Forest Badge Pt2

Swole takes a deep, shaky breath. His fingers jitter from adrenaline as he reaches for his belt. A black orb with golden accents clicks and expands after he removed it from his belt.

His other hand keeps hold of Lopunny's pokeball. He looks at it as if just now noticing its continuous presence.

His eyes return to the battlefield.

The very center of the arena has clearly seen better days before. A burnt oval has revealed the muddy ground underneath the vegetation. The trees still stand untouched, except for the silvery-white strings that span between their crowns.

The gardener responsible for this place watches from the sidelines. She bites her nails, hoping to Arceus that they will not create even more work for her.

Another three timers have been added to his smartwatch. One in red counting the time since Jumpluff's Protect.

The black pokeball sails through the air. At the peak of its arc, Salandit appears.

Her eyes are clenched shut, and her heart beats out of her chest. She lands on the ground on the tips of her claws, but it does not help.

Rain strikes her back from above. The puddles are deep enough for her claws to sink right through, wetting the underside of her feet. She mutters to herself about the hell she has to endure. 

Her eyes snap open, and her pupils contract until two sharp slits are all that remain. She can only see Jumpluff in front of her. That is all she needs to see.

The rain is acid, and Jumpluff is all that exists in her world.

"Are both contenders ready?!"

It is just acid, so she does not mind getting a better grip in the puddles on the ground.

Her back heats up, and her legs tense like a spring compressed to the maximum.

"And go!"

"Use Sunny Daaa..." Gardenia's voice trails off from Salandit's perspective as time slows to a crawl.

She smirks to herself before running across the arena.

Acid splashes left and right with every step. She feels the pride of her trainer through the bond that connects them.

She spots a look of pure annoyance on Jumpluff's face. Only her eyes can keep track of the lizard. Her face clearly says, "Not again."

The small victory serves to fuel Salandit's grin further.

At the last moment before collision, Salandit scurries around her target. She escapes Jumpluff's line of sight.

Her clawed hand presses against Jumpluff's back, pushing her over to land face-first on a patch of tulips.

"--aaamnit! Not again! Use Sleep Powder as soon as you can!"

But Salandit is faster. Toxic is ready, and she spits the purple globule on the grounded pokemon.

Her next attack is already at the tip of her tongue by the time the poison seeps into its target.

Three orbs of purple flames escape Salandit's mouth. The rain bites at the edges of the flames, but the droplets simply hiss as they evaporate.

All of a sudden, Jumpluff explodes in a puff of spores.

Some of it burns when it touches the approaching flames, but most simply covers the vicinity in a thick mist.

Jumpluff in the center of the cloud briefly lights up in a fiery inferno that rivals Flash in brightness. Will-O-Wisp struck its target.

The rain clears up the cloud quickly enough to see the results of their exchange.

Jumpluff coughs while a glimmer of fire burns near her chest.

Salandit lies fast asleep on the ground. Nightmares of suffocating underwater while pokemon drag her deeper plague her sleep. Her body twitches in a desperate attempt to escape her cruel visions, but her tortured mind will not let her escape.

"Wake up, Salandit!"

Salandit only twitches.

"Use Sunny Day! Put an end to the drab weather!"

Gardenia curls her lips up in a smug smile.

A white orb shoots into the sky where it pierces the clouds, dissipating them as if they were nothing but a mere illusion.

"It was a valiant effort, Swole." Gardenia lets out a sigh of relief as the sun's rays hit her face with the warmth she yearned for.

"Wake up, Salandit! Use Incinerate!"

"It's no use. Even with your strange powers." Gardenia speaks with confidence, knowing the strength of her pokemon. She has all the time in the world. "Jumpluff, Synthesis."

"Wake up!"

Jumpluff glows for a brief few seconds. That was all it took for all the damage she took to repair itself fully.

"Swords Dance." The second time is not as effective, but she has time to spare, so why not?

While Swole keeps failing to wake Salandit up, even after dipping into his mythical powers, Jumpluff dances through the air.

