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the man's

black attire poses a stark contrast against rhian's own pastel-colored hoodie and light blue jeans. she doesn't recognize him, but the somber expression on his face speaks enough on its own for her to tell he's in pain. that, and the bottle in his hand.

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rhian's blissey senses it, too. in fact, blissey's ability to actually sense sadness in others makes her feel it so much that she abandons her trainer's side to look after him. the pokémon tugs at his clothes and offers an egg.

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she can only watch her go. she sure runs fast when she wants to.

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"good day, sir," rhian greets politely, unable to avoid interaction now that her blissey went ahead and offered the egg previously being guarded in her pouch.

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The Kalosian didn't make it too far down the pier before a Blissey would rush towards him, greeting him with one of her eggs. Thomas looked down in surprise. After a moment, Thomas would raise a hand openly in a gentle manner, to reject the offer by the Blissey. Even if he appreciated the gentle creature's offer, he felt that he would be a lost cause in the long run. "Thank you though...", Thomas told the Blissey, patting the top of her head gently.

Before he could respond to the girl's greeting, Thomas noticed a dark, bulbous bird leaping in. She began to flap her wings as quickly as she could. Thomas' eyes widened. "Get clear!", Thomas called out, before diving out of the path of the oncoming Air Slash, the blade-like gust of wind just barely missing him.

In response, Thomas would grab one of his Pokeballs, bringing out Voltanis the Vikavolt. The Vullaby would close in her tiny wings towards her torso, where a dark orb started to manifest. "Charge, then Thunderbolt!", ordered Thomas. As the Vikavolt charged itself with electricity, the Vullaby unleashed a Dark Pulse at the insect. The Vikavolt was sent flying back a few feet, before recovering, and firing off a Thunderbolt from its maw.

Despite her best attempts at getting away, the Thunderbolt struck the Vullaby, and with a single cry of pain and shock, the Vullaby went down, all but being cooked by the powerful attack.

Thomas nodded to the Vikavolt, as if to tell him he did good, before going to check on the Vullaby. Though she was seriously injured, she was still alive, thankfully, and would eventually recover from her injuries. He would then look around to see a blonde wearing pastel attire. While she didn't look like she was here to visit Mt. Pyre, given her attire, some things wouldn't surprise him.

"What brings you here?", Thomas asked the younger woman.

---

tags: Rhian McArthur
notes: Passing on Vullaby

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cherub is

a very persistent blissey. rhian is painfully aware of this fact when the pokémon doesn't lower her egg even after being politely rejected, and her attentions remain unhinged until after the man pats her head. she stops, tilts her head, and jumps back at the sudden attack.

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the fight that unfolds afterwards feels a little... over-the-top, honestly, if only because rhian isn't fond of violence. she approaches the scene with a little uncertainty. out of the corner of her eye, she notices the fluffy coat of a whimsicott dash by in the opposite direction.

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"cher, why don't you leave your egg near the vullaby for her to find when she wakes up?" she asks softly, pointing towards the fallen pokémon.

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it's an idea that fits all their needs: they would be respecting the man's decision, not putting the egg to waste, and apologizing to the vullaby for the pain caused. she probably needed it more at this point.

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the blissey nods and gets to the task. meanwhile, the man's question brings her attention back to him. "there's a house down the road owned by a very sweet couple. or should i say a berry sweet couple?" rhian giggles at her own joke. "i'm on my way to visit them."

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she's no longer sure if he's sad, or angry, or simply unamused, but supposes she loses nothing by asking. "may i ask about you, sir?" if anything, she hopes her joke at least cheers him up a little, even if it comes as an afterthought rather than as reason for the pun.

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Thomas was glad that the Blissey was giving the egg to something that needed it far more than he did. Sure, she started the fight by just firing off an Air Slash out of the blue, but after she regained consciousness, she was gonna need all the help she could get. While it was arguably overkill what Voltanis did, the trainer wasn't sorry either. After all, she was gonna survive, and had a Blissey egg to wake up to.

