“Wait a second. Shouldn’t we all be trying to dig the same hole, instead of twenty different ones?” It wasn’t as if Annie could see most of what everybody else was doing. Other than the sounds and flashes of lights that came with various attacks, she had next to no clue what was going on. “Ah, whatever. Kit, why don’t you go and help somebody out? …Huh?” The Zoroark approached her, strange bone in hand. They didn’t need a bone, but somebody else might. Somebody that would trade money for it.

The girl quietly stashed the bone away, pet her beast atop his head, and sent him on his way.

“Sune, we’ve got a little more room in there! Let loose with a Flamethrower!” The little fox belted the snow with a jet of flames larger than her own body. Combined with the Litten’s efforts, they had to make progress soon… Right?

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Another Phantump. Perhaps even the same one. Frankie’s glare was only half as good as an attack, but it wouldn’t last. Its eyes settled on its trainer instead, awaiting a command that wouldn’t come. Annie decided that it would be best to leave the Pokemon be – mostly so her partner could learn restraint. She walked on without a word, and Frankie, hesitantly, followed suit.

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The return of the red Chespin was unprecedented, and wasted on Annie. The girl hadn’t realised how rare an oddly-coloured Pokemon was, and finding a second of the same species in the Safari wasn’t helping her to learn as much. She gave it a wave and moved on; Frankie, after its scolding, decided against beating it up and followed suit.

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Help arrived! …In the form of a very smug blonde. She’d let the arrogance slide, mostly because she had called for him. She was more relieved than anything else, and it showed from the way her face lit up. “You came! Thanks, Mister Samuel. Really means a lot to me.”

She stood up, slowly shaking her head. “It’s easy to say ‘don’t worry about it’ when it’s not your problem…” She gestured for the door and started heading for it. A deep breath preceded her explanation. “I went out to the mountains. There was this family of Pokemon. Big family, of reeeally big Pokemon. And it seemed like a good idea at the time, you know, to catch one. So I did.”

Her voice deflated. “…I kinda thought that’d be the end of that. But this big guy, it seems he’s… not too happy about being part of Camp Annie. Any time I send him out, he’s grumpy straight away, and pretty soon after things get violent. I’ve had Pokemon that are slow to come around to joining the team before, but it’s pretty hard to talk things out when he might want me in the hospital.”

She’d led them to the outskirts of town and towards a clearing. “I’ll just, er… get backup ready.” With that, Trixie was sent out. The Whimsicott cheered as it saw its trainer, but the look in Annie’s eyes and the open field made her slowly realize what was to come: more ‘fun times’ with the Goliath.

“I dunno. I thought, maybe, you might have some experience with this kind of thing.” Two pairs of hopeful eyes watched Samuel.

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“…Wasn’t what I was expecting,” she admitted eventually. Still, he’d seemed honest enough, and his answer implied a little respect for her, age be damned. It was a refreshing change from the uphill battle she often endured just to get an adult to give her the time of day. He’d earned a little smile for that. That, and for helping old people, which was always a plus in her book.

Perhaps that was why she decided to tell the truth as well. She would have loved to tell him that business was going great, that she was a young entrepreneur on the rise, and her face told as much when he spoke. At the same time, her clothes told that she was nowhere near. “…Not really. Nobody’s around here, and the people that do pass through aren’t keen to hang around. People don’t want to buy wild berries from a kid, when I can even find some to sell. So I’m not here to sell. Just to train up this little devil, and maybe catch a few more. Speaking of which…”

The little lion was poised to spring, his eyes fixed on a Golbat hanging from the ceiling. It was hard for Annie to not be amused by his eagerness. “You’re gonna wear yourself out at this rate… Alright, go for an Ice Fang.” Bolt pounced, fangs glimmering with ice shards caught in the light. One super-effective bite brought the Golbat crashing into the ground, while the Shinx landed a little more elegantly. Given a few seconds, and a little gesture from Annie to let it be, the Golbat scrambled onto its feet and fled the scene.

