Roisin tossed another set of underwear into the backpack, as she continued gathering up her belongings between the Lanturn's questions. "Yeah, Rocky's gonna try and get me signed up for the tournament over there, kicks off in around a week's time."
"And you're leaving tomorrow morning?" Skye continued, perched on the edge of one of the two bunk beds in the room, allowing the Staraptor to continue the hunt for the rest of her things as the moon gradually rose into view past the clouds, its soft light gently shimmering through the window.
"That's the plan," the bird replied, opening up a few drawers as she went, closing them almost instantly once she realized their contents belonged solely to her roommates. "He's sending me through with some other fighter from Hoenn he's taken on for this season, from what he's told me."
The Water-type listened on, slightly shocked at how quickly this had all come together. "What about your father?" she cautiously asked.
Roisin paused for a moment, glancing back over in the Lanturn's direction, leaving a silence that lingered between them for half a second too long. "...I don't know," she admitted with a sigh, "but Rocky said he'd try and sort that out too."
Skye simply nodded. "Sorry," she added, already a little remorseful for having brought that particular matter up.
"S'fine." The Staraptor gave her own melancholy shrug. "Not much I can do about it."
Forcing a small smile, Skye pushed herself up from the edge of the bed, grabbing her own rucksack from a hook on the wall. "I'll come with you."
"What?" Roisin wheeled around at the Lanturn's proposal, almost dropping her toothbrush. "Why are you coming? You're not fighting as well, are you?"
"Oh no, I'm not fighting," Skye assured her, shaking her head, as she began to gather her own belongings. "But I asked Cresselia how I could help," she continued, tapping the Shell Bell around her neck, "and they told me I should go with you. Besides, if you ever get too worked up about something, I want to be there to help clear your head again."
Always Cresselia, thought Roisin to herself. Skye rarely veered from the suggestions of this supposed legendary being, but in fairness, she had rarely been steered wrong by them. "If you say so," the Staraptor conceded, crouching down to rummage around underneath one of the bunks. "I don't know what else there's gonna be there for...!"
Her train of thought came to an abrupt halt as she suddenly grabbed a hold of what felt like a great cloud of hair, drawing a sharp gasp from beneath the bunks, and peering underneath, she caught a flash of light reflecting off a pair of very familiar glasses. "Diane?? What the heck are you-mph?!"
"SHH!" The Gligar hastily clamped one claw over Roisin's beak to force it shut. "Keep it down, they know! They know I did it!"
"Did what?" Skye asked, crouching alongside Roisin. "Why are you under the bed?"
"They were waiting for me when I got back!" Diane told them, voice breaking and visibly shaking, eyes almost bugged out of her head. "I had to get Ken to let me in from the roof!"
The Lanturn's brow furrowed in bewilderment. "Wait, none of us are allowed on the roof-"
"Skye, it really doesn't matter," Diane pleaded, "if both of are you are going to Oreburgh, then I'm going too!"
"Look, Diane," Skye began, trying to settle her terrified roommate back down. "Let's just start over, what exactly did you d-AGH!"
None of them had seen the shadow slowly creeping along the far wall in the moonlight, nor had time to spot the purple flash leaping out of it directly towards Skye, barreling her straight over and sliding across the floor. The sudden new arrival snapped its head towards Diane, and her heart leapt into her mouth at the sight of two glimmering gemstone eyes and that sickening sawtoothed grin beneath the dark hood of the Sableye.
Before she could even let out a scream, a tremendous crash rang out as the window to their room was shattered, glass shards of all sizes scattering everywhere, as the Misdreavus and Murkrow leapt through it to join their gang mate. Roisin leapt forward to intercept them, only to be cut off herself by a Feint Attack from the Sableye, socking her square in the cheek and sending her tumbling across the room. And as Skye struggled to shake off the sneak attack, she found herself suddenly pinned to the ground as the Misdreavus leapt atop her, unleashing her ear-splitting Hyper Voice at point-blank range, rattling every bone in the Lanturn's body.