"I see.", Thomas replied to the girl, being unfazed by the joke. "Well, I'm going down that path anyway, so if you'd like, I can make the walk with you.", Thomas offered the blonde.

Voltanis, who was still hovering nearby, noticed a Weepinbell getting ready to fire off a volley of Razor Leaves at the two humans. Flying in as quickly as he could, he would block off the Razor Leaves, his exoskeleton catching them handily. The Vikavolt cried out angrily at the Weepinbill, who then attempted to strike him with a Vine Whip. Once again, the Vikavolt stood by and took the attack, before flapping his wings at the plant aggressively, and loosing an Air Slash at it.

The Weepinbell could only cry out in pain as the blade of wind struck him. The attack left a nice cut on the creature, though one that would heal over time, albeit leaving a scar in the process.

"Thanks again, Voltanis.", Thomas told the Vikavolt, before turning back to the younger woman. "I was here visiting Mt. Pyre, actually. Now I'm just heading home.", he would tell her.

---

tags: Rhian McArthur
notes: Skipping Weepinbell

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puns don't

work on him, she notes. or, at least, not her type of puns. rhian stops to wonder what would bring a smile to the man's face while she waits for her blissey to return to her side. sadly, she can't come up with anything better than her already failed pun.

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"for sure," comes her answer to the man's invitation. the more, the merrier— though perhaps not so much in their case.

[break][break]

peace keeps eluding them. even before they can resume their walk, a weepinbell shows up with an intent clearly malicious. the older man's vikavolt sweeps in again to save the day.

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rhian's gaze lingers on the vikavolt, briefly wondering if it needs healing. after all, the weepinbell's hits weren't the only ones it had taken so far. she's set her mind on offering help when a place of interest is brought up and she loses her train of thought.

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"oh?" she says, not really understanding the implications of visiting mt. pyre, though really, the mourning suit should have given it away. "i've passed by mt. pyre a few times now on my way to mauville, but never had the chance to go inside. is it a nice place to visit?"

[break][break]

a swirlix floats merrily by, its

sweet scent

trailing behind it.

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In the aftermath of the battle, Thomas would begin to pick the leaves out of the Vikavolt. Thanks to his exoskeleton, the leaves did not make it too far into his body, just barely sticking into him. If anything, the Dark Pulse from earlier did more to hurt him than the Weepinbell managed to do earlier. Still, it looked like he would be due for healing sooner than later. Thankfully, he still looked to be going strong, far from being ready to pack it in.

"Depends on how morbid one is.", Thomas replied dryly. "Nice view though, and if you're one to see the beauty in fog, then Mt. Pyre has that in spades.", he'd continue, in a more serious manner.

It was then that a Liepard approached the two of them. The Vikavolt would watch as it made its way to Thomas. But rather than attack him outright, it would instead start sniffing at his bag, specifically where he would keep treats. "You hungry?", Thomas asked the Liepard, as he cautiously reached into his bag, keeping an eye on the Liepard, just in case it tried to attack him. Thankfully, the man was able to retrieve a treat with no incident, and fed it to the Liepard, who ate it out of his hand.

With a thankful cry, the Liepard took off, leaving the human in piece.

"Well, at least there's one who isn't so violent...", Thomas remarked.

---

tags: Rhian McArthur
notes: Skipping Liepard

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morbid? rhian

tilts her head, not quite understanding. she supposes fog can make sceneries look really pretty, as demonstrated in the many pieces of landscape photography posing as screensavers in the computers at work. she leaves it at that.

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rhian spends a short part of the way humming to herself and keeping an eye out for any more aggressive wild encounters. there's a mawile running across a patch of tall grass and, sure enough, a liepard makes its appearance soon after, but this time it's not looking for a fight. thankfully.

