lucetilogs | Mission: Burying the Past in Zompania

Hmmm. [ He turns around, scooping up his pokémon lightbulb into his arms as he checks the streets again, then turns once more to sit himself down. He's a good safe distance from Crystal, and he'll speak up so she can still hear him. ] Not telling.

[ But it's fun to say, and the first trickle of any sort of amusement he's really had. It doesn't get rid of the anxiety, but hey. Small things. ]

[Small things. Work -- talk -- she'd forget where they are if the former didn't remind her every moment. Crystal starts moving back towards Red, watching pillars rise up and move back down like some odd, musical tempo in front of her, and collapses onto her butt beside him.

This is getting harder the longer she does it, and making sure every piece is flat or on the ground is twice as tiring as normal training in Luceti. The lack of a power cap helps a little, but she's still not used to being able to do so much at once. What's her limit, anyway?]

If you're gonna be cagey about it, I'm gonna say it is. [She grins quietly to herself, breathing a little hard.] I bet you'll win next time.

[ He's watching still, even if it never has his full attention. Even as he sits, his back still feels too exposed. Or is that just the chill climate of Zompania in general that makes him uncomfortable?

When she says what she does, he taps the front of his feet. ] Yeah, well, maybe you will too. ...or after four or five more times, since you're the beginner here.

[ Look at this hazmat-covered face looking at you, Crystal. ]

[Tryin' to mess with her, Red? She scrunches her nose at him and tilts her head.]

I'll beat him next time, trust me. I can't be tricked twice. [Okay, she's bluffing a little, but she's gotta keep the mood up. It's a nicer one than before, and it's obviously working well for both of them.] I'll learn a lot of new tricks and take him by surprise.

That's if he doesn't already know all of them. [ He tilts his own head, but he's facing to the ruined building now. ] If he's really experienced, you're not gonna beat him that easy. Not unless he's going too soft on you.

[Red's got a point. A frown settles back on her face.]

I don't think he would. [She shifts, then gets back up. She's got more to do, and she's going to be moving out of the ruined structure to a taller one. She doesn't want to get too close, and she makes a makeshift cover for herself and Red, if he'd like to join her by the taller building. It's to protect from falling rocks!

She has to talk louder now, too.] A lot that Evan's taught me has to do with upper body strength, which I'm not really that good with. If I keep relying on that, I really will keep losing.

[...And earthquake again. She has to be better about it, because this quake can't start under her; she has to concentrate on putting it under the building itself and giving it enough force to rock more than one or two stories.]

[ Red waits until the sounds subsides, though there's enough time for him to stand up - letting Pikachu down onto the ground to stand where he wants - and letting himself think up what he wants to say. He won't stand too close, but he doesn't want to be shouting and echoing the road when there's already enough noise. ]

Do you think you'd be better with your lower body?

Definitely. [She covers her face when the building gives a final puff of dusty debris - she's glad to have gotten that out of the way without any issues - even if she doesn't have to. It's not like it's going to get in her eyes with these suits. She waits for the last brick to drop before she starts on again.] My legs are my tools when it comes to catching, and I still have the habit of doing a lot with them even without kicking pokéballs. I broke my arms when I was a kid, so... I kind of had to get used to it.

[ Oh.

...Oh, that sounds like it would've been painful. He's broken an arm before (okay, twice), and even felt like he's broken his ribs thanks to his primeape, but. ]

How did you do that?

[ Perhaps it's too personal, but Red can't help but to be the nosy kid he's always been in his heart. At least, hopefully the story's just that she fell out of a tree and landed on both of her arms. ]

[Not quite that simple.]

I was a kid and I was training on Mt. Mortar. [That's... easy enough, right.]

You trained on a mountain? [ wow. Kind of cool??? ] How old were you? Did you stay there for long?

Six, and for a couple of months. Actually, I used to go there periodically until I was finished with my training -- Mama'd bring me up.

[It was fun! Most...ly...]

Wow. [ Wow. ] You've wanted to be a trainer since that long?

[ It's the youngest Red's heard about ever - or maybe not, but it's the first time he's paid attention and been involved in a conversation where it comes up. He knew there were younger people than him interested in being trainers, but he never thought on it.

