Chapter Text
"Isla wait!" Skye called after her, but her cousin's forlorn squeak barely echoed in the archives of her consciousness. She had to be alone, and she had to be ashamed. And no one could see it.
Her legs were already burning as she tore around a corner and found herself making friends with the murky off-white walls of the community centre. Staring at the mossy grooves in the brickwork, she crumpled under her own weight and surrendered under the desire to just… scream.
But despite her efforts, no sound left her at all. The means and the motive were both hammering at her door, desperate to be set free, but no wail of anguish, no shriek of frustration, nothing escaped.
So it just boiled down into her gently thudding her forehead against the wall. For how long was anyone's guess. It could've been a few minutes, it could've been half an hour.
Eventually…
"Isla? Something wrong?"
The voice wasn't quite enough to shock her back to her senses, but it at least stopped her bumping her head against the wall. Gravel skittered along the ground next to her, and a pair of hands steered her by the shoulders.
"Oh gods," It was Blair of all people. He'd gotten his arm back, that was good. He was still holding it funny though. That made sense. Limbs were stiff after an injury.
"Isla. Can you tell me what's wrong?" He asked. A shade paler than usual and with fear in his eyes, he nevertheless tried to keep a straight face. Tears rolled down Isla's cheeks, and despite herself, she managed a smile, but couldn't bring herself to speak.
"Do you… need help getting back up?" Blair brought his hands to meet hers. "Careful though, my arm's still funny."
Isla shook her head. She might've been fat and wobbly, but this wasn't the first time she'd dragged herself up from the bottom. With some scratching against gravel and protesting of joints, she slowly rose back to her full height, and Blair matched her energy.
"O-okay, well done," he said. "W-wanna tell me what's wrong?"
Isla nodded, but said nothing.
"…can you?" Blair frowned.
Isla shook her head.
"…right," Blair's eyes narrowed. "W-well, I can't pretend I understand what's going on, but you're not in any immediate danger, right?"
Isla shook for 'no'.
"A-and Skye's in there? Is she safe?"
Isla nodded. At least she was before Isla came out there. It was fine. She was with Tamara. Tamara would keep her safe.
"Okay then," Blair said. "Do you need to be alone a bit longer? C-cause I've to check on Skye, and I can't be in two places at once."
"…" Isla mumbled, her hands darting back and forth to the community centre. How was she supposed to say 'I'll come with you' if her answers were limited to gestures right now?
Blair frowned. "Are you sure you're okay? You seem like you don't wanna… be, right now."
Isla smiled and gave him two awkward thumbs up. It was fine. A little panic attack never hurt anyone. Life certainly couldn't just stop for her while she had one. She was just going to have to have this issue later on her own time instead of ruining everyone else's.
"…s'fine." She croaked, more or less the moment they went back through the doors together. Skye lit up at the sight of them, and more or less bundled into Isla's arms.
"You're okay!" She gasped, almost sounding emotional, dare Isla believe it. "I-I dunno what happened, but you just sort of ran away and I got worried! B-but Tamara wouldn't let me chase after you." She glowered back at the dance teacher. "Oh, hey Blair."
"Sorry sweetie, I couldn't!" Tamara called on her approach. As tall and impressive as ever as she sidled up to the three of them, she nevertheless put a comforting hand on Isla's shoulder. "Are you feeling better now, darling?"
"I um… no, not really." Isla found her voice surging back. The feral instinct to just hide and panic somewhere was still all but overwhelming, but that was going to have to wait. "But thanks for asking. A-and for looking after Skye."
"She was my wee dance partner. Weren't you lass?" Tamara beamed, and suddenly it was Skye's turn to get all self conscious and blotchy.
"N-no…" She immediately backed away from Isla, tucking herself deeper into her hoodie.
"You? Danced?" Blair approached, his eyes as wide as dinnerplates.
Pulling the strings on her hoodie tight, Skye mumbled into the fabric. "…sort of."
"Well I'll be," Blair rubbed at his eyes.
An awkwardness lingered in the air. Blair had no idea what was going on, while Isla was still clammy and upset, Skye was withdrawing further and further into herself, and the very polite and patient Tamara was just hosting them all.
