Several excruciatingly long seconds after Violet busted onto the scene, a very familiar face followed right behind. June’s face might’ve been redder than blood, but it was hers all the same. She shoved air into her longs as she held her arm out towards it, “Slow the…”

“Fuck…”

Gears churned in the recesses of her mind. Violet cocked its head toward the Fezandipiti, more curious than hostile. It smelled wrong, like it didn’t belong– but not the same way it did. It smelled like a virus, a blight upon the world. Its neck dipped, and it kept low to the ground.

June wasn’t worried about Violet going on the offensive. Her own eyes were too busy, locked with both the toxic chain, Fezandipiti, and the other woman right next to it. She knew that face anywhere. “Down…”

Wait. No. It didn’t matter what was going on with her, what mattered was that she saw Violet. Her secret that no one else was supposed to see with her. Violet only spared glances back at its Avatar, but kept its focus onto the bird. That meant she needed to figure something out. Fuck, just say something, anything.

“...H-holy smokes! Absinthe!” June quickly took a step back and pointed straight at Miraidon’s back. “Look! I-it’s like those Cyclizar, but futuristic! I’ve never seen anything like it!”

Her purple and yellow eyes, which exactly matched the hues of the organic motorcycle, begged for the chemist to believe her bullshit. “Isn’t this crazy, or what? Seriously, never seen it before in my life. Nope, nada, first time– this is so cool!”

Even Violet had to crane its neck backward and give her a stare of disbelief. But it was not disappointed: the mere act of attempting to play it off was nearly paradoxical itself.

---

Absinthe Blackwood

Fuck. She didn’t buy it. All she had to do was buy it, and June was fine. Safe. Free to ignore that stupid bird Absinthe had that would likely get her strung up by… a fifth of the Hoenn population. Hell, it might be enough to make League and Rocket work together. The Loyal Three hadn’t discriminated, if she was right.

“Well– w-what’s that thing then? Huh?” June shoved her finger in the chemist’s direction, straight toward Fezandipiti. “I think you got a lot of nerve to ask me what this thing is when you have… that! Having it’ll get you killed. My thing just gets me on everyone’s radar.”

A fate worse than death. But at least the toxic-chained bird would grant her that mercy. Whether by its beak or the people who’d hate her for merely being associated. She was stuck with Violet, who gave her a head tilt down and pupils up. Fuck, could it read her thoughts? “Oh, you’re not too bad Violet…”

“Wait, no back to you,” she crossed her arms, “you explain first. My thing is a futuristic Cyclizar. What the hell is that and why do you have it?”

Violet sighed robotically at the insult. 

---

Absinthe Blackwood

“A shard… huh?”

Unfortunately for Absinthe, she had to lay bare her secret to someone that struggled with biology and knew nothing of the theoretical. Thus, a ‘shard’ of a Pokémon was a concept that held no weight. She might as well had blown raspberries for all the use the term did. What did it mean?

“Y’know what, whatever, doesn’t matter,” June waved it away, much to the chagrin of Violet. However, the term wasn’t the important thing. What mattered was that it apparently wasn’t the real deal. Just a hollow facade. “Probably means you won’t be hanged. Immediately, anyway.”

And when the conversation turned back to her, she could do nothing but resign to her fate as well. The prospect felt much better than before, if only because the threat of their secrets would keep them both quiet.

“I think mine is the real deal,” June started. Violet nodded a singular time, then finally relaxed. It walked gently back to June and rested on its haunches by her side. “I dunno what it’s called, but I call it Violet. I think it starts with an M.”

“Miraidon!”

“That’s pretty close, yea.”

Howard knew it better than she did. How many times had he told her? Too many to count.

“Anyway,” she rested her shoulder against the warm metal frame, “it joined me right before the Sootopolis thing. Been with me since. I can… do things. Like magic shit. Pretty fucky.”

Suddenly, her eyes lit up. Almost as bright as car headlights blinded Absinthe, only flickering as June blinked. “Like this. It’s not the only thing, but…”

The last thing she’d do for the chemist is show her the weird EMP thing. It really hurt, and made her want to throw up.

---

Absinthe Blackwood

Unspoken words could be volumes upon a dusty bookshelf, yet there were just that. If only Absinthe could explain, speak the truth of her heart. She’d find more in common with the younger woman than comfortable. How little they clung to the existence that wished to give them things.

How little they cared.

“Yea, like– oh, yea, uh…” June rubbed the back of her head. Right, she had done that before. Somewhere close to here, if memory served. Absinthe had caught a taste of her powers well before she had known the cause of them. “Yea… something to do with charging stuff. Like batteries– y’know, negative to positive?”

She wasn’t a chemist, physicist, or electrician. But it sounded about right. Car batteries were annoying enough to warrant an understanding of how they worked. Couldn’t be too far to explain her stuff too.

“And I’m not stupid. Or lucky– no offense, Violet,” June quickly apologized. The living bike purred gently and tapped her leg with its tail lightly. Playful affection was a good sign. “Just… how it happened, I guess. You know how it is.”

“But… wait, you don’t have any powers or stuff? Weird,” she said. Not that she was an expert, but it felt like creature that strong would convey some sort of abilities. The golems were an entirely different story, as much as howard slayte might drone on about in his free time. They were just glorified weapons, incapable of higher thought.

“Maybe… it’s a test?”

---

Absinthe Blackwood

That was just the nature of it, though. Something June couldn’t ever explain fully. Absinthe had to work for hers, and her work was rewarded. It was not the desired outcome, but it was an outcome nonetheless. If she continued, then she would reap what she sowed. June…

June hadn’t wanted it. Absinthe held June's casual treatment of the gift with jealous contempt, yet for her, it was resignation. There was nothing to be done about Violet. It was here, and that was that. A secret part of her was happy with the development, yet it’d never see the light of day.

“It’s only a curse if you want it to be, I guess,” June shrugged. Violet revved its internal engine in agreeance. “Not much either of us can do but see what happens.”

“Uh… yea?” June returned the earlier stare of utter disbelief to the originator and raised a contentious eyebrow. “I thought that was obvious. I’m not in the mood for mutual destruction when it comes to… this.”

Most other things, then she’d do so in a heartbeat. Hell, she’d probably do it without thinking about it first. But this was a social suicide that’d ruin everything she had worked so hard for. Get money, pay bills, then… go from there. See what happened.

“I’m not a fan of blood rituals, but we can spit on– hm. You know, we can just promise not to tell anyone about the things. Probably easier. More sanitary. As sanitary as a toxic chain can be, anyway.”

The more June watched the two stand together, as rigid as trees, the more things made sense. Maybe, just maybe… maybe they’d cause problems in the future. Dangerous.

---

Absinthe Blackwood