and cue saskia dying inside. 

she's a touchy person. it's how she shows affection. she forgets, way too often than she should, that maybe not everyone is okay with that. she startles and her eyes water instantaneously, but she looks away just as quickly because she doesn't want to make lucia feel bad. 

"yeah," she says and pretends to sneeze so she can hastily scrub at her eyes and hide her embarrassment. 

"yeah, no, that sounds fun. if you wanna, let's do it. later. maybe - let's get back to the drone?"

Lucia Aldrete

☉

"oh, man," she says and reaches out to ruffle lucia's hair. boundaries? saskia has none. "i can relate to that. maugrim, my lycanroc. well, he doesn't respect me one bit. gosh knows i've tried everything to get him to listen to me."

kirin, on the other hand, is such a doll. strong and smart and patient and, well, basically everything sasky lacks. maugrim's too much like her...

she grins down at lucia. "i totally get that. hey, maybe we could do a bit of battling practice one day? get our babies to listen to us?"

Lucia Aldrete

☉

saskia at least has the sense to recall igor as soon as he's stopped the monster in its tracks. good thing, too, because those claws do some damage when they hit nothing but the earth. 

she pants, praying she doesn't fumble with his ball and drop it into the cavern. rocks spray overhead as robin calls orders and she thinks oh my god oh my god oh my god and honestly, stops remembering what she's doing. she just lets her body go through the motions until suddenly she's standing beside robin, who is pulling out a medkit and is all business. 

"oh. no, i - " she starts and looks herself over. "i think i'm okay."

she plops down onto the ground and shakily takes a swig of water while robin tends to andrew, who seems just as much in shock as sasky. 

"you're incredible, robin," she says with a sigh, and just a tad bit of envy laces her affectionate words. 

robin coello

☉

sasky blinks owlishly at her and then breaks out a huge grin, eyes light and cheery. well, dang! she's got more gusto than sasky's ever seen in a girl her age (twelve? seven? who knows?). maybe more, even, than sasky had when she was younger. 

"yeah, i've heard that too. i think i saw a couple earlier with these," she says and points to the binoculars hanging from her neck. 

"the gym challenge, though! have you gotten any badges yet?"

Lucia Aldrete

☉

"oh! i didn't see you there," she startles. kirin tilts her head, assesses the man, and finds him harmless enough. she trots a couple paces ahead and peers down into the chasm. 

his question makes her laugh. 

"kinda hard to miss, lucian. you're standing on it." the rupture in the earth is a nasty scar. sasky waves him over with a smile, albeit a sorry one, and takes him over to the edge. below them, tera crystals glitter all the way down.

"it's super messed up, but gosh, isn't it so pretty?"

lucian flores

☉

the scary puppy looks confused for a moment. sasky's eyes are starry, adoration aglow on her face. she practically bounces on the balls of her feet, crowing about how "amazing! that was amazing!" poor andrew doesn't seem to think it's amazing though. 

he stands there in shock until he keels into her, gripping her ranger jacket for dear life. he's a couple inches shorter than her so she awkwardly wraps her arms around him and says, "um, okay. we're - we're gonna get you out of here and...err, robin?"

the twin-tailed pupper is no longer confused. in fact, it knows exactly where its prey is and it intends to take back what was snatched away from it. 

"igor, go!" the donphan rolls out, spraying rocks behind him and saskia shoves andrew back the steep slope from whence they came.

"there's a rope attached! climb!" the earth shakes and rocks start to fall. 

robin coello
86LTbVoY

☉

sasky isn't really good with ages, but lucia is definitely, like, a child. and she doesn't really think a whole lot on that until she looks at her all doe-eyed and says yes. and then sasky things, oh wait, no!

but kirin is here. and she has the rest of her pokemon on her belt if something does go wrong. aaaaand they're within a safe perimeter so what's the worst that could happen?

"i think i heard there's a waterfall or something near here," she crows and bounces from foot to foot with a grin. kirin's ears twitch as she snuffles the grass. she watches her trainer depart and then straightens, shaking out her mane, and keeps an eye on the drone. 

"so how'd you get down here anyway?"

Lucia Aldrete

☉

this might be the most boring task she could have signed up for. at first, she thought the little drilling drone was adorable, but now it's been mining the same rock for like thirty whole minutes and they've had nothing to do except watch it. 

the place is crawling with new discovers! and she knows, she knowsss that this is important work. there are discoveries to be found in the minerals. it will be a good asset to the league. blah blah blah. but she saw some crazy creatures out there and she has an appetite for adventure. 

"luci," she says around a mouthful of granola, "d'you think we can just go look around? kirin can watch the drone." she gestures to the wyrdeer grazing by her side. 

Lucia Aldrete

☉

no!! she is the best and brightest of her class! she's just bad at putting it to practice, okay? but she's working on it and that's all that matters. 

she checks herself over. the adrenaline hasn't entirely faded away, but her clothes aren't singed. her hair is a little burnt and does not smell very good. she doesn't smell very good, what with all the smoke, and honestly she just kind of wants to peel them off and sit in the shower and maybe have a good cry. 

but she has to thank him first! for saving her life! 

"they got their hands full already," she reasons and then does a little spin in front of him. "and 'sides, look, i'm fiiiine. nothing a little ice cream can't cure. and c'mon, i budget for my ice cream splurges. this'll just count as my next three." she looks at his swampert. "okay, five, if your water pupper wants some too.

"come on! it's right down the street!" and she skips backward, eyes glittering. 

KING WAYLAND

☉

the hard hat goes on! she blinks owlishly, and very gratefully, at robin while she secures the straps under her chin. it's a bit tight. she has a big head. but now she's perfectly safe!

sin goes on ahead and igor uncurls, trunk spraying grit as he hobbles after them. some of the moisture in the air gathers on the rock and aside from their shuffling are the intermittent drips. she crouches and her fingers find damp rock. 

"oh, it'd be so cool if we found, like, an underground waterfall or something! there's gotta be a lake with all this moisture around."

except it's not a lake. igor trumpets as softly as he can manage while warning the girls to stop in their tracks. 

poor andrew is suspended from a rope, legs tucked against his chest, while the craziest two-tailed blue monster snaps up at him. water sprays with every crack of its jaws and sasky startles. 

"oooh!"

robin coello
1DCHVYmA

☉

"pshh, naw," she says. overconfidence is going to get her killed one of these days, but she can't be stopped now, and besides the gravel underneath her is kind of sliding and even if she wanted to trek back up, it'd be difficult. 

oops. 

fear knifes through her - too little, too late - and she yelps as she stumbles. igor rolls into a ball and cushions her fall, but she looks up, dazed, at robin and is too thin-lipped to manage more than a weak, "...i'm okay."

and then, after a breath, "maybe i need a hat."

robin coello
fEu2DBV2

☉

the chasm is giga crazy. there are so many pokemon she's never even heard of, nevermind seen before. there are binoculars hanging around her neck right now, but she's still slack-jawed at the craziness that is literally less than ten miles from her homestead. 

no wonder her papa's blood pressure has been too high lately. 

kirin sniffs delicately at the ground beneath them, no doubt wishing they'd hurry up and make their way to the newly discovered area zero so she can munch on some grass. but first and foremost, they're here to chart the territory!

she smiles, wide-eyed at her partner, and says, "isn't this FANTASTIC?"

lucian flores

☉