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It’s been three months since the whole thing with Team Flare. Since the world almost ended…
That wasn’t fun.
Since then, Gurkinn had Korrina training nonstop for four months. But it couldn’t go on forever— Korrina felt like she was gonna snap under all that pressure! So after a lot, and I mean a lot of begging and pleading, he finally relented. But his caveat was this: If she was going on vacation, she wasn’t going halfway around the world. Not after what happened at Anistar City.
She was going next door.
Korrina takes a deep breath of the Paldean air. “You smell that, Lucario?” Korrina stands tall, hands on her hips, and takes a deep breath in with her nose.
“The food?” Lucario sideyes his partner.
“No, not the food, Lucario! That air.” Korrina stretches her arms to the sky, keeping balance on her skates. “That wild and fresh air. Sometimes I forget how salty it is at home! And how sweaty it is. I really needed this.”
“I’ll say.” Lucario lifts his foot so a Voltorb can roll past and into Medali. “ Gurkinn has been working us to the bone.” He places a paw to his chin in reflection. “ Making us do training for our training! You’d think after mastering Mega Evolution, I’d— we’d have a break.”
“Grandpa just wants us to be strong.” Korrina’s hair blows in the wind. “He doesn’t want us to rely on Mega Evolution!”
Something explodes in the distance. A man yelps.
“I think he’s just worried we’re going to keep using it like it’s a cheat, instead of actually training…”
Lucario nods. He gets the idea.
“But enough about gramps, this is our time, away from grandpa and all his back-breaking training. C’mon, let’s check out the rink!”
And with that, she’s off! Shooting down the sidewalk, like a silver and crimson rocket.
“ Hey! Don’t leave without me. You’re the one with the map!” Lucario chases after her.
And after they leave, a soot-covered man tosses Voltorb out of town limits.
The rink, as it turns out, is a skate park on the edge of town! A cement wonderland with half-pipe, bowls, and railings.
“ Not that developed, is it?” Lucario taps the cement with his foot. “ Very brutalist.”
“Not everything is paid with tax dollars, Lucario.” Korrina rolls her eyes. She tightens her skates as she sits on the edge. “Kalos is really into outdoor recreation, you know that.”
“ I’m sitting out for now.” Lucario jerks his head towards the bleachers. “ Tell me how the floor feels.”
“You got it!” Korrina gives him a thumbs up, and then slides off the edge and into the half-pipe.
Lucario finds his spot and watches, with his elbows on his knees and his chin on his palms. Korrina loves to skate. A lot of fighting experts practice a martial art, but some- like Korrina- focus more on physical activity. Like dance or sports. Korrina’s a skater, heart and soul.
She darts around the park. She twirls in the air every time she launches off the half-pipe.
Lucario got so entranced by her movements, he didn’t realize someone had joined him until he felt something brush up against him— glances to his side.
It’s another Pokemon. An avian, tall and lanky and obnoxiously pink. They were trying to get his attention with their wing.
“{Hello.}” Lucario straightens up. “{Can I help you?}”
“{ Hola, Amigo. Sorry for bothering you, but I wanted to know if that lady on the floor is yours.}” The bird bows his head.
“{Yes, that’s my trainer.}”
“{I see.}”
The bird goes quiet. He watches Korrina intently. He keeps an eye on her at all times.
“{She is quite good.}” The visitor shifts his weight, watching as she jumps onto a rail to ride it.
“{She skates every day, even in her own home. What are you doing?”} Lucario asks. A strange sensation crawls up his back, making his neck fur stand straight up.
Instead of answering verbally, the lanky pink thing prances off the bleachers and into the rink.
“Huh?” Korrina rubs the back of her neck. Something made the hairs on her neck stand straight up. For now, she skates in a lazy circle. “That’s weird. It sorta felt like… eh?”
A pink bird Pokemon has entered the rink opposite of her, perfectly imitating her circle in the opposite direction. Their ‘skates’ are labels of water gripped in their feet, reducing friction enough to let it to slide. “Well, hi there! You come here to skate too, huh?”
The bird trills, raising their head to slap their breast.
“Nice form. Looks a little familiar.” Korrina holds a hand to her hip. The Pokemon does the same with their wing, “Because it’s my form!” She gasps. “How are you doing that?”
She tilts her head quizzically. The bird does the same.
“Okay, smarty. You wanna skate? Let’s skate.”
Lucario can hardly believe his eyes. Korrina and that bird are in perfect sync with each other! Every twirl, every jump, he mirrors perfectly!
“Okay… let’s see you do this!” Korrina smiles, smug, starting up a one-foot pirouette. It already requires a good sense of balance, but the jump added to the spin is sure to throw her costar off. And as she lands, drifting backwards with her arms out, Korrina is shocked to see the bird doing the same.
“Hey, Lucario!” Korrina looks up at him on the bleachers. “Did they—?!”
“ They did.” Lucario nods with wide eyes. “ Movement to movement. He even copied the little pinkies-out thing you do during the spin.”
Korrina looks back at the bird. That’s impressive.
Back on the bleachers, Korrina watches their guest mimic the way Lucario is sitting- resting his head on both wingtips.
“{Can you stop that?}” Lucario barks.
“{Sorry, amigo. Force of habit.}”
“Simmer down, Lucario. Here, this should shed some light on whatever you are…”
Korrina, after shuffling through her bag for a few minutes, holds up the Pokédex Gurkinn got her a few months ago. “How do I turn this thing on??”
“ You press the button on the top… no, not the top of the face . The small button on—” The pokédex’s white metal shells slide upwards, and the plastic screen glows to life. “ There you go! Congratulations, you can operate a Pokédex. ”
“Shut up, Lucario.” Lucario snorts as she holds it up to the bird.
