Around the Campfire

[Ironthunder]

A collection of tents in a loose circle in the Zephyr Valley, home to a budding artist and her eclectic array of Pokemon. Herein lie the tales of their exploits, misadventures and general tomfoolery.

Tale 1: Sky Diamonds

No matter the trials life throws at you, always there are lights in the darkness, and diamonds in the dung. Simply look, and you will find them.

Tale 2: A Taste of Home

The spectres of one's past will rarely leave them be. But, are all spectres so horrible?

Tale 3:Trainer in Motion

When disaster beckons, sometimes aid comes from the most unexpected quarter.

Tale 4: Nursing Ambition

A healing hand, to see them steady on the road ahead. But does the hand know its desires?

[Ironthunder]

Tale 1: Sky Diamonds

The shadowy night was blooming across the sky as Liawe returned to camp, thoroughly unsatisfied with the day. Fifteen hours of sat there staring at the valley, struggling to find any manner of inspiration or make headway on her numerous existing projects. Artist's block was real, and it was slamming her in the face repeatedly. Sighing, she dropped down onto the floor next to her tent, her pad and tools discarded behind her, only to be confused by the absence of sound. She'd taken to storing the mons in their Pokeballs at least during her outings unless they were coming with, but there should've been noise. Zephyr Valley's notorious winds, for one. The hum of the battery keeping her coolbox on, too. Frowning, she went to check on the supplies tent, only to be greeted by the most dreaded of sights: The lights off, the storage clearly off, and the battery display zero signs of life. The food was unspoiled and would last another day or two, but with no power there was no microwave or oven, and as such they'd be eating it cold, unless Liawe could drum up the confidence to attempt a campfire barbeque for her dinner. The Pokemon didn't usually mind either way, if they wanted theirs cooking then Arranoc would usually oblige to roast their food to varying degrees, but hers... would need some improvising. Calling out her squad, they got to work.

The wind was howling once more as Liawe's hastily-organised foray squads returned with wood for the fire. Hopefully enough, possibly too much, especially given that Hope and Sheut had seemingly brought an entire tree that had been uprooted in the gales of a storm the other week. Caeda glared at them both before fetching them Liawe's lumber axe with clear intent: If they were going to be ridiculous and bring an entire tree, they could chop it up to appropriate sizes. Sheut levitated the axe and began chopping, while Hope simply blew a raspberry at Caeda and faded off to go pester someone else. Liawe, meanwhile, was preoccupied with storage and finding out what was still edible and more importantly, if she had a spare battery or if that was the spare. Her search turned up no spare batteries, but also little in the way of lost food. Most would last until she could go and get another battery to keep her going, and to get this one recharged too. Liawe considered seeing if Tantei could recharge the battery, but without the cables it was a bit of a risk. And plus, she didn't know if it'd make the battery explode. Best left to the experts, and not the artist. Hearing a colossal thud, she turned with a start: Hope had tried to startle Sheut and instead had found an axe phasing through her head and into the tree behind her. Grumbling - and not entirely because she'd bashed her head on a pole when the sound of the impact made her jump - Liawe moved off to reprimand the pair of them, while woodcutting duties fell to Relaeh.

One severe bollocking later, and the campfire was mostly ready. Timber in place, more for later, the firepit dug out courtesy of Cadri's labours and lit with a zealous Flamethrower from Arranoc. Most of the team was chowing down on their food, or else was curled up half-asleep by the fire under the stars. Meanwhile, Liawe was chewing down her wholly-overdone steak. She was paranoid about food as it was, and it was even worse when she was freeballing it, but it was better overdone than underdone. Though she felt she probably should've just settled for the berry bake and left the steak to Vulthuryol. Settling down for a moment, Liawe lay back, fire to her side, and just looked at the sky in all its midnight majesty. But something was nagging at her. Sitting up, she did a swift headcount, finding most present and accounted for, but three were missing: Calem, Kaitlyn and Anna. Panic flared through her as she got up swiftly to check around the camp for them, rousing a couple of the less tired mons to look with her. Missing teammates would bring even Hope in line for a time.

Calem, it transpired, was asleep in one of Liawe's hoodies once again. He and Tantei seemed overly fond of crawling into hoods and pockets for a nap, whether or not the article of clothing was being worn or not. The Grass types however, were not in camp, causing Caeda and Carl to begin looking farther afield. Caeda had her hunter's eyes, and soon picked out her targets: The Petilil and Cottonee, sat on a rock by the creek, looking at the night sky somewhere a little quieter than the raucous dinner gathering. Calling, she swooped down to meet with them, leaving the task of leading Liawe over for the reunion to the little Starly who flitted back even now. Running down to the creek, Liawe gathered the bemused Grass types up in her arms, admonishing them for running off like that in the middle of the night. All was forgiven though, as the little party wandered back to the campsite. Kaitlyn was riding on Carl's back, with Caeda perched on Liawe's arm and Anna upon Liawe's head. Perhaps the evening wasn't a complete write-off after all?

The pleasantries lasted until Liawe returned to the campsite, with things in complete disarray. Hope, irritated at not having found either Kaitlyn or Anna, was convinced they were in the storage tent somewhere, and was using Telekinesis to check everywhere, with little regard for putting things back. Bags strewn and items rolling around. Setting Kaitlyn and Anna down, Liawe ran to have Hope settle down, but she had barely gone two paces before some odd orange rocks flew out, almost hitting the poor Grass types! "HOPE!!!" yelled Liawe, her usual calm shyness replaced with an unprecedented rage that drew the spectre out, almost bashful. The rest of the team, roused by the yell, looked on with concern. None of them, not even Caeda, could recall Liawe getting so riled, or unleashing such a verbal tirade against the diminutive spectre for her carelessness that they actually began feeling bad for the Shuppet. "...And not in the least you could've killed or seriously hurt them!", she finished, turning to gesture at the Petilil and Cottonee, only to realise the extent of what had just happened. Those were the Sun Stones Hope had thrown, and now Anna and Kaitlyn were glowing something strange... "Oh."

