Johanna didn’t say anything in response. But Meg could tell that this simply meant that her suggestions and terms have been accepted. There still was a lot that they would have to talk over, naturally, but this just was neither the time, nor the place to do so. Instead an awkward, but also kind of wholesome silence set in. Seemed like neither of them truly knew what to say, or needed to do so. This understanding would do, for the time being. Once they reached the edge of the mountain, they could probably get out of the mist and fly away. That seemed like a good enough plan.
[break][break]
Megan briefly stole a glance at the other, by now having put one arm around the other’s back to support her more. Jo did not look good at all. In health and in her overall state. Still having only a rough idea what had happened, she could only guess what was going through the bluenette’s head in that moment. Clearly, she was distraught, which in turn made Megan grimace. On some level, she really just did not understand how things had turned from their carefree, more date-like missions to seeing that kind of pain. And it tore at her, at least somewhat.
[break][break]
Thankfully, Hydreigon was there to ensure that it was the only tearing that took place so far. When those dogs arrived, the vigilant Pokemon did not waste any time. Of the three heads, one targeted each dog while the third aimed at the Rockets in question – and it unleashed a loud, powerful hypervoice with them, hopefully disorienting their opposition and deterring the assault on the trainer right away. [roll]

[break][break]

+ Johanna Joy

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

“As far as I know,” she started while heaving them both up into a somewhat standing position, at least. Frankly, she had no idea where to go from here, but she knew they could not stay where they were. Least of all because of the blood trail leading to these rocks, after all. “…you are just a person I know in need of help. Sure, you told me you are Rocket, but you didn’t exactly give me any proof. If the league wants to punish me for saving someone’s life they can take the stick in their behinds and ram it up even higher for all I care.” There was a scoff at that. As far as she understood it, the league stood for peace and order, not vindictiveness and cruelty. Yes, she wanted to become a gym leader – but she did not want to support a system that would just let someone she cared about bleed to death. That was simply not the league she had looked up to, so far.
[break][break]
Hence, she would semi-carry the girl further towards where she thought the ledge was. Fighting would be fiercest near the primal point, so getting away from there was paramount. “It’s one thing to maybe go too far in the heat of the moment, but anyone who sees someone else bleeding and in pain and just leaving them there or finishing them off would be actually deplorable. I could not do that and if they find that worthy of punishment, then whatever. Screw them. But the people I know in the league so far aren’t like that. Plus, no punishment would be worse than leaving you behind, anyway.” Heck, she could barely live with the assault she herself had once committed. Leaving someone she cared about to die would be way too much. “I am not going to lie for you in this, though. Not stopping you from lying.” Megan stopped there, briefly, as if she was stopping herself from saying something she didn’t actually want to say. “But if others believe you without asking me, so be it. Trusting your judgment in that. I am not good with those sorts of things…”

[break][break]

+ Johanna Joy

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Megan found herself tensing up, just by virtue of Jo seeming to do the same. Naturally, she was somewhat painfully aware of that, given that she was operating on the other’s body in the strictly loosest term possible. But it was unmistakable. Megan was not just blowing off the other’s words anyway, but she did stop briefly when she heard Jo start like that. This tone of voice, this kind of weight behind words lent gravitas to them. It was impossible to not listen, so she did just that, as her hands with gauze hovered over the wound, listening instead of working for the time being. They still were in danger, yes, but the Pokemon were keeping watch. And she was listening intently.[break][break]

After all, Jo was putting a lot of effort into meeting her eyes. Not easy to avert them like this. Her own face showed a serious worry from the beginning, though it darkened a little when the explanation came. Megan would have loved to say that it did not make sense, but there was logic to those words. It wasn’t really one she wanted, but the actions and reactions did. She just could not quite understand why Jo would just up and attack people. Her heart and mind yelled at her to demand an explanation.
But this wasn’t the time for it. Just like when you were attacked by a wild Pokemon on the road, there was no time for any why and how. Not right then at least. This was a survival situation. Attacking someone was bad, but it wasn’t exactly a crime guilty of death. Hence, surviving was the most important part.
[break][break]
Megan exhaled. “Okay. I think I understand,” she replied, before applying the gauze, then starting to wrap the bandages around. It was maybe a bit rougher then intended, but she was kind of tense in that moment. “You are right, it probably is not easily sorted out. But you can’t sort anything out if you are dead. As long as you live, there is a chance. If you don’t, there isn’t. Rocket, schmocket. Doesn’t mean it doesn’t mean anything. But you are still you, and you are still important to me. Screw trying to fight over who gets to make sacrifices to ensure the other’s health. Screw that.” By now, she was decidedly looking away, focusing on bandaging the wound to hide her face at least a little. “It’s stupid,” she continued mumbling, then her gaze snapped back at the other. There was agitation in her voice, anger, not necessarily aimed at Jo directly, more at the situation itself. “You said you messed up, right? If you mess up, you take responsibility!” That was directed at herself, too, given how she had handled her own incident. “I decided to get you to safety, so that is what I will do. You know how stubborn I am. And that I don’t say things I don’t mean to see through. So stop the self-pity train and get up.” [break][break]
Megan had finished with the bandage now and offered her shoulder at the other’s uninjured side, so she could lean on.

