not a silph, but a wayland. mosse was a name that meant nothing to her. an isolating syllable. wayland had been something, and now, she figured, delta might as well not have a last name at all.

her first instinct was to be evasive. maybe if she fell silent like her daughter, no one would ever ask again.

”his name’s KING WAYLAND .” she wondered if maybe he’d heard it on the news, but so much had been happening in kanto, it had been difficult to keep up with the tragedies.

her stare didn’t raise to meet his. the sorrow and rage she felt met somewhere in the middle. a quiet calm that was patiently waiting to crack with thunder at the just the right opportunity.

”he was never in the picture. and that was my decision.” her lips pursed lightly in disgust. at him, at herself. at MATIAS SILPH . ”i found out after i got here that he killed my unit.”

something in her soured more than it had before. maybe it was that sénon’s presence made it easier to let go. though her shame would never shift, it was getting easier to place some of the blame on matias, and to look past him.

6mXN1KJs
797 - 27 = 770
Sénon Game

☉

the tauros snorted a hot, rank old breath in matias’ direction. a friendly hello.

her eyes were ahead, seeming to refuse to look at him. face was like stone, thoughts becoming heavy again as their mission neared its end. she attempted to shrug it off, to see forward with blinders.

but then he waxed sentimental, and something about her mouth tightened as though willing it not to open. she swallowed whatever she was hiding before saying a word.

”yeah.” a sigh. ”i guess i did too.” until recently. regardless of how much she might’ve tried to hide it, the implication was there in her tone. still, she never looked over at him.

meanwhile, the athlete to their side slumped, tired and quiet as his body swayed on the alternating shoulders of the bull beneath him. zarude went ahead and into the trees, but it soon paused to wait up, never leaving sight.

MATIAS SILPH

☉

the radiant green glow settled into the athlete, blossoming life and strength into his fallen body so that it wasn’t so difficult to get him upright. however, he was still recovering, and so sage decided that the steep slope of zarude’s back wouldn’t be suitable.

a tauros was released, and the athlete was helped up onto its back as it waited patiently. old and reliable. matias would know the bull from years ago.

”c’mon baobab. let’s take him back up.”

they’d be taking the long, slow way.

MATIAS SILPH

☉

a reset button. yeah.

she shrugged. ”every bit of effort counts.” was it wrong to be disappointed with how things had ended up? was it terribly selfish?

his question elicited a change in her face that she couldn’t keep from him. a twitch of the brow, and a certain heaviness in the way her stare settled on the floor.

she had once imagined a family with MATIAS SILPH . being that she had never been a part of one to begin with, to have such a dream fall through, and feel so silly for having ever had it for so very long, was nothing short of gutting. she felt lost, alone to nurse the new injury of learning her unit had been burned alive—by none other than the father of her child. it was a lot.

without her daughter to talk to, every day felt like a step in no direction at all. just silent staring into quiet blue eyes that refused to connect. she felt herself becoming bitter, rotting with guilt. her region. her friends. her sense of purpose…

she cleared her throat and shrugged lightly. ”kinda missing the key ingredient for something like that.”

a partner. love.

i’ve clearly never been a good enough mother, anyways.

hMS|i|Ax
832 - 35 = 797
Sénon Game

☉

sagira gave the faintest trace of a laugh, knowing. ”i think i know how you feel.” she hadn’t been ready for delta. in fact, sagira had doubted she’d ever have children. for as long as she’d been at war, she’d figured she’d die in it.

a bit dryly, she assured him, “you’ll do fine. kids are pretty resilient. plus, you have a grace period of figuring things out before they start remembering your mistakes.” presumably. delta had never said a word to her, so really, sage wasn’t quite sure how much she ever retained.

she looked over at him and smiled weakly. “you never actually figure things out, but you know. you get better.”

LBfT|puA
869 - 37 = 832
Sénon Game

☉

”heard. i’ll wait for your alert.”

she watched, waiting for news from below. when it came, despite what had occurred a few minutes prior, she smiled.

”i’m on my way!”

pokéballs switched marowak out for zarude. the monkey looked to her for instruction—much calmer than that first day in the city, when samuel carter had aided her in bringing it down from its rampage. since, it had been coaxed into woodland meditation beside her. the beginning of a strong bond was developing.

”come on. we need to get down there.”

she climbed on its back, hands winding into its fur. they went precariously down the side of the cliff, onto jutting limbs, and eventually leaping to the ground with an impact that sent a plume of dust clouding up.

sage slid off, and rushed over. zarude joined her. as the legendary approached, the grass around them seemed to glow and sparkle.

she looked into red eyes beside her. ”can you help him?”

she’d not yet seen JUNGLE HEALING in all its glory.

the legendary drew closer, and the ground went bright, emerald taking over the surrounding area. vines unraveled from its back and reached for the trees. the power flowed through it, and into the patch of grass that the man lied in.

MATIAS SILPH

☉

freddie’s odd laughter was met mostly with an expression of indifference, and the smallest press of a smile. her face looked as though she had resigned to some level of apathy over the years, but this could never truly be so. not lieutenant mosse.

at the sentiment about shit pizza, sagira cocked her chin to the side. a nod or something of the sort. a ‘right you are, but i’m not going to say it out loud.’

her eyes passed to arvi, who seemed to be on board with the dinner decision.

she asked dryly, “does your larvitar eat shit pizza too?”

@winifred

☉

she ran. she’d never had any problem keeping up with him.

the clearing bared the aftermath of an EXPLOSION, maybe. dirt and roots scattered outwards, blanketing the outer grass where the ground wasn’t mangled. when the altaria gestured ahead, her heart sunk.

“shit.”

still with marowak at her side, she went to look over the ledge the altaria had called them to.

her bets were on the worst. such a blast would have certainly had the power to send someone over the edge if they were close enough.

MATIAS SILPH

☉

she closed her eyes a moment, letting his voice roll off the back of her shoulders. a deep breath filtered out matias’ toxicity, while she focused on an imaginary tree. strong, silent, still.

embody it.

just internally, though. she was still taking long strides away from him.

until he was calling with a different tone.

“hm?” both trainer and pokemon turned, and then wasted no time following after. her voice projected across the distance, ”what is it?!”

MATIAS SILPH

☉

nope. there were three now.

her head spun at the truth, taken aback by where it lined up on both sides. matias had maybe never been a genius, per se, but this was a level of stupidity that she might very well never forgive him for.

she stared, mortified, but her face never gave away everything. this time, it glowed in her eyes, and in the particularly low tone of her voice. it scratched out of her throat as she drew up close to him, looking into his eyes like a stranger.

“you’re a goddamn idiot.”

with that, she turned on him to head down the path, marowak still at her side. they had a job to do.

MATIAS SILPH

☉

he didn’t save anyone but himself. the words she hadn’t spoken.

she turned to look at him again, the point of her toe shifting in favor of him and not the mountain ahead. the part of her that loved him should have told him not to let his anger overtake his better judgment, but the rest? the part with lives to avenge?

not to mention, the part that knew the other side of the story now…

at his touch, she pulled away, and shook her head, eyes falling towards the ground. marowak looked up at her, stoic as always, and she found nothing helpful in his stare.

should she say it?

…

“he said that everyone blamed my death on him, and that you just… let it happen.” once upon a time, she thought she’d known matias silph. what was that kid’s real name, again? “wasn’t he your friend?”

MATIAS SILPH

☉