"alright alice, let's go on the offensive." she says. she lets her altaria out, white wings of cotton and fluff. alice knew the deal; fight and defeat. it had been done hundreds of times before in kalos, and today marks the first in hoenn.

the wilderness provided ample opportunity for training; every target was an opportunity for aim practice, every battle a chance to learn. she was rusty as a trainer, but she still knew the principles: steward, not order. observe and trust.

it's then that her altaria suddenly dives, talons reaching out for a SKY ATTACK. over there, in the distance—a machoke. the attack is well-telegraphed and gives it enough time to react.

but it LEETS at alice, forcing her pull back slightly. her talons miss the pokemon by only a few inches, and a KNOCK OFF sends her reeling. emma watches quietly, a laissez-faire type of trainer. alice flaps her wings, righting herself before a MOONBLAST scorches the pokemon; it's down. emma claps.

"good girl."

machoke were far too ugly for a girl like emma, who often basked in lux attention provided by the admired and envious. she had a brand and she would stand by it; and right now, she was less than pleased about the wild pokemon that had given her the time of day.

emma stone wasn't the biggest fan of fighting types, the display of their grotesque muscles and their vulnerabilities. but unfortunately, there seemed to be an excess here in this certain area. she had forgotten since her time here, she was rusty after all.

but despite her disdain for these pokemon, the wild timburr that appeared in the distance looked a little too small to properly put up a fight against alice. she does a small whistle, redirecting her pokemon to go around. she wasn't cruel, and she'd rather go around than to deal with a pokemon that may want to pick a losing battle.

"let's go past."

skip timburr

she had already neared the city; this route was none too difficult for someone like emma stone. and having been satisfied with alice's training so far, she opts for a more quiet excursion, tucking her hands in her pockets as she thinks.

the thought of war kept nagging at her, and despite the warm welcome of hoenn, she couldn't help but think how everything may soon be lost to the conflict. her home and the beautiful region. war didn't just affect humans, it spread to the wilderness and the environment as well. and she thinks, that if it came down to it, she would rather die defending her home than to stand by and see it lost.

a wigglytuff waves at her as she passes, and she smiles, doing a little wave back before continuing on. pokemon were wild and feral creatures. it may be natural to fight, but surely, it was never at the scale of this war. might it be the last peaceful thing she sees before everything changes?

skip wiggyltuff