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More from vjohnson
First work in a while. Here are some prelude stories for what will eventually lead up to the story about the Battle Testing between Team Nocturne and Team Generation. Characters here mostly belong to myself or the lovely and talented 
kaemantis
Skylar is
carlito as well as Zap belonging to 
ebonyleopard plus you have Obsidion Casteye who's a part of 
theaubri 's crew. Let's not forget Caspia the Cloyster who belongs to 
indagare who also helped with some editing.
More to come soon when the boys have their turn at how they're preparing for testing!
kaemantisSkylar is
carlito as well as Zap belonging to 
ebonyleopard plus you have Obsidion Casteye who's a part of 
theaubri 's crew. Let's not forget Caspia the Cloyster who belongs to 
indagare who also helped with some editing. More to come soon when the boys have their turn at how they're preparing for testing!
Category Story / Pokemon
Species Unspecified / Any
Size 120 x 120px
File Size 43 kB
“Hokori!” The voice bellowed through the temple alerting anyone who was inside as well as those nearby that someone was looking for the Misdreavus. It had been an unusually quiet Sunday with few visiting the shrine despite its importance for Ghost Pokemon and those others who’d discovered the serene and peaceful nature of the place. Most were afraid to even tread near it as not all ‘mon felt secure around Ghost types. Also, the main proprietor of the shrine was known for being rather grumpy a lot of the time.
“Hokori! I’m looking for you!” The elder Ghost type continued to stomp through the grounds looking everywhere for his daughter. Eventually he came upon her meditating under a tree off to one side of the shrine. The young Misdreavus sat there with her eyes closed and legs crossed quietly, the tendrils that made up her hair quietly fluttering in the breeze that had developed in the sunny afternoon. Her father huffed and walked towards her, arms crossing as he came to a stop behind her.
“I’ve been looking for you,” He declared in an almost rhetorical fashion at this point. Hokori sighed as her eyes remained closed tightly.
“The entire neighborhood knows you were looking for me, daddy,” she replied evenly. Her father stopped for a moment surprised at the calm response before frowning once again at his charge.
“Yes, well, I know you have to prepare for your testing coming up but that’s no excuse not to do your chores around here!” He resumed the stern look on his face that he always used whenever he was preparing to lecture someone. His daughter once again sighed, turning in order to look at her father as her eyes fluttered open to gaze upon him. She smiled sweetly, something that always disarmed the older ‘mon.
“I have, daddy. The inner shrine has been scrubbed, I made sure that the talismans were ready to be sold tomorrow, and the ribbons have been replaced on the bells,” Silenced reigned for a moment as her father listened and nodded, his thunder having been stolen by the simple fact that she did what she was supposed to. Clearing his throat he nodded in response, eyes closing and looking away from Hokori.
“Then you have completed your studies as well?” He looked up towards her to see if he’d caught her off guard at all. The Misdreavus just smiled and nodded, holding up her hand as a small ball of strange, ghostly fire dancing on her palm.
“I even learned a new attack. Quintin helped me to learn Will-o-wisp,” She hid her greater smile knowing this wasn’t something her father was pleased about. Indeed her father’s eyes widened at the mention of the Cyndaquil who’d been sniffing around his daughter’s skirt.
“I don’t know what you see in that…that…mortal!” He breathed heavily, trying not to completely explode as he had when he first met the young ‘mon. Hokori extinguished the attack she’d been showing off and stood, smoothing out her clothing. She smiled brilliantly up at her father which continued to throw off his rhythm.
“Oh he’s a good, ‘mon and you know it!” She started walking towards him, stopping to take a moment to reach up and peck his cheek, “And he’s coming over tonight to help me train for testing. I expect you to be nicer to him than you have been,” Her father grumbled as she said that and nodded. As she walked out of range to go back to finish up some chore he smiled. After all, he hadn’t promised to be completely nice, just nicer than he had been.
