Looks like he’s not the only one lost out here. There’s a Shellos, looking quite parched and shrivelled as Angelo ends up walking into a dead end, looking half-way ready to give up trying to find its pond. Or life itself.[break][break]

“Hey, little guy. Can’t go quitting on me just yet, think we're almost there.”[break][break]

Crouching down, Angelo rummages through his backpack for a bottle of water and generously gives (see: pours it over the Shellos’s head) the thirsty pokemon a drink.[break][break]

It looks a little more alive afterwards (although it might just be the shock of being rehydrated) as it gives Angelo’s finger a slimy chew in what he could only assume was a thanks, before slowly slinking off on its own.





[break][break]

+ skipping // 2 safari balls left[break][break]

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Ah, mazes did remind him of Alto Mare… He was starting to get tired of the cramped, winding paths that lead to nowhere in particular here, too. [break][break]

Impatient, Angelo begins to walk a little faster, taking random corridors sandwiched between hedges without any real semblance of consideration. Keep left? Keep right? Pointless tips. Unlike in his hometown there was no landmarks for this maze. He just had to push forward and eventually he’ll find his way – either to the start or the middle. Either worked, so long as he could reunite with Lyra and her Minior friend. [break][break]

About an hour later, Angelo flops onto his back in the middle of the maze as the sun becomes a mere sliver behind the castle made of cardboard in the distance, his Clefable and a random Ponyta looking down at him as he lays back on the grass with sweat on his brow. [break][break]

“…You just got here, right?” [break][break]

She had not just got there.



[break][break]

+ skipping // 2 safari balls left[break][break]

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

For Angelo’s reward for persevering without cheating through the maze: a Minior. [break][break]

While laying on the grass, enjoying the spring dusk breeze at he reclines with his arms folded behind his head, another lump of space rock descends. Hovering curiously over his head, observing Angelo through the hollow gaps in its hardy shell like tiny blackholes. Drawing the courier into its orbit as he cracks open a blue eye. [break][break]

He reaches up, taking hold of the curious meteor pokemon with both calloused hands, a hint of colour swirling through the cracks in its protective shield. Glittering temptingly. [break][break]

So Angelo catches the falling star and puts it in a pokeball his pocket.

[break][break]

+ catching minior // 1 safari balls left[break][break]

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

When Angelo finally makes it out of the maze, he has Lyra following along behind him while she in turn, has three Minior floating after her as she hums a song like the Pied Piper. Her sing light enough to not induce comatose side-effects on her merry little band of followers. [break][break]

Blue eyes crinkle at the corners, brow quirked in amusement as an Oricorio wiggles into view, also lured in by his Clefable’s tune. [break][break]

Angelo leaves them to it, quickly nipping off to grab a snack before the fairy castle food stalls close. [break][break]

When he returns with a noisy rustling of salty popcorn in a paper bag, the bird is on the floor, sleeping. Lyra looking guilty and the Minior continuing to float overhead, looking as unbothered as lumps of space rock could appear. [break][break]

“Well. You going to give your sleeping beauty a kiss, Ly?”


[break][break]

+ passing // 1 safari balls left[break][break]

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

The place will be closing soon. Angelo’s time running short in the countdown of a clock hand and the rising of the moon, sky beginning to steadily fade from sunset pinks and orange to a smudge of darkening blues. He shoves a handful of salty popcorn in his mouth before handing the small bag over to Lyra, who sniffs it and carefully picks it. [break][break]

(She doesn’t like the flavour but not wanting to upset her trainer, she eats it regardless. Some pieces are somehow sucked up by her Minior troop.) [break][break]

“Think we can fit in one more loop of the grounds… Or,” he hums, contemplating as his blue gaze turns skywards, noting that the moon and stars were beginning to slowly blink into view. “Actually. Let’s go higher, come on.” [break][break]

Angelo grins and makes his way towards the castle proper, where a spiral staircase waits to be climbed. Walking past a yawning Happiny as she makes her way home.



[break][break]

+ passing // 1 safari balls left[break][break]

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

They take the stairs two at a time. Angelo making long-legged strides and Lyra bouncing, drifting up like she's lighter than air. It’s a dark, winding ascent but the courier is barely out of breath by the time he reaches the summit, much too acclimatised to long distance endurance to be bested by a flight of stairs. [break][break]

His exhale however does nearly catch at the view from the watchtower balcony, sprawling castle grounds awash in the darkening hues of violet and blues as the night comes out to play. A star twinkles overhead, falling closer and closer in a streak of emerald – like a mystical green fairy as told in many children’s tales. [break][break]

Angelo’s mind isn’t on the ticking clock – of the safari zone nor the one he holds in his heart – as he leans perilously over the stone battlements, Lyra squeaking in fretting concern as she grips onto the back of her trainer’s shirt. Tongue peeking between his lips, the courier obeys the clawing desire in his chest and although he nearly topples a little too far, his reaching fingers filled with ravenous determination are rewarded with the Minior’s attention. [break][break]

It lands neatly, almost as if it were predetermined, into waiting hands just as the final bell tolls.




[break][break]

+ catching minior // 0 safari balls left[break][break]

[attr="class","pokeclass"]