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Open Green Hills and Blue Skies

The Goth frowned at Kiara's forfeit. It completely threw the whole battle off balance. Besides, it wouldn't at all be fair for Dink. He was all alone against two Pokemon! ... Well, two very tired Pokemon. Atem pushed a loose strand of dark purple hair out of her face and looked at Enigma. He was on the edge of being knocked out of this fight.

Not to mention Atem was prideful in herself and her new team. What pride is there in an unfair battle? None at all, of course. Jeering at others for ganging up on someone was not what she called honorable. Silently she recalled Enigma and looked over at Fletcher. "It isn't very fair for two to be against one," she stated, her voice monotonous, "If Kiara chooses to surrender, then I will, too. One-on-one is just." She took a step back as she lightly put Enigma's Pokeball back in her pack and crossed her arms across her chest.
 
~Alex

Alex frowned slightly as Atem forfieted, he had truly expected Fletcher to have stood down instead, given Snub's current situation. Alex nodded to the two girls to indicate that he acknoledged their forfeiting, and turned to watch Fletcher and Duncan end the battle, though Alex was certain that at this point Fletcher wouldn't have much of a chance to come-back from Snub's weakened state. Zhassa was also focused, her eyes on the battlers, and she could tell that Enigma wouldn't be happy about his involuntary forfiet, but was impressed with the amount of endurance Snub was showing, and felt that Snub was truly living up to his mother's legacy.

Alex knew this couldn't go on longer, both because they had to go shortly in order to make it within good time, and also because regardless of Snub's stubborness, resilience, and endurance, he was inches from defeat, wether through exhaustion or damage.
 
Fletcher gulped as Atem dropped out: he didn't expect that to happen, and the match went from certain victory for him to a completely open-ended affair. Whilst Snub was inches from unconsciousness, Wocky had also been battling for some time, and it was possible he was on his last legs as well. One well-aimed hit could win him a victory. He thought about the situation carefully, and eventually decided to go for an Overheat-Snub might not survive the encounter unscathed, in fact, he would probably collapse from exhaustion, but it had a decent chance of knocking out the Groagunk, and a tie was the best that he could hope for.

"Come on now Snub, just a little longer-Overheat!"

Instantly, the Litwick sprang to action, and for the third time that day he whispered the arcane words that caused a million shadowy fragments to gather above his head, forming a move that could only be a Shadow Ball. Fletcher frowned and began to cry out-"No, Snub, not Shadow Ball, Overheat, Overheat!"-but he hadn't gotten very far when Snub twisted about, fixed him a glare of unrestricted rage, and it became apparent to Fletcher who that Shadow Ball was meant for. The second it was formed, the contorting mass of on inconsistent blackness flew his way like a bullet, and Fletcher tossed himself out of its path on pure instinct. The Shadow Ball went on for a few meters before dissipating.

Fletcher got to his feet, totally unsure of his Pokémon. The Litwick clearly should have been unconscious, but it was readying a fourth shadow ball, seemingly fueled by its own anger. Before the move could near completeness, Fletcher took out his Pokéball and pressed the return button, and there was a second of whirring before a thin red beam shot from it to Snub, who became nothing but red light himself as he was taken into the small sphere. Fletcher belted the Pokéball absentmindedly, wondering what the hell had caused his own Pokémon to turn on him. Suddenly, he felt as if his team mates were watching him, and he laughed nervously. "Haha, I guess you and Dink win, Kiara, congratulations..."
 
Atem blinked a few times, her eyes a bit wide. Did that Litwick... maybe want to aim the Shadow Ball at his trainer? By the dirty look he threw him, it made the idea fairly possible... Oh, well. It was Fletcher's Pokemon, so it was his problem. He would have to straighten out his "family matters" on his own.

The Goth kept a passive front on, though, to reflect her mixed feelings about the way things turned out. She half-expected Fletcher to lash out at her for forfeiting, and start piling rude comments and accusations at her. The thought made Atem's blood boil. She had perfectly logical reasons for abandoning the fight! And if anyone questioned her about it, they would get a good, scornful answer for it.

Not wanting to look like a bad sport, Atem cleared her throat with a curt nod toward Kiara and Dink. "Yes... Congratulations." she called, her arms still folded. She was mildly disappointed that Fletcher had surrendered as well, but no matter. Three of them had fled the battle, so they couldn't hold that over their heads.
 