“He’s always had too much energy, so a bit of training helps him get better and let off some steam.”

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There was something to admire, in a man determined enough to escape to let his bare hands meet snow. That, and the fact that the man had listened to her to begin with, had earned him a few points in her book. She, on the other hand was happy to sit back and command. Absurd costume aside, she was cold enough without the fire and the heating. Giving directions would be much more useful, she told herself.

“We need to melt the snow? Not a problem!” She reached into her sack, withdrawing another Pokeball, and with it, a Pokemon to help out. A Vulpix joined the gang, though she didn’t need to be directed. A few surprised glances and squints through the darkness told it that the Zoroark needed her help, and so she rushed over! While Kit’s claws and Tigger’s kicks made a tunnel in the snow, Sune jumped atop the former’s head (much to its chagrin). A Will-O-Wisp was cast, allowing for slow but controlled melting of the snow.

“Good thinking, Sune! Exactly what I was going to say! Just make sure you don’t burn that guy or his Pokemon! If we can get some more room in there, we can pull out the big fire moves.”

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Nobody told Frankie, it seemed, that it couldn’t tackle its way out of every problem. The beast moved to attack without its trainer’s command, only to phase through the Phantump! The twig returned fire with a Phantom Force, but sure enough, its move was also totally ineffective. Annie giggled, and beckoned for Frankie to follow her, leaving the poor thing to find something else to annoy.

No such luck. The Phantump was quickly treated to an Iron Head to the face. A one-hit knockout, but Annie was none too pleased. “…Strike out one more time, and you’re going back in the ball.” Her tone was surprisingly harsh, with an expression to match. Her Pokemon’s eyes remained unchanged, but a slightly lowered head as it returned to her side said enough. Once he’d turned away, she showed a spot of weakness; some slight sympathy for her partner. “What am I going to do with you…?”

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A Voltorb rolled into battle! Or tried to. The Toxic Spikes stopped it short of reaching the trainer, and good thing too. For once, she didn’t have a Pokemon by her side to defend her, though that would quickly change. Frankenstein’s monster leapt over the spikes in one great bound, landing behind the fake Pokeball. It had just enough time to reconsider its life choices before Frankie went for the home run.

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The beast was down. For all the cold shoulders Blitz gave his trainer, she wouldn’t forget how quickly he rushed to her side. A panicked cry escaped him. There was real concern in his eyes, though it wouldn’t last. The sight of more Pokemon arriving had him move to stand between trainer and apparent enemy, though they soon realised there was nothing to fear.

They did it, the announcement said. They’d won. Annie let out a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding. A smile made itself known, but it was less of victory than of relief. Celebrations would come soon enough, no doubt about it. They’d feast on instant noodles, hug each other and tell the rest of Camp Annie tales of Blitz’ duel with the titan. But in that moment, why didn’t she feel like cheering?

Oh, right. Broken arm. Multiple open wounds. Pain. More pain, now that the adrenaline was wearing off. She squinted her eyes at the suggestion that the Haxorus was just a nuisance. “Alright… Blitz, buddy, how about we take five and talk about this later?” The arm that didn’t cry out every time she moved it retrieved the Weavile’s Pokeball, returning him to it. “You were awesome,” she muttered as he vanished. All that was left for her to do was follow her escorts out of the grounds – and hopefully get some medical attention.

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When she’d first heard of the challenge, she’d thought it a little too weird for her tastes. Battling, she was no stranger to, but deliberately asking her Pokemon to trash the set? That was the exact sort of behaviour she was trying to weed out of Camp Annie. Still, there were a few Pokemon – well, maybe just one – that seemed intent on destruction once in a while. He’d be perfect for the job.

