reality's always watching [jian]

Jian had not been in Sinnoh for long, no more than a few weeks. She didn’t know where to go other than the few spots she’d been told were relatively ‘peaceful’ given the state of the war. Her home of Hoenn was being fought over viciously, Kanto was under Lux’s strict control, and she had never been to Unova or Johto. I want no part in this war... she thought, curling her knees closer to her body and tightening her arms around her legs. ...I want it to end. It’s too painful to carry on much longer.

Jian lowered her violet eyes to the sand she was sitting in and watched the water lap at the grains beneath her shoes, turning them a darker color than they were before the water mingled with them. She had been told that although the tiny town of Sandgem was a prime target under the ambitions of Nox due to the fact that it was a port of Sinnoh, things had calmed momentarily. She had no idea how long the peace would last, but she hoped it would be some time. The less towns and cities at war, the sooner it could end.

”If things break out while I’m here...maybe I can go to Lake Verity?” she murmured to herself, trying to think of logical, calm places she would be able to shelter until the storms around her past. She didn’t want to have to get involved in the war. Although she had strong pokemon with her, she wasn’t any elite trainer by any means. She had inherited all of her pokemon except Scuttle.

Suddenly, the calm air that had surrounded Jian while she sat on the shores to the south of Sandgem was broken by the sounds of alarms blaring. Jian jumped straight into the air, the legs of her pants covered in sand. No way… Gunshots soon accompanied the alarms that had sounded, and she felt herself pale.

She had to help in some way. She didn’t want to fight for either side; she just wanted it to stop. ”I…I’ll see what I can do.” Pulling a trio of pokeballs from the pockets on her dress, she called forth her Bronzor, Steelix, and Skarmory. ”We need to help Sandgem.” she told them, swallowing her nervousness. ”Blade, fly up in the sky and scatter Spikes around the town once we’re in the borders, then use Metal Sound on every person with a gun, be a pest and peck at them too, drive them away.” The Skarmory nodded and took to the sky. ”Stonewall, use Automize until I say stop.” The Steelix began doing so immediately, lessening it’s weight temporarily and greatly increasing it’s speed. ”Shield I want you to stay with me. Let’s go.”

Jian hastily made her way towards the town, keeping shelter behind a house to stay out of the way of flying bullets. They chipped the wood of the house’s corner, and the red-haired girl swallowed. ”Okay, that should be good Stonewall. Magnet Rise.” The Steelix obliged, rising into the air slightly and floating. ”Stealth Rock all around the edges of the town where Blade lays spikes.” The Skarmory had already covered half of the town’s border in a ring of spikes. The speedy flying pokemon was moving quickly. The floating Steelix took off quickly through the air as well, laying pointed rocks in addition to the spikes. ”Okay Shield, see those people?”

Some adults carrying firearms had tried to sneak into the town from the woods, where a Staraptor flew from. ”Use Confuse Ray on them, go!” The Psychic pokemon floated forward, staying behind a box, before it began glowing purple, a dark aura visibly surrounding its body before it floated up into the sky, turning its face downwards and releasing a wide-sweeping Confuse Ray towards anybody that it could see with a gun.

The shriek of Blade’s Metal Sound ripped through the air and Jian ran out from behind the house she had used to hide, making a dart for the next one over to see better.