Snub... Attacked his trainer? How very odd. Dink realized that this essentially made him the winner. Wocky looked a little confused for a moment, and then fell over in relief, making happy little sounds. "I seem to have won a battle without a single offensive attack connecting." Dink mused. He pressed the litttle button, and the Croagunk was returned. Dink dropped the Pokeball, and kicked it up and down like a hacky sack a few times before grabbing and shoving it into his pocket.

"You know, I don't think I'm too fond of battles. Good for a few kicks, maybe, but really, I'd rather just have my Pokemon for the sake of having them. I suppose that means I'm a collector of sorts. Is it bad that I want to collect living things?" He asked no one in particular. He shrugged, and ripped another piece of bark from a tree, taking a little bite out of it thoughtfully.
 
~Alex

Alex lept back a little when he saw Snub launch his last attack in Fletcher's direction. This was a nasty little temper the little candle seemed to have, and not inherited from his mother. After composing himself, Alex raised his right arm, and said,

"By forfeit, Kiara and Duncan are the winners." In the back of his mind Alex knew that it could have been th other way around if Enigma hadn't been pulled out, but it wasn't good for him to judge people in that way. "And now that that's done we can finish making our way to Jubilife." Alex nodded slightly to himself as he said this, and picked up his bag, slinging it over his shoulder.

Zhassa was somewhat stunned by Snub's reaction, as she hadn't expected such a temper from the little guy, but then quickly decided that the little candle would likely make a formidable opponent in the future.

"Oh, and Duncan, there many collectors in Pokémon, but it isn't so much of collecting as it is...obtaining new freinds of specific species." Alex replied to Duncan's inquiry.
 
Fletcher chimed in with his own response to Dink's query: "If you were gonna just collect them and spend no time with them, yeah, but so long as you don't abuse them, it's fine. Battling isn't the only thing you can do with Pokémon, though-we have a Contest Hall just in Hearthrome, and in some other regions they have sports and musicals and stuff. But of course there's evolution-if you ever want Wocky to evolve or grow stronger, you'll have to battle with him. It's kinda unfair on him if he wants to be taken to his full potential and can't just because you don't like to battle."

He walked away from Dink at this, and ignored the possibility that the weird kid didn't want to treat his Pokémon as living things. If he just captured and held them hostage, that would be...pretty sickening. Fletcher wondered if Dink would do that-whilst he didn't seem like a bad person, there was definitely something not quite clicking in his head, and if that meant he wouldn't care for his Pokémon correctly, he'd have to be reported to the proper authorities.

"Atem," he called, on a whim. "Why did you drop out? We almost had that won. You do get that in a double battle, you normally don't do that?"
 
Atem clenched her fists as she glared over at Fletcher. "I don't care if it was a double battle or not!" she hissed, baring her teeth. "I don't fancy the idea of ganging up on one person. That's not fair, for one thing. Supposing you were on the other side of this battle... Going one-on-two doesn't seem just, now does it?" The Goth tilted her chin up pridefully and furrowed her eyebrows as she stared at the sky. "I'm not the type of person that becomes arrogant of myself over cons and tricks. If you use such bluffs, that's all you are: a cheap trick. I am not about to ruin my family's reputation by winning unfair battles. I don't care how close we were to winning. If anything, why don't you question yourself, Fletcher? You could've still battled on. Despite your Pokemon's... mood swings."

Atem was being slightly hypocritical when she said this, though; had she been in the same spot, she probably would've dropped out, too. But no matter. She wasn't in that position, so it wasn't her problem. However, Atem was not interested in getting on Fletcher's bad side. Sighing, she softened her eyes a bit at him. "... But thank you, nonetheless," she said quietly, looking back at her feet, "Enigma would've been out of that fight if your Litwick hadn't saved him." She silently brushed past him after this.
 
Fletcher sighed at the girl as she walked away. "But what's the point of trying in a battle at all if you're just going to forfeit when an opponent faints?" he muttered to himself. "What message does that get across? 'No need to try, the rules will accommodate'? It just removes the team element. It's close to punishing the team that works hard and giving the team that doesn't an allowance. That's what strikes me as unfair."

As she walked off, he called out to her: "Thanks. It was just the logical thing to do, but I don't think Snub is exactly thanking me for making that call. I didn't mean to offend. Even if we lost, it's largely because of a moral code you imposed on yourself-we still made a strong team, I think, and that's what's important."

Fletcher gulped at having to answer her accusation, because Snub's attack wasn't something he wanted to get into at that time. He regretted talking to her at all.

"Mood swings? My own Pokémon attacked me. It didn't run away or not obey, it called upon cardinal darkness and tried to use it as a weapon to hurt me. And when it failed, despite that it was a thread away from unconsciousness, it tried again. I don't....I don't know what I'm going to do with Snub now. Maybe just try having a quiet conversation, try to explain...I don't know. And no one's here. I'm talking to myself. Shit."

