his direction, a vintage model Rotom-powered camera that dated back to the late seventies. Its once brightly colored exterior had long faded into desaturated husk. 

“All ya gotta do is take some pictures of ghost Pokemon,” she smirked at his amulet, “Think you can handle that, champ?,” that last part sounding as condescending as possible.

“The Rotom that fits that camera should be inside already waiting for ya,” she continued her spiel, “Oh, and one more thing-”

She leaned close to Dingo’s ear, holding the weapon close to his body, “Once you step in, there won’t be a mommy to clean you up so try not to shit yourself, ‘kay?”, pulling back, she laughed in his face, twirling the knife in her hand, “But just in case, diapers are on aisle ten. Good luck…and Alola”

A tiny kid. Dingo had heard all kinds of rumor about this trial and this captain, but he hadn’t expect the latter to be a small, harmless child.

Dingo caught the device that was sent his way, and spent a good few seconds staring down at it in confusion. This had to be the oldest thing he’d ever seen, and he had grown up in a village far from the modern cities. 

“Take pictures ? That’s your trial ?” Dingo grumbled, not bothering to hide his disappointment. “I’m a trainer, not some kinda tourist ...”

He didn’t immediately notice the strange vibe this child gave. In fact, he didn’t notice her at all when she came closer, not until she spoke to his ear.

Dingo stared down at the knife, more confused that impressed. Why did a tiny kid like her have a knife ? Sure, he had several blades on his person as well, but he was a trainer who travelled the world. He needed those to survive, when this kid probably went home to her mommy ever night.

He didn’t like her attitude, and he liked her words even less. Forget about the island challenge - this trial was a personal thing now. He was going to make this little girl regret she was ever born.