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Gloria was already bored out of her damn skull, and she had only been awake an hour. It had been so long (eight years) since she felt the itch to train to actually beat someone. Losing to Emmet (her first loss ever) had brought that itch back, stronger than it had ever been before. She was disgusted but unsurprised to learn she had stagnated as Champion, even if she had developed a somewhat new way of battling just for shits and giggles while she took her break. She checked the time on her phone seeing only 5 minutes had passed since she had sat down in the uncomfortable chair in the lobby. For the research HQ for the entire storage and pokedex system, it was basically empty except for high tech devices that she couldn't guess the purpose of and didn't want to touch in case she fucked something up.
(Okay, that's it. If she saw her name as she scrolled through the news and social media one more time-) Gloria slapped her hands on the chair, startling the receptionist.
"What's the laws on foreign flight licenses here?" The poor receptionist blinked a couple of times, parsing her words. It took her a few seconds to respond.
"Um. What's a flight license?" The receptionist looked like a confused Wooper as she asked. Gloria couldn't believe she had to explain this, but she tried to be nice about it for the teenager.
"Can I fly my Pokémon to other places in the region without the coppers or rangers on my ass?" Her voice came out flat (not as flat as Emmet's). The receptionist understood her explanation though, which was the important part.
"We don't really have a unified regional police or ranger force. So I'd assume that using your Pokémon to get around would be alright ma'am." She was trying so hard to sound proper it was almost painful.
"Just don't fly out over the desert unless you are prepared. The weather is unpredictable, and the sand can swallow wheeled vehicles in minutes if given the opportunity. Hover Cycles and desert gear can be rented or purchased in Gateon Port if necessary."
"You have a map of the region I can get a picture of? Or anything online?" This was obviously a question the blue-haired teenager was more familiar with. She smiled large and beckoned Gloria closer, pulling up something on her desktop. Walking around the counter showed her a site with a map. The teenager directed her on how to access and download the detailed map on her phone with the Pokémon HQ credentials. Gloria thanked the receptionist and left to grab her stuff. She shot a text to Hop telling him where she was going and that she might not be back until he was done with his testing.
(She wondered if that was a flaw she always had, or if it was created by her position. For all that she said she didn't want to travel alone anymore, Gloria was already leaving Hop behind to go off on her own again.)
The flight on Modric was quick from the large HQ to the towering volcano. Honestly, she didn't even need the map once she got high enough to see where the trees gave way to grassland and then to rock and sand. Modric didn't need directing to avoid the swirling storm over a portion of the forest, his ears picking up the distant thunder.
Gloria about had a heart attack when the dragon swerved suddenly near a village on a hilltop in the forest, going well around it rather than over. In her pokéball, Zacian shook. Getting sidetracked, she tried to direct Modric to go to the village proper, but he hovered and shook his mane, causing her to clutch tighter onto the harness. (She trusted that he wouldn't make her fall. They had practiced air drops with Mallokzii. The fact that she was still alive was astounding sometimes.) He started flying again when the village was behind him, complaining all the while.
"Do we need to go by foot then?" She asked the dragon, getting an affirmative rumble and ear flick. Gloria paused her natural desire to figure out what the hell could cause Zacian to get excited but make Modric so afraid he refused to even fly over it. She told Hop she would be at Mt. Battle, so that's where she was going be.
(But she was totally gonna go see what the hell was up with that village at some point, this was an entirely new region to explore. Hell, she had checked her account. She had cash and would continue to have royalties from the Champion shit she did. Her mom and Hop had read through her contracts ages ago to make sure she wouldn't get swindled even if she quit. She might just buy a cheap hovercycle while she was here and cart it with her wherever she went next.)
5 days later:
"What the fuck do you mean Area 9 is closed?" Gloria tried to keep from screaming, but she didn't do a very good job controlling her volume. She had fought 80 battles straight to get to this point, and she wanted to complete all 100 in one go. Mallokzii and Siio had both evolved into their second form, and seemed to be enjoying the fights, covering each other’s weaknesses. (Upon evolving, Mallokzii in particular had developed the vicious streak well known to her line. Gloria couldn't wait for the bloodbath when she evolved into a Salamence.)
Somehow the man she had not-yelled at still stayed polite, if tired.
"I'm very sorry, but Area Leader Hilda is out on vacation, and a replacement couldn't be found on short notice. She should be back in a week or so. You can re-challenge all the other areas in the meantime for different awards."
She whined knowing there was nothing she could do, mumbling curses under her breath on everyone and everything that had inconvenienced her as she wondered what to do now.
(There went her idea to do all the areas in one go, she would have to come back and do it again later which would be tedious at the early stages. That's it, she was terrifying them all as payback with her other goal on this actual active volcano.)
Playing up the cursing and forgoing the Abra that could teleport her back to the base of the volcano, she went back through the door to Area 8. The Area Leader she had just defeated was surprised, making Gloria hide her mean snickering to not ruin it. She looked over the edge of the platform, timing the antigrav assisted blades, and released Modric.
The dragon looked over the edge at the swirling clouds, then back at her as her crazed grin grew. He looked at her like she was insane, shaking his head and chattering away in denial. The worker had opened the door and was saying something. She turned around and sent the two humans an evil grin that was mostly bared teeth.
"Nobody will ever believe you." Then she fell backwards off the ledge with a yell. The alarmed screams disappeared above her as Modric launched himself down after her, wings pulled tight to catch up. She closed her eyes as she fell from the frozen sky like Icirrus.
(Step two to becoming a cryptid complete: temporarily fake your death in a foreign country by base jumping into an active volcano.)
---
"What the heck do you mean some lady jumped off platform 80 cuz I wasn't there?" Hilda yelled into her Xtransciever.
Interest piqued, Emmet leaned closer to hear the rest of the conversation, not bothering to hide it from Hilda. She had a frantic look on her face from whatever the man on the other end said.
"-exactly what I said, some lady jumped off platform 80."
"Who was it? Has she been found?"
The voice was small, nervous. "We haven't found her body. I've got someone going through the records right now to figure out who it was."
"It was the eigth area, how many challengers does it have to take this long? And how do you miss a body splattered on the side of a mountain?"
"She jumped into the caldera side, but she had a green dragon-type of some kind that jumped off after her." Emmet’s smile became nervous as the picture was painted. Hilda sighed.
"Do you need me to come back and help look?"
"No, no." The voice denied quickly. Too quickly. "You enjoy your vacation, Hilda. We got this covered."
"Then why the hell did you call me to tell me rather than Battlus?" She hung up before getting an answer. Her head dropped into her hands as she groaned. Eventually she looked back at Emmet who had listened in, noticing his awkward smile.
"You." She pointed, weary. "You know something."
"Yes."
"Are you going to tell me?"
"No I will not." Hilda didn't even turn as she yelled over her shoulder.
"'Esa! Emmet's hiding something!" He pounced, trying to put a hand over her mouth before she could tell Elesa the rest. Her relieved laughs were much better than her worry.
"I am Emmet. I will not let go just because you licked my hand." Hilda mumbled and pulled at his arm, making quite the scene for Elesa to walk into. Then promptly walk out of.
“Elesa! She bit me!”