Too Hot;;

“It is not a stupid idea!” Quentin said to Fermata while working on his latest master plan. On the ground in front of the two was a large, old boombox. Quentin fiddled with the volume knobs on the front before connecting his pink mp3 player to it. He took a deep breath, before shouting out and hoping people would hear, and understand, what he was trying to say. “Let’s start with track number two! That’s a good one!”

The young scientist stood up, heaving the boombox in his arms before pressing play and holding it above his head as the music echoed out. He looked over and continued explaining himself to his Lucario.

“I saw this in a movie so it’s gotta work! See, all I have to do is some big romantic gesture and the person I’m supposed to go on the date with will find me and then…” Quentin fell silent, his rant ending as quickly as it began. He raised an eyebrow as he thought things through. “Uhh…I dunno…I never saw the whole thing. I’m sure it’ll work out though!”

“I know right?” He glanced up towards his pokemon, unable to see her over his hat. “They expect us to go on a wild Wingull chase or something?” He huffed, tapping the screen to close out of the e-mail. Number two. He only got a number two. Who the hell was number two?

A cursory glance around lead Brendan to believe everyone was in the same boat he was so it was time to start meandering. The duo wondered through the crowd of people, a hand up petting the Alolan-Vulpix to make sure she was safe and wouldn’t get startled by the mass of people. 

The little pup was actually doing quite alright until a boombox started loudly playing music behind her. She shrieked, legs and tail curling around her trainers head sending a chill down her poor trainers skin with a rush of cold air. 

“Number two!” Brendan exclaimed after hearing someone else say it, trying to move and prevent Amber from freezing him to the ground. His herky-jerk half frozen walking soon landed him in front of the young man with a boombox above his head. 

Is there someone or something that has influenced your character’s personality in some noticeable way?

What is your character’s great strength? What about their greatest weakness?

What is your character scared of? Do they tend to have more serious fears or more simplistic ones? What is their biggest fear? Why?

Who or what does your character care about the most? Why?

How does your character view morality? Do they see morals as black and white, or something more complex? Are they a moral person?

How do they deal with stressful situations? Do they work well under pressure?

Does your character think things through before making choices? How often do they regret the actions that they take?

How does your character’s personality affect their day to day life?

Is there a part of your character’s personality that people don’t often see? How genuine is your character around others?

How well does your character get along with others? What traits do other people have that annoy them? What traits do they seek out in others?

What does your character truly feel about their personality? Do they like/dislike it?

Would your character change anything about themselves? Why?

Imagine your character 20 years from now.  How have they changed?

Do other people often see the “real” side of your character?

……Eh? Dawn stopped in the middle of her wringing the hat dry as she stopped and stared at the person who had apparently recognized her. Who was this guy? He competed with her?  When? Her brain completely blanked on this guy… Aaaaaaaaaaaa this was embarrassing! How awkward!  Dawn’s neutral and calm expression betrayed the internal screaming going on in her head.

She released her hat, and wiped off any water onto her shirt before accepting the hand with a firm shake. 

“A pleasure to meet you as well Brendan. What brings you here to Sinnoh? Mudkips aren’t exactly native here…” She smiled. Thank god he introduced himself first…

Prince smirked to himself as he recognized the internal struggling Dawn was facing at the moment. Good. Someone like her deserved to squirm occasionally. His glee was broken when the mudkip hopped over and began to sniff him. 

What was this? He prodded at the Mudkip gently with his flipper.

“The contest hall, pretty much.” He gestured out of the park. “I go where the contests are. And while the ones in Hoenn are fun they’ve kinda grown stale, I’ve seen them so many times already.” His hands were found their way into his jacket pockets. 

“It’s been fun, exploring a region I’m totally unfamiliar with, seeing pokemon I’m unfamiliar with.” He eyed the Empoleon currently poking at his Mudkip. “Even if it’s a tad bit colder here than I’d like.” A tad was an understatement.

“What about you, what brings you here to the park?” He realized a little too late that his question might have been a little dumb. 