"Oh" hardly covered it, but as a Trainer Liawe was familiar with the concept of evolution, even if she had never witnessed one before. That was changing though, just like Anna and Kaitlyn were changing before her very eyes. Well, before her at least, it was a little too bright to look directly at, especially at this time of night. Eventually the light died down, and the two looked down at their new forms. Clearly unsettled, Kaitlyn swayed a little, unnerved by the sudden change in height, while Anna stumbled and fell: Having legs was new for her, and she was used to just floating rather than standing. Reaching down, Kaitlyn reached to help Anna back up, but overshot and lost her own balance, falling to the ground as well. A round of laughter came up from the surrounding Pokemon, many of whom had watched the evolution intently and were beginning to turn back in for the night. Even Liawe was laughing, her rage forgotten in the excitement of the moment, as she moved to help them both back to their feet. Evolution was a big change, and these two were skittish at the best of times. Liawe retired to her tent, leaving the newly-evolved duo sleeping next to each other by the door, the Lilligant using the Whimsicott's fluff as a pillow as she had often done as a Petilil, while Anna herself had curled up to almost conceal herself entirely within her fluff. Few were allowed such contact with her as a Cottonee, but Kaitlyn was a close friend. As Liawe lay in bed that night, reflecting on the onslaught of events, she smiled to herself. The stars twinkled through the improvised skylight above her (a prior incident involving Sheut, Aristeia and Hope that had left emergency repairs in order), and even as she drifted off to sleep, the image of the stars in the dark twinkled through her mind. Ever was life surprising, and change was sometimes for the better. Perhaps she needed a change for a short while.

[Ironthunder]

Tale 2: A Taste of Home

Sat around the campfire once again, Liawe settled back to enjoy a solitary end to the month of October. Or at least, as solitary as she'd get with her regular rabble wandering around. Keeping thirty Pokémon was no small feat, especially when you were living out of a handful of tents. Darkness was creeping through the sky, and she shivered as a blast of autumnal breeze raced across the camp. She'd dealt with another October, and with the campsite as isolated as it was she was unlikely to have any company for Halloween, thankfully. Liawe valued her privacy, which was partly why she'd decided to set up camp out in the Zephyr Valley. Nominally she'd been observing a Power Spot in the area, but in honesty that was slightly falsified: the creatures had always come from the mountains, not the valley itself, and most would wander away from the valley. But it kept most company away: the trainers had been informed that the Power Spot had dissipated, but the winds and possible threat of a resurgence. Perfectly isolated, except for the odd hiker that rarely bothered to stop. And besides, she was still allowed to observe the area. And yet... Someone was approaching the camp. She could tell, her Pokémon had quietened down, and that usually meant they were bracing for trouble. Standing quickly, she turned to find this visitor... A postman, bearing a small box and a letter for her. Taking both with thanks, she returned to the campfire to ponder who had sent her... anything. She hadn't contacted home since she left, but she doubted they knew how to find her anyway: Lentimas Town was a long way away from the Zephyr Valley. Opening the letter first, she was quickly corrected of her inaccuracy: The sheer amount of sand and dust in the envelope confirmed that it was indeed from home. Setting that aside under a rock for a time, she opted to open the box first, and maybe to have dinner too. She'd want a full stomach before figuring out what lead her folks to break the radio silence between them. They hadn't really parted on bad terms, but Liawe valued her independence and didn't really want to be constrained by her parents any more. She'd always kind of been a freebird, she mused, though in recent years it had been more a dandelion in a windstorm, always thrown around with little control. Mostly over her squad though, albeit they had reined it in a little more these days.

Opening the box, she found it to be a box of sweets. Likely a gift from her family, they knew she was never going to refuse sweets. Smiling as she closed the box and stowed it away within her tent, she returned to start sorting out her dinner, which comprised of sticking some berries in a big-ass pot and boiling it for a while. The letter slipped her mind completely as she stirred the pot, the smell of which was starting to draw in some of her wayward team. The Crimson Fandango and Aristeia came over, spitting some flames to push the heat a bit higher, while Calem and some of her birds fetched some more firewood to be thrown on the fire by Hope and Sheut, whose telekinesis meant they didn't need to risk burns. A proper team effort, at last. She'd been trying to teach them to help her out with cooking for a while, but there was always issues getting in the way. Usually Hope and Sheut messing around, though there was the one time that Robin, Carl and Calem had accidentally brought back a Sudowoodo. That one had gotten messy.

With dinner served and consumed, Liawe set Jen and a couple of others to washing up as she sat down to have a slight breather, only to be nudged by Baldo. Looking up at the Doduo, she realised Sven was holding the letter she'd set down earlier. "Eh, might as well take a look at that." she sighed, thanking the bird and opening up the (now mildly stained) letter, only to be stunned into disbelief by the contents. Rereading it furiously to make sure she hadn't misread or misinterpreted what they were saying, Liawe's face slowly changed from shock to horror as she realised that this was both serious and actually happening. Her cousin was coming to Fizzytopia, and she was looking to stay with her? Did they not realise that she lived in a campsite on a technicality? ...Well all right, they couldn't have known, but still, the timing was awkward. Crumpling the letter in frustration, she stormed into her tent to start on that box of sweets. At least she'd been sent compensation, though money for another tent would've been nicer. Maybe two, the storage tent would probably be insufficient for two with squads. Bloody hell this adulting lark was complex.

Ten days later...

