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Stormy would startle a bit as Thomas and two of his Pokemon appeared seemingly out of nowhere. From what she had gathered, she hadn't seen a designated building to symbolize the Verdanturf gym, so she wasn't entirely sure where he had come from.[break][break]

Despite this, she finds relief in the familiar face of her old friend, multiplied by the warm welcome he gave her. She dips her head in greeting before giving a little wave.[break][break]

"Good to see you too Thomas! You look well.. sort of."[break][break]

She says this as she points to his eyepatch, her eyes clearly begging the question 'why the eye patch?'[break][break]

Her attention soon moves on to the Alakazam and Zoroark, the former being a Pokemon she both recognized from her home region, and a familiar face that she had seen in the rescue mission all those months ago. [break][break]

"Yes, I am, actually! I wish I could say I was here just to visit you, but that'd be a lie. It is nice to see you again though, and I am sorry I haven't come by to visit sooner, I've been crazy busy."[break][break]

As she says this, she realizes how uncomfortably insensitive it might have sounded, and she nervously laughs. [break][break]

"Wait, 'pit me against my demons?' What do you mean?"[break][break]

Her eyes sparkle with curiosity, but also a tinge of fear. She's already made her decision, however. A simple battle has not intrigued her in the same way his last option had.

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She purses her lips in thought as she absorbs his words and short retelling of where he had gotten the eyepatch. She smiles at the mention of a prosthetic eye and no longer being a cyclops.[break][break]

The Zoroark causes the skin along her spine to crawl with unease, it's intense stare unfurling anxiety in the young woman. While she recognized the Alakazam from her previous mission with Thomas, she had never seen the dark-type Pokemon before and was probably rightfully unsure of it.[break][break]

Stormy begins to speak absently, not fully hearing her own words until she slowly pries her attention from the Zoroark and back to Thomas.[break][break]

"No, no, it's all good. I'm just fine, no need to worry about it."[break][break]

The mention of the Mad Dog causes her skin to crawl and a horribly sick feeling to curl up and die in her stomach. She takes a small breath to try and calm her nerves and her flashback of fear, her smouldering red eyes holding Thomas'.[break][break]

Her heart has begun to beat faster as she glances back to the Alakazam and Zoroark due to Thomas' next instruction. She nods slowly, feeling the pit in her stomach grow, but she balls her hand into a fist. She can do this.[break][break]

"Of course, I'm ready."

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At first, it sort of feels like she's fallen asleep. Like her hands don't belong to her and her mind feels numb, as of she's trying to grasp at something that isn't fully real. She reaches out into the darkness, reaching for that single shred of light or coherent thought or whatever it might be, and her fingers pass through it. [break][break]

She can hear the sound of children's laughter and the familiar yet painful sound of a mother's chastising voice. Stormy is suddenly looking in on a familiar scene she used to dream of when she'd arrived in Hoenn. It sent a shiver down her spine and a feeling of dread because she knew the painful memories she was about to be faced with.[break][break]

A gift is hidden behind an older woman's arms, tucked against her back as she crouches down to speak face-to-face with a younger-looking Stormy. The little girl seems to be bouncing out of her seat with excitement, dark eyes sparkling as she tried to sneak a peek around mom's arms.[break][break]

"Now, Bronwen, hunny, I need you to promise me you'll settle down a bit and get along better with your siblings. They're only trying to help teach you, they're not trying to be mean."[break][break]

Young Stormy nods furiously, but it's clear in the way she's not looking at her mother's face that she isn't really interested in what the woman has to say. The real Stormy winces, the familiar pang of regret weighing heavy in her chest. [break][break]

Her mother pulls the Castform plush from behind her, but is immediately disappointed with the exasperated and equally disappointed expression on her daughter's face. Stormy can feel the creeping sensation of her memories being plucked away, like the Zoroark is about to move onto the next horrible memory of hers. She cries out in unison with her younger self, just as the ten year old Stormy throws a tantrum about how much she hates Castform and how boring of a Pokemon they are, and didn't mother know that she hated being called Bronwen?[break][break]