Ethereal swords appear held in Jumpluff's hands. They grow her attack power to her maximum when she finishes the move by crossing the swords over her head.

"Salandit!" The gap in power between Jumpluff and Salandit is simply too great. She will not wake up anytime soon.

"Substitute, and another Synthesis."

He cannot do anything except look on in dread as Gardenia prepares herself for a sweeping victory. Or he could have recalled Salandit early.

"Now, use Facade."

Facade, further boosted by the status effects of Toxic and Will-O-Wisp, strikes against the defenseless little Salandit.

She can only let out a muffled cry in her sleep before her eyes turn into swirls.

Swole's eyes widen in disbelief.

"A one-hit knockout!" The announcer proclaims while most of the audience cheers for Swole's loss.

With a heavy heart, he recalls Salandit from the battlefield. "You still did well." She completed her tasks. And that is all that matters for his strategy.

However, he is losing faith in his grand plan. Sewaddle and Lopunny can both only take one more hit before they are out as well.

The mistakes he made play themselves out in front of his mind. He should have tried to avoid Sleep Powder. He should have recalled Salandit the moment she fell asleep.

The previous successes grew his confidence.

There was a chance that Salandit could have won the fight if they had fought instead of sticking to the plan like glue.

"But now, it's too late for that. The plan must work."

Swole takes another deep breath. The jitters got worse.

Salandit's pokeball returns to his belt while he reaches for Sewaddle's.

The poison and burn take their toll on Jumpluff. Swole drags the moment out.

His hands are shaking.

Only one timer remains on his poketch watch. Lopunny's Fake Out still needs time to recover.

The ball arcs through the air, and Sewaddle comes out. Her body absorbs the power of the sun, and she becomes faster from her own Chlorophyll ability.

"Still not fast enough." Swole understands the position he is in.

Jumpluff will use Aerial Ace. Sewaddle already used Endure. It will be over quickly.

"Maybe the poison will buy some more time?" He would just need to stall even more.

---

The announcer sitting in her little cubby at the top of a tree at the edge of the arena already stares holes into Swole. He has stalled for enough time.

His eyes harden and refocus on the battle ahead of him.

His wet hair gleams in the sun as he nods as his signal.

"Continue!"

"Aerial Ace!" Gardenia smirks in a way that says, 'Now you know how it feels.'

A hit will be inevitable. Sewaddle will be defeated, no matter what Swole tries.

"Protect." Annoyance can be heard in his voice.

Still, it is exactly what he wanted.

Jumpluff disappears from sight, only to reappear right above Sewaddle's shield, where she bounces off uselessly.

"Again!"

"String Shot! Wide angle! Aim above you!"

Sewaddle rolls around on the ground to reveal her squishy underside to the world. She understands her role.

She will be knocked out.

Still, she fires String Shot into the air without hesitation. It will slow Jumpluff down.

Jumpluff appears above her, right into String Shot's steady, harmless stream.

She descends on her victim, and Sewaddle's eyes turn into swirls.

"Sewaddle is KO!" The announcer proclaims, and the audience that bets against Swole cheers at the results.

Swole returns Sewaddle to her pokeball.

"Good job, Sewaddle." He means it. She did everything she needed to do to the best of her abilities. "Take a good rest. You deserve it."

"What a swift conclusion!" The announcer riles up the crowd. "Who will the challenger send out to the chopping block next?!"

The challenger in question looks at the hand, which still holds Lopunny's pokeball. It gives a reassuring shake, as if she means to say, 'It will work out.'

The tremors in his body lessen for a bit. He trusts his pokemon, but...

"No butts. We will win." He takes a deep, sharp breath. He plants a good luck kiss on the pokeball before flinging it into the battlefield. "Lopunny! It's your turn!"

He smiles when he sees her appearance. It is like almost every fight she has participated in: ragged breathing, disheveled fur that is singed in some places, and lots of bruises hidden underneath her powerful facade.

In the meantime, underneath Jumpluff's Substitute, poison and fire keep damaging her real body.

If all Swole does is stall out the rest of the battle, he will win.