Kerry leaned her head against the window as the plane began its descent towards the runway of Fizzytopia. She was less than thrilled about the situation, having been functionally exiled here following a mild altercation at school. What was she supposed to have done, just let them keep picking on the kid? Ok, maybe setting her Scyther on them may have been a bit much, but it was deserved. They should know the terror they inflicted. Thinking back on it, she smiled slightly as she checked her Pokéballs. All three of her Bug buddies were still there. It was comforting to know she'd have someone reliable with her as she ventured into this brave new expanse. She could hardly count on this "cousin" of hers that she barely knew. As far as Kerry was aware, they weren't actually related: Liawe's parents were frequent visitors to Mistralton Airport on business and Kerry's parents were often doing maintenance, pulling dust out of their wheels and the like, and they'd eventually become friends over the years. And now, Kerry was being sent to live with their daughter, who was apparently an artist and former Gym Leader in this land she'd never heard of. Well, heard of or no, she was here now, and as the plane came to a halt, she got up and joined the jostle to leave the plane.

Having retrieved her luggage safely and checked to make sure nobody had been through and nicked anything, Kerry wandered to the outer lounge, wondering what this Liawe girl even looked like. Usually there'd be someone holding a sign, no? Instead, she was greeted by a Starly landing on her head and trilling sharply, before flying back towards a redheaded girl sat in a café. The girl seemed to be waiting for someone, but the Starly was clearly hers, given she addressed it by name as it landed. "What's the matter now, Carl? You know we can't leave till we've found Kerry, wherever she is. Her flight should've landed by now..."

Starting at the sound of her name, Kerry wandered over to the table, before tapping the girl on the shoulder, startling her somewhat. Kerry decided to go with a classic for the introduction: "Liawe Read, I presume?"

Looking at the short blonde girl who'd surprised her in the café, Liawe realised that this must be the infamous Kerry she'd been burdened with. "Yeah, that's me. You must be Kerry?" she inquired. With the responding affirmatory nod from the other girl, Liawe got up, and the two of them left the airport together, only to surprise Kerry when instead of getting a taxi or something, Liawe called out Vulthuryol and Caeda to fly the two of them back. Knowing Vul's tendencies, Liawe mounted the more temperamental Aerodactyl, leaving Kerry to struggle with climbing onto the Skarmory's back. With a pair of resounding calls from the two Flying types, they took to the skies, homeward bound under Liawe's direction.

...In hindsight, not taking either or both of Hope and Sheut with her may have been a mistake. The camp was mildly disorganised, with several Pokemon cowering in tents after a series of pranks resulted in all-out warfare, with Hope and Sheut attempting to fend off Cedim, Relaeh, Arranoc and Calem, all at the same time. Sheut was currently suspended from a tree and being used as a punching bag by the Audino, while the Chansey and Vulpix engaged the Shuppet in straight battle, the tricksy Ghost weaving through attacks with relative ease due to her ethereal nature. Things did not go much better once Carl, Caeda and Vulthuryol landed, with Kerry and Liawe dismounting (and Kerry almost immediately falling over following a disorientingly rapid descent). "What the hell is going on here?" demanded Liawe, the tone of her voice causing all six of the involved Pokemon to freeze and slowly turn towards their trainer. She didn't need to speak Pokémon to understand, but vocalising the stress helped her deal with it, and hopefully let her Pokemon know that she was not on board with them trashing the camp. "Right, you six. Clean this mess up, now. No lunch till you do. Jen, Kaitlyn, Anna, Argwylon, Carl, Feathers, get on with putting those spare tents up. Rest of you, get the fire going, unless you want a cold lunch!"

Kerry watched the situation unfold with mild disbelief. She'd expected Liawe to be calm and in control, just like the Gym Leader she'd supposedly been. Here... She was barely in control of her own squad! And where had they even gone to? Some campsite in the back of beyond? She'd expected a house, at least. Once Liawe was satisfied with her squad's efforts to clean up, she turned to the mildly shellshocked Kerry with a wry grin. "Welcome to the Zephyr Valley, Kerry. Any questions?" ...Kerry had several, but the first one burst out of her mouth almost unbidden: "Do you... live here?"

"Well yeah, after I quit the whole gym deal I ended up having to stay nearby to monitor the "power spot" in the valley," Liawe explained, "but there was never a Power Spot down here. There were a couple in the mountains over there, which I passed on, but I don't think there was ever one down here. I don't mind though, saves me having to lug all this stuff around, and they technically pay me a wage for monitoring the place. Plus, it's nice here. Anyway, grab a seat, we'll have lunch underway shortly."

Kerry was stunned by this revelation. This former Gym Leader, who'd never actually had a proper gym in the classic meaning, had little control over her squad, and she'd basically lied to the authorities so she'd have a permanent campsite? She'd never expected Liawe to be so reckless. Maybe the two of them could work something out. Turning back to oversee her team's progress, Liawe stepped over to disentangle Argwylon from some guide ropes, leaving Kerry alone to ponder the situation, and for Kerry's team to slip out of their Pokeballs and join their trainer as she sat on a log, the Surskit, Dwebble and Scyther keeping her company as she observed the... interesting dynamics of her new home, with the eclectic mix of Pokemon sorting out a campfire, cleaning up battle debris, bringing out food and erecting a couple of spare tents. Liawe stood up, having finally freed her Ledyba from his little predicament, and moved to join Kerry by the fire, only to bump her head on the way over.

"And can someone cut Sheut down from the bloody tree already?"

[Ironthunder]

Tale 3: Trainer In Motion

The winds howled through the camp as Kerry sat, fairly miserably, on a log and observed the camp. She'd been expecting a little better as a Gym Leader's abode, even a former Leader. Instead... A hodgepodge collection of tents and an array of Pokemon of all types who seemingly did whatever they felt like. She'd already had to have Scyther cut Liawe's Baltoy down from a tree, and now the birds and bugs had just been forcibly separated after one of their little "games" went awry. Nobody had briefed her on the Caterpie knowing Thunderbolt, and apparently it was a new one on the birds too. The fire was burning low, and Liawe had left with Caeda earlier that day to go get some more food. Apparently she'd read about some foreign food trend that was the "in craze" about now and was off to get some stuff for that, on top of regular supplies. Which was fine, but it meant Kerry was stuck in charge of the campsite. And she hated it. Mostly she hated that Liawe's Pokemon were as unruly as they were, Hope and Sheut in particular.