With that, he mumbled awkwardly into silence.
 
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Atem had her back turned on Fletcher, her arms folded, but she still listened to him. She sighed deeply, leveling out her mood, and looked at him over her shoulder. "If it makes you feel better, we would've won if my code of honor wasn't so strict. I admit to that." She looked down at her feet again, her eyes filled with sorrow. "They say there's a reason for everything, and ever since he passed..." The Goth quickly silenced herself, though. She didn't need anyone to feel sorry for her or take pity for her. She was perfectly capable of taking care of herself. Whether Areotté was dead or not, she could live on independently. End of.

"... Perhaps... Perhaps if Enigma spoke with him later, we could clear all this up..." She blinked as she finished her sentence. 'We?' Atem threw that in willingly as if she and Fletcher were still on a team or something. Frowning, she went on into detail. "I mean, if Enigma is the one he saved, maybe he can talk some sense into your Litwick, right? ... Then again, Snub might lash out at him since he had to force Enigma out of the way... God, the world is so illogical and complicated sometimes." Atem huffed frustratedly and scowled lightly.

Atem thought for a moment. Snub was a Ghost type, wasn't he? Hmm... Maybe a happy little Ghost type would help. The Litwick might be more willing to a Pokemon of his type... The Goth grinned widely. Of course! Spiritus could help Snub. He was so innocent and happy, and he was a pretty little Ghost type. Atem looked over at Fletcher. "Alright, how about this: Spiritus, my Duskull, could converse with your Litwick for a minute or two after he's healed up. Maybe knock some sense into him. Does that sound good to you?" She turned around to face him fully as her arms fell by her sides.
 
~Alex

Alex was silently overhearing the proceedings between Atem and Fletcher. He found it comforting that they were begining to bond, in one form or another.

"Another thing we can do once we're at the PokéCenter." Alex remarked as they continued along the road, the skyline of Jubilife now having just jutted up over the treeline. "And that'll be a nother couple of hours yet..."
 
Kiara was silent for most of the walk. all she thought about was how hurt her Charmander was...She didn't like her Pokemon to be harmed...yet she felt guilty for having Dink battle alone and for making Atem forfeit to be fair. Both options were equally bad...

Kiara didn't even get on Cassie to get to Jubilife; she was too sad and conflicted to even get one of her Pokemon out.
 
Dink watched the arguments between Atem and Fletcher, occasionally spitting out a piece of bark and taking another bite. This was ridiculous. If nobody could get along with anyone else, how would they enjoy pie while hanging upside down from a dead tree at age 53 and a half? They were supposed to become friends, and Dink figured that was the kind of thing that friends eventually did. And here were these two, unable to agree on very much at all. Atem was sensible enough to suggest one Pokemon reaching out to another.

So he chimed in. "Hurry up and kiss her." He took another bite out of the bark, and gave Kiara a quizzical look.

"You look upset." He remarked. "Possibly the battle outcome?" He quickly switched gears, muttering a little poem to himself inaudibly. 'Bittersweet' was the only word that could be picked out.
 
Kiara looked at Dink. He was talking to her? Not rhyming? Shouldn't he be mad at her? She then saw him saying something inaudible, but no doubt it was a poem. Typical, but at least he wasn't saying it.

"Yeah..." She answered. "I didn't want my Charmander to suffer in the battle any longer, but I felt guilty that the battle had been unfair and I feel guilty that Atem forfeited so the teams were even..."
 
Fletcher was more than a little surprised at the normally icy goth's offer. Although he wasn't sure how much that would really help, it would be rude to just ignore the only offer of kindness she'd given. That wasn't all she'd given, however, she'd also landed a rather telling comment: "He passed on". Now, to whom was she referring...

"Uh, yeah, sure. That'd be great. But Alex's right, at the Jublife Pokémon Center-we spent a lot of time on that battle, and the sun is dying. Hopefully by the time we reach there, he'd have calmed down. In fact, it might be wise not to do this thing inside...But yeah, thanks."

He snorted at Dink's suggestion of kissing Atem. "Thanks, but with the likely after-effect of having to get her fist surgically removed from my face, I doubt it'd be worth it."

Fletcher yawned and rolled his shoulders. He was enjoying the walk, and his adventurer thus far.
 