"I get it now." Gardenia speaks across the battlefield, signaling that she is not ready at the same time.

Since she gains no benefit from stalling, the referee allows it.

"Victory through attrition. Endure, Protect, and your Lopunny can take quite a few hits on her own. Jumpluff has no choice but to exhaust herself wearing down your team."

Swole smirks.

"But that's not all, is it?" Gardenia smirks, causing Swole's to falter. "Your plan isn't for the poison and burn to hand you the win."

It is too, but only if it happens to work out.

"I have to say, you did your research well to come up with that strategy. But I did mine too, you know?"

Swole shakes his head. There is no way she figured out his plan. He spent so much time on it...

"Your fourth pokemon will be Riolu, and you're betting everything on Ice Beam. Tsk. And I played right into it when we used Leaf Storm."

The powerful attack lowers the special defense of the pokemon who used it.

"Gardenia?" The announcer suddenly interrupts. "You know I can't let you stall to come up with a counterstrategy, right?"

The audience laughs.

The orange-haired tomboy shoots a short glare at her referee before accepting the status quo. "Alright. I'm ready."

Lopunny prepares herself for a sprint.

"Me too!"

"And go!"

"Synthesis."

"Rain Dance!"

Lopunny stumbles for a bit. A quick, questioning look back confirms that she heard it right.

A bright glow appears underneath the clay-like shell of Jumpluff's Substitute. It only shines past her eyes and the joints of her limbs, but the recovering effects of it counteract the damage she took while her trainer stalled.

Lopunny began her sensual dancing in the meantime. Swaying her hips and playing with her long ears as if they were hair. A soft blue glow snakes up along her body, starting from her tapping feet. 

Once it reaches her finger, the light pulls itself into a floating orb that shoots for the sky.

Over the course of Swole's preparations, the confident spark in Gardenia's eyes kept growing dimmer. Finally, it has turned into doubt.

Chlorophyll is out. Jumpluff is covered head to toe in sticky webs. Her special defenses have been lowered. She keeps taking more and more damage as Toxic spreads in her veins.

All that remains is her Substitute. But even that is firmly within Swole's sights.

"We need to end this quickly! Aerial Ace!"

As a new storm brews itself up in the sky, Jumpluff charges up her attack.

She has visibly slowed down. Her type pool, which has been further exhausted than in any recent league battle before, cannot sustain swift attacks anymore.

Her body disappears into thin air for the fifth time today, before reappearing behind Lopunny and - "Protect!" - slamming into a barrier.

"Damn it! Flash! And then Bullet Seed! Quickly!"

"Ignore it and use Fake Out!"

The bulb on top of Jumpluff's head begins to blink rapidly, like a ticking bomb; detonation approaches.

A flash of light blinds everyone in sight, even Swole. "Use Flail!"

The sounds of battle keep coming.

He closes his useless eyes, opening his sense for aura. The battlefield becomes clear for him, long before the referee can give her verdict.

"Lopunny is KO!"

The bright light is gone, and his eyes adjust themselves to see.

Lopunny lies flat on the ground.

Fragments of clay break off from Jumpluff before raining to the ground, becoming one with the mud.

Four strikes of Flail landed before Bullet Seed took Lopunny out.

With a click of a button, Swole recovers the wounded pokemon from the arena.

A proud smile plastered itself on Swole's face. He spots victory within reach.

"Well done, Lopunny."

Each pokemon has whittled down their enemy. The culmination of careful strategy and teamwork.

Both winning options remain open.

Ice Beam, and Toxic-stall.

His hand, trembling in nervousness, reaches for the fourth and final pokeball he is allowed to use. A rose and pink ball with a heart design on the front.

"We all depend on you now, Riolu."

---

A red beam: Riolu joins the battlefield.

Her eyes are closed. She sits on her knees. The feelers on her head rise in the air, and her head looks up, locking her blind gaze with the enemy.

With one fluid motion, she stands up from her kneeling position before holding both hands behind her back as if preparing a certain ki-blast from a certain anime.

Riolu has been mentally preparing herself for this moment ever since she was recalled to her pokeball this morning.