A burst of static caught her attention, as the seemingly abandoned concrete shed (the one permanent fixture) crackled to life. A radio transmission? Dashing into the shed (the door no longer locked, and Liawe had lost the key months before to one of Sheut's pranks), she managed to find and press one of the few buttons on the display to open communications. "Zephyr Valley Observation Post, receiving."

"Zephyr Vall..." The voice was drowned by static in parts, the local winds drowning the person's voice out. "Right, I was hiking near... Slipped, went down...tain face, think my ...'s busted, ankle might be gone t...".

Kerry's face paled. This absolutely wasn't good. Mostly because there were no medical facilities nearby. She'd have to make do with what she had. "Understood, we're dispatching a rescue squad. Any landmarks you can spot?"

"A lake... to my right. Mountain's to my back. My ...pig... still up the mountain."

"Understood, we're on our way. Hold tight, and stay awake." Kerry grabbed the portable radio from the hut before rushing out to harangue the team into action. "Alright, the shit's hit the fan. Injured hiker in the valley. I want everyone with wings out there looking, they said they were near a lake and with their back to the mountain they fell down. Vulthuryol, hang back, I'm going to need to get there somehow. Crimson, Relaeh, grab your balls and get to me: I'm going to need some backup when we find them. Cedim, get this place ready to receive a casualty. Spare bed up, warm clothes ready and a fire going. Arranoc, cover the fire. Everyone else, if you're not helping Cedim then stay out of her way. Maybe make sure we have enough firewood. Got it? Then let's go!" She watched as the various parties scattered to the four corners: Several bugs were prioritising getting the bed out and sorted under the Shadow Chansey's gaze, while Arranoc and Aristeia tended to the flames and Atylwyth chilled some berries to prepare some kind of medicine at Cedim's request. A small flock of birds and bugs had taken off, spreading out to cover the north of the valley, while Hope and Sheut began loading logs onto the flame as Kaitlyn and Anna led another menagerie out on a raiding party into the woods to get more wood. It wasn't long before a chirruping call got Kerry's attention: Charlie the Pidove had returned, and was clearly excited about something. Checking she had Crimson and Relaeh's Pokeballs, Kerry steeled herself before climbing onto the Aerodactyl's back. "Alright, let's go help someone."

Kerry hated flying. This was desperate times, so she kind of had to, but she still disliked it. Getting a reliable ridemon was high on her priority list, but she didn't have time to be picky, and so, she clung tightly to the Aerodactyl's back as he followed the Pidove northbound. Shortly, he began his screaming descent, the red-clad figure of the hiker becoming clearer as they approached the ground. Landing swiftly, Kerry staggered off the ancient Flying type's back before approaching the injured hiker. Robin, Carl and Chips sat around the hiker, while her Scyther stood behind the injured woman, attempting to provide something of a windbreak to help ward off the afternoon chill. It took Kerry a moment to realise the extent of the issues: The red jumper she had seen on her descent was actually just a bloodstained blue jumper, the colour dominated by a very clearly broken right arm. Likewise, the woman's ankle was swollen and at an... unnatural angle. This was... Not good. Relaeh seemed to agree, hopping out of her Pokeball to assess the situation. Likewise, the Crimson Fandango hopped out of his Pokeball, scooting over and climbing the hiker's good leg to try and provide some warmth.

A sudden squealing rent the air, and as Kerry and the hiker looked to the source they found why: The hiker's Tepig, which had been stranded on the mountain its Trainer had fallen from, was being airlifted down by Feathers and Gwindalor, seemingly against its will. As they dropped the terrified Fire type off with its trainer, Relaeh began tending to the woman, calling upon Crimson's assistance to provide makeshift string bandages. Kerry could see the upcoming problem though: Camp was a hike away on foot, and this woman would need carrying there. There wasn't long before nightfall either: Certainly not long enough to go there and back twice on foot, and debatably not enough with one set on wing. Dejectedly, Kerry sent Robin, Charlie and Chips back to get the necessary assistance to make a stretcher, while she ordered Scyther to gather wood enough to make a frame and fire. With the latter, the twin Rufflets aided in the gathering, and soon the trainer's Tepig was assisting the Crimson Fandango with lighting a tenuous flame on the windswept mountainside.

Camp was abuzz with activity as the birds returned, but the message brought little hope. The birds were insufficient to carry the necessary bugs back, even as the String Shotters gathered up to prepare to head out. Wydrioth, Calem, Weedle, Scatterbug and Wurmple were ready, but they lacked sufficient transportation: Another journey was out of the question, and they couldn't wait for Liawe and Caeda to return, though that was looking even more necessary by the minute: Only Caeda could safely navigate the valley in even the blackest of nights. The situation seemed impossible, and yet... There was a desire. A wish, to rise to the task at hand. One blazing motivation, to not let this end in tragedy-

And thus there was light.

A powerful glow enveloped the Wingull, shielding it from sight as it underwent the legendary metamorphosis that was Evolution. Scarcely a minute later, Chips emerged, a Wingull no longer but instead a mighty Pelipper, complete with strong wings and a large beak, capable of transporting several small Pokemon great distances with ease. Calling triumphantly to the skies, Chips began loading in the requisite Bugs, before taking off. Many fall in the face of chaos, but Chips was determined that this one would not fall. Not today.

