A city like Hearthome was bound to attract a crowd. The crossing point from the west to the east of the region, a hub for all manner of industry and business, and - in just a week's time - the next of this season's battle tournaments across the region. This meant that on top of all of the residents and workers that called the place home, the city was currently seeing hundreds of fighters and thousands of fans descending upon it to take part in, or simply witness, the latest display of combat prowess.
For some, though, they weren't enjoying the week's worth of run-up to the battles for the speculation, nor the anticipation, nor even for the city itself. For some, it was something much simpler than that.
For Diane, it was getting to see her best friend again.
"You dug up ALL of those?" Mave exclaimed, strolling through Amity Park of an afternoon, iced smoothie in hand. Chople and Shuca berries, she had chosen, offering a pleasant complexity with a very appealing kick...along with a buff to help resisting Fighting and Ground-type attacks. Even in downtime, there were always subtle ways to increase your chances in the arena. "And that was just in Eterna?"
"Mm!" the Gligar nodded, breaking away from a sip of her own smoothie. Just Pecha for her as, like many others, she found it very tasty. "Thing is, I don't actually know what to do with them now I've got 'em," she opined. "They're like the most boring jigsaw ever."
As the pair pondered potential solutions for a moment, a loud slurp came from the third member of the group, as Laurie's smoothie was further diminished by another hefty gulp. Passho berries to aid against Water-based moves, Bluk berries to take the edge off, and of course, being Laurie, this was her second. "Museum?" the big Camerupt curtly offered.
"Are they really still after shards?" Mave asked, turning to the fat Fire-type. "I know they were when I left for Alola."
"Yeah, they are!" chimed in Diane with a grin, adding with a light jab from the tip of her claw to the Rampardos' waist, "I could give them the bones as well, and they could make another one of you!"
That was enough to draw a snort of derision from her fossilized friend, as the Rock-type swatted away the Gligar's slender arm. "Get lost, Diane!" she chortled, "I'm two months younger than you are!"
Her protests, though, weren't enough to prevent the gremlin of a Gligar from stooping herself over and miming a walking cane in her free hand, staggering forward shakily with a similarly affected croaky wheeze of a voice, and gesturing around them with her smoothie cup. "I remember when all this was a bog..."
"That's it, you're going in the fountain!" came the sudden retort, along with an equally sudden arm around her midriff, as Mave swooped in beneath her friend's hunched figure and effortlessly scooped the troublemaking Diane up onto one shoulder.
"AGH! No! Spikes!" the Gligar squealed, flailing her legs as she fought in vain to wriggle free from the Rampardos' powerful grip, and avoid an errant jab from the crown of horns surrounding their scalp. Glancing behind, she spotted the tell-tale arcs of water soaring through the air, and calmer streams cascading over stone as her friend marched onward with a scarily determined stride. "Mave, put me down!"
"Mave, put her down," echoed Laurie, trudging after them.
With a practiced shimmy of the Rampardos' arm, Diane was quickly spun around in Mave's grasp, the giggling Gligar finding herself arched up toward the sky as she felt one hand planted between her shoulder blades, and her friend leaning back, ready to launch her stright into the central pool, the deepest of the four. Clenching her eyes shut, Diane couldn't help but give a shriek of terror as she braced herself for the inevitable...
...only for her feet to land firmly on solid ground. Eyes flashing wide open, she found herself staring at her own rippling reflection in the water's surface, panting in fear, as Mave had instead dropped her right at the edge of the pathway.
A hearty chuckle and a playful thump on the shoulder came from the Rampardos, as she turned back along the pathway, only to be met with a very confused Laurie approaching. "Ah, she'll be fine," Mave dismissed with a wave of the hand, reassuring Diane's new companion after the brief burst of roughhousing.
The Camerupt, however, didn't seem so sure, her attention apparently fixed beyond the shorter Rock-type. "Are you okay?"
Looking back, Mave caught sight of the little Gligar still stood in front of the fountain, still staring down into the water, seemingly frozen in place after even the threat of being thrown in. "Diane, you know I was joking," the concerned Rock-type added.
For a moment, Diane said nothing, her own bewildered expression gazing back at her, speckled by the various coins at the bottom of the fountain, warped and twisted with each furrow on the surface. And buried beneath, that same disconcerting void that had been carved out of her mind since leaving Eterna City. "...why does this feel familiar?" she eventually murmured.
"Been here before?" asked Laurie, between another swig of smoothie.
The Gligar softly shook her head, her gaze unshifting from that gently shimmering reflection. "No, I'd spent my whole life in Oreburgh," she quietly explained, bringing the base of a claw up to her temple. "I only moved to Jubilife a year ago," she continued, as the lingering fuzz began to morph into a deep itch in the back half of her brain. "This is like what happened with the-"
Before she could finish, Diane's world fell silent, her mirrored face replaced with a blinding flash of white and shock of sudden cold that sent her staggering backwards through a void of nothingness, before coming to an equally sudden stop as she fell into thankfully comforting clutches.
"Woah, woah, woah, I've got you, Dee!" blurted Mave, quickly dashing forward and wrapping a thick arm around the Gligar's slender frame to keep her friend steady. "What happened there?"
Blinking away the sudden flash, letting the icy throb pulsating through her head subside and the sound of a familiar voice pull her back into the real world, Diane allowed herself a moment or two to settle herself down, her own mind somehow fighting against her efforts to draw the memory of that memory back out again. Whatever or whoever it was that had ripped out her recollection seemed intent on not letting her rediscover what it was that had been taken. "Maybe I shouldn't talk about it right now..." she reluctantly conceded with a sheepish look.
The Rampardos gave a soft smile in reply, and a gentle squeeze of the Gligar's shoulders, pulling her a little closer. "You're good, don't worry," Mave told her, as she directed Diane back along the pathway. "You'll probably feel better once you finish up your smoothie," she suggested.
"You should," added Laurie, with a final slurp. "I've finished mine,"
"Oh my god," Mave chuckled, smirking at the fat Fire-type following them. "I've not even finished one, and you're already through your second? What, was your dad a Snorlax or something?"
"...alright then," Mave concluded, hastily swiveling and leading the trio onward through the park once more, Diane giving a quick titter behind as her friend's jibe evaporated in an instant.
