TEEN: - Ongoing Viridian's Forest (of Short Stuff)

[Viridian Beedrill]

I've been thinking for a while that I should maybe make a thread for the stuff I write that isn't really long enough to justify it's own thread, so...here we are. Each posting will have its own ratings, but I rated the overall thread Teen since that's about as high as I go in my writing.

To start things off, here's a belated contribution to the Great Malamassacre of 2025. This was inspired by the September 8, 2025 weekly writing prompt.

Rating: Everyone
Content Warnings: None

Spoiler: Surprise Package

Wally waited. The silence on the voice chat stretched to an uncomfortable length. Was she deeply deliberating her next move, or playing mind games with him? Either was just as likely with her.

"I evolve my Slowpoke into Slowbro,” Stephanie said at last. On Wally’s computer screen, a Slowbro card plucked itself out of the opposing hand and laid itself on the Slowpoke card already in play. The turn indicator switched to Wally. He eyed his own cards, chewing his lip, before opting to lay out some energy. Most of his Pokémon on the field were evolved already. Better to stock up and take advantage of his lead while he could. Stephanie, his Kantonian penpal turned weekly Pokéduel opponent, always had a trick up her sleeve. Wally hadn’t yet won a match against her.

The turn indicator flipped back to Stephanie. Over his headphones, Wally heard a fast sequence of thumps as her fingers drummed on something. He thought she was in deep thought again about her next move.

But that wasn’t the choice she was trying to make.

“I…probably shouldn’t ask, but I’m guessing the fact you haven’t said anything means it didn’t go well with your parents?”

The question caught Wally off guard. He half-sighed, half-groaned.

“Yeah, I shouldn’t have asked. Sorry. Don’t feel like you have to—”

“No, it’s ok. I…I’m glad you care about it.” Wally sat back in his chair and cast a dark look at the inhaler sitting on the corner of his desk. “It went the same as always. I can’t have a Pokémon, I’m too frail, I’d only hurt myself, et cetera, et cetera.” His voice got louder as he spoke, the frustration he’d stopped up ‘til now taking advantage of the outlet to spew out like pressurized water from a tiny hole. Heavy emotions made his breathing heavy, and heavy breathing made him…

“H-hang on,” he mumbled into his microphone, then yanked off his headset and reached for the loathed inhaler. Stupid pollen count, or whatever the heck was in the air right now. It usually wasn’t this easy to set him off.

By the time Wally could set the inhaler down and pick the headset up, Stephanie had laid out cards and the turn indicator had flipped back to him. “S-sorry. I’m back,” he mumbled, equal parts shamed and angry at how right he had just proven his parents.

“No, I’m sorry,” Stephanie said. “It’s really not fair. I don’t really want to go on a journey, but could. You really want to go on a journey and can’t. I’d trade lungs with you if I could.”

Wally smiled a little. It was macabre condolences, but that was on-brand for Stephanie. “Thanks. I don’t think there’s anything you can do, though.”

“I could try to catch a Drowzee for you,” Stephanie said in a half-joking tone. “They sometimes wander over near Lavender Town. Maybe you could hypnotize your parents into letting you have a Pokémon.”

Wally snorted. “If we’re going by hypnotic power, I’d need a Malamar to have any hope of convincing them.” Then he sighed. “…I know they’re right. I know I’m not well enough to train a Pokémon right now. But I am getting better. I mean, the last few days have been rough because, air quality, but I’m getting better overall. I just…I wish they’d say ‘someday’ instead of just ‘no’.”

Stephanie didn’t respond. There wasn’t much else that could be said.

Wally double-checked that his card layout was the way he wanted and let the turn move to Stephanie. The girl cleared her throat. “Ah…it kind of sounds like you need a win right now, but…”

Wally narrowed his eyes at the screen. “What do you mean, ‘but’? You don’t have enough energy to attack me before—” a sudden thought crossed his mind. “Unless…you didn’t…did you get…?”

An Energy Retrieval card extracted itself from the opposing hand on the screen. A few moments later, a pair of Energy cards pulled themselves from the opposing discard pile and attached themselves to Stephanie’s Slowbro.

Wally groaned, but interrupted himself with a snort of laughter. “Oh, for crying out loud, you’ve got to be kidding me!”

“Sorry, buddy,” Stephanie said with an apologetic chuckle. “What I lack in real-life battle skills I have to make up for in Pokéduel prowess, and there’s a lot I lack in battle skills.”

The game was over quickly after that, in Stephanie’s favor. Afterward, they talked for a few minutes about less discouraging topics than Pokémon Trainership. Then Wally logged off for the night.

A few days later, he came home to find a package sitting on his bed. Frowning, he plopped his backpack on the floor and returned to the top of the stairs. “Dad, what’s the package for?” he called down the stairs.

His father poked his head out of the kitchen doorway. “I assumed it was something you ordered,” he called back.

“I…don’t know what it could be,” Wally said, racking his memory. He’d been saving his allowance for a new computer and hadn’t placed an online order in months.

“Only one way to find out.”

“Yeah…yeah, I guess so,” Wally said. He pointed at the potato peeler in his dad’s hand. “Mochi tonight?”

“Yep! I could use some help cubing the potatoes, once you put your stuff away.”

Yum. “I’ll be right there, dad.” Wally returned to his room and put his backpack away more carefully in his closet. He stared at the small box on his bed for a moment.

