smart family business (selina)

[Lucas Night]

Running into the desert at sunset was a fool’s choice. In the day, the sands turned into a baking pit-trap. They could exhaust whoever strayed from the precarious paths that winded through its empty depths by baking them with sun and scorching winds. Opportunistic pokemon, too, might take advantage of those caught unawares. At night, though, opportunistic pokemon turned eager and predatory. If hounding cacturnes were not enough to scare someone off, then the frigid chill of a land devoid of stabilizing water would turn all but the most desperate away.

Yes, running into the desert at sunset was a fool’s choice. But, the man Lucas had just stalked out of town was short his due payment by fourth. The choice, with that in mind, was a reasonable gamble.

The blonde stood at the brink of a street, where pavement gave way to the wear from eternally probing sand. The buildings were far back. This far out, not even the bubbling of the city’s signature water features could be heard. This was likely as safe as it was to go without committing fully to the weary adventure of trekking the sands. And, Lucas lingered here, mulling over how to pursue his quarry.

If he waited, it would be harder to track that man down come morning. The sands didn’t leave an easy trail to follow. But, if he followed him now, the man would be fresh and full of adrenaline. If it were the day, it would be an easy choice. He’d exhaust himself with frenzied movement in the heat. Now, at night, that might keep him alive and going.

Pity he didn’t have a different water type, or an ice type even. That’d settle this well enough. Lucas paced at the end of the path, restless and resentful. He called out a pokemon after a moment. Indigo the Shulian elekid appeared in a flash of white light.

Maybe if the ran across a battling opportunity, the training might make all the extra effort worth it. It’d certainly warm Lucas up a little more for this venture.

Selina O'Sullivan

[Selina O'Sullivan]

“Emo emon!” Domino had been trying her hardest to steer her Trainer away from the desert, but it seemed as though her desperateness to get the teen to safety didn’t make her directions clear. Now she’d been trying to get her to turn back around, but she was never all that good at telling her wayward Trainer how to turn around. It seemed to frustrate Selina when the Emolga tried to push back at the Trainer’s forehead, but nonetheless, the flying squirrel would keep trying…

…until she ran out of energy to do so, that is.

The squirrel had finally given up her attempts at persuading her Trainer to turn around, and instead decided to sit back on the teen’s backpack. It didn’t seem like it would make any difference whether she went forward or back anyway at this point. Besides, if there was anything dangerous up ahead, the Emolga was certain she’d be able to protect Selina just fine.

The teen in question had no idea why Domino had steered her in a direction that seemed so empty and void of… well anything but what felt like sand really, but maybe there was something worth her while? She had tried to get an understanding on what Domino had wanted her to do, but they’d been walking for what felt like hours and she still hadn’t the faintest idea on what was happening. The cool of the air made her wonder if it was evening time, and if that was the case, what was she even doing out there so late?

Domino’s large, round ears twitched as a small crackle of electricity sparked from her gliding membrane out of her cheeks. Domino tapped on her Trainer’s head to make her stop, and the young girl tried to feel for anywhere to sit that wasn’t sand. The Emolga managed to lead her to a stone and… well, it wasn’t exactly the most comfortable thing to sit on, but it was still better than sitting in the sand and getting the stuff caught in her jeans.

She didn’t care what she was wearing, sand in her clothes was never comfortable.

Once her Trainer was comfortable, the young Emolga managed to slip into her Trainer’s backpack, tapping on one of the Pokeballs, and allowing Nya the Chimchar to come out. The monkey snarled at the Emolga’s presence, but the squirrel simply sparked in response, causing the Chimchar to flinch. Didn’t matter how hard she trained, Nya knew she didn’t stand a chance against the Emolga. “Emo emon,” Domino began talking, pointing at their “Trainer” as she did so. “Selina emo monga! Domino go, Nya stay em Selina! Emon mon!”

