Permanent hiatus

Aimlessly wandering around the youthful blue haired girl wandered along the dirt path, hoping that she would sooner or later find someone to ask for directions. Dawn wasn’t one to get easily lost but this particular day she had been caught of guard whilst gathering food and was now lost. To be frank it wasn’t really her fault to begin with considering she was in unfamiliar territory and her map was quite damaged from a recent storm. Regardless, Dawn continued her trek along the path, taking in the scenery as she walked, her Piplup by her side. Dawn was a somewhat optimistic girl and she thought if she was going to be stuck out here for a while she might as well enjoy it and anyway, she was bound to find a town or someone soon, right?

Yes, was the answer to her question as she spotted a person up ahead, a pokemon near them, but there was something about the way they interacted, it didn’t seem right. Maybe it was a wild pokemon or maybe the trainer was experiencing some difficulties. Whatever it was it wasn’t going to stop Dawn from talking to the person and hopefully getting some directions. Dawn picked up her pace slightly as she neared closer to the person and pokemon, calling out as she went.

“Hello there, my Name is Dawn. Er, I seem to be lost and I was wondering if I may have directions to the nearest town or something of the sort.”

Realizing she may have rushed into the middle of something she tilted her head slightly in an apologetic manor.

Although she had been to Johto a few times before, it had never been for more than a few days. Her work as part of the Elite Four back in Unova always kept Caitlin tied to the far region, but occasions where she could slip out did come every now and then. In this case, she had been asked to visit Johto for a small errand. The bored trainer had leapt at the chance, mainly because Johto held its own array of interesting psychic Pokémon that Caitlin would probably never get the chance to see if she stayed holed up in Unova.

An idea popped into Caitlin’s mind and she began rummaging through the bag that she was carrying around her waist. She held out a poke ball, and was about to release her Sigilyph inside, however was interrupted as a nearby bush began to rustle suspiciously. Gallade reacted instantly, leaping with blades outstretched and slicing through the medium sized shrub with ferocious ease. A small shadow darted out in a flurry of leaves and twigs, giving a sharp cry as it did so.

Landing on a nearby rock, the odd orange Pokémon rose onto its hind legs and hissed. It had six legs in all, with the two legs in front being what seemed like pincers of sorts. Its two large round eyes were filled with confusion and wariness. Most noticeably, however, it carried two small mushrooms on its back, red mushrooms with yellow spots. Despite never having seen this Pokémon before, Caitlin guessed that it was probably commonly found in this forest, maybe even all around the region. Suddenly a voice from behind her broke into her thoughts and startled the Pokémon in front of her as well. Turning around, she saw a young looking girl walking up to her, a bright and cheerful look on her face. She stopped a few paces short of Caitlin before tilting her head and apologising.

“I’m sorry to have intruded like that. I could not help but notice something between you and this Pokémon, is everything ok? May I assist you in any way?”

Realising that by ‘this Pokémon’, she meant the one standing on the rock in a rather defensive position, Caitlin shook her head before answering in a polite and formal tone.

“It’s not really a problem. We don’t have this kind of Pokémon living in my home region so I was just interested in what Pokémon this was, that’s all.”

Perhaps it wasn’t appropriate to bombard her with a series of thought-provoking questions such as these, especially since he had not seen her in so many years. Suppose a secret anger was pent up inside him upon hearing of her departure, and perhaps he had never fully gotten over the fact. Thorton knew well enough about her to know he was probably rendering her quite flustered, especially from what little he did know about her.

As she spoke, the more apparent this became. For a few seconds he felt  bad for being so forward. Then again, he tended to be illusive from social interaction, and perhaps she too had similar mannerisms, leading her to be seemingly taken aback by the questioning. However, this was quickly refurbished upon hearing her  response, and while it filled him with wonder, it also filled him with mild apprehension.

“I see…” he mumbled in response, as he listened intently to her speak. Although he wanted to believe that there really was a truly underlying reason for her to return, he also understood she had called this place home for many years, and one needed to return to it every once in awhile. However, that thought aside, he knew that she was unlikely here to see him specifically, or any of the others for that matter. The thought pained him greatly, but made no indication of the fact that it did. Nor did he truly understand why it bothered him so much. Perhaps it was a selfish thought, but that was irrelevant to him at the time.

“I suppose it’s been difficult leaving the Unova League…I trust it’s quite busy, and fast paced.” he nodded, agreeing with his own statement, unaware it was reflected quite arrogantly, as if out of disrespect.