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she smiles at the man's appreciation, glad not to be the only one who felt the pokémon had been particularly violent.

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"the wildlife here has been so aggressive today," she agrees, the anxiety that seeing so many fights gave her earlier slowly being pushed to the back of her mind. "i wasn't sure if cherub would be able to produce so many eggs, but i'm glad these are more tame." rhian laughs again.

[break][break]

the thought reminds her of what she was meaning to say before the liepard showed up. this is as good as opportunity as any to offer her blissey's services.

[break][break]

"speaking of which, is your vikavolt —voltanis, was it?— doing okay? would you like cher to take a look at it for a moment?"

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As Rhian offered to have her Blissey look him over, the Vikavolt would do its own version of shaking its head. Despite the beating it took earlier, the Vikavolt was still too stubborn to accept healing just yet. "Yeah, Voltanis is pretty stubborn about accepting help like that.", he'd warn the two of them. "Then again, he's plenty tough."

The peace that was established by the Liepard would quickly come to an end. From the shadows, a Greninja would stare the two down, before firing off a volley of Water Shurikens at the group. While three of them would miss the group, the other two would hit the Vikavolt, irritating him greatly. In response, Voltantis Charged up, before firing a Thunderbolt in the direction where the Water Shurikens came from.

The Greninja had seemingly been struck by the Thunderbolt, only for the image to fade, and a splintered log to be left in its place. The real Greninja would spit up a smoke bomb that would quickly detonate, and cover the field in a thick Smokescreen. Thomas would start to cough and cover his face, trying to get his bearings. Meanwhile, the Greninja would fire off another volley of Water Shurikens into the smoke, striking the Vikavolt three times.

"Shit, this isn't gonna work.", Thomas muttered, before sending out another one of his Pokemon. Colt the Clawitzer would appear out of its Pokeball. "Colt, fire off an Aura Sphere!", called out Thomas.

The Clawitzer would charge up an Aura Sphere, firing it off. The ball of energy would home towards the direction that the Greninja fired off the Water Shurikens from, and even towards where it was moving. Once he saw that he couldn't get away from it, he would quickly improvise a defense by pulling up some grass as a makeshift mat. Somehow, the Mat Block managed to successfully block off the Aura Sphere, though destroying it in the process. The Greninja tried to fire off another volley of Water Shuriken at the group. This time, the attack missed, given his hasty retreat threw him off.

Once again, another Aura Sphere came to him. The Greninja hastily looked for something he could use to block the attack, only for the Aura Sphere to strike him, and with a surprised croak, the Greninja went down.

With the smoke subsiding, Thomas made his way over to the now unconscious Greninja. "You put up a helluva fight. You'd make a good addition to the team.", Thomas muttered, tapping the creature with a Pokeball, and hoping for the best.

---

tags: Rhian McArthur
notes: Cap attempt on Greninja & apologies for the delay

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rejected twice

now, the blissey is at an odd moment in life. she's torn between wanting to be sad and finding the mere idea too preposterous. how could she be sad, if her trainer depended on her not to be? how could she be sad, when anyone else could be in need any moment now? a gentle pat on the head distracts her from her inner monologue.

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rhian smiles at her sweet, selfless pokémon. "don't be sad, cherub. just having you around makes me happy."

[break][break]

though still somewhat butthurt and the double rejections, the blissey manages to smile back—but, with the group being attacked once again, the heartwarming moment is cut short. the blissey steps in front of her trainer, willing to protect her even if it cost her own harm. her pink arms go up and a thin, translucent veil envelops all of them. she's using

light screen

to reduce any potential damage.

[break][break]

and then, when the battle is finally over, the blissey approaches the man and his pokémon once more, offering not an egg from her pouch this time, but two arms raised up and the two bright spheres forming underneath. this time, they wouldn't get away without her healing.

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rhian simply stands back to watch the scene, a knowing smile on her face. "i do think she deserves it," she calls from where she stands.

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