---

By the time Liawe returned to camp, sunset was well underway. She expected to find some form of raucous fracas occurring, or maybe an off-schedule mealtime. What she instead found was a sunset siesta, with Kerry chatting to a bandaged woman and her Tepig as Relaeh and Cedim checked the stranger over. Seeing her cousin arrive, Kerry stood and began explaining the situation, which was only made more complex by Chips' attempt to perch on his Trainer's shoulder, his newfound size causing an overbalancing issue. "...So in the end we managed to get the stretcher back here in time, and Chips got the bugs there and back without issue. Just waiting on an ambulance to double-check Cedim and Relaeh's work, because they were very much working with what they had rather than anything, you know, actual. Anyway, how was the shopping?" Liawe stood there bemused, only to be saved from answering by the arrival of the off-road ambulance. After a bit more explaining and assisting in loading the woman and her Tepig into the ambulance, the two girls watched as it squalled off into the distance. "You know, Liawe? We really need some better facilities here." Liawe couldn't disagree: this had been too close for comfort. Perhaps it was time to leverage the observation post a little more, possibly get that revamped and maybe even a Pokemon Centre out here. Even if it was one of those Paldean drive-through Pokemon Centres. They certainly needed something, and maybe they'd even be able to upgrade out of tents and into more permanent accommodation. It'd certainly be about damned time.

[Ironthunder]

Tale 4: Nursing Ambition

The Zephyr Valley was not exactly what one would consider a hospitable place.

Frequent, near-constant windstorms left the valley isolated, oft avoided by all but the hardiest folk, and while the terrain wasn't exactly problematic until one reached the peaks, there was ever a risk of another rogue Dynamax Pokemon appearing there following the Gym's closure. It was, to be sure, the back of beyond, or as close as Fizzytopia got. "So of course, they put me out here." Anathema sighed, as she continued her trek out. Following recent incidents, a proposal had been approved to construct a Pokemon Centre in the valley, combined with updated monitoring systems and emergency response capabilities. And she, Anathema Joy, was going to be the one running the show. Keeping everyone's Pokemon healed up and ready, acting as the emergency services switchboard, managing any crises that arose and assisting the former Gym Leader with monitoring Power Spots in the area. And she already hated it. The last thing she wanted was to join the family trade, and yet she never seemed to get much choice in the matter. "Little Annie" was just dragged through life, and now she was stuck out in the boonies with no real hope of going elsewhere. At least it'd be quiet once the construction died down...

Annie rounded the trail and found that the path ended rather abruptly in the valley, and with no sign of a Pokemon Centre to boot. Sighing, she reached down for her phone to find a map, or to just go home, when a screeching call dragged her attention upwards to two large flying things descending rather rapidly. She recognised the Skarmory easily enough, but the other beast was fierce and furious-looking enough to make even Annie back off a step or two. Sadly, she had no time to run before they landed, and their riders dismounted to introduce themselves to her.

Liawe had been taking Kerry flying, naturally. She was a former Flying Gym Leader, after all, so why shouldn't she show her cousin the glory of the skies? Caeda was more than willing to fly the girl, and Liawe kept pace on Vulthuryol as Caeda patiently dealt with Kerry's unwillingness. Kerry, for her part, was absolutely terrified of flying without any kind of safeties, and didn't quite trust that the Skarmory beneath her was as safe as any plane. Especially when they went in for a screaming dive to meet the newcomer. Kerry needed to rearrange herself after that, so she left the introductions to Liawe. "Hey there! You must be Annie, right? I'm Liawe, the uh... former Gym Leader round here. These are Caeda and Vulthuryol, my trusty skyfarers, and the green-looking one is my cousin Kerry. I was taking her out flying and... I don't think she's quite adapted?"

Annie, for her part, was more than a little baffled. She was expecting someone... certainly older, and probably a bit more responsible too. And yet... She seemed likeable enough. "C'mon, hop on! We'll run you over to the new centre. Assuming they're done by now, at least. They've been going at it long enough. Anyway... Ready to fly?"

---

Anathema's trepidation proved to be somewhat founded, as the Gym Leader seemed immune to her screams as the Aerodactyl swooped and dived, reaching the new Pokemon Centre in record time. Kerry had refused to fly back, and so she and Caeda were taking a more sedentary hike, affording Anathema time to observe their surroundings. The clearing they'd landed in seemed fairly sheltered, though a little... underdeveloped. She definitely was not expecting a campsite surrounding the old monitoring station, nor the cacophony of critters making merry there. "Yeah, so... It's almost done, they're just getting the power connected and then shakedowns to make sure everything works properly. Should be ready for tomorrow, so in the meantime... Looks like you'll be spending the night at our camp?" said Liawe, gesturing towards the array of tents. "So... You like it?"

Annie looked on at the array of tents with disdain. This was where a former Gym Leader lived? This is where the gym had been operating from? She thought she was out in the boonies as is, but this was a whole other level. The Pokemon Centre may have been without power but at least it had a solid roof... Thankfully, she was spared having to answer Liawe's question by the return of Kerry and Caeda, at which point the former let loose a verbal bombardment against her cousin for the travesty of "flight". After five minutes of the tirade, Annie realised that this was going to go on for a while, so she went and sat down by the fire. The arrival of a stranger clearly scared some of the more timid Pokemon, though Anathema cared little for that: the fire was warm and she was still trying to get the windchill from her bones. Though it seemed not all of them had such fear, as she received a swift bap upside the back of her head, causing her to flinch and turn in surprise to see an angry-looking Audino glaring at her. "Oh... You're in Relaeh's spot." explained Liawe, returning to a well-worn seat by the campfire. "She gets touchy about that, sorry..." The other girl ducked into one of the tents, muttering something about packets, before throwing some bits and pieces from one of the tents into an empty pan. And just like that, the camp burst to life once more, as the two Trainers' Pokemon gathered around the campfire for dinner. Settling back in a different seat, Anathema observed the array of Pokemon gathering around the fire, dragging bowls, plates and other food containers together to get their serving of some kind of berry stew. Handing the stew ladle to Liawe, Kerry dipped back into the tent, returning with a different bowl as she walked over to Annie. "Hey, here's yours. Always more if you want it." Looks like they had people food after all.

