Placing Brendan's cap onto her head, Athena released a hefty sigh, her vision tracing over the surrounding premises. Lowering her arms, she began to idly fiddle with her claws, bored out of her mind. Lucas had left not long ago to go out to search for berries once more, just so they could leave Fallabor Town with some food in their stomachs. She highly doubted that he would find any, but his efforts would be appreciated nonetheless. If he managed to find food, that'd be amazing. She had been working with an empty stomach for quite a while now.
At the thought of food, her stomach desperately growled, trying to alert her of its emptiness. Emitting yet another sigh, the Combusken would rest her claws against her lap, bunching her shoulders together slightly as a small breeze wafted through the air. She was sitting by a giant hunk of rubble; the material must've been from a house or a smaller building, for the pile was too small to belong to a large complex. Thankfully, the heap seemed to have blocked off the wind that came hurtling toward her, but even then, she could simply heat herself up. It would take energy to do so, although the amount needed is minimal.
For the past few days the sun had shone throughout the land, exposing the world to its beaming rays. Despite this, the world seemed to be getting colder and colder with each passing day, signifying the time of the year proudly. Winter had officially come for the region of Hoenn. The season itself was short, due to the region being mostly tropical, but it had arrived, and it seemed to have plans to make itself a winter to remember. Shifting around, the fire-and-fighting type glanced off toward her left, becoming lost in her own thoughts.
It had been ages since she had last seen Brendan. Not the ghostly image, but the real, physical appearance him. Then again, it had been quite some time since she had seen his ghostly form, too, but nothing when compared to when she had last seen him breathing and fully alive. In fact, the season when he died was early summer. It had just recently turned winter. By now he must've settled well into the realm known as the afterlife.
She couldn't help but wonder where she would be in life if he was still alive. Knowing him, probably not far. After all, he didn't appear to be a huge fan of battling when he was alive. He even ranted about his distaste toward one of the fancier gimmicks of it- something about mega evolution, a skill she will never be able to acquire. Not only that, but in the most recent dream of him, he seemed afraid of her.
At first she had been angry by such a thing, but now, by looking over at the ruins of Fallabor Town, all of her anger toward him vanished. Actually, those feelings did not vanish. Instead, the anger found a new organism to stick itself to: whoever caused this mess. Whoever created such mass destruction surely had their motives, but they ruined a bunch of lives in the process, and even ended quite a bit as well. How could she not be angry at them?
A rather quiet of a pair of wings ripped her away from her thoughts. Turning her cranium, Athena would blink at the familiar stature of Lucas, perking up as he made his way toward her. His claws held a few deflated, circular shapes. Upon further inspection, she realized that those strange objects were withering berries. As the eon Pokémon paused in front of her, she would hesitate, unsure if she wanted to taste the wrinkly food.
"Eat," the dragon-and-psychic type grumbled, shoving a single berry at her claws. The female grabbed hold of the brown-blue treat, her appetite slowly fading away as she did so. Suddenly she didn't feel so hungry as she had earlier. However, she didn't want to regret not eating later, so she simply plopped the treat into her mouth.
Glancing back toward the male's direction, she expected to be handed another berry, but to no avail. He only seemed to have found two of them. That, or all of the other berries he found had all been dead by the time he saw them. That wouldn't be too surprising, considering how when they had arrived, there were almost no berries to pick. How unfortunate.
"We should leave for Mauville City today," he spoke, his voice as flat as the streets laid out in front of them. With a nod, as if that was to confirm his statement, he would cast a sideways glance toward the young fowl Pokémon beside him. "There must be more berries there."
Athena nodded- the idea of better food seemed to raise her spirits just a tad. However, a sudden thought hit her as she looked over at the ruined town in front of her. "Do you think Mauville City was attacked, too?" she asked a little nervously, beginning to fiddle with her claws. She had a pinch that the answer would be a yes, but she just had to ask.
"Possibly so," Lucas grimly responded, a sigh escaping his lips. "By this point I believe that the entire region had fallen victim to this purple beam." Falling silent, he would nonchalantly flap his wings, before opening his mouth to continue. "I also suspect that Rayquaza has taken action by now."
"Rayquaza?"
"The guardian of Hoenn."
"Oh. Right." Nodding her head, the Combusken would blink, remembering the day she first conversed with the male. He had told her about the assumably amazing legendary, and how he defended Hoenn from the other dangerous Pokémon that try to ruin its beauty. She wasn't sure how Rayquaza would be able to fix this mess, but if he was as amazing as the Latios claimed he was, then chances are, he would be able to erase all of the heinous actions the purple beam had committed.