Goliath had already heard her ‘pep talk’ before she entered the gym; it’d been a long-winded speech, mostly because she refused to stop until her partner showed some enthusiasm. The key takeaway from their talk had been a reiteration of Annie Camp Tenant Number One: Make every introduction unforgettable. In other words, her chosen partner had to make a strong impression. It wouldn’t be difficult, and they both knew it.

That was why the girl stood, arms folded, smug smirk on her face, as Caius looked down at her. Gave her cutesy nicknames. Got her name wrong. Suggested that she’d give anything less than a spectacular challenge. The gym leader might have known enough to realise that her silence was unlike her, and could only mean she had something up her sleeve.

His Pokemon arrived, the male counterpart of the Nidoqueen she’d been after for a while. She’d have to ask him where he found the beast once she was done trying to outdo him. A Pokeball was retrieved, and from it, she unleashed her titan. Two metres of worth of armoured beast formed, and roared. Being that close to that loud a cry couldn’t have been comfortable for Annie, but she knew that it was coming. Still, while Goliath was blocking her from view, her smile wavered and her eyes squinted a little.

If the battle cry hadn’t done the trick, the lighter shade of green and a purple patch of armour marked her Pokemon as something special, even amongst Tyranitars. The Pokédex referred to it as the ‘mobile disaster’. Who better to help with renovations?

“Your move, Big Blue.”

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The Swanna wasn’t waking up any time soon, meaning Trixie was free to collect her trainer’s ball. The cotton ball sang a tune as the living Pokedex explained what they had claimed. “Oh, so this is a new guy! No wonder why it stood out to me. Still, that’s gotta suck. Imagine walking around in some water and you step on one of those.” The girl made a show of wincing, only to devolve into a giggle a moment later.

“Guess I’ll just have to keep an eye out. Thanks for that, and thank you, little miss!” She retrieved the Pokeball, then used the one in her other hand to return Trixie to her ball. Both were put away and exchanged for the capsule of a very special Camper. The stranger seemed to have erased his doubts about her and her tactics, but she needed to be certain. Or maybe she just wanted to show off a little bit. Whatever the reason, her next opportunity showed itself soon enough. A Tirtouga crawled out of the water, awaiting a challenger, and Annie was happy to oblige.

“Next up’s Frankie!” Another Pokeball thrown, releasing… something. A Whimsicott and a Scizor had few things in common, but at least they were standard Pokemon. They had clear themes in their appearance, a voice, a quirky charm to them. The Type: Null, on the other hand, seemed to be at least six different drafts of a monster towering over its trainer, and especially the Tirtouga. While Trixie couldn’t keep quiet if she tried, Frankie was silent, leaving the observers to rely on its body language and its eyes – its ever-glaring eyes – to gauge its emotions. That alone was enough to give the fossil Pokemon pause.

Annie, either used to her beast or totally oblivious to how ominous it was, barely missed a beat. “Show ‘em who’s got the harder head!” The little turtle’s mask was barely bigger than one of its foe’s hind paws, let alone the helmet that hid more of its face. Still, the fossil had enough confidence – or foolhardiness – to stand his ground, right up until the Iron Head collided with his body. It was close to a knockout blow, leaving their prey tipped over and unable to defend itself from the incoming Pokeball.

A Pachirisu saw the brief battle, and wisely turned tail.

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A spray of purple spikes stood between Annie and the returning Frankie; both darted their heads towards their source. A golden pinecone had arrived, and it looked pissed. As pissed as a pinecone could be, anyway. She’d seen enough of its kind in the safari to know that it was special – not just because of its colour, but because it had dared to attack them. An open-handed gesture to Frankie gave it the all-clear to strike, but- “I wanna get this one, so don’t get too crazy!”

The Pineco received a Tri-Attack, tipping it over. While it struggled to regain balance, Frankie prepared for a potential counterattack, whilst Annie threw her safari ball. The pine Pokemon may have been aggressive, but Type: Null was strong and fierce enough to take on most unsuspecting beasts. The one attack should have done the trick.

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