“To the left!” Out on the Pokeball practice field bodies thudded into one another as teammates worked to toughen each other up. Behind a fleshy wall of thick and heavy ‘mon the team captain Zap worked to orchestrate the chaotic ballet that was protecting him from being tackled. The Raichu looked around for an opening, any kind of opening down the field to get the ball moving. With his attention distracted he almost missed the large Absol pounding to take him down. Obsidian Catseye leapt fiercely for ball holder expecting to make a clean hit; a moment later he found himself pounded to the turf as a Carnivine intercepted him before the Absol could get to the ball. Kreep kept himself on top of the defender in order to make sure he wasn’t going to get up, looking towards Zap who finally found an option downfield.
The ball hurled through the air down the field and towards the goal. Skylar Ferrotti bolted down the field and towards where the ball was heading, arms stretching out in preparation to catch the pass from the Captain. Those back at midfield watched as the ball traveled beyond their means, waiting to see the result of the pass. Zap grinned widely as another pass was about to be completed, only to watch as another object was hurtled after the ball. A small black blur of Weavile flew through the air, having been hurled by Rupert just moments earlier, and making a b-line to meet up with the Skarmory. Skylar’s eyes widened as she realized to catch the ball she was going to have to get hit by the small ‘mon headed her way as well. Gritting her teeth the Steel type reached out and took the ball out of the sky, completing the reception. A moment later she was removed from the sky as the weight and momentum of the other ‘mon brought her to the ground roughly.
A whistle blew to call the play dead, though no real tussling was going on anymore. The team rushed down the field in order to check on the two ‘mon who’d collided mid-air and then fell to the turf heavily. Skylar and Tabitha were both a little slow to get up, though the Weavile was grinning widely as she did so. Pressing herself up she looked towards the Skarmory and winked at her.
“Gotcha,” She offered a hand over to help Skylar up who was grinning as well. A moment later she held up the ball to show she still had possession of it.
“Not good enough, babe,” the two laughed as the rest of the team and Coach Wrangler came up to check on them. Rupert was grinning widely as their tactic had worked and she’d been able to fly far enough from where they were to catch up to the ball and the receiver. The Magcargo and Weavile high-fived each other even as Zap frowned, crossing his arms at the display.
“What do you two think you’re doing?” He asked, the Captain of the team giving a rather stern look to the two who’d completed the maneuver. They blinked back at him; a little surprised he’d have issue with it.
“Trying to keep Shineybutt here from scoring,” Tabitha answered, motioning towards Skylar who was still knocking some grass off of her uniform. She looked up as well, a little surprised since she was all right. Zap didn’t look too convinced.
“This is only practice, we don’t need to be doing anything that might knock out a player two weeks before homecoming,” The Magcargo and Weavile looked at each other in surprise again before looking back to the team captain.
“We were just testing out a new move, Zap,” Rupert began to explain, “Had to make sure it’d work before we used it in a game,”
“And that’s the point of practice,” Coach Wrangler said, interrupting the potential argument and cutting it off before it got ugly. She’d seen a lot of these before and knew what the results could be. She reached over to touch Tabitha and Zap on the shoulders to soothe their anger.
“He is right, that was a dangerous thing to do, Ms. Warren and I don’t want to see you or Mr. Snales doing it again,” Zap grinned smugly as the Ursaring sided with him, and then promptly frowned when she continued, “Unless it’s in a match against another team. Then by all means knock ‘em out of the sky,” The rest of the team laughed as Tabitha gave Zap a playful wink.
“Now go hit the showers! You all have finals next week and I’m not going to be responsible for any of you failing because you get hurt out here!” The team grumbled and did as they were told, many of them wishing they could keep practicing. The Weavile bounced her way towards the locker room, chatting and laughing with Skylar as she went. At the back of her mind she couldn’t help but get a feeling she was going to dread something from this weekend; no not from Zap whom she’d flirt with later to try and calm down, but something else bugged her, and she couldn’t figure out what.
