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in arcu cursus euismod quis viverra nibh cras pulvinar mattis nunc sed blandit libero volutpat sed cras ornare arcu dui A Starmie was the first to show itself. A hand atop Frankie’s helmet told it to stay put for the time being. They had no business with the star, considering that Camp Annie had two of them. It took a bit too long for her partner to grasp that, but a few pats on the head and a “Come on, buddy,” was enough to distract him. Mostly. He kept his eyes trained on the stranger as they walked off, just in case it decided to turn hostile.

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Annie knew that a Chespin wasn’t a bad Pokemon to have. The problem was that she’d learned that by catching one on her previous visit. A redder one. A cooler one. The colour change was enough to give Frankie pause. It made it curious, if Annie had read its tilted head correctly, but it did little with that feeling beyond stare. A menacing stare, but a large improvement over the sudden attacks it was once prone to. It wasn’t looking at Annie to notice the small smile that came with its passive nature, and soon enough she ushered them onwards.

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Frankie dived to take the first shot for its trainer, fixing his glare on their next target. Annie looked surprise, but her expression quickly gave way to amusement. Their enemy was a little pudgy creature, and the attack wasn’t a move, but a snowball. Well, perhaps it was. The Darumaka cupped his hands and blew icey breath into them, creating his ammunition. Judging by the fact that Frankie barely budged when the second snowball hit, it was a blow to the beast’s pride, but nothing that could hurt him.

Annie laughed. Frankie charged a Tri-Attack. Annie switched to a panicked “Nononono we’re not fighting him that way!”, stroking her partner into submission. The Darumaka had presented a learning opportunity. Professor Florian Laurel had taught her that some Pokemon weren’t asking to be knocked out; it wouldn’t hurt for one of her strongest comrades to learn that fighting wasn’t the only answer.

Pelting the enemy with snowballs, on the other hand? Always a valid option.

“Take cover!” Annie darted for a tree, and the Type:Null ran as if they were in the heat of battle. His stare switched back and forth between the living snowball preparing another projectile, and Annie making one of her own from the snow on the ground. It would take a while for it to understand why its trainer was attacking, and with such weak attacks at that, but it was willing to observe and see what her plan was.

Kanto saw snow a fair bit more than Hoenn did, which meant Annie was an experienced snowball fighter. Darumaka had the elemental advantage, but the young thing had never used the environment to his advantage. The girl made sure that rocks and trees stood between her and her target until she was ready to pelt him with snow, but the creature still managed to bean her in the face twice.

They kept up the feud for a few minutes, under Frankie’s watchful and increasingly puzzled gaze, until Annie put her hands up and walked out of cover. She was shivering, and most of her head was covered in snow, but she was grinning from ear to ear. Her ‘foe’ understood the concept of a ceasefire well enough and allowed her to approach, crouch down and pet her new friend. “You’re pretty alright, Snowball! I wasn’t planning on making a catch so soon, but you’re something special… And your aim is too good for me to let you slide!” An arm slowly reached into her pocket, revealing a different kind of ball to the wild one. “How’d you like to join Camp Annie? Once you teach everybody else how to fight, you’ll be right at home with the gang!”

Darumaka nodded - or rather, bobbed his entire body forward – and Annie pressed the Pokeball against him.

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Compared to Snowball, the Pineco was much less exciting. He bounced into the trainer’s personal space, only to be halted by Frankie’s glare. Null only broke its glare to look at Annie, awaiting her orders. The girl giggled, giving her partner a tickle under chin. It might have earned a reaction, if not for the beast’s helmet. Annie’s smile faded some. “One day I’ll get a smile out of you… If you even have a mouth under there.”

On they went.

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There it was. The reason she’d returned to the Safari, poking its head out of snow-tipped grass. The two locked eyes. The Vulpix, realising trouble was approaching, made to flee the scene. “Okay, now you can attack.” She nodded to Frankie, who was more than happy to oblige.

Annie thought she heard something close to an exhale, but it was a far cry from the yells and shouts that proceeded most Pokemon’s attacks. A white triangle formed in front of Frankie’s face, each of its corners bearing a different-coloured orb. From it, a beam fired and knocked the Vulpix off its feet. The second and final step of Annie Mei’s Forced Friendship was for her to lob a Pokeball at the target, claiming it as her own.

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The sounds of battle drew more curious beasts out of their hidey holes. Both trainer and Pokemon had been too focused on the fleeing Vulpix to notice a Voltorb rolling into battle. Its Electro Ball was more than enough to get their attention, though it would soon come to regret earning it. A thumbs-down from Annie sent Frankie charging to retaliate with an Iron Head. Not enough to knock it out in one attack, but enough to send it rolling back to where it came from – and to teach it not to come back.

❤ wizz

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