Rising Smoke (a black randomized gijinka storylocke)

[Noblejanobii]

Happy Valentine's Day, everybody! Chapter 4 of Rising Smoke is on the horizon, but until then, here's a few goofy little pickup lines in celebration of the holiday! And a huge thanks to my good friend, Penpeaches. They did the images used for the pickup line pictures as part of a Christmas gift for me so this wouldn't have been possible without them and y'all should totally check them out.

Spoiler:

[Noblejanobii]

Hi guys! Sorry for the unintended hiatus. My college semester got busy quick. I didn't waste the whole semester though. I spent it hopefully ironing out some of the kinks in the plot so fingers crossed we see how that goes. I hope to actually pace my writing better from now on but we'll see. In the mean time, let's hope the wait for chapter 5 isn't longer than this, and I hope you guys like the chapter!

Chapter 4

Shayla swung her legs back and forth as she rested in one of the lower branches of a tree behind the Dreamyard house. She watched as Leon sparred against Ashur. The krookodile gijinka had tried to get out of the sparring match earlier but had somehow gotten roped into it anyway. He was not doing very well on holding his own against his opponent. She smirked, the fact that a boy in a wheelchair was currently on a winning streak against anyone who challenged him being rather amusing to her. Especially given his personality. All in all, he seemed like a good ally to have on her side in this escape.

Shayla heard the branch behind her creak as the weight on it shifted. She frowned and said, “Took you long enough. I was starting to think the disturbances I caused on my way here hadn’t given you enough cover to move freely without detection.” She glanced over her shoulder at a zorua gijinka sat down on a branch on the opposite side of the trunk.

He merely shrugged, his green eyes focused elsewhere. “With the triad so close I have to be extra careful. With their advanced psychic abilities, they could easily see through any of my disguises.” He reached into his bag and pulled out a letter. “This is for you from Jin.”

Shayla reached out and took the letter. She tore it open and skimmed it over. “Good to hear the ship is making it to Castelia as planned. With any luck, we can regroup in Canalave with ease.”

“Right. It’ll be good to have you back, Admin,” he answered.

“It’ll be good to be back. This was a nice break but we have work to do." Shayla drummed her fingers on her arm. “And while I have you, Rusty, I have a question. How did Joanne and Uriel find out? Was it you that told them?” She asked in a serious tone.

Rusty paused in silence before nodding. “Yes,” he admitted, "When I found out you were headed their way I thought it best to alert them. We thought it best to keep you in the dark, however, for fear of tipping off the Arceuian Authority that there was an escape plan in the works.” Rusty paused then added, “I apologize for not informing you sooner."

“Who else is aware?” Shayla asked quickly.

Rusty looked down at the figures standing on the field below. “It is reasonable to believe that Tyson Jones is aware, as he is a friend of Uriel’s and was more than likely informed upon agreeing to escort you. In addition, due to his psychic nature, the Dreamyard Keeper is also more than likely aware of your true identity as well. Other than those two, I am unsure. I will keep close and try to keep you as informed as I can, madam.”

“Alright, thank you,” Shayla replied, "Dismissed.”

Shayla began to climb down from the tree as she felt Rusty vanish behind her. She descended down the trunk before jumping down to the ground.

“Glad you could finally join us,” Tyson called from across the clearing.

Shayla rolled her eyes and stretched. “I needed a break from all that training,” she complained, “My knuckles are still sore from punching a tree all afternoon. Why can’t Ms. Marcellete teach me Dizzy Punch? She actually knows it!”

Tyson dismissed Shayla’s comment with a wave of his hand. “Don’t question your coach. I know what I’m doing. Now get warmed up, you’re going to be sparring someone that has a type advantage over you, like Officer Cheren. You need to get used to working around that kind of disadvantage in a fight.”

Shayla raised her eyebrows suspiciously at the smirk that spread across Tyson’s face. “Uh, Tyson, I hate to inform you but you’re a steel type. My flames can do pretty well against you.”

“Oh you’re not sparring me,” Tyson replied.

“You’re sparring me!” Leon said as he rolled up to Shayla. He winked at her. “Don’t worry, I’ll go easy, I promise.”

“Uhh… Tyson are you sure this is a good idea?” Shayla asked apprehensively.

Leon puffed out his chest in offense. “Hey! Rude! I’ve been training to become a battler ever since I first got my wheelchair. Soon as I’m able to get out of Unova, I’m going to show the world just what they’ve been missing out on the past few years.”

Shayla glanced at Tyson, who only shrugged in response. “He can throw a better punch than you, Boomburst, so I wouldn’t be dismissing him quite yet.”

