She nodded. “Three strikes and one is out, roger that,” she replied. It wasn’t exactly rocket science, after all. Not like one could take a lot more in hits in a normal battle, either. Though, admittedly, most of her recent gym challenges had been battles of attrition, so trying to not get hit at all would be quite different in some ways at least.
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Thus, she patted Poochyena on the head and decided to follow along for the time being, eyes out to take in as much of the path he was speaking of as she could. Frankly, he had not exactly given her permission to call out any more Pokemon, so she refrained from that for now. Would not want to be disqualified for some silly reason. Though she doubted that this guy would be unfair in these matters. “Anything else I should know?”



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Well, she did tend to make those. Though Meganhad learned not to say that. It did not play well with supervisors, it probably would not play well with gym leaders. Hence, she just nodded and smiled, letting him explain things and reveal that it was being done by Zoroarks. Which already saddened her. Whatever they came up with would probably look all real and impressive, but knowing that it was fake from the get-go would probably put quite a damper on that, sadly.
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But, alas, she got her answer. So she nodded again. Then, she reached for a ball and released her Poochyena. It was a scrappy little yapper, immediately looking around curiously, but it was also quick of feet and mind. It probably wouldn’t mind too much being put into a weird situation like this. “I think I will go with him, then. He likes unconventional things and this seems like it will be quite unconventional indeed.”



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“Oh, yeah, there was one on the beaches, back when it truly was super hot. I myself didn’t get the notice until it was almost there to begin with. Rushed over and managed to get one single battle. And that turned out to be a gym leader incognito. What are the odds?” She laughed once more, her good mood completely undeterred, while she tried to spy the store. It should be about there, but she actually had not been here since her last visit two years ago, so things were a little bit fuzzy. However, thankfully, it was the kind of place that also sold smaller pizza and pizza-adjacent things for people on the go, so her nose picked the proper scent up quickly.
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Which then caused her to quickly turn a bit left, making a bit of a beeline towards where she thought to be seeing the storefront, Jojo in tow. “Anyway, if you want to start getting badges, I guess just try one and see how it is? Sure, it’s a big deal and one should prepare and stuff. But at the end of the day, if you lose, you don’t really lose anything. They are supposed to be learning experiences. Winning is always more fun, but losing isn’t half bad either, at least when you are not fighting for life and limb.” In that way, being in the wild and fighting Pokemon out there was much more dangerous and difficult than any gym challenge, which was odd because travels like that often did connect one gym challenge to the next.



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Ah, good, she wasn’t imagining things. Though, that did mean there was a problem, right? She was still a little bit beside herself and reacting sluggishly. But then there was a huge blast of light and fire. That got anyone to sober up in an instant. Or maybe that was just her? Not that it mattered. More important things were happening. So, naturally, her hand reflexively reached for her balls. One did develop reflexes like that when often sleeping in the wild on a journey. Though usually it was not fire, if she noticed something dangerous, that was her first impulse. Though the fire part did enter the equation momentarily after, for she forewent her first impulse to get out her Arcanine, and instead opted for one of the other balls. If there was fire, she needed water. Simple as that.
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Hence, she quickly released her Swampert even before fully taking in the situation. Which was good, because Swampert swiftly doused the chair that she had thrown off of – and partially herself – in his muddy water. Which yes, would be annoying to clean off. But it was better than being burnt.
Still in a light daze, she then got off and behind Swampert, one arm raised to cover her mouth and nose with the sleeve of her shirt, as she’d been taught. Then, she looked around, trying to see whatever she could do. But this was a completely new situation, so she definitely did look a bit uncertain where to go, even though she did not seem completely lost at the same time.



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Ah. More praise. That was good. Good indeed. She didn’t quite get enough of that most of the time. Sure, when she won her badges she had gotten some praise indeed. But that had been of strangers she’d met once. Not exactly something like this. Which was a stranger that so far she had met once. But it was different! She was not a gym leader evaluating her. That made it something else for sure.
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“Haha, yeah, I guess I did quite a bit,” she replied, a bit awkward about it but clearly enjoying the praise nonetheless. It was probably way too easy to manipulate her with those sorts of things, if one tried. Fortunately, this girl so far did not. “Though I guess it’s in part just because I am doing only this. Or at least mostly this. I am sure if you fully devoted yourself to the training life, you will get somewhere quickly, too. You seemed to know your way well enough in a fight earlier, even if it was probably way scarier than what most Pokemon battles are like.” Granted, that was only true in the city. She still remembered when they had had to all but wrangle that Hydreigon. That had certainly been all kinds of scary, too.
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Fortunately, the question for more details made it easy to divert from that. And allowed her to whip out her badge case. “I got these! That’s the rhythm, skyrider and honor badge. The honor and skyrider badges were really tight matches, battles of attrition, really. Rhythm, well, uh, I just happened to get that by battling a gym leader during the summer tournament. Didn’t even know she was one. But she gave me the badge afterwards still.” Another laugh. That way, she could downplay the fact that this had been a pity badge, given for a battle lost due to a single sleep effect. Hence she always carried berries against that these days.