[break][break]

+ Johanna Joy

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

She went to work. In moments like these, she really wished she’d put more effort into learning how to properly deliver first aid like this. Well, more properly. She had a decent idea, yes, but when this kind of situation was suddenly thrust upon her, she could not help but feel slightly overwhelmed. For now, she just did her best, though it felt quite insufficient. She could tell that she hurt the other when she splashed water at the wound, trying to clean it. But there…just wasn’t anything else she could do. Notzing, nothing at all, aside from trying to patch it up best she could.
[break][break]
Megan slightly beat herself up over that, mentally, but she did not allow it to get to her any more than that. A cool head was needed here. It would prevail, at least to an extent. But that also meant she could not just heed the other’s somewhat delirious orders. “Do you honestly think I could just leave you here? Even if you weren’t such a mess right now, you know I wouldn’t just leave you alone!” That comment sounded a bit more annoyed, but also more emotional. Megan could never understand it when people tried to protect others in such a way in the movies, either. Though she was not trying to act cool or act out a movie here. She just could not find it in her heart to leave someone so obviously hurting behind. Simple enough.
[break][break]
“If you messed up, woman up and deal with it. Anything can be sorted out. If they come for you, we will face them. Like back with the Space-time distortion, right? Besides, there are lots of others from our side here, too. I just gotta patch you up and carry you over to the rallying point. Everything will work out somehow. It has to. But I do need you to work with me here. Can you do that, Johanna?”

[break][break]

+ Johanna Joy

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Megan had not even considered the Claydol potentially attacking her, but Hydreigon at least slightly did, having already readied itself to possibly do something, if needed. However, it, too, was relieved that there was no need for any such thing. Not like he had bonded with the other Pokemon before or such, but he could sense that the trainers were not exactly keen on fighting so far, so it was good not to. Dragons were sometimes prone to sudden violence against their owner’s wishes with diminished visibility, but this was not one of these times at all.
[break][break]
Instead, the three headed one allowed things to pass, while keeping a watchful eye on just about everyone. This still was a dangerous situation, so while the trainer was occupied, the Pokemon would have to watch out.
Speaking of said trainer, Megan was clearly befuddled as to what to do for a few moments, before nodding to herself. She had had first aid training. Not for wounds like…like this but….she knew some things. And in her satchel, she did pack some bandages. “Flesh wound my butt, idiot! Those things could easily get infected and stuff!” Obviously distraught, she knelt nearby the other before looking for the right tools for the job briefly.
[break][break]
Despite a moment’s hesitation from even going near the bloody mess, she did eventually reach out to carefully look at the wound. “Sorry, did not mean to insult you. But wounds have to be taken seriously. I mean, I heard sounds of fighting but I didn’t think it would get this bad.” Trying to distract herself with talking, she reached for the scissors first. Would not do them any good to bandage the wound if she let fabric and potentially dirt under slip under and push that right into the wound. “I am going to do my best to clean this and put a bandage on it. Travelling lots means being ready to do this sort of stuff any time.” Megan nodded to herself, even though the worst she’d had to deal with so far had been like, needles stuck in her arm after running into some bad Cacturns.[break][break]
“Don’t have alcohol either. My drinking water will have to do. Sorry about that. Also, what are you even doing here? You talked about doing more daunting jobs, but I didn’t think you would join in this effort. You should have told me! We could have teamed up, watched another’s backs!” Again, she was mostly talking just to half distract herself as she went to work.