“Alright, alright, I get your point. I’ll spar Leon.”

Leon pumped his fists into the air and grinned. “Yeah! Alright!” he cheered, “You’re going down like Envy in Fullmetal Gijinka. And in case you haven't gotten it yet, here's a hint, I’m Colonel Rapidash,” he boasted.

Shayla stared at Leon in confusion before looking at Tyson for an explanation.

“It’s one of those anime things or whatever,” Tyson said, rubbing the bridge of his nose in annoyance, “Just try to punch him or something before I do it for you.” He groaned and glared at Leon. “This is why I shouldn’t let you hang out with that whimsicott from Fiore. That punk *** ***** is influencing you too much,” he grumbled.

Leon frowned at that comment before didn’t say anything. He adjusted his chair to the opposite side of the battlefield from Shayla and signaled for her to attack when ready.

Shayla bent her knees before slowly moving closer to Leon. He was just a guy in a wheelchair, yeah, but from the way Tyson and Leon spoke, this kid had some fighting experience. That could make things tricky. She decided that even if Leon did have a good range, he was locked into that chair. Focusing on her legs, she shot forward and ignited her right fist in flames, hoping to land a swift punch before he could get an attack off or dodge.

Leon’s serious expression split into a grin and he pushed the joystick forward, using his wheelchair to charge Shayla down. He could tell from her expression that she had not been anticipating that. She quickly changed course, ducking and rolling to the side to avoid being steamrolled by the onix in an all-terrain wheelchair. Leon spun himself around and started to form a rock in his hand as Shayla got back to her feet. “Heads up!” he shouted as he chucked the rock.

Shayla looked up just in time to get smacked in the torso by the rock. This kid’s strength was no joke, the force of the throw sending Shayla stumbling back a couple steps. The rock crumbled and the debris fell to the ground as Leon began to form more rocks. Shayla heard the crackling coming from her hair and growled. Now that was just plain rude.

Filling the air with a large cloud of smoke, Shayla started to duck and weave through the smoke. She knew if she kept moving it would make her a more difficult target to hit, but the same applied to Leon. The smokescreen limited her visibility just as much as his. She would just have to hope the kid didn’t move too much from where she had last seen him.

Slinking quickly through the smoke, Shayla closed in on Leon’s location. She could somewhat make out his figure in the smoke. Good, he hadn’t moved. Igniting her arms in flames again, Shayla lunged for Leon, only to receive a point blank hit from another projectile rock. Shayla was sent tumbling backward. She heard the whir of Leon’s wheelchair and barely rolled out of the way in time to avoid getting run over.

“Hey! Watch it!” she shouted.

“You gotta move out of the way then if you want to avoid getting crushed by my all-terrain wheelchair!” Leon replied, spinning the chair to face her. “And yes, your face does count as a terrain.”

Shayla grit her teeth and pushed herself back up to her feet. She shifted her right foot behind her as she saw Leon nudging the joystick on his wheelchair forward. This kid! She quickly ducked out of the way as he charged her again. He wasn’t even putting his full effort in now, rather he was just toying with her for his own amusement. Fine, if that’s how he wanted to play it, then so be it.

As Leon shot past, Shayla quickly lunged for his chair. Grabbing onto the back, she felt the wheelchair jerk a little at the unanticipated increase in weight. Leon looked over his shoulder and gave her an annoyed look. “Could you kindly not?”

“Only if you don’t try to run over my face again,” Shayla snarled in response. Gripping the chair tighter with her left hand, Shayla ignited her right hand in flames and attempted to get a clean hit in. Leon immediately ducked and hit the joystick on his chair to send them both flying forward. Shayla grabbed on tight to the chair again to avoid losing her balance at the sudden increase in acceleration.

Leon cast another glance back at Shayla before starting to jerk his wheelchair a bit to see if he could knock her off. He wasn’t prepared for people just randomly grabbing his wheelchair during a fight. When she refused to let go, Leon decided to go for plan B. He pushed himself out of his wheelchair and onto the ground while Shayla was distracted. He grinned. It wasn’t often he had to fight from the ground.

Pushing himself forward, Leon grabbed onto Shayla’s foot. He saw the alarm in her eyes as he dragged her down to the ground with him. Leon attempted to bind her to the ground him with arms, but Shayla reacted too quickly. Slamming her foot into his chest, she scrambled away from Leon. She quickly stood up only to be grabbed and dragged to the dirt again. Leon pinned Shayla’s arms to the ground with his elbows and smirked. “This all you can do?” he taunted.