As the last word left Caitlin’s mouth, a small line of guilt began to wriggle its way into her. She had purposefully neglected to inform Thorton of her intentions for coming to the Sinnoh region and, more specifically, the Battle Frontier. Being the kind of person she was, Caitlin always preferred to refrain from speaking of anything that hadn't been directly asked of her. Even so, she couldn’t shake the feeling that it would have been better, somehow, if she at least mentioned her reasons. But before she could decide whether or not to open her mouth and speak again, Thorton asked her a question that Caitlin found somewhat amusing, both the question itself and the way it was asked.

“I suppose it’s been difficult leaving the Unova League… I trust it’s quite busy, and fast paced.”

 “Well…” Trailing off, Caitlin let a thoughtful look pull over her face. Though it had been true that she was required to return home by tomorrow morning, it wasn't because she had a line of trainers to battle, or stacks of work to do. “I was only permitted to leave Unova for a day, that’s true, but it hasn't actually been that busy lately. It’s awfully boring, really. The lack of interesting battle opportunities we get as the Elite Four has always been a shame, since skilled trainers can only officially challenge us once they've obtained all the badges in the region.” 

Even so, she couldn't deny that her choice to join the Elite Four had been a worthwhile one, and she would never give up the opportunities she had now to be challenged by trainers that were strong of soul and kind of heart. It was the only reason as to why she remained in the Elite Four but to Caitlin, it was enough. Battling had always been a passion of hers, after all.

The sun shone bright the blue Sunnyshore sky, the blazing heat pounded onto the city. These days were the best, the solar panel soaked up the sunlight converting it into energy powering the city and providing it more life than ever but the energy of the city didn’t match the energy of the almost dejected looking Volkner whom emerged from him home. A small house situated on a rocky outcrop near the gym. The walked down the solar paneled walkways of Sunnyshore with Jolteon following closely. He wasn’t watching where he was walking his eyes fixed on the ground and it cocked to the side as he retrieved the keys to the gym from his left pocket. Suddenly he collided with another body sending the keys flying into the air and landing on the ground with aclink. The collision had sent the unwary Volkner tripping and falling on the ground. Who the hell was that? he thought to himself as he raised his head up to see whom had collided into him. His blue orbs met with a complete stranger’s. A stranger? He hadn’t met in a  quite a while. This better be important. A gym challenger perhaps? But what kind of clumsy trainer could possibly want to challenge my gym?  He said ironically to himself as Volkner was the one obviously at fault.  

Caitlin let out a small sigh. She had made the decision to come to Sinnoh on a whim, today being one of the rarer days where sleep persistently continued to elude her, forcing her to go outside and do something, unless she wanted to bore herself to death. But even so, she had not been expecting or prepared for the scorching heat that pressed down on her like a muffling blanket as she walked through the streets of Sunyshore City. It was probably beneficial for the city though, Caitlin realised as she studied the city around her. It was amazing in the way that it was built, with solar panels covering almost every inch of the roofs of the various buildings dotted around the area. Even the many winding roads were covered with solar panels. Admittedly, she was impressed and her awe was reflected in Gallade’s eyes.They use all these to power the city? That’s quite interesting. How much power does it generate? Is there a backup system…?

Still dwelling in her thoughts, Caitlin didn’t realise that she was walking towards a dead end until she came face to face with a giant door, the door of none other than the Sunyshore Gym. She frowned, confused as to how she exactly got here. Caitlin was almost certain that the direction she had been heading in was the complete opposite to the direction she had ended up walking. Blaming it on the winding roads, or her lack of attention, she turned around, about to head back the way she had come. Before she had taken even one step, however, a force suddenly slammed into her from the side, throwing Caitlin dangerously off-balance. She managed to right herself without falling, but the same could not be said for the unfortunate person who had bumped into her. Despite it being obvious that the collision had been the fault of the other, Caitlin faced the blonde stranger with slight concern.

“Err. What do you think you were doing?”

With a deep breath, she calmed herself, suppressing her emotions in the process. She was in a public area, the central square of the Battle Frontier to be more exact, and it was no place for her to just start reminiscing and run the risk of her powers going out of her control. As if reading her mind, Gallade shot her a quick warning look telling her to be careful, before continuing to observe the surroundings around him with a watchful eye. Caitlin did the same, noting with interest that the Battle Frontier had done well to retain its original look, hardly any different from seven years ago. The five facilities still stood proudly in their own corners of the pentagon shaped frontier, all with a Frontier Brain awaiting the next trainer who would be strong enough to challenge them, maybe even defeat them. Briefly, Caitlin contemplated the thought of visiting the Brains. It probably wasn’t the best of ideas, since she had changed drastically during the time she had spent in Unova, and it was unlikely that she would be recognised by most of them.

