Whispers In The Dark (Lay the Very Best - Chapter 416)

It was such a good thing that Recycle existed. A world where you couldn't just rewind the mass damage Pokémon fights caused would be a lot less fun. There was no high quite like getting your witchy girlfriend to rip apart an arcade with a love-fuelled Hurricane.

A shame Morgan had to keep Cindy busy, but they couldn't have her remaking the Trick Room.

"You good?" Brandy called over to Calcine, who was sitting astride Val, the giant teapot lady panting with her hands over her heart.

"Not going to be easy," Calcine grinned. "But if I'm going to be a big lady someday, I should learn how you're all going to need to handle me."

Brandy really did want her chance to handle Coalossal Calcine. She wasn't mad that Sparky and Morgan went first; they deserved it, and it had brought everyone much closer together. But she did want a go, could have some fun with a giant Calcine. Brandy would be small enough to be just a toy to her, and the thought of it was darkly appealing. Calcine, using Brandy for her own pleasure, would be so intense; she simply had to make it happen someday.

That Coalossal dick would be hers someday, but not today.

"We're going to finish this up and find Sparky. Till I come back, Calcine, Smack Down that ass," Brandy yelled, biting her bottom lip as she heard the thunderous slap of rock on poraclin, and a loud, exultant moan from Val's giant throat.

"Woof," Dani said, trying to keep up with Brandy's long legs by hopping every few steps. "I don't know how you manage all this. So much going on."

"I focus on making sure everyone's happy." Brandy said, "Morgan's happy. Calcine's happy. Just Sparky left, and then we can both have some fun ourselves."

Dani puffed her cheeks, then grinned. "Don't forget Nibbles and Chew."

"They didn't help us."

"But they're my friends! So you should help them anyway." Dani said, leaning over to put her head on Brandy's side. "I know you like helping just as much as me. You'll do it."

Brandy ruffled Dani's orange hair. The Magikarp wasn't wrong; the idea of leaving someone made Brandy's skin crawl. Typical Turffield girl, Brandy could have easily been a Grass Ace if things had just gone a little differently.

The arcade's wreckage ended like a shoreline at the edges of the vast root tangle. A forest of thorns and bark, speckled with neon shards that had blown all the way out on the edges of the hurricane, winking like trapped stars in the thorny tangle.

Brandy wiped the last glow of Morgan's ectoplasm from her cheek and squeezed Dani's hand. "Keep close. Listen out for Sparky. We want to avoid whoever made this; they'll have a huge advantage on their own terrain."

Dani gave a determined little nod, and they helped each other slip between slats of bark, careful not to snag on the giant thorns. Thankfully, the inside wasn't as dense as the edges, but it was dark, and the roots towered all around them like thorned trees.

They went in single file, shoulders brushing. The thorn trees swallowed the last of the arcade's flicker, and the dark was all that was left. Brandy's Compound Eyes let her see the edges of the shapes around them, but Dani was completely blind. Brandy squeezed her hands and led her slowly, not wanting to turn on her Pokédex light and give away their position.

Dani opened her mouth to talk, but Brandy pressed a finger to her lips to silence her and then pulled her into a hug.

"Just listen," Brandy whispered. "What do you hear?"

They listened together. No cracking roots. No excited yelps. No barked orders or bursts of static. Just that soft, steady hush, as if the whole tangle were asleep and very pleased about it.

Dani's hand tightened around Brandy's. "There's no fight?"

"Sparky can't resist teasing." Brandy kept her voice low. "If she's being quiet, we've got to be extra careful."

They tiptoed between ribbed trunk-like roots. The air was cool and sweet. Where her palm skimmed bark, Brandy felt a faint give to it, like muscle, and underneath it, a pulse.

"She's in the wood." Brandy said, "She'll need her body to see and hear, but when we find her, she's going to turn everything against us."

"I can't fight a whole forest!" Dani squeaked.

"You can, I'll help." Brandy said, "Trust me, we've fought worse."

"But all your partners are amazing!" Dani groaned. "Calcine's invincible, Sparky's super quick, and can snap a fly out of the air with her webs. Morgan's got a Hurricane that can shatter a room, and she can teleport. I'm just a fish who can charge and slap things with my tail."

This simply would not do. Dani might not be powerful as a fighter, but Brandy knew she could pull her weight. She'd taken Dani on as a challenge, and this core of worry at the heart of a Magikarp was something she couldn't let fester.

Brandy guided them into a pocket of shadow and put her back to a warm rib of root. "Break," she whispered.

Dani nodded, but her breath had gone quick. Up close, Brandy could see the faint shimmer coming in along Dani's collarbones and down her forearms like dew chasing the line of a leaf. Not sweat. Softer. Water shimmered on her skin again.

