“Hmm, wonder what they’re chatting about,” the quartet of Team WiredRed had left the classroom behind once the final bell had rung. The four young ‘mon were still gelling as a team, leaving them to try and spend time together as a crew whenever they could. After school usually worked out for them since no one had any big after school activities to worry about, and they were all in the same final class anyway. Some days they’d work on their battling or conditioning, while other days were all about strategizing and learning about one another. Some days they were all just in a mood and hung out with one another, knowing they had plenty of time to work out during the school day; today worked out to be one of those lazier hang days. The ‘mon doing the pondering was one Miss Edna “Eddie” Nachtmon the Umbreon of the team. What she was pondering on was what her team leader Libby Devito, Seadra Extremist, was doing talking to her beau Walter Sikes.

“Probably making plans for Friday,” Dakota ‘Dusty’ Briar, Bulbasaur and muscle of Team WireRed commented offhand, adjusting her shirt a bit to make it more flattering. Eddie turned and looked towards the Bulbasaur with a raised brow, “Since, you know, they’re a couple and all,” She finished, still adjusting her shirt rather than look up at her other teammates.

“Whatever,” Jeffery Thompson, Grunge Espeon, threw in his two cents as they stood there waiting. Eventually Walter and Libby finished up their conversation and kissed briefly before parting ways. With a rather large smile on her face the Seadra made her way back over to the rest of her teammates, leaving some of them to smirk.

“Stellar, everything’s all good,” Libby said as she joined them, walking off towards a park that was near the school and leading her teammates along with her. The others fell in step and tailed after their leader, some of them more than a little confused.

“What’s all good?” Eddie asked, catching up and walking along side. Dusty hung a step or two back, looking around seemingly absently. Those that knew her better would say she was inspecting the fauna around the streets to make sure it was in good shape. Jeffery, meanwhile, thrust his hands into his pockets and just wandered after them with his usual sour expression painted across his face. Libby glanced over her shoulder for a moment before looking back towards the Umbreon.

“Walter’s arranging a meet and greet with our teach on Friday at Krabby Shack,” Eddie gave another mildly surprised look as an eyebrow shot up. Dusty seemed to be non-plussed by the news and continued to examine the plans around her which seemed vastly more interesting. Jeffery continued to scowl before growling out a response.

“Can’t make it. Grounded,” he was loath to admit as much, after all it was completely unfair and not at all his fault. Libby looked over though her smile didn’t really seem to abash at all.

“What’d you do this time, brah?” She asked to his chagrin. He hated when she called him that.

“Nothin’,” he protested, “my dad’s just being an asshole again,” Eddie was the one to retort by snorting out a laugh.

“You knocked over your grandmother’s urn while practicing your power slide in the living room! Her ashes were everywhere,” Jeffery ducked a little lower at the explanation, having hoped to avoid it even being brought to light. This snapped Dusty out of her reverie as he blinked and looked over at her teammate. Libby had to stop and swing her gaze over to the Espeon who suddenly felt very self conscious.

“Say what now?” Libby asked, blinking a few times in surprise. Jeffery just shrugged his shoulders and stood up straighter, feeling righteous in his indignation at being blamed when they should have put the urn some place safer.

“Wasn’t my fault!” He protested, “Why put something that important on a table next to the slickest part of the floor anyway?” Eddie just laughed and patted the other eeveeloution on the shoulder.

“You’re only grounded for two weeks this time, so don’t worry about it to much,” She tried to assuage his boiling rage, “and just be glad they didn’t take away your guitar,” deflated he nodded and let out a sigh, Eddie always having a way of keeping him from exploding completely. A moment later he blinked and looked at his watch.

“Ahh, man! I gotta go or dad’s gonna kill me,” He stopped and looked back to his teammates before clearing his throat, “I mean, I better get home before The Mon tries to keep me down anymore,” with that the Espeon turned and started to wander off to a bus stop so he could get home. The others just watched on in some wonder at the piece of work before Eddie just shook her head.

“He really is a sweet guy once you get out from under the angst,” she explained to the other two on the team. They looked at her doubtfully causing her to shrug once again.

“Well, not really. But a girl can dream can’t she?” Eddie smiled roguishly in response, drawing a laugh from the other two before they continued on towards the park.

The park itself had been there for quite some time, maintained by a family of grass-types who prided themselves on injecting a measure of nature into the harsh urban jungle of Viridian City. It was a popular destination for nature lovers and lovers in general alike. If one wanted to they could go through the place at night with a flashlight and flush out at least half a dozen different couples enjoying the darkness the after hours of the day provided them there as there was little to no artificial light in the place. Dusty loved the place and would spend hours getting to know every plant, every animal and every square inch of the place. Eddie wasn’t as fond because it usually meant she got grass on the cuffs of her pants.

“So meet and greet with whom on Friday?” the Umbreon asked once again, adjusting her tie absently. Libby grinned once more and looked back to Eddie.

“Vincent,” the Seadra answered, “Walter’s a brah of his and so we figured we’d hang and get to know him better,” Eddie looked doubtful.

“Isn’t that going to be hard without Jeffery?” She asked her leader pointedly. Libby just shrugged her shoulders and motioned over towards Dusty.