As if to express the consequences of what would happen if Nya tried to cause any problems right now, the squirrel used a Charge attack, insinuating that the electric attack she’d intended on using would be devastating no matter what. Nya took a moment to weigh her options before slowly making her way to Selina and simply sitting at her feet. Even if Domino hadn’t made her predicament perfectly clear, the idea of trying to run off in a desert alone, where Ground Type Pokemon were prevalent, didn’t seem like the best idea in her book anyway. So, despite there literally being no eyes on her, Nya had no choice but to cooperate.

Satisfied with the Chimchar’s response, the Squirrel’s cheeks sparked again, and her nose started twitching until she caught the scent of a Pokemon. She turned her head toward the direction, pushing herself onto her two feet, as she made her way toward a Trainer and Pokemon duo in the distance. It was the Pokemon, the blue electric type that she’d never seen before, that grabbed her attention. The squirrel smiled before casually making her way over to the blue Pokemon and then standing right next to him and waving. “Heyo! Emon!” Domino greeted the Pokemon, unaware of the fierceness of the Pokemon, and seemingly unaware of the even fiercer Trainer. Surely this Pokemon wouldn’t mind being friends with her, right?

[Lucas Night]

While Lucas wondered over his options, Indigo the Shulian elekid caught a certain disturbance in the air. It was another electric type! He felt the small, localized shift in the air caused by her previous use of Charge just before the emolga came up to him. She was small and cute and seemed like she’d be a ton of fun to fight.

Thus, Indigo grinned. “Hiii! You looking to get pummeled?”

Hearing his pokemon chat, Lucas looked down. An emolga? Those weren’t common here. Maybe there was a trainer nearby? Perhaps they’d witnessed Lucas’s quarry and could point him in the right direction to finish this job off before it became unbearably cold. And, if not? Well, that particular species of electric types was popular among fanciers of cute pokemon.

Those kinds of people were happy to pay well and ask few questions about where their new objects of affection came from.

“What’s it want?” the blonde asked, remaining civil for the moment.

Indigo shrugged as well as he could with his egg-like body.

[Selina O'Sullivan]

Domino grinned and waved at the other Pokemon as he approached, though her smile fell a little when he asked her if she wanted to get pummeled. The young Pokemon tilted her head a little, confused at the question. It didn’t seem like she’d ever heard that word before. “...Pummeled, emon?” Domino questioned, though now that she thought about it, she could see a sort of spark in the Elekid’s eye. Did he wanna battle? Well, that was something she understood! “Battle?” Domino tried to clarify before snapping out of it.

What about Selina? Now that she got a good sniff of the Pokemon, he seemed to have been around a human. Could that human help her bring Selina to safety? The squirrel smiled and nodded. Yes, that’s what she would do! She would find a human to… oh, well, nevermind, turned out he was already there!

Boy, Domino really needed to get better at paying attention. Domino walked over to the human and then tugged at his pant leg before pointing in the direction she came. “Emon,” Domino spoke up before then running on four legs in the direction Selina was waiting. She then looked back at the human and tilted her head a little. “Selina, emon.”

Domino wasn’t all that great at communicating with… well, anyone, but maybe she was doing a good enough job to indicate she wanted the stranger to follow her?

[Lucas Night]

She understood! The egg shaped electric type threw both of his heavy mitts into the air with enthusiastic glee. “A battle! Yeah, yeah?” Understanding meant agreement, right? Lucas would let him before the trudged off into that desert to wander around for however long this took.

That would be so boring… He’d have to wait so long to fight something. He could just fight Domino. Now!!

While Indigo was awaiting what was, in his head, a promised battle, Lucas was raising a brow at how the emolga grabbed his pants leg. That was rather—

… Wasn’t there a child in the team with a pokemon like this? No, that agent was currently suffering from whatever ridiculousness he’d narrowly dodged a while ago. Some mass illness had struck people after that haunting event. So, surely the girl wasn’t out and about. Then again, perhaps she couldn’t afford to neglect her duties.

Regardless, Lucas was going to investigate the matter. If it was a waste of his time, he’d take the emolga to hand off back at base later. She was pointing further into the desert, where he was going anyways.

