she frowns at this news. guilt is an ever-constant snake wrapping tighter and tighter around her. he'd been a troublemaker his entire life, but it only seems to have gotten worse the past couple of years. and not because bo came back. because she couldn't bring him back the right way. 

everything i did - it wasn't enough. 

she shoves that shit away and inspects the dirt under her nails. "that doesn't surprise me. he doesn't seem to trust much of anyone these days. especially himself."

she sighs. "sorry. i didn't mean to make all this about roman and our problems. i can talk to him, if you want. or maybe i won't. it'd be nice to have that weedle terrorize something other than my plants for a change."

/ /

while willow talks, elisabet takes it upon herself to find some new prey. she spies a scatterbug nibbling on some half-rotted fruits and prepares herself. but as she watches it eat the rot, she frowns, shooing it away from the berries. 

it's small for its size and doesn't put up much of a fight as elisabet bats it away. it just cowers, slinking in on itself. only when elisabet slams a shoulder into the fruit tree, dropping a couple of freshly ripened berries, does it uncurl to feast. 

by the time the leavanny has returned to willow's side, the scatterbug is swaddled in her arms and napping with a full belly.

CIAN MAHER
catching scatterbug!

☉

"it's fine, and i wouldn't worry too much about it. i think he'll learn to trust eventually."

this time, his smile is sympathetic, as though he understands all that troubles her. only he doesn't. he can't even begin to imagine that it must feel like.

"he's being raised by good people, after all."

/ /

cacnea's unable to reach up that high, naturally, so the grass-type has to rely on his PIN MISSILE as sharp pins shoot up at the pelipper. it dips and dives and weaves but cacnea is surprisingly accurate.

the pelipper's MIST looks to surround them to perhaps help it evade, but as it comes closer to the ground, cacnea leaps up to smack it with his NEEDLE ARM. the pelipper falls right into a PILE OF LEAVES, out cold and into a pokeball.

willow atkins // catching pelipper

☉

"mm, i like to think so," she says. good people. it's hard to give bo some of the credit. she'd done everything she could for that boy - just shy of seventeen and all her dreams for her future gone down the toilet. her sketches could be more than a hobbyist's drawings - they could be doing good. she could be working on biological preservation. 

no. she doesn't think of what-ifs. not anymore. she's happy where she is. happy with the house and the greenery and the life she's built. and it's too exhausting being bitter with bo over everything else. 

"you know," she says, "you can come around too. up to fallarbor."

CIAN MAHER
catching rowlet (eventually)

☉

good people.

bo might not deserve credit but brothers stick out for each other, and cian's had his fair share of shitting on bo. times have certainly changed.

overhead, an unfezant cries, alerting them of the venomoth that appears. cacnea readies himself for another battle.

"yeah? maybe i'll come over for dinner sometime."

willow atkins // catching venomoth (eventually)

☉

most people don't understand the imposition. much of the food willow puts on the table is grown with her own hands. in the winter, a lot of it has been pickled or dried, but grains make up the most of their meals. meat is a luxury for their family; most of the time, she's able to barter with the local butcher's shop when she wants to treat them, but roman's had to get used to beans as his protein. 

not an easy sell, surely. 

with the acquisition of her mamoswine at the end of late summer, the corn planting had been far easier, and the stalks are sturdy. a dinner wouldn't be too far-fetched. 

there she goes again, with all her planning and her meticulous forethought. it's one dinner. and besides, business has been better lately. she wouldn't say they're wealthy by any means, but at least she's not rolling quarters anymore. 

"that'd be nice. we never really got that. i was an only child and finding time to go back to rustboro to see the relatives was always such a hassle." that and her grandparents were never quite the same towards her after the pregnancy. and she's always had little patience for intolerance.

elisabet tends to the scatterbug as they walk. eventually, when it's snoozing in her arms, willow withdraws a pokeball and captures it, where it'll be safe until the woman can examine just how malnourished it is. and why. 
 
overhead, pokemon chitter. willow breathes in the air and sighs contentedly. "so tell me about yourself, cian. since it's been so long."

CIAN MAHER
catching rowlet (eventually)

☉

dinner in fallarbor sounds dreadful. dinner with willow and roman, however, sounds tolerable, perhaps even fun, if roman doesn't poke his eye out. he finds himself looking forward to it more than he expects to.

but when the change of topic comes, dread returns, and sighs in an attempt to wash it away.

"fuck, what's there to tell?"

he chuckles, watching as his cacnea handles the venomoth with surprising ease.

"i swapped running for training, pretty much. i recently became a gym leader in the minor league circuit. it's in rustboro. i'll show you when you and roman visit."

a pokeball's chucked at the venomoth.

"other than that? i dunno."

willow atkins // catching venomoth

☉

she turns, a bit surprised. he'd been a rising star throughout school. she hadn't followed his career really closely, and certainly not at all when her family cut most of its ties from rustboro, but still. 

"i keep hearing about the minor league. i met someone recently who's doing something with them. a Greyson Connors . know him?" 

dinner at her place would actually probably be for the better. she's still in the midst of building bee boxes with her new acquaintance. 

family vacation when there's work to be done? absolutely not.

CIAN MAHER
skipping

☉

"ah, yeah. he just opened his gym. dude's pretty cool. he helped out during the groudon incident, so i've heard."

little does he know he'd be facing greyson in a gym challenge quite soon. losing to him as well, in fact, but that seems to be the theme with his battles if the tournament in slateport's any indicator.

not that he minds it now, however.

"i think that's what he made his gym about. rescuing people, or something."

willow atkins // skipping

☉

"that's good to hear. he's doing some work on the property. good to know he has merit." she wouldn't have doubted it regardless. she trusts her instincts when she meets people and greyson had passed her test with flying colors. meeting him at a volunteer event to clean up local habitats had certainly been a plus. 

silence lapses. it's not uncomfortable, per se, but it leaves her wanting. this is her chance to get to know the family she'd missed out on - the family roman's missed out on. 

a chikorita dashes across the pathway, only to stop halfway through to stare at them. she stands her ground firmly and willow admires her spark. elisabet moves on ahead to take her stance, antennae rattling in warning towards the grass-type. 

willow leaves them to their scuffle. "and what about caden? what's he up to these days?"

CIAN MAHER
catching chikorita (resolving battle next post)

☉

cian has no idea Greyson Connors doubles as a...gardener? handyman? but then again, he barely knows the man apart from the fact that he also runs a minor league gym. maybe he should get to know him a bit better.

"caden's finally done with medical school, i think."

between rocket and working at the gym, he's barely had any time to spend with his twin.

"he works at lilycove general hospital, but still lives in rustboro. no idea how he does the commute. i'd rather die."

willow atkins // skipping

☉