Shayla growled and burst into flames again. Leon’s eyes went wide in alarm as his sleeves caught fire. Leon released Shayla and began to pat himself down. Shayla took the opportunity to try and tackle Leon from behind. Leon caught her at the last second and grabbed one of Shayla’s arms, throwing her to the ground. “Ack!” she coughed. Glaring at Leon, she sent flames up her arm in an attempt to get him to let go.

Instead, though, Leon quickly coated his hand with rocks. He gave her a smug look and said, “You don’t think I’d fall for the same trick so easily do you?”

Shayla started to scramble to come up with a plan as Leon started to pin her. Reacting on basic instinct, she kneed him in the gut before kicking him off her. Leon tumbled off to the side, quickly collecting himself as Shayla stood back up. She was breathing heavily, not used to these drawn-out physical fights. She needed to end this. Focusing her energy on her feet, Shayla shot forward and tried to land one more hit on Leon. But he was prepared.

Leon lunged forward and grabbed her legs. Using her force against her, Leon suplexed her, knocking the air out of Shayla as he pinned her to the ground. He smirked at her and said, “Tap out.”

“That’s enough,” Tyson shouted. He walked over to Leon and picked his brother up. “You know you’re not supposed to ground wrestle unless you absolutely have to.”

Leon pouted as Tyson placed him back in his chair. “But this felt warranted! Plus it was fun!”

Tyson gave Leon another stern look before pulling Shayla to her feet. “Decent fight, I guess. You rely way too much on your flames though and your form is absolutely sloppy. Plus you stomp like a donphan. I could hear you running towards Leon from a mile away. Work on that. The only reason you lasted as long as you did is you relied on your gut. But that won’t always work in a fight. Think before you act. Now come on, Ninette’s inside ready to treat both of your wounds.”

Shayla grumbled to herself as she followed Tyson inside. She plopped down on the couch inside the Dreamyard House and huffed. She waited patiently as Ninette looked her over for any injuries. She glanced around and spotted a slowpoke gijinka not too far away.

He grinned and approached. He crossed his legs as he sat down beside Shayla on the couch. Extending his hand, he winked at Shayla. “Pleasure to make your acquaintance, the name’s Pons. Welcome to the Dreamyard House.”

Shayla frowned but shook Pons’ hand. “Shayla. And thanks for the welcome, but I won’t be staying long. Gotta make a ship out of Castelia.”

Pons adjusted his pink beanie, allowing his curly pink ears to move more freely. He smirked and shrugged. “Sure sure. That’s what they all say. So what makes you different?”

Shayla squinted at Pons and crossed her arms. “Who are you to question that I can’t do it? Why are you even here other than for that attitude of yours?”

He smirked at Shayla and answered, “You seriously can’t guess what I’m in for?”

She frowned and shrugged. “With your personality, I’d honestly guess just about anything. Information broker maybe?” she guessed.

“Bingo!” Pons laughed a little before explaining, “Well, actually mail fraud, but it was related to being an info broker. Alola does not mess around when it comes to messing with people’s mail, even if it’s just for a little information gathering.”

“This still seems like a really extreme punishment for mail fraud,” Shayla pointed out.

“I kinda was a repeat offender?” Pons answered with a shrug. He glanced around in thought before probing, “Alright well, if you can’t tell me what makes you so special then at least tell me what your magic is. I’ll even tell you mine in exchange.” Shayla squinted at him causing Pons to sigh. He extended his hand and summoned a pen.

Shayla stared at the pen before looking at Pons. “That’s your weapon?”

“Not very impressive is it?” Pons asked. “Yes, I’m a weapons user. Most of my family have some form of wands or staffs but my mother married “out of the tribe” if you catch my drift. My father, a Marowak, had a bone quill as his weapon, so I inherited the traits of his weapon.”

Shayla leaned in as Pons spoke. “Fascinating. I knew you I inherited weapon types but I thought it was exclusively maternal.”

Pons shook his head. “Nope! Common misconception but paternal inheritance does occur. Just less frequent I guess.” Pons chuckled. “Kind of a useless weapon to me though. In theory I’m supposed to use my psychic abilities through the words I write but of course, I was born with dysgraphia.”

“You can’t write?” Shayla asked.

“Not well, no. I’ve got an excellent memory but I just can’t put the pen to paper if that makes sense.” Pons snapped his fingers and the pen disappeared. He smiled at Shayla. “But enough about me. Your turn. What’s your magic?”

Shayla fumbled for a second before responding, “I’m a feral user. I’m training at it but obviously, I’ve still got work to do.”

