Chapter Text
The three kids and their Pokemon were utterly pinned. Jasper’s smug smirk grew as her Rhyhorn stretched out intimidatingly, almost lazily, as if it knew it could crush them with just one move.
Amethyst and Vidalia stared wide-eyed at each other from the brush they hid in, their gazes crossing between each other and the indignant Pearl that stood before two such monstrous behemoths. Jasper was a head taller than her, maybe even more, and yet Amethyst watched as Pearl only smirked back and whistled.
This kid had guts.
Amethyst and Vidalia dashed from their hiding spots, the latter letting out Fang from his Pokeball. Rosarie dive bombed the Rhyhorn’s face from an unknown direction, Galahad slashing at its hide once before Amethyst and Vidalia stepped sic-ed their own Pokemon on it.
Patty Cake tackled its side, Fang slashing once or twice before backing off.
The attack ceased when Jasper laughed, low and unsettling in the small clearing they stood in. When everyone stepped back, shaken, the Rhyhorn looked barely damaged.
With a small, lazy flourish of her hand, Jasper spoke two words. “Rhyhorn, Earthquake.”
The ground began to rumble as the creature stamped its feet once. The three kids looked at each other, afraid. Then, it broke. Fissures appeared across the small clearing as it stamped its feet again, roaring and going harder and harder until the land was marred by the attack. Galahad was knocked down, Patty Cake and Fang both cast aside. Thankfully, none were near the fissures, but the kids had to hold onto the trees just to stay standing.
Their eyes widened in fear, realizing their Pokemon were almost out cold; all except for Rosarie due to the Ground move being ineffective against a Flying Pokemon. With the grin Jasper gave at the bird, however, they had a feeling that wouldn’t last long.
The air went cold. They could see their breath puff out of their mouths in desolate, wispy clouds. They had lost.
“Rhyhorn, Rock S-”
Before the last syllable could leave her mouth, they heard an oddly familiar voice bark a command. “Gallade, Magical Leaf!”
A harsh barrage of leaves hit the Rhyhorn’s hide with great intensity, knocking it out in one go. As it fell to the ground, fainted, Jasper’s hands clenched into fists as she tensed with all her outrage. “WHO’S THERE?” She screamed, starting to run towards the woods where the Pokemon had come from.
Before she could get far, a white and green humanoid Pokemon had her pinned to the ground. It was already an impressive feat, the kids’ eyes wide in wonder and slight fear. Then, Garnet stepped out of the woods.
When the fuck did SHE get there? For a moment, the kids could only sit there and watch as they tried to comprehend what was happening before them with such speed they barely had time to react.
“I believe you need to stop terrorizing these kids,” Garnet spoke, her voice calm, cool, and collected as always. Her Gallade stepped off of Jasper, the woman scrambling backwards to gather her senses.
“What are you doing here?! Besides, THEY started it!” Jasper barked, clutching at the grass and moving slowly toward her fainted Rhyhorn.
“The question is,” Garnet adjusted her glasses here,”What are YOU doin here? I also don't care who started it. I'm finishing it.”
“My job!” The woman’s gravelly voice could only raise in volume the more angry she got. “What's it to you! These kids came and interrupted me, what am I supposed to do when they interfere with my work?!”
“Play nice,” Garnet said simply. Then, she was suddenly by Jasper’s side, seizing her up to get close to her face, muttering intimidating words. The atmosphere suddenly seemed to gain a lot of warmth, sweat starting to bead across everyone’s skin. “Now leave.”
Jasper seemed to study her new opponent for a minute, trying to see if she should fight. However, something seemed to put her off. She shoved Garnet’s fist from her shirt, returned Rhyhorn to its pokeball, picked up her stuff, then left, all in one smooth motion. As she walked away, she paused to look over her shoulder,”This isn't over.”
Then, she was gone.
Garnet turned around slowly. As she did, the air seemed to drop a few degrees to a more comfortable temperature. “Are you three okay?”
They all stood in shock for a minute, still trying to process the events that just occurred. Garnet was patient, allowing them a moment before Pearl nodded a couple times.
“D’you know what she was up to?”
Amethyst and Vidalia both looked at Pearl, the one who had gotten a closer look at the action. She took a deep breath, sighed, and spoke, her voice shaking ever so slightly,”Sh-she, um...had a Pokemon, and was taking...samples? From it?”
Garnet nodded once before turning her gaze to the ground to search for any clues.
“If it helps...she said this was her job,” Pearl added, holding her arm with a pale hand. In response, Garnet only grunted and stood up.
The huge teenager looked around at the three kids for a few moments. Her expression couldn’t be read behind those sunglasses, the air growing ever colder around them. Something felt wrong.
“...stay safe,” was all she said. Then, she left as abruptly as she had arrived, her Gallade following close behind.
The three kids watched her go, a moment of silence allowing them to stall any other reactions they had. Pearl slowly dropped her back to begin looking through it for potions, berries, revive, anything to help their fallen companions. Vidalia and Amethyst found their respective Pokemon, carrying them close to Pearl’s bag in uncharacteristic quietness.
Amethyst pondered everything that had just happened. The strange woman, what she was doing, Garnet appearing out of nowhere...all of the changes in temperature, as well. Why did that happen so much, lately? What was the strange woman doing? How did Garnet find them…?