"…right, so there's a wee bit to unpack here." Blair finally cleared the tension. "Isla, I think we need some sort of explanation about what happened there, wouldn't you agree?"
"Um, maybe." Isla nodded. Of course they deserved an explanation. It wasn't every day you abandon all duties and run off on your own, losing the ability to speak in the meantime. Whether her mind would let her was a different story, but she was just going to have to try. It was either that or cry.
"That's good," Blair said. "Right Skye, as you've probably seen, my arm's better."
"…oh yeah," She muttered, and he just shook his head back at her.
"'Oh yeah', she says. A-anyway, I just wanna say that I'm not gonna ask you to dance for us. That'd just be weird, and you'd hate me for it."
"Accurate," Skye nodded.
"But anyway. Let's just figure this all out together." Blair said. Neither of the girls looked ecstatic with his suggestion, but there wasn't a hint of a yes or a no. Isla shrugged and conceded; he was right.
After settling into a chair and gulping down what felt like her weight in water, graciously provided by Tamara, Isla got into explaining herself. About how Team Vital had stormed into the building, upset at a 'display of culture', and how she'd gotten her phone out to record every last detail, because of course this was earth shattering in terms of her presentation.
But then the battery died on her, and sense just went out the window. So she took control of the one thing she could, and ran outside to scream.
"Oh, so that's why," Tamara nodded. "I thought it was a bit strange," she said, and Isla felt her eye twitch. "But now I understand. It sounds like you've a lot of weight on your shoulders, and that was the final straw. Is there anything I can do to help?"
"Not unless you can recreate that entire situation, minus the bit where my battery died." Isla found a laugh, despite it all. "B-but thanks for offering. It's been a while since I had one that bad."
"And you didn't even mention the bit where the gym leader turned up." Skye added, and the memory hit Isla like a slap to the face.
"O-oh yeah! That was why my battery died in the first place. Sort of." Isla said. "I-is that why her gym's closed? She a dancer here or something?"
"Hm? Oh you mean Miss Candy?" Tamara was suddenly all smiles again. "Oh no, she just pops in on occasion. Must've been on her way to school and noticed those Team Vital goons."
"She's still in school?!" Blair gasped. "W-well that explains the weird opening hours I guess."
"Aye, she's a busy lass," Tamara nodded. "Anyway, I've to go set up the next session. Is there anything else you need?"
"I…" Isla took a moment, gaining tacit approval from the siblings. "I think we're okay. S-sorry for making things difficult for you. I didn't plan on having a panic attack in your studio…"
"Aw, who plans these things," Tamara smiled, and drew Isla into a strong hug. So strong in fact that Isla felt her feet all but leaving the floor.
"That's true. I think I just need to go somewhere and cry a bit." She sniffled.
"That's it darling. Express yourself." Tamara winked.
"Hey Isla, will this cheer you up?" Skye asked. She and Blair glanced at her in confusion, only to find that Ampster had left its Pokeball. Balanced on her hand, Ampster scuttled along the length of her arm. She nevertheless looked stony faced as it went over the shoulder, around the back of her neck, and along the other arm, it reached her fingertips before making the return journey, settling back into her right hand.
And then she just went back to holding it, as if nothing had happened.
"Oh that's cute." Blair said, and she recoiled like a cat.
"That was for Isla, not you!" She hissed.
"Well I was right here! What was I supposed to do, look away?"
"Yes! Never look at me!"
"Wouldn't that make things more awkward?"
"Probably!"
"Then maybe stop drawing attention to these things!" Blair sighed. "A-anyway Skye, that was a really nice thing you did. D-did Tamara teach you that?"
"…yeah. You were away, and Isla was off panicking, so she showed me this. Apparently it's good for balance and fitness or something."
"And you and Ampster can grow closer because of it."
And then the inevitable awkward silence washed through. Skye's little distraction was nice, but a simpler matter had come to surface;
"…now what?" Skye poked at the obvious. "We can't just stay here until the gym opens at four, can we?"
"Can if you want?" Blair shrugged.