Only one way to find out…

He grabbed a pair of scissors from his desk and sliced open the packing tape. Just under the lid was something purple, pink, blue, and squishy. A Malamar plush? Wally lifted it out of the box, revealing a piece of paper underneath.

You said you would need a Malamar to have any hope of convincing your parents. Well, now you have a Malamar.

Don’t give up. You still owe me a lot of battle trouncings to make up for the times I’ve beaten you in Pokéduel.

-Stephanie​

Wally smiled the biggest smile he had in weeks. Then he propped the Malamar plush on his pillow and headed to the kitchen to help with the mochi.

He wasn’t going to let his friend down by giving up on his dream.

 

[LightningTopaz]

Aw, this was very sweet. I would only suggest hinting at the Ralts he eventually gets with Brendan/May's help...

 

[Viridian Beedrill]

Aw, this was very sweet. I would only suggest hinting at the Ralts he eventually gets with Brendan/May's help...

That's a good idea! I should have figured out a way to work that in...maybe as an edit, or if I ever do another pre-Ruby/Sapphire/ORAS piece with Wally.

 

[Viridian Beedrill]

A short inspired by the November 3, 2025 prompt but that I didn't write until this weekend due to real life.

Rating: Everyone
Content Warnings: None
Notes: Features a purely headcanonical family relationship between canon characters.
Blurb: Ryuki gets an unexpected phone call from his brother, the wandering adventurer Aarune. It seems Aarune's travels have been interrupted by an unusual challenge...can Ryuki give him a morale boost?

Spoiler: Morale Crisis

Aarune and Ryuki arranged their phone calls by text. Ryuki’s show gigs caused him to work odd hours, and Aarune was frequently outside the range of cell service. Add in the usually-significant time zone differences, and pre-scheduling calls became practically a necessity.

So, when his phone started blaring Aarune’s ringtone out of the blue, Ryuki was a bit alarmed.

“Hey, everything ok?” he asked as soon as he answered.

“I need help,” Aarune said.

“What kind of help?” Ryuki asked, growing more nervous.

“Someone-with-experience-being-a-big-time-musician kind of help.”

Ryuki blinked. “Uh…I don’t know if I count as big-time yet, but I’m climbin’ up there.”

“Are you big-time enough to stay at fancy hotels while on tour?”

Now Ryuki was really confused. “Some pretty nice ones, I guess? What’s this all about?”

“THE UNION’S SENDING ME TO HOTEL RICHISSIME AND I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO!”

Ryuki winced and moved the phone away from his ear. He was used to loud noises, but yelling through a phone speaker created an unpleasant, high-pitched crackle.

Then the meaning of his brother’s words sunk in. “Woah, woah, hang on,” he said, returning the phone to his ear. “Hotel Richissime? Like in Kalos?”

“Yes!”

“And the Ranger Union’s sending you there?”

“Yes!”

“Dare I ask why?”

“Lumiose is seeing an influx of wild Pokémon, and the mayor asked the Union to send a consultant.”

“Okaaay…but why you? I thought you were on reserve.”

“Lumiose is also seeing an influx of weird, glowing crystals, and I’m apparently the Union’s subject matter expert on weird, glowing things.”

“…Yeah, that tracks. And it’s Richissme because…the Union wants their rep to look important in the eyes of the big-shot mayor?”

“Bingo…”

Ryuki set aside the guitar he’d been tuning and motioned for his Pokémon bandmates to take a break. Practice could wait.

“I know Richissime isn’t your vibe, but think of it as just a foot in the door. The Union wants to show right from the top that they can afford Kalos’s best, but once you get going on fieldwork, the mayor’ll only care how good you are. And I know you’re good.”

Aarune sighed. Ryuki pictured his brother’s nervous habit of taking off his hat and clenching and un-clenching the brim.

“I’m staying there, Ryuki. Living in the same building as all those rich people. I don’t know how to act!”

“Well—”

“And I can’t afford to make a fool of myself, because I’m representing the Union! I can’t afford to use the wrong words or the wrong fork or the wrong anything! But I don’t KNOW anything, either!”

“Woah, ok, first off: take a deep breath.” Ryuki paused. There was silence on the other end of the line. “Did you actually take a deep breath?”

“Kind of.”

“Actually take a deep breath. That’s Ryuki’s first piece of advice for surviving the big-name social scene.”

A hiss of breath crackled the speakers.

Ryuki continued, “Second piece of advice is a little social hack. The big shots in life—and I’m speaking from experience with publishers ‘n such—act like they want you to be exactly like them, and they’ll kick you to the curb if you’re not. But that’s not true! If you really lean into being different, they’ll just call you ‘eccentric’ and leave you alone for the most part, so long as you’re good at what you do.”

“Do they still talk about you behind your back?”

“Sometimes.”

Aarune sighed. “That’s what I have to avoid. I can’t start any gossip that would hurt the Union’s reputation.”

“That leads me to the third piece of advice,” Ryuki said. “Even if you feel like you’re going to start gossip or be laughed at or whatever, don’t bend yourself over too much trying to fit in. Sure, you maybe gotta act a little different in different situations, but people have a way of figuring out when you’re faking. And there isn’t much that destroys a reputation as fast as getting caught faking.”

There was silence on the phone for a moment. “That’s…good advice,” Aarune said at last.