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Why was it running away? That just wasn’t fair. But Megan was not going to let it get away. Yes, it was trying, but while this one might be able to run from a trainer battle, it was not going to be able to run from a trainer armed with a Pokeball. By the laws of…nature, or something, she should be able to at least throw a single ball. Otherwise, that just wasn’t fair in the slightest!
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Thus, she skidded down a grassy ledge, still in pursuit. The Eevee was still running and even though it had much shorter legs, it was also lighter, meaning that it could at least keep away from her, even though so far it had not been able to increase its lead. And she definitely would not allow that to happen, either.
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Fortunately, there was Luvdisc to the rescue! The little one. The one she decided not to capture earlier. Or maybe it was another one. She didn’t know. But one of those suddenly splashed out of the small creek they were running adjacent to, startling the Eevee. Which, in turn, briefly stopped, not knowing where to go. But that was enough time for her to get sufficiently close and throw the ball. “Hah!” she exclaimed, even as it went down and started to wobble, hoping to succeed with this.



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Funny, actually, that so many people considered silence awkward. Meg didn’t, really. Sure, she liked to put on headphones and listen to some music when on her own, but especially in company, she never really minded silence. Or rather, not talking, given that in a city like Slateport, silence wasn’t exactly a commodity that was being traded, even when everything else was. Especially not in the aftermath of a recent space-time distortion. Emergency services were on their way, clearly, but neither she nor Jojo needed any help, so sticking around would only lead to needless questions. And those were inedible.
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Either way, she saw no reason to talk, just enjoying purposefully walking besides another human for once. But that did not mean she would ignore a question asked, of course. “Ah, well, I guess I had Arca here for like, years. But I have only really started actively training a little over a year ago. As in, taking it seriously, going on a Pokemon journey, challenging gyms. Already beat a few of those, too. Who knows, maybe I will have one of my own at some point.” Naturally, she was playing it way cooler than it really was. She desperately wanted to become a gym leader eventually and was betting her life’s trajectory on that. But sounding like it was some kind of natural outcome of her disposition just made it sound more amazing, so she tried to invoke that.
“What about you?”



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“Well, Jojo it is, then,” she very casually decided. Megan was always quick with these sorts of decisions. Life was way too short to worry too much about those things. That was something she’d learned the hard way, after all. But she had also learned to banish thoughts like this when they weren’t of much use. Better stick to what was good, positive, and in front of her. Like compliments. Even though she tried to downplay it some more, rubbing the back of her head. “Fancy, eh? Maybe. I think my family was rich at some point, but way before me it went blue collar all the way.” She had not really looked into those sorts of things either. Maybe she should, one day, just in case someone asked about her ancestry. The past was all the rage these days after all. In some cases quite literally.
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Hydreigon was recalled, but she decided to keep Arcanine out for the time being, at least until they found a place too small for it. Seemed to calm Jojo down a bit, too, so it was probably a good thing to keep things stable for the time being. Though for now, she patted the stranger on the back, lightly pushing her forwards. “Well, I haven’t been to Slateport in ages. But I do know a place that makes good pizza. Maybe it’s still open.” Another laugh, then she started to lead the other down the street, towards where she recalled it to be. Megan had once more clearly taken the lead. But her current partner in operation food acquisition did not seem to much mind.



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“Ah, don’t mention it,” she replied – and she meant it. Frankly, it was perfectly understandable to have questions. If she were in the other’s shoes, she would have probably tried to ask similar questions. It just made sense, in her eyes.
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Looking around to see if everything truly had gone back to normal, Megan completely missed the other’s hesitation, though she did eventually let go of her hand when it seemed like danger had truly passed them by. “Heh. It’s almost like your parents really wanted you to go by JoJo or the like,” she replied with a brief chuckle, before rubbing her nose. “But don’t worry, I won’t call you that if it’s like, super cliché and stuff. Anyway, I am Megan Whitmore. No alliteration or dualliteration, but I think it’s a fine name, too.”
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Another chuckle, for she found that little play on words somewhat delightful. However, she wasn’t completely and utterly oblivious. “Also, are you alright after this? I’m getting hungry, so if you need some more company, you can join me finding something edible.”



