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Hi everyone! This is my first time actually finishing a fanfic, and also my first time posting it on Bulbagarden. Unfortunately I did kind of rush this one since I also had finals to worry about but the fact that I got a version of it complete is a fact I'm proud of.
This is an ActiveShipping (Korrina & Zinnia) fanfic, with the formation of a mutual friendship and one-sided romantic attraction. The theme for the Flowering Love 2024 event is "New Life".
Content Warning: brief mention of death, allusion to a suicide mission
This is an ActiveShipping (Korrina & Zinnia) fanfic, with the formation of a mutual friendship and one-sided romantic attraction. The theme for the Flowering Love 2024 event is "New Life".
Content Warning: brief mention of death, allusion to a suicide mission
It was a nice day in Kalos. The weather was warming up for springtime and the sky was an azure blue, dotted with fluffy white clouds. Route 10 was always out of the ordinary because of the rows of giant menhirs that dotted it close to Geosenge, but today was the first day that an unusual-looking person walked among these stones. No ordinary Kalosian wears a tattered cape or a halter top with two crescent-moon patterns. And a blue, almost serpent-shaped anklet with a Key Stone embedded into it is certainly not in common fashion.
While nothing about Zinnia was a usual state of affairs for Route 10, she had already gotten used to traveling around the world, with the sole aim of finding something to do to make a living, something to do to support her grandmother financially, something to do to fill the void she’s been burdened with ever since that day. When she stood atop Sky Pillar, ready to end the legacies of the Draconids, Aster, and her own life with a BANG — only for a twelve-year-old to be the one to unlock Rayquaza’s true power and gain its partnership instead. But here she was, still on Earth, with a life she never anticipated to still have staring her in the face. So she wandered for a few years, with none but her Pokemon for company. And of course her travels would take her to the site of the Ultimate Weapon, whose firing 3,000 years ago served as the catalyst for all Mega Evolution in Kalos.
Maybe seeking a new life in close proximity to a massive link to Mega Evolution, and by proxy her old life as Lorekeeper, had a low likelihood of working. That’s why she chose to ponder everything else about the place. “It is pretty nice, disregarding its history,” she thought before she heard a shout come from the direction of Geosenge. “AARON, WHERE ARE YOU GOING? I THOUGHT YOU WANTED TO TRAIN CLOSER TO REFLECTION CAVE?” Turning her view towards the direction of the disturbance, Zinnia was jolted out of her reflective mood by the sight of a Lucario running towards her location, with a blonde roller-blader in pursuit.
Instinctively, Zinnia pulled a Pokeball out of her pocket and threw it at the ground in front of her, releasing a Salamence that already wore a battle-ready expression. “Wait, don’t start yet!” the roller-blader yelled as she caught up to her Lucario, which stopped a few feet in front of the Salamence and adopted a ready pose of its own to match. “Sorry about that. Looks like Aaron here must have sensed a really strong Aura from you and wanted to check it out.” Now that everyone was stationary, Zinnia could better process the other trainer. The roller-blader’s mostly-white outfit, accentuated with an almost salmon color, included a cycling helmet, a skirt and sleeveless top, gloves, and the roller blades – the traveler thought it all came together extremely well, especially with her silvery-blue eyes. Still, Zinnia’s expression was bewildered, since she had no clue what Aura was. “Oh, Aura’s basically the life force of all creatures. Some Pokemon, like Lucario, can sense it when there’s a person or Pokemon nearby with a lot of it, or when it’s amplified by something like a Key Stone, like I have!” The roller-blader continued, holding out her left hand for Zinnia to see. The glove she was wearing had a light-blue stone embedded within. Zinnia’s expression shifted to eager curiosity, and she replied “Sweet, I have one too! Name’s Zinnia! And don’t worry about your Lucario, by the way. If you do want to train against my Pokemon, I’m fine with it.” A smile formed on Lucario’s face, and its trainer’s smile broadened. “Guess I was on such a roll with the explanation that I forgot to even introduce myself! I’m Korrina, and since you’re up for it, let’s battle!”