“So are you ready for testing next week?” Outside the school and down the road a bit was a rather peaceful park maintained for decades by a family of Grass types that’d always taken pride in the serene presence of their garden near such aggression. It was a common place for students to go in order to lose themselves away from their studies, or to sneak away with a loved one in order to enjoy a little time together. Ishtar had always loved how calm and peaceful it was, leaving her relaxed and in an almost Zen like state when she let herself fall to it. Weaver on the other hand hated it for all the perversion she managed to find from others as the couples that would escape here let their imaginations run wild. Still, Ishtar enjoyed it so she put up with the stray thoughts for her.
“Say what now?” the Drowzee did have some trouble keeping her mind focused on matters at hand. Ishtar giggled a little as her girlfriend drifted, giving Weaver’s hand a gentle squeeze in order to help bring her attention back to the here and now. The two passed by some small kids who were dashing for the playground nearby in order to be the first on a swing. Their parents weren’t too far behind, some mothers calling after their children to be careful and not get hurt.
“Testing,” the Jynx restated, “Its next week…we both have to do it. Are you ready?” the Drowzee let out a sigh at the mention of the tests that were coming, not exactly looking forward to them. Its not that she couldn’t brawl, or wasn’t good at fighting it just was always something that interrupted her schedule of yo-yoing, sneaking snacks from the school and spending time with Ishtar.
“Yeah, I suppose,” came her somewhat terse and small answer. Ishtar tilted her head slightly as she looked to the tapir with concern. Weaver looked up, sensing the emotion from her companion and gave a little bit of a smile of assurance, “I’m fine. You just know how much I think testing is pointless,” The Jynx nodded in response and leaned into the other a bit more.
“Yes, but you don’t have as much to worry about,” she countered, Ishtar’s face looking down for a moment in consternation. Weaver stopped and looked over at the Jynx curiously.
“You’re a good battler, Ishtar,” Weaver reassured the other, “You don’t got to worry ‘bout that. You’ll do fine,” the other smiled in response, almost a little teasingly.
“Easy for you to say what with coming from a grand champion and all,” Weaver rolled her eyes in response to that.
“Don’t remind me. My sister’s do that plenty and so do all the fanboys out there who rush my mom whenever we’re out,” Ishtar giggled, starting up the walk once again.
“Who’re you going up against again?” She asked so as not to think about her own worries about her upcoming testing. Being a senior the battles were bound to be just that much tougher and more spectacular since many of the last year students wanted to go out with a bang; in the case of some, quite literally.
“Team Generation,” Weaver said offhand, shrugging. Regardless of who it was the Drowzee didn’t seem to be to off put by the battle, going through life with the same sense of apathetic acceptance as she did with many things.
“Should be a good fight,” Ishtar said, almost to herself, “Two highly ranked junior teams going at it,” She searched her companions face and emotions for any kind of response, and found little.
“Should be fun,” Weaver smirked, “I hope I get a crack at Tabitha,” Ishtar blinked a bit in surprise.
“She do something to you?” The Jynx asked concern evident in her voice. The tapir shook her head and then just grinned.
“Nah, just would be fun to shut her up some. She talks too much,” the Jynx simply giggled and the two walked in through the peaceful park arm-in-arm, trying to relax a little before they had to part ways to head home.
“Hello?” The question rang backstage as a single sound could be heard echoing through the quiet maze of props and ropes. Few students were at the rehearsal that Friday, most having either headed home to relax or to prepare for the testing next week. The cast had been set for the most part for the schools next production which would really be kicking into high gear next month: The PokeCombat Academy presents the Sound of Music. All of the usual students had turned out including one who’d always demanded the lead role, and would often back out if she didn’t get it. Sometimes things worked out for those that auditioned and sometimes they didn’t.