The memory disappears in a snap of light and she's left in the dark again, heart racing. She's sobbing, probably in real life as well, at the grief and raw emotion she had just experienced first-hand. Reliving that moment was even more powerful than merely dreaming it. She had literally felt every sensation and sound and smell.[break][break]

Raw panic begins to creep in on all sides as she remains in limbo while Alakazam sifts through her mind for another traumatizing event to replay. Various voices seem to whisper in the back of her mind, but disappointment and anger continue to draw attention to the psychic-type Pokemon as Stormy responds more intimately to encounters with Fernando.[break][break]

Stormy is pulled into the light once again, feeling her way through another sliver of light and audio memory. She blinks her eyes open and into focus at the familiar scenery of her gym. Sweat beads at the back of her neck as the heat bores down on her. She's at her home in Lavaridge, waiting for Fernando to arrive for their first day of training.[break][break]

Like her, he's tired and probably has more to do later in the evening. He probably doesn't even really want to be there, but he isn't willing to see his sister, another person with the Silph name, make the rest of his namesake look bad.[break][break]

Or maybe that's just what she thinks of him, as someone devoid of feeling and only worrying about material things. Perhaps he really does care that she grow stronger. [break][break]

Doubt makes her mind foggy as she watches Fernando use his Charizard against her Rapidash. She watches in silent horror as Apollo is taken down with ease. The bellowing stallion is sliced open by the Charizard's razor sharp claws, and Stormy watches herself rush to his side. It had been the first time she'd been humiliated and scared into actually believing she wasn't strong enough. Her stubborness and stupidity had always clouded her judgement before, but it had never reared it's ugly head as actually being her kryptonite.[break][break]

The scene falls away as Fernando's Pokemon stays behind to heal Apollo and he walks away.[break][break]

Stormy is brushing imaginary blood from her shirt as she stands back up only to be transplanted back into a seat, blindfolded and afraid. Her skin is warm and cold at the same time and feels papery thin. Her heart is pounding so hard and fast she feels faint, and there's so much noise and so little noise that she feels dizzy and tired.[break][break]

It hurts to move her fingers even slightly, and she's stunned to realise that she's tied down and tape or metal is digging into her wrists so hard she's bruising. Hopelessness and helplessness cause her to panic. All of her talk and her confidence and her desperation for power is pathetic. She's pathetic, and she would never amount to anything.[break][break]

That's what she had always told herself, so much so that she believed everyone else had been the one that had been telling her that. She blamed them for her own lack of confidence and trust in herself. It's very well possible everyone else believed in her, but she was so blindly convinced that everyone hated her and underestimated her that she was too naive to realise that she was putting those words in other people's mouth because they were her words the whole time.

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Everything is a blur and her heart is pounding. Sweat beads off of her skin and she can feel herself shaking, trembling, fighting for power, for control. She can see it all, all of her pain and fear and paranoia. It's as plain as day now, expressing itself as physical reminders of the pain she has gone through.[break][break]

First, it's her first challenge against Fernando. Her attempt to prove herself, to gather her strength and show Fernando that she's capable of defending Lavaridge. That his sacrifice, his request that, despite the League's better interest, she asserts the position of Lavaridge gym leader, wasn't in vain. That he hadn't made a mistake.[break][break]

She's watching in the same, cold dread, as Apollo is cut down. She stands stiff and unmoving, unable to cry out, unable to stop him, unable to defend herself as Apollo screams in agony, as he writhes, bleeding into the dirt.[break][break]

It's a reminder that she's weak. That she isn't as strong as she pretends she is, that she should stop pretending.[break][break]

And then Apollo's broken image is lifted and it's replaced with the gravesite of Tapati, her Torkoal. She's crouched next to the headstone, tears dripping wet paths against the cold stone. She's reminded of her weakness then, too. That the Torkoal had died in spite of her best efforts, because she had been weak, unable to protect herself or her Pokemon.[break][break]

She's falling, falling into a vicious cycle of torment and dismay. She's spiraling.[break][break]

