I Want to Lay the Very Best! - Chapter 3, Part 2

Tags: Just plot today! Next one we'll get back to that smut. This will go public with the first part of Chapter 3.

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Brandy leaned into the mine's walls as she crept closer to the source of the rumbling, trying to keep herself out of sight with careful peeks round each corner. The coal dust getting smeared along her skin and fresh clothes were a worthy sacrifice to not end up in an ambush all over again. She'd already learned a few lessons from her encounter with Sparky and Mercury, number one was you let Pokémon make the first move you were at a horrendous disadvantage. Carefully lowering her boots onto the ground to avoid kicking up the loose stone, she was thankful Sparky was incredibly light on her feet, her own heartbeat was louder in her ears than her partner as both nerves and excitement built with every tremble of the mine's foundations and rattling of the lights.

It was a few minutes of slow progress before Brandy finally saw what was making the noise and if you'd given her a thousand guesses she'd never have gotten close to the truth. The mine shaft opened out into a wide open area that had clearly been quarried clean, but then someone had gone even further than necessary. Rock and Coal alike were flattened smooth and glistening as a warm red glow refracted off a mirror shine polish.

The glow belonged to a woman just a little shorter than Brandy, waving red light pouring off a massive cape that flowed off her shoulders and swung just shy of her ankles. Patterned with black chunks of what were probably coal, rivulets of boiling red heat flowed between them, the coal pattern gently shifting along the molten flow slowly enough that it was soothing to watch. The woman's black hair wasn't overly long, but it was just enough to trail into the cape itself, the black strands wavering in the heat and coming away with white hot tips. A pair of crags poked out of her hair, stubby horns that she stopped to scratch as she worked on some kind of statue that had a vaguely woman-like shape, though it was more of an impression of a woman than anything Brandy could pick out as an actual person.

Thankfully she had her back to Brandy and didn't spot the pair sneaking up on her. When she laid both hands on her statue a rumbling shook the chamber as the rock shifted under her hands, rock boiling red and flowing under her hand as she molded the rock like it was soft clay. Sparky threw her arms around Brandy's waist to stop her tipping over from the rumbles, leaning it to whisper in Brandy's ear.

"I think she’s also evolved, snap her for me?" the Joltik promoted, snapping Brandy out of her staring long enough to get her Pokédex out and cover the flash with her fingers before she took a shot of this surprising Wild Artisan.

*ping*

Carkol

Height: 5’ 10”
Type: Rock/Fire
Failed Captures: 0

Moves Discovered:
Rock Polish
???
???
???

Carkol’s glowing cape is a wonderful blanket on colder days but be warned, their fire breath can make even a dragon sweat.

*click*

Brandy stared at the information in confusion for a few moments. No capture attempts and no researcher name but she was already evolved? Was she missing something here?

"I can hear you, you know" the Carkol called out, turning her head to look at the pair. Her eyes were two cut triangles that sloped back into her hair, pure red but the surfaced pooling and moving much like her blazing cloak. The rest of her face was chiseled perfection, the light of her cloak casting enough shadows that Brandy could see that pretty face that would have been a pure black void otherwise. "You have very heavy boots"

That prickled at Brandy a little. Darn right she had heavy boots, she was a serious trainer and that meant serious boots! So what if they weren't good for sneaking, at least her feet would work when she got there. The Carkol just laughed at the affronted look on her face and waved for them both to approach.

"Never seen a rock artist" Sparky piped up as she took the invitation with her usual enthusiasm, no doubt still smugly safe in the knowledge Brandy was always going to be the one any Pokémon went for first. "Are you still practicing? Not that I'm saying it's bad, but it uh .... needs work?" she finished lamely.

"It does" the Carkol says, her voice like a warm hug. A hint of wistfull tiredness to it that let Brandy pack her nerves away and approach. Maybe stomping her boots a little bit more than necessary, not that her pride was sore about the callout of her poor attempt at sneaking or anything.

"It looks like you don't know who to make it yet?" Brandy guessed as she gave the art a look over but her eyes wandered away from it pretty quick. It was certainly lacking definition compared to the coal carved beauty that was the Carkol, a muscle-lined core that became rolling muscle hills when they reached her arms and legs. Not excessively fat, but enough that Brandy really wanted to squeeze them even if she'd probably have better luck trying  to squeeze a steel bar. Even her chest and her hips had a kind of compressed power to them, small but firm and perfectly proportioned. The Carkol was a work of art, which just highlighted the flaws of her statue even more. Brandy felt herself heating up some and it wasn't just from the warmth of that cloak.

"I don't know who it is" the Carkol admitted with a pleasantly heated huff of air that made Brandy's spiky hair bounce "But I dearly would like to."

"That's... odd" Brandy finished lamely, out of her depth in what was going on here "Have you not met a lot of people? You aren't named."

"Oh!" Sparky piped up "I get it, you've only just spawned!"

"A few weeks" the Carkol says, turning her bright red eyes to Sparky for just a moment before fixing Brandy with them again. She was taller than the Carkol but the triangle eyed stare somehow made her feel small, shrinking her head into her shoulders while a blush made rapid advances up her neck and onto her cheeks.

"Don't worry little flame, I've no interest in you today. I want to finish my work" the Carkol laughed putting one arm around her statue and stroking a poor attempt at a face's cheek. "Perhaps you can help me with this?"

"Sure!" Brandy says without hesitation, happy to grab any lifeline in this confusing conversation. "Uh but could I ask before that? Sparky said you're a fresh spawn, but aren't you evolved? I don't get it."

"It's true I only came to this world a few weeks ago" the Carkol says with a sigh "But if you see an evolved like me then you should know. It's not our first time here. When our trainer parts us, the bond frays until we've no grief left to give and go to the place beyond this world, where memories can't cross."

Sparky nods at this, but for Brandy it was all new. She knew Pokémon went somewhere they didn't remember later when they were in their Balls, but this is the first she'd heard they could get there by other ways. Maybe it was just too morbid to teach? She’d have to ask her human mom when they finally met up, this’d be something she’d no doubt be happy to wax on about for hours.

"Now I am returned, head clear of what came before." the Carkol says with a lick of emotion stoked flame curling over her polished black lips, making her skin glisten. "I had a trainer once and I want to honor that memory. I don't know who she was, but I know she was mine."

“That’s sweet” Sparky says “Never heard anyone worry about that before, but I kind of like it? Seems respectful”

"Ah, a perfect opener.” the Carkol says with a content smile “I have someone here that needs to learn a little respect and some love in her veins would not hurt either. If you're up for the challenge? I'd very much like to see a bond form, what a trainer that could stoke a stone heart might look like." the Karkol smiled softly, "If you're up for the challenge, can I call her?"

A fight against an unknown rock opponent for the appreciation of a hot and emotional Pokémon? Brandy's tactical mind said no, it wasn't worth giving up the surprise but it was swiftly overruled by her heart. She was being asked to prove she was a real trainer and she wasn't going to disappoint!

"You're on. Sparky, get ready. We'll put on a show"

Sparky shook her head with an amused smile, stretching her arms out her yellow fur crackling with static.

"Only because you're awfully cute when you're excited, but you owe me tonight! You can't stall on a second round forever!"

Brandy laughed, a deal where she wasn't giving up anything she didn't already want? Finally something was going her way!