"Are both contenders ready?!"

Swole nods. His eyes are locked on Jumpluff and Gardenia. He sees her nodding as well.

"Begin!"

Immediately, blue sparks collect themselves between Riolu's paws, crackling as if made of lightning.

Ice Beam is ready. "Hold it."

"You don't want to blow your load into our protection?"

"What?! You need to speak up to be heard over the rain!"

"I said, you don't want to risk wasting your one try at a win by getting blocked by Protect, right?!"

"... I could swear I heard something else..." Swole mutters before addressing his opponent. "Well, you either do something other than Protect, or Toxic will win this for us!"

"You're right! We do have to use something else. Jumpluff, use Bullet Seed!"

Even though her eyes are closed, Riolu sees the move coming and steps out of the way of the flying projectiles.

"You won't hit us from all the way over there!"

Gardenia quickly goes over her many, many options.

Bounce - net above the arena.

Acrobatics, U-Turn, Pollen Puff, Giga Drain - too far away.

Hyper Beam - if Jumpluff misses, she will throw away the advantage.

Solar Beam and Synthesis - no sun.

Leaf Storm? Perhaps. Depends on Riolu's strength.

Double Team just does not work against Swole. And Riolu's eyes are already closed to counter Flash.

Anything that does not attack simply wastes precious time.

"Lunge or Aerial Ace..." She mutters her best options. "If they hit, Riolu will flinch and-- No... no way. Riolu has Inner Focus, doesn't she? Swole wouldn't be so confident otherwise. Her concentration cannot be broken."

In that case, "I see. Aerial Ace is my only choice. If it hits, we might defeat Riolu with a single strike."

But Swole knows this will be coming. He knew Jumpluff's moveset for weeks, and after carefully removing every other option, this is all that remains.

"A suboptimal choice could throw him for a loop."

Jumpluff suddenly coughs. Time did not stop ticking while Gardenia planned.

"This is it, Jumpluff. Put everything into it. Use Aerial Ace."

Jumpluff begins to shimmer in a light blue glow. The telltale sign that she will reappear somewhere behind or above Riolu soon.

"Get ready, Riolu."

She does.

The icy lightning calms down. Riolu shuffles her feet, adjusting her stance.

Jumpluff disappears from her spot before coming down from straight overhead of Riolu.

"Detect!"

Impossibly fast, faster than even a pokemon can see, Riolu bends, contorts, and dodges out of the way of the incoming pokemon.

"Acrobatics!"

As soon as Jumpluff hits the wet ground, she bounces off and jumps back into the melee.

"Protect!"

But a prismatic shell appears in the last moment to knock her off course and back into the mud.

"Protect!" Gardenia shouts, fully expecting Swole to capitalize on the opportunity.

"Hold!"

Riolu's move builds up in intensity.

'1' Swole tracks the time on his watch.

The prismatic shield around Jumpluff shimmers into existence. "Aerial Ace!"

Sparks of ice-cold power escape from the confines of Riolu's paws.

'2'

Just two things exist in Riolu's world right now. Her trainer, and her target. A calm serenity spreads from her head down to her firmly planted feet.

Purpose.

The next few moments of her life are clear before her inner eye.

"Now! Ice Beam!"

'3'

She pushes her paws forward, sending Ice Beam on a clear path to her enemy.

The attack continues its reign of terror, freezing rain into hail when the drops dare to get closer. The ground turns solid and hard; a sheet of frost covers it in an instant.

Protect fails, it dissolves uselessly after too much time has passed.

Unprotected, Jumpluff stands as the final barrier against the ice.

She lasts for another two seconds until the cold proves overwhelming, sapping at her life and covering Jumpluff in a thick layer of ice.

When Riolu falters, exhausted, after spending everything she has for that single attack, Gardenia gives the signal for the end of the fight.

Jumpluff is frozen solid. Her eyes have turned into swirls; a pained expression on her face tells of the final struggles to escape her icy confines.

The announcer buzzes the end of the match.

Leaning on her knees with rain streaming down her body, Riolu opens her eyes to see the results for herself.

