Broken Souls

Attempts Were Made

 "We won't have to leave directly after this, will we?" Reginae asks as I enter the gym. The interior of the gym is the city raised to the second power- wall to wall, it's coated in plants, and they're all bright green despite the ensuing winter outside. The air is moist and thick with the scent of fertilizer and leaves, but Reginae takes it in as if it's the freshest stuff he's ever inhaled in his life. "We could be gym trainers."

"What, and switch the whole team to Grass-types? That's not happening." I reply. "Hey, where's Minerva?"

Minerva is halfway down the field, racing through indoor arches overgrown with vines with fire brimming in her mouth. She rounds a corner, her tails sparking up as well, and enters battle with some poor, overwhelmed trainer before they can withdraw their Bulbasaur.

"I should go get her." I say.

"Uh, uh... You know how you were thinking about how you can't socialize earlier?" Fang asks me, nudging my leg away from Minerva and towards the side of a gym.

"Mew, were you listening to that?" I ask, tripping out of his way and falling flat on my face, where the wet grass cushions my fall.

Fang stands over my face, his old cocky expression spreading across his face. He informs me, "As the team's token extrovert, we're gonna practice. Right now." As I get to my feet, I notice a girl watering the flowers along the gym's edge, which is rife with berry plants and ornamental flowers. Fang pushes me again, and I fall against the opposite wall, landing with one hand pressed against it and my legs tilted into an awkward cool-kid lean.

"Are you a trainer?" I ask her.

"Seeing as I work in a gym... yes." The girl, who has dark hair in a pixie cut, looks up at me with one eyebrow raised. She's wearing informal gardening clothing, a nice straw hat, and oh Mew I'm staring at her. This is going well.

"Oh! Ha! I'm a trainer too. What a coincidence."

"Get your act together, Ashley! Ask her about her hair or something. That's... that's a girl thing, right?" Reginae calls, though the trail off at the end is anything but reassuring.

"Unbelievable. You're even worse than she is." Ten says, covering his face with his wing.

"S-sorry, that's my Meganium. "He just wanted to say he loves the flowers. You know, I can talk to Pokemon. You're not one of those people who are freaked out by Goldeneyes, right? Someone once told me I was an abomination against nature and I um- don't want you to feel uncomfortable-"

"Abort, abort, abort!" yells Fang.

"That's not what he said," she replies.

"Erm. Excuse me?"

"He said something about getting your act together, followed about a comment about my hair...? I'm afraid I'm a little rusty, since I haven't talked to my Pokemon in a while, but that was the gist." She holds out a hand. "My name's Cecily. I'm the lead gardener here, and while I'm not a Goldeneye, I can speak with my Pokemon. It's a rare gift, but it seems to run in my family. You've heard of the dragon tamers of Johto, correct? Lance, Clair? Sort of like their family, though nowhere near as flashy."

I shake her hand. "Pleased to meet you."

"Do you like the flowers?" she asks, but she's not holding my gaze anymore.

"Oh! Oh, yes. The carnations over there are a really nice compliment to the Sitrus berry trees. I haven't seen Sitrus blooms that large since before I went to Elm's lab, and- this composition is stunning. Did you import those Qualot berries?"

"I sure did. Do you garden yourself?"

"We bought some succulents the other day. We're keeping them in berry pots."