"huh?" aaron doesn't catch whatever greyson mumbles, his grunt of confusion a shade of absentmindedness. he doesn't pry, just steps aside and lets this rookie-cop-turned-ghost-hunter approach the door first. leaning sideways a bit, he watches greyson twist the knob. he doesn't realize he's holding his breath until the door swings open with a creaking groan. 
[break][break]
there's some moonlight leaching in through the windows, providing enough for them to strain their eyes at the suspiciously ghost-like silhouettes looming in the foyer. aaron raises his phone cautiously, letting his flashlight turn the creepy shadowy figures into covered, abandoned furniture. "doesn't seem that bad."
[break][break]
he steps in after greyson and shines his light into every scary corner and crevice in the first room. the high ceiling has no ghost girls crawling along it, just sad, half-hanging cobwebs swinging in the cool, drafty air. 
[break][break]
bang!
[break][break]
"holy shit!" the front door swings shut hard, startling aaron. closest to it, he rushes back and tries to open it. 
[break][break]
it feels like someone is on the other side, holding it shut. 
[break][break]
"uhhh ... i think we're fucked."
[break][break]

+ you're not the one 4 Greyson Connors

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

aaron cheers as his feraligatr's attack caves in the door and leaves deep, winding grooves in the metal. now that was sick. at the sound of the girl's voice, his exuberant praise and clapping dies down. oh right — he's supposed to look cool. "she is," he responds proudly. 
[break][break]
her braixen unleashes another burst of fire towards the now-damaged van. he's content to watch from his spot, but he sees the girl heading towards him in the corner of his eye.
[break][break]
"kiara, huh?" he takes her hand with a smile and gives it a firm shake. it feels weirdly formal — like a business deal. he lets go. "i'm aaron. nice to finally get your name."
[break][break]
"ice fang, ellie," he orders offhandedly before turning his attention back to kiara. "you part of the tournament?" 
[break][break]
his feraligatr opens her mouth, breath coming out in white wisps, and chomps down on the metal with icy teeth. 
[break][break]

+ BONUS STAGE: DESTROY CAR 4 @kiara

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

"i do," the words roll off his tongue with ease, a wide grin crinkling the boyish features of his face. "men, women, nonbinary — i'll kick anyone's ass. and don't give me that delicate young lady shit either!" he jabs an accusing finger in the air between them, poorly concealing an amused smirk. "just because i beat you doesn't mean you didn't give me hell during our battle." in hindsight, he sounds a lot less cool admitting it wasn't an uncontested win, but the confession gets away from him before he can stop himself. 
[break][break]
"oh yeah? i've been minding the snack stand, too." he puts his hand on his stomach and feels it rumble beneath his touch. he would go mind the shit out of the snack stand right now if it was open. "me? nahhh. i want to give everyone else a chance." this joke sounds a bit more hollow than the others.
[break][break]
aaron falls silent, staring thoughtfully out across the ocean. after a moment, he says, "so, um, are you gonna eat all these hot dogs?" shameless.
[break][break]

+ Alice Godfrey

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

"oh cool," aaron says, his enthusiasm leaving something to be desired. though he doesn't care much for the way rangers rangersplain how wonderful being a ranger is, having one on a deserted island with him has its merits. a moment ago, his confidence had waivered at vic being seemingly underprepared, but he feels better about it now. more than better, actually. this guy must have brought only two pokemon because he's that outdoorsy. 
[break][break]
this is going to be a cakewalk. 
[break][break]
"oh yeah, i do." he reaches for the unfashionable belt looped through his jeans and plucks a pokeball off of it. he pauses. "i'll be honest, vic, i don't know if the water is saltwater or not. also, um, won't it be kinda gross? it comes out of her mouth so it's like — y'know maybe you should have your pokemon check for water. just in case."
[break][break]
he releases his feraligatr anyways. 
[break][break]
"yeah, wood," he repeats absentmindedly as vic lists what they need for the night. a fire is easy — they can stand around his cyndaquil if worse comes to worst. food, though? 
[break][break]
"maybe there's some berries on this island?" he offers uselessly. following vic's lead, he releases the rest of his pokemon. "hey, listen up, guys, i need you to find sticks. dry sticks. got it? and — and food. find us some food." it was wishful thinking that one of them would return with a box of pizza, but it didn't hurt to be optimistic, right?
[break][break]
his pokemon scatter along the beach and up to the jungle treeline. 
[break][break]

+ deserted island 4 Victor Wexler

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

aaron's pikachu shakes up the contents of the bottle with glee at the girl's permission to drink. she nibbles on the cap and watches her trainer with wide, innocent eyes as he snaps his fingers and recalls his encounter with the girl beside her.
[break][break]
"i'm joking," he tells her hastily, a boyish smile on his face, feeling the ghost of remorse at the way she winces at her past defeat. "yeah, i'm aaron."
[break][break]
he takes a seat on the other side of his pikachu and opens the lemonade for her. is this type of lemonade safe for pokemon? the question hangs over his head as he watches her clumsily lift the drink to her mouth. well, if she dies she dies, he supposes. 
[break][break]

"y'know, you don't have to feel bad about losing to me. i kick a lot of people's asses." or so he tells her. aaron glances beneath her big sun hat to gauge her reaction, hoping this goes over better than the last.
[break][break]
his eyes drift towards the fire, the sight and smell of hot dogs roasting above the flames drawing his attention like a moth to a bright light. 
[break][break]