---

"Riolu has won the battle!" Cheering and applause push back against the noise of the rain. "Swole Solo from Twinleaf Town wins the match!"

Gym pokemon get to work immediately fixing the arena, starting by using Sunny Day to clear up the skies.

Gardenia walks across the battlefield to pet, hug, and cuddle her slowly thawing Jumpluff before recalling her for a rest.

She approaches her challenger, who is too busy celebrating the victory with Riolu held high up in his arms to notice her.

The first rays of the sun pierce through the storm while Swole hugs his pokemon tightly. "Good job, Riolu! That was amazing! And the power! You're so strong now!"

"Riolu." She cannot breathe, squeezed into his hug like that. Her voice comes out muffled. "R-riolu!"

"Oh. Sorry."

"Congratulations, Swole Solo of Twinleaf Town." Gardenia has arrived at the opportune moment to watch a drenched Riolu gulp down air. She chuckles. "I must admit, I did not expect you to win."

Swole smiles as his hand rises to rub the back of his head.

However, he still has an act to play and cannot revert to a shy response. So he transitions the motion into flattening his wet hair instead.

"Really?" His voice is drenched in sarcasm. "You doubted me?"

He wants to be even more cocky, but he did only win a 4 versus 1. An impressive feat, but nothing to brag about. As long as the fights are not fair, they are nothing but challenges to overcome.

"Given enough time, there is nothing that can stop me from becoming the next champion."

"Haha!" She laughs in his face. The doubt is obvious in her voice. "That is a healthy mindset to have, at the very least."

"So you do doubt me."

"Of course I do! You'd need 24 pokemon on your team to beat mine. It was a great battle - that's for sure - but you're still far away from being a contender for the champion title."

Her face takes on a somber expression. "Maybe in a few years, you can dream of becoming number two."

She left the implications unsaid: he doesn't have years.

He should not set his expectations too high, or else he will just die sad, his dream unfulfilled like all the other new trainers who hope to make it big in these turbulent times.

Swole gets it. "I will prove you wrong."

He makes sure the Rotom drone has his attention on him. "Mark my words. I will become the champion this year. I have the best pokemon in the world, and I will prove it. Candice is the new gym leader of Snowpoint City, right?"

His ego is growing rapidly.

Gardenia recoils slightly from the manic grin on his face. Still, she nods.

"Tell her to send out as many of her personal pokemon as she thinks she needs. I will beat her too."

She nods again before smirking. "I will. I doubt the league commission will give us a chance either. They were all for today's unconventional battle. Which brings me to your rewards."

Swole's eyebrow rises.

"Yep. An unusual battle deserves an unusual reward, don't you think? You get 50 thousand pokedollars and the TM for Grass Knot!"

"Wow!" He catches himself while the cameras are still recording. "That's a nice sum of money. Thank you."

"Don't thank me. It was five times as difficult as it had to be." She offers an apologetic smile. "The money should be in your account already. And here is the TM."

The disk passes hands before Swole stores it inside his leather-bound backpack.

"Well, I guess this is it. Farewell, Swole Solo. If you deliver what you promised, we will see each other again in the league."

"We will. Farewell, Gardenia."

"And don't forget to wave to the audience on your way out. They will love it."

Without another word, he turns to the audience, gives some of them a friendly wave - specifically those who did not boo for him - and then he leaves the gym with a spring in his step that he cannot quite hide.

---

Swole-POV:

"That was so cool!-- Woah!" Dawn trips on the paved floor, literally falling into a hug just outside the gym.

She looks up from my chest; a blush creeps on her face. Her eyes briefly flicker to Riolu, who sits upon my shoulders, cradling my head. "You were so cool too, Riolu."

Literally.

She focuses back on me. "I honestly still can't believe you actually did it."

"Me neither." Zoey shuffles on the spot beside us. "Congratulations. Your strategy was really impressive."

It took some shuffling of my own to reach Zoey and pull her into the hug as well. "Oh ye, of little faith. What did I ever do to deserve such doubt?"

