(A/N: This is mostly a fluff chapter, wanted to get at least something out this week)
[LMAOOOOOOOO]
[WHAT?!]
[bro come ON]
[LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL]
[Wait, we can do that?!]
[Brother who is ‘we’???]
[You gotta be kidding me]
[PUT ME IN THE CLIP]
[That's definitely becoming an emoji LMAO]
[OfficerJennyOfficial: I cannot stress this enough, do NOT try this!]
[The jumping is insane]
[LLLMMMAAAAOOOOO]
Joshua ughs manically on his back, lungs hurting from how much he roars in pure adrenaline filled ecstacy.
“I cannot beLIEVE that worked!”
Clutching the newly acquired Earth Pte to his chest, Joshua ignores the mild soreness in his arms and cackles like a maniac.
Ursaluna watches him, no longer frenzied and is now very, very embarrassed. Bruises surround his body, and some of his fur is charred.
(“That may be the single most foolish thing you have ever done”) Jophiel scolds. Looking down at him from above.
“But it was so cool though” He chuckles.
Jophiel rolls her eyes and chuffs in amusement. He can feel her check for any injuries, and when she finds none, she just ys down on her barrel beside him.
(“Please do not do something like that again”)
“Not sure how often I'll have bears charge at me, Love. But I'll keep that in mind”
She nudges his cheek with her nose, grumbling lightly.
(“You know what I mean”)
He does.
…woo.
Calming down, the adrenaline begins to fade, bringing his logical mind back in control.
Alright.
“Let's go get Lilligant”
“You're going after ANOTHER ONE?!” Akari shouts in the distance.
[StevenStoneOffical: I hope you understand that you just made the Pokemon League to send out a mass announcement warning people to not throw Ursalunas]
[I am going to throw an Ursaluna]
…
Heading to Lilligant, Akari stares bnkly in front of her as she rides atop Uriel.
What's up with her? Is she alright?
He gets a mental shrug from Jophiel, so she doesn't know either.
Along the way, Joshua’s made sure to catch whatever new pokemon he comes across. Some of them he'll need to double back and get, but otherwise it's a straight shot to Lilligant.
[Whatever happened to that Porygon?]
[Porygon-Z?]
[Yeah, the one that appeared during the dragon fight]
“I… actually have no idea. Does anyone know?”
*beep*
His Arc Phone pings. Pulling it out, he raises an eyebrow.
>THEY WERE SENT BACK HOME<
“Nevermind, they were sent back home, I guess”
How in the hell did a Porygon manage to even GET in the Nightmare World?
Maybe through the stream, Porygon-Z's are definitely crazy enough to try something like that.
He hopes that they're okay.
…
It's the evening whenever he reaches where he has to be. Somewhere past 5PM.
His attention is on Uriel.
Running his hands up her neck, he scratches both sides of her chin. The normally shy mare huffs as she melts into his hands.
“You did wonderful, Uri”
“Zebstrika…”
“Now that's just a lie, you did plenty”
She looks away, but doesn't move her head from his hands.
“I always forget that Jophiel wasn't the only one conditioned by the… pce, we were in. A tiny, malnourished Blitzle, and she becomes a powerhouse in the end”
Uriel smiles, she's always been the most ‘solid’ one in his team. The zebra has as much potential as Jophiel, and is a terrifying presence to her enemies, but she hasn't changed much in terms of personality.
She's loyal, and has a hooves-off protectiveness towards Joshua, unlike Jophiel.
Uriel is his fastest member on his team, and under the right conditions is his heaviest hitter. Jophiel may have her beat in the air, but if Hisui wasn't so mountainous and full of hills, Uriel could p her with raw speed.
With her unique evolution, she is practically a walking tes coil. Being able to turn her form into electricity, it's how she's able to move so fast, she can just ignore air resistance and gradually accelerate near indefinitely if not for her limited supply of type-energy.
If Jophiel and Uriel were to fight, Jophiel would win due to her versatility and precise control over her immense amount of firepower.
But when it's storming?
Under a thunderstorm, Uriel is unbeatable. Her body soaks up the electrified air like a sponge.
Despite being not fully White, Stripe Horse has a capacity for violence so vast that it sits on the edge of being called a natural disaster.
