"Aaron!"

Crisp as a morning's first winter breeze, Rory's voice echoed off the closed door of his lilycove apartment. Hopefully, she'd gotten the address right, because without a second's worth of thought her fist had already struck against the wood in rapid succession.

"Aaron open up!"

It'd been, what, months since the last time they'd seen each other? And, if it hadn't been for their parents' constant nagging, that time might've extended off to a year. Maybe more.

It was just another way Rocket had fucked with her life.

She didn't. Whenever her eyes wandered, encircling the patches of color that speckled his face and neck, or heard the short hisses of whispers that trailed his every step, undeniable fear raked her body.

But she knew it wasn't far to him. His brother had been the one to commit the crime, and what, Caden was supposed to be to face it's consequences all on his own?

"Of course," she murmured, trying to stay focus on the mixture in front of her. It was taking on a new shade, indicating it's readiness. "We're friends, aren't we?"

Salt and vinegar? Ew.

Rory's nose scrunched at the thought; she always hated how they made her tongue and lips burn. Still, for a friend, she was willing to support the vile snack, especially given the fact that said friend was JAMES BAKER .

"Hmmm, I'm not too picky. Maybe some sour gummy worms? Or twizzlers!"

When studying, those were typically her go-to.

Without warning, a sudden beeping blared out from her side pocket, following the tune of a popular shoujo anime opening. Rory immediately reached for it, color splashing her entire face as she scrambled to silence the call.

But not before seeing the Caller ID.

"Oh no! I forgot I had something to do today. Sorry, James, I'll talk to you later, okay?"

Off she went.

"Could we?"

The sheer excitement of the suggestion grabbed her attention with such sudden vigor she was half expecting to hear her neck completely snapping in half.

"Oh, yeah, true!"

Would be a waste to spend their entire day just going around in circles. Even if the view was this pretty.

The ferris wheel's pod slid back down the opposite side of the track, settling down with a loud hiss from metal scraping against metal. A second later, the door threw itself open.

"Since I picked the ferris wheel, you get first dibs on the stalls," she smiled, gesturing over to the colorful games and food stalls dotting their surroundings.

It'd been, what, a year or two since they've last seen each other? From the looks of it, not much has changed, with him still rocking that mop of hair, hiding in the shadows of every group he trailed, quiet in all that he does. Rory probably gave off a similar impression - from the outside looking in, she was still the bubbly bookworm she'd always been.

If only that were the case.

"Good, good!"

Fingers found themselves caught in her hair, twirling pieces around each finger, until curls ate at her cheeks. Up and down they would go, furling and unfurling around her index finger.

"Still doing the same ol, same ol," she grinned, pink pinching her cheeks, "how about you? Still doing IT work?"

Rory sandshrew contributed to FERNANDO SILPH's BLIZZARD, adding to its biting freeze. It allows the sheet of ice to regrow with every electric blast, providing heavenly opportunities to strike their lanky bodies with their pokeballs.



Toss after toss, the young electrician dug into her satchel for more pokeballs to throw, sucking up the ultra beasts along with the others within the party.



It looked to be working.

She nodded, listening intently as she continued to mix together the ingredients.

"Where do you live now?"

The question naturally came up, ignoring the obviousness of it all. With his brother revealing their identity to the world, there was only one place left to live. And it wasn't slateport.

When the realization hit, Rory immediately bit into her cheeks. Embarrassment felt like a slap to the face.

"Sorry, bad question."

"Sure, okay, yeah!"



There were her roommates to consider, but compared to her previous situation of bringing guys back home to her parents, she'd take nosey roommates any day of the week.



She shrugged it off.



They'll understand, anyways.



In the corner of her eye, a small Pawmo made its appearance. Rory nearly died from delight.



"Aw, look how cute! C'mere little guy."



The electric type approached with hesitancy, but as soon as she reached down to pet his head, it all washed away. A natural reaction to Rory's radiance, some might say.



"What kind of snacks do you like then? For studying, I mean."

Fear trickled just below the skin. This wasn't a game anymore. There, not too far out of reach, the several ultrabeasts hung, lanky arms swaying in the pulsing air.



To FERNANDO SILPH's question, she shuddered, the answer coming to her small puffs of thought.



"Maybe," she murmured, peering out toward the group. "It also kinda looks like it's...feeding off of it."



It was hard to tell. Between the dangling limbs and sparks of electricity, there was much to be desired from the site.



She looked back at the group.



"What do we do then?"