With an undeniably graceful fluidity she skated back and turned to face her opponent. Korrina once again extended her left arm, this time placing her right hand over her Key Stone. It started to shine with a white light, and a previously unnoticed cuff on Lucario’s arm started to glow in tandem. “Aaron! Let’s show her the power of the Mega Evolution successor!” Korrina yelled, as spikes appeared on her Lucario’s now-crimson paws and feet and the appendages on the back of its head grew longer. “So it’s gonna be that kind of battle!” Zinnia yelled, as she arched her back down and tapped the Key Stone on her anklet. “Deimos, Mega Evolve!” A light shone from the Key Stone and the Salamencite on Deimos’ neck, and as its wings fused together and the gray scales on its underbelly morphed into a sleeker, vest-like shape, the Salamence ran forward before taking flight and tucking its forelegs into the vest.
Although Mega Evolved, the Lucario simply closed its eyes and stood as the Salamence flew towards it, open-mouthed with its teeth aflame. Suddenly, the Lucario opened its eyes and held out its arms, charging up a Dragon Pulse. Thrusting its arms towards the Salamence, the Lucario fired, but the Salamence barrel-rolled to the left, and instead a tree felt the full force of the attack.
“Betcha didn’t see a Calm Mind take effect that quickly before!” Korrina yelled as Aaron started charging another Dragon Pulse. “Not good! If Lucario can keep up attacks at this speed, we’ll always be forced to keep away!” Zinnia worried before quickly snapping to a thought: “OK, we just need some imagination for this. Deimos, try to spin around as fast as possible while getting to Lucario!” The Salamence, peering forward with its eyes partly closed, flew away from Lucario, to Korrina and Aaron’s split-second confusion. Just as quickly as the two regained their guard, Deimos turned back towards Lucario, this time appearing almost blurred from the speed of its rotation. Lucario fired another Dragon Pulse, but it seemed to phase through. The Salamence collided with Lucario, knocking it off its feet for a moment.
As the Salamence flew up again, this time not rotating, Zinnia taunted, “Say, can’t Lucario learn a move that always hits?” secretly hoping that Korrina would take the bait. The Successor responded, “Oh yeah! Dunno why you want to help your opponent mid-battle, but thanks!” with a convincingly sincere tone, as Aaron charged the attack that was not the Aura Sphere that Zinnia was referring to. Regardless, for the blink of an eye, Zinnia didn’t catch on to the ruse, and mentally instructed Deimos to use Fire Fang again. Looking to Lucario, she realized her mistake too late to change course, as the Lucario fired another Dragon Pulse, this time finding its mark.
Still, the attack wasn’t enough to stop the full-speed Mega Salamence from also hitting Lucario with its attack. As the dust settled, both Pokemon were standing exhausted, and assuming their normal forms. A pause. Then suddenly, Aaron falls. Letting out a held breath, Korrina recalled the Lucario back into its Pokeball, assuring, “You did well. Take a bit to recover.” Meanwhile, Zinnia fed Deimos a Wiki Berry, praising, “You took that Dragon Pulse like a champ! Rest up, you’ve earned it for sure!” before recalling the Salamence into its Pokeball.
Turning to Korrina, Zinnia spoke in an impressed tone, “Great battle! I have to commend you on a lot of things, but particularly turning my ruse against me. N-not that I meant to call you a natural liar, but you had me there for a second!” A slight blush formed on her face.
Korrina replied, “Don’t worry, I know what you mean. I’d say that skill came from my time in lycée theater.”
“Neat! … am I right in assuming a lycée is like secondary school? I have zero experience with the Kalos school system,” Zinnia responded quickly, holding a sheepish smile.
“Right on the mark. Actually, I did assume you were Kalosian, given the use of Mega Evolution. Since that’s not the case, though, where are you from?”
“Hoenn,” Zinnia answered, “Near Rustboro specifically. Although Mega Evolution isn’t unheard of there either – the champion’s Swampert can Mega Evolve, for example.” Sitting down and putting her hand to her chin, she continued, “You haven’t been out of Kalos much, have you?”
Korinna sat down on the grass and sighed before answering. “No. I almost always have to stay in the region because of my gym leader duties, and when that’s not the case, then it’s the fact I’m Mega Evolution Successor stopping me.”