“No wonder you got locked up here,” Leon said as he wheeled over. Shayla gave Leon a flat expression, causing the onix to raise his hands in surrender. “What I mean is, ferals are more likely to get sent to Unova… and stuff.”

“Is that why you’re here?” Shayla inquired.

Leon paled a bit and trained his eyes on his lap. He was silent for several seconds before answering quietly, “… No.”

Shayla opened her mouth to question Leon further but stopped when she saw Pons shake his head. Apparently, Leon’s arrest was just as off-limits as hers was. Shayla bit her lip awkwardly and adjusted her ball cap. “Well uh… anyway… yeah, so I’m a feral user and all. I suspect that might be why my flames are so difficult to control.”

Leon glanced up and nodded. “Oh yeah, I’ve never met a single type that uses feral magic. Tyson’s a feral user but only because he’s a dual type. His natural affinity was for his weapon anyway.”

“So you turn into a Sinnohan cyndaquil then?” Pons asked.

Shayla shook her head. “Actually no. My dad thinks it has to do with some of my heritage, but I actually look more like a Unovian cyndaquil.” Shayla gestured to her nose. “My build is heavier than a Sinnohan cyndaquil and it’s hard to tell but it looks like I have some spots.”

“Ooh, can I see?” Leon asked eagerly. “I’ve never seen a feral cyndaquil!”

Shayla rubbed the back of her neck and shrugged. “Maybe in a little bit? Our sparring match totally wore me out.” She stretched a little and added, “Speaking of which, what’s your magic type, Leon? Is your chair your weapon or something?”

“Nope!” Leon puffed out his chest and said, “I’m expressionless. They think it’s because of all the surgeries I had to undergo with my spina bifida, but I was never able to produce a weapon or change form.”

“Ah that explains why you mainly stick to close combat rather than your magic,” Shayla interjected.

“Yeah, it caught many of my opponents off guard when I used to fight in the recreational Alolan leagues. They always underestimated me.”

Shayla nodded her head before looking at Leon’s chair. She hadn’t noticed it before but it had been spray painted and had some stickers on it. There was a shooting star, some logo she didn’t recognize, and then an “L + T” carved into it. “Hey, Leon? What’s the L + T mean?”

Leon’s face flushed red and he rubbed his neck sheepishly. “O-Oh that’s um… that’s my boyfriend. His name is Terrance.”

“He’s a punk is what he is,” Tyson interrupted as he walked over.

“He is, but he’s a loveable punk!” Leon argued. He pulled out his phone and pulled up a picture of the two. “He’s the whimsicott gijinka right there.”

“Who’s the third guy?” Pons asked, pointing to the tall man in the background.

Leon shrunk into his bandana and rubbed his neck some more. “M-My other boyfriend. He’s a drampa named Vinny.”

Pons whistled and laughed. “Quite the player aren’t you?”

Leon waved his hands. “N-No! They know each other! Terrance was a bit shy about it at first but it’s been nice so far.” Leon fiddled with his braid nervously and added, “I wish I could go see them, but Route 3 is going to be crawling with bisharp guards now.”

“Well, lucky for you, we’ve got a plan.” Tyson produced a map from behind his back and showed his it to the group. “Like Leon said, we can’t risk trying to traverse Route 3. They’ve definitely got some sort of perimeter set up there just in case we manage to somehow sneak by the guard on the border. So we’re taking the scenic route to Nacrene City.”

Shayla took the map and looked it over. On it was the Dreamyard and Nacrene City, connected by Route 3 and then a series of ruins north of Route 3. Shayla frowned. That wasn’t on any map of Unova she had ever seen. “Uhh Tyson, are you suggesting we go through these ruins?” she asked, “Cause I’ve never seen them on any map of Unova.”

Tyson took back the map and smirked. “Exactly. They’re technically part of the Dreamyard, but they’re actually ruins from the White King’s reign thousands of years ago. It was an outpost or something. No one can decipher the images or words on the walls so we’re not sure, but that’s the running theory anyway.”

“Oh yeah, I know these ruins!” Leon chimed in, “Terrance and I hang out there all the time.” Leon immediately shrunk down when Tyson glared at him. “W-Well… not all the time.”

Tyson sighed and shook his head. “No wonder Jardim mentioned there were complaints of graffiti.” Tyson rolled the map back up and pointed at Shayla with it. “We leave tomorrow before dawn. Get food and get rested. Cause no matter what we run into, I’m not stopping until we reach Nacrene.”

Shayla saluted and then gave Tyson a thumbs up. “Aye aye captain.”