[attr="class","mimi"]"you spoke too soon, mimi," she whispers under her breath. after everything, one last dratini makes her presence known. she's more excitable than the others, which she can attest to by the sheer strength of the headbutt she receives from the young dratini. mimi coughs, and her drampa is quick to take over despite his age.

an attack of the senses is more effective than a physical attack. shifu's extrasensory attack has the dratini stumbling back in confusion. next, his warning hyper voice echoes against the hard surfaces of the rocks above the spring. shifu doesn't have to do much else before the dratini yields and mimi takes over with the customary pokéball.

"good job, shifu. time to wrap up here."

[attr="class","seelie"]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-drampa"]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-dratini"]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-dratini"]

[attr="class","mimi"]their luck must be running thin, after two dratinis in a row. she wonders if the fourth would be the last of shifu's disciples. he would be a good golden ribbon to tie the end, though it'd ultimately depend only on shifu himself.

"how do you feel about your first four, shifu?"

the drampa has never been one to deny apprenticeship to youths, and this time is no exception. he'd accept any dragons that wished to train under him; a reaffirmation that he vocalizes with a growl.

[attr="class","seelie"]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-drampa"]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-dratini"]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-dratini"]

[attr="class","mimi"]a doll. it's a doll, just like the ones that are featured in some popular horror movies. it hadn't been there before. she's pretty sure it had been instead taken from the top of the dresser and moved onto the center rug. mimi isn't liking this turn of events, either. at least the doll isn't moving. yet.

"let's just find another way out. maybe another door?"

she doesn't mean to have it come off with such uncertainty. there were more rooms farther down the corridor that could be connected to the current one, but mimi has her suspicions about old mansions having master bedrooms connected to nurseries and not children's rooms.

the second door exists, though where it leads is up for them to find out. she nudges lance in its direction.

[attr="class","seelie"]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-drampa inactive"]

LANCE VOLLANS

[attr="class","mimi"]shifu's fourth disciple isn't followed by a fifth. at least, not quite yet. the gastly doesn't seem like she wants to join the entourage, and either way mimi's unsure of whether she could. a lifetime of training in the ways of a dragon-type would not help a ghost all that much.

their paths cross for the briefest of moments, only to separate soon after and quite possible never meet again.

[attr="class","seelie"]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-drampa"]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-dratini"]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-dratini"]

[attr="class","mimi"]there's a titter of lighthearted laughter at her friend's cheesiness. "i'm sure you'll be. you're so lovesick." it's not meant as a critique. far from it, mimi's happy for him and ava. even if she's started to feel a bit like a third wheel.

despite being the teacher here, mimi doesn't mind complying to his request. his newfound confidence is heartwarming. companionable silence fills the air as they take their positions once more. like water flowing from a water bearer's jug, each movement becomes the natural continuation of the previous move.

she closes her eyes, lost in the moment until either the song comes to an end or lance inevitably steps on her. whichever comes first.

[attr="class","seelie"]LANCE VOLLANS

[attr="class","mimi"]just like that, another dratini appears. coated in pink, its reflection paints the spring in colorful hues. if dratinis in general were known as mirages due to their rare appearances, this sight is even more so. two other baby dragons in toe (and a third resting in his pokeball), mimi approaches.

"hey there," she greets with a smile. they're entering the deeper parts of the spring. and her feet kick down to propel her forward. the dratini circles her, curious but wary. mimi lets it approach at its own leisure until, finally, her hand brushes against its soft, glossy scales.

"would you like to come along with us? you'd be sishi." the fourth.

[attr="class","seelie"]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-drampa"]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-dratini"]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-dratini"]

[attr="class","mimi"]fire and wounded legs. she needs a moment to properly process the news. her hand finds its way to her forehead, for the sole purpose of rubbing her temples against the stress. the pirates were looking for revenge, no doubt, which explains why he'd been targeted. one mishap after the other, and with a memento to remind him of each.

"really? are you really trying to get yourself killed?"

she sighs, exhausted from just hearing about his misadventures. the very prospect fills her with dread.

"what's gotten into you, lance? you weren't always this rash."

[attr="class","seelie"]LANCE VOLLANS

[attr="class","mimi"]she's so caught up in trying to figure out why they hadn't found any dragons yet, that when one does appear she needs a moment to notice and process it.

"shifu," she manages to say at last, "all yours."

growls and chirrups later, the dratini strikes. what follows isn't much of a fight, with the dratini being unable to touch the drampa even once. truly a master, that shifu. quite frankly, it's a bit like a scene taken straight out of of kung fu movie. which she supposes it's very far off. once the dratini has yielded, she approaches with a pokeball in hand. surely, the dratini would want to learn from a master like shifu after such a show.

[attr="class","seelie"]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-drampa"]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-dratini"]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-dratini"]

[attr="class","mimi"]she doesn't miss how his eyes drift down to the wounded arm. good. he should remember what happened to it. "i don't doubt it," she answers to the last sentence. she doesn't doubt he's been through worse. still, she doesn't bulge. instead, she remembers a comment from days ago and decides to use it as more ammunition.

"like your leg, right? 'not the leg again'. care to explain that?"

[attr="class","seelie"]LANCE VOLLANS

[attr="class","mimi"]the gastly doesn't make its presence immediately known. instead, it tries to give the party a scare by possessing one of the trees nearby. its frown-like gaze and mischievous grin appear on the tree's trunk, and in that moment she's reminded of a haunted mansion adventure she had many years ago. the ghost had done a very similar thing back then.

mimi isn't scared, unfortunately, but her two youngest take a race to dive onto her lap. each of her hands moves to pat each one of the head. "there, there," she soothes them. perhaps disappointed by the lack of a reaction from the trainer, the gastly flees. this person isn't fun to spoop.

[attr="class","seelie"]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-drampa"]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-dratini"]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-dratini"]

redeeming my 1x free evo
from this mission
used on this thread

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-sliggoo"] -> [attr="class","pkspr pkmn-goodra"]

[attr="class","mimi"]the sliggoo looks around. her erratic movements are telling of her anxiousness or excitement, she's not too sure. mimi watches her for a bit, gives her time to adjust to the surroundings with drops of . she may not know how long the sliggoo had lived near this islet, but it's the only place in the pokemon's earlier life that the woman knows of.

mimi lowers her gloved hands. they meet the sliggoo's head for a pat. "this is where we met. you were hiding behind a rock just like these." the act is calming and intimate, with only the pitter-patter of the rain as accompaniment. it's not until yunshi breaks away to inspect a wild goldeen that the moment, this impenetrable wall, breaks.

she smiles at the sight of the two interacting. "back then, i couldn't get you to even look at your friends, and now look at you. making new ones of your own accord." yunshi returns the gesture with a sound similar to a whine. rather than wait for yunshi to return to her, she walks over. rain keeps falling on them, until the sliggoo's absorbed all it can and begins to glow.

the woman extends her free hand towards the fish pokemon, who wraps one of her fingers in its mouth. she laughs, pulling her hand back. "i'll feed you some proper food," she offers, before looking up to watch sliggoo's evolution.

[attr="class","seelie"]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-sliggoo"]

[attr="class","mimi"]she takes a seat on the nearest tree stump. where were all the pokemon? she doesn't remember it being this hard last time. did the dratinis move habitats after her last visit? she doesn't want to believe it, but the clear lack of them makes the mind wonder. the wild tentacool's splashes distract her for a short moment, but the wait isn't given a pause.

[attr="class","seelie"]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-drampa"]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-dratini"]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-dratini"]