"no." elijah snorts, one nostril growing large as the hot summer air is taken in. he spits a loogie out on the nearby sand before crossing his arms over his broad chest. "i don't know why i'm doing this, but i figured it might make my business look good."

he squints.

"have we met?"

on the field, elijah's pokemon emerges. a galarian slowking readjusts its black collar.

Adrian Malcolm

☉

"sheesh. won't even spare the time to get to know me." he speaks as dry as an autumn leaf. one that lacks the leaf blade. only midrib, vein and venule.

a CONFUSE RAY swirls toward the slowking. though it lacks grace in its footwork, when it stands, the stance is one of absolute defiance. from underneath the flap of its dark muffler, a short arm raises to summon a SAFEGUARD.

"i sell plants. want one?" elijah says. "or maybe you know someone who's dead or about to die? i have flowers for that."

Adrian Malcolm

☉

"oh yeah?"

a FREEZE-DRY spreads onto the galarian slowking. on its shell and collar, an icy crust begins to crawl. the peculiar pokemon ahead of him is one elijah has never seen before.

but he remains calm. this isn't a high stakes match. elijah is no battler, after all.

"i'll hold you to it." elijah says. "POWER GEM."

his galarian slowking's green gem glows. stones materialize around its head as they arc toward the cryogonal like homing missiles.

Adrian Malcolm

☉

"and they're not for free." elijah tacks on like a crooked nail, or a wilted stem. the lives of his flowers are transient— but it is their brevity of life that gives them value. "DISABLE."

a stare locks onto the cryogonal's icy countenance. the gem glows an ominous green once more to DISABLE THE RECOVER.

the apothecary grumbles after remembering a custom forgotten. "i'm elijah."

Adrian Malcolm

☉

the NIGHT SLASH strikes across the mage. a devastating blow so artful in the way it rotates its snowflake shape. black ice is met with a WATER PULSE. an attack meant to push the cryogonal back rather than to harm.

splashes of water buffet against the cryogonal should it be struck, but the galarian slowking does not stay in one place. on its stubby legs, it strafes away.

"you battle often?" elijah asks awkwardly.

Adrian Malcolm

☉

"no, i fucking hate it." elijah's expression is obstinate. his straight-faced visage may settle on bitterness and distaste at neutral— but it is that same neutrality that makes it difficult to discern sarcasm from honesty. "and here i am."

the slowking indeed hobbles. like an old mage scaling their enchanted tower of stone, it gallops awkwardly around their arena.

"POWER GEM as you move!" elijah barks.

again, floating stones rise from behind its shell. they fire away. glowing minior chasing a planet of ice.

Adrian Malcolm

☉

”it’s already working out if you’re willing to talk after.” elijah chews through his words. he eyes adrian ominously before his gaze finds his pokemon. the breeze catches the cryogonal’s icy presence occasionally, tickling the skin with a cool breath.

the cryogonal fights through the barrage, and as it does so, elijah’s galarian slowking raises its arms. from its hands it begins to channel psychic energies. purplish designs form at the end of its fingertips. suddenly, an EERIE SPELL is conjured and delivered toward the cryogonal with a resounding bang.

”don’t stop. don’t let it come close.”

words he has oft repeated to himself in quiet solemn ways.

Adrian Malcolm

☉