“Who’s here?” Caspia, a large, young Cloyster, had agreed to work on the set side of things for some extra credit that semester. She’d been having a hard time through her Drama elective and saw it as a perfect opportunity to keep her grades respectable. Not to mention she’d found it to be a wonderful excuse to stay close to Boris, someone she always enjoyed spending time with. The Koffing had earned the role he sought of Captain Georg as he had wanted, and was studiously preparing for it as he did everything. Caspia knew she’d have to stay some distance away to allow him to concentrate, though she enjoyed throwing him off from time to time. Now she was backstage following a sound she’d heard in passing. It almost sounded like crying.
Soon she found her way to a back closet that was rarely used for more than stuffing old props into it that would probably never be used again. A broken chandelier from Phantom, the Chatot dummies from South Pacific and even some fans from the last production of the King and I. Caspia pushed the door open and found a young Altaria inside, crying a little less quietly than she’d hoped. The Cloyster recognized her as Marie, the young actress who’d received quite a few leads in her time at the Academy, but had not been chosen for the role of Maria this time around. Instead she had been selected for the part of Liesl.
“Marie?” Caspia poked her head in quietly, something she wasn’t known for. As the Altaria heard someone approach she wiped her eyes quickly, smiling and trying to use the darkness to her advantage.
“Hello!” she chirped cheerfully in response, “Caspia, I didn’t expect you to be around,” she hadn’t expected anyone around to be honest. She smiled widely in response as if trying to calm Marie and let her know everything was all right.
“Was just about to head home when I heard something,” Marie’s face fell as she mentioned it. Caspia continued to smile reassuringly, trying her best to not appear judgmental in any way.
“You heard that?” she asked meekly, tears threatening to roll down her eyes once more. Caspia stepped forward and wrapped an arm around the Altaria to comfort her. The Cloyster had a big heart to go along with her big smile and big body.
“Hey now, nothing to worry ‘bout there. You’ve seen how Boris reacts around me haven’t you?” Marie giggled, thinking about the large, tough Koffing running away screaming from time to time whenever Caspia was around. Slowly she relaxed around the Cloyster, “What’s got you all upset anyway?”
“Just…everything right now,” Mare sighed, looking down though she’d stopped the tears from coming back, “I didn’t get the lead in the play, and testing is coming up next week,”
“What’s wrong with battle testing?” Caspia asked, caught off guard a little by that. She knew that not all students at the Academy were looking to go professional, but it still sounded strange to her that any would dread battling.
“I’m not as good as the others on my team,” she admitted after a moment, as much to herself as to Caspia, “I don’t want to let them down and be the one to lose the match. I don’t want to…well…”
“Fail?” the other asked after Marie had faltered for finding a word. The Altaria lowered her elegant neck slowly, eyes closing as the tears threatened once more.
“Yes. Already failed once not getting the lead in the play,” The Cloyster scoffed as she heard the words and gave the other a quick and strong hug. Marie was so shocked by the sudden act she’d forgotten to even let the tears roll down her cheeks.
“You didn’t fail! Getting the lead or not getting the lead isn’t what determines succeeding or failing in drama,” not that Caspia knew what she was talking about really, she was the one failing drama after all, “You just got the part you succeeded for,” Marie blinked in confusion at the follow up, not quite sure what to say.
“Listen,” Caspia continued, “we don’t always get exactly what we want out of something. Hell, I’m living proof in some ways for that. Don’t mean that we didn’t succeed, just means we didn’t succeed in the way we thought we did. I’m sure Professor Swallow thought that you’d be better for the play in the role you’re in, and that’s why you’re….”
“Liesl,” Marie helped.
“Yeah, that part instead of the lead. Doesn’t mean you failed, just means you’re doin’ something different,” Caspia nodded emphatically to push the point home, leaving Marie stunned for a moment. Slowly a smile crept across her beak as her words sunk in, the Altaria nodding in agreement.
“You’re right!”
“Damn right I am!” Caspia chimed in, “And you’re going to be just fine during testing. Doesn’t matter if you win or lose, just matters if you do well enough to help your team keep moving,” Marie looked at the other for a long moment before smiling and reaching over to fully embrace Caspia who accepted the hug with a smile.