---

That night, after dinner was eaten and pots were cleaned, Anathema took a late night stroll to the new Pokemon Centre. Her Pokemon Centre. The workers had cleared out, and had left a guarantee that everything was working, and so Anathema stepped through the front doors and into her future, such as it was. The design was more modern, with a self-serve cafe corner and an automated Poke-Mart for essentials as well as copious amounts of space for guests, patients and/or inmates to sit. Moving through to the back, Annie checked that everything was in order before locating the thing she really wanted to find: Her bedroom. Collapsing down onto her bed, she fell asleep, with little idea of the trials this new post would bring her. But even if she knew, would she have backed down?

[Ironthunder]

Zephyr Valley Blood Bowl League

Week 1: A Mighty Start

Sat behind the counter, Anathema sighed heavily. Another slow day. Not that this was unusual, she was out in the boonies after all, but there was literally nobody here. The odd hiker on occasion, and sometimes Liawe or Kerry would need some medical attention for them or more usually their Pokemon, but there'd hardly been what one would call a "busy day" yet. So far all that had happened so far was her arse had gotten numb, and one of Sheut's pranks had gotten out of hand and left four in her medbay, Sheut included. Nothing serious, just some basic healing and a couple cases of burns where Kerry's Cyndaquil had gotten particularly volatile. Most of them had already been discharged, and the only reason Sheut hadn't left was for the selfsame reason Anathema herself was watching the clock: It was games night, and by common agreement they were hosting it in the Pokemon Centre, as opposed to one of Liawe's tents. She'd organised shifts so Cedim was on desk at the time, and now all she had to do was hope nothing cropped up in the last ten minutes. Sighing to herself, she reached into her pocket and pulled a card from her deck, idle curiosity as to the night's entertainment flavouring her interpretation as she revealed her quick read to herself. "The Convection of Might..." she mused to herself, somewhat unsurprised, before being slightly more surprised as her fingers slid to reveal a card behind it, which by all accounts should be the reading's first card: "...And the inverted Abysm of Life? An interesting night indeed..."

