Pokemon Psyche

Shrishti

Above is the theme for Silka

Crawdaunt fainted after a few hits. Dudunsparce jumped happily when he saw his opponent was down. Meanwhile Shady Guy just stands there, distraught.

" Woah, " the redhead whistles. " That was awfully quick! "

Hydrangea Girl tucks a loose strand of dark brown hair behind her ear. She smiles brightly. You squat, beam at Scorbunny / Partner Pokemon who rushes into your embrace. Shrishti grins, proud of her work.

" Mind restraining him? " she directs at Hydrangea Girl.

The latter nods the turns to her Florges," Amaryllis. "

The blue Florges promptly swings an arm in Shady Guy's direction. It's like she had been waited all her life for this very day. A Grass Knot sprouts under the man's feet imprisoning him.

"Alrighty now, " Shrishti enters your line of sight. She approaches him, phone next to her ear as he tries to wriggle free, " Officer Jenny's on her way. Should be there any second now. Someone had already called the police. "

As if on cue, Officer Jenny spawns out of nowhere riding her Arcanine. Her usual blue skirt was replaced by pants and boots which better suited fieldwork. She salutes.

" Thanks, Shrishti. At least you're not slacking off toda," she jokes, " I'll take it from here. "

" Didn't feel like it, " Shrishti laughs " Thanks for your hard work, Jenny. " she waves at her before turning to you three. " You guys are coming with me. "

You exchange a glance with the two strangers but say nothing. Redhead shrugs.

" Relax, " Hydrangea Girl finally says, " We're just going to check on the Professor and Quagsire at the PC. "

Oh.

You suddenly remember the existence of your brother. He went with Prof Sage earlier.

***

On the way to the Pokemon Center, you notice that most of the sidewalks are made from the same licorice rocks and limestone "glue" you saw in BlossomHerb. Except here in Silka it was almost everywhere! The crowd of ongoing passer-bys was thicker as well. Main road aside, the streets were narrower. You notice that it is also only one-way for cars. Because of that rule, you sometimes came across the same car more than once. Most streets were also lined with shops and a lot of hawkers shouting prices, advertising their goods.

The heat made you wish you had a portable fan. Beside you, Redhead was melting like a snowman. Shrishti and Hydrangea Girl seem to hit it off pretty well. It looks like they might know each other from a long time ago. You could not make out what they were saying due to the constant honking engendered by a growing traffic jam. The people around you did not seem to mind though. It was all too normal for them. Shadows cast by tall administrative buildings and single light rail track provided temporary relief from the blistering sun. The buildings, in contrast to those in Hoenn felt smaller but you did catch Hydrangea Girl's gaze full of wonder flicker to them from time to time.

Such a sight must be unusual to her.

You keep shouldering your way through the crowd until the group finally reaches a less crowded street.

That's when Redhead takes his chance to strike a conversation with your seniors.

" It occurs to me that we've never introduced ourselves, " Redhead remarks, " Perhaps now would be a good time? "

' Nice, Akagami!' You cheer mentally and give him a thumbs up.

He regards you with amusement.

Shrishti studies you two for a few moments. A soft 'sure' reaches your ears.