What can Leah say about Menhir Trail? For starters it was fully made of rocks and was home to many ghost, psychic and dark type Pokemon. There was an odd vibe to it, one that often made her keystone react oddly. That keystone was a pendant on a pearl necklace her mother had gotten her on the day she was accepted to college. The pendant itself was a unique design, it had the keystone, but that keystone was surrounded by a harmonious combination of Fire Stone shards and diamonds.
The necklace was symbolic in a way, a symbol of honoring those before her while still being her own person. Leah was not stupid, the odd, golden necklace (that looked more like a bracelet) her brother was to be given on the day he would have his Growlithe had a glittering, blue diamond within. The one she was supposed to be given had a pearl within it. These relics hailed long before her grandfather was even born. When she had dug deeper for some information on the family heirlooms, she had found that they once belonged to the leaders of rival factions in the Sinnoh region who worshiped the legendary Pokemon of time and space: Dialga and Palkia.
Genetics were an odd thing, despite never having met her ancestors because they are six feet under and therefore dead, Leah's elderly relatives often told her how much she looked like the leader of the faction that worshiped Dialga just with the way her ginger hair turns green and blue at its ends. She, however, had the temper, stubborn mind and love for exploring that the other faction's leader had. She was a perfect blend of the two leaders.
The rocks in Menhir Trail were nearly as old as the heirloom, if not older. The Kalos war happened 3000 years ago whereas the catastrophe in the Sinnoh region was 155 years ago. Back to the rocks, no one is really sure what these rocks are, some believe them to be the graves of Pokemon that fell in the war while others believe them to be the precursor to mega stones. One thing was certain, Leah's keystone was reacting to them. These stones were so bizarre that they picked the interest of Team Flare and whatever they had in mind for them, it was not good.
Leah quite literally hurled Skalli at the first grunt she saw which was conveniently the grunt she met in the Glittering Cave. She only sent in her Electrike, it was almost like the only Pokemon she had left was the little canine, "I thought you had a Gulpin?"
"Oh it's you from the caves!" She laughed nervously, "Dad- uh I mean the boss doesn't like it when we fail a mission so he uh confiscated my Gulpin."
"That sounds illegal."
"You're a cop, you would know what's legal and what isn't." The grunt deadpanned, "by default that makes you and Team Flare enemies."
Leah stood there, bewildered, "How did you-"
"You're not really subtle and you were wearing the uniform on our last encounter, anyway, Electrike use Thundershock!"
Electrike's body crackled with electricity as it began to engulf its body. On Leah's command, Skalli countered it with Ember and then proceeded to use Rock Tomb. Gray rocks surrounded by a white aura circled around Skalli's bushy tail and with a swish of her tail, the rocks flew towards Electrike. It evaded a few of the rocks by jumping on them, but then Electrike slipped and all the rocks struck it at once. With a final Fire Fang from Skalli, Electrike lay defeated. Leah looked at her opponent with sympathy and sighed, "I don't know what Team Flare intends to do with the rocks here, but I have a feeling it's not as innocent as observing them. Now go. Take some samples before I change my mind."
The grunt smiled, "They call us grunts, but my real name is Adeline."
Leah nodded and shook her hand, "Name's Leah."
With that, the grunt- no, Adeline went to collect some samples of the rocks. She didn't know what Leah gained from this kindness knowing that the girl might get eradicated along with the rest of humanity if Team Flare sees success. Adeline was curious about Leah and wondered what she saw in her. She watched as the girl returned to her friends, Leah didn't seem to have noticed the Eevee that was following her.
Zayn grabbed Leah and pulled her close in a hug, "That makes all of the grunts."
"Yes, but I don't think these grunts are as malicious as they seem." Leah stated, "I encountered the grunt I battled in the Glittering Cave and I found out that their boss confiscates their Pokémon if they fail a mission."
"She had a Gulpin in the caves, didn't she?" Mildred asked.
Leah nodded, "She didn't have it now."
"That's really weird." Spectre signed.
Zayn sighed, "I like that you see the good in people, but this situation is really weird, I suggest we stay cautious."
"I think there's more to it than that, I saw them battle, the grunt didn't seem to be battling with the intent of getting rid of us. She was battling like any regular Pokémon trainer would." Vespidae chimed in.
"Exactly, there wasn't malice in that battle." Leah stated and then added, "I'll be a friend to her for as long as necessary. I have a feeling there's more than meets the eye. If it backfires, though, I'll take full responsibility for it."
Leah's friends nodded, seemingly satisfied with her decision. They quickly noticed that the sun was setting so they opted to use what remained of the light to make camp. The grunts have already left, they all fled when Leah and her friends defeated them, all except Adeline who was still collecting samples.