The cards spoke clearly, for a change: The Convection of Might spoke of a journey of improvement, often self-improvement, whereas the inverted Abysm of Life read more as a warning: the hunter must step carefully, lest the hunt turn against them. Together, they read of a dangerous path to strength: one that could rest upon a knife edge. Sighing, Anathema slid the cards away, feeling the deck rearrange itself in her pocket as she stood to make way for the Shadow Chansey to begin her shift. She had to go get her Renegades in order, after all.

~~~~~~

Liawe arrived at the Pokemon Centre with several boxes and bags: organising this was taking a lot, and Sheut had apparently been reluctant to step outside after he accidentally blew up lunch, so she'd had to carry his team over too. Cedim nodded at her, before gesturing the laden girl into a side room: typically an overflow area for when the waiting room got too full or they needed extra beds, but that was scarcely needed here. And so, Anathema had set up tables and chairs, and was more than willing to host their games nights in the warmth of indoors, rather than a wind-battered tent. The woman herself was already there, unpacking her own team on one of the tables, while the Centre's other attendant, Relaeh the Shadow Audino, meticulously unloaded her own set of figures while Sheut watched from a seat.

This was the inaugural night of their Blood Bowl league, after all, and they were going to make the most of it.

Setting the two team boxes down on the nearest table, Liawe greeted Anathema, before rolling her eyes and opening the large window to allow Samus and Hope to float in through it, their own team boxes in tow. "So... Where's Malley? Thought he was joining us?" inquired Liawe, to which Anathema shrugged. "You know what he's like, he's probably only just left his bunk. I brought his stuff along, just in case." And as if on cue, the door opened, revealing the Spiritomb dragging his stone in, looking rather annoyed and mumble-screeching something at his trainer. He says he's spent the last twenty minutes looking for his team, translated the Baltoy. Anathema withered slightly. "Oh... Right. Probably should've said I'd brought it down here with mine. My bad." The Spiritomb grinned, showing no harm was done, before he joined the general hubbub of people and Pokemon unpacking their teams and bagging seats. Last to show was Kerry, who had by way of contribution decided to provide some food and drink for the session. It was probably going to be a long one. Sven and Baldo had clearly decided to lend a hand with the carrying, and wandered back out after the bags were unloaded and Kerry was busy setting the food up, with a hand from Anathema's Phione, who was hanging around out of mild curiosity.

With everything set up, Liawe gathered the other seven players around. "Right so, first day of the league. Everyone ready?" Once the expected assortment of Yeahs and similar noises of assent had died down, Liawe pulled a spreadsheet up to read off the fixtures. "Okay then, let's get to it. Opening fixtures are... on Table 1," she pointed, "Anathema's Renegades hosting Sheut's Dark Elves!" Anathema's eyebrows shot up at this, clearly expecting a different matchup, but she was set up on that table anyway, leaving Sheut to float his team over and prepare for setting up. "Over on Table 2," again Liawe pointed to another table, this one with Phione floating to the side of it, "we have Samus' Chaos Chosen hosting Kerry's Goblins! Not sure I want to be on mop-up after that one..." She wasn't the only one: Kerry bringing Goblins had been a shock to most people, but their matches tended to end up bloody one way or the other, and she felt like bringing some chaos to the league. Even if she'd be scraping players off the sidelines every match, figuratively speaking. The Misdreavus had a hard-hitting team to boot, but they'd struggle to match the slippery gitz. Pointing at another table, this one the one nearest the door, Liawe announced the next fixture: "Table 3 will be seeing Hope's Norse hosting..." she squinted at the page, "Maledictum's Wood Elves!" Now that would be a match worth watching: Hope's naked aggression combined well with her chosen team, whereas Maledictum had picked a more mobile team that might well leave her in the dust if the dice went right. Gesturing to the table she'd set up on, she confirmed the final matchup. "Which leaves my Amazons hosting Relaeh's Orcs over here! Remember, Home flips, Away calls. Come get me if you need me for rules disputes, but otherwise, good luck and have fun!"

Anathema frowned as she lost the coin flip to the Baltoy, who opted to receive first. Elves were slippery little bastards, and while the Dark Elves weren't as high-movement as some other elves, they made up for it in their capability to get stuck into a brawl: four Blitzers provided an early start and Anathema's Renegades would struggle to leverage situations that the highly-agile Elves wouldn't be able to slip out of so easily. She'd picked a build-up team anyway: Renegades weren't so hot out the box, but could build up to a versatile team of freaks capable of serious shenanigans. Plus, she had the brute force of a pair of Big Guys to punish mishaps: Two high-strength players that, when co-operating, would easily put an elf on its arse, or more ideally in the injury box. Her team's natural Animosity hindered her ball movement though, effectively removing passing as an option for her, which in turn was why she'd decided against taking a thrower. Unsurprisingly, she was forced on the offense first: Sheut clearly expected to be able to force his opponent to score quickly, and then score quickly again on his drive, with an entire second half to take the victory. A tried and tested tactic, but Anathema had some tricks up her sleeve, not to mention the benefit of her earlier reading, the caution ringing fresh in her mind as she set up for her offense. A bloody slaughter of a first half ensued: Anathema's troll/ogre combination shattered through the Dark Elves' token line presence, sidelining all three for the rest of the drive and putting one firmly in the casualty box with a broken arm, the serious injury leaving a lasting mark on that particular line-elf's passing capabilities. The Cortozan Corsairs fought valiantly, but unfortunately the numbers advantage proved too much for the Dark Elves to overcome, and while they landed a sack and some more noteworthy blows, including managing to badly hurt Anathema's Goblin, the sheer numbers and strength advantage posed by the titans proved beyond the recourse of the Elves to match, forced to watch as Anathema took a safe turn 8 touchdown. With the line-elves returned, and few further injuries, Sheut's Corsairs made a much better fight of the second half, able to dive through Anathema's defense after an unfortunate Pitch Invasion caused a handful of key players on Anathema's side to start the half on their backsides, allowing the elves to force their way down a sideline and swiftly score on their turn 10, taking out one of her linemen on the way through. A brutal six-turn slugfest occurred after that, as both teams fought tooth and nail to try and secure the winning touchdown, but ultimately nothing came of it beyond a couple of sacks and a rather embarrassing couple of turns where neither team could actually pick the ball up off the floor, stalling the match for long enough to ensure a draw by the beginning of the sixteenth and final turn. A bloody draw, but satisfaction on both sides as they managed to deny the other what would've been a hard-fought victory, as the Anathemic Pactsworn tied the Cortozan Corsairs, one apiece.

Meanwhile over on table three, the spectral showdown between Liawe's Shuppet and Anathema's Spiritomb was looking a lot dicier. Maledictum's starting team had opted for a riskier approach of only two positionals, relying on native stats to dance through the opposition and saving the cash to afford two Wardancers and an Apothecary, and the Wood Elves could afford to do this, but it was not a ploy without risks: Wood Elves weren't a sturdy team, and Hope's Norse team were a lineup of bruisers and semi-naked aggression, which, when combined with the Shuppet's natural aggressive tendencies, boded poorly for the elves if they couldn't make their dodges. And yet Maledictum had chosen to attack first, evidently confident that a quick score would result in exploitable panic and subsequent scores. But while the Mystical Maestros ran in their first touchdown in a mere three turns, Hope was busy trimming the team's fat: three players went off in that first drive, with two of them remaining sidelined all match. The subsequent line of scrimmage was brutally effective, seeing another player carted off unconscious and another left stunned on the floor as Hope's Berserkers ploughed into the line-elves. The Yhetee was having its fun too, when it decided to co-operate, but lacked any bite: those vicious claws remained unbloodied, while the Berserkers ploughed into the line-elves with wild abandon, as the Valkyries ran the ball in to tie the game up at the end of the first half. Hope's bloodlust was unsated however, and with unfortunate dice rolls, Maledictum was left with merely five players left on the pitch to begin the half. Unable to do more than shield his precious Wardancers, he watched on as the Norse Valkyries ran in a second quick touchdown, and then as two line-elves returned, he had seven against eleven. And the Norse team rolled a Blitz, smashing into the Wood Elf offense and crushing their hopes of getting back into the match. Two line elves went off with crippling injuries, and a third went off dead at the hands of a Norse Berserker, before the second Valkyrie ran the ball in to bring the game to a merciful conclusion: 3-1 in the favour of Hope's Glacial Seafarers, while Maledictum's Mystical Maestros were left with plenty of wounds to lick.