“Zebstrika…”
This same Pokemon is asking for food while being spoiled, again.
“You won't be hungry for dinner if you eat now”
She just looks away sheepishly.
“Yeah, you probably will be anyways, now that I'm thinking about it”
“Zebstrika!” She bleats defensively.
Joshua chuckles.
“I'm not saying it's wrong, girl. I'm already keeping track of your diet, I'll tell you if it starts getting too much”
He likes to joke about it, but at first he was genuinely concerned about Uriel's almost bottomless appetite. His previous knowledge as a vet warned him of the side effects of overeating.
But with Uriel, it's an… odd situation.
Joshua found Uriel when she was practically dying of malnutrition. Skin and bones. Because of her recovery process, Joshua's eye on Uriel's diet was a very detailed and careful one.
So while she eats a LOT, she's not actually harming herself. In fact, the surplus of nutrients and calories seem to feed into her mane, which slowly grows more conductive.
So physically, she has some excuse to eat a lot more (lucky her), along with her natural disposition of being a heavy eater. But underneath that, it's more of a… mental thing.
Uriel despises feeling hungry, even if it's mild.
She was dying, cold, alone, her body eating itself to survive when he found her. All while knowing that everyone she's ever known was sughtered by something she doesn't understand.
Her body was stuck in ‘survival’ mode, and even now it has lingering effects. To gather as much food as it can, to maximize nutrient gain. If she doesn't, she gets uncomfortable, because that part of her brain is acting like she's still starving in some broken generator somewhere.
That's why in some way, Joshua envies Uriel.
Because despite all that, she still decided to stand tall, to carve herself out of the marble of tragedy and come out on top in the end.
Uriel is a sweetheart, Jophiel is loving, Uriel is kind.
She makes it look easy.
The mare is one of the most powerful Pokemon he knows, yet she still acts like the same Blitzle he knows and loves. She's a kind soul who's reserved and shy, satisfied with just being present.
And hungry.
To be Striped is to be hungry.
So Joshua will never try and admonish her for it.
Uriel is hungry? He feeds her. As long as she's happy and healthy. With what she went through, she deserves it.
“I wonder what human food you'd like… I know you like burgers. So maybe something with a lot of meat?”
“Zebstrika…”
“Uri. You fought a giant bear for me. My mother would disown me if I didn't even feed you”
“...”
“So. Rare, medium rare?”
Uriel lightly kicks at the ground. Pursuing her lips, she responds quietly.
“...Zebstrika”
“Aayyeeee medium rare, that's my girl!” Joshua ughs and hugs her neck, ignoring the tingling feeling in his arms.
Uriel wraps her neck over her shoulder to hug him back.
“Do I get a hug?” Ace asks.
“No, you'll touch me”
“DAMN dude at least PRETEND to think about it!”
…
“You know what I realized?” Josh begins, starting a fire.
(“Hm?”)
His Pokemon are around him, Akari is busy trying not to have a mental break right now.
“If the… world, took pieces of destroyed worlds, even alternate ones. Does that mean that there's an identical version of you and Uriel in the Pokemon world?”
Jophiel blinks. Uriel tilts her head.
[StevenStoneOffical: We already found Uriel's counterpart, but Jophiel's is still undetermined]
(“I suppose…”) Jophiel draws out (“...it would be an interesting conversation, at the very least”)
“You don't sound interested at all”
Jophiel just lightly shakes her head.
(“I cannot imagine that my alternate self would be that interesting. Perhaps I would feel pity for her, as she never got a Beloved of her own”) She adds with a chuckle at the end.
Telling your doppelganger that they get no bitches is crazy. That's gotta be a form of self-harm.
“How about you, Uri?” The Zebra perks up at his attention.
She looks away to think, before speaking.
“Zeb-Zebstrika, Zebstrika Zeb”
“Are… wow. Are you sure?”
“Zebstrika” She nods.
She basically said that while it would be interesting, she hopes that she never meets her old friends again or her alternate self.
It's not ‘her’ friends anymore, and she wouldn't take that away from Blitzle.
Besides, she has something better.
Joshua smiles.
“Joey’s been teaching you how to sound cool, hasn't she?”
Her ears tinge red.
