[EMOTE] Taemin vs Bryony - Night In Hearthome

She had perhaps an hours worth of sleep before she woke, finding that she had gained nor lost anything from the hour. Sighing, she sat up in her bed and paced around the room for a while, twirling the ends of her hair by her finger anxiously before grabbing her Pokeballs. Bryony needed something to occupy her mind, her senses, and do just about anything that provided something that could entangle her completely. 

Which is how she now found herself standing in a makeshift battle area off the street in Hearthome. Her Pokeballs were lined up beside her, and she watched as her Houndoom practiced a Bite attack on a nearby tree, not even jolting at the impacts. At the sound of footsteps behind her, her body leaned to one side slightly to pick up a ball if necessary, but hearing the voice, she instead turned over her shoulder.

"Huh? Oh, hey," she said, surprised by his presence. "What're you doing out here?" 

A smile tugged at her lips when he pointed out Houndoom biting at the tree, turning her head to watch the Pokémon a bit as Taemin continued speaking. She felt him approach and stand next to her, glancing his way before looking at the sky too, just gazing at the stars before frowning at the question. Bryony knew this question was going to be asked sooner or later. 

"Eh, I'm fine. For the most part," she started, sighing a little and shoving her hand into the pockets of her sweatpants. "I don't know what came over me, I'm just... stressed out. And so is everyone, I know, I just. Well, I feel trapped. In a loop, almost. You know?" 

She looked at him with furrowed brows, uncertainty shadowing her face. 

Bryony nodded along with his response, making a small noise in the back of her throat to let it be known she acknowledged him. She looked his way again and opened her mouth, about to say something before hesitating, looking back at Houndoom gnawing at the tree. Chewing her lip, she scrunched the cloth inside the pockets of her pants before clearing her throat, still looking at Houndoom but speaking to him.

"What was Team Skull like, and Aether? How bad was it?"

When Taemin glanced at her when he described Team Skull, she gave a slight brow raise and nodded her head. She asked him for really one reasons; one, she wanted to hear the opinion of someone who was actually there, present during their existence. And she found that answer, as well as the one about Aether, to be pretty much what she had thought originally. Though, a frown still crossed her face hearing that Alola was still somewhat feeling the repercussions of Aether. 

Her frown deepened at the question about Plasma. She should have seen it coming, and a tiny part of her knew he would ask, but there was still the matter of answering. Bryony heard the carefulness in his voice, appreciative that he understand it was a heavy topic for her. She considered on how to answer before removing a hand from her pocket and running it through her hair, sighing. 

"Honestly? I sympathized with them in the beginning," she started, shifting her weight onto her other leg. "Which, I know, no-one likes a team sympathizer. But they had a reasonable cause, especially with all the sudden reports of Pokémon abuse, and how we need to reconsider what battling and having Pokémon means. It had me thinking. Hell, it had the whole region thinking."

"They really could have had everyone on their side, you know. But they got... arrogant. It wasn't an opinion when they got too popular. It became... like, law to them. You had to listen, or you had to suffer the consequences. They started stealing Pokémon, holding rallies, talking about kings and knights. It was weird. It wasn't... Plasma."

She sighed, realizing she was going into a story, but she felt the need to get it off her chest. There weren't many she could share this too and have them understand, and she wasn't sure Taemin would. But, he was there. And her friend. It couldn't hurt.

"That was in the beginning, the first Plasma. I was like... twelve? Thirteen? Then, a couple years later, Neo-Plasma popped up. Plasma had divided, and Neo-Plasma wanted revenge. Wanted to retaliate against the region that knocked them back down. And they did, any way they wanted. Stealing again, forcing people to hear their word... explosions." Bryony's jaw clenched and the heel of her foot tapped on the ground, speaking a little more tightly.

"I was caught in one. That's why I think I'm so... frazzled, by all of this. I have scars from shrapnel. I saw blood, I saw... glass, sticking out of people's bodies. I saw someone like Sage. And it was just so much smoke, and yelling, and screaming, and... and. Horrible." she stated, her throat closing and not wanting to say anymore on the matter.

"They were horrible, that's what they were."

Bryony stared at a pebble on the ground as Taemin responded back to her, occasionally doing the subtlest of nods to acknowledge she heard what he was saying. Despite not showing it, her appreciation for him taking her seriously eased her mind. It was until he nudged her leg that she looked back to him, smiling a little at the comment on still being here, chuckling.

"Thanks," she said, straightening and looking at him fully. "It was difficult, and... things are difficult now, but I got through this before. I'll get through it again." She smiled a little more, looking at Houndoom and then at the makeshift battlefield, lips pursing in thought and a brow raising. 

"Hey, so, to lighten things up, because that was heavy," she started, gesturing to the battlefield. "How about a one v one?" 

"I think we both need our minds off things by having a little fun." Bryony added, a smirk tugging her smile to the side, waiting on an answer.

Bryony chuckled at Corsola's enthusiasm to battle, glancing to Houndoom. The dog Pokémon tilted his head when he heard his name, a surprisingly innocent look contrasting with the deep bite and scratch marks that littered the trunk of the trees. It made a genuine laugh escape her lips, shaking her head at the Pokémon before it transferred to her shaking her head to Taemin.

"No, Kodi's been out for a while. Plus, you're drowning in Water-types. No pun intended," she, then tilted her own head in thought. "Then again..."

She bent down and picked up a Pokeball, a Trapinch appearing beside Corsola in a flash of red, who croakily crooned and snapped his jaws playfully. 

"He's a ground-type, yeah, but. He needs the training. Get some tolerance, you know?"

When the coin landed in his hand, she leaned over a little to see the results, smirking when she saw she had first move. With a click of her tongue, she gestured for Trapinch to follow her to the other side of the area, allowing him time to adjust.

Raaa? Trapinch crooned as he stared at Corsola, tilting his head with a jerk. Bryony snorted, looking at Corsola and recalling its dual typing, pondering her options.

"Alright," she started, looking to Trapinch. "Axel, Bite." 

But instead of rushing over, Trapinch skittered a few inches and instead gnawed at a rock on the ground, like a dog on a bone.

...okay. Bryony thought, breathing through her nose and clearing her throat. "Bite the Corsola, Axel."

At that, Trapinch looked up and stared at Corsola again before quickly skittering over, jaws open to bite down on the coral Pokémon.