“Mega Evolution Successor?” Zinnia’s eyes lit up in interest. She forgot Korrina used that title in the heat of battle, but now that she heard it again, she thought, “Could she be more – like me than I thought?”
“The long and short of it is that I help maintain the knowledge of Mega Evolution and give Key Stones to worthy trainers.”
“NO WAY!” Zinnia blurted with brief joy. “That’s… kinda like what I did… once.” Her expression shifted to melancholy and she stared at the ground as she remembered what “what she did” led to.
Korrina paused, troubled by the dragon master’s sudden disheartening. “You look down on yourself. If this topic’s uncomfortable for you we can talk about something else instead.”
Zinnia sighed. “Thanks. How about we talk about the things we do outside of our jobs?” She returned her gaze to Korrina.
“Of course!” Korrina started, with her eyes widening and her gaze fixed on Zinnia’s eyes. “I used to do a lot of PR videos, on everything from skating techniques to costumes to fighting-type Pokemon care, but that’s kinda slowed down recently since I’ve been focusing more on my exercising.” As she continued talking a mile a minute, Zinnia couldn’t help but get absorbed by Korrina’s enthusiasm. She started to smile, and noticing this, Korrina’s expression became even more cheerful. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I edit the videos a massive amount, but I do think there’s only so many videos I can make about the same Pokemon or the same kicks I’m practicing before the next videos start to lose their value. Speaking of, wanna see my rolling axe-kick?”
“Heck yeah!” Zinnia stood up and followed Korrina as she skated towards a brownish rock with no cracks. Looking quickly at Zinnia before moving her attention to the rock, Korrina, with utmost visible concentration on her face, assumed a ready stance before swiftly moving her leg high up in the air and bringing it down on the rock, shattering it and breaking the silence with the sound of the rock crumbling. A blush appeared on Zinnia’s face, and all the Draconid was able to say was a whispered “Wow.” Korrina, still able to hear the reaction, started to look a little more at ease and said “Really glad you liked it! I’ve been practicing the kick for a while but it still doesn’t always come easy to me.” She let out a deep breath, and her exuberance faded. “Although now that I’ve shown the world that I can do it, it’s the new baseline, and slipping up isn’t an option. With the kicks and just in general. Do you ever feel like that?”
Zinnia put her hands in her shorts’ pockets and answered, “Like i-if you fail it’s… the end of the world?” The smile she wore vanished, and she gazed at the ground again. “Yeah. Just… every day of my life until a few years ago.”
“And it’s still gnawing at you? I get it. The feeling at least, if not the intensity.” Korrina’s head turned from Zinnia towards the distant shape of the Tower of Mastery. “Whenever I get in that kind of mood, my favorite thing to do is to go up the Tower of Mastery, way over there in Shalour, and just stare at the wide-open sky.” A slight smile returned to Korrina. “At least for a little while, all my worries disappear. It’s even better if you get to feel the sun on your face.”
“It’s the night that always comforted me. Stargazing and getting lost in my thoughts on infinite universes and galaxies far away…” Zinnia’s expression started to lighten as she lifted her head. “Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve always turned my eyes up there. In times of grief or wonder or excitement, it was always me and the sky. It brings back a lot of memories for me, and even though I’ve kind of been distancing myself from my past…” Zinnia adopted a determined smile. “All those memories don’t bother me right now. Even discounting all the good times, I’ve been through a lot, but I still got through! So I don’t think anything can stop me from finding a new future!”
Korrina, looking into Zinnia’s eyes again, returned the smile. “That’s the spirit! I know we’ve only gotten to know each other today, but I’d be glad to help you out with that. Having another chat sometime would be good, too – maybe you can talk a little more about stargazing. Would you like my phone number?”
Zinnia, without a split-second’s hesitation, answered, “Wh- I- of course!” She gave Korrina her Pokenav, and the gym leader typed in her contact information.
“One more thing before I leave: if you want to battle me at the Shalour gym, you’ll have to get a badge case and Kalos league ID from the league offices first.”