"No Blair. I don't want. That's why I said." Skye muttered back.
"Taking on Miss Candy, are you?" Tamara called from the stage. "Don't underestimate her, lass. She might be young, but she's our gym leader for a reason. My girls couldn't hold a candle to her."
Even Skye looked a little dumbfounded at that revelation. Tamara, with her army of fighters, couldn't beat Candy?
"I-isn't that just because of type advantages?" Isla chipped in. She knew better than most that a Pokemon's type wasn't everything in a Pokemon battle. But Candy was a Ghost specialist, as far as she could tell, and Tamara here used Fighting and Psychic Pokemon. It was just a no brainer, really.
"Oh I wish, sweetie." Tamara smiled. And with that, she took her leave, but not before offering them a polite bow.
"So uh… train?" Blair suggested, his gaze following Tamara as she saunterd off backstage with her platoon of Ralts, Kirlia, Gardevoir and Twirlassie. "That'll kill a couple hours, and it sounds like you're gonna need it."
"Ugh," Skye grumbled. "Guess so. You buying me a snack first?"
"What for?"
"For learning that super cool new dance move."
"That's for your own benefit."
"Alright then, for being stuck here on my own and forced to learn a stupid dance move."
"That's not fair, we were both busy." Blair countered. "…'sides, I'm broke. Last of my money went to another tent payment."
"Well that was dumb," Skye said. "How're you gonna spoil me if you're out of money?"
"Spoil yourself, Skye. You've money too, mind." Blair folded his arms. The right was still jutting out at an awkward angle, as if he'd forgotten how to use it properly, Isla noted.
"Fiiine. But I'm not buying you any snacks."
Skye took a disgruntled lead out of Tamara's Twirls, with Blair bidding the place a friendly goodbye in her stead. The mist had started to clear up at least as she stalked down Bogness' many twisty streets, but even in the middle of the day it wasn't exactly busy. The roads were at least wide enough to accommodate two cars at once, unlike Mosskirk, but there definitely weren't enough cars to necessitate the extra lane, at least not right now. With one or two trundling past every now and again, and a smattering of locals hustling about their business, no sidetracks or distractions, it certainly didn't feel like the friendliest of towns.
"Right," Skye rubbed her hands. "First stop."
It was the same accessory shop she'd eagle-eyed last night, Isla noticed. It looked more like a fortune teller's at first glance, but the sheer volume of trinkets crammed into the store window at least shoved ambiguity aside.
"Let's not go crazy, mind." Blair cleared his throat.
"You told me to spoil myself, dear brother." Skye poked out her tongue, and disappeared through the shop's sliding doors.
"She's gonna waste all her money on useless things, isn't she?" Blair pinched his brow, leaning against the wall of the shop.
"Well with any luck, it'll teach her a lesson." Isla reassured. "Besides, it's just a little gift shop. What's the worst she could d-"
And no sooner had the thought taken flight, that Skye was back in their presence, holding a stack of what looked like cheap chocolate bars and a bright purple plastic ball?
"You two seem intent on abandoning me today." She glowered at them. "Had to find and pay for that all by myself."
"You were in there less than two minutes, Skye. Couldn't have been that hard." Blair said.
"Still." She huffed, before handing him the stack of chocolate bars. "You may have one."
"I uh," Blair's eyes scanned the stack, slowly crinkling under its own weight like a badly wrapped question mark. "Thanks, I think."
"Mhmm. Your weird hands can get them open for me." Skye said. "Also I need someone to hold them for a moment."
Sloping over to a bench nearby as Blair was still scratching his head at the dozen bars of chocolate, she set the purple ball down in her lap and retrieved Ampster's Pokeball from her belt. "So uh, how do I, um…?"
"Hmm," Blair crouched down next to her. "Never seen this happen before, I'll be honest."
Skye just stared at him, and he matched her energy flawlessly. "What, I can't know everything."
"Well why not?" She huffed. "You only know useless things, is that it?"
"Pot kettle, Miss 'I can name every volcano in Sinnoh'."
"Hey, volcanoes are awesome."
"True I suppose," Blair sighed. "Welp, let's start with letting Ampster out. Maybe it'll just… happen."
