dizzy, tree

[dizzy]

Deryn

Six months. In just six months Deryn had won a handful of badges and accomplished far more than her step-mother had ever expected. The last gym was, fittingly, in her home city where that woman would be waiting; she would be the first person to wave her completed badge collection at. It served the old bag right for saying that she couldn’t do it, that she couldn’t do any of it!

Honestly, Deryn almost laughed. She was so close to completing her goal that it seemed ridiculous.

“But…” She spoke out loud. It was a habit she had developed around the big tree. “There’s one little problem.”

Deryn wasn’t talking about the scourge or how the region was trying to avoid becoming a zombie nation. Her mind was entirely focused on her upcoming gym battle. Fittingly, the leaders had become tougher and tougher as she went on, and she felt that her Pokemon had barely scraped the win at the last two gyms.

By now, most trainers would have a team of fully evolved Pokemon and it bothered Deryn that half of hers wouldn’t evolve. They couldn’t. Not until she got her hands on one of those special stones, but weren’t they rare?

She sighed, and focused on the scenery around her until the thoughts faded. Deryn didn’t like making up excuses for not marching right up to Sol City’s gym leader and challenging her for a battle, even if the real reason was sillier and more ridiculous.

Deryn was almost there, so close that she was afraid of losing what she wanted.


Felizia

Felizia didn’t really like the dream world anymore, but at the same time it was the only place she really wanted to be. Here, under the tree, she was guaranteed safety. Not like out there with the scourge crawling around everywhere. Just thinking about them gave her the shivers.

Over the last six months, she had spent more time hanging around the dream world other than the real world. Over the last six months, the heaviness of what happened at her home to her family had finally set in. She couldn’t push it away anymore, and making jokes and distracting herself didn’t work anymore.

Really, it made her hate the scourge even more, but it also made her… well, made her take them more seriously than she could ever remember taking something seriously. They were scary, terrifying. Powerful. Dangerous.

They were everywhere Felizia wanted to be.

What was she supposed to do?

… mum and dad would’ve known. They always did.


Tiffany

“Hey, Mo?”

…

“Mo..?”

Tiffany opened her eyes and moved forward from her comfy spot by the trees roots. She looked around, drowsy for a moment but startled awake when she realised that there had been no familiar voice to answer her back. “Mo. Where are you?” She walked around the tree, looking to see if he was around the other side, and then looked up to see if he was playing a joke on the bird Pokemon again.

Maybe he was playing a joke on her. Maybe she should laugh and wait for him to reappear and laugh beside her. Tiffany opened her mouth to try and laugh, but in the end couldn’t force any sound out. She didn’t want to laugh. She was genuinely scared that he had disappeared and that she would never see him again.

It was bad enough going through that once already.

“Please say something, Mo.” Her voice grew louder, more desperate. “Where are you? Please say you’re here.”

No answer. None at all.

(It never occurred to Tiffany that maybe he simply wasn’t asleep in the first place.)

[king]

FOR DERYN +1 x attack trounce that bitch

FOR FELIZIA +1 pokedoll from childhood.

FOR TIFFANY +1 awakening time to wake up.

[dizzy]

Deryn

It was like some kind of weird staring contest. The Nidorina was too proud to look away, and she certainly wasn’t about to blink either, but she had no idea why her trainer was staring at her the way she was. She… she wasn’t going to be made to do laps, was she?

Eventually, after minutes of unblinking (ow, not blinking kind of hurt), Deryn finally sighed and said, “I don’t know what I’m going to do with you.”

The Nidorina, of course, didn’t care what Deryn did so long as she didn’t order her around to do laps. Sure, she was used to the running torture now, and had even benefitted from it, but that did not mean she had to enjoy it. If the Nidorina ever became the empress – or should we say Queen – of the world, running as a method of Pokemon training would be the first thing she’d ban.

“You’re so... tiny,” Deryn continued, talking more to herself than to her Pokemon. She looked as if she had forgotten that the Nidorina was there. “We’ve got to make you evolve somehow.”

That made the Nidorina nervous – that didn’t involve running, did it?


Felizia

It was nice to see Perseus. It really was. Felizia didn’t dare to have him walk around with her whenever she was in town; he was simply too big for that now, and the streets always seemed too crowded. Poor Pers might accidentally step on someone, which Felizia imagined would be a very painful experience – not only for the person stepped on, but also for Felizia’s ears who might be subjected to some rant or another about her Pokemon.

Somehow Pers had managed to bring a big, Feraligatr claw-sized pack of cards with him into the dream world (or had it simply appeared with him? Jeez, this dream world stuff was always going to be confusing, wasn’t it?). “Okay. Let’s play…” Felizia tried to remember which games her Pokemon knew, and in that time, Pers began to deal.

“Uh, what are you doing?”

The look her Pokemon gave her made her feel as though she was very stupid for saying that.

“Don’t look at me like that when you’re the one stupid enough to deal the cards face up!”

The Feraligatr really wasn’t that good with cards, was he?


Tiffany

If she could, Tiffany would have held onto Mo and never let go. She was so happy to have him with her at the Tree of Dreams. Of course, she couldn’t quite say that, and anyway, the moment they had arrived Mo had gone to inspect the higher branches of the trees for birds he could harass.

“One of these days, the birds will revolt,” Tiffany called up to the tree. And as long as she wasn’t seen as an accomplice, she was all for the bird Pokemon to finally stand up to Mo.

“Maybe they’ll bring some friends along,” she added. “What types are you weak against? Hmm… Let me see…” She hadn’t provoked a response out of anyone yet, so she raised her voice louder. “You’re bad against fire types, right? Maybe there’s a fire bird! And maybe it’s gonna get you!”

She paused, waiting for a reaction, and this time she got one. Although… it wasn’t quite what she expected. Mo hovered down to her and hissed, <The baby birds up there are trying to sleep!>

Tiffany laughed, at first because she thought that he had been joking, and then when she realised Mo was, in fact, quite serious she laughed even harder at the thought that Mo might have been looking after the babies. “You’re a nanny! You!”

<Sssh! If you say it that loudly, someone might hear.>

[vertigo]

FOR DERYN quick claw x1 run faster kid

FOR FELIZIA mental herb x1 would this help?

FOR TIFFANY smoke ball x1 for a quick getaway

[dizzy]

Deryn

It was a strange and unwelcome sight; Deryn was the one running laps, not her Pokemon. Strange because it had never happened before, unwelcome because even from a distance her Pokemon could pick up Deryn’s frustration. Her Nidorina watched her cautiously, waiting for the moment her trainer would turn around and snap at her for not joining in.

The moment never happened. Deryn wasn’t running to train, she was running because she needed to think. Really think.

Too much had been said when she last went home, and now that that woman had gone around saying all sorts of stupid things, Deryn had to prove her wrong. Again. Anything to shove the words back down the old hag’s throat.

Eventually she stopped and walked back to the tree. The Nidorina prepared herself for the worst, but Deryn didn’t say anything. No instructions, commands, or orders. She just sat against the tree next to her Pokemon and waited to wake up. She had to get started.

[vertigo]

TM HYPER BEAM go wreck some shit