My Name is Marcus: Umbra

VII. Umbreon

Around them, Marcus's Pokemon played in the meadow beneath the now darkened sky. Corviknight nested himself on the ground, letting Morpeko use its wings as a slide as she giggled with glee. Gengar was showing Toxtricity his ability to deapperate and reapperate from existence at will, to Toxtricity's awe and astonishment. Cinderace and Inteleon were racing back and forth over and over again, each time finishing in a draw, to Cinderace's frustration - he'd never met a rival that could match his own speed, and he wasn't too pleased at the notion. Inteleon remained modest, however, happily accepting every challenge Cinderace issued. Umbreon lay curled to Marcus's left half-asleep, the golden rings among its ebony-black fur glowing in iridescence in the dark of the night.

"Quite a colorful-lookin' team ya got here", Marnie stated as she watched them interact.

Marcus smirked. "Yeah, I guess at this point, "colorful" is kind of a staple for any team I build, isn't it?"

"Now that I'm thinkin' about it, I haven't seen most of these Pokemon before", she remarked. "I remember Corviknight, Cinderace, and Gengar, but the others..."

"The others are new", Marcus interjected. "Lately, I've been taking a bit of an interest in the Gigantimax Phenomenon, and I'm trying to build a team around that potential."

Marnie's eyes widened with surprise. "Wait, so all these Pokemon...?"

Marcus nodded in affirmation. "According to what I've read, they all have the potential to Gigantimax, given the proper conditions." He smiled and turned to his left. "Well, everyone except for Umbreon, here."

Umbreon's head perked up as she heard her name. "Bre?"

"Yeah, we're talking about you, goof-ball", Marcus jested as he scratched the back of Umbreon's ears, "don't worry about it."

Umbreon relaxed, laying her head back on the ground.

"So another all-day training session, then?", Marnie asked. "Got an important match coming up?"

Marcus shook his head. "No, no, nothing like that."

Marnie looked confused. "Then... what're you guys doing out here?"

Marcus looked upon all of his Pokemon in the meadow. "We're just kicking back and hanging out, mostly."

Marnie stared at him in disbelief. This was not the response she was expecting. "You've just been hanging out...?" Confusion and frustration clouded her mind as she tried to comprehend what that even meant. "Training for something, I could get, you bein' the champ n' all, but you've just been out here hiding?"

A look of concern washed over Marcus. "No... n-no, Marnie, it's not-"

"You get to see these guys all the time", she interrupted, now yelling. "What about us? What about your friends, what about your family, who hardly ever hear a peep from ya anymore? Where do we fit in, now!?"

Marcus could only sit there with a look of remorse on his face as Marnie continued to verbally grill into him. Marnie didn't get angry often, but when she did, she got very angry.

"A bunch of us have been sittin' in your yard for half the night just waitin' on you to show up so we could celebrate you", she yelled. "You, who can't even make the time to make it to his own party!?"

At that moment, Umbreon quickly stood up from beside Marcus with a vicious glare on her face directed at Marnie. In a flash, she went bolting over Marcus's lap, ferociously charging at Marnie. Marnie gasped and flinched backwards in her seat as her body instinctively moved to try to avoid the oncoming Pokemon. Umbreon's momentum was quickly halted, however, as she was caught in Marcus's embrace. Umbreon continued to growl at Marnie from within Marcus's arms, her fur standing straight up as she glared forward and bared her teeth.