they rode up to the top of the hill, surely a sight for anyone else close enough to witness them. the rest of her pokemon did their best to follow, their barks fading at the rear as the not-dragon made its way to the top easily.

nina looked over her shoulder, thankful that danny couldn’t see the soft blush tinting her cheeks behind her mask. to be close to him now felt different than before that night. she looked ahead again, feeling inner conflict. his suggestion was a welcome distraction, and exciting competition.

”okay! you’re on. loser buys hot chocolate.”

and so they would soon find themselves at the top again, buckled in and ready to risk their lives once more.

DANNY HALL

she smiled, though it was soon hidden behind a bite of eggs. they were good. she was pleased with herself, and also more than a bit pleased that he was eating her cooking, and was happy about it. it was something she had somehow only recently picked up in her days of trying—and succeeding—to woo people to their financial dooms.

everything was new, refreshing, and warm. for a minute, she’d almost decided she didn’t want to rush out. maybe lingering wouldn’t be so bad.

responsibilities called, however. rocket work. suddenly, she felt disappointment she hadn’t expected. ”oh.” and it was there in her voice, despite herself. ”okay. i can get out of here after breakfast.” a smile was to assure that it was fine.

DANNY HALL

as DANNY HALL and Toshiaki Macallan attacked, it bought nina and her milotic time to create some distance and turn back around to put up a fight themselves. a veluza came towards them again, but it was knocked off-course by a strong water pulse. however, it seemed to do little damage.

releasing the horn of her milotic, nina commanded, ”get closer. i’ll be fine.”

milotic rushed forward to tackle the fishy foe. a violent fight ensued, the veluza’s teeth sinking in to tear off beautiful scales. despite it, the milotic fought back valiantly, much to nina’s awe. as a feebas, it had not been much of a battler. something had awakened, maybe.

she reached for another pokeball; however, it was knocked from her hand by another veluza, its tail flinging her into a bunch of coral—not unlike what freya morningstar was turning into. she hit her head, causing her to feel dreamy for a moment, before she noticed the blood trickling up. realized the situation.

”oh, no.”

pokeball still floating off, she kicked towards it, quickly pursued by another hungry veluza.

DANNY HALL freya morningstar Toshiaki Macallan

the voices of others were lost to the ambient noise of the sea. within the wreckage, nina explored deeper, accompanied by a glowing feebas she’d released to be her guiding light.

as she inspected a sharp-toothed skull, a passing shadow caused her to spin around and witness said fish knocked into a wall of the bent interior.

”feebas!”

what was that thing? a huge shark, of some kind, bigger than the sharpedo she had once seen. not yet familiar with veluza, it was all the more horrifying.

she returned her aggressing mudkip and reached for another ball, when the light suddenly cut out. the faint glow that the others could have likely seen disappeared as the feebas was eaten whole.

”no!”

and now, she was in the dark with an apex predator. one moment, two… suddenly, the light was back, and it was much brighter than before. what the shark spit out an evolving illumina milotic which thrashed about in its new form, before rushing towards nina. taking her chance, she grabbed onto its horn.

they burst from the wreckage, tailed by several veluza which had been hiding in the dark.

07 escape corrupted sharpedo and veluza attempting to hunt you down.

DANNY HALL freya morningstar Toshiaki Macallan

’kip!’

nina’s mudkip trotted after DANNY HALL's centiskorch hurriedly, unwilling to let anyone else take the lead for too long, even if they were lighting the way.

”yeah, this place is incredible." nina followed, head on a swivel in awe.

at the echoed concern, she confirmed, ”all good here.” no nihilego poisoning yet. she crossed her fingers, figuring their odds were okayish, and certainly worth the risk just to witness this.

she turned to catch Toshiaki Macallan taking off into the distance, and then the gleam of something metallic and mechanical in his trajectory ”woah, what’s that?”

freya morningstar’s caution was heeded with a short look through a dark window and a grin, ”nope, but if there is, i hope it’s a nihilego. let’s check it out!” and then she was gone, trailed by her mudkip who’d abandoned his prior chase.

DANNY HALL freya morningstar Toshiaki Macallan

back to the beach, in search of more water types. this time, she was on the hunt for something in particular. on the back of her milotic, she glided over the water, out to deeper waters. all the while, her eyes were peeled for the dorsal fin of a shark. or, maybe she’d come across one of the many new paldean pokemon.

at the tail of the water serpent was her mudkip, staring down into the water and at the tiny fish that struggled to keep up. he barked a couple of times at one or two luvdisc which sprang from the water, though they were quickly left behind as their speed picked up over the waves.

sw - water / fairy

the cutiefly landed on her finger, earning the attention of her other two companions. she lowered it gently so the little blue spider could get a good look at their new fairy-type friend. it soon disappeared into a pokeball tapped on its head.

she grinned at vermillion’s antics, face softening some as she watched the exchanged between it and the pidgeotto. strong, and feisty. a worthy opponent, maybe?

”yeah? well, it’d be a good way for your comfey to blow off some steam. my mudkip too. i’m sure he’d love a battle!”

little did she know how many wild pokemon were watching them, fully prepared to interrupt anything they might try to start.

skipping

symon blessing

the corners of her mouth curled more at the spicy adjectives. apparently, they’d done an exceptional job, all on no sleep and she with no skills to begin with. at this point, nina was feeling pretty confident. as though she could have very well been a mechanic in another life.

”ugh. good. i’m so tired.” she sighed, turning off the ignition and slumping in the driver’s seat. tomorrow was going to be a big day. would parker put her behind the wheel? maybe, if she did well enough during practice. until then, she’d dream about it, curled up behind the steering wheel.

parker jones

”that’s how i like them too.”

she was aware of the intimacy; but she was used to doing this, with different people. roommates. targets. bosses… a now danny, whatever he was to her now. a friend. a crush, maybe, however much she’d try to deny it.

the eggs were scrambled and the bread was toasted. when he was ready, she added, ”these are done too.” and joined him in plating, sliding eggs into place.

she smiled, ”it looks really good. thanks.” and took her plate to the table.

DANNY HALL

”yeah, it’s really fun! although, now we have to walk all the way back up the hill.”

she eyed towards the top. the trek was surely a little more treacherous in all the snow and ice.

”maybe if it stays like this, we’ll get ski lifts.” to be so high up looked exhilarating in photos and on tv, albeit a bit spooky. maybe one day, experiencing it would be a perk of their post-glaciate ice age.

as she began unbuckling from her board, she had an idea.

”actually…”

rising up again, her hand reached to grab for her gyarados’ ball, releasing it onto the snow. she climbed on and waited for danny to join her, grinning underneath her mask. ”who needs a ski lift?” not anyone with a giant flying water serpent.

DANNY HALL