Internally, Liawe was somewhat less confident about her match than her facade during the announcements had shown. Her Amazons were mobile, but were generally more predisposed to bashing the opponent around a bit: a field she'd struggle to take against the bare aggression of her Audino's Orc team, especially with both the troll and the four blockers providing a massive strength advantage. She'd have to be dancing around those pieces, and she was less confident with her dodging dice than most. Thankfully, she'd won the coinflip, meaning she could force Relaeh to take the first defense, giving her time to get into position and limiting their potential: Orcs weren't mobile and struggled to move the ball on a good day, and on a bad day they were downright useless at it. On the other hand, her Blitzers could outrun their entire team, she had workable throwers and her entire team having starting Dodge made them incredibly hard to pin down. The opening turns proved as rough as expected: Relaeh had prevented a clean hit on the line with her overwhelming strength advantage, in no small part due to the Troll slapped in the centre. However, Liawe had managed to disengage safely and pressure a pass into a run down either sideline, forcing the less mobile Orcs wider. A couple of Linewomen went down, the worst being a lucky Stun, but the numbers advantage gave the Shadow Pokemon a sense of confidence. Her Big Uns pushed at the cage formation protecting the thrower, with a Blitzer making a risky push to try and remove a corner, only for the dice to return the calamitous double skulls: with her rerolls expended on earlier blocks, the Shadow Audino was forced to take the result as rolled, the Attacker Down injuring the Blitzer and forcing the turnover, swinging the momentum back to Liawe. With scarcely a missed beat, Liawe managed to clear a path to an unmarked Linewoman in the pitch centre. Had the Audino been able to save the mishap earlier, that piece would have been marked, but the turnover happened at the worst possible time, and Liawe was taking full advantage. With a swift blitz to down the lone rearguard, a Thrower who went down KOed, the lino was free to run the score in, managing to stall for a turn or two while the assisting Blitzer received the handoff and finally scored to close out her turn 8. A dominating position: the lack of movement meant Orcs would struggle to score a one-turn, meaning they had to score twice in the second half to take the match. True to form, Relaeh didn't even attempt the oneturn, instead opting to try and get some removals, managing to take down the spare Thrower with a Badly Hurt, but the second half proved to once again be in Liawe's favour: The Untrained Troll lived up to its name wholly and was immobile for more than half of the half, and the Orcs struggled to land any lasting blows on her Amazons (though in fairness, she struggled to land anything in return either). A slow grind wore the match on, eventually resulting in a brazen passing attempt from the Orc Thrower to land Relaeh a touchdown of her own, albeit with two turns for Liawe's counterscore attempt. A dicey affair, to be sure, but once the touchback ensured Liawe's Thrower had the ball well in hand and a series of dice had left two KOed Orcs on the sidelines with a further two in the injury box, the remaining seven players couldn't stop her desperate dash for the endzone, securing a dicey 2-1 win for the human's team, though with neither side suffering any lasting damage and a decent spread of SPP for all, the season was looking positive for both Relaeh's Skypeak Savages and Liawe's Valley Windriders.

Kerry smiled as she set up for her offense: her Goblins were a wild card of dice and danger, though as much to themselves as the opposition. Her opponent's Chaos Chosen were a team of brutes, sure, but they were also more of a development team, lacking a lot of safety out of the box. The Misdreavus was similarly confident however, and with good reason: Goblins were hardly the punchiest team, and with good dice this match could turn on its head in a second, especially with the Esoteric Whisperers' noticeable strength advantage. Grabbing herself a bowl of hard-shell berries, Kerry settled down to enjoy the bloodbath. And a bloodbath it proved to be, as Samus' Esoteric Whisperers pushed hard on their offensive drive, though the goblins proved stubborn beyond reason. A quick score for the Misdreavus' forces, but that may yet have proven a mistake: Kerry had four turns and then an entire half to turn this deficit into a victory, and set about doing precisely that: A thrown Goblin landed square on the head of a Chosen Blocker in the depths of the field, send both to the injury bin, and while the tides of the chaotic hordes swarmed against each other, the trolls held firm, managing to lob the lucky ball-carrying 'Ooligan far enough behind the Chaos team that he could scurry in for a turn 8 touchdown, levelling the match just in time for the half. By this point Kerry wasn't looking for a fourth kick: She was running dangerously low on expendables, and while only one was actually outright dead, she still needed some fodder for her team. Meanwhile, they'd still only removed the one opposing player. But on the bright side, with this being (ideally) the final drive, her secret weapons were out in force, and that put some serious fear into her opponent, judging purely by the defensive setup. Samus was afraid, and Kerry soon proved those fears correct: The trolls and Fanatic smashed through their line defense like kindling, with the fanatic swinging dangerously close to the enemy lines, with the trolls putting more goats on their backsides as the Looney made his own mark, in the form of utterly slaughtering one of the downed Beastmen with his chainsaw. The butchery continued from there, the trolls only occasionally misbehaving as the Fanatic ploughed through the unfortunate Chaos team. The 'Ooligan ran in a second touchdown to close out the match, but the damage was already done: Two dead Beastmen, another two injured and a third mauled Blocker, plus the unconscious people, meant that the Chaos team barely had a line left to field for their final turn, and they chose instead to pass and end the match on an unceremonious 2-1 defeat, rather than risk their Ogre and three Beastmen against two Trolls. Samus' Esoteric Whisperers were silenced, while Da Cradle Gitz were proving themselves a dangerous wildcard in the fray...

With the opening bout of matches out of the way, Liawe gathered the results and updated teamsheets, wincing as she read the results of Kerry's match. "Yeesh, Kerry, talk about putting the blood in Blood Bowl! Shame you don't get SPP for foul injuries.." Shaking her head, she gathered her assorted paperwork and addressed the milling players. "Well, talk about an eventful first set of matches! It's already kinda late so that'll be it for today, but I think we're scheduled in for Saturday next?", she paused, looking to Anathema as the nurse nodded her confirmation. "Okay, Saturday. We might be able to get a couple matches each down then, depending on shifts and whatnot, so I'll be looking forward to it, and... Well, until next time!" And with that, the Pokemon dispersed for bed, with Anathema and Kerry following suit. Liawe was last to leave, flicking of the lights and waving goodbye to Cedim as she left. That had gone... surprisingly well, for once.

Current League Table:
1: Glacial Seafarers (Hope's Norse)
2: Da Cradle Gitz (Kerry's Goblins)
2: Valley Windriders (Liawe's Amazons)
4: Anathemic Pactsworn (Anathema's Chaos Renegades)
4: Cortozan Corsairs (Sheut's Dark Elves)
6: Esoteric Whisperers (Samus' Chaos Chosen)
6: Skypeak Savages (Relaeh's Orcs)
8: Mystical Maestros (Maledictum's Wood Elves)