Previously on Oranges to Grapes...
Finally getting a move on with their quest, the Hell-Sent girls are still without their partners, but shift priorities to searching for the fourth Cure... unaware that an axolotl girl named Dina Goldman and her spirit partner Bea are watching them in the background...
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As Rosita, Jessica and Eartha turned the curve to Area 2 of the North Province, Dina followed close behind... but not too close. Finally, the girls entered the bamboo forest and could make out the light post where the Pokemon Center was. "Follow that beacon!" Rosita called out.
But as the girls got closer and closer to the kiosk, Eartha's ears started picking up some whooshing sounds... but she figured some of the Pokemon were having a few sparring matches to keep their energy up. When the group finally reached the kiosk, the fennec turned around to see the squabbles now that she was safe... but she couldn't see any clashes. The Falinks weren't fighting, the Scyther weren't fighting, the Kingambit weren't fighting... none of them. And to top it all off, her nose started picking up a... burning smell?
"Hmm," Eartha muttered.
Jessica took notice. "What is it, Eartha?"
"I'm not sure," Eartha answered, "but I don't think we're alone in this bamboo forest. I think someone could be following us."
"Well," Rosita supposed, "if you want to investigate to confirm your suspicions, I won't stop you."
"But don't wander too far off," Jessica added.
"Oh, don't worry," Eartha assured. "I'll be right back." And with that, she left the Pokemon Center and followed her senses towards Fury Falls. As soon as she went back down the hill, she called out, "Alright, whoever you are, come out from wherever you are. I know you're close."
"No, you don't," a female voice called, but Eartha easily followed the voice there.
"AHA!"
But all that Eartha saw was a scorch mark where she heard the voice.
"Oh, you've got tricks, do ya?" the frazzled vulpine said as she took out her Poke Ball. "Well, I know how to flush you out! Go, Rotom!" And in a burst of light, Rotom appeared.
"Roto!"
"Rotom, find whoever's been stalking us and make them pay for creeping!" Eartha ordered.
"OKAY!" Dina's voice said as she revealed herself from behind a cluster of bamboo stalks. "No need to get hostile!"
"What the-" Eartha started, but then she realized she sent her Pokemon out to attack someone directly! "AH! Rotom, no! Return! I take it back!"
Fortunately, the beam of red light got Rotom back into its ball before any damage was caused.
"Whew," Eartha sighed before she got a good look at who was speaking and making her think she was going cracked. "So, start talking. Why were you stalking us?"
"I wasn't," Dina said.
"Tauros pies," Eartha said, getting ready to call Rotom back out. "You expect me to believe that you weren't following us wherever we went, lurking in the plants, watching our every move?"
"I didn't even see you until you came to the Pokemon Center in Area 1, honest!"
"So you admit you were following us after we left!"
"Yes I do!"
"And why!?"
"BECAUSE I KNOW HOW YOU CAN GET THE SPIRITS OF RUIN BACK!!!"
That shouted sentence made Eartha stop dead in her tracks; both in context and volume. After she got her nerve back, Rosita and Jessica came down the hill to back her up. "What's going on?" Jessica demanded. "We thought we heard a raised voice!"
"I think I know what's going on," Rosita said. "Apparently, this stalking pollywog claims to know about the Spirits of Ruin enough to tell us how ours can come back."
"Okay, before something happens that we'll all regret here," Dina said, "let me make my case. First of all, I wasn't stalking any of you. I was camping by the Pokemon Center before you three happened by, and I overheard your conversation and wanted to tell you that I could help. Second off, I'm an axolotl. Axolotl, not pollywog. I don't do the 'catch bugs with my tongue' thing."
"My apologies," Rosita yielded. "I didn't see the frills."
"You're forgiven," Dina said, then continued. "And thirdly, I know about the Spirits of Ruin because I have one myself. I'll prove it to you." She then took out a small handheld lighter and flicked it, igniting the flame. It then grew in size and disconnected from the lighter, morphing into the shape of a goldfish. "Everyone, this is Bea, the spirit of Chi-Yu... and I am Dina Goldman, her bearer."
"Salutations," Bea spoke.
Now that Eartha was informed enough (and enough time was allowed to pass for her to recover from the shock), she cleared her throat, lowered her ears, and said, "Well, Dina, first allow me to apologize for my behavior towards you. I tend to act distrustful when someone keeps their distance from me and I find out about them myself."
"That's actually how we met," Rosita chimed in. "I'm Rosita Verdes, by the way."
"And I'm Jessica Winters," the snep girl said.
"As for me," Eartha added. "my name is Eartha Crust, and we would like to welcome you as the fourth Cure of our team: Hell-Sent Precure!"
But that last sentence made her tilt her head in confusion. "Hell-Sent... fourth... what?"
"BAKKA~N!" the girls exclaimed as the fell backwards in dumbfoundedness. Apparently they had a lot of explaining to do...
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To be continued.
