Chapter Text
“Honey, I’m so proud of you!” The phone spoke, as its owner held it close to her own ear. “Just imagine Malaya, you’re already so strong, you could be the Champion if you want to!” She grinned.
“Thanks mom. I’m not sure if I’m ready to tackle the Championship yet though…which is why I’m heading to the Isle of Armor,” Malaya looked out over the side of the cart she was in, looked at the endless waves. Shuddering, she sat back down next to her Torracat.
“It’s always good to be prepared! Championship season doesn’t start for another six months in Galar anyway, you know,”
“How do you know so much about Galar? I hadn’t even heard of the place until…well, recently,” Malaya wasn’t entirely sure how well it would go over that she had heard of the place from three men with extremely strange hair, one of which was apparently a famous marksman.
“I used to live there! Left when I was a teen though, it just wasn’t…enough, for me I suppose. Then when I came to Hoenn I met your father, and we discovered we were soulmates,” Her mother gave a sigh that Malaya almost couldn’t hear over the wind. “He was a good man, but shy you know. He at first wouldn’t meet my eye, kept looking everywhere else when I was just drawn to them. Then after a while he gave in and we locked eyes, and oh Malaya, I hope you will someday know the pleasure of getting to lock eyes with your soulmate for the first time…our timers went off then, and of course the next day we were on a date!” Malaya frowned, eyeing the place where her timer was hidden by a black wristwatch.
“Yeah. You’ve told me that story. Multiple times,” She frowned.
“Of course I have! I want you to be excited to meet your soulmate, and speaking of him, how does your timer look? When you first left home it hadn’t started glowing at all yet, has anything changed?” Malaya grit her teeth, looking away from the watch back to the Fire Cat by her side.
“I don’t know. I haven’t looked at it since I left home,”
“You haven’t looked at it for three years? That’s impossible,” Her mother scoffed.
“No it’s not. I bought a watch that covers it,” Malaya answered, and then there was silence on the other end. “Look mom, I only got the timer because you wanted to, and I wanted you to be happy. But it really stunk to have just a black screen staring up at me all the time, okay?”
“...I understand. But that could only mean that you won’t meet them for a long time, not that–”
“I know, but it still stinks okay? And besides, I have other things to worry about than my soulmate and looking all over the world for them, turning into those stupid lovesick girls you always see on the tv,” She paused for a beat. “That doesn’t mean you were a lovesick girl, but–”
“I understand you’re frustrated, honey. But maybe it wouldn’t be so bad, you know? Maybe if you looked now–” Malaya cut her mom short.
“Listen mom, I’m not going to do that and besides, I think we’re going to land soon. Talk to you later, love you,” click. Shaking her head Malaya laid down and curled up on her side, her Torracat–named Ruby–slumped against her back now. After a moment or two, she brought the watch close to her face. What if, if she took it off, what if it actually glowed? What if, there was something there? What if she had a chance with someone? No. She tucked that arm behind her head. Not happening. All those what ifs still didn’t stop the possibility of there still being nothing there.
Hey. The voice in her mind sounded a bit sleepy, Ruby must’ve woken up. It’ll be fine, alright? Chasing after a mate all your life isn’t wise, they’ll show up when you need them.
I sure hope so . Malaya thought back before closing her eyes, maybe there was a chance of her getting some sleep before she landed?
XXX
Malaya, get up! We landed. Something was nudging into the back of her head, Ruby’s paw.
“We did? Man that was quick,” Stretching, she slowly got to her feet, yawning. “I can’t wait to get there and get some proper sleep,” even though it just a couple hours into the afternoon, Malaya found herself wistfully thinking about climbing in bed and taking another catnap with Ruby…the time difference from Alola to Galar was catching up to her.
Sleepyhead. Malaya ignored the Fire Cat as they stepped out of the Corviknight Taxi, apparently in a building of some kind. Clomp, clomp. Her shoes echoed as she walked further in, over to one of the benches nearby. After taking a seat, she looked around at the building, there was a desk a few feet away with a magazine rack on it, there was a few more benches that people were vacating to get on the taxi, and a couple security guards who were standing by the walls. I love it when places like this have funny floors. Ruby paws at the tiled floor, jumping around and trying to stay on one color, but ultimately failing.
“You get an A for effort. I wonder when our escort is supposed to get here, it’s not like we weren’t on time or anything,” Malaya kept looking, but there didn’t seem to be very many people who looked like they belonged in a dojo there, just an old couple who didn’t board the Taxi.
Maybe they’re waiting outside. Ruby suggested. Can we go now? I wanna see the island!