“Thank you, Caspia. You’re right…and it doesn’t matter if I did get the lead or not, so long as I still perform as well as I should,”
“Exactly!” the other continued to cheer on the young actress. Marie slowly pulled herself back to look at the other with a smile.
“So, think we could find a way to have Boris not run screaming away from you at the drop of a hat?” Caspia laughed loudly at Maria’s question, dragging her out of the back room in order to get her back into the light and moving away from the reminders of what she’d just been doing. It was a question she’d asked herself a few times, and maybe together the two of them could figure out a way to make Boris enjoy the finer things in life a little more.
“Hokori! I’m looking for you!” The elder Ghost type continued to stomp through the grounds looking everywhere for his daughter. Eventually he came upon her meditating under a tree off to one side of the shrine. The young Misdreavus sat there with her eyes closed and legs crossed quietly, the tendrils that made up her hair quietly fluttering in the breeze that had developed in the sunny afternoon. Her father huffed and walked towards her, arms crossing as he came to a stop behind her.
“I’ve been looking for you,” He declared in an almost rhetorical fashion at this point. Hokori sighed as her eyes remained closed tightly.
“The entire neighborhood knows you were looking for me, daddy,” she replied evenly. Her father stopped for a moment surprised at the calm response before frowning once again at his charge.
“Yes, well, I know you have to prepare for your testing coming up but that’s no excuse not to do your chores around here!” He resumed the stern look on his face that he always used whenever he was preparing to lecture someone. His daughter once again sighed, turning in order to look at her father as her eyes fluttered open to gaze upon him. She smiled sweetly, something that always disarmed the older ‘mon.
“I have, daddy. The inner shrine has been scrubbed, I made sure that the talismans were ready to be sold tomorrow, and the ribbons have been replaced on the bells,” Silenced reigned for a moment as her father listened and nodded, his thunder having been stolen by the simple fact that she did what she was supposed to. Clearing his throat he nodded in response, eyes closing and looking away from Hokori.
“Then you have completed your studies as well?” He looked up towards her to see if he’d caught her off guard at all. The Misdreavus just smiled and nodded, holding up her hand as a small ball of strange, ghostly fire dancing on her palm.
“I even learned a new attack. Quintin helped me to learn Will-o-wisp,” She hid her greater smile knowing this wasn’t something her father was pleased about. Indeed her father’s eyes widened at the mention of the Cyndaquil who’d been sniffing around his daughter’s skirt.
“I don’t know what you see in that…that…mortal!” He breathed heavily, trying not to completely explode as he had when he first met the young ‘mon. Hokori extinguished the attack she’d been showing off and stood, smoothing out her clothing. She smiled brilliantly up at her father which continued to throw off his rhythm.
“Oh he’s a good, ‘mon and you know it!” She started walking towards him, stopping to take a moment to reach up and peck his cheek, “And he’s coming over tonight to help me train for testing. I expect you to be nicer to him than you have been,” Her father grumbled as she said that and nodded. As she walked out of range to go back to finish up some chore he smiled. After all, he hadn’t promised to be completely nice, just nicer than he had been.
“To the left!” Out on the Pokeball practice field bodies thudded into one another as teammates worked to toughen each other up. Behind a fleshy wall of thick and heavy ‘mon the team captain Zap worked to orchestrate the chaotic ballet that was protecting him from being tackled. The Raichu looked around for an opening, any kind of opening down the field to get the ball moving. With his attention distracted he almost missed the large Absol pounding to take him down. Obsidian Catseye leapt fiercely for ball holder expecting to make a clean hit; a moment later he found himself pounded to the turf as a Carnivine intercepted him before the Absol could get to the ball. Kreep kept himself on top of the defender in order to make sure he wasn’t going to get up, looking towards Zap who finally found an option downfield.