Skye shrugged in what looked like agreement, and let Ampster out of its Pokeball with the usual flash of crimson light. Comfortably ensconced in its pewter grey ball, it sat on her thigh and blinked up at the in confusion.
"H-hey there Ampster," Skye smiled down at it. "I uh, here's a new ball. It's purple."
Ampster chittered up at her obliviously. "Wacha?"
It looked from the purple ball next to it, then back up to her, repeating the movement a few times without so much as a change of expression.
"Maybe if I…" She grabbed the purple ball and started twisting at it. Her face went red with effort, but there was eventually a suctioning noise as it split in two along a hinge. Still Ampster did nothing.
"…lure it out with food maybe?" Isla shrugged. "That's the only time I've seen it out of its ball."
"I am not covering myself in food." Skye's mouth went thin.
"That's fair. Maybe if you just give it time, Ampster'll come out on its own?" Isla said. "You see it with Shuckle that outgrow their old homes."
"Aw, but I wanna see it." Skye frowned. "C'mon Ampster, don't you wanna try your new ball? It's purple!"
"I'm sure Ampster doesn't care what colour it is, Skye," Blair shook his head fondly. "Maybe it just has to happen naturally. Let's leave it for now, and head off for some training? It might be one of those overnight things."
Skye sighed, staring glumly at the little Ampster in her lap. Its eyes glittered as it shared her glance, not quite reading the room it seemed. With a pointed gesture, Skye tucked the purple ball away into her hoodie pocket, and seemingly made sure it bumped up against Ampster's before picking the little guy up. Grumbling, she tore into one of the chocolate bars, pinning Ampster between her elbow and chest. "…so where are we going?"
"Well er," Blair scratched at his head. "There's route.. what's it, seven? South of here? That's got some croftland? Maybe find some weird stuff along the coast? Depends who you're wanting to train."
"Iunno. Everyone I guess?" Skye shrugged. "Also, hurry before I eat all these Nessie Bars."
Blair shared a glance with Isla, and both offered their obligatory thanks before receiving a bar from the dwindling stack.
"Oh, so they're Rage Candy Bars?" Isla smirked, having finally broken into hers. Not a single bar, rather four or five chocolate discs with jam and nougat inside, the resemblance was uncanny, even if the name wasn't.
"Rage Candy Bar?" Blair frowned. "And I thought Nessie Bar was a weird name."
"Y-yeah," Isla smiled. "They're named like that in Johto because the factory that makes them is near the Lake of Rage. I assume here it's something to do with Bogness?"
"Mhmm, because of all the hills." Blair nodded right, where a seemingly endless spine of hills followed along their route out of town.
"If only there were that many in a packet." Skye grumbled, having polished off her sixth one. Ampster remained clueless in her arms, just vibing along as the houses started thinning out, and the flatlands opened up into boggy fields. Green and yellowing grasses, pebbledashed with gooey looking mud puddles and skittering with life, it looked like a great place to get some training done, Isla noted. Even if it was just for the awkward terrain.
"This place will help your endurance I reckon." She said, already feeling the ground squelch underfoot. "I can't even see the actual route any more."
"Aye, you hear tales of folk getting stuck in the bogs all the time," Blair said. "They look like solid ground, but some idiot takes a wrong step and whoomp," He grabbed Skye by the arm, "they're up to their waist in filth."
Skye tried to wrestle her way out of his grip, "Aw c'mon Blair, I'm not that dumb."
"Then let's be smarter," he gave her a serious look. Folding his arms, Blair began ranting, "you can't just dash off like that Skye, especially in a place like this."
"Uh, Blair?" She muttered, and Isla nudged her.
"Sshh, let him finish."
"But-"
"Sshhh…!" Isla put a finger to her lips. Skye looked back at her, a curve in her brow, but dropped her argument.
"You've got to tread carefully around here, Skye," Blair raised an oblivious finger, his point slowly sinking in. "Remember just a few minutes ago? How I said people get stuck in bogs? They just sink in, right up to their waist, and… when'd you get so tall?"
