Being a Smeargle was much more hard work than people think, sometimes!

Certainly, Sketch means that one could pick any road in life you want... But those are, like, big decisions!! Those moves stick with you, unless you decide to forget one in lieu of another - and you have to actually find the perfect moves to pique one's interest with!

Hence some of Yip's choosiness, in which moves she wanted to sketch. Certainly, she could go for something powerful and straightforward... But where was the flexibility in that? What fun was there in just, having a huge fuck-off laser?? Where was the mischief potential???

But, as she found, there was much to learn from her own packmates.

During the evenings, when they begin to howl one by one... It takes her by surprise, to see when some use Copycat to Howl with!

This piques her interest, the ability to copy moves without having to commit to it. Thus, she is more than happy to Sketch it for herself; a fun and flexible move, with which to cause some shenanigans. Perfect!

If you asked Yip, having a floating letter bouncing all over the place was weird. She didn't wholly understand the deal with Wulkos - it just sort of showed up one day, and Ettie happily accepted the psychic-type's presence around the den.

But, one thing that she did notice about them, was the move Hidden Power. Sometimes, whenever they had to chase off a wild intruder, Wulkos' Hidden Power seemed to - without fail - leave the foe smarting! And each time she saw it in action, she was more enamored with the move. Something that she could use in any situation, against any enemy? Sign her up!

Thus, the next time she saw Wulkos putting the move to use, she was quick to Sketch it for herself; no doubt, she'd find use for it.

Memories are a tricky thing. Memories from a distant dream are even trickier.

Ettie has a hard time, remembering Galar. More often than not, during day-to-day life, it's not even at the back of her mind; she is able to approach the day as if the incident at the Ancient Tomb had never happened.

But, sometimes, something prompts those broken and figment memories forward. A familiar person. A familiar pokemon. Sounds, sights, smells - even experiences that just feel that slightest bit similar to her time as a protector of that little village in Ballonlea. She's drawn to these familiar things - perhaps out of a mix of curiosity, a desire to cling to what memories she can, and the like...

... Though, there is also a feeling of longing that always comes with these reminders of Galar. A feeling of something important being missing - and the fact that this thing is missing often fills her with a weird, distant, sense of unresolved grief. It's something that leaves her feeling melancholic, really.

She is drawn towards these reminders, in hopes that it can explain that thing that she's missing. That she can find some sort of resolution to the pain in her chest that flares up, with that distant longing.

But until then... She simply tries her best to live with the ache in her heart, whenever she wakes up from a dream of what she had briefly forgotten. Whenever she sees someone that gives her that strange sense of deja vu, as if they were someone she had met long, long, ago...

When Ebon had first come to Ettie's pack, it had begun as a simple symbiotic relationship. There was safety in numbers, in a pack - survival. And in turn, he got to slake his thirst for thrills; be it in joining hunting parties to provide food for the pack, or chasing off intruders, or protecting his kin.

It was perhaps, the lattermost, that becoming a Shadow amidst those strange lifelike dreams had touched upon the most. The thirst for thrills became a bloodlust; one that he had eagerly indulged in, tearing apart the featureless avatars of others, and even preying upon other Shadow pokemon.

Even after becoming Purified, there was a certain part of the mindless violence that spoke to his baser instincts, the ones that separate Man from 'Mon. But with the sense that being a Shadow had once stolen from him, he understood that to simply indulge in that bloodshed as he pleased would eventually result in an early grave.

Grave. That was a funny concept to think about, truly. Because even if there were pokemon who took after the concept - Houndstone, for instance - graveyards were something that humans made. Not so much pokemon - or at least, not most wild pokemon. That which died would be eaten, if not by other wild pokemon, then by life itself.

But then, after the dreams had come to an end, there had been another change. A slower one. His thoughts, they became more introspective. More elaborate. Things began to make more sense, when before he pushed them from his mind simply because he saw no reason to try and understand it.

Whenever he saw Haru reading something, he had taken to joining the Delphox - and though he was originally as illiterate as the young human they followed... He, over time, found it easier and easier to pick up on the words before him - especially with Haru's guidance. Perhaps easier than it would've otherwise been, normally.

Whenever he looked to the more unorthodox-seeming human creations, such as vehicles, they became all the more comprehensible. Of course cars, bikes, and the like existed; they were ways to get further on less energy, without expecting a pokemon to bear one's burdens.

The world, it felt all the more vibrant now that he could take the time to consider it and actually understand it... Although, there were things that felt more grim, too.

It had become all the more apparent, during the time spent on that strange ship, and the darkened city it had taken the pack to. That a human's ability to cooperate only went as far as it was convenient, more often than not; the second that danger was no more, that they had fought alongside one another as a pack but moments ago mattered not.

Something was on the air - the sense that this would not be the last time he witnessed such combat. He could only hope, that their young packleader would not have her gentle self be marred by the violence that was approaching...