Even so, she found herself walking towards the nearest facility, the Battle Factory, her curiosity burning in her mind and driving her on. Although Caitlin used to preside over the Battle Castle as its head, she had never entered any of the other facilities, even though she knew all the Frontier Brains.  As she walked into the brightly lit, blue building, she was instantly reminded of its likeness to a normal factory, rather than a battle facility. Exhaust fans were dotted around the place and a long glass panel covering flashing blue pipes made its way through the factory. Following the glass panel path with her eyes, she realised that it led to the entrance for the area where the battles took place in the Factory, the line of trainers giving away its purpose.

“Caitlin?”

Reacting to her name, the former Battle Castle ‘princess’ looked up and was greeted with the sight of a rather familiar face. A small frown creased her features as she tried to remember who he was, but her confusion did not last long. The Battle Factory head was quite the unique individual, like most Brains were, and it would be hard to forget them so easily, especially when they’ve barely changed in appearance, unlike her.

“Yes, it has been awhile.” he agreed, attempting to recount the time it had been mentally, but was unable to truly get an appreciation for how long it really had been. Too long, in fact.

“Yeah. Things have been pretty much the same since…” Thorton paused, wondering whether or not to verbally continue the thought. “…you left.” Breathing a shallow and repressed sigh of slight embarrassment, he quickly formulated something less touchy to speak of.

“What about you? How’s the Elite business been to you?”

Considering the question with a thoughtful look, Caitlin pondered over her answer. Even though she was the youngest trainer to have ever been made into an Elite Four member, Caitlin had never really seen her position as any more than a chance to battle strong and wonderful trainers, trainers that reminded her of the ones she saw at the Battle Castle. As she opened her mouth to answer however, she was interrupted by another question, a rather shocking one.

“–I bet you’re here to see Darach, right?”

It was genuinely surprising to hear such an abrupt question, because of both the nature of the question and the asker of the question. Even Caitlin’s face reflected her bewilderment and to see the rigidly composed trainer show such emotion was a surprise in itself. “I… Well… No, I came…” She stopped herself, taking a deep breath to calm down and compose her mind, escaping the turmoil that it had momentarily been thrown into.

Quickly scanning the area around her, Caitlin realised with surprise that Musharna had awoken, no doubt at the very moment the pair had crossed the threshold, and her eyes were intently following Liepard’s every step. Gallade was already showing signs of hostility and Caitlin signalled for him to stand down, knowing that she was in no immediate danger. Grimsley was a man of many things, but an unreasonable idiot was not one of them. Reluctantly, Gallade stepped off to stand beside her, still eyeing the man and his Pokémon with suspicion. She didn’t blame him. Grimsley’s effect on her pokemon was starting to make her uncomfortable, even though her face betrayed nothing of what she was feeling. With a calm face, she met his icy gaze with her own emotionless stare, refusing to look away.

“It was not you who awoke me. However, you were indeed the reason for it. In any case, your apology is unnecessary,” Caitlin paused, crossing her arms over her chest before continuing “and unwanted.” Although Grimsley’s affinity with Dark-type Pokémon unnerved her, Caitlin was not one to let that make an enemy out of him, but it did mean that she would never trust him unless he proved himself to be worthy, which was unlikely to happen.

Grimsley, too, could feel the negativity that seemed to collect in the room around him. Sharing the same arrogance as Ophelia though, he did not care to make it any less of what it was, and made no effort to ease the discomfort. He knew it wasn’t easy to ease this in any case, as simply their presence was sure enough to be the relevant source of the uneasiness among them.

However, Caitlin certainly didn’t seem pleased with his arrival. He hadn’t established much of a relationship with her, so perhaps this was a good cause of blame. Perhaps the titles they shared meant nothing, and even though they saw each other more often than a stranger on the street, perhaps what they shared truly was nothing more than that. He knew this as factual, but he had no interest in building it on a foundation such as anything more than the occasional hello, or perhaps unannounced visits such as these.

Truthfully, he held no malice towards her, and him being here had no malicious intents. Truly, if that were the case, it would have been apparent much earlier. Mind games were a specialty of his, yet in this case there was simply no need. His purpose of being here had its intentions to which wouldn’t become known to Caitlin until he managed to gain her trust…as well as her respect.

“My my, such a prudent nature you have my dear.” he sneered, surprised at the response indeed. “I understand your slumber is one of great importance to you, allow me to make amends to my rude and unannounced arrival.” he added before she could speak, with a devious grin plastered across his face. Moving closer to her slowly, he paid close attention to the Pokemon around him.

“What do I want?—Nothing.” the man began to grow irritated with her hastiness towards his presence, and began to take some offense to her blatant rudeness. Grimsley’s intentions upon being here were rather sensitive to his own liking, and now began to wonder why he approached her specifically with his problem. The more he thought about it, the more idiotic and almost embarrassed he felt. Supposing it was the longing to speak to another member of the Elite about the subject specifically, he figured she would be the best candidate to speak with about it.