“I’d hope so. You gave it.”

“I gave it?”

“Yeah, remember? When I was thinking about changing up my style to make my records sell more. You said if I faked on my music, people would hear it and then I wouldn’t sell anything.”

“I…sort of remember, yeah. I…hrmmm.” Aarune paused. “…I guess I’d better get off so my Pokémon and I can start flying to the Laverre Ranger Station. I’m supposed to report in for more detailed instructions. Sorry for bothering you.”

“No prob. You’ll do great. And, hey, if you need to call again, just let me know.”

“…Thanks, Ryuki.”

The phone beeped as Aarune hung up. Ryuki picked up his guitar again. “Alright, babies, practice is back on!” he called to his Pokémon. “Just had a morale crisis to deal with.” The Dragon-Types gathered around, growling, scraping their claws, and thumping their tails as they tuned up their natural “instruments”. Ryuki smiled. “Let’s rock so hard, they’ll hear us in Kalos! A-one, two, three…”

...Aaaand a piece inspired by the current (November 17, 2025) writing prompt.
Rating: Everyone
Content Warnings: Fantasy violence
Notes: This takes place after the above short, but I tried to make it fairly standalone.
Blurb: Aarune is called upon to find a very unusual Noibat causing trouble in the Lumiose Sewers.

Spoiler: A Noibat Like No Other

“Sorry we called you away from your field surveys,” said Francois. The utility worker rubbed the back of his neck in an apologetic gesture, knocking his hard hat slightly askew. “You’re closer than the Laverre Ranger Station, and since you wanted to look at wild Pokémon in the city eventually anyway, my boss figured we should call you.”

Aarune hopped off the bottom rung of the ladder. “It’s fine, don’t worry about it,” Aarune assured Francois. Secretly, the Ranger was thrilled Lumiose Utility had called him. Currently, he was surveying the land around Lumiose to see if Pokémon were moving into the city because of some ecological crisis. Once that survey was complete, he’d have to shift his focus to the phenomena inside the city, which meant he’d have to move his base of operations to the horrifically fancy room at Hotel Richissime the Ranger Union had booked for him. Aarune shuddered a little. Yes, extending the survey to accommodate a trip into the Lumiose Sewers was fine by him.

Aarune inspected his surroundings. The walls were made of brick and worn by age and the constant dripping of water. The area around the utility ladder was lit by buzzing, orange lights, but the corridors branching off from the room faded into gloom. The air was damp, but it didn’t smell as bad as Aarune had expected. Maybe there were Poison-Type Pokémon helping to clean up the waste.

“The report said it’s a Noibat?” Aarune said.

“As best we can figure, yeah,” Francois confirmed. “Biggest Noibat I’ve ever seen, though. We can’t send workers within ten meters of it without them getting knocked dizzy by the soundwaves.”

Aarune nodded. The size of the area of effect was unusual, but the effect itself was typical of Noibats’ abilities. He handed the worker a pair of headphones. “Put these on. Getting hit with the soundwaves still won’t be fun, but they should cancel enough of the ultrasonic range to keep us from blacking out.” He put on his own headphones and walked into one of the corridors. “Your manager was pretty adamant that we’d have to completely relocate it,” Aarune said. “Care to elaborate on the reasoning?”

The worker followed, but didn’t answer Aarune’s question. Aarune frowned and reached for his headphones. They should allow the range for Human voices to come through…

“Well…” Francoise said at last. “We’ve tried battling it, but…we lose.” His voice had a distinct tinge of embarrassment.

Aarune dropped his hand down, relieved the headphones were working as intended. “Hey, I’m not judging,” he said. “Rangers have ways of dealing with aggressive Pokémon, but we aren’t really known for competitive battling prowess.” He sidestepped a puddle on the cobbled floor. “Speaking of which, have you tried getting a strong Trainer down here? Sometimes Pokémon just want a good battle and calm down after they get it out of their systems.”

Francois shook his head. “Not this one. This one is a level of aggressive we’ve never seen before. I don’t even think beating it would make it leave us alone. Neither does anyone else who’s battled it. It’ll have to be relocated.”

“Hmm.” Forcible relocation was far from Aarune’s favorite option for dealing with a problematic wild Pokémon. Better to make peace somehow between the Pokémon and the people who needed to pass through its habitat, or to find a Trainer the Pokémon would willingly join. But maybe this was one of the unfortunate cases where drastic measures were needed. He would just have to wait and see.

Assuming they could ever find the Noibat.

“Is that it?” Aarune asked for what seemed like the hundredth time, pointing at a large Noibat hanging from the ceiling.

Francois shook his head. “Not big enough and not feisty enough. Trust me, you’ll know this Noibat when you see it,” he said, also for what seemed like the hundredth time.

The Noibat unfurled its wings and dove at the Human intruders with a screech. “Ice Beam, Fractal,” Aarune commanded with a tired sigh. His Cryogonal responded to the order with a frigid blast that passed inches over the Noibat’s head. The Flying/Dragon-Type squeaked in alarm and retreated into the darkness.

“See,” Francois said, gesturing at the spot the Noibat had been, “if it had been the really big Noibat, it would have flown towards the Ice Beam, not away from—”

“NOIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEE!!!!”

The shriek broke the pooled water into ripples and rattled the overhead pipes. A furry shape swooped out of the darkness.