The ball hurled through the air down the field and towards the goal. Skylar Ferrotti bolted down the field and towards where the ball was heading, arms stretching out in preparation to catch the pass from the Captain. Those back at midfield watched as the ball traveled beyond their means, waiting to see the result of the pass. Zap grinned widely as another pass was about to be completed, only to watch as another object was hurtled after the ball. A small black blur of Weavile flew through the air, having been hurled by Rupert just moments earlier, and making a b-line to meet up with the Skarmory. Skylar’s eyes widened as she realized to catch the ball she was going to have to get hit by the small ‘mon headed her way as well. Gritting her teeth the Steel type reached out and took the ball out of the sky, completing the reception. A moment later she was removed from the sky as the weight and momentum of the other ‘mon brought her to the ground roughly.
A whistle blew to call the play dead, though no real tussling was going on anymore. The team rushed down the field in order to check on the two ‘mon who’d collided mid-air and then fell to the turf heavily. Skylar and Tabitha were both a little slow to get up, though the Weavile was grinning widely as she did so. Pressing herself up she looked towards the Skarmory and winked at her.
“Gotcha,” She offered a hand over to help Skylar up who was grinning as well. A moment later she held up the ball to show she still had possession of it.
“Not good enough, babe,” the two laughed as the rest of the team and Coach Wrangler came up to check on them. Rupert was grinning widely as their tactic had worked and she’d been able to fly far enough from where they were to catch up to the ball and the receiver. The Magcargo and Weavile high-fived each other even as Zap frowned, crossing his arms at the display.
“What do you two think you’re doing?” He asked, the Captain of the team giving a rather stern look to the two who’d completed the maneuver. They blinked back at him; a little surprised he’d have issue with it.
“Trying to keep Shineybutt here from scoring,” Tabitha answered, motioning towards Skylar who was still knocking some grass off of her uniform. She looked up as well, a little surprised since she was all right. Zap didn’t look too convinced.
“This is only practice, we don’t need to be doing anything that might knock out a player two weeks before homecoming,” The Magcargo and Weavile looked at each other in surprise again before looking back to the team captain.
“We were just testing out a new move, Zap,” Rupert began to explain, “Had to make sure it’d work before we used it in a game,”
“And that’s the point of practice,” Coach Wrangler said, interrupting the potential argument and cutting it off before it got ugly. She’d seen a lot of these before and knew what the results could be. She reached over to touch Tabitha and Zap on the shoulders to soothe their anger.
“He is right, that was a dangerous thing to do, Ms. Warren and I don’t want to see you or Mr. Snales doing it again,” Zap grinned smugly as the Ursaring sided with him, and then promptly frowned when she continued, “Unless it’s in a match against another team. Then by all means knock ‘em out of the sky,” The rest of the team laughed as Tabitha gave Zap a playful wink.
“Now go hit the showers! You all have finals next week and I’m not going to be responsible for any of you failing because you get hurt out here!” The team grumbled and did as they were told, many of them wishing they could keep practicing. The Weavile bounced her way towards the locker room, chatting and laughing with Skylar as she went. At the back of her mind she couldn’t help but get a feeling she was going to dread something from this weekend; no not from Zap whom she’d flirt with later to try and calm down, but something else bugged her, and she couldn’t figure out what.
“So are you ready for testing next week?” Outside the school and down the road a bit was a rather peaceful park maintained for decades by a family of Grass types that’d always taken pride in the serene presence of their garden near such aggression. It was a common place for students to go in order to lose themselves away from their studies, or to sneak away with a loved one in order to enjoy a little time together. Ishtar had always loved how calm and peaceful it was, leaving her relaxed and in an almost Zen like state when she let herself fall to it. Weaver on the other hand hated it for all the perversion she managed to find from others as the couples that would escape here let their imaginations run wild. Still, Ishtar enjoyed it so she put up with the stray thoughts for her.
“Say what now?” the Drowzee did have some trouble keeping her mind focused on matters at hand. Ishtar giggled a little as her girlfriend drifted, giving Weaver’s hand a gentle squeeze in order to help bring her attention back to the here and now. The two passed by some small kids who were dashing for the playground nearby in order to be the first on a swing. Their parents weren’t too far behind, some mothers calling after their children to be careful and not get hurt.
