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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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 Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2010 9:17 pm
Immediately after "Early Birds" and a while before "Scenic Route"
The sound of sturdy heels clicking against pavement seemed to echo dully as the young woman walked down the sidewalk, for whatever reason finding herself in the less populated area of Camphoreon. Empty bottles were strewn along the path, pushed carelessly against the side of shady looking buildings instead of placed in the trash where they belonged. Paper bags and scraps of paper floated across the surface of the streets before a sudden gust of wind whipped them up and carried them high into the air, flitting them above the roofs of tall buildings. Violet eyes studied these rogue bits of trash with a distinct air of disinterest. It seemed one more passerby would ignore the condition of the area and not bother to attempt to fix it.
Such a display of indifference was perfectly fine for the chubby, shiny Pikachu across the street, who watched the young woman with curious green eyes. Most humans who found themselves in this part of the city usually had a specific purpose for being there, and whatever purpose they had certainly was not to clean the streets. No, quite the opposite - people usually dropped things instead of picking up trash. Regardless of the condition of the street they were on, he knew quite well that one street over, there was a more populated area, and this particular building he was near just happened to be the very rear of a rather wasteful restaurant. He trotted out from behind a slightly rusty trash can and, after a cursory glance around, darted into the mouth of the nearby alley. He paused there, studying the brick walls on either side of him that stretched down until they abruptly met with another brick wall, effectively sealing off the alley and making it a dead-end. However, this particular alley held the large dumpster the restaurant used, and he knew for a fact that it typically contained the most delectable assortment of tossed food he could get his paws on. Well, if you liked half-eaten burgers and discarded, cold french fries or bags of chips, that is. Such an array of food was nothing short of a feast fit for a king, in his opinion, especially if there were bits of chocolate cake mixed in there, too. A loud rumble erupted from inside him as his stomach voiced its displeasure at being so empty, and he could already taste all that wonderful, delicious food.
He lowered his upper body to the ground once more and wiggled his butt, brown-tipped tail waving in the air, before he hopped up onto the top of a garbage can next to the dumpster. Ahh, perfect - wide open, as usual. He stood on his back paws as he stretched upwards, trying to reach the lid so he could knock it down. He frowned, ears flicking back as he tried to stretch as far as he possibly could, but to no avail. With a huff he sat back on his haunches, considering his options for a moment before casting the thought process aside, and leapt with a flop into the space between the brick wall and one lid of the dumpster. It leaned a couple inches away from the wall and seemed to hover there, as if waiting for the chubby Pikachu to hoist himself fully onto the back edge of the dumpster instead of having his back end flail around over the edge, before he finally succeeded in pulling himself all the way up, and easily pushed the lid the next few inches before it slammed down over the dumpster with a deafening clang.
A wide grin spread across the electric-type's face as he stepped carefully onto the slanted surface, not noticing a growl from within the trash receptacle even as the noise swiftly amplified. He finally noticed it as he neared the opening, however, his ears flicking backwards at the suspicious and potentially dangerous noise. This... this couldn't end well. Lowering himself to the surface of the lid, he swallowed hard before he scooted up a few inches, his eyes and nose slowly poking out over the edge of the lid...
...and almost lost his whole face in the funnel of flames that erupted from inside the dumpster.
The sudden attack sent him jumping backwards with a surprised squeal, but his back paw slipped and he suddenly found himself on the floor of the alley with a flop. He quickly pushed himself onto all fours with a growl, his green eyes glaring up into a pair of venomous red ones, as a mouth full of sharp fangs hovered several inches from him. Obviously, the Houndoom before him had found the dumpster first, and had no intention of sharing, nor of allowing the Pikachu to escape. He vaguely noticed the canine's one broken horn, focusing more on the fact that the predator stood directly between him and precious freedom.
The face off lasted several seconds at most before a low growl rumbled deep in the Houndoom's throat, flames swirling in the back of his mouth and dancing around his fangs in preparation for another attack - but the Pikachu was faster. With his own growl, the fur on his back stood on end before electricity shot forth from his red cheeks, the Thunderwave hitting the canine head-on. It snarled in anger as it backed up a step, but unfortunately for the mouse, seemed largely unaffected by the attack. He tried to take advantage of the opening, however, and he quickly jumped onto the lid of the dumpster before he leapt over the open side. Green eyes widened in those few seconds he was airborne - he was nearly there. Once he landed, it would be easy to run in an erratic path to lose his opponent. He was so close, he could almost taste it; every single nerve in his small, chubby body seemed to be at full attention, his heart threatening to beat out of his chest as he felt adrenaline coursing through him - before he felt the fury of hot flames crash into his hip. The unexpected attack sent him in a short spiral to the ground, eliciting a pained squeal as he landed on the unforgiving pavement. He flinched as he stood back up again, but before he could even process what had just happened and what to do next, the dual-type was over him once more, shaking his large head back and forth quickly as drops of some purple ooze splattered onto the pavement. The Pikachu had just enough time to shut his eyes tightly and turn his head as he felt the thick slime of the Toxic attack thoroughly coat his back and legs, and he cried out in pain as the poison quickly seeped into his system.
Despite his pain he turned, baring his sharp, tiny fangs at the dog before launching another Thunderwave at it. This one took effect immediately as the canine snarled viciously before it sank to the ground. The muscles beneath its coat quivered in an internal struggle to regain control of itself, and the Pikachu growled in its face again. Forget freedom - this just got personal. Completely disregarding the obvious difference in power, and casting aside any thought of self-preservation or any sense of the flight response, the electric mouse jumped over the Houndoom's head, landing on its back, before using the physical contact to pump a direct, sustained Thundershock into his opponent. If he could just keep this up for long enough, maybe he could wear it down long enough to... to what? A pained hiss escaped him as his body involuntarily shivered from the effects of the poison, the pulses of electricity wavering as he felt his energy draining slowly away. No! He had to beat this thing, he had to! Gritting his teeth, he shut his eyes tightly and pumped as much electricity as he could muster into the canine, but a deeper growl and a sudden jolt from beneath him interrupted the Pikachu's attack. The Houndoom shot up from the ground, knocking the smaller creature off its back before it spun around to face the fallen pokemon. The Pikachu growled weakly as he struggled to get back up onto his feet, teeth bared against his opponent still, too stubborn to back down, but deep down he knew that even if he did, the Houndoom would fight to the death. His death, obviously. Something flickering in those piercing red eyes just seemed to reinforce that thought, especially when a malicious smirk slowly spread across the canine's maw. White fangs