“She can’t make it either,” the Bulbasaur looked up as Libby talked about her, causing Dusty to smile apologetically in response.

“Had plans with my cousin and Ishtar,” Dusty said, “We’re gonna drag Weaver out to the Zoo at Night thing,” Eddie snorted in response.

“So shouldn’t we reschedule when everyone can be there?” The Umbreon asked, getting a strange feeling about it all. Libby shook her head in response.

“Walter has a hard time swinging time off on Friday nights since it’s so raucous at Poke Hut,” she countered, “So having any Friday off is to choice to be wasted,”

“So…why not after school?” Eddie continued to ask, still getting a strange vibe from all this.

“Vincent’s pretty busy with his own stuff,” Dusty quickly added, “You know…from what Weaver tells me,”

“Weekend?” Eddie continued to poke.

“You want to take chill time away from him?” Libby asked in return. The Umbreon finally sighed and shrugged her shoulders.

“Didn’t have any plans on Friday anyway,” Eddie finally said. Dusty and Libby shared a quick smile before looking back towards their teammate.

“So, how did you know so much about him anyway?” Dusty couldn’t help but ask, drawing another shrug from the Umbreon.

“I’m a fan of old battlers,” Eddie explained, “his family hasn’t actively battled in about fifteen years, but they were pretty important in their day. Before they stepped in there was bias about battlers from smaller regions, and helped make one type tag-teams acceptable,” her teammates looked a little surprised at this, having heard about the history of various barriers being broken in the battle ranks but didn’t know it could run quite that deep.

“They may not be as important as the first female battler or the first Normal type Grand Champion, but they still played their part in it all,” Libby let out a low whistle as Eddie finished up.

“Learn something new every day I suppose,” the Seadra grinned once more after she said that, “did you expect to know anything ‘bout you?”

“Nope,” Eddie barked out a laugh at the question, “Figured we’d all just be anonymous freshmen to him. But he seemed to have a handle on a lot of us,” She paused for a moment in thought, “Wonder how he knew that?”

“Weaver says he’s a pain in the ass in classes who knows to much,” Dusty offered, drawing a laugh from the other two, “Which is why she loves to crib from him,”

“Does your cousin have anything nice to say about people?” Dusty blushed at Libby’s question.

“Nothing ‘bout Ishtar I can repeat,” she answered with reddened cheeks and a coy smile. The three girls giggled for a moment before the Bulbasaur continued, “Weaver’s actually a big softy. She just doesn’t like to show it off to many people,” the three ladies continued to giggle before they all fell silent on their walk, picking their way through the shrubs and trees that littered the park. For a long moment none of them really had much to add, the trio still getting to know one another as one of those awkward silences that is the bane of a new relationship reared its head.

“So, do you think the four of us are going to be all right?” Dusty finally asked, causing the other two to stop in their tracks and look back at her a bit surprised at the question.

“Whatdoya mean?” Libby queried, still looking a bit stunned.

“It’s just, well, I’ve heard a lot of stories about teams not lasting more than a semester, let alone four years,” the Bulbasaur began to explain, fidgeting a bit with her hands, “and we’re still trying to learn about one another, and Jeff is well…Jeffery,” she let it hang out there as if it explained everything. To the other two it did. Libby smiled and reached out to wrap an arm around Dusty to reassure her.

“Hey, it’s all good. Of course we’re going to be fine!” Libby did her best to reassure her teammate, “I’m stoked about this team! We’re going to shred up the school over the next four years and make our competition yard sale!” Dusty looked over to Eddie for a translation.

“What she’s saying,” the Umbreon wrapped an arm around the Bulbasaur’s shoulders as well, “Is that we’ve got as good a chance of making it and making a name for ourselves along the way. It isn’t us that needs to worry about things, it’s the ‘mon who get in our way,” Dusty smiled at her teammates confidence despite of her own trepidation. The smile didn’t last as she looked back towards Eddie, still worried about something.

“And Jeff?” She restated her other concern. Eddie just laughed and shrugged her shoulders.

“I’ll take care of Jeffery,” she said to sooth her teammate’s fears, “he’s really not as gruff as he likes to make himself out to be, he’s just got an issue with thinking his dad wants to turn him into his father,”

“Is he right?” Libby had to ask.

“Eh, partially. But its not nearly as bad as he wants to make it out to be,” Eddie explained, “Just have to give him something to focus on and we should be able to keep him moving and as motivated as he ever is,” the other two ladies giggled at the answer.

“Yup, it’s gonna be all good,” Libby finally said as the three young ladies continued on their path through the park as the sun began to set in front of them. The three would continue chatting with one another about things before they finally parted to go about their separate ways. To say they were all settled completely would be to lie to themselves, but it looked like as a team, they had a punchers chance which was more than a lot of freshmen teams could say.

Cool. I'm liking these ladies (and dude) more and more the more I see of them. :D

Kae and I appreciate the votes of confidence. v^.^

And expect more from these folks...and don't think I've forgotten about Winsome. Or your Civics teacher.

Mweeheehee. :3 If you do want to use any of my characters, all I ask is a sneak-peek of the portrayal. Otherwise, they're all up for grabs. (And don't forget Mr. MacFeegle!)

But of course.