@valiantcoordinator​

A fluffy coat? Ethan can hardly contain his laughter, imagining some frivolous number from the department store in Hoenn. All pomp and no substance. What did the designers from that region know about the cold anyway?

Mercifully Ethan’s more interested in battling than teasing the Coordinator—There would be plenty of time for that once he won.— “Loser buys dinner?” He’s already putting distance between himself and Brendan, beckoning Donphan who begrudgingly departs from Mason. “And uh-how about we keep it short while we still have some daylight, three on three?” 

He pivots to face Brendan, fidgeting with his hat the way he does before any good match; a habit the champ never grew out of.

Brendan might not offer the toughest challenge, but Ethan had learned to keep an open mind; especially with someone as talented as the trainer before him. Who knew if Brendan would throw out a combo usually reserved for the contest scene and totally throw him off? It was exciting— so different than the predictable  slug-fests of normal battles. 

As Donphan comes to a rest beside its trainer Ethan tips his chin up, his grin visible even at a distance “Ready boss?” 

“Three on three works for me.” His voice grew louder the further away Ethan got. “It’ll be nice to finally have my dinner paid for, for once.” Honestly, he’d already kissed that dinner money goodbye, but he still needed to jeer either way.

Every battle with Ethan was an opportunity to learn from one of the greatest. At least, that’s how he thought of it now. Since he’s gotten his ass handed to him a few times. “Mason, stay.” He softly commanded the pokemon, holding his hand out as her visual cue.

Mason stomped at the soft ground beneath her. Eyes trained on the Donphan across the way. Her head adjusted ever so slightly until the slowly setting sun caught the metal plating on her head, much like the duo had done in countless contests before. This was more than just a battle to them, this was a show of skill, power, and raw talent.

He catches Ethan’s grin, flashing one of his own back before throwing his hand forward. “Alright girl, kick it off with a Metal Claw.” 

With the way the woman—five foot six, long chestnut hair, and slim figure— glares at Brendan from behind her spectacles inbetween wiping down the wet patch of her shirt, it’s no wonder why he’s already on the defensive. His suggestions do little to please her either, nor the deepening frown on her face.

“Is this funny to you?” Certainly, she was sounding far from amused right now. “Do you have a towel? Anything?" 

An anything that isn’t whoever Simon is meant to be, or a hair dryer. She waves out her wet hand, groaning at it and the water soaked into her clothing.

“Honestly!”

What a way to dampen her mood!

Meanwhile, a meowth at the woman’s feet peers at the boy curiously, body tucked and on all fours. But after a moment it stands up, backing away to go around the fountain, and to look for the mysterious water pokémon!

Oh crap, now he’s really in for it. 

He sinks in, looking around for anything that could be used as a towel. ‘Crap, crap crap!’ Finally he pulls off his jacket, hesitating for a moment because wait, this is his good contest jacket...but it’s only a little water. He’s gotten worse things out of it before. 

“H-here,” he shakes a little, holding his jacket out to the scary woman. Still looking around to find anything else she cold use to dry off with. “I-It’s all I got. I can go run out and get something more if you need.”

Kipper had sank into the water of the fountain. He knew it was his fault his trainer was in trouble, and felt awful for it. When the Meowth popped on the edge of the fountain however, Kipper curiously perked up, poking his head out of the water. 

“No.”

She let out a loooong sigh as she slipped the wet hat off of her hand began to wring it dry. Dawn supposed she should be counting her blessing instead of getting upset. At least she wasn’t wearing her Contest outfit, and at least it was only water.

There were plenty of things Dawn had had the unfortunate opportunity to get hit by in the past.

“No worries no worries…it’s just water. It’s not going to kill me. Besides I completely understand. I’ve dealt with my share of problematic water types who don’t listen to me, and think they’re the smartest thing in the world.” Dawn continued as she began to fix her hair. She pointedly ignored the look Prince was giving her before she turned to look at the speaker.

“The name’s Dawn by the way.”

Brendan an Kipper’s eyes moved from the trainer to what they could only assume was her Empoleon. The little water type gave an amused chirp and hopped from his trainers arms right up to the other pokemon, tail wiggling as he sniffed.