Zoey doesn't complain when I honk her ass. Dawn slaps my arm, though.

"You didn't do anything wrong." Zoey tries to fish for a flimsy excuse for her lack of faith. I'm sure Akari would have believed in me from the beginning. "It's just, you're a sixth of the way in of actually competing for the championship. That's just not normal."

"Oh. That's bad."

"Huh? What?" Zoey looks confused.

Dawn spots it. "You're almost halfway through your gym challenge."

Considering the pace I'm at, I will only defeat two or three of their pokemon during the league tournament itself.

"This is terrible. We need to train even more!" But first, "Right after Nurse Joy took care of Lopunny, Salandit, and Sewaddle. Let's go!"

"Hey!" Slowpoke Dawn slips from my grasp as I ramp up our speed. "Wait up!"

"No way! You girls need to hurry up!"

Zoey chuckles but can hold my pace. "Don't you want to get to Snowpoint City first?"

"Yes!" Riolu bounces up and down on my shoulders. Her hands grip my hair tightly as she tries not to fall off. "We will do both! Go to Snowpoint City and train every single day!"

"Oh! No!" Dawn's voice is getting quieter in the back.

"And you won't skirt around the training either, Dawn!"

"What did you do, Zoey!"

She just laughs more.

"Now we're stuck with him like this!"

"Haha!"

The pokemon center comes into sight. People get out of our way, probably thinking this is an emergency.

I only slow down so we don't run into the sliding doors.

Dawn finally catches up to us, panting like a Lillipup.

Nurse Joy's eyes widen in shock. "Oh no! An emergency?! Chansey, prepare the surgery room!"

"It's an emergency, alright. A motivation emergency!"

Her eyes turn into a glare, waiting for an explanation.

"As soon as my team is back at full health, we will train even more!"

The few people sitting inside the pokemon center either chuckle or just roll their eyes at my cringe.

A TV hanging from the wall shows a live interview with Gardenia where she talks about our fight and the extraordinary circumstances surrounding it.

Nurse Joy turns her glare into a scowl. "Young man, don't act like there is an emergency when there isn't one!"

"... Sorry." I rub the back of my head. "But my pokemon really need treatment. They gave it their all today."

Still with the same scowl on her face, she pushes forward a tray to let me place Lopunny's, Salandit's, and Sewaddle's pokeballs on it.

When I grab Riolu to hand her over, she grips my hair again before she complains. ~"I don't need treatment. I can still guard you."

"But you are exhausted."

~"Then treat me afterwards. I won't leave you unguarded."

Seeing my nod, and understanding that I had handed all pokemon over who needed treatment, Nurse Joy walks off towards the emergency room with the tray in hand. She mutters curses towards me until the doors slide closed behind her.

I lift Riolu up and over my head to give her a proper hug and cuddle. "You did really well, Riolu. I'm glad I can rely on you."

She played the most important role in the battle. All our preparations could have been for nothing if she didn't pull through.

But she succeeded flawlessly.

~"Did you doubt me, master?" She smirks.

"Of course not. I believed in you girls from the beginning." Maybe I had some doubts. "The strategy was brilliant, and when I saw Jumpluff use Leaf Storm, I knew you had it in the bag."

She wraps her arms around me before nuzzling against my chest. ~"You're the best trainer a pokemon could hope for."

"And you're all the best pokemon a trainer could hope for." I nuzzle her head in return.

"Cute." I don't acknowledge the bystanders who watch me enjoy my alone time with my precious pokemon. "We're going to hike to Snowpoint City, starting tomorrow, right? Then I'd better call my mom so we don't surprise her too much when we visit."

"Sure thing, random bystander."

The one-armed bystander boxes my shoulder before chuckling. "I can see why Dawn does that all the time. It's therapeutic."

All of a sudden, my phone vibrates. I pick up the call without removing Riolu from the hug.

"Hey, Barry! How's it going?"

"How's it going? How's it going with you?! I saw the fight, bro! It was legendary ..."

---

Narrator-POV:

And so, our hero basks in the glory of his success. "Yep. Yep. I am amazing. Did you get your third badge yet, Barry?"