[break][break]

+ Johanna Joy

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

This wasn’t good. Blood never was. Apparently, she had just missed the fight or whatever had happened. There still was stuff going on, but what she had identified as the nearest sources of sound had ceased. Having walked towards it, she had seen some of the rather distinctive signs of recent combat, small craters in the ground, rocks that seemed to have been chipped, at least to an extent. Though, given the ever-present mist, she had not exactly been sure whether or not those had been recent developments.
[break][break]
But blood on the ground? She had briefly brushed over it with the sole of her boot, smearing it further along the rocky surface. Definitely still fresh. Whoever had left this, they were hurt. Yet, to her credit, she did not immediately rush after them, but instead moved forwards, Hydreigon at her side, towards where it was leading her. The Pokemon had more acute senses and would probably be able to notice dangers way before she did. At least, that was hopefully what would happen.
[break][break]
And she kind of hoped that the insured party was a friendly. Not because she wished her allies ill, of course. But it would be easier to manage aiding someone on her side than on the other. If this was the enemy, she wouldn’t really know what to do.
[break][break]
Though, when she did come close enough to see that distinct blue hair, marred by some dirt, there wasn’t really any hesitation. One could call it throwing care to the wind, maybe. But a second glance confirmed it. There was no question, she had to help, so she rushed over immediately. “Jo! Are you alright? That wasn’t your blo- oh my g- let me help you, right away!” She had not known that this girl was here, too. But it didn’t matter. Help was needed.

[break][break]

+ Johanna Joy

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Something was happening. There were sounds, in the distance, here and there. Flickers of light, too, though she may have just imagined them, figuring that they simply would be there, rather than actually, factually, seeing them. One way or another, something was going on. So far, it had not come to her, though. In fact, she seemed mostly safe, hidden away from anything.
[break][break]
“But if I don’t move, I can’t go forward, right?” The question was not aimed at her Pokemon at all, but rather at herself. This was what had caused her so much trouble back then, hadn’t it? Shying away from confrontation, bottling it all up and wanting to just stay the same, rather than take a risk and move on. It had not done her any good back then. Would it now? It probably would keep her out of danger, yes. But she hadn’t come for that. Hence, she decided to move towards where she’d last heard noises in the mist, using Hydreigon to go down the ledge and onto the lower floor. One way or another, that was where she would be needed most.

[break][break]

+ psyching self up, moving towards Johanna Joy

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

“That’s just because I tend to only talk about stuff I have at least some confidence in,” she replied with a laugh, while leading the other outside again. That, too, was something she had confidence enough in. Mostly because she had scouted all of this out ahead of time. Could probably have done the job herself, if she was being honest. But it was more fun this way. Plus, she had something planned either way.
[break][break]
And everything was working out according to plan indeed. Though she had completely missed the effect her words had had on the other, mostly because her mind and eyes had already been glued ahead, in a way. “I spent most of my life being hesitant, walking the path of least resistance. Ended up stuck in retail hell, actually. That’s why I sometimes become a bit of a mess inside a Pokemart. But I dodge those, so you would not see me inside one and so, think I am not a mess. That’s just how those sorts of things work, sadly. Or funnily.” She shrugged, with a smile as they worked they way up the path – towards the smithy.
[break][break]
It was quite the oldschool kind of building, all brick, wood and mortar. There was one furnace on the outside, where a Turtonator and a Machoke were working something. It was impossible to tell what it was, but it caused a lot of smoke. As they arrived, the were greeted by a surprisingly slender man with tussled grey hair, a youthful face and wearing mostly a long apron. Though he clearly was quite muscular at the same time. “That’s Tim. He tells everyone to call him Tim,” Megan introduced, while handing over her bucket to a floating Geodude. A shiny, incidentally. In return, Tim mostly just grunted and handed her a paper, then headed back inside while Geodude picked up Jo’s bucket, too.
[break][break]
In the meantime, Megan un-rolled the paper and showed it to Jo. “His old man and my old man go way back, so he asked me to help with something and in exchange, he said if we bring him some extra ore, he’ll make us something. Well, he didn’t really say it, rather text it, but same thing. Anyway, I asked for something practical, so he’ll make us survival knives like this.” She held up the design. “Looks pretty decent to me. And really like, old-school. Probably lasts longer than the mass produced stuff.”