OH, that’s right, that was her name. “Ah, I knew I remembered you from somewhere!” He exclaimed, placing his hands on his hips. “We’ve competed before...well, not directly, but in the same contest.” He was going to ignore the fact that he lost in all those contests, and he kinda hoped she would gloss over that detail too.

@valiantcoordinator

Have you ever had two-hundred sixty-four pounds of pure power charge directly for you? It’s hardly the most graceful sight in the world, especially when the Donphan in question kicks up the topsoil, leaving innumerable mutilated flowers in his wake, on his collision course for Lairon. The two hard-headed beasts collide directly, much to Ethan’s exasperation. There was no stopping Donphan once he caught sight of Mason their pitstop in Floaroma was immediately extended.

Ethan jogs through the warzone to play catch up, grin spreading as he catches the eye of a familiar face surveying the wreckage. Brendan.

He rolls his eyes good-naturedly, landing a punch that’s a touch too strong to Brendan’s shoulder. “That’s not Johto you smell—It’s about two weeks on the road.” 

His laughter rings out as clear as a bell. He’s joking, hopefully. 

Donphan rears back on his hind legs before slamming its tusk onto Lairon’s neck with a raucous bellow. Arceus they were brutal, but it couldn’t be helped— At least they would wear each-other out.

“We’re heading over to the ironworks just ahead. I’m hoping the owner can shed some light on Mt. Coronet for me, he does a ton of excavating over there.” All it really was another wild goose chase for a legendary, but even with all his dead-ends Ethan managed to keep the same vibrant energy about him with every lead. Remarkable.

“I can’t believe you’re not spread out on a beach in Alola! Didn’t think I’d catch you dead around any place with a chance for snow after that spell in Mahogany Town.” He tips his head back to make eye contact, golden eyes catching the light. “Come to think of it…wasn’t that our last battle? Feels like that was forever ago—What do ya say about a rematch?” 

“Huh, I guess they smell the same then,” an oof is barely contained as Ethan’s lighthearted jab hits a little too hard. A curious glance is taken at the two pokemon as they tussle. This is probably good for Mason. She rarely gets to let out this much energy. The same could be said for his whole team.

His attention is brought back to Ethan as he mentions something about the ironworks and Mt. Coronet. His curiosity is piqued. He knew Ethan traveled around hunting rare pokemon, but just what exactly could be lurking in Mt. Coronet that spoke to him enough to drag him all the way out here? 

He was about to ask when that incident was brought back up again. “Don’t--” he hissed, quirking a brow. “I’m much more prepared this time, thank you very much. I bought a fluffy coat and everything.” Thankfully it was warm enough today not to need it. Though, being spread out on a beach in Alola did sound pretty wonderful. “Unfortunately, duty calls here. Contests don’t wait for vacations.”

“God just look at you.”

Prince stopped preening himself in front of the reflective surface of the pond to turn towards Dawn with a questioning gaze. The two had escaped into Amity Square to escape responsibilities of Life. 

More specifically, Dawn had escaped to Lake Amity to escape Contest Responsibilities. 

“I can’t believe how much of a Diva you’ve become. How are you going to win contests when you’ve got so fat?” Dawn bopped Prince on the beak to which he shook his head as if he was insulted. Unlike Dawn, Prince had fully accepted and grown into the Contest Mindset. Something apparently sparked when they won that first contest. 

“Don’t look at me like that. It’s the truth. How many poffins have you eaten recentl-”

SPLASH

Prince blinked in surprise when a scoop of water managed to nail Dawn perfectly in a back of the head. Her head jerked forward and she sat there motionless as water began to run down her back.

“…….I don’t think that’ll help.” She finally spoke after a solid minute of silence.

Brendan’s face paled at her response. Mudkip hopped into his arms as he took in who exactly was in front of him. He knew this woman. Not exactly by name, but in passing. He’d competed against her in a few contests. Or, more prominently he lost to her in a few contests. 

His eyes shifted between her and the Empoleon standing beside her. Kipper shivering in his grip, chirping out an apology.