“What did it say?” Lucas asked, looking to Indigo. “You’re not battling right now.”

Pouting at having what he’d so clearly wanted dismissed, the elekid’s slumped a bit. “Ionno? Selene? Mone?”

Selene? Selina! Well, that confirmed what he’d hoped had been an incorrect suspicion. Thoroughly irritated, the man looked down at Domino. “Well, go on. Lead us.”

[Selina O'Sullivan]

Upon hearing that the human was willing to follow her, Domino smiled and nodded at the command to lead the way. “Emon!” Domino ran on all fours in the direction that Selina was waiting. Despite being on the same team, in all honesty, Domino had no idea who this individual was. Maybe he was just a good human willing to lend a hand? Or maybe he wanted to battle like the Elekid did? Honestly, not ideal, but she wouldn’t mind a battle.

The Emolga ran on all fours across the sand, but would glide a bit just to see if the human and Elekid duo could keep up fine. Domino was pretty fast after all, so she didn’t want to leave Selina’s help too much in the dust.

Meanwhile, Nya the Chimchar was sitting across from the blind Rocket Grunt, glaring daggers into the human’s eyes, knowing full well that she was denied the decency in knowing that the human could see the full range of her disdain for the human. The Chimchar sat back a little bit, folding her arms over her chest. “You proud?” She questioned, knowing full well Selina couldn’t hear her. “Well, you shouldn’t be. Taking Pokemon away from their Trainers? How could you even look at yourself in the mirror?”

Selina’s only response was to try and wrap herself in whatever clothes she had on her as she felt a bit of a chill set in. Despite knowing full well the human couldn’t hear what she was saying, this only seemed to frustrate the Chimchar more. “Well? Say something!" She demanded, though her request wasn’t acknowledged or reciprocated. Nya growled in frustration. The first time she was brave enough to confront her captor, and she could only do so for the very reason Selina couldn’t respond. She hated this so much…

“Emon!” Domino called from a bit off, causing the Chimchar to turn to her direction. Nya flinched a little before walking back over to the Trainer’s feet in a sad attempt to act like she had been warming the girl up this whole time. That hardly mattered to the Emolga as she turned to the other Rocket member to see if he could help her at all. “Human help Selina? Please? Emon?” Domino asked, pointing at Selina.

Nya could’ve explained what Domino meant: she didn’t expect the man to heal her, she just wanted Selina to be brought somewhere safe. However, Nya didn’t want to help Selina, nor did she care about Domino’s concern. She just sat quietly where she was, refusing to say anything.

[Lucas Night]

The man and his elekid followed after Domino. While Indigo scampered across the sand, Lucas kept a steady, even pace. He wasn’t going to tire himself out looking for what might be a teammate. If he was wrong, it’d be a waste of energy. And, even if he was right, some kid too young to be a proper asset wasn’t worth exhausting himself over. He still had to go further into the quickly cooling desert to catch the soon to be former associate who’d dipped on their end of the bargain.

When they finally arrived, Lucas assessed the situation. Well, the chimchar for warmth was sensible.

“She’s asking for help,” Indigo said, asking as a poor translator. He knew Lucas could understand most of what he said. What the electric type didn’t understand is why Lucas would do that.

So, he was extremely stunned when the man walked closer. He didn’t look too happy, no, but he walked close enough to the girl. Unless one of the pokemon intervened or Selina pulled away from his grasp, he’d snatch her wrist and turn her palm up. This would be the quickest way to prove if his conclusion was correct.

Just slowly enough that the shapes could be registered by touch, he traced a line down Selina’s palm. Then, at the top of the line, he traced a semi-circle and then a line jutting away from the middle point of the first line. He’d repeat this again if uninterrupted. Two Rs.

[Selina O'Sullivan]

The man silently approaching the girl caused Domino unease, and prompted the Chimchar to hop away from her Trainer. The sudden movement surprised Selina a little bit, but she could almost sense another presence around her. Domino’s eyes lowered as her cheeks sparked a little only for someone to quickly grab her paw. Domino spun her head around to see Nya calmly shaking her head in response. The Emolga’s face softened and she nodded. Nya wasn’t a Pokemon she felt she could trust all that much, but she knew one thing: the Chimchar wasn’t heartless.