As the universe keeps expanding, so does his harem-- ego.

Meanwhile, another man with an enormous ego looks down at the city from his lofty apartment-slash-office.

His phone lies on the desk. After sending over a dozen ignored messages to his wife, she finally sent a response. "Yes. I watched his fight. Do you want to know who won?"

Ben Solo replied with a simple, "No need."

When he did not get briefly distracted by his phone, he stared out of the window, his mind racing with plans, contingencies, uncertainties, countermeasures, and lofty new goals.

With the view from the window, he spots his son running to the pokemon center.

Fond memories of his first years as a pokemon trainer resurface in his mind. He knows what victory euphoria looks like.

She is leaving.

Alakazam has connected himself with his trainer's mind.

With a subtle nod, he gives the sign to his partner.

On the other side of the street, a plain-looking man returns the signal: in his 50s, graying black hair, brown eyes, and a brown trench coat over a simple Team Galactic grunt uniform.

Coincidentally, he sits at the same table where Swole and Cynthia shared a meal before.

"Finally."

He removes his trench coat, replacing it with a blue wig from his suitcase before standing up as just another grunt.

From the corners of his eyes, he looks at the rooftop of the Team Galactic building.

Mars holds up her arm for Crobat to take hold of her. Crobat flaps her four wings before grabbing Mars with her tiny feet and taking off to fly north.

Her job at Lake Acuity is waiting for her arrival.

However, just as quickly as she travels, she quickly regrets her decision to accept the job in the far north of Sinnoh.

It is cold. Even in summer, there is perpetual snow.

After just minutes of flight, her quick pokemon crosses the snow line, and just a few more minutes later, she is forced to slow down due to a snowstorm.

"I believe Cyrus will send you to support Jupiter once he has read my report." She mocks with a high-pitched voice. "Stupid know-it-all. Stupid, shitty weather."

A thick snowflake strikes her in her eye.

"Stupid snow!" After rubbing her face with her free arm, she spots the orange glow of a burning fire in the distance. "Hey, Crobat! Land over there! We're going on foot."

Her pokemon lets out a sigh of relief before banking down. Her wings are already hurting from the cold. She wishes for nothing more than to rest in the warm embrace of her trainer or at least within the snug confines of her pokeball.

The fire turns out to belong to a little shop that sells Piloswine fleece clothing. The best there is against the cold weather.

They capitalize on ignorant trainers who go north underestimating the cold.

"Hello, and welcome to-- huh?" The little girl who mans the storefront suddenly interrupts herself when she takes a closer look at the customer. "Are you my aunty?"

Mars looks down at the little clone of herself. Red eyes, red hair, and overall the exact same face. The only difference is their size. "No. I don't have any siblings."

Their resemblance is uncanny, and the uncomfortable silence between them only makes it worse.

"Can I buy that pullover there?"

Instead of answering, the girl leans over the counter and looks towards a nearby mansion.

She spots her mother through the snow, sitting on the porch in thick winter clothing while looking at her phone.

"Ma!" The girl screams at the top of her lungs, prompting her mother to look up. "Your cousin or something is here! Come check!"

"Not now, honey! I'm with your sister on the phone right now!"

"Debby?!"

"No! Zoey!"

"Big sis Zoey!"

Faster than Mars could complain, the girl vaults over the counter before rushing to her mother.

"... But..." A Swinub breaks free from a pile of snow and runs after the girl. "The pullover..."

Without another choice, Mars picks the clothing from the stack before bringing it to the happy family to pay.

She hears some of their conversation. "... and I will bring my boyfriend over so you can meet him, Mom. Please don't embarrass me." The voice says over the phone.

When Mars gets even closer, she recognizes the face on the other end of the video call. "Oh! I know you. You're one of Swole's little girlfriends, aren't you?"

Panic spreads itself on Zoey's visage as she hears those words.

Her mother's mouth falls open. "One... of?" Shocked disbelief soon transitions into fury.

Uh-oh. Looks like our hero is in trouble.