lake acuity

[the_very_best]

The other two lakes supposedly harboring legendaries didn't pan out. If this one doesn't either, Bella's going to have to befriend someone who's got a Pokémon that knows Dive so she can check out the lake bottom, or pick a new lead. Zag can happily swim her around all day long, but he can't get them under the water.

...Huh. She didn't know there was somebody living here. But that's definitely a building. She can only see it because she's high above the ground, riding Rachis, but yes, in the dense forest around Lake Acuity is a lone structure, definitely artificial.

She steers Rachis, and the Pidgeot obeys.

They land neatly outside the tower, and she turns the handle on the front door curiously.

Comments

[the_very_best]

"Thanks! Ooh, that looks like a good camping spot there."

[toblameforit]

"Hey, no problem," he says cheerfully.

[the_very_best]

"D'you just collect feral Porygon or do you train too?" asks Bella.

[toblameforit]

"Little bit," he says. "Nowhere near as hardcore as you."

[the_very_best]

"So you don't wanna have a little match, then? I'll pretend I'm not carrying half the team if it helps," Ace says.

[toblameforit]

He snorts. "Try upstairs," he suggests cryptically. "Half your team could probably still wipe the floor with me."

[the_very_best]

"Upstairs?" Bella asks. "Who's upstairs?"

[toblameforit]

"Some...one who might take you up on a match?" he says hopefully.

[the_very_best]

"Half my team or the whole thing?" she asks with interest.

Some random kiddy trainers will battle her (truncated team list) just to see how an ace handles her Pokémon, but she can usually only pull out the stops against one of the Gym Leaders - there's two she hasn't gotten to yet - or other guild members. Sooner or later she'll sweep the Elite Four, but only when she's come up empty on all the leads in Sinnoh and wants internationally-recognized cred. (You beat anybody's Champ, you are good to go, here there anywhere.)

[toblameforit]

"Only one way to find out," he says, pointing at the stairs.

[the_very_best]

Bella laughs and ascends, tracing the outline of Zag's Pokéball's button.

[bitofafiction]

In the stairwell, the faint sound of violin music is audible from higher up.

All the way at the top of the tower, a boy who looks exactly like Tony is standing at a window with a view of the lake, playing beautiful music.

[the_very_best]

Bella waits for him to stop. Pretty music!

Presently he does stop.

"Hey!" Bella says. "I'm Bella Swanna. I'm gonna be around exploring the lake for a few days, introduced myself to your twin and the feral Porygon flock, he doesn't wanna match but he thinks you might?"

[bitofafiction]

"He is correct," he says, turning to face her fully and putting the violin away in its case on a table under the window.

[the_very_best]

"Cool. What ruleset do you like? How many do you carry?" asks Bella.

[bitofafiction]

"Four. What ruleset do you like?"

[the_very_best]

"I like Ace standard all-out one-place full-team, with advance switch-trucing so people aren't showing off their encyclopedic knowledge of types all day wearing out the hinges on their Pokéballs. If you've got four full-team'd hardly be fair. So if you don't care, the only question is what've you got and how do we avoid swapping in an eternal cycle against each other's type weaknesses?"

[bitofafiction]

"Ditto, Zebstrika, Dragonair," he says, "and, surprising no one, a Porygon-Z with the unfortunate nickname of 'You'. And yourself? I saw your Pidgeot as you flew in."

[the_very_best]

"Yep, that's Rachis," says Bella. "Plus a Linoone, a Rapidash, an Umbreon, a Sawsbuck, and a Mienshao. Relay pick three on three?" she suggests. "I'll toss first, no switching till the show's over?"

[bitofafiction]

"Agreed."

[the_very_best]

"Linoone first," says Bella. "Name of Zag. I don't give out genders in advance anymore until I'm sure whoever I'm playing with doesn't have a strategy based on infatuating them."

[bitofafiction]

"Perish the thought," he says. "Dragonair first for me."

[the_very_best]

"Hmm." Bella glances between Rachis's ball and Dusk's, then says, "Umbreon."

[bitofafiction]

"Zebstrika."

[the_very_best]

Bella looks Tony's-twin-who-has-not-introduced-himself over assessingly, gauging the likelihood of something in his lineup knowing a gotcha move, then says, "Rapidash."