[attr="class","monty"]Petalburg City was a demolition zone. At least, that's what it appeared to be, if Montgomery hadn't known about the attack that happened the same day in Sootopolis.

If he thought sootopolis was bad, petalburg was even worse.

And behind every disaster, folklore began to bloom. People were claiming that those citizens and Pokemon that were killed in the carnage of war were raised from the dead, intent on grabbing revenge for their deaths.

Montgomery didn't believe that. Folklore was kindled by grief, and this city was heart broken.

Still, he came to investigate, less there be trouble afoot by Rocket in the area.

[attr="class","montytag"]Josh Devlin | hgt g

[attr="class","monty"]Montgomery entered the safari zone, handing over a ticket to the warden. He seemed to have purchased a specific ticket instead of a regular one, since it sparkled as it glinted in the light.

Whatever.

A hunt was a hunt. He wandered further into the grass, the four Poke balls at his hip.

[attr="class","montytag"]warden's ticket | 4/4 balls

[attr="class","monty"]Montgomery didn't believe in the supernatural. Despite his encounter with the ghostly figment that appeared on his draconid investigation with ameena abadi, he simply believed that there was just ghost-type Pokemon that had it in their nature to spook poor individuals along the way.

At least, that's what he was telling himself. He was trying to convince himself that the apparition that appeared before him, all too familiar, was the work of something like a hisuian zoroark who'd gotten lost in the caves.

So, when a report landed on his desk about UFOs appearing in littleroot town and livestock gone missing, he scoffed. "This is ridiculous."

He probably should've learned his lesson by then.

Montgomery showed up around sunset, since many of these reports claimed their livestock disappeared at nighttime. Until the sun disappeared, he decided to make a sort of make-shift camp, leaning against a tree outside the pasture.

[attr="class","montytag"]OPEN | beheeyem at the barnyard

[attr="class","monty"]At first, Montgomery thought Howard was going to say no. Not that he'd mind doing some convincing to change his mind. It would be easy enough for him to twist the grad student's arm in his own favor.

Thankfully, he didn't have to consider the option further.

"But have ya heard of many people gettin' to see the relics up close 'n personal in real life? Ya can take some pictures and ogle over 'em while we're there."

That wasn't something he was interested in. He wanted the money that came out of this raid.

"Alright. So let's take yer Shirley with us. And I can bring a spare 'mon or two in case we need back up. Hmm?"

Even though he was giving Howard the chance to respond, he wasn't going to change his mind.

"We leave at sunset. Less eyes."

[attr="class","montytag"]howard slayte | my first partner pokemon

[attr="class","pkmn-hoenn-team"]







[newclass="nullelem"]}.montgomery .mini-profile { height: 562px !important; } .montgomery .pkmn-hoenn-party { visibility: visible !important; }[/newclass]

[attr="class","monty"]"A jam, huh?" He hadn't considered making confections with the berries. But, as she described jams for preserves and cakes, his stomach let out a tiny grumble, begging for a taste.

Montgomery scratched his head in embarrassment. "It sounds delicious. Ya make those cakes yerself?"

The berry tree he'd been plucking from was empty now, stems the only remaining evidence of berries there. He wondered if she wanted to get some more varieties from the other ones.

"Have ya ever heard of any unovan folk tales?" Montgomery asked, brushing his fingers across the leaves.

"The beast of legend, landorus, hails from there. It's told that if landorus comes to yer field, you've been blessed. His presence enhanced the crops, makin' 'em even more beautiful and bountiful than before. He's been known as the Guardian of the Fields."

Montgomery chuckled to himself.

"I like ta think that maybe, he came here for this harvest. Though it may be wishful thinkin'."

[attr="class","montytag"]Rosemary Lovelace | feast or famine

[attr="class","monty"]The name foothill town didn't strike a chord with Montgomery. In fact, prior to that day, the deputy had never heard the name spoken before. When he mentioned it to another officer in the dewford police department, the man seemed to freeze.

"Don't talk about that place. You'd be better off ignoring whatever you heard."