“Testing,” the Jynx restated, “Its next week…we both have to do it. Are you ready?” the Drowzee let out a sigh at the mention of the tests that were coming, not exactly looking forward to them. Its not that she couldn’t brawl, or wasn’t good at fighting it just was always something that interrupted her schedule of yo-yoing, sneaking snacks from the school and spending time with Ishtar.
“Yeah, I suppose,” came her somewhat terse and small answer. Ishtar tilted her head slightly as she looked to the tapir with concern. Weaver looked up, sensing the emotion from her companion and gave a little bit of a smile of assurance, “I’m fine. You just know how much I think testing is pointless,” The Jynx nodded in response and leaned into the other a bit more.
“Yes, but you don’t have as much to worry about,” she countered, Ishtar’s face looking down for a moment in consternation. Weaver stopped and looked over at the Jynx curiously.
“You’re a good battler, Ishtar,” Weaver reassured the other, “You don’t got to worry ‘bout that. You’ll do fine,” the other smiled in response, almost a little teasingly.
“Easy for you to say what with coming from a grand champion and all,” Weaver rolled her eyes in response to that.
“Don’t remind me. My sister’s do that plenty and so do all the fanboys out there who rush my mom whenever we’re out,” Ishtar giggled, starting up the walk once again.
“Who’re you going up against again?” She asked so as not to think about her own worries about her upcoming testing. Being a senior the battles were bound to be just that much tougher and more spectacular since many of the last year students wanted to go out with a bang; in the case of some, quite literally.
“Team Generation,” Weaver said offhand, shrugging. Regardless of who it was the Drowzee didn’t seem to be to off put by the battle, going through life with the same sense of apathetic acceptance as she did with many things.
“Should be a good fight,” Ishtar said, almost to herself, “Two highly ranked junior teams going at it,” She searched her companions face and emotions for any kind of response, and found little.
“Should be fun,” Weaver smirked, “I hope I get a crack at Tabitha,” Ishtar blinked a bit in surprise.
“She do something to you?” The Jynx asked concern evident in her voice. The tapir shook her head and then just grinned.
“Nah, just would be fun to shut her up some. She talks too much,” the Jynx simply giggled and the two walked in through the peaceful park arm-in-arm, trying to relax a little before they had to part ways to head home.
“Hello?” The question rang backstage as a single sound could be heard echoing through the quiet maze of props and ropes. Few students were at the rehearsal that Friday, most having either headed home to relax or to prepare for the testing next week. The cast had been set for the most part for the schools next production which would really be kicking into high gear next month: The PokeCombat Academy presents the Sound of Music. All of the usual students had turned out including one who’d always demanded the lead role, and would often back out if she didn’t get it. Sometimes things worked out for those that auditioned and sometimes they didn’t.
“Who’s here?” Caspia, a large, young Cloyster, had agreed to work on the set side of things for some extra credit that semester. She’d been having a hard time through her Drama elective and saw it as a perfect opportunity to keep her grades respectable. Not to mention she’d found it to be a wonderful excuse to stay close to Boris, someone she always enjoyed spending time with. The Koffing had earned the role he sought of Captain Georg as he had wanted, and was studiously preparing for it as he did everything. Caspia knew she’d have to stay some distance away to allow him to concentrate, though she enjoyed throwing him off from time to time. Now she was backstage following a sound she’d heard in passing. It almost sounded like crying.
Soon she found her way to a back closet that was rarely used for more than stuffing old props into it that would probably never be used again. A broken chandelier from Phantom, the Chatot dummies from South Pacific and even some fans from the last production of the King and I. Caspia pushed the door open and found a young Altaria inside, crying a little less quietly than she’d hoped. The Cloyster recognized her as Marie, the young actress who’d received quite a few leads in her time at the Academy, but had not been chosen for the role of Maria this time around. Instead she had been selected for the part of Liesl.