Once their camp was set, Leah and Vespidae decided to battle, Spectre and Zayn teamed up with the girls. Leah summoned Omen, the Absol made a shrill sound as it appeared. Zayn summoned Mankey. Vespidae summoned a Dewpider and Spectre summoned a Larvesta. Leah was suddenly very happy that she didn't send in Skalli or Mrs. Cuddletails into that battle. Any water type moves would've decimated both of them. Leah smiled, "Omen use Snarl!"
With a shrill howl, Omen released multiple purple rings of energy from his mouth and aimed towards the Larvesta. On Spectre's signed command, Larvesta created a barrier of fire with Ember. Leah's smile widened, the barrier of fire worked well, but she had more tricks up her sleeve. Omen moved very quickly. By the time the blanket of fire dissipated, he was already near Larvesta. Omen's claws were glowing a white colour and without hesitation, he slashed Larvesta.
Zayn smiled at Leah, "Now that was smart and really cool!"
Leah smiled, "Why thank you. Omen use Rock Slide!"
Omen's horn glowed a white colour and faded as soon as large boulders began to spin around him. He then proceeded to hurl the rocks towards Larvesta and Dewpider. Vespidae acted fairly quickly, "Dewpider use bubble beam on the rocks!"
Dewpider summoned a beam of bubbles on the rocks in an attempt to push them back towards Omen and Mankey. Some rocks did return to Leah's side, but Mankey's Karate Chop broke the rocks into nothing, but gravel. Larvesta tried using Psychic to block the rocks and it worked, but Omen hurled one final rock towards it and that was enough to break the Psychic, thus it was defeated.
Dewpider stood strong, but Omen and Mankey were only just starting. With a single glance Zayn's way and a nod, Leah saw to it that Omen uses his horn to hurl Mankey across the battlefield like a volleyball. Just as Mankey used Low Kick which Dewpider promptly avoided, Omen went for Snarl. With a final shrill howl, Omen released multiple dark rings of energy from his mouth. With Mankey in the radius of the attack, it, too, met the sheer power of Omen's Snarl. Mankey still stood, but Dewpider was faltering.
"Dewpider use Leech Life!" Vespidae called out.
The little spider latched onto Omen and bit down on the Absol, absorbing his life energy. Once Dewpider released Omen, he appeared a bit dizzy. Omen quickly shook it off, making Leah smile, "Omen use Slash!"
Omen's claws glowed a white colour and he swiftly slashed Dewpider, sending it flying towards Mankey. On Zayn's command, it used Karate Chop. Dewpider lay defeated before Vespidae. She appeared angry, but she still was courteous enough to congratulate Leah and Zayn on the victory.
The sun had already set by the time they had settled down to eat their dinner. Mrs. Cuddletails' ears perked up at a sound that Leah hadn't heard due to the ongoing conversation she seemed to be having with her friends. Curious, the Vulpix went to investigate and found herself face to face with an Eevee. Her fur bristled, sparks of embers emitting from it, but before Mrs. Cuddletails could alert Leah, the Eevee had already run off elsewhere. It did not want to be found. Mrs. Cuddletails returned to her trainer who had started to brush Omen's fur while keeping up with the conversation.
Adeline returned to Team Flare's headquarters a little later than anticipated, but compared to the other grunts who had returned empty handed, she had plenty of samples of the stones in Menhir Trail. The admin smiled approvingly her way, "Splendid work, Grunt."
Adeline grimaced at being referred to as such, but she tried to hide it with a smile. The blue haired admin continued, "I understand from your colleagues that the trio of trainers along with some extra companions have come to make gathering these samples difficult."
Adeline nodded and spoke softly, "The trainer with the Vulpix, Leah, I think she was called, is now the genetically altered Growlithe's trainer. She defeated me in battle, but allowed me to collect these samples despite my failure to defeat her in battle."
The tall ginger haired man towered over her. He finally spoke, "It is rather odd from a trainer who seems adamant on stopping our objectives. What was the state of the Growlithe?"
"Father, is this really a priority?" The man glared at Adeline, she squeaked in response, "Sorry, I spoke out of terms. The Growlithe is healthy and from what I could tell from the encounter, it was very happy and rather lively."
The man huffed and appeared thoughtful, "Could it be a possibility that there's beauty within this trainer? To have saved this Growlithe and provide it with the care and affection it so deserves without expecting anything from it in return."
Adeline's voice brought him out of his monologue, "She also names her Pokemon, she gives them an identity to call their own."
The blue haired admin looked at the man, "What do you think, boss?"
"I think I'd like to meet this Leah this one speaks of." He turned to Adeline, "Where will she go next, my child?"
If Adeline was hurt from being referred to as yet another grunt by her father, she didn't let it show instead she provided him with the information he sought, "She's battling gym leaders, if things go well for her, she should be in Shalour City in a week's time."
The man nodded and turned heel, speaking with the admin as he did. Adeline sighed and went to her quarters while mentally cursing to herself for revealing too much.