“Yeah sure,” she stood up and walked past the front desk–the lady there pointed out the front door–and turned to go when she saw someone strut in, she did a double take as they walked forward, already observing the building until eventually stopping in front of her. What are they wearing ?
It looks ridiculous Ruby commented. They were wearing a what appeared to be a long sleeved shirt with shorts, which were bright purple with splashes of neon red, blue, and yellow all over them, in swirly patterns. They were also wearing a top hat that had pokeballs floating around them like a halo, and glasses, the lenses of which were too fogged up for her to see anything, how were they even seeing?
“Hi,” She extended a hand, even though she was still looking at their outfit. They–or he, she was assuming from his height–was wearing some sort of necktie that was very frilly and extended down in the shape of a triangle. He looked down at her with his glasses still fogged up and didn’t take her outstretched hand.
“Hm. You are the trainer I am supposed to be guiding, correct?” He frowned.
“Yeah,” Malaya put her hand back in her pocket, squinting. “Got an issue?”
“Of course not! The Master Dojo is welcoming to all who choose to join,” He looked away, scowling, before marching out of the station. “Meet me outside, if you will,”
Oh what a wonderful first impression. Ruby growled, plodding forward. Her trainer followed a few steps behind. How does he even see out of those stupid glasses anyway?
“Maybe they’re like those ones that darken in the sunlight? Or one way glass,” she muttered, hoping that no one would pick up her voice. Didn’t need to be labelled a crazy person right after she got here, this person already didn’t seem to approve of her being there. Maybe they’re just having a bad day… “So, what’s your name?” She asked as she pushed the doors open to see them standing with her back to her, before freezing. They had a lot of hair, she realized. It was blonde, and travelled halfway down their back, but it still looked well kept.
“My name is Avery,” Avery answered after a moment, turning away from what they were looking at. Malaya looked past him and saw the beach in the distance, feet carrying her past him to get a better look.
“Wow,” She whispered, Malaya was never a fan of large bodies of water but she had to admit the beach looked stunning with the waves sparkling in the sunlight, and the sand looking warm and inviting.
“Tch, your first time here I am assuming,” Avery scoffed behind her. “It’s not all pretty. In fact, it’s rather dangerous here,” Malaya ignored him, and so did Ruby. “...so much so, that I am not entirely sure you are up to the challenge of staying here. Our dojo is rather intense you know,” At that, she paused, nudging Ruby with her foot.
Come on, stay calm. She tried to warn the Fire Cat, but it was no good. Ruby began to growl, loud enough so that Avery could hear it, and flicked her tail.
“I would also suggest you keep control of your Pokemon there. You cannot just let it do whatever it pleases,” Malaya spun around and glared at him–more accurately his hat.
“What’s your problem?! First off her name is Ruby , second off that’s not your business, she is very well behaved and doesn’t like being in her Pokeball, and thirdly? I bet she, even if she isn’t fully evolved, could beat whatever thing you’ve got up there,” she gestured to his hat “We could wipe the floor with you,” One of the Pokeballs, she noticed, began floating a bit higher than the rest of them.
“Oh you think so? Then why don’t we test that, and see if you really can handle what this Isle has to offer,” He stepped back and she looked down at Ruby, who grinned. “We’ll see who the better trainer is then,” Avery sneered.
“Yeah, one for one,” She watched Ruby jump in front of her, digging her claws into the earth as Avery bowed, one of his floating Pokeballs somehow ending up flying forward and opening to reveal what looked like a Slowbro, but it had a shell on its hand as opposed to its tail. What’s that?
She snatched her Pokedex out of her pocket and pointed at the strange Slowbro, “Galarian Slowpoke: This regional variant, unlike regular Slowpoke, will wait for a Shellder to clamp onto its hand instead of its tail. The Slowbro will then use the toxins from the Shellder to gain the Poison type,” It’s typing was Psychic and Poison, but Malaya didn’t doubt it would have a water-type move. Unfortunately, she had to admit it was a smart move.
“We’ll show you what actual strength looks like. Slowbro, use Scald!” Their opponent raised their hand and let out a jet of water aimed directly at Ruby, who rolled out of the way.
Alright Ruby, just use Shadow Claw until it goes down. The Fire Cat nodded, allowing a dark energy to surround her front claws before running forward, avoiding the jets of water to land several scratches on the Slowbro. Then, as it tried to smack her with its shell she jumped on top of its head and kicked off, getting some distance.
It’s a lot sturdier than I expected . Ruby frowned, gathering flames in her mouth. She spat it at her opponent, who stumbled back.
