WHY LIKE THIS?

WHEN YOU CAN BE THAT?

“AGAIN.” The snap of Fernando’s command demands more attention than any whip ever could. MISTY TERRAIN rests on the gymnasium’s floor, carpeting the rubber with a cotton candy veil.

“Battle routine set.”

She can hear him well before she enters the area. The sound of several attacks detail his workout before she ever has the grace to set eyes on him.

“Execute!”

A SEED FLARE blinds the entire room in a flash of green while a MAGMA STORM is spewed from his Heatran’s maw. The Pokemon doesn’t need to aim. Drenching the field in a viscous, molten layer will hamper movement and burn through anyone who makes one misstep. Likewise, a fleet of Poipole, led by a Naganadel, bombard him with a volley of sludge and toxins.

There is no way to breakthrough. This formation is near perfect. He’s ran through it a million times before. But he doesn’t have to overcome his own Pokemon. He just needs to emulate it so he can defend against it proper.

Legendary Pokemon be damned. There is always a way.

So he starts his obstacle run once more. Despite the blind, Fernando turns around to run, trying to create as much distance as possible in the face of the unknown. He deliberately throws a Pokeball between his feet with enough force to cause it to bounce. When it strikes the floor, it cracks open, revealing the Glalie inside.

His Glalie does what is always does: PROTECT. Regardless of the situation, without heed or a call to action, the Glalie projects a PROTECTIVE barrier the moment it is summoned. Sometimes, this does nothing but elicit awkward stares. But, more often than not, it’s the deliberation between life and death.

That moment the PROTECT buys is enough for the light to dissipate and for his Tapu Fini to retaliate with SURF. A tidal wave surges outward to wash away the attacks heading their way. It’s not enough, by no means a match for several opponents, but it staves off the immediate attacks that coincide with Fernando’s position.

It’s a lot to register at once but Fernando knows the expected inputs and outputs. Running this exercise several times, back-to-back, familiarizes himself with both the realistic results and his desired effect.

He’s not even close.

He blames the compression sleeves he wears on both arms and knees. Several bandages still wrap around his waist, white muddled into a sick yellow due to his exertions and sweat. Blaming his performance on the injuries of his excursion feels like a cop out, so he refrains. It just pushes him to wear himself out further.

“AGA—”

He catches her by the entrance, eye peeling into a blank stare before shaking his head in resignation. “Good hustle. We’ll call it a night.”

A small array of more ‘Legendary Pokemon’ than Rocket has Avatars follow Fernando’s attention to stare at the lone woman. Only Tapu Fini shows any sense of familiarity. The island deity fashions a brief wave, actually smiling, as it stares her down with something less than just an empty void of emotions.

Fernando has only seen this once before. That time, the reason has been obvious. illeana reyes housed its sibling, Tapu Lele. But Lulu?

Why she manages to evoke some sense of expression from the Tapu puzzles him. Like practice, he lets those questions simmer on the side.

Even when breaking early, exhaustion hits like a truck. All at once.

Lulu Flint

WHY LIKE THIS?

WHEN YOU CAN BE THAT?

HEAVY INHALES COME IN TIDES, HIS CHEST RISING EACH TIME THEY WASH ASHORE. He can hear the acceleration of his heart rate palpitate now that his body becomes idle. He should have cooled down. But Lulu doesn’t give him that chance. Her interruption, welcomed through his own invitation, demands his attention.

“Cooldown,” he issues aloud, hypocritical to fault with his strict ‘do as I say and not as I do’ mentality. He doesn’t have to obey by his rules because he knows better. He’s meant to rule, not abide.

His Pokemon don’t really do much else despite the order. A moment of rest is enough for most of them. Only his Shaymin, the most personable out of them, continues to fly around a bit before landing to prune its fur with a mouthful of licks.

“You get used to them seeking you out after the third or fourth.”

Fernando cuts the distance with a brief jog. He can feel the acid in his muscles pooling in the bounce of every step. To greater surprise, Tapu Fini accompanies him. Reformatting Lulu Flint may have been a Avatar-Legendary collaboration but even Fernando can’t seem to grasp the turn in the Pokemon’s reaction.

Only Tapu Fini knows. The way it washes her in a blanket of their essence shows to what lengths it means to maintain her form. This Lulu, a reprogrammed Lulu, encompasses the bastion of balance that Tapu Fini seeks to instill. What she sheds from her past gives way to a mixture of what she could be and more.