“I’ve simply… dropped by to talk. Perhaps this is too much of a bother to you.”

On the verge of retorting that he was indeed being a bother, Caitlin opened her mouth, but closed it before saying anything. Admittedly, she was intrigued, to a degree, by her fellow Elite Four member’s answer. Grimsley did not strike her as the type to small talk all day, especially to someone like Caitlin who despised talking unless it was necessary. She pondered over her options for a bit, before deciding that she would give the Dark-type trainer the benefit of the doubt, if only just this once. “Fine, I don’t mind too much. It is somewhat of a bother, but there are more bothersome things, I suppose." Her eyes flashed as she said that last line, numerous first-hand experiences and situations flooding into her mind. "However if we are to talk, than it should be in a more suitable room, should it not?”

Without waiting for his answer, Caitlin began walking towards the living room, her team of Pokémon following suit. She paused, realising that there was no reason as to why her Pokémon had to stay there with her, especially if it made them uncomfortable. She waved them away, signalling to them that it was fine if they left. Picking up on Caitlin’s relaxed vibes, Musharna calmed down and the pink Pokémon closed her eyes in response, falling into a deep slumber once again. Being the timid Pokémon she was, Sigilyph escaped upstairs with Reuniclus following closely behind, a mischievous and playful glint in her eye.

Gallade kept a cautious eye on Grimsley as they proceeded into the living room, and Gothitelle disappeared into the kitchen. The room was well lit and spacious, with a large window taking up the far wall. A door to the left connected through to the kitchen, and the arch that they had just walked through led out to the hallway. Only a table surrounded by two couches and an armchair took up the middle of the room and Caitlin seated herself on the armchair, Gallade taking his position beside her. Gothitelle came in carrying a silver tray laden with a steaming tea pot and a pair of cups and set it out on the table, pouring tea into each delicate china cup. Ignoring the fact that her guest might not even like tea -he didn’t have to drink it if he didn’t want to after all- Caitlin gestured for Grimsley to sit wherever he liked. She was definitely curious as to what he wanted to say and even more so if it was a topic that he had specifically chosen to speak with her about. After all, Caitlin knew she wasn’t the most sociable person that he could have chosen.

It would often be a rare sight to see Caitlin outside of the Castle, and certainly out of sight from Darach; and it was definitely proving to be difficult getting used to hardly seeing her at all. Since she had been appointed a member of the Elite Four, her presence was certainly even more rare around the Frontier. 

It was a strange reality upon hearing this news indeed. It was clear to him that Caitlin was a strong trainer herself, but due to the fact she was hardly ever seen battling it was difficult to truly comprehend that she would make it to the Elite Four in such a short amount of time. 

However regardless of this fact, it certainly didn’t deter Thorton from being proud of the young woman and all of her accomplishments, as they certainly were not easily obtained. 

With a deep breath, she calmed herself, suppressing her emotions in the process. She was in a public area, the central square of the Battle Frontier to be more exact, and it was no place for her to just start reminiscing and run the risk of her powers going out of her control. As if reading her mind, Gallade shot her a quick warning look telling her to be careful, before continuing to observe the surroundings around him with a watchful eye. Caitlin did the same, noting with interest that the Battle Frontier had done well to retain its original look, hardly any different from seven years ago. The five facilities still stood proudly in their own corners of the pentagon shaped frontier, all with a Frontier Brain awaiting the next trainer who would be strong enough to challenge them, maybe even defeat them. Briefly, Caitlin contemplated the thought of visiting the Brains. It probably wasn’t the best of ideas, since she had changed drastically during the time she had spent in Unova, and it was unlikely that she would be recognised by most of them.

Even so, she found herself walking towards the nearest facility, the Battle Factory, her curiosity burning in her mind and driving her on. Although Caitlin used to preside over the Battle Castle as its head, she had never entered any of the other facilities, even though she knew all the Frontier Brains.  As she walked into the brightly lit, blue building, she was instantly reminded of its likeness to a normal factory, rather than a battle facility. Exhaust fans were dotted around the place and a long glass panel covering flashing blue pipes made its way through the factory. Following the glass panel path with her eyes, she realised that it led to the entrance for the area where the battles took place in the Factory, the line of trainers giving away its purpose.

“Caitlin?”

Reacting to her name, the former Battle Castle ‘princess’ looked up and was greeted with the sight of a rather familiar face. A small frown creased her features as she tried to remember who he was, but her confusion did not last long. The Battle Factory head was quite the unique individual, like most Brains were, and it would be hard to forget them so easily, especially when they've barely changed in appearance, unlike her.