Even she wouldn’t want Selina to get hurt in a situation like this.

Selina and Domino flinched intensely in unison, but once again Nya stopped Domino from reacting. Both Pokemon squinted at the situation and were very uneasy, but Nya knew that leaping to a conclusion would make what was essentially something harmless to something incredibly dangerous in a mili-second. Both Pokemon were sweating in anticipation, but Nya knew Domino could react quickly enough to stop anything bad from happening if this man tried anything funny.

Meanwhile, Selina was more confused than anything. Was this man trustworthy? Had the Pokemon that was just at her feet run off? If it was Nya, she wouldn’t put it past her, but if it was Amber? She didn’t think the fox would do that. So she was certain someone was there… if not, Domino would get back there quickly, right? Her thoughts would’ve been distracting, but being blind and deaf had one benefit: her thoughts were her only distractions. She felt something tracing something over her wrist… a finger? Maybe the eraser side of a pencil or the back end of a pen? Regardless of what it was, Selina almost had no choice but to focus on what was being “written”.

This was a fact: while her sight and hearing were both compromised, Selina could still feel things. That’s how she knew she was still alive. That was the most effective way she was getting any kind of communication… so she made sure to focus on it. What was he writing? Focus…

…R R… Two Rs…

Selina’s blank eyes widened, and to her pokemon’s surprise, she reached out to try and grab his hand, too. She didn’t have anything other than her fingers, and she really had to focus, but if the man helped her out a little bit, she would draw two lines first: one over the top and one going down, and then she would write single R, or try to, in the same manner he had.

If the man was able to help her focus her’s on his palm, he would’ve felt the first letter was a “T”.

“T. R.”

Selina felt it was a risk to show this to a complete stranger, but what could she possibly lose right now? This person already seemed aware, so there was no point in keeping it a secret. Domino calmed down as Selina had gained some confidence in the situation, but Nya wasn’t so certain. The man still seemed rather dangerous… maybe not to Selina, but Selina didn’t seem like a safe individual to be around either. Was this… an associate of Selina’s?

[Lucas Night]

She looked shocked by his little writing, which didn’t surprise him in the least. What did irritate him, though, was that she felt the need to draw on his, too. He snatched his hand away, glaring at her sightless face.

“Well, obviously,” he snapped. Yes, she’d given him the confirmation that he needed. Yes, it irritated him even still. She ought to act a little more grateful, delighted that someone else from the team was bothering to come collect her at all. It was only his intense loyalty to the organization that brought him out here.

Then again, if she hadn’t confirmed, he probably would have just robbed her and left her to whatever fate awaited her in the desert. So, despite his boarish response, maybe this was for the best.

Scoffing in irritation, the man looked her over. He wasn’t going to hold this child’s hand, even if that was the easiest way to get her moving. The quicker he got her escorted back to town, the quicker he’d be able to go after his… missing…

She had a flying type. And, an electric one at that. From a vantage point up high, Selina’s emolga would be able to spot movement and light in the desert. That would speed up Lucas’s search. If he sent Indigo back, the fighting type could escort the girl safely. If the chimchar went with them, that’d keep her warm. Plus, the fire type would be familiar to her.

Yes. This might work out nicely.

Having decided on his plan and with no inclination to ask Selina her thoughts (he hardly would have, even if she wasn’t in the state she was currently) he turned to the pokemon. “Chimchar. My elekid’s going to help you get your trainer back to town and to base.” He turned his gaze to Domino. “And, you’re going to help me look for someone out here. We shouldn’t all waste our time walking her back to town.”

He gestured to Selina vaguely with a flick of his wrist, as if she were cargo and not a child.

Indigo, meanwhile, visibly slumped as he stood. Those orders didn’t leave much room for a battle…