Darkrai be damned.

“It only looks impressive from the sidelines. In real combat, this is nothing.” He pokes her with a smug smile, knowing she won’t take the bait. “Fancy a go at it?”

Lulu Flint

WHY LIKE THIS?

WHEN YOU CAN BE THAT?

“INDEED.” Fernando clicks his tongue as he gives his team a once over. They’re all capable as individuals but together they’re near unstoppable. That’s what he needs to prepare against in light of recent events.

“It’s good practice for when you’re thrust into a battlefield you didn’t expect.” He tugs on the compression sleeve that strangles his elbow. Readjusting it reveals the tight red skin swallowed in its vice.

“Happened to me recently, actually. Trying to avoid a repeat.”

Lulu Flint

WHY LIKE THIS?

WHEN YOU CAN BE THAT?

“I LET SLEEPING DOGS LIE FOR FAR TOO LONG.”

Fernando makes light of the situation because he still believes himself to be in control. Team Rocket, to some degree, remains his experiment. As long as he controls the petri dish, no matter how much they grow, he can cut off the excess whenever he pleases. Doing so is always tedious but that’s the nature of the beast.

For science. For progression. For the future.

“Team Rocket caught me in one of their terrorist attacks. Bombed an area, casual octo-homicide, nothing new I suppose considering their origin.”

He grits his teeth at the comment. Not because it bothers him. A fever, no matter how high, is still brought on by the body it inhabits. It’s the helplessness he feels from being blindsided, from being treated as any other mortal being.

He’s soft. Incredibly so. Not like when Rocket first came and tensions were high. Which is what brings him to the Gym in the first place.

“You should be careful,” he says while fetching his Pokeballs. “I thought things would be different this time. That it wouldn’t be a repeat, that they had just borrowed a name to organized their grievances.”

He still suspects Lulu, almost all but assured, which is why he adds a dot of sympathy. He spins his hook well, leaving the bait deep in her waters.

“I was wrong.”

Lulu Flint

WHY LIKE THIS?

WHEN YOU CAN BE THAT?

"I SUPPOSE." An airy exhale exhumes whatever regret still lingers. He turns to her, quiet smile, eye brow quirked.

“But good to see you’re okay.”

One by one, each of his Pokemon are turned. Soon, the Gym is as empty as the halls of League Headquarters. The only ones he allows remain are Tapu Fini and his Shaymin.

“So,” he drags out the suspense with a whistle to the shaggy grass type to approach. “What’s the special occasion?”

Lulu Flint

WHY LIKE THIS?

WHEN YOU CAN BE THAT?

FERNANDO’S INLFLUENCE EXTENDS BEYOND TAPU FINI. The Shaymin, innocent aside from its occasional feline mischievousness, exudes its own aroma. A SWEET SCENT seeps into the MISTY TERRAIN, a culmination of Hoenn’s seaside and the elusive Gracidea flower.

Constant exposure to the perfume has numbed Fernando to how fragrant it smells. It’s still pleasant but lacks the heaviness that comes from such close proximity.

The Pokemon comes into Fernando’s arms, perched on his forearm, vigorously rubbing its snout against the small crevice between his elbow and side.

“Oh? What’s wrong,” he jests, evident by the smile that fills in the gap between them.

Repeated strokes against the Pokemon’s back gets it to settle down. It turns, peeking out at Lulu. Likewise, Tapu Fini sit between them, the last point in their triangle formation. It continues to stare at Lulu, making her the center of attention.

Lulu Flint

WHY LIKE THIS?

WHEN YOU CAN BE THAT?

FERNANDO REMAINS A BYSTANDER AS LULU CULLS THE CONVERSATION. The nights at Kaleidoscope are long gone. Idle chatter and shooting the shit are hobbies they left behind—one by choice, the other against her will. If it wasn’t for her forcing his hand, he may even regret it.

But remorse is not a feeling Silph exhibits. To do so means that he didn’t make the best decision at the time. Which could be true but he’ll never admit it. Doesn’t even entertain it. That line of thinking has fell men much greater than him. And there’s still much to do.

“I’ll wrap up here then. Take a shower and spruce up a bit,” he says giving the Gym one last look over. There’s not much he can do on his own except put in a request for maintenance to tidy up his mess.

“How about drinks? It’s been a while,” he offers, turning his gaze to the showers. “Unless you want to join me now?”

Lulu Flint