TOXICITY [☠] SKULLSHIPPING

[☠] EPILOGUE

MOUNT LANAKILA, ULA'ULA ISLAND, ALOLA

"We are here live on Mount Lanakila at the Pokémon League!" the female reporter chimed.

"Battle-4 has received news of a challenger to Alola's Champion, and we are here to televise the match for all of you unable to scale the mountain with us," the male reporter continued.

"Still holding onto the Champion title is Elio de Sol, a Kanto native who has swept his way through all of our trials and challenges! He certainly is a tough one, isn't he?"

"He sure is. Opposing Elio today is a young woman who simply goes by Plumeria. She's a born-and-raised Alolan with an affinity for poison-types. Although she was quiet for our initial interview, she sure has a loud appearance."

"Oh, look at the way she carries herself! Her hair is so vibrant, her makeup so intense... Her ability is Intimidate for sure!"

The camera pans across the arena, following Plumeria up the stairs and to her final position before the champion's throne. She swallows the lump in her throat as she stares at him, that kid she used to pin all of her troubles on. She used to blame the brat for turning Guzma and Team Skull into the mess that it all was.

Now, she just blames herself for being so stupid. She couldn't see him for what he was, or what he was really doing for her team. But all of that is over now. She turned over a new leaf. She was a changed woman, and she was ready to show him so.

"Plumeria!" Elio cries out. He stands up from his chair and walks to his spot on the arena. "You're looking different."

"I figured it was time to switch things up," she replied.

"And Team Skull is...?"

She paused. "...Team Skull is a work in progress."

Elio smiled. "Well then, what are we waiting for? Are you ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be."

She took a poké ball into her hand. Now the nerves were starting to take over. How the hell did Nanu and his nerdy-ass friend Molayne talk her into doing this? They said that it'd be good to test her strength. Now she's worried that all this battle will prove is that she's a damn fool.

Drawing in one last deep breath, she tossed her poké ball up into the air. Elio did the same. This was it: this is where it starts.

"Go, Gengar!"

"Go, Lurantis!"

ROUTE 8, AKALA ISLAND, ALOLA

Guzma sat on an unmade bed in a motel room. It turned out reforming Team Skull was harder than they had thought. After the Shady House collapsed from the tons of garbage and an already unsound structure, they had nowhere left to go.

Now he and Plumeria were living in a room the size of a shoebox on Route 8. He had heard of this place from a former friend who said that it was decent. He scoffed at that. This room was anything but decent.

At least he was able to catch her match on TV. He smiled as he watched her walk up to the arena and take her position. Hopefully this would mean that many others were seeing what she was doing. He hoped that Plumeria would bring good publicity for the new Team Skull.

He took a sip of scotch from his glass. He was finally learning how to enjoy alcohol instead of using it as a crutch for his problems. (And the first step is being able to admit that there is a problem, isn't it?) It somehow tastes more harsh, more bitter than he ever remembers. How was he ever able to chug this shit?

"And Lurantis is down! What a shocking display of strength from Plumeria!" the female reporter shouts, her voice distorted by the TV's god-awful speakers.

"That's my girl," Guzma croons as a smile works its way across his face.

Team Skull, they were all just a bunch of troubled kids dealing with a multitude of toxicity. Some were dealt a worse hand than others, but they all struggled against their demons with equally destructive and hurtful ways. Guzma sought to end that and bring a new reform to his once beloved gang.

"Elio's Gumshoos is now badly poisoned," the male reporter stated. "Plumeria certainly knows what she's doing out here. This will be a close match for sure."

Guzma's smile grew wider and wider. Eradicating all of the negativity, encouraging positive growth, striving to be better than they were yesterday... All of this reform was going to start with her: his big, bad princess.