Just go for it now! It can’t have that much health left. Malaya instructed, ignoring whatever commands Avery was giving his Pokemon. He had been gloating the entire time, so she just tuned everything but Ruby’s mental voice out.
“Mrrooeewrr!!” Ruby landed a final blow while Slowbro was off balance, knocking it out.
Easy peasy! Who’s the weak one now! Ruby crowed, trotting over to her trainer with a smirk on her face.
“You didn’t give your Pokemon any commands. That’s bad training, you know,” Avery scowled as Malaya gave Ruby a good petting session as thanks.
“Oh I gave her commands alright,” She smirked. It’s nice that you have enough space to improvise though. She directed that thought towards Ruby, who purred.
“...” Avery didn’t move, but when she looked up she noticed that his hands were balled tightly into fists, and that he appeared to be gritting his teeth. “Well. I am quite sorry to say that I don’t think you qualify for our dojo. We have very high standards,”
“Not high enough” she muttered, glaring at his shoes. They appeared to be clogs of some sort, with very long frilly socks. “Also you’re one to talk about being qualified, Ruby and I just mopped the grass with you,”
“I was going easy on you! I was only using three percent of my power, obviously. Now, I will only say this once, do not come to the dojo. You are not welcome there! Our dojo is a very prestigious place, where the famous Champion Leon trained! We do not accept riffraff like you who cannot even keep their own Pokemon in check. Farewell!” She finally looked up at him as he turned to go and ran away, with one last shout “Avery, Teleport!” Then he ran away.
Ugh. Ruby rolled her eyes. Let’s wait a few minutes and then follow where he went. While they waited, Malaya stared at the foliage around the station. Opposite of the beach, there was no shortage of trees, bushes, and tall grass.
I wonder what kind of Pokemon live on this island. Besides that Slowbro, of course. After a few minutes of looking at the scenery, Malaya finally got up and started walking in the direction she saw Avery running away. I can’t wait to wipe the smirk off of his face. Ruby silently agreed with a flick of the tail as they crossed a small bridge.
That must be the dojo. Ruby said as they stepped off of the bridge. It was a decently sized building, with a logo of some kind of Pokemon on the top. It was on a bit of a hill, so Malaya didn’t see the two people standing in front of the doors at first until she was nearly right next to them.
“It would appear so. Allow me to make perfectly clear, my efforts to escort them were flawless! However, they rudely denied my offer and absconded after our battle,” Malaya inwardly groaned at the absurd language.
“Oh, that’s a real shame…I was looking forward to having someone new join, especially someone to cheer up Sally. She’s been so down lately ever since Carolyn left,” Avery was standing there, talking to an older looking woman with bright red hair, pearl earrings, and a nice green shirt.
“Uh actually, I am here to join,” Malaya chipped in, Avery practically jumped out of his frilly socks as he whipped around to see her and Ruby standing there. The woman smiled, and shook her hand.
“Oh this is wonderful news! Very nice to meet you, I’m Mrs. Honey, my husband is the Master of the dojo. I help take care of the students and help keep things around here in shape,” Mrs. Honey explained, gesturing to the dojo and everything around it. There appeared to be some berries planted near the dojo.
“Ah–uhm–yes, this is simply wonderful ,” Avery clapped his hands together, but Malaya avoided looking at him, instead keeping the big grin on her face for Mrs. Honey. “So, so pleased you changed your mind,”
“Yes! Why don’t you come with me and we’ll introduce you to the dojo master? He and the other students are all waiting to welcome you!” Mrs. Honey beckoned her to follow and they walked through the double doors to the dojo.
Wow. There’s a lot of competition in here. Ruby noted, looking around at all the people.
You can say that again. She didn’t think there’d be so many people in a dojo on some random island somewhere, but still. More opportunities for them to train, she figured. As she finished looking around at all the faces, the sea of students parted to show an old man standing in the very center of the room, hands folded behind his back and posture slouched.
“Greetings, new student!” After he spoke, the other students chimed in with their own greetings. “Why don’t you come over here and introduce yourself?” Malaya and Ruby both stepped forward into the center, denoted by a rectangular depression in the floor and a dark green rug covering the old, creaky floorboards.
“Hello. My name’s Malaya, and this is Ruby,” Lamest introduction ever, but the others didn’t seem to care as they all gave her a round of applause. Malaya could hear some whispers as she gestured to Ruby, maybe Torracats weren’t a very common occurrence here? Definitely not, she realized when many of the students started taking out their Pokedexes.
“Hey there kiddo. So, I have a really important question for you,”
“Yes?” Malaya raised an eyebrow.
“Do you like cheese?” Malaya frowned, but nodded. What was this guy on about?