And Crystal wasn't that young right now. She was much older. ]

[Being a trainer... She hmms, not agreeing but not disagreeing.]

I've wanted to be a pro-catcher since that long. [A very gentle correction.] I'm not interesting in training pokémon, or battling, or anything like that.

Just catching them? [ Okay, and that's the first time he's heard about that. Sooo, she... ]

What do you do afterwards? Do you release them?

[Haha!]

I give them to my client! [It's good work. Really...] I've been contracted to Professor Oak since I was eleven though, and even if I don't go out and catch them as often as I did in the beginning, they still all go to him when I do. The first year was hard because it was my first job and I had to build my credibility - I couldn't just ride on Mama's credit, after all.

[...She should be working on wrecking more, but she's having a better time talking about this. She'll probably get back to it if there's a lull.]

[ Giving pokémon to clients - sounds like trading, until then she brings up Professor Oak and who cares about that thought. Had a conversation about Professor Oak come up before? When the two of them had first spoken to each other? Or was he thinking about Luke Skywalker talking about him?

But it still puzzles him, right then, despite knowing how weird and confusing Luceti made things be. ]

That's weird to hear -- I mean, not you, not your job, I just - I forgot we talked about that before. [ right, he's remembering now ] You got asked by Professor Oak to work on his pokédex, and me and his grandson got asked back in my world.

Yep. [It's weird -- but Luceti does that. Even if she's not sure how, and not sure how to explain it. Or even think about it.] And that's been my job, along with helping him out, for the last couple of years.

[So. That's that.]

[ He tilts his head. You know, saying that it's been a couple of years. ]

I wonder if I'm behind compared to you? I'm behind compared to another guy from my world. He knows me, but I've never met him yet. [ ... ] Maybe there'll be a you in my world's future.

Maybe. [She wonders... It'd be weird if there was a "her" that wasn't her, so to say.] I've got Pokédex data on pretty much everything from Kanto to Hoenn. I've got some Sinnoh pokémon as well, but not as much - I was too busy with work and with the academy.

That's a lot. Professor Oak's only been telling us to focus on Kanto first. [ Which makes sense, obviously. ] I haven't been thinking about after that...

[ And he especially hasn't been here. But wow, haven't they derailed from. Things. He eyes the - temporarily forgotten? - building over, still glad for the lights going. Pikachu's sat himself onto a chunk of rubble that lets him dangle his legs over. ]

Well, it doesn't matter right now anyway. But I'm happy I found my pokédex finally. [ oh ] Do you have yours here too?

Yeah. I'm glad I found it as quickly as I did. I haven't found any of my specialty balls yet, though. [They're not as much of a worry though... Crystal eyes the building when he does, then sighs. She should finish this one up.

And she gets back into the work, chipping away at the parts that haven't quite fallen all the way through yet with quick rock strikes. Making them go in and out is a lot more tiring than just leaving them there, but... she doesn't want to leave anything to show where she'd been.

Quake cracks aside.] I'm beginning to wonder if I'll find any of them. They're not important the way the 'dex is, but they're special to me.

Edited 2014-08-02 04:39 (UTC)

Speciality balls? What are those? [ She doesn't mean like great balls and ultra balls, does she? ]

[Oh man --

no, they don't have time to go into a full-throttle lecture like she gave Masaomi.]

They're just as their name implies -- balls you use under special circumstances, or most of them are. There's the level ball, which you use against pokémon weaker than yours. Fast balls, which you use against speedy pokémon. Heavy balls are for heavy pokémon, like your Snorlax or Silver's Gyarados, and moon balls are best against pokémon that evolve with a moonstone. Love balls work best against pokémon who're the same species, but opposite gender of yours, and lure balls are for pokémon you fish out of the water.

The odd man out's the friend ball, which doesn't help with catching, but does make the pokémon you catch with it a lot easier to bond with. Kurt, an old man in Azalea, makes 'em for Mama and I.

[ So it's just a mini-lecture, then. It's sort of astounding to hear, but then he gets why he might not know about all these if they're made by some old man guy especially for Crystal and her mother. Huh. Not even Celadon had any special pokéballs... ]

... That's a lot of balls. [ Cpt. Obvious, thank you. ] Are any of your pokémon's balls any of those...?

[ He's curious! He wouldn't actually mind seeing one of them. ]

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