And then she wakes up in the cold, stiff seat of a wooden chair. Her wrists are sore, rubbed raw as ropes and tape dig into her skin. She can feel blood seeping between her bindings from her struggle. She can feel her breath hitch in her chest, that swell of panic. Once again, she was all alone, afraid, unable to protect herself.[break][break]

There's a voice in the dark, taunting her. She can't see because she's blindfolded, and she screams as something pricks her neck, as her mind is clouded with unreal thoughts, confusion, pain. She's writhing, screaming, pleading.[break][break]

Dead weight on the Silph name.[break][break]

It comes back again, that haunting reminder that she's worthless. [break][break]

She's crying as the blindfold is ripped from her eyes, tears staining her cheeks. There's a heaviness in her arms, as if the drugs are still torturing her system. But she forces herself to her feet, her hands angrily wiping her tears from her cheeks. Her final battle is here, and she must face it.[break][break]

But what she faces doesn't look like a monster. Instead, it smiles back at her with perfect teeth, that familiar, heartwarming smile. It's so familiar that it aches and she feels like she might fall.[break][break]

It's Alexander. But no matter how many steps she takes to reach out for him, to seek comfort, he continues to be too far away. [break][break]

"Alex? Alex, I can't reach you."[break][break]

As she speaks, desperation and fear fills her voice. She feels weak and alone and afraid and it comes out in the tremble in her voice.[break][break]

With more hurried steps, she begins chasing after this figure that looks so distinctly like Alex. But his image soon fades and his voice thunders down around her.[break][break]

"You're not worth the trouble, Stormy. You're a dead weight on the Silph name, what makes you think I'd want you to put a stain on the Stone name as well?"[break][break]

Those words echo and she feels like a vaccuum has sucked all of her strength from her chest. She can't breathe and she's shaking because she knows that he's right. That it was selfish of her to think that she could have ever asked something like that.[break][break]

She feels empty and the spiraling feeling in her gut expands until she feels sick and can't find her way back to the surface. She's about to lose this challenge and this final nightmare because she knows she isn't strong enough to pull herself back up.[break][break]

One last reach into the void of panic and she feels her fingers brush someone else's. What feels like a thousand pounds of pressure keeps her eyes closed and she fights to wake up, to see, to look at who's fingers have intertwined with her own. But they're pulling her up and out of the sinking sand of self-doubt.[break][break]

With a gasp, she's finally free, gasping for air as she'd collapsed on the grass in front of Thomas. For a moment she wonders if it's his hand she had reached for, but she's pretty sure it wasn't. He's too far away on the other side of the field.[break][break]

She brushes hair from her face and takes a deep, unsteady breath. [break][break]

"Well.. that was certainly interesting."

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Stormy feigns confidence, especially in the way she speaks and collects herself in order to allow Thomas to help pull her to her feet. But deep down, she's shaking. The ordeal has jostled her to her core and she's still reeling.[break][break]

The hand that had pulled her out of the nightmare had felt like a different one compared to Thomas', but she held fast to his aid anyway. Once she was standing she'd take a breath and brush hair from her face, forcing herself to remain composed.[break][break]

He speaks to her but she's almost numb to what he's trying to say. It takes her a long time to focus, to listen.[break][break]

"I'm not shackled."[break][break]

She nearly chokes on those words, because she knows it isn't the truth. He was right, of course. She always looked at herself as needing to be as good as Fernando, as strong, as confident, as good. She wasn't, though. She might never be good enough for him.[break][break]

Her hand shakes as she takes it back from Thomas', and she sighs.[break][break]

"You're right. I know you're right. This.. this was good. This was a wake-up call that I needed."

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Stormy isn't oblivious to his look, but her pride is too great to swallow and she remains firm with her stare. Her gaze doesn't waver as she holds his single eye.[break][break]

His next comment grants her a moment of relief, however, that is clearly noticable in the way her shoulders droop from their uptight and tense position. She feels the prickle at the back of her neck rapidly cool, as if her skin had been on fire.[break][break]

"Sure, yeah. Dinner sounds great right about now." [break][break]

She says this but her stomach still feels as though it's done somersaults. Stormy isn't about to admit to that though, and she figures walking it off is more likely to bring back her appetite.