“Of course you do, everyone does, because cheese is legen-dairy,” The master giggled with delight while she gave a somewhat awkward smile, the same kind of smile she'd give her mother when she would tell some wack joke of her father's. Ah, those days...
“I’m glad you appreciate my cheesy jokes! I am the Master of the Dojo, you may call me Master Mustard,” he paused. “Now, I’m sure everyone here would like to see what kind of skills you have…so, why don’t we have a friendly battle?” Ruby grinned, baring her fangs but Malaya unclipped one of the Pokeballs from her belt instead.
“Of course,” They stepped back, allowing plenty of space for each other’s Pokeballs. Malaya wasn’t planning on losing, not by a long shot, but she did want to make a point.
“Violet! Come out,” Violet could also use telepathy, since she was an Ultra Beast, but she figured it wouldn’t hurt to let everyone else know her name. The fiercest, most intimidating of her party emerged from her Pokeball with a roar, taking her position in front of Malaya.
Battle! At last! The Naganadel’s purple scales glinted in the dim light of the dojo.
Try to show off a little, alright? Malaya instructed as Master Mustard didn’t seem to bat an eye, releasing his Mienshao. Scanning the crowd, she spotted Avery out of the corner of her eye, the lights were too dim for her to read his expression.
“Battle, start!”
Lead with Air Slash, that’s what fighting types are weak to. Violet carefully flew higher into the dojo, being careful not to hit the roof or the nearby support columns with her massive size. She almost looked like a Beedrill–who allegedly looked like a wasp, whatever that was–except with more dragon like features, like her purple scales or light blue eyes. She slashed the air with her wings and sent her attack straight into Mienshao’s face, circling overhead.
“Use Focus Blast,” Malaya vaguely heard Master Mustard’s hushed voice before immersing herself in the battle again.
Use Dragon Pulse so it doesn’t reach you. Violet let out a stream of dragon breath, obliterating the ball of focus energy before it got anywhere close. The Naganadel attempted another Air Slash, but this time Mienshoa danced out of the way.
Try Poison Jab or Toxic, so she’ll be slower. Violet swooped in, surrounded by purple energy and struck her opponent with her stinger, before an Air Slash sent her flying.
“Congratulations,” Master Mustard smiled, returning his Pokemon even though she hadn’t fainted yet. “I see you will make a wonderful addition to our dojo, in fact, I think you’ll fit right in!” Malaya smiled, glancing pointedly at Avery before returning Violet. “Alright everyone! Let’s give our new student here some space, Mrs. Honey will bring her her food for tonight and we will see Malaya tomorrow morning,” the other students smiled at her as she followed Mrs. Honey to a nearby hallway.
“Let’s see…this is your room! You’re very lucky, this actually our last open room for students in the dojo. Why don’t you get unpacked in here, get settled, and then after a few minutes I’ll bring you your food,” Mrs. Honey offered.
“That sounds great, thanks” Malaya watched as Mrs. Honey walked away, before opening the door to her room, apparently it was room number ‘12’. Stepping in, she was greeted with a relatively small room, but not cramped. There was a shelf, a nightstand, a dresser, and a lamp. Did they have these for all of the rooms? She inspected the wood, which was a nice, dark color. They said that the Champion used to train here. I guess they have a lot of money? Shrugging, Malaya began to unpack all of her clothes and other items from her bag. Just as she finished, she heard a knock on the door, and opened it to see Mrs. Honey standing there with a plate of something.
“I see you’re settling in nicely! I’m glad, I brought you something to eat,” Malaya took the plate, smiling at how warm it is. “Be careful, it’s hot,”
“Don’t worry, I don’t get burns. Thank you,” She smiled, and then closed the door.
Oh wow, food! I’m sure it’s sooooo nice to have someone bring food to you, isn’t it? Ruby narrowed her yellow eyes at her trainer.
“Relax Ruby, I’ll make you and the guys some food after I eat,” She plunked down on the bed and observed the meal, mashed potatoes and gravy, with a side of what looked like garlic knots? And some small mushrooms on the side. Whatever they were, they ended up being delicious, so delicious in fact that Ruby managed to snatch one and devour it when she wasn’t looking.
“Alright, I’ll feed you now,” Malaya rolled her eyes as Ruby started to meow incessantly. “Come on,” Standing up, she gathered her cooking supplies and walked out into the hallway, wandering into the ‘main room’ that she was in earlier. Fortunately, nobody seemed to be around except for Mrs. Honey, who was washing dishes.
“Hey there Malaya! Just hand me your dishes and I’ll wash them for you,” She handed them over with a ‘thank you’ and headed outside.