“THAT’S IT!” Francois screamed.

Aarune gaped. That Noibat really was huge! And its eyes…

Why were its eyes glowing red?!

The Noibat shrieked again and fired an Air Slash at them. “Ice Beam!” Aarune commanded. Fractal the Cryogonal fired the frigid ray through the Air Slash and straight into its target. The Noibat reeled, and slumped, its wing beats faltering…

Then it shook itself and spread its wings for another attack.

“See?! SEE?!” Francois yelled. “That thing took a quadruple effective attack like it was nothing! It's some kind of monster!"

“It’s strong, but I don’t know if I’d call it a—”

The Noibat screamed, its spread wings glowing with a purple and orange energy. Balls of light started raining from the ceiling.

“How the heck does a Noibat know Draco Meteor?!” Aarune yelled. He pivoted left and right, doing his best to dodge the destructive orbs.

Francois dove behind some pipes for shelter. “I don’t know! I’ve never heard about it doing this! I guess it thinks you’re tough enough for its biggest moves!”

“Great,” Aarune muttered. He reached for his Styler, but hesitated, looking at the walls of the sewer. Not enough room to steer a Capture Disc. I’ll have to calm it some other way.

“Fractal, use Haze and hide in it!”

The Cryogonal spewed a thick, icy mist from its mouth. In moments, the snowflake-shaped Pokémon was lost in the fog.

“Are you crazy?” Francois shouted. “It’ll see right through the haze with echolocation!”

“I’m counting on it,” Aarune said with a slight smile.

The Noibat dove into the haze, its flapping spreading the icy vapor into a thinner, larger cloud. Then it pulled its dive up short and twisted its head left and right, looking confused.

“Now, Fractal! Use Blizzard!” Aarune commanded.

The whole cloud came alive. Pellets of snow formed and fired from all directions, pelting the Noibat. The Flying/Dragon-Type screeched and beat its wings, trying to break free of the haze.

Aarune watched with bated breath. Please freeze. Please freeze, please freeze, freeze, freeze…

It didn’t freeze. The Noibat tore loose of the pelting cloud and shook snow off its fur, battered, wet, and shivering, but still very much able to move. Its furious red eyes fastened on Aarune. He thought he sensed a wave of indignation, shock…

…Respect?

“You planned this.” The Noibat dove toward Aarune, fanged mouth wide open.

Aarune reached for his belt and snatched a Dusk Ball. That arm threw; the other arm lifted up to protect his face. He let the throw’s momentum take him into a spin and crouch. He heard the impact of the Dusk Ball on the Noibat and dared to look up. He had a command on tip of his tongue for when the ball broke.

Ding!

The chime echoed off the ancient bricks. Then there was silence.

“You…you caught it,” Francoise said.

Aarune stood up, staring and the green and black Pokéball on the floor. “Yeah…yeah, I did.” He really hadn’t expected that to work. He’d only thrown the Pokéball to buy himself a few seconds. He splashed his way to the Dusk Ball, staring, afraid it would break if he took his eyes off it. The ball stayed closed. He crouched to pick it up, continuing to stare.

“What was that business with the Haze?” Francois asked. “It looked like the Noibat couldn’t find your Pokémon.”

Aarune snapped himself out of his reverie. “Oh, uh, that’s because it couldn’t.” He nodded at the Haze cloud, where a snowflake-like form was re-solidifying. “Cryogonal is able to dissolve into vapor if the air is above freezing temperature. When it’s like that, it’s nearly identical to the Haze. I was hoping Noibat’s echolocation wouldn’t be able to tell which was which and it would get confused. I guess I was right.”

Francois shook his head. “No wonder the Ranger Union picked you to send here. That’s some amazing strategy! And you said you weren’t good at battling.”

“Ah…it’s more just knowing my partners’ strengths,” Aarune said, embarrassed. “Back to this Noibat…”

“Are you going to keep it?” Francois asked. “They say Pokémon only let themselves be caught be people they respect, you know.”

“I…don’t know if that’s the best course of action.” Aarune looked down at the ball. “Its appearance and behavior reminds me of something I’ve read about. But I’ve only seen it myself once, a long time ago, deep in a preserve where Humans almost never go. An Alpha is showing up in the middle of a city…” he trailed off.

“An Alpha?”

“Exceptionally large, exceptionally strong members of a Pokémon species,” Aarune explained.

“That fits this Noibat, all right,” Francois said.

“It does, except that Alphas only develop in remote Pokémon communities that virtually never interact with Trainers. They haven’t been a regular phenomenon ever since Pokémon Training was normalized.” Aarune looked up at the ceiling. “Lumiose is the opposite of remote and there are Pokémon Trainers all over the place. It doesn’t make any sense for an Alpha to be here.” He shook his head. “I need to do some more research. Maybe I need to send this fellow to one of those deep preserves, where the ecosystem still supports Alphas. But whatever happens, I’ll make sure Lumiose Utility doesn’t have any more trouble.”

Francois tipped his hard hat. “Merci. I hope you solve your mystery. And that we don’t have more trouble with these ‘Alphas’. Shall we return to the surface?”

“Yes, please,” Aarune said. Francois led the way back to the access ladder, Aarune and Fractal trailing behind him. As he walked, Aarune held the Dusk Ball up to his face.

“What am I going to do with you?” he whispered.

