::Spikemuth Post::

"It's alright, little one," Piers mumbled, snuggling up to the irritated little Toxel. Number 11 evolved today, leaving Groose the last baby in the bunch. The proud new owner of a full-grown Toxitricity was ecstatic, jumping up and down as she gave you a hug. "You'll evolve soon... surely."

"Would you like to give him a nickname?" You asked the trainer. She thought about it and quickly gave him one, putting her new Toxitricity in a Pokeball. It was bitter-sweet to lose all the Toxel's but they had to go some time. You weren't equipped to keep all of them forever.

When the trainer left it was you 3 left: You, piers, and little Groose. Piers kept snuggling with him but his mood was unyielding.

"...He ain't happy."

"He's just a little later than the others. I mean, there was always going to be one who evolved last."

"I know but... All his brothers and sisters are gone. He's jealous."

"He'll evolve... I have some candies for him in the drawer. Give him one, see if that helps." You offered. That made the Toxel perk up, squealing happily and gripping Pier's hair. Your boyfriend winced but walked just as calmly as ever to the kitchen drawer.

There were quite a few candies in there, which made the baby's eyes light up. Piers opened one, handing it to the little sticky fingers.

"There you go little one. Me and Mama have something to talk about." He sat the Toxel on the counter and it started munching away at the candy. Piers pulled you to the side, glancing every so often at the baby. "Babe... What if we keep him?"

"We have Toxitricities, Piers-"

"Come on, Babe. He's always been a little bit of a crybaby. He needs us."

"We are going to find him a trainer, Piers. End of discussion."

"Please?" He continued to plead, taking his eye off the baby. The baby looked down at the drawer of candies, his eyes sparkling as he threw himself right in. You continued your argument as the baby chowed down, unaware your collection of rare candies was dwindling. "He loves us. We raised him."

"He'll love his new trainer, too. Piers, that's final."

"Can we raise more?"

"Someone is forgetting how crazy our life has been for the past year." You chuckled, You turned back to the baby but your head was still facing piers as you went to pick him up... but not for long. "You have to let go. They couldn't stay foreve- Holy Shit!" You shrieked, seeing your candy drawer was full of wrappers with a happy Toxel cheering. He began to glow and you just threw your arms up. As you lamented the loss of your candy, Piers was tearing up.

"Look at him."

"I'm looking at an empty drawer."

"Aw, come on. Our little boy is growing up." As the light faded a fully grown toxel was sitting in a drawer, very confused and possibly stuck. He mewed happily and you sighed. "...I'm so proud of him."

"Piers, it took us a long time to accumulate that much Rare candy-"

"We'll figure it out... Why don't we take him out? Spend some quality time with him." Piers continued to beg, taking the Toxitricity's side and hugging him. The pokemon just smiled, still very confused. "Get some dinner, just be a family. THEN we can work on adoptin' him out... Please?"

"....Ugh, Fine." You threw your hands and the boys immediately celebrated. "Piers, I'm worried you're a little too attached to Groose-"

"Race ya to the front door." Piers pat the Toxitricity once and they were in a mad dash out of the room. The pokemon stumbled, falling out of the drawers and smacking his face on the floor. Not that he minded. He ran out anyway.

-----

Shopping. Eating. Battling. It was a full day of fun. It ended at home with Piers strumming his guitar with both his Toxitricity and Groose lounging on the couch. You watched on in the door frame, hurt just from taking in the scene.

"...You can keep him." You relented, surprising your boyfriend. He stopped playing on a dime and his Toxitricity raise it's head when the music stopped, groggy and confused.

"...What brought this on?"

"I think it'll break your heart if we give him to anyone else... so... we can keep him." Piers couldn't help but be excited and though they didn't know what was going on both pokemon were also jazzed. "BUT... You are going to have to replace all the candy by yourself-"

"FUCKIN' DEAL! You hear that boys!?" It was adorable to see the man so excited. You shook your head and left the three of them to their bliss. This was fine.

------

You came home from an expedition match, calling to your boyfriend as you walked around the flat. Nothing. You raised a brow, eventually finding him in the living room, covering his mouth and staring at the couch. Before you could walk around to see what it was, he addressed you.

"Babe, you're home early."

"...No I'm not?"

"Oh... Musta... lost track of time."

"...Piers, are you okay?" You took one more step forward and Piers walked up, stopping you and trying to walk you out of the room. "What is going on?"

"Babe uh... so... Uh..." He couldn't find the words. He sighed. "...So Groose... was a girl."