"you come here for the tournament?"
[break][break]

+ Alice Godfrey

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

the welcoming glare burns hotter than the fire blast that left a dent in the car. aaron turns towards the van, still holding his bag awkwardly, and watches his pikachu light the car up like he is much more interested in that than the girl beside him. "... thanks," he says, risking a look at her. she's watching her braixen, so he turns his head and watches the fire-type, too. 
[break][break]
the braixen's claw attack sends cracks across the windshield like a spiderweb. "nice one!" 
[break][break]
he fishes a pokeball out of his bag and tosses it in the direction of the van. it bounces impotently off the door and releases his feraligatr in a flash of white light. she sets her sights on the braixen slashing at the windshield, teeth bared. aaron sets the record straight: "no, attack the van." 
[break][break]

the water-type blinks (yet another member of his team that has never experienced the highs and lows of ruining someone's car) but obliges at his urgent gesturing. she raises her claws and slashes at the driver's side door.
[break][break]

+ BONUS STAGE: DESTROY CAR 4 @kiara

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

the hoenn star tournament had kept aaron in slateport city for longer than he expected. for the past year, he had flitted from town to town without lingering very long, but it was nice to stay in one place and watch hoenn's finest beat the crap out of each other. maybe he would get the crap beat out of him, too, though he was unsure if his ragtag team was up to snuff. 
[break][break]
as if to prove his point, his pikachu shifted uncomfortably across his shoulders. out of the corner of his eye, he saw her expression darken deviously. her nose twitched once, twice, then she sprang off him and began racing across the sand. he followed in her wake at his lazy pace, quirking a brow as she ignored the crowds and made her way towards a girl sitting alone.
[break][break]
"shit," he murmured under his breath, hurrying after her. "get back here, you—!"
[break][break]
he watched, helplessly, as the pikachu scrambled up on the log, holding something that reflected the firelight in her forepaws. 
[break][break]
"hey, i'm really sorry about her," he said once he was in speaking distance, brows furrowed with concern for the person his pokemon had chosen to harass. he had had to make this apology more than once due to her sticky fingers. as he got closer, he realized two things: his pikachu had somehow gotten a bottle of lemonade, and the girl beneath the large sun hat looked awfully familiar. 
[break][break]
"wait a sec, you're," he snapped his fingers like he was trying to summon her name to his mind, "you're alice, right? we battled that one time, didn't we?" his smile grew brighter as he recalled where he knew her from. "and i totally smoked you?" 
[break][break]

+ Alice Godfrey

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

"i guess so," he agrees with a smile, the words trembling around a laugh. after his near brush with death (read: being without the internet and human contact for a week), it's hard to conceal his relief behind a shroud of cool guy aloofness. he almost really fucked up by not reading that contract. "i'm aaron."
[break][break]
the pink-haired dude, vic, reaches for his pokeballs and aaron watches curiously. only two? in a flash of light, an arcanine and a dragapult appear in front of him. this isn't it, right?
[break][break]

vic turns back to him, beaming, and asks if he's good at outdoorsy stuff. 
[break][break]

"uh ... yeahhh," his voice lifts with his lie. he has pooped in a bush or two in his day, but he isn't a nature guy. even out on routes, he's never been terribly far from civilization. not like this, at least. "i'm a trainer so i travel a lot." a laugh. he turns the question on vic before he can prod for a more substantial answer: "what about you?"
[break][break]

while they hang out on the beach, the sun droops further towards the horizon. 
[break][break]

+ deserted island 4 Victor Wexler

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

aaron really needs money.
[break][break]
like go-on-a-deserted-island-for-a-week needs money. he signs the contract without really looking at it, not that he would have even if the tourism company had given him time to pour over it properly. all he knows is that he can take his pokemon with him and that alone makes him feel like these seven days will be on easy mode — he has three fire-types and being able to start a fire is integral to survival. or at least that's what discovery documentaries say. 
[break][break]
halfway through the boat ride across the great blue nothingness, he reaches for his phone and realizes it is stuffed in a locker at the pacifidlog town pokemon center. "fuck." it's going to be a long week.
[break][break]
the boat lets him off on an unnamed island. beyond the beach, a jungle sprawls out across the remaining real estate. he looks back to watch the boat depart and sees that some pink-haired guy has stayed behind with him. oh thank arceus, he feels a completely heterosexual wave of relief wash over him. someone to talk to. 
[break][break]
"oh, uh, hey. you doing this challenge, too?"
[break][break]

+ deserted island 4 Victor Wexler

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

destroying cars sounds pretty fun. aaron doesn't need any more convincing beyond that, but he sees the bold special prize on the flyer and makes a beeline for the junkyard. he scans the stock of rust buckets and sees a cute girl working on a van that looks like it might actually belong to one of the crew members overseeing this event. he walks towards the van, feeling the warmth of the fire blast the closer he gets. 
[break][break]
"mind if i help out?" aaron unzips his backpack and a pikachu pops her head out, nose twitching. "give that van a thunderbolt."
[break][break]
his pikachu looks confused — they've never done property damage before — but hops out of the bag and onto the ground after a heartbeat, static snapping from her electric pouches. in a flash of harsh light, a bolt of lightning passes through the van. 
[break][break]

+ BONUS STAGE: DESTROY CAR 4 @kiara

[attr="class","pokeclass"]