Finally opening his eyes, Blair looked around to find himself at shoulder height with his little sister.
"Remind me again what you said about being careful?" She smirked, resting her elbow on his head. Both girls descended into giggles, and Blair just frowned up at the pair of them.
"…I guess I walked into that one," he managed a smirk. "Welp, better me than you. You're small enough already."
"Oh? What's that?" Skye cupped a hand to her ear, "Sounded like 'oh S-Skye, I'm a horrible brother! Please leave me here!'."
"Like you'd be able to help anyway, Miss Missy." Blair hit back immediately. Locking his hands around Isla's wrists, she heaved and ho'd, and huffed and puffed, and slowly dragged him out of the muck. "Whew! Sorry about that Isla. You okay?"
"I'll be alright," Isla unstuck a stitch in her chest with some deep breathing. "Just… take your own advice, okay?"
Blair snorted. "At least someone here's got their head screwed on."
Following Blair's 'distraction', the three of them made careful progress around obvious boggy patches, sticking to what looked like grass or rocks or, on occasion, sand. With Ampster scuttling alongside her, seemingly enamoured by the little trail it left behind in the mucky shingle, Skye at least looked ready to train against the local wildlife. In crofting fields, the expected Mareep and Wooloo bounced around nonchalantly, while Isla spied another Chickter squirming about in the distance, and possibly the ginger bowlcut of a local Ralts, sat on a grassy knoll, minding its own business.
In marshier areas, she recognised the squat snuffling of a Brogue, camouflaged a little too well amongst the muddy grasses, while colonies of Dwebble congregated together on the beach, seemingly celebrating the tide going out. For the first time since Isla had arrived in Kildo, she finally felt like she recognised every Pokemon she could see. It would've been a momentous occasion, had a bizarre looking bird Pokemon not swooped overhead.
Missing her scalp by inches, Isla could feel the talons swoosh overhead as the black and white feathered menace shot past. With bright red eyes, and what looked like a sharp stick or something in its orange beak, it only cemented itself as a mystery. One that grew to new heights when Wingull suddenly burst out of its Pokeball, looking as livid as its expressionless dot eyes could manage.
"I, uh," Isla flummoxed, crouching down to meet Wingull's glare. "Something wrong, Wingull?"
"Wing!" It cawed up at the skies, and the flying enigma skirting the horizon paid it no heed.
"You almost got Chibbed. Maybe that's why it's mad." Blair said.
"Chibbed…?" Isla tried to parse the unfamiliar word, but there wasn't so much as a clue to go on. The closest she had was a vague memory from a few days ago. "Like Chibb…er?"
"Ayup," Blair nodded. "That's your flying nuisance up there, Chibber. Smarter than your average Wingull, they've learned to-"
"WING!"
Suddenly Wingull had a new enemy. Launching itself at Blair, it hit him square in the stomach with the force of a feathery cannon ball, sending them both tumbling to the ground.
"You sure are putting your foot in it today, huh?" Skye just grimaced at him.
"Aw c'mon, you know I don't mean it personally!" Blair protested, wrenching Wingull from his shirt. With the shred of ripping fabric, it tore a strip as a souvenir, and he just held it in his hands like a furious hamburger. "…sorry, Wingull. I didn't mean to upset you."
"He's clearly smart enough to get insulted." Isla took it back, where it coughed out the strip of Blair's shirt onto the ground with a splat. "That doesn't explain why it hates Chibber though."
"Either because it almost attacked you, or because it's competition." Skye said. "The Pokedex said something about it, mind."
"It did…?" Isla frowned. Tucking Wingull under one arm, it just sat there while she fished her Pokedex out again;
'Chibber, the Hunting Bird Pokemon', it crackled. 'Using sticks or other sharp implements, Chibber has learned how to use tools to pry open the shells of Clampinch. This ability has given it the edge over Wingull, which has been forced to look for food elsewhere.'
"Huh," she mumbled. "The more you know. So they're like, rivals or something?"
"Wouldn't call it that," Blair said, "Chibber are faster, stronger, more aggressive, sma-"
"WING!" Wingull shrieked at him again.