 

[Viridian Beedrill]

A piece inspired by the January 12, 2026 writing prompt.

Rating: Everyone
Content Warnings: None
Notes: Takes place significantly before the events of XY.
Blurb: Sina and Dexio's boss, Professor Sycamore, suggests in no uncertain terms his assistants could stand to reduce the friction between them. His prescription? Boardgames.

Spoiler: Boardgames

Sina had never been ordered to go to time out and play boardgames before.

Well, ok, it wasn’t officially time out. Professor Sycamore had phrased it as “team bonding” and made a very non-optional suggestion that she and Dexio take a look at the games in the lab break room. Basically time out, but with something to do other than stare at corner, and forcing the arguing parties to share a room instead of splitting them up.

Sina thought Professor Sycamore wasn’t giving them enough credit. She and Dexio had, overall, been doing much better in the teamwork department lately. Dexio was just obnoxiously particular about data cataloguing, and Sina knew things would go faster if they threw all the notes into loose categories and dealt with the details later. She’d tried to convince Dexio, but he was stubborn, so they’d gotten into a bit of an argument.

Admittedly, a very loud bit of an argument, but…

Ah, whatever. There’s waaaay worse things than being ordered to play some games.

In fact, the situation could be downright fun, except the scolding from the Professor seemed to have triggered one of Dexio’s weird silent mental stewing episodes. Are there any boardgames you can play with someone who won’t talk?

“Well, there’s the cabinet,” Sina said when they reached the breakroom. “I guess we’ve got our orders!”

Dexio made a vague affirmative noise.

“Oh, lighten up,” Sina told him. “This is barely a punishment. Heck, if we enjoy ourselves, this isn’t a punishment at all!”

Dexio made no response, verbal or otherwise, so Sina shrugged and opened the cabinet. “Let’s see, what do we have here…” She pulled the topmost box off of one of the shelves. “Gimmigoul Quest?” She thought a moment, studying the box art of Gimmigoul in a goofy mustache throwing coins into the air. “…Nah, that takes forever even with four people. We’d never finish with two. Although I guess we could do a version where you don’t have to buy all the chest spaces to win…” she set the box aside. “Maybe if we don’t find anything else, we can try that.” She pulled down the next box. This one had an image of a pointed blue game piece ramming into a red one of the same shape. “Feint Attack?”

“I haven’t played that in forever,” Dexio mumbled.

“He speaks!” Sina joked, earning a dark look from Dexio. She shrugged. “Alright, alright, I get it, you’re upset you got lectured.”

“No, I’m upset because I disappointed the Professor by acting immaturely.”

Sina noticed the singular pronoun. “I mean…we were both shouting.”

Dexio mumbled something indistinct.

“And anyway, the Professor told us what to do to make it up to him. Just play a game and don’t hit each other over the head with the board or whatever, and presto, he’s happy again!”

Dexio stared at her. “You can’t possibly believe it’s that simple.”

“Why not? It’s what the Professor said.”

Dexio continued staring. Then he sighed and ran his hand through his hair. “I guess all we can do is try.” He pointed at the box in Sina’s hands. “But I don’t know if Feint Attack would really work with only two people.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” Sina conceded. She pulled down the next box, a vibrant pink one with images of candy and sweets all over it. “Alcrem-meander? It’s really simple, but it should work just as well with two people as with three or four.”

“True,” Dexio agreed.

The both stared at the colorful treats on the box.

“…This is going to sound really dumb, but that game is making me hungry,” Dexio said.

“No, no, it’s not just you,” Sina said, shoving the box back in the cabinet. “Let’s see if we can find something less appetizing.” She scanned the titles. “Hungry Hungry Hippopotas?”

“I think that’d just remind us we’re hungry. Are there any—oh!” Dexio’s hand darted over Sina’s shoulder and pulled a small box down from the shelf. “Diancie Duel! This is a really good one.”

“Never heard of it,” Sina said, examining the box. It featured artwork of Humans in fancy medieval clothing, all of them either holding jewels or wearing jeweled accessories.

“It’s a two-person version of a four-person game called Diancie Kingdom,” Dexio explained. “The rules are different between the two, obviously, but basically the goal for both versions is to manage your resources wisely to win prestige for your jewelers’ guild and earn the attention of the mythical Jewel Pokémon Diancie.” He moved to open the box, but then stopped. “Uh, we don’t have to play it if you don’t want to, though.”

“No, it sounds fun! I’m up for playing.”

“Great!” Dexio said, his bad mood visibly seeping away. He carried the box over to the break room table and sat down. Sina followed and sat down opposite him, glad that the forced boardgame time out was taking a turn for the more enjoyable. Dexio opened the box. “Alright, the first things first, we need to set up the game. I’ll divide the gemstone tokens into piles by type…”

 

[Viridian Beedrill]

A piece inspired by the February 2, 2026 prompt.

Rating: Everyone
Content Warnings: None
Blurb: Aarune and Ryuki discuss the oddities of Watchog Day while they're supposed to be doing homework.

Spoiler: Watchog Day

Ryuki stared down at the assemblage of yellow and brown construction paper on the counter in front of him, his face scrunched up in thought. “You know, this is pretty silly.”

Aarune looked up from his own portion of the kitchen counter, where a notebook lay open to a frustratingly blank page. “Don’t complain about it,” he warned in a world-weary voice. “Once you get older, the teachers stop assigning crafts for holidays and start assigning hundred-word paragraphs.”