“ Flamigo, the Synchronize Pokemon. A flying and fighting type. Through a behavior called ‘synchronizing’, a flock of Flamigo can move in perfect unison.”
“Ohh. That’s how they copied my skating!”
“ Yeah, but you aren’t a Flamigo. How did he synchronize with you?”
Before Korrina can respond, a third voice makes her— and Lucario— jump.
“ You could always ask, you know.”
Korrina’s shock soon turns to wonder. “Whoa… you can Aura speak too?!”
Flamigo grooms under his wing. “ I can talk to you, but I don’t know about this Aura stuff.”
Lucario squints. “ How do you Aura speak without knowing what Aura is?”
Flamigo looks at Lucario and shrugs. “ I just synchronized with you, that’s all.”
Korrina frowns, planting her chin on her fist.
“ I know that look.” Lucario notices Korni’s stance change. “ What’re you thinking?”
“I felt a tingle on the back of my neck earlier. That’s usually what happens when I link my aura with yours.”
“ I felt it too. Do you think it might be aura?”
“It’s not impossible .” Korrina shrugs, staring at Flamigo. Flamigo’s stare is equally as intense. “Grandpa would probably know more, though… so, do you come here often?” Korrina asks Flamigo, who nods. “ Usually I just watch. But you brought a certain energy I could not ignore— you were very easy to synchronize with. Which is odd, considering you’re not one of my flockmates.”
“ That would be the Aura, bird man.” Lucario pokes his wing. “ Me and Korrina have our minds synced up all the time, it’s how we talk to each other.”
“And it sounds like when you synchronized with me and Lucario, it added you to the mental link somehow.” Korrina adds.
“ So that’s how we’re doing this. Eso es muy interesante…” Flamigo strokes his break. Lucario blinks a few times. “ You’re making a conscious effort to think your thoughts in Paldean. Why.”
Flamigo waves a wing.
“You’re pretty cool! It’s always nice to see a Fighting type who’s not a karate master.”
“ What’s karate?”
“My point exactly.” Korrina grins, holding out a fist. Flamigo fist bumps her with one of his legs. “Hey, since you’re linked to us now… how do you feel about joining our team?”
“ Really?!” Flamigo perks up, hopping between each foot.
“ Really?” Lucario gives Korrina an incredulous look. “ Whoa now, Korrina. Don’t you think you’re rushing into this?” Korrina frowns. “What do you mean?”
Lucario stands up. “ For one, we’ve only known this guy for one hour?”
“It was a very emotional hour.” Korrina turns her chin up and looks away.
“ Two, what about Flamigo’s flock?” Lucario motions to him. “ He can’t just up and leave without saying goodbye?”
“You’re implying I wouldn’t let him.” Korrina pouts.
“ If I may,” Flamigo raises his wing, “ We get caught all the time, since we’re so close to Medali. In fact, in my flock, we should expect to get caught.” He folds his wing back down. “ Medali’s gym specializes in normal types, you see.”
“ahhh” Korrina and Lucario nod.
“ I’ll just say goodbye- which may take another hour- and then I’ll be all set.”
Lucario watches him carefully. “ Korrina didn’t tell you, but we’re on vacation. We’re from Kalos. You might not get to see them again.”
“Lucario.” Korrina scolds, looking back at him. “Stop trying to get him to leave!”
“ I am not.” Lucario scowls.
Flamigo clears his throat. “ It sounds like you are…”
“ I am not .” Lucario growls. “ Korrina’s just distracted by your skating, that’s all.”
A smile grows on Korrina’s face. “You’re jealous .”
“ I AM NOT!” Lucario turns his head to literally bark at Flamigo… who just starts barking back.
”Okay… this is gonna take some getting used to.” Korrina cringes and covers her ears. “Great. Now not only do I have to deal with a barking dog… now there’s a barking flamingo. Fantastic.”
Saying goodbye did indeed take an hour. Flamigo said goodbye to each one of his flockmates individually, shaking each of their feet. In one long, long line.
“{Ciao, amigo.}”
“{Many blessings, amigo.}”
“{Ciao, amigo.}”
“{Safe travels, amigo.}”
“{Ciao, amigo.}”
“{Break a leg, amigo!}”
“{Ciao, amigo.}”
“{Send postcards, amigo. I’ll miss you.}”
“{Ciao, amigo.}”
“{Can you please hurry up,}” Lucario whines, “{We’re gonna be here forever!”}
Back in their hotel room, Korrina rolls the collapsed Pokeball between her fingers. “You know, I bet grandpa is gonna love Flamigo. He’ll finally have somebody who can keep up with his regiment!”
“ Har har.” Lucario plants himself on the couch next to her. “ If he doesn’t get irritated by him first.”
“Oh?” Korrina raises an eyebrow.
“ I don’t know if he’d appreciate Flamigo imitating his eyebrows.”
Korrina snorts. “That has nothing to do with his regiment.”
“ Korrina, he brushes them every morning. I’ve SEEN it. It’s only a matter of time before Flamigo picks up on it and creates his own set.”
“Don’t make fun of my grandpa!” Korrina grabs a pillow and tosses it at Lucario’s head. It hits, knocking him back. “Or his weird eyebrows!”
“ I see why you decided to style your bangs the way you did. The alternate is—” Korrina stands up, grabbing another pillow. “ Korrina, wait, no, I didn’t mean it!” Lucario shields his face with his hands, but it’s too late. Hell hath no fury, like Korrina defending her grandpa’s eyebrows.