"Okay, okay! I'm sorry Wingull but it's true! But you're smart and strong and tough too, okay?!"
"Maybe stop complimenting its enemy and it'll stop attacking you." Skye was the unexpected voice of reason.
"…I just wanted to say the thing…" Blair put a foot down defiantly, only for the ground itself to shake underneath him. Loosing a cloud of shingly sand, the messy tuft of grass lifted up with a gruff sounding roar.
"Tuff!"
"Will you ever watch where you walk?" Skye groaned at him. "Ampster, let's clear up Blair's mess. Give it a Rollout!"
"Machu!" Ampster chirped, tumbling forward into a Rollout and crashing right into the Croftuff. Its squishy, sandy body seemed to disintegrate upon contact, but then rebuild itself effortlessly, if anything appearing stronger than before.
"Ohh, that's a bad matchup Skye," Blair wobbled back to his feet.
"Well I don't see either of youse offering to help," she growled back. "C'mon Ampster, let's build up that Rollout! It'll have to start hurting eventually!"
Blair and Isla looked to each other for a moment. Was she actually asking for help? He reached for a Pokeball, but Isla was already there; "You heard her Wingull. Support with a Wing Attack!"
"Gull!" Wingull swooped, clawing the Croftuff with the edge of its wing. Once again, it recoiled from the attack, but like someone slapping a jelly, just regained its form more or less immediately, looking stronger than ever. Ampster's Rollout collided, with more force than the last, and still achieved little, where Ampster basically just burrowed into its sandy body rather than actually harming it.
Croftuff let out a murky roar in response, and belched out a wealth of sand at Ampster, which swirled and surrounded it. Ground to a halt by sheer friction, Ampster was trapped within the Sand Tomb, and in visible pain.
"Oh dear," Isla gulped. "Wingull, Agility! See if you can blow that sand away!"
Wingull honked at her, and picked up speed. Moving so quickly it looked like there were several of it at once, it took laps circling the Sand Tomb, whipping up a breeze. The sand dissipated a little under Wingull's efforts, but Ampster remained trapped within.
"Don't do that! Just attack the Croftuff already!" Skye cried. "Ampster can't handle this one by himself."
"It's your training session Skye. I'm just your support, remember?" Isla said. "Ampster can win if we work together, got it?"
Meanwhile Croftuff seemed to be eating sand. Stockpiling the filth within its body, it was growing bigger and tougher by the second.
"…you sure on that?" She frowned.
"Of course! There's always a way." Isla smiled. "First things first, let's get you out of this Sand Tomb. Another Agility, Wingull!"
Wingull peeped, and took off at mach speed, circling the trapped Ampster in its sandy whirlpool. Creating a little twister of its own from the sheer speed it was travelling at, it generated enough wind to blow the sand away, liberating Ampster at last.
"Well that's very nice, but it's just gonna do that again, and we'll have both wasted our," Skye began, but took to a moment's thought. "Hang on. Ampster, can you use Follow Me, but on Wingull?"
Isla shared a smile with Blair, who had finally stopped looking mortified at himself. "That sounds like a plan, Skye. Give it a whirl."
"Wacha?" Ampster chittered back at her. After a moment's confusion, it summoned the distracting lights of Follow Me, but launched them over in Wingull's direction, where they exploded like tiny fireworks. Wingull understandably panicked at the sight, but kept its nerve, and didn't flinch at all when Croftuff's retaliatory Sand Tomb started whirling towards it, doing exactly nothing to an opponent five feet in the air.
"Now we're cooking with gas!" Isla cheered. "Okay Skye, want Wingull to attack while Ampster runs distraction?"
"O-okay yeah, do that." Skye muttered, and Wingull shot forward, battering the Croftuff with its outstretched wing. Croftuff staggered back a couple of paces from the impact, but once again barely looked hurt.
"You might be here a while," Blair mumbled. "Looks like that one's got Stamina as its ability."
"I gathered that already," Skye just gave him a very flat looking stare, and he withdrew into himself once again. "Okay Ampster, keep doing the same thing with Follow Me! It'll go down eventually!"