“Marie?” Caspia poked her head in quietly, something she wasn’t known for. As the Altaria heard someone approach she wiped her eyes quickly, smiling and trying to use the darkness to her advantage.
“Hello!” she chirped cheerfully in response, “Caspia, I didn’t expect you to be around,” she hadn’t expected anyone around to be honest. She smiled widely in response as if trying to calm Marie and let her know everything was all right.
“Was just about to head home when I heard something,” Marie’s face fell as she mentioned it. Caspia continued to smile reassuringly, trying her best to not appear judgmental in any way.
“You heard that?” she asked meekly, tears threatening to roll down her eyes once more. Caspia stepped forward and wrapped an arm around the Altaria to comfort her. The Cloyster had a big heart to go along with her big smile and big body.
“Hey now, nothing to worry ‘bout there. You’ve seen how Boris reacts around me haven’t you?” Marie giggled, thinking about the large, tough Koffing running away screaming from time to time whenever Caspia was around. Slowly she relaxed around the Cloyster, “What’s got you all upset anyway?”
“Just…everything right now,” Mare sighed, looking down though she’d stopped the tears from coming back, “I didn’t get the lead in the play, and testing is coming up next week,”
“What’s wrong with battle testing?” Caspia asked, caught off guard a little by that. She knew that not all students at the Academy were looking to go professional, but it still sounded strange to her that any would dread battling.
“I’m not as good as the others on my team,” she admitted after a moment, as much to herself as to Caspia, “I don’t want to let them down and be the one to lose the match. I don’t want to…well…”
“Fail?” the other asked after Marie had faltered for finding a word. The Altaria lowered her elegant neck slowly, eyes closing as the tears threatened once more.
“Yes. Already failed once not getting the lead in the play,” The Cloyster scoffed as she heard the words and gave the other a quick and strong hug. Marie was so shocked by the sudden act she’d forgotten to even let the tears roll down her cheeks.
“You didn’t fail! Getting the lead or not getting the lead isn’t what determines succeeding or failing in drama,” not that Caspia knew what she was talking about really, she was the one failing drama after all, “You just got the part you succeeded for,” Marie blinked in confusion at the follow up, not quite sure what to say.
“Listen,” Caspia continued, “we don’t always get exactly what we want out of something. Hell, I’m living proof in some ways for that. Don’t mean that we didn’t succeed, just means we didn’t succeed in the way we thought we did. I’m sure Professor Swallow thought that you’d be better for the play in the role you’re in, and that’s why you’re….”
“Liesl,” Marie helped.
“Yeah, that part instead of the lead. Doesn’t mean you failed, just means you’re doin’ something different,” Caspia nodded emphatically to push the point home, leaving Marie stunned for a moment. Slowly a smile crept across her beak as her words sunk in, the Altaria nodding in agreement.
“You’re right!”
“Damn right I am!” Caspia chimed in, “And you’re going to be just fine during testing. Doesn’t matter if you win or lose, just matters if you do well enough to help your team keep moving,” Marie looked at the other for a long moment before smiling and reaching over to fully embrace Caspia who accepted the hug with a smile.
“Thank you, Caspia. You’re right…and it doesn’t matter if I did get the lead or not, so long as I still perform as well as I should,”
“Exactly!” the other continued to cheer on the young actress. Marie slowly pulled herself back to look at the other with a smile.
“So, think we could find a way to have Boris not run screaming away from you at the drop of a hat?” Caspia laughed loudly at Maria’s question, dragging her out of the back room in order to get her back into the light and moving away from the reminders of what she’d just been doing. It was a question she’d asked herself a few times, and maybe together the two of them could figure out a way to make Boris enjoy the finer things in life a little more.
I do appreciate the kind words of encouragement and plan to keep going. Next half the prelude should be up soonish, having trouble with Duncan's story believe it or not, and after that...the battles themselves!
And what can I say? You've got quite the list of personalities to make my stories that much more interesting and real.
And what can I say? You've got quite the list of personalities to make my stories that much more interesting and real.
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