“Not the craft! I meant the whole holiday is silly.” Ryuki pointed down at the brown ovals and circles he’d arranged into an approximation of a Watchog’s body. “If the Watchog sees his shadow, that means more winter, right?”

“Right.”

“And if he doesn’t see his shadow, that means spring comes sooner, right?”

“Right…”

“But that’s silly!” Ryuki picked up a strip of yellow paper that was supposed to be used for his craft Watchog’s safety-vest-like markings and waved it for emphasis. “If he sees his shadow, that means it’s sunny, so it should be warmer! And if he doesn’t see his shadow, that means it’s cloudy, so it should be colder! The signs are backwards!”

Aarune set down his pencil, his mind running through possible explanations for the paradox. “Maaaayybeeee…that’s the point? Maybe the Watchog made contact with them…” he nodded as the idea solidified in his head. “Yeah! And they make the weather act weird for a day so the Watchog knows they got his message.”

Ryuki gave his brother a disapproving scowl. “You’re saying weird stuff without explaining it again. Who’s the Watchog talking to?”

“The Castswarm!”

“Is that another monster you made up?”

Now Aarune was the one scowling. “I don’t make up any of the monsters! They’re all things that might be real. In fact, the Castswarm probably is real!” Homework completely forgotten by this point, Aarune twisted in his chair to fully face Ryuki and leaned in conspiratorially. “Some scientists in Hoenn made a Pokémon called Castform that’s really good at using weather moves.”

“They made it like how Porygon was made?”

“Yeah, they used some of the same weird science stuff that gave Porygon a real-world body. It was different scientists that made Castform though. Anyway, those scientists that made Castform said their prototypes…“ he pronounced the word carefully, “…just didn’t come alive at all. But…” he leaned further forward and lowered his voice. “What really happened…well…probably happened, is that they made a bunch of prototypes that came alive, but they couldn’t control them. And they escaped. That’s the Castswarm. They travel all over the world, but no one’s been able to catch them.”

“Wuh…wouldn’t they make the weather all weird if they were real?” Ryuki asked, trying to play it cool, but clearly a bit unsettled by the idea of rogue experimental Pokémon roaming the planet.

"Of course it does.”

“But our weather is normal.”

“Is it?” Aarune pointed to the TV—well, technically the section of kitchen wall blocking the view of the TV. “Isn’t it weird that the weatherman is wrong so often?”

Ryuki’s eyes widened. “Hey, that’s a good point! But what does that have to do with the Watchog?”

“Well, I was thinking, it is pretty strange that a Watchog is the Pokémon who predicts the seasons, since they don’t have anything to do with weather. But they are good at signaling, and they can glow and be seen from far away. What if the Watchog Day Watchog made contact with the Castswarm? And he doesn’t really predict the seasons, he just asks the Castswarm to make more winter or more spring?”

“Oh, I get what you were saying now,” Ryuki said. “The Watchog Day signs are backwards because the Castswarm makes things happen opposite what they’re supposed to, so the Watchog knows they heard him.”

“Right!”

“Maybe this is a cooler holiday than I thought,” Ryuki mused, looking down at his craft project. The gesture caused Aarune to remember his own homework, and he turned back to his paper, excited.

“This is a great theory! I can write one-hundred words about that, easy!”

“Please don’t,” said an adult voice from the direction of the kitchen table.

Aarune turned to where their father sat with his own “homework”, a pile of papers covered in boring-looking money math that had some nebulous importance to how their parents ran the PokéMart. “Why not?” Aarune protested. “It’s cool! It’d make a great paragraph.”

“I know it’s cool,” his father said, “but it would also prompt another one of those parent-teacher meetings we’re trying to avoid. You’ll have to trust your dad on this one. Maybe try the encyclopedia entry on Watchog Day for ideas instead?”

“Phooey,” Aarune muttered. He slid off his chair with a sigh and went to get the encyclopedia. Why do the people running the world have to be so boring about everything?

 

[System Error]

Okey dokey, so I should probably push to read some things before the month ends better late than never, so I decided on this because I wanted to ever since the first one of its kind. I did sort of coin the Malamassacre after all, even though the intent of it was in my case for them to be beaten up or fail at hypnosis. But let's see what you got here all the same~