“Alright Ruby, what do you want?” She paused. “Ramen? Alright, but I’m not going to make it as spicy as last time,” As Ruby pouted, Malaya released the rest of her team before preparing the food.
Her Arcanine, Ben, was the first to speak. So, this is the Isle of Armor? Where we’ll be training?
“Yep,” Malaya answered without turning around.
How interesting. Flint, her Day Lycanroc, spoke with the assistance of the others. He was unable to use telepathy, along with her Vikavolt Zircon, but the others weren’t afraid to lend a hand.
It’s great to be breathing the Galar air again, isn’t it Sham? Her green Flapple turned to her Appletun, who was also green.
Yes it is, Granny. Sham rested his head and went back to sleep while Granny began flying around demanding food.
Granny, please stop! You’re going to get your food when you get your food , Chiku, the black blueberry Alcremie, admonished. She and the other two used to live in Galar, however due to many varying events, they were taken out of it to other places.
“Okay guys, I finished,” Malaya had been successful in tuning out her other Pokemon, and quickly dished out the portions. “I made sure to take this out so it’d be a lot cooler for you, Skye,” She placed one dish in front of her Alolan Ninetales, who made some sort of purring noise before digging in. Who would’ve thought that having an Ice Ninetales would be just as good as a fire one? After handing everything out, she cleaned up and took everything back inside, and by the time she was finished the Pokemon had already finished eating. She returned them with no issues and walked inside. She was getting a whole lot better, Em had even complimented her this time!
“I’m guessing you were able to feed your Pokemon without issue?” Mrs. Honey chirped from the direction of the kitchen.
“Yeah, they all like it here,” She answered, still heading towards her room.
“Of course they do! Have a nice night,” Malaya didn’t respond as she walked into the long hallway where their rooms were, yawning as she went. Now that she had finished all of the work of settling in, the only thought in her head was how nice it would be to settle into her new bed, with the sheets and Ruby by her side…
“Oof!” She stumbled backwards, realizing too late she had been far too deep in thought to be wandering around. “I’m so sorry–,” She froze as she saw the familiar bright clothes of her new adversary. “...oh,”
“Watch where you are going! You cannot just be stumbling about, like a lost Wooloo!” Malaya frowned, stepping back and looking at her balled hand. “Honestly…” She tried to scoot past him without looking but he reached out a hand to stop her. “Wait just one moment,” She froze, but didn’t turn her head. “If you,” His voice lowered “If you so much as breathe a word to Mrs. Honey about earlier…let me just say that my Psychic powers are very potent ,” Malaya jerked back and shoved him, causing him to stumble back a few steps so she could finally glare at him square in the face, his lenses as clear as day.
“Was that a threat ? What is your deal! I don’t care if you have ‘psychic powers’ or what, I am not going to just–” something stopped her. “Just…” She couldn’t breathe. What was going on? Her heart was pounding, pounding , and she realized that they were looking eye to eye. But instead of the usual fierceness a trainer felt when meeting eyes with another, this felt different. Even more exciting, she wanted to run, scream, climb a mountain, but her feet felt like they weighed a thousand pounds.
Then the ringing in her ears stopped, and she heard the beeping.
“W–what?” She wasn’t sure who said that, but she realized he too, was staring. His eyes, she notices were blue, but not just blue…more like, Cerulean. A smile crept on her face, why was she smiling? It didn’t matter, she wouldn’t have minded if they kept staring at each other forever in that moment.
“A–Ah–AH..” Finally they broke eye contact, Avery looked down at his wrist and she could practically see the color draining from his face. “No!! N-n-n-o, I–” he spun around and fled, rushing to one of the doors, throwing it open, and slamming the door shut behind him.
What was that all about? Her heart was fluttering, like a newly formed butterfly, and her breathing still came in short little gasps. She still felt like she could take on a thousand enemies by herself, she would simply burst into flames and vanquish every single one of them but at the same time her stomach was in a thousand knots. She shook her head and walked over to her room, slipping inside before looking at her wristwatch. It was normal, and it didn’t sound like these beeps anyway. These ones sounded…upbeat, almost. Her heart really started to pound when a thought drifted into her mind, slowly floating from her head to the very bottom of her toes. There was no way. There was no way–
She practically tore her wristwatch off of her to see her timer. Instead of the blank screen, or even the actual time–which it was allegedly supposed to show, the numbers getting brighter and brighter the closer you were to meeting your soulmate–there was a single date. Today’s date. Engraved in bright, white, letters. Malaya’s legs gave out from under her, eyes still fixated on that little screen. She– she had just locked eyes with her soulmate.