[break][break]

+ Johanna Joy

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

This….this was very different. From everything else, really. Sure, Megan had battled before. That was how she had acquired her badges, after all. But at the same time, she had never fought anyone in earnest. Yes, she had once hospitalized someone briefly. But that had been an act of frustration, of rage. And it had not been a true fight. The other person had never had a chance to fight back. None of that had been a fight. Not in her opinion. Megan had taken quite a while to even comprehend what she had done back then.
[break][break]
Hence, it felt weird to be out here, standing watch in what felt like a graveyard in a way, fogs creeping about all around her. If that was supposed to be something Halloween related, she would have relished this. But the only fear to be felt today was a real one. Yet, when she had been asked to help, she had not found it in herself to say no. Hydreigon at her side, she had come here feeling ready. Yet, left to her own devices to check and guard this area, it did feel a lot chillier than before. Megan was not quite sure if she even wanted to fight one of those Rockets. They had left her alone so far other than that one punk that had been trying to bother her store back in the day, only to leave when they realized nothing was to be gained.
[break][break]
Either way, she was uneasy as she waited for the storm, arms crossed and standing next to her dragon. Megan would have loved to put on some music, but she wanted to stay alert. So far though, all she heard was the gentle rustling of leaves somewhere in the wind.

[break][break]

+ uneasily waiting around C6,5 with Hydreigon
zu1_N2hw

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

She shrugged in response. “Not like they needed much to begin with. Just a bit of very specific stuff that even a novice could get. It’s all about not overusing the resources, I guess.” Megan did not completely understand. But this was a means to an end. To earn a little something and to get what she ordered on top of it all. Plus, it was a decent excuse to meet again that did not feel weird in any way, at least to her. That, too, was a good thing.
[break][break]
It was a bit awkward to have a declaration of trust like this, but she did get where the other was coming from. It was fine, really, so she did accept it unconditionally anyway. Trust was hard to come by for some people. Jo seemed like that kind of person. Not something to discard or downplay, really. “Rightfully so! I am not exactly one for deception, so you can always count on me just being plain old Megan,” she started, laughing. Then, she motioned for the others to follow. They could talk while walking, after all.
“Just to be real for a moment, though, I don’t like letting people down. So, just so you know, I don’t make many promises since I don’t like making idle ones. Some people take that as me being hesitant but, well, I just don’t want rousing expectations only to not meet them, you know?”

[break][break]

+ Johanna Joy

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Huh? Violet found herself slightly startled – startled, not scared – when the other’s just took off. Which was a bother since she had just started pouting in a way that more or less clearly wanted to tell those two to get a room. With a bit of jealousy involved for not being, well, involved. Yet, the boy just suddenly rushed along as if he wanted to get out ASAP. Why? This whole mirror stuff wasn’t all that scary, in her opinion. Sure, given that these mirrors were seemingly capable of independent transformation meant there was some impressive technology behind it. But, again, she had been to the bottom of the sea. This clearly paled in comparison.
[break][break]
But then again, being left behind clearly was not going to be a good thing either! Vio sighed, then started to jog after them, very careful to not lose track of the real ones compared to the images. “I kind of meant moving onwards together, as a group, not to just rush headlong into the closest mirrors!” Naturally, she did not exactly give much attention to the fourth wheel to their quad. Mostly because they seemed relatively calm and collected still. Hopefully, they would not get lost. But she had to worry about those two silly-puddies for now. And maybe, just maybe, she just did not want to be left behind.

[break][break]

+ ana fell illeana reyes Isaac Merlo puMsjWu4

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Work was always the least fun part of jobs like these, now was it? But then again, that was why it was work. And it just served to motivate her and Lucario to go to town on those veiny walls, intent on finishing as quickly as possible. Fortunately, their quite literal bucket list was not too long. A bit of one ore here, a bit of the other there. She eventually sauntered over to Johanna, checking out what she had gathered so far.
[break][break]
They were only supposed to extract a certain amount, after all. Take only as much as was needed from the mountain, no more and no less. That was what the client had said, at least. Though they were taking just a bit more than he needed for his order, but that was part of the deal to begin with. “Looking good so far. I think we already got what we need by now. Told you it would not take all that long. But the real fun is starting soon when we bring that back. Well, it involves more waiting, but trust me, it’ll all be worth it, Jo.”

[break][break]

+ Johanna Joy

[attr="class","pokeclass"]