"...Wait really? How did we fuck that up?" You asked, earning a shrug in return. "So you don't want him anymore... I mean, her?"

"Uh...No, that's not it...but her..." He lead you back to the front of the couch and finally it was revealed to you. Five Eggs. You were at a loss, no breath left in you. "...Her and my Toxitricity got it on-"

"Oh... fuck-"

"Yeah, that's what they did-"

"I MEANT THE EGGS, PIERS!"

"Right, Right!" He scratched the back of his head, trying so hard to take in a full breath. "Uh... We're parents again?"

"I want to strangle you right now, Piers, you have no idea." The inconvenience of doing this again was racing through your mind... though more pleasant memories did drown it out. Piers was trying to think of a way out, missing that you had formed a soft smile.

"...Okay... I'll uh... I get to the pokemon center in town and-"

"What do you say, Piers?" Your tone was more optimistic than it was a minute ago, confusing the man. You hugged him, a light blush taking over his face. "...Are you ready to do this again?"

"...We're keeping them?"

The dark user grinned, picking a pokeball of the ground and wiping a way a smudge of dirt on the outside. He took in a deep breath, returning his Toxitricity to its ball. He took a moment to breathe, taking in the fresh air and the eeriness of the thick fog. He could barely see the world around him through the overwhelming grey.

A jingle in the fog the users attention. He heard it behind him and quickly turned but there was nothing there. Nothing corporeal. Within the deep grey a light swayed back and forth, tauntingly so as it slowly led to the dilapidated tower. Piers raised his brow and found himself walking towards it.

"...Raihan?" He called, following the light as it disappeared around the corner. He turned, looking into the center of the old tower. There was a deep hole, so deep that you couldn't even see the bottom. Hovering about it was a duskull, holding a rickety lantern. The thing was terribly rusty, yet didn't squeak. "Nice. Don't have one of you, yet." The duskull did not ready itself for battle. It merely stared.

Piers felt unnerved and looked down in the hole once more. Lights. The lights seemed to be in pairs. Like eyes glowing in the dark. The more he looked, his eyes adjusted to the dark. There were silhouettes of people in the dark, roughly framed around the eyes. They stared at Piers and the dark trainer took a fearful step back before looking back at the duskull.

"Room for one more." It bellowed, before plummeting into the pit below. It fell with such unnatural speed, like it was weighed down by some unseen great weight. Piers fell as he took more steps back, landing in the wet grass with a thud. He clawed at the mud as he tried to crawl away backward, putting as much distance between him and the tower as possible.

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"That sounds crazy."

"Raihan, mate-"

"Piers, Ghost pokemon are always messing with your mind-"

"It SPOKE to me." He insisted, making the dragon trainer flinch as he took a sip of his coffee, Piers felt heat rise to his cheeks, looking around to see if he disturbed anyone with his outburst before lowering his voice. "It was crazy. That hole was full of people and that Duskull spoke to me-"

"You need to relax. Hey, we should head to the mall. They should be waiting for us by now. Before we meet up with the other gym leaders we can get some ice cream, would that help?" He had no answer. He said nothing, looking around at the bustling street outside of the coffee shop. Raihan weakly smiled, thinking of how else he could be supportive.

"Hey Guys!" Piers jumped hearing Nessa, making Gordie chuckle as he and the other gym leaders approached. they had barely entered the mall, "You guys found the ghost pokemon?"

"We did. Hey uh, Piers is having a rough time," Raihan started, throwing his arm around the spooked gym leader. "Maybe we should get this over with quick."

"Absolutely," Leon agreed, nodding and pushing his way to the front of the crowd of leaders. "Alright, let's hurry up and get these pokemon to the Mall's security people. The elevator should take us right there.

"Well, let's hurry up and help out! I have other things to do today." Gordie whined, already headed to the elevator. He was inside first, holding the door open via the button. The bustling mall seemed to thin out as one by one they piled into the elevator.

"Hurry up, Piers, dear." Opal ordered, sauntering in herself. As she turned to face the door, Piers looked around the rest of the mall. He said nothing.

"Are you sure we shouldn't take multiple trips, Raihan?" Kabu asked, "This elevator seems old."

"It'll hold. Let's just hurry up. Hey Piers, get your head out of your ass, let's go."

"Yeah yeah... I'm coming." He was the last to enter the elevator. As he passed the threshold, the lights cut out for a full second. Everyone seemed spooked but Piers was frozen. For just a moment in the pure dark, everyone's eyes burned with a familiar eerie glow. "What the-"