"Ooh! What about this spooky old house in the forest?" Diane suggested, her nose buried deep in a tourist pamphlet. "That could be a buncha fun!" Eterna City was a place that promised to tie the past and the present together for the folks who visited, a place that showcased the great history and heritage that the Sinnoh region had to offer. And as the Gligar sat upside-down on the bench in the waiting room of the Pokémon center, gently kicking her feet in the air, she could say with absolute certainty that it was also very, VERY dull.

Although part of that might have been the current company she found herself with. "It's just a house," Laurie rebuffed, the big Camerupt lounging with her arms draped over the backrest of the bench, waiting to register herself for the upcoming battle tournament in the city.

Diane reluctantly went back to skimming the pamphlet, wishing the underground dig site didn't have to close so early. Maybe she would sneak back in later to have another look. "There's a market place that sells herbs on the other side of town," she tried, "just by that statue we saw?"

"I don't really like herbs." Laurie replied with a small shake of her head, ponytail gently swaying to and fro.

"Yeah, that's Skye's thing, I guess," the Gligar agreed, turning another page in the pamphlet. An awkward pause fell between them, as Diane ended up flicking all the way back to the first page, now completely exhausted of ideas on how to pass the time before the other two members of their group arrived. "...bike shop?"

The Camerupt turned her head a little. "Bike shop?" Even with her bangs obscuring her eyes, and the Fire-type's usual overly stoic demeanour, Laurie's incredulity at that suggestion had still managed to slip its way into her voice a little.

A huff escaped Diane, and her legs flopped back down as she righted herself. "You're so boring," she muttered, tossing the pamphlet back on the coffee table in front of them.

"Well well, if it isn't Laurie the Landwhale," came a raspy voice from the far side of the room, its familiarity instantly catching the attention of the Camerupt. From out of the previously closed doorway swaggered a blue-skinned brute of a Sharpedo, tan jumpsuit tied around her waist, a scattering of slashes and scars all over, even a few chunks missing from both her fins and her long, meaty tail, topped off with razor-sharp teeth bared in a wide grin.

"Kerry?" Laurie said, suddenly sitting up straight at the sight of this new arrival, drawing a soft creak from the bench beneath her as her weight shifted. "I thought you were in Galar."

"Galar? After the whole Dexit thing?" the Sharpedo snorted, hands on hips. "There's no way I'm slogging through -that- much paperwork. Besides," she continued, striding up to the Camerupt, "I couldn't pass up the chance to spend another year kicking your fat ass around."

Laurie's bewilderment had already given way back to her usual pouting, this time with a scowl visible even behind her oversized fringe. "So you're just taking this excursion to try and ruin mine?"

"That's a bit mean," Diane chipped in, shuffling back a little as Kerry's piercing gaze abruptly swung in her direction.

"I don't think I asked for you to cut in now, did I?" growled the Sharpedo, leaning in close enough to catch her own snarling reflection in the glasses of the scared little Gligar. "Did I?"

"Leave her alone!" Laurie told her, pushing herself up from the bench as the Water-type continued to intimidate Diane back toward the corner of the room.

"Hey, it's okay, don't worry." Kerry's jarringly soft words may have said one thing, as she glanced momentarily at Laurie over her shoulder, but turning back to the Gligar, leaning one arm over the back of the bench to surround her prey even further, the blood-red rings swimming in the black abyss of her eyes, and subtle flash of fangs in a sly smirk painted a much more frightening picture. "I don't bite."

A tense silence fell between the three of them, the nervous Diane keeping her eyes square on the Sharpedo hovering just inches from her face. Between the notched fin atop their head, and the curve of her tail arcing just behind it, she looked over at the similarly imposing but much more friendly figure of Laurie, just for a second.

And in that instant, Kerry lunged forward, her sawtoothed jaws suddenly snapping shut like a bear trap, gnashing at thin air as Diane let out a scream, leaping back as far as she could, curling up in the corner of the bench, chest rising and falling rapidly in a fearful panting, and tightly clutching the Eviolite around her neck in one claw. The Sharpedo watched the Gligar recoiling in terror, and broke out into a harsh, grating cackle, only for two pudgy hands to wrap aroud her tail as Laurie forcefully hauled her away.