Channeling all the cartoon-villain energy she can muster, Zinnia raised her left fist to the sky and yelled, “Bureaucracy! My old nemesis!”
Snickering, Korrina replied, “There should be offices in the two towns nearby here. Hope they got over the hostilities by now. Until next time!” And Korrina skated off towards Geosenge.
“Hope it’s soon!” Zinnia replied, watching the gym leader as she roller-bladed away. She regarded Korrina’s skating as even more graceful and enthralling than before. Turning towards Cyllage and intending to get the badge case and ID for the gyms, Zinnia thought, “Hmm… I don’t think I’d mind a new life by her side.”
While nothing about Zinnia was a usual state of affairs for Route 10, she had already gotten used to traveling around the world, with the sole aim of finding something to do to make a living, something to do to support her grandmother financially, something to do to fill the void she’s been burdened with ever since that day. When she stood atop Sky Pillar, ready to end the legacies of the Draconids, Aster, and her own life with a BANG — only for a twelve-year-old to be the one to unlock Rayquaza’s true power and gain its partnership instead. But here she was, still on Earth, with a life she never anticipated to still have staring her in the face. So she wandered for a few years, with none but her Pokemon for company. And of course her travels would take her to the site of the Ultimate Weapon, whose firing 3,000 years ago served as the catalyst for all Mega Evolution in Kalos.
Maybe seeking a new life in close proximity to a massive link to Mega Evolution, and by proxy her old life as Lorekeeper, had a low likelihood of working. That’s why she chose to ponder everything else about the place. “It is pretty nice, disregarding its history,” she thought before she heard a shout come from the direction of Geosenge. “AARON, WHERE ARE YOU GOING? I THOUGHT YOU WANTED TO TRAIN CLOSER TO REFLECTION CAVE?” Turning her view towards the direction of the disturbance, Zinnia was jolted out of her reflective mood by the sight of a Lucario running towards her location, with a blonde roller-blader in pursuit.
Instinctively, Zinnia pulled a Pokeball out of her pocket and threw it at the ground in front of her, releasing a Salamence that already wore a battle-ready expression. “Wait, don’t start yet!” the roller-blader yelled as she caught up to her Lucario, which stopped a few feet in front of the Salamence and adopted a ready pose of its own to match. “Sorry about that. Looks like Aaron here must have sensed a really strong Aura from you and wanted to check it out.” Now that everyone was stationary, Zinnia could better process the other trainer. The roller-blader’s mostly-white outfit, accentuated with an almost salmon color, included a cycling helmet, a skirt and sleeveless top, gloves, and the roller blades – the traveler thought it all came together extremely well, especially with her silvery-blue eyes. Still, Zinnia’s expression was bewildered, since she had no clue what Aura was. “Oh, Aura’s basically the life force of all creatures. Some Pokemon, like Lucario, can sense it when there’s a person or Pokemon nearby with a lot of it, or when it’s amplified by something like a Key Stone, like I have!” The roller-blader continued, holding out her left hand for Zinnia to see. The glove she was wearing had a light-blue stone embedded within. Zinnia’s expression shifted to eager curiosity, and she replied “Sweet, I have one too! Name’s Zinnia! And don’t worry about your Lucario, by the way. If you do want to train against my Pokemon, I’m fine with it.” A smile formed on Lucario’s face, and its trainer’s smile broadened. “Guess I was on such a roll with the explanation that I forgot to even introduce myself! I’m Korrina, and since you’re up for it, let’s battle!”
With an undeniably graceful fluidity she skated back and turned to face her opponent. Korrina once again extended her left arm, this time placing her right hand over her Key Stone. It started to shine with a white light, and a previously unnoticed cuff on Lucario’s arm started to glow in tandem. “Aaron! Let’s show her the power of the Mega Evolution successor!” Korrina yelled, as spikes appeared on her Lucario’s now-crimson paws and feet and the appendages on the back of its head grew longer. “So it’s gonna be that kind of battle!” Zinnia yelled, as she arched her back down and tapped the Key Stone on her anklet. “Deimos, Mega Evolve!” A light shone from the Key Stone and the Salamencite on Deimos’ neck, and as its wings fused together and the gray scales on its underbelly morphed into a sleeker, vest-like shape, the Salamence ran forward before taking flight and tucking its forelegs into the vest.