The dragon-and-psychic type didn't respond, only rake his amber irises over Fallabor Town with pursed lips. Athena followed suit, unsure of what else to say. A single Taillow flew up above them, but before any of them could react, it zoomed away. It most likely didn't want to be attacked, or it was just searching for food. Either way, it had left.
"It's a shame, really," the eon Pokémon spoke, breaking the silence, "I expected this town to be much more bountiful, and full of strong Pokémon. There was that Swellow, but even that one was frail."
Athena nodded. He was right- there were hardly any other Pokémon here, except for those two birds that she fought the day prior. If the purple beam hadn't hit this town, would it be much more lively than it is now? Possibly so. There would perhaps even be berries growing around the borders of the land, if the humans that would have lived here have chosen to plant some. She wasn't exactly sure what humans prefer to eat, other than the few examples she saw from Brendan. However, she liked to believe that at least some enjoy berries of some sort. Why would they not?
"It's time we leave," Lucas spoke once more, lowering himself down so the Combusken to climb onto his back. Silently, she would scoop the cap of her trainer off of her head, lifting herself onto her feet. Hopping onto the male's back, she shifted around, positioning herself in a comfortable position. Tightly gripping onto the accessory, she blinked, feeling the sensation of the Latios lifting himself into the air.
As expected, the weather was clear, so he had no trouble flying toward Mauville City. Of course, just because the weather was clear didn't mean that the two would be exempt from running into wild Pokémon. Athena still recalled the flock of Wingull and their one leader, the Pelipper, that tried to knock them out of the skies. Lucas had suspected that the two stumbled into their territory, and knowing him, he was most likely correct. Why else would the flock attack them?
The young fowl Pokémon leaned forward slightly, realizing that the two were headed toward the way they came when they left the forest. For a few moments she sat there, a little confused, until it dawned on her. The two had passed Mauville City when they were flying toward Fallabor Town. Granted, all she saw was a fuzzy blur of the town, so it wasn't like she vividly remembered much about it.
A sudden, shrill caw erupted through the air, causing the female to flinch when she heard it. Immediately followed by the cry was a jet of water flying toward the two, narrowly missing her back. Rapidly, Athena snapped her gaze toward the attacker: an angry Pelipper. Right behind the Pokémon was a squad of Wingull, all eager to appease their leader by battling the two trespassers. Gulping, the fire-and-fighting type stared down at Lucas's back, her eyes widened. Her major type weakness with the flock would certainly show in the upcoming fight. Hopefully the eon Pokémon would be able to evade them, like last time.
"Hang on," Lucas growled, quickly flapping his wings as he glared at the flock. The young fowl Pokémon obliged, leaning forward as she stuffed Brendan's cap beneath her, allowing her to wrap her arms around the male's neck tightly. She could feel the fear racking through her as he dived downwards, missing a water gun move by a mere hair as he did so. Similar to last time, he was diving downwards and toward the trees, the one part of the area that the birds did not own.
The Pokémon above squawked angrily, outraged that they had been avoided once more. The Pelipper rocketed after the two, madly flapping its wings in an attempt to gain speed. Turning her head to look back at it, Athena squeaked, instinctively firing a frail ember in an attempt to slow it down. The flames hit the avian square in the beak, although it did not seem affected by the attack. Instead, it continued falling downwards, its flock soaring above and releasing supposedly encouraging caws as it did so.
With another strong flap of its feathered wings, the Pelipper managed to get close enough to where it can successfully fire an attack, without risking the chance of it missing. By now the three Pokémon were losing distance from the ground- soon Lucas would have to fly horizontally, should he not want to crash into the ground. Realizing the Pelipper had caught up to them, the eon Pokémon released a grunt, using his wings to propel himself forward. Swiftly, he would shift his body around so he flew horizontally, soaring right above the top of the trees beneath him.
The enemy watched them for a bit, a little confused as to why the Pokémon began to fly in such a way, before realizing why he had done so. Frantically, the water and flying type thrashed about as it landed straight into the top layer of leaves. Before it could regain its composure and escape its trap, Athena quickly took this as an opportunity to fire another ember straight at the Pokémon. The attack just barely hit it by scraping against its wing, which caused it to desperately caw out. Just by watching the Pokémon call out to its fellow Wingull to help it made the feeling of fear wash away.
Turning her head back to look straight ahead, she moved around just a bit, blinking as she did so. Mauville City was inching into view, but something seemed off. It did not look like a grand, giant city to her.