the sharp ringing in his ear persists, dulling out all other senses. but through the anger and annoyance — not at her in particular, but at the situation and how it came to be — is genuine pain over the loss of a friend.

"i'll leave."

he sighs.

"but you'll still be seeing me around, sera."

with that, he steps towards the door.

Serena Malcolm

☉

"gotcha—"

he sticks his fingers into his mouth and whistles, sending his clobbopus flopping ahead.

"—sir!"

the roar of the steelix is muffled by the violent weather raging on around them. still, the glimmer from the gem in steelix's side persists.

"GET THE GEM!"

being the TECHNICIAN it is, clobbopus is easily able to close the distance before throwing a sharp BRICK BREAK into steelix's side.

Cillian Quinn
mission

☉

HADUNK!

"trouble?"

the pickaxe falls to his side for a moment, metal brushing against the fabric of his pants. his grip slackens as he pauses to think.

is he trouble?

in the span of a few months he's lost his best friend, his girlfriend, and essentially threw his life away all for what he thought to be love.

still, he shakes his head.

"nah, i think i'm pretty good."

HADUNK!

"do you think i'm trouble?"

virgil roach
mission!

☉

"yes," he says simply, smiling.

he sits atop snow-covered grass, scattering them under his weight. from his backpack comes two pairs of skates, one larger than the other. he places a pair by his feet and the other next to him.

"come on. lace up, kat."

Katherine Fairburne
mission

☉

"you'll see in like a minute, tops."

if someone more daunting than danny were to say that, it'd probably end up sounding quite suspect. but the sweetness in him likely prevails, making him no more a threat than a sleeping pichu.

and sure enough, after about thirty seconds, they break through the clearing, revealing a wide lake that's frozen over.

he swings his backpack around and unzips it.

"do you know how to ice skate?"

Katherine Fairburne
mission

☉

"my zeraora was the same way until i lost it."

or until he was scammed for fifteen gachapon tickets.

disappointment wears across her visage and, naturally, danny takes the bait. he quickly pushes off the ground, standing up before shaking his head.

"yes...! yes! i did have something planned today."

he clears his throat and recalls his mudsdale. in all honesty, he thought they were here to horse-ride, but he's always been quick on his feet.

"it's over this way."

extending his hand out, he gestures.

"come on."

Katherine Fairburne
mission

☉

danny pauses mid-swing.

"is that what it is?"

he looks over at the mandibuzz, half-concerned, half-curious.

"she's been staring at me for a while now. like she's waiting for me to drop dead."

chuckling, he returns to mining.

"might do soon, for all we know."

virgil roach
mission!

☉

"and i thought i came prepared. shit, man, you're packing."

danny eyes roach's mandibuzz, more so out of caution than anything. he's not fond of the way he's being stared at. he's no prey, at least not as long as he has his pokeballs with him.

"here looks good, then."

danny shrugs his backpack onto the ground, then follows and swings his pickaxe into stone. clunk! clunk! clunk! slowly, it begins chipping away.

virgil roach
mission!

☉

"okay! you got it. i know all the best spots here."

it should become clear just how often danny comes to festivals like these, but also this one in particular. he turns in a direction, gesturing as the paper pauldron on his shoulder wiggles.

"this way."

and the reason he hasn't moved yet is because he's not sure whether to reach for her hand or not. he glances down at it, then back up at her.

luka chêne
mission

☉

"pretty shit, i'd imagine—" he instinctively raises his hand to shield himself, "—i'm kidding! i'm kidding. i really am sorry, grey."

for everything.

"how's gwen?"

Greyson Connors
mission!

☉

danny blinks, eyes adjusting to the sudden white-yellow glow of roach's floodlight.

"that's useful."

his heracross gives a thumbs-up as it heads further ahead, straying a bit away from the group to explore on its own.

"a bit deeper in, towards the left. i just kept hacking away at a wall 'til something popped out."

looking around, danny asks:

"where do you wanna mine?"

virgil roach
mission!

☉

before he could fire out a smart (dumb) rebuttal, he's tackled to the ground, pinned under her as her hand grips his throat. naturally, he struggles, but he's smart enough to not fight back.

"serena..."

he squirms, struggling to catch his breath. but she steps off only to fire the gun, and the ring that follows is deafening.

"FUCK—"

almost missing her warning, he slides away, backing himself against a wall.

"you're all the fucking same..."

his fist slams against the ground only for a chuckle to escape. he tilts his head back, sighing as he stands.

"guess i am now, too."

Serena Malcolm

☉