Although Mega Evolved, the Lucario simply closed its eyes and stood as the Salamence flew towards it, open-mouthed with its teeth aflame. Suddenly, the Lucario opened its eyes and held out its arms, charging up a Dragon Pulse. Thrusting its arms towards the Salamence, the Lucario fired, but the Salamence barrel-rolled to the left, and instead a tree felt the full force of the attack.
“Betcha didn’t see a Calm Mind take effect that quickly before!” Korrina yelled as Aaron started charging another Dragon Pulse. “Not good! If Lucario can keep up attacks at this speed, we’ll always be forced to keep away!” Zinnia worried before quickly snapping to a thought: “OK, we just need some imagination for this. Deimos, try to spin around as fast as possible while getting to Lucario!” The Salamence, peering forward with its eyes partly closed, flew away from Lucario, to Korrina and Aaron’s split-second confusion. Just as quickly as the two regained their guard, Deimos turned back towards Lucario, this time appearing almost blurred from the speed of its rotation. Lucario fired another Dragon Pulse, but it seemed to phase through. The Salamence collided with Lucario, knocking it off its feet for a moment.
As the Salamence flew up again, this time not rotating, Zinnia taunted, “Say, can’t Lucario learn a move that always hits?” secretly hoping that Korrina would take the bait. The Successor responded, “Oh yeah! Dunno why you want to help your opponent mid-battle, but thanks!” with a convincingly sincere tone, as Aaron charged the attack that was not the Aura Sphere that Zinnia was referring to. Regardless, for the blink of an eye, Zinnia didn’t catch on to the ruse, and mentally instructed Deimos to use Fire Fang again. Looking to Lucario, she realized her mistake too late to change course, as the Lucario fired another Dragon Pulse, this time finding its mark.
Still, the attack wasn’t enough to stop the full-speed Mega Salamence from also hitting Lucario with its attack. As the dust settled, both Pokemon were standing exhausted, and assuming their normal forms. A pause. Then suddenly, Aaron falls. Letting out a held breath, Korrina recalled the Lucario back into its Pokeball, assuring, “You did well. Take a bit to recover.” Meanwhile, Zinnia fed Deimos a Wiki Berry, praising, “You took that Dragon Pulse like a champ! Rest up, you’ve earned it for sure!” before recalling the Salamence into its Pokeball.
Turning to Korrina, Zinnia spoke in an impressed tone, “Great battle! I have to commend you on a lot of things, but particularly turning my ruse against me. N-not that I meant to call you a natural liar, but you had me there for a second!” A slight blush formed on her face.
Korrina replied, “Don’t worry, I know what you mean. I’d say that skill came from my time in lycée theater.”
“Neat! … am I right in assuming a lycée is like secondary school? I have zero experience with the Kalos school system,” Zinnia responded quickly, holding a sheepish smile.
“Right on the mark. Actually, I did assume you were Kalosian, given the use of Mega Evolution. Since that’s not the case, though, where are you from?”
“Hoenn,” Zinnia answered, “Near Rustboro specifically. Although Mega Evolution isn’t unheard of there either – the champion’s Swampert can Mega Evolve, for example.” Sitting down and putting her hand to her chin, she continued, “You haven’t been out of Kalos much, have you?”
Korinna sat down on the grass and sighed before answering. “No. I almost always have to stay in the region because of my gym leader duties, and when that’s not the case, then it’s the fact I’m Mega Evolution Successor stopping me.”
“Mega Evolution Successor?” Zinnia’s eyes lit up in interest. She forgot Korrina used that title in the heat of battle, but now that she heard it again, she thought, “Could she be more – like me than I thought?”
“The long and short of it is that I help maintain the knowledge of Mega Evolution and give Key Stones to worthy trainers.”
“NO WAY!” Zinnia blurted with brief joy. “That’s… kinda like what I did… once.” Her expression shifted to melancholy and she stared at the ground as she remembered what “what she did” led to.