Brandy tipped her forehead to Dani's. "You've been doing great," she murmured. "You had two Froslass simpering all over you. We all know you're really good with your mouth, Dani, you don't have to be a powerhouse like everyone else."

"I want to be."

"Well, if you ever evolve, you will be," Brandy smiled, tucking Dani's head under her chin and wrapping her arms around the Magikarp. "But right now, I couldn't be happier for you to be on the team. I've a lot of good fighters, I don't have a kisser as good as you."

"Kissing?"

"Mmm, I'm not a good fighter either, you know? Trainers are always quite weak compared to their Pokémon. I'm not even as good as you."

"That's not true!"

"It is. I can't Tackle. I can't Flail or Splash. All I can do is find what the Pokémon around me want and entice them to come get it." Brandy pressed her hands down Dani's sides, feeling the root tree pulse behind her. Maybe they couldn't listen in, but the emotion spilling off them both might be distracting them.

"I just want people to be happy," Dani said, wiggling back against Brandy's body as the hands loosened her up. "I don't want to disappoint you all."

"Then listen to me." Brandy said, "I'm your Trainer, I'm here to get the best of you, and I do think there's a lot you can give Dani."

Brandy flicked a little water off Dani's skin to splash her face. "Maybe more than you think."

"I don't know why that's happening." Dani blushed.

"We're going to find out together. I think you have a lot of potential, and if you fail, it's my fault for not drawing it out."

"Oh! Don't put it on yourself."

"No," Brandy hugged in, nibbling on Dani's earlobe. "I will. I'm your Trainer. I will get the best out of you. Say it."

"You. You will get the best out of me."

"Darn right I will." Brandy cupped Dani's hands. The sheen of water cooled her palms.

"Even if I only have Three Moves?"

"Three Moves?" Brandy smiled, "Three Moves are all I need. If I have a talent beyond giving Pokémon what they want, it's making do with what I have."

Dani's gaze skittered away, embarrassed at the praise. "More Moves would be better."

"Maybe we'll draw one out." Brandy rubbed a thumb along Dani's wrist where a glimmer of water pooled. "Everyone thinks Magikarp are weak, but I'm not with you because you'll become a Gyrados someday. I'm here for Dani the Magikarp. I think she has a lot to offer."

Dani blinked. "You make it sound like I'm… good."

"You are good," Brandy said and planted a kiss on the top of her head. "You don't have to be strong like Calcine or quick like Sparky. Be present. Follow my orders. Take care of our opponents and we'll make this work."

A laugh gasped out of Dani before she could stop it. "I do like kissing ladies."

"I've noticed," Brandy teased, then softened. "I'm your Trainer. I love you. There's a lot more in you than three Moves." She tapped the glisten on Dani's forearm. "See, you're my special Magikarp and pretty good in bed."

"I was terrible."

"I came pretty hard, Dani," Brandy teased. "You heard the noises I made."

Dani swallowed, the line of her throat working, and then she nodded with her whole body. "Okay. If I get as good at fucking as I am at kissing..."

"Then we'll be unstoppable. Good girl."

The breathing all around them seemed to approve, a low, pleased swell that lifted a curl of Dani's hair. She smiled into it, shy pride flickering. "I… like when you talk like that. Like I'm yours."

"You are mine." Brandy squeezed her hand twice "Say it."

"Too embarrassing."

"Do as your told Dani. Say it," Brandy growled in her ear. "Say you're mine."

"I'm yours," Dani said, and she bounced happily in Brandy's arms saying it. It might be embarrassing for her, but she wanted this, and Brandy was happy to give it to her.

Brandy held her there for one more heartbeat, feeling the cool shimmer under her palms. "Good," she whispered. "And you always will be. Now breathe with me."

They did just that, sharing breaths and the rise and fall of their chest until Dani's shoulders loosened and the tremor in her fingers steadied.

"Do as I say," Brandy said, "And Three Moves is all we'll need."

"Three Moves is all you need," Dani echoed, a small smile on her face.

The thorned hall exhaled, pleased. Somewhere ahead, a seam in the roots sighed open, spilling the faintest amber glow across the floor.

Brandy squeezed Dani's hand. "Seems she wants to play with us. On me."

"Right now?" Dani gasped.

"I mean follow."

"Ohhhhh. I thought you meant I should get on top."

"I'll be on top next time it happens," Brandy grinned. "And you'll like it."

"Y-yes, Brandy," Dani blushed. "Is that an order?"

"Doesn't need to be, it's just what'll happen."

With a hefty gulp, Dani took Brandy's arms and they walked into the pale light, ready to give it their best with what little they had.