[break]

The one good thing that could be said for the moment when a piece of flying driftwood connected with the back of Dom's head was that it wasn't his fault. Even if he hadn't been lost in thought, he never would have seen it coming. Literally. That was only a slightly comforting thought as he clutched the back of his head and groaned.

"Damn," he hissed, feeling around with his fingertips for the knot that was already forming just under the skin. Nova bore her little fangs at the interlopers, only slightly distracted by the fact that there was a stick just a few feet away. Dom heard the apology and waved a hand, eyes still squinted shut. "It's fine, it's fine. I've had wor—" His words caught in his throat as soon as he opened his eyes. He gaped like a Magikarp out of water. It was a long moment before he found his voice again and, when he did, it was soft as a whisper. "Tilly?"

Matilda Greenlaw [break]skipping spawns.

☉

Haedus' eyes flick back and forth between the stick and the Vulpix, his concentration broken by a Cutiefly crossing his field of vision. [break] [break]

Completely ignoring the Pokemon, Matilda's eyes stay locked on Dom. Hearing him say her name finally snaps her out of shock and she slaps him across the cheek as hard as she can muster.


[break][break]

skipping spawns

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

[attr="class","credit"]milky

[break]

Nova stood stock still, each muscle tensed against the all-consuming urge to get the stick. Her eyes flicked between the Houndour and the stick, completely unaware of the sour reunion that was happening just feet away. An opening appeared when Haedus was distracted by a Cutiefly. Nova wasted no time, diving straight for the stick with a yip. She snatched it up and bolted down the beach. Chase me!

The look they shared seems to last a lifetime but is gone just as soon as it's there. Dom had just enough time to flinch and squeeze his eyes closed as his old friend slapped him full across the face with a resounding smack—a sound loud enough to get the attention of Lotus as she drifted just offshore. The Lapras let out a warning wail, eyeballing Matilda. Dom let out a slow breath, his cheek already a stinging red. A nice match to the knot on the back of his head.

"Good to see you, too," he muttered, bringing a hand up to touch his face gingerly. But when he looked up at her, it was with a look of sympathy instead of pain. "I never thought I'd see you again. What are you doing here?"

Matilda Greenlaw [break]skipping spawns.

☉

Seeing Vulpix bolt down the beach with the coveted stick, Haedus forgets that Cutiefly exists entirely and takes off after Nova. Just as he's about to catch up, he instead finds himself face planting rather ungracefully. With a frustrated whine he turns to see what he'd tripped over, and finds himself nose to nose with a small Chinchou. He sniffs the new arrival while she touches him gently with the baubles at the ends of her antennae. Satisfied that he will no longer be impeded in his Great Hunt, he turns on a dime and bounces over to Nova, falling into a deep play bow and trying to steal the stick whenever the opportunity arises.[break][break]

Tears start welling up in earnest as Dom's expression softens, and Tilly falls into her old friend's arms, holding him tight. As soon as she has the tears under control, she lets go and sits next to him near the fire. "Me?! What are you doing here?" She asks, fighting back small sniffles as she wipes her eyes with one hand and gestures to their surroundings with the other.


[break][break]

Dominic Grey[break]
I'm def gonna make friends with that Chinchou!

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

[attr="class","credit"]milky

[break]

Nova, prancing through the sand with abandon, took a glance over her shoulder to find that the Houndour wasn't hot on her heels as she'd expected. She slowed, turning to look for him, just in time to see him shake sand off his face. She hardly noticed the new addition to their play group—not that it bothered her either way. Impatiently, she waited for Haedus to catch up, shifting from foot to foot. When he finally did, she mirrored his play bow with one of her own, growling. He reached out to grab the stick but Nova wasn't about to let it go that easily. She dug in once he'd grabbed it successfully and then tugged.

Dom could see the tears in Tilly's eyes immediately and he grimaced. He'd had an inclination that leaving the way he had would be upsetting for his friends, but seeing it in person made it all-too real. Tilly fell into his chest and Dom wrapped his arms around her. They stayed like that for a while, the waves hissing against the shore barely enough to drown out Matilda's sobs. When she finally pulled away, Dom couldn't find it in him to keep eye contact. He stared into the fire, chewing his lip.

"It was... I just needed a change." He could only briefly sit in the lie before he swallowed hard and exhaled. "No, that's—that's not true. Things were getting... dangerous for me in Kanto. I wish I could tell you everything, but I can't without putting you in danger, too."

Matilda Greenlaw

☉

Once Nova falls into a play bow, Haedus lets out a few short yips and bounces around excitedly, snapping for the stick. Realizing he isn't getting the toy without a fight, he immediately grabs the free end of the driftwood and tugs, growling very loudly and far more dramatically than was strictly called for. His joy at finding a friend as spirited as he was not lost on anyone witnessing the scene - including the small Chinchou, who laid lazily in the sand and watched the playing duo.[break][break]