• Voice chat huh? Did they even have that on such a big scale back in 2001? I guess they do in whatever year this is!
• Some sort of TCG game sim, huh? Funnily I can't remember any Slowbro cards being any good at around that time. Slowking, Neo Genesis one was broken as hell yes. But not Slowbro.
• Wonder why he keeps playing if he keeps losing. Or for that matter, why she keeps playing him.
• Ah, the whole bit about him not being able to travel.
• I hope he's not talking too loudly, his parents might overhear that!
• Hm, does stress trigger asthma? Never seen it myself despite living with some asthmatics, but I could believe it.
• I feel the bit with him having to use the inhaler could've been more verbose. Definitely didn't come across as an attack: no mention of coughing, wheezing, etc. Or maybe that's the point and it was a stress inhale.
• I like tne little dynamic Wally has with his pen pal. Knowing you, Stephanie's an actual character so I had to look that up. And well, best I came up with is the Card GB character? Fits the Psychic deck, but thought it might've been a generic trainer for a second.
• Not like anyone's forcing or coercing you to go on a journey, Steph. Kind of a difference.
• A macabre person in Lavendar Town, huh? A bit on-brand, don't you think?
• I'd like to think that any sort of hypnosis is as good as the other when it comes to this sort of thing. I suppose there is a dex entry to the effect of it having the strongest hypnotic powers though.
• I wonder if this fic is pre-Ralts? Wally doesn't seem to have it around, and the dialog seems to indicate that it isn't here.
• Another idle thought: what would hypothetically stop him from going as an adult when they can't control what he does anymore? Adult journeys are a thing, probably.
• Energy Retrieval? Was that card ever meta? And it sounds like she has the Heart of the Cards or something. How else would she win all the time and with a bad deck from the sounds of it?
• "I have a reputation to uphold even if it's you I would never ever think about throwing and making it seem like I'm not"
• Guessing he went to a non-Trainer school if he's coming home with a backpack. I wonder if Pokemon is a mandatory subject though? That'd be a bigger tease.
• How big is his allowance that he could save for a new computer???
• Mochi mochi. Hey that'd probably be another way to brainwash his parents into it. Well, probably harder to get his hands on a Pecharunt though.
• "Beat me up in a real battle when you can" was my first thought for some reason. Also this is a corny way of giving him a Malamar. But hey it's a joke that makes him smile and laughter is the best medicine, as they say.

This was a cute little fic that I liked. Really don't have much else to say about it that I haven't already said in my point by point. Thinking of it, I can't really see a way to foreshadow the future here as was suggested. Anything would be a blatantly offhand thing. But with this established, it'd be interesting to see a fic set along in his actual journey and seeing the reactions.

I'll probably be back to read more of these when I can!

 

[Viridian Beedrill]

Re: them having voice chat - I did not think about that, but considering the Pokémon world had teleporters and (in the anime, at least) video calls in what is ostensibly the late 90's, this probably isn't the biggest timeline offense I've ever committed.

Re: TCG mechanics - So I'm a complete fraud and don't actually know anything about the TCG meta. I did look up what cards Stephanie uses in the game and what they do, but that was the extent of my research. What I really need to do is play the GB TCG on the Switch Online so I at least understand what's good in that meta, but I haven't managed to do that yet. Speaking of which...

Re: Stephanie's origins - Yep, you're spot on, she's from the TCG games. I have swiped from the pool of generic Trainers for character names and occupations, though, so that's a very good second guess.

Re: asthma attack from stress - the basis for this was someone I know who has various lung-related struggles, including asthma. From what that person has told me, if it's already a "bad breathing day" (due to poor air quality, high allergens, etc.), then it is possible for a sudden breathing pattern interruption to trigger an asthma episode. Example: what would normally be swallowing wrong and coughing becomes swallowing wrong, coughing, and then continuing to struggle for breath even after the coughing stops. So, it's at least possible that the normal stress response of quickly shortening breaths could domino into an asthma attack.

 

[Viridian Beedrill]

A piece for the 30th Anniversary Bingo!

Rating: Everyone
Content Warnings: Fantasy violence
Blurb: Sina and Dexio have the Wild Zone 17 experience.

Spoiler: Got Away Safely

To: [email protected]

From: [email protected]

Professor,

Attached please find Sina and my first video-based field log. With all due respect, sir, I’m not sure this format is going to work.

Sincerely,

Dexio Cauchemar (Junior Research Assistant)



[Open attachment]

[Play video]

[Sina appears on camera next to some foliage]

Dexio: Observation tape number, uh, one. This is Dexio behind the camera…

Sina: And the beautiful Sina in front of the camera!

Dexio: Sina, we have to stay professional! And quiet! clears throat Uh, today we are observing a pride of Pyroar.

[Camera moves, and is now showing only foliage]

Dexio: The pride consists of one male, three females, and—

Sina: Wait, can you actually see anything from back here?

Dexio: …Kind of.

Sina: You need to get a view!

Dexio: But they might see me!

Sina: There’s no point is a video log if you can’t see anything, is there?

Dexio: sighs

Sina: You know I’m—

Dexio: Yes, yes, you’re right.

[Camera lifts. Several Pyroar and Litleo are now visible beyond the foliage]

Dexio: The pride consists of one male, three females, and five Litleo cubs.

Sina: The females have been really active, but the male is kinda just…sitting there. And growling occasionally.

Dexio: Don’t you dare say anything. I do at least half the work on this team.

Sina: Stay professional, Dexio.

Dexio: (unintelligible)

Sina: Anyway, if you acted like that I’d just quit and leave you to the elements instead of making dumb jokes, so don’t worry. You’re cool.

Dexio: …Thank you?

[Growling noise. View shifts to show a Litleo looking into the camera.]

Dexio: Uh oh, I think it saw us.

Sina: Maybe not? It’s walking away…huh. Why do you think it’s approaching the male?

Dexio: I don’t know. Alerting it we’re here? sharp inhale The male stood up. I think we’re in trouble.

Sina: It’s not approaching us, though. I don’t—wait, is he using a move? Is that a move? He still isn’t coming toward us.

[Camera jerks]

Dexio: Earth Power…?!

Sina: What’s Earth Power do?

[Explosive noise. Camera view is obscured by flames.]

Sina: NEVER MIND I KNOW WHAT IT DOES NOW!!!!