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Phew. She let out a little sigh of relief. Frankly, she was just winging it, as per usual. But her instincts were good. Once more, they pulled through, ultimately scraping by. Though, admittedly, this was more than just scraping by in her opinion. This was a bona-fide win in her book, even though they had not beaten the opponent into submission. Then again, that was often not necessary, at least with wild Pokemon. During the first weeks of her journey she had done that, but ultimately she developed a live and let live attitude, like most trainers probably did.
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Either way, they had fended off the potential attacker and the distortion was fading. She did not allow herself to let her guard down until it was fully gone, holding onto the other woman’s hand until the end just to make sure neither of them would be pulled away or anything like that. “Well, you are asking the wrong gal about that one. This is like the second one I experience. The last one lasted way longer though. Long enough to get there from quite a distance and explore. But it might have also been bigger. Difficult to tell from the inside. Maybe they just don’t last that long in cities to begin with, there being more people and the like. Wilds are probably closer to other times and such. Though I am really just spitballing here.”



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Ah, wonderful. Man with well-kept hair and clothes alongside a clipboard. If not the gym leader himself, this was the receptionist, meaning she was fine either way. Plus, he knew her name. He was expecting her. All was fine.

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“Yes, that’s me,” she replied with cautious optimism. No need to go all enthusiastic on someone who probably was just doing their job, after all. “As for questions, I guess I would like to know about…dimensions of the arena and stuff? I was informed I have to designate a Pokemon to be protected, but I don’t want to pick something too big or too small for the arena. Don’t really want to game the system, but it’s difficult to not do that when I don’t fully know the system.”



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The struggle continued. Only, it then stopped, if only briefly. Hydreigon could tell that their opponent was getting more frantic, lashing out but prioritizing certain targets over others. Megan, still observing the fight, noticed that too. “Give it some room. Let’s see if it takes the offer,” she calls out to her Pokemon, which swiftly disentangles from the other and evades the retaliatory strike, instead starting to flap its wings not too far away to stay airborne. From there, it would glare at the opponent, but not engage for the moment, simply trying to intimidate.
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It was a common tactic for them. But Megan did realize that it probably did not make complete sense to a stranger, so she decided to quickly explain, least it was ruined by a lack of communication. After all, that Mimikyu might be prone to trying to continuing the fight, even in this situation. “This Pokemon clearly doesn’t belong to a trainer, so it might not want to fight to defeat. It’s probably just as confused about all this as we are. I say we give it a chance to disengage, now that it knows we are a threat by showing it that we are not necessarily hostile. No point in fighting that thing if we don’t have to. If this is one of those distortions, it might be drawn back to where it came from soon either way.”


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Hydreigon was nothing but stubborn when it came to fights like this. That was how they had earned the Skyrider badge too, after all. It was very much convinced that it could outlast this ghost no matter what. So it kept biting it, weird red aura or not. It just tasted more red, but that was just about it. Other than that, it was just a Pokemon like any other. And it would fall eventually. The Mimikyu coming in to help as well would only accelerate this process, usher in that finality of inevitability much further. As two heads continued crunching, the third roared in triumph, even though this thing was still actively hurting it. But such was battling. This was Hydreigon making a statement, not a discovery.
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Megan, in the meantime, had pulled the girl towards the middle of the street, right behind the rocky Arcanine. Their forces of water, stone and fire were seeking to protect them from further assaults. However, while there was definitely movement about – she could spot what looked like Dusclops and Duskull floating about, those ghosts were…. More like shades of themselves. They seemed even less tangible than usual, as if they were flickering in and out of existence, like video from some corrupted file or so. This definitely was not good. But, judging from their movements, these things were not encircling them and preparing an attack, but rather going about what they usually did. Maybe to them, they, too, were more akin to flickering spectres in the night.
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“These events seem to connect places and times or something. Probably takes something strong and emotional like that thing to fully cross over or whatever. At least….I hope so?” Frankly, she had no idea. But given that they certainly could not take on a full swarm of ghosts, she certainly hoped that she was right, keeping the other’s hand in her own all the same. Just to make certain neither was just sucked into whatever this was connected to by the winds.



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