Tilly shrugs and turns to face the fire. "Might as well spit it out then. Whoever you pissed off came after me, insisting I knew where you were and threatening to hurt Nona and the babies..." Nodding to the Pokemon down the beach, the glow of the Chinchou's antennae gives her pause. She tilts her head quizzically, but seeing Haedus and Nova continue to play either with or despite it informed her that things were alright. "If I didn't tell them how to find you," Tilly finally finishes her thought, looking back to Dom. "So a few weeks ago I packed up my things in the middle of the night, grabbed as many of the new hatches as I could, and left. Nona made a bunch of food for me and we had a spare tent, so I had a few supplies starting off. I couldn't take too much though - there were people watching the house, so I had to sneak past them." The yips and barks of play drew Tilly's eyes back to the Pokemon bouncing about in the sand. "I talked to her about it and tried to get her to come with me, but you know how Nona is. It wasn't feasible to bring everyone, so of course she stayed to take care of them."[break][break]

Turning to Dom once more, Tilly frowned at the red mark blooming across her friend's cheek. Her hand grasps empty air as she reaches down for her bag, and she quickly realizes her bag had been dragged a few feet away by a Mawile - a seemingly hungry one, as it was pulling items out of her bag one at a time and sniffing them thoroughly before tossing the object aside and moving on. "Hey!" Tilly cries, jumping up. She closes the space between her and the Mawile with just a couple steps, but stops abruptly as its large secondary set of jaws bares its teeth at her and the Pokemon puffs up, attempting to appear larger than it was. "Hey, hey there," she says soothingly, moving slowly around the creature, giving it a wide enough berth that it can't snap at her. Once the bag is between the woman and the Mawile, she lowers herself to the ground and reaches out slowly, ignoring the soft growls emitting from the Mawile. Pulling the bag over to her, she adjusts so she's sitting on the sand and rummages through her pack, pulling out the first bit of food she could find.[break][break]

Noticing the small jar in Tilly's hand, the Mawile's curiosity leads it to stop growling and lean towards her with its body, trying to see if the jar held anything interesting. Tilly opens the jar and holds it out to the Pokemon. "It's okay, you can have it," Tilly reassures it quietly. Looking back and forth between the jar and the woman, the Mawile finally decides to hold out its hand. Tilly snorts in amusement and raises an eyebrow, but she doesn't take it personally; fairies could be fickle. She reaches out and sets the jar in the Mawile's grasp, picking up her strewn items and carrying her bag back to the bench, leaving the Mawile to its own devices.[break][break]

Sitting back down close to Dom, she digs through her belongings once more, finding her first aid supplies and beginning to tend to Dom's injuries, letting him take the time he needed to tell his story.


[break][break]

Dominic Grey[break]
...well now I need to be frens with that Mawile...

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

[attr="class","credit"]milky

[break]

Nova mirrored the Houndour's delight, her snarling and growling only occasionally puncuated by a playful sneeze. The weather-worn driftwood held up better than it probably should have, especially when small flames began to gutter from the Vulpix's mouth. She rumbled and shook her head, tails wagging.

Dom's attention shifted sharply to Matilda as she spoke, his brows knitting together. He hadn't ever considered that they might go after his friends, his coworkers. He was quiet while she relayed what had happened to her and, turning his eyes to the fire, he didn't speak for a long while after. Finally, he opened his mouth. "Tilly, I'm so—" But she was being pulled away by a feisty Mawile. He smiled sadly and watched her calm the Pokemon. That was how they'd become friends: bonding over their shared love of Pokemon. In short order, she was walking back to the little campfire, digging through her first aid supplies.

"It's fine," he muttered, though he didn't pull away from her. Dom sighed, bracing himself. "If I'd known they were coming after my friends... It was Team Rocket, Tilly. They knew so many things about me. Everything. They knew my work history, my strengths, my weaknesses. They were trying to recruit me. At first, it was kinda... gentle. Just a suggestion here or there. Telling me they could offer me more money than I was making with the rangers. Offering me rare Pokemon, the whole nine yards. I guess they didn't like when I told them no." He stared into the fire, wincing any time Tilly touched his cheek. "I thought they'd just give up, get bored of asking me and go bother someone else. But they didn't. They started showing up at my work. My house. Then they started showing up at my campsites. I'd leave my tent in the morning to find two Team Rocket members sitting outside waiting for me. I started leaving Aspen out as a guard. That deterred them for a bit, but one day I woke up and he was gone." Dom clenched his fists against his knees. He never should have left the Arcanine out there alone. He'd overestimated his Pokemon's strength, and Aspen had been the one to suffer for it.

"The way I reacted to that must have tipped them off. Aspen wasn't the only one they took. I'd get text messages at all hours. Pictures of Aspen and Hawk and Jade muzzled... caged in their lab..." He trailed off, swallowing hard. Over and over he'd told himself there was nothing he could have done, but he still wondered if that was true. "I kept telling them to fuck off, though. One day after a patrol I came back to my camp burned clean to the ground, tent and all. That's when I left. I just started walking. And then, I guess, they went after you."

Matilda Greenlaw[break]skipping spawns.

☉

Tilly occasionally made a face over the course of the story, but she stayed silent. The bandaging finished, she repacks her things and sits next to Dom once more, pulling out a Pokeball. [break][break]

A small Togepi appears in her lap and she holds the Pokemon out to Dom. The small fairy's eyes light up when she sees Dom and she holds her little arms out for him, a giddy grin on her face as she cries out for him to hold her. "To-togepi!"



[break][break]

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

[attr="class","credit"]milky