Dexio: That’stheendofobservationtapeonethankyouRUN AWAAAAAAAY!!!!

[End of video]

 

[RichestAirPirate]

A piece for the 30th Anniversary Bingo!

Rating: Everyone
Content Warnings: Fantasy violence
Blurb: Sina and Dexio have the Wild Zone 17 experience.

Spoiler: Got Away Safely

To: [email protected]

From: [email protected]

Professor,

Attached please find Sina and my first video-based field log. With all due respect, sir, I’m not sure this format is going to work.

Sincerely,

Dexio Cauchemar (Junior Research Assistant)



[Open attachment]

[Play video]

[Sina appears on camera next to some foliage]

Dexio: Observation tape number, uh, one. This is Dexio behind the camera…

Sina: And the beautiful Sina in front of the camera!

Dexio: Sina, we have to stay professional! And quiet! clears throat Uh, today we are observing a pride of Pyroar.

[Camera moves, and is now showing only foliage]

Dexio: The pride consists of one male, three females, and—

Sina: Wait, can you actually see anything from back here?

Dexio: …Kind of.

Sina: You need to get a view!

Dexio: But they might see me!

Sina: There’s no point is a video log if you can’t see anything, is there?

Dexio: sighs

Sina: You know I’m—

Dexio: Yes, yes, you’re right.

[Camera lifts. Several Pyroar and Litleo are now visible beyond the foliage]

Dexio: The pride consists of one male, three females, and five Litleo cubs.

Sina: The females have been really active, but the male is kinda just…sitting there. And growling occasionally.

Dexio: Don’t you dare say anything. I do at least half the work on this team.

Sina: Stay professional, Dexio.

Dexio: (unintelligible)

Sina: Anyway, if you acted like that I’d just quit and leave you to the elements instead of making dumb jokes, so don’t worry. You’re cool.

Dexio: …Thank you?

[Growling noise. View shifts to show a Litleo looking into the camera.]

Dexio: Uh oh, I think it saw us.

Sina: Maybe not? It’s walking away…huh. Why do you think it’s approaching the male?

Dexio: I don’t know. Alerting it we’re here? sharp inhale The male stood up. I think we’re in trouble.

Sina: It’s not approaching us, though. I don’t—wait, is he using a move? Is that a move? He still isn’t coming toward us.

[Camera jerks]

Dexio: Earth Power…?!

Sina: What’s Earth Power do?

[Explosive noise. Camera view is obscured by flames.]

Sina: NEVER MIND I KNOW WHAT IT DOES NOW!!!!

Dexio: That’stheendofobservationtapeonethankyouRUN AWAAAAAAAY!!!!

[End of video]

The lab assistants just got jumped by the lions like everyone else did at least once.
They'll be fine... hopefully. maybe... possibly...
This was a funny one. And I liked it!

 

[lisianthusakura]

Oh my God, I didn't realise you had more Sina/Dexio fics sitting here! What!?? OMG.

Your 30th Anniversary Bingo piece was cute! I don't have much to say other than that I think your way of writing these two is effortlessly comedic, and I think that's a talent of yours!

Same thing with Boardgames... honestly, I would be super happy to see a full-length version of it, being real with you?? It's such a cute prompt to work from... board games tend to be really chaotic (depending on what you're playing and who you're playing with), but there was plenty I found entertaining even without them actually playing in the fic! The idea of Professor Sycamore forcing them to stop arguing through board games is really cute, and I... am now going to headcanon that this happens every time Sina and Dexio get into it, LOL.

I really like how Sina sort of 'colours' the narration a little -- like, there's little snide comments thrown in here and there that I really enjoy.

a very non-optional suggestion

Dexio was just obnoxiously particular

one of Dexio’s weird silent mental stewing episodes

I think I know most of the board game references you put in, also?? I think Gimmigoul Quest is like Monopoly, Feint Attack is like Sorry, Alcream-meander is like Candy Land, and Hungry Hungry Hippopotas is self-explanatory. Buuut, what's Diancie Duel? I like the effort you put in to describing the boxes and giving them Opinions(tm) about each game, it was cute -- the bit about Alceam-meander making them hungry made me smile! Dexio would get really into a super complicated board game, LOL...

I wonder, was this fic inspired by anything in particular?

In any case! I just wanted to drop by and say that I'm happy you're posting some drabbles here and there! Always a pleasure to see your silly little duo! (But I need to check the other stuff out, soon, too!)

 

[Viridian Beedrill]

Thank you for the review!

Buuut, what's Diancie Duel?

That was inspired by a 4-player game called Splendor and its 2-player spinoff Splendor Duel. I don't think it's a very well-known game overall, but it's a favorite in my family. And it involves collecting and exchanging gemstone tokens, so a Diancie-themed Pokeworld version was too fun an idea for me to pass up!

I wonder, was this fic inspired by anything in particular?

In terms of the plot/setup of the fic, not really. But I while I was writing, I thought a lot about a particular closet in the house my family used to live in. It was supposed to be a linen closet, but we'd filled it to the top with board and card games. I remember standing by the open door, staring at all the colorful boxes and pondering what I wanted to pull out. I guess you could call that a vibe inspiration?

Always a pleasure to see your silly little duo!

Always a pleasure to infect Bulbagarden with my faux-C shenanigans Seriously, though, thank you so much, it means alot!