As her head continued to fill with questions and uncertainties, she decided to break the void filling the air between everyone with the most obvious one. “What the hell just happened?”
Vidalia laughed, Pearl couldn't help but smile. Relatable humor is always the funniest, and the question pinpointed all of the thoughts in the most oddly precise way.
Pearl shrugged as she pulled out a few berries she had found. “I don't know, honestly. Whatever it is...it seems very important.”
Vidalia cradled Fang in her arms, waiting for ways to revive him as she responded. “Yeah, like some kinda story conflict or something. This is where it gets intense.”
“If and only if we allow it to,” Pearl sounded rather strict on this,”and I’d much rather not.”
“Why not? At least something interesting is happening now,” Amethyst almost whined about it despite knowing how dangerous a prospect it was.
Pearl confirmed this immediately after. “Interesting, yes, but quite obviously dangerous. That Rhyhorn is far too powerful, and we can't always expect Garnet to save us. That was utter luck,” she revived Galahad and handed the two others some potions to help their own Pokemon.
Vidalia sighed as she got Fang to sit up. “We didn't ask for this. Let's just find the next town and keep going, maybe it won't happen again?”
“I wouldn't count on that. Whatever she was doing, it looked like it wasn't the only thing she was out here to do.”
“Yeah, but what if it WAS?” Amethyst nudged Pearl a bit as Patty Cake began to wake up.
“Again, wouldn't count on it,” her hands went still. Something seemed to be bothering her now, it was in the way her eyebrows furrowed into little wrinkles and how her hands made such gentle contact with each other in her lap, the worried gaze that set itself upon the ground.
“...you alright, P?” The kid couldn't help but ask, nudging her again just a little.
“Yeah, I just…” Pearl sighed, looking at the burn scars on her arms before steeling herself and standing. “We should go, just in case she comes back.”
“And if she does…?” Vidalia asked, standing with her.
“Then we’ll hope for another miracle.”
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Their journey continued for a while; silent and tense in light of what had just happened. At every twig snap, every single little rustle in the leaves, they jumped, looking for the monstrous woman that could have easily killed them all. Even their Pokemon hung much closer, scared to suffer another defeat from such a powerful enemy.
Skittishness wasn't their only problem, either. As they continued, it became apparent that Pokemon were scarce. From what Pearl said, this wasn't normal. Even if wild Pokemon shy from humans, you should still see one or two around the area, curiously gazing. There were none where they walked; this had to be a bad sign.
“Hey, Pearl…?” Amethyst asked, wanting for anything at all to break the tight springs coiled close in the air between them.
“Yes?” She sounded relieved; they wanted the same thing.
“Where are all those burn scars from?”
“That's a long story…” The pale kid sighed, staring at the ground ahead of them. How she said this wasn't uninviting, simply...exhausted sounding, and ever so slightly hesitant.
“We got time, if you're willing,” Vidalia decided to join with a gentle tone, goading her onward.
For a moment, she allowed the tension to unravel before deciding to say anything. “Something...bad happened. A while ago. Remember when I told you where Galahad was from…?”
“That he was made from a sword his owner had nearby when they died…?” Amethyst nodded and recollected the information.
“I was there.” The words were grave, recounting some kind of horror and pain they knew she probably wouldn't express through words, at least not yet. “I had to escape a burning building. I found him when I returned once the fire was out, and...now I'm here.”
“Holy shit…” Vidalia’s eyes widened, for once opening past her normal half-lidded gaze to look at Pearl with astonishment. “How did you survive?”
“I was lucky,” she put it simply,”As you could tell…” here, she put a hand on Galahad’s pommel,”not everyone made it.”
There was something heartbreaking in her tone, in the way she looked down at him with some sort of longing that would never be appeased. It was a hopeless look, somehow filled with pain and regret.
“Are you ever gonna tell us the full story?” Amethyst prodded, trying to be gentle through her clumsy words.
“Not right now, sorry,” Pearl sighed,”I would rather not think much more about it.”
“You're shutting your feelings out, then?” The short girl asked, trying ever harder to sound more gentle. She watched Pearl blinked her blue eyes in a slow way, shutting them tight for a few seconds before opening them again.
“If you knew, this is what you would do, too.”
“But we DONT know. Doesn't misery need company and all that jazz?”
Pearl stopped and looked at Amethyst for a moment. When she opened her mouth to speak, however, they heard another noise. This time it was outraged, angry screaming from some Pokemon that was responded to by a slightly raspy voice shouting something incomprehensible due to distance.
As the noises died away for a moment, the three looked at each other.
“Do we go for it?” Vidalia asked, an obvious question.
“The voice isn't Jaspers,” Amethyst pointed out, not sure if she'd rather have something happen or stay safe on the trail.
“Yeah, but it could be someone worse. What do you think, Pearl?”
The pale kid stood for a moment, running her fingers over a few scars on her arm while staring into the distance pensively. “I think...we should check it out, just to see how bad it is. Then maybe we can tell someone or something. However, avoid interaction at all costs. We don't need another Jasper situation.”
The two others nodded in confirmation.
It's not like there was much else to do. Plus, maybe they’d save another Pokemon.