And teamwork got the wheels turning, as Wingull repeatedly struck Croftuff's toughening hide with Wing Attack, and its attempts at attacking were led astray by Follow Me. When it wasn't attacking, it was Stockpiling more sand, occasionally Spitting it Up or Swallowing it down, but there was only so many attacks it could take before Wingull's endless barrage of Wing Attacks would eventually wear it out.
"Okay, it's looking weak Wingull! One more time?!" Isla commanded, only for Ampster to barrel past instead. "Hunh?!"
"Time to finish it Ampster! One last Rollout!" Skye cried imperiously, and Wingull had to take emergency precautions to get out of the way in time. Battered and wobbling, Croftuff looked like it was about to fall over from its own bodyweight, yet when Ampster crashed into it with Rollout… nothing much happened.
Like it was attacking a brick wall, Ampster collided with a heavy thud, and was repelled almost immediately. Croftuff retaliated with another Sand Tomb, trapping the little Ampster in another vortex of sand, and the beleaguered squeak from within said it all.
The whirl of sand fell flat, leaving Ampster partially buried in it, and fully unconscious.
Croftuff snorted at them, and slowly shuffled away again.
"Oh, Skye…" Isla pinched her brow.
Blair opened his mouth, and Isla could practically hear the lecture piecing itself together on his tongue, so she put up a hand to stop that mess before it started.
"Oh, what?" She groaned, kneeling down to pick up her comatose Ampster. "I just wanted to finish it off! Why should Wingull get all the glory?"
Wingull just squeaked at her indignantly, and Isla sighed, "It's not about the glory, Skye. It's about making the right move. That Croftuff had toughened itself up so much that Rollout wasn't going to hurt it at all. Even Wingull was barely hurting it at that point."
"B-but it was so weak!" Skye flailed.
"Not weak enough." Isla smiled. "Tell me Skye, why do you think Bug Pokemon spend all their time using Harden?"
"Because it's all they know?" She glowered.
"…well, that," Isla tilted her head, "And because it's all they can do. There's a subtle difference there, do you see it?"
"I-I'm not good with subtle," Skye said flatly, and even Blair was looking at Isla in bemusement.
"Fair enough," Isla said. "Bugs keep using Harden because it protects them from damage. Use it enough, and they won't get hurt. But it's not just that. Ampster and Wingull were working well together because they were doing what they could to beat that Croftuff. But the moment you went off script and tried to finish it with Rollout, it all went wrong. Am I making sense?"
"Ungh…" Skye frowned up at her. "No. Not at all."
"…that's fair," Isla's head fell forward. "I-it's not an easy concept to grasp. I didn't get it at all when I was learning about these things."
With her hands on her little cousin's shoulders, Isla took a more concise approach. "Pace yourself, Skye. Why run at the goal when you've got a teammate who can score?"
"I uh, don't understand sports either." Skye chuckled. "B-but I think I get what you're saying. If I just let Wingull finish it off, we wouldn't have wasted 20 minutes attacking the stupid Croftuff, and now we've gotta go back to the Pokecentre to heal Ampster."
"That's the gist of it," Isla squeezed her shoulder, and she just returned a seasick look. "Right, wanna try again? I'm sure Shangle would love a play in the shallows."
"But what about Ampster?" Skye cried.
"We've wasted enough time already, Skye." Blair said.
"I'll waste you," Skye threw a fist at him, hitting with all the force of a loose acorn. "There's no way I'm just leaving Ampster like this!"
"Then hug your Pokemon tight, and let it know you're sorry for your mistake." Blair growled, his voice surprisingly venomous.
Without so much as an argument, Skye wrapped her arms tightly around Ampster's ball, and the little creature inside blinked up at her blearily. "Wachuuum…!"
"Another important lesson," Isla added. "Maybe one taught a little harshly, but hey. If you're constantly doubling back on yourself, you'll never go forward."
"…sure?" Skye frowned. Grabbing another Pokeball from her belt, she released Shangle onto the beach, who immediately delighted in splashing about. The tide was receding, but that didn't seem to matter, as there was more than enough sandy mud for everyone. Something Shangle felt no shame in demonstrating as it covered everything within a ten foot radius. Proving proficient with its Whirlpools, capturing and harassing anything dumb enough to be in the sea nearby, it wasn't long before they started lifting off the ground, launching themselves at opponents to become a Water Pulse.