Korrina paused, troubled by the dragon master’s sudden disheartening. “You look down on yourself. If this topic’s uncomfortable for you we can talk about something else instead.”
Zinnia sighed. “Thanks. How about we talk about the things we do outside of our jobs?” She returned her gaze to Korrina.
“Of course!” Korrina started, with her eyes widening and her gaze fixed on Zinnia’s eyes. “I used to do a lot of PR videos, on everything from skating techniques to costumes to fighting-type Pokemon care, but that’s kinda slowed down recently since I’ve been focusing more on my exercising.” As she continued talking a mile a minute, Zinnia couldn’t help but get absorbed by Korrina’s enthusiasm. She started to smile, and noticing this, Korrina’s expression became even more cheerful. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I edit the videos a massive amount, but I do think there’s only so many videos I can make about the same Pokemon or the same kicks I’m practicing before the next videos start to lose their value. Speaking of, wanna see my rolling axe-kick?”
“Heck yeah!” Zinnia stood up and followed Korrina as she skated towards a brownish rock with no cracks. Looking quickly at Zinnia before moving her attention to the rock, Korrina, with utmost visible concentration on her face, assumed a ready stance before swiftly moving her leg high up in the air and bringing it down on the rock, shattering it and breaking the silence with the sound of the rock crumbling. A blush appeared on Zinnia’s face, and all the Draconid was able to say was a whispered “Wow.” Korrina, still able to hear the reaction, started to look a little more at ease and said “Really glad you liked it! I’ve been practicing the kick for a while but it still doesn’t always come easy to me.” She let out a deep breath, and her exuberance faded. “Although now that I’ve shown the world that I can do it, it’s the new baseline, and slipping up isn’t an option. With the kicks and just in general. Do you ever feel like that?”
Zinnia put her hands in her shorts’ pockets and answered, “Like i-if you fail it’s… the end of the world?” The smile she wore vanished, and she gazed at the ground again. “Yeah. Just… every day of my life until a few years ago.”
“And it’s still gnawing at you? I get it. The feeling at least, if not the intensity.” Korrina’s head turned from Zinnia towards the distant shape of the Tower of Mastery. “Whenever I get in that kind of mood, my favorite thing to do is to go up the Tower of Mastery, way over there in Shalour, and just stare at the wide-open sky.” A slight smile returned to Korrina. “At least for a little while, all my worries disappear. It’s even better if you get to feel the sun on your face.”
“It’s the night that always comforted me. Stargazing and getting lost in my thoughts on infinite universes and galaxies far away…” Zinnia’s expression started to lighten as she lifted her head. “Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve always turned my eyes up there. In times of grief or wonder or excitement, it was always me and the sky. It brings back a lot of memories for me, and even though I’ve kind of been distancing myself from my past…” Zinnia adopted a determined smile. “All those memories don’t bother me right now. Even discounting all the good times, I’ve been through a lot, but I still got through! So I don’t think anything can stop me from finding a new future!”
Korrina, looking into Zinnia’s eyes again, returned the smile. “That’s the spirit! I know we’ve only gotten to know each other today, but I’d be glad to help you out with that. Having another chat sometime would be good, too – maybe you can talk a little more about stargazing. Would you like my phone number?”
Zinnia, without a split-second’s hesitation, answered, “Wh- I- of course!” She gave Korrina her Pokenav, and the gym leader typed in her contact information.
“One more thing before I leave: if you want to battle me at the Shalour gym, you’ll have to get a badge case and Kalos league ID from the league offices first.”
Channeling all the cartoon-villain energy she can muster, Zinnia raised her left fist to the sky and yelled, “Bureaucracy! My old nemesis!”
Snickering, Korrina replied, “There should be offices in the two towns nearby here. Hope they got over the hostilities by now. Until next time!” And Korrina skated off towards Geosenge.
“Hope it’s soon!” Zinnia replied, watching the gym leader as she roller-bladed away. She regarded Korrina’s skating as even more graceful and enthralling than before. Turning towards Cyllage and intending to get the badge case and ID for the gyms, Zinnia thought, “Hmm… I don’t think I’d mind a new life by her side.”
Edit: Updated tags & content warnings!
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