"Woah, woah, ease up, tubby!" the Sharpedo said, stumbling a little to regain her balance, before marching her way straight up to the fat Camerupt, staring eye to eye with her. "You don't get physical outside of the arena, you know that."

Laurie remained unmoved, keeping herself as a full-on roadblock between Kerry and the cowering Gligar. "She's not a fighter," she informed the Water-type sternly. "So you're not gonna lay a finger on her."

Kerry coyly raised an eyebrow. "Isn't she?" She leaned to one side, peering past the volcanic vents on Laurie's shoulder blades at the still huddled figure of Diane in the corner of the bench, and slowly broke out into another sadistic, sawtoothed grin as she spotted the Gligar's eyes widening once their gaze met hers. "...my mistake."

Her attention was drawn once again by Laurie taking one step forward, the big Fire-type forcing the Sharpedo back with her sheer size. Kerry knew she could outspeed the mountain of a girl any day of the week, but indoors, in a Pokémon center, full of seating, tables, and a light scattering of staff and patients that appeared to be getting a little curious as to what was going on between the two of them, escalation certainly wasn't the best of ideas.

"Tell you what," Kerry began, gradually stepping away from the wall of a Camerupt. "Let's you and I just leave our beef back in Hoenn, huh?" she offered, calmly extending one hand and casually tucking the thumb of the other into the waistband of her jumpsuit. "New season, new start."

Laurie simply stared at the blue hand for a moment. She knew from experience that the Sharpedo's word was as good as mud in situations like these, but at least they seemed willing to back down this time. "You serious?"

A sinister grin flashed across Kerry's face. "Deadly."

Reluctantly, the Camerupt accepted the handshake, her jaw immediately tensing as Kerry's grip tightened around her chubby hand and their fingers began to slither and writhe in place, the Sharpedo dragging her sandpaper skin across Laurie's, with only a few loose hand wraps to keep it at bay. Not nearly enough to prevent the Water-type's thumb carving a deep, thick scratch in the back of Laurie's hand, along with leaving several other smaller cuts on her palm, to serve as a reminder of her.

"See you around, Laurie," said Kerry, abruptly pulling her hand away to leave one last scrape, wheeling around and making her exit, but not before that huge tail of hers swung around behind her, a great smack ringing out across the room as its fin caught the Camerupt square across the cheek.

Laurie grunted sharply as the shock from the impact quickly dissipated. Her mass may have kept her upright, Kerry's tail having knocked down a lot of opponents in battle, but that didn't prevent the slap in the face stinging like a Beedrill. Bringing a hand up to her cheek, she then noticed Diane curled up in the corner, trying to make herself as small as she could while watching the Sharpedo striding out of the lobby. "Are you okay?"

The Gligar jumped a little at the sudden interjection, before giving a relieved sigh upon realizing it was only the Camerupt. With a nervous gulp, she nodded quickly and wordlessly. "What about you?" she mewled quietly.

Twitching her nose from side to side, Laurie took a look at her other hand, examining the marks the Sharpedo had left. "She's done worse," she reassured Diane, fumbling in one of the pockets on her jean shorts and pulling out a small purple purple-topped spray bottle, giving it a squirt on both sides of her scuffed-up hand to subdue some of the lingering pain, before stowing the Potion back in its pocket. "I thought I'd got rid of her," she huffed to herself, heading over toward the registration room to put her name down for the upcoming tournament. She really just wanted to get it over with at this point.

"...can I come in too?"

Stopping for a moment and turning to look over her shoulder at the call from the Gligar, Laurie only had to think for a second. "Sure," she shrugged, jabbing a thumb towards the doorway and heading inside.

Diane instantly hopped up from the bench and scampered in behind her.

---

000 - New Arrival
015 - Calling In
017 - A Moment In Time