"Ooh, now there's an interesting development," Blair cheered her on, as Scrambilly smacked into a wandering Dwebble with its Rock Smash. Scrambilly then immediately fell over, and Dwebble took its chance to counter with a Fury Cutter, but Wingull's Aqua Jet knocked it back just in time.
"Good thinking, Isla!" Blair called, "Okay Scrambilly, you think you can finish it?"
"Mehhhh?!" Scrambilly bleated, wobbling about in the sand.
"Should I?" Isla asked, and Wingull looked ready to go.
"Mm, maybe," Blair scratched his head. But Dwebble withdrew into its shell, and Wingull's Aqua Jet just ricocheted off it, dealing next to no damage.
"Hmm," Isla put her hands on her waist. "Clever little bugger…"
"Right then," Blair chewed his lip. "Okay Scrambilly, I want you to aim carefully with your Horn Attack. Right there in that opening, you see it?"
Scrambilly just poked its tongue out in response. What that meant, Isla wasn't about to guess, but in any case, it took a moment to focus, and balance, and lowered its horn like a jousting spear. Kicking up half the beach as it built momentum, that short stubby horn clattered into Dwebble's shell, cracking the surface and breaking straight through!
"Dwebbb!" The Dwebble cried, launched into the air. Its shell broken into several pieces from the impact, the now homeless Dwebble was left flailing on its back.
"Alright, good hit!" Blair cried, kneeling down to hug Scrambilly. It took off before he could properly wrap his arms around it, and ended up dragging him a few metres across the beach, but the intent was there.
Meanwhile Skye was busy examining the homeless Dwebble. Kneeling over it, Ampster watching from the safety of her other hand, her fingers were twitchy and hesitant to avoid claws and pincers.
"There you go, little guy…" she carefully tipped it back onto its feet. It looked up at her, huffed, and scuttled away to the rockpools a few feet away. As if by magic, it reappeared with a shiny new shell just moments later.
"Huh," She muttered. "So if Ampster breaks its old ball, it'll move into the new purple one I got for it?"
Suddenly, Isla noticed the graphite stains on her palms.
"I'd say you shouldn't jump the gun, Skye." She cleared her throat. "That Dwebble found a new shell because it really needed one, otherwise some Wingull would've carried it off."
"This one in particular?" Blair snickered, and Wingull just glared at him in response. Clearly he was still on thin ice.
"Wouldn't put it past him," Isla smirked, scratching Wingull's chin. "If you break Ampster's old ball just so it'd move into the new one, I don't think it'd like that very much."
Her gaze drifted over to the colony of Dwebble, still amidst a hearty conversation. One popped out of its old shell, meekly testing the sand beneath its spindly feet, before scuttling off and finding a new home. Ensconced in roomier comfort, the Dwebble exalted to itself, before a smaller one tumbled along and shuffled into its old shell. The process repeated, and suddenly a whole bunch of Dwebble had new homes of their own volition.
"Ohh," Skye looked down at the steely grey sphere against her chest. Ampster loafed on the floor inside of it, bruised and battered, but comfy and contented. "But I spent a lot of money on that new ball…"
"And Ampster will thank you for it when it's ready," Blair nudged her. "You can't rush things, Skye. You should know that better than anyone…"
Her lip wobbled, and she divorced his gaze, staring down to her right. "…yeah."
Time soldiered on, and the mist finally burned away, leaving them with a coy afternoon sunshine. Their training session had bore fruit, with Nausenyah learning to channel its Poison Gas into a bite, and Woolite's Defence Curl springing forwards into a Headbutt. Ampster of course just languished in Skye's arms, too weak to battle, but progress was made across the board, with Chickter's confidence growing, and Scrambilly falling over less often.
Of course though, things were about to change as four o'clock neared. With a slow but determined trip back to Bogness, Skye's preparations for her upcoming gym battle - with a quick stop at the Pokecentre - were held up at the door.