Now in a full-blown panic, Diane scampered her way out from under the bed, and made a beeline for the smashed window, glass crunching under her boots, but after only a few steps, a fist cracked hard against her temple, knocking her right back to the floor again. Her vision blurred from the impact, and her arms burned from the glass tearing into them as she tried to break her fall. And then, just as the world was returning to focus, the Gligar was violently jerked back to her feet, two deep blue hands grabbing her by the suspenders, and all of a sudden, Diane was face to face with the absolutely furious Murkrow.
"You vicious, despicable little wretch!" they growled, close enough for Diane to hear them all too clearly amidst the clamor of the brawl between the others behind around her. "Did you really think you could destroy our hideout and nothing would come of it?!"
"I-I didn't-"
"Do NOT speak to me!" The Murkrow immediately silenced her, tugging Diane closer as she tried to struggle her way out of their grip. They didn't even seem to flinch as her claws tightened around their wrists in her efforts to push away. "When we're done with you, there's not gonna be a Pokémon Center anywhere in the world that could put you back together!"
-BANG!-
Everything in the room came to an instant halt. The fighting, the screaming, the eyes of the Murkrow staring daggers into Diane, all of it had disappeared in a blinding white flash and a deafening crack of thunder, and Diane could only stumble backwards, landing on her butt as the scene fell into a dark quiet once again, only broken by her frantic, fearful panting.
Looking around, the room had become a complete mess. Bodies, belongings and sharp chunks of glass were now strewn all over, the whole place turned upside down in a matter of seconds. A faint groan broke her out of her terrified trance, and she spotted Skye laying in what seemed to be the center of the carnage, one hand clutching her head, the other planted down on the floor, a few lingering sparks of electricity dissipating away, the last remnants of her powerful Discharge attack. "S-Skye?" Diane asked, cautiously approaching. "Are you okay?"
The Lanturn tentatively pushed herself up onto one arm, esca weakly glowing as the only light source now left in the room. "Urgh...my head..."
As her eyes adjusted to the dim moonlight, Diane glanced over at the others, still laid out against the furniture around the room. The Murkrow half-twisted around the base of a bedpost, the Sableye folded in half over the dresser, the Misdreavus beneath two ceiling tiles dislodged when she had been launched into them.
And, in a motionless heap by the door, Roisin.
"Oh, shoot!" Diane scurried over as quickly as she could to check on the Staraptor, sweeping her blood-red devil lock out of her face, watching the slow rise and fall of her chest along with her ragged breathing. "Roisin!"
Skye joined the Gligar after a moment or two, as soon as she had managed to recover her bearings after being deafened by that horrific banshee-like shriek. "Roisin?" she asked, gently laying a hand against the bird's bruised cheek, turning her face away from the ground. "Can you hear me?"
"...I hate you, Skye..." the Staraptor croaked.
The Lanturn took a moment to look over Roisin's crumpled body, battered by the unexpected assault of the gang, and noticeably charred from the shockwave of lightning that forced the fight to an end. "We need to get her to a Pokémon Center," she told Diane, "grab our bags, then help me lift her up."
In a flash, Diane retrieved the pair of rucksacks, Skye slinging hers over her back and Diane hooking Roisin's over an arm. The duo struggled to hoist the much taller and heavier Staraptor off the ground, eventually having to settle for leaving her slumped awkwardly over the still groggy Skye's shoulders, with Diane doing her best to help the Lanturn remain upright as she staggered forward.
As the trio made their stumbling exit, Diane took one last look at the chaos behind them. The ruined remnants of what had been their makeshift home, and the unconscious figures of the trio that had hunted her back here. She didn't even want to imagine what they would have done if she hadn't been friendly enough with Skye and Roisin for them to be there at that moment.
And she doubted any of them would be returning any time soon.