Atem shrugged at Fletcher's answer as she grabbed her Duskull's Poke Ball, eyeing it with vague curiosity. "I doubt Spiritus would anger him to the point of causing a Pokemon Center to collapse, but whatever." She pressed the little button on the ball, letting Spiritus be released for a while, and he starting floating around, fweeing happily. Her smile had faded, though, leaving her lip in a tight line. The Goth began to question herself why she even bothered helping Fletcher out in the first place, why she actually cared that he and his Pokemon were on good terms. Atem furrowed her brow as she stared at the ground intensely. Shouldn't she be worrying about her own Pokemon? Fletcher's issues wern't her problem. So why did she fret over his Litwick's emotions, anyway?

But it wasn't like she could just drop her offer at this point; she had already said she would help, and it wasn't particularly generous to just flat-out ignore what she had committed to do. "Yeah, forget it. It's your problem, not mine. Now get lost" didn't sound like something she felt like saying at the moment, so for now, she was stuck with helping him.

However, the Goth froze when Dink spoke up in real words. "Hurry up and kiss her." "Excuse me?" she hissed, her eyes a bit wide. She glanced over at Fletcher and her face colored. Him? The idea was insulting to her image! A brat like that kiss her, the heir to an important family back in Unova? Impossible! The thought was simply wild. Why would she ever do that, anyway? Atem scowled deeply as she glared daggers at Dink. "Rest assured, I don't and never will have plans to exchange spit with a lower-class snitch, thank you very much," she barked viciously, her fist shaking in anger as it balled up. She was on the edge of smacking the kid in the face, but was stopped from doing so as Spiritus grabbed her arm with his ghostly ones. "Fwee?" He blinked at her twice, his odd blue eyes innocent and pure. Atem frowned at not being able to deliver a good punch to Dink, but she stood her ground anyway to Spiritus' liking. The Duskull cheerfully danced around her, fweeing all the while.
 
Dink thought about Kiara's moral predicament. He bit off another piece of bark, thinking about if it really affected her mood that much. "How about a riddle?" He asked. Without waiting for an answer, he began. "I have four wings, but cannot fly, I never laugh and never cry; On the same spot I'm always found, toiling away with little sound. What am I?"

He didn't know if she was any good at riddles, nor did he really care. For him, riddles were fun little distractions. Of course, this one was difficult because riddles were best asked in the proximity of the answer, and there were no windmills nearby. Kiara might have heard this one before, to. Dink turned when his thought process was interrupted by the two rude ones, Atem and Fletcher.

"Well, no need to be so fiery. I was only making a suggestion. One that I still believe in. You call yourself a noble, yet here you are, in the middle of the woods with only a few other children and their Pokemon, and you can't even control your temper, apparently." He laughed a little. "Out here, you may as well consider yourself as low as the very insects you are so used to squishing. Because I think we'll be living in the dirt for some time yet." He took a bite of the tree bark, smiling to himself.
 
Kiara was surprised at him asking a riddle. Yeah, riddles were kind of fun, so Kiara decided to actually think of the answer. After a couple of ideas, she gave up, not knowing the riddle. "I don't know the answer. But I have a riddle. OK, so your in a mansion and the powers out. You see three doors. One is death by electric chair. The other is death by drowning. The third is death by Arcanines. Which door do you go through?"

After asking her riddle, she turned to Atem and Fletcher. Not wanting to anger the two of them, she didn't speak to them. She instead turned to Alex. "Hey Alex, what are we exactly going to do on our journey. Do we all have the same goals, or do we all have different motives on this?"
 
"Death by electric chair." Dink responded. "Obviously, with the power out, I get to live. The answer, by the way, was a windmill." So Kiara enjoyed a few riddles, too, though hers were considerably easier than Dink's.

"Here, how about this. A man is 20 years old in 1980, but only 15 years old in 1985. How is this possible?" Dink had heard this one many times, but was once more unsure if Kiara knew it. She could guess easily enough, but Dink's old neighbor hadn't gotten it. Then again, he wasn't very bright. The concept of a man born in 2000 BC seemed to escape some people. Hopefullly, Kiara understood. Prefferably, it wouldn't even require thought for her.
 
Kiara thought for a second. "A man got younger as the years went from 1980 to 1985. He got five years younger, and five years is the time lapse..." A smile went on Kiara's face as she figured it out. "It's BC. He was 20 in 1980 BC, and 15 in 1985 BC! Clever riddle."

Kiara started to think of another riddle. After a few seconds, she remembered one. "What is greater than Arceus, worse than Devil-Houndoom, rich people have it, poor people need it, and if you eat it, you die." Kiara hoped that he'd know, because it was a fairly easy riddle. Of course, the answer was nothing!
 
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