Since his interaction with that officer, the town along route 117 became all too interesting. From the newspaper clippings he could find, it seemed the town was abandoned. The title of "haunted" was synonymous with the village.

What caught his eye were the barricaded doors, the signs of struggle and violence, and no one around.

Montgomery decided to investigate after he got off work. It was a Friday, and it was quiet as the sun began to set and cast its orange color across the land. The town sign stood, rusty and clawed.

̶F̶̶o̶̶o̶̶t̶̶h̶̶i̶̶l̶̶l̶ ̶T̶̶o̶̶w̶̶n̶

"Don't seem too haunted ta me..." he murmured to himself.

[attr="class","montytag"]Vespa Baskerville | hgt a

[attr="class","monty"]If he noticed her clammy hands — he did — he was polite enough not to comment on them. Instead, when she wasn't particularly looking at him, he swiped them over his jeans a couple of times as if he was dusting the dirt away.

No need to embarrass the poor girl further.

He nodded, lifting his arm up and grasping each berry in between his fingers. With a gentle twist and pluck, they would separate from the stem, and then he'd put them down into her basket.

"Nice ta meet ya. Montgomery."

His introduction was far from eloquent, but he was never known to be proper. "Are ya gettin' these for yer Pokemon?"

[attr="class","montytag"]Rosemary Lovelace | feast or famine

[attr="class","monty"]"Have ya ever heard of the Hero's Ruin?"

Montgomery sat at a table, tapping a pencil against a map in front of him. The lead scratched graphite into the surface of the paper, splotched and jagged in nature.

His figure was slouched, and he almost seemed bored with his head in his hand and yawning. He regarded howard slayte with a raised brow, his foot tapping under the table.

"It's near Chargestone Cave. It's rumored to have some interestin' relics 'n shit there. Maybe some treasure. But, it's full of traps, and cofagrigus and sigilyph guard the interior."

The Rocket man sat up, finally looking at Howard with something more than disinterest.

"Ya think ya can get us down there 'n out in one piece?" Behind him, Montgomery's skarmory regarded him with a cold stare, his claws scraping the tiled floor.

[attr="class","montytag"]howard slayte | my first partner pokemon

[attr="class","pkmn-hoenn-team"]







[newclass="nullelem"]}.montgomery .mini-profile { height: 562px !important; } .montgomery .pkmn-hoenn-party { visibility: visible !important; }[/newclass]

[attr="class","monty"]They say there are five stages of grief.

Denial

When he hadn’t heard from ameena abadi several days after she’d left from Mauville City after a silent argument, Montgomery thought that she was simply upset. He was stubborn as a tauros — Ameena was the same. He didn’t expect her to come back and apologise to him, not so quickly.

He would give her time to process her emotions, and when she came to him, he’d be ready to accept her back into his arms.

Anger

She hadn’t contacted him. It had been a week.

Montgomery felt rage in his veins. Was she so ready to throw away whatever they had, be it called love or lust, away, just like that? Was he just a simple play thing to her?

He took the first step, sending a rather nasty text message to her. He expected her to respond in a matter of minutes.

Bargaining

Ameena didn’t reply.

Montgomery reached out to her office. Her employees offered him no useful information. There was nothing about her leaving for an extended stay somewhere and to leave him a message. Nothing about being away on business.

There was nothing. They didn’t even seem to budge when he offered money and protection. They truly knew nothing.

He’d almost broken the door leaving the building.

Depression

Montgomery’s energy was nowhere near his normal. Even Pipsqueak sensed the exaggerated change in his mood. When she came to him, laying on Ameena’s bed, she’d peck at his hand, hard enough to break the skin.

He didn’t even budge.

Instead he curled into himself like an infant, trying to protect himself from reality.

”I’m sorry. I’m truly so sorry.”

Acceptance

Ameena wasn’t coming back to him.

He determined that much. Montgomery decided that it was time to move along. Slowly, he put himself together again. Slowly, he began to try to mend his severed heart.

He had dewford to protect. There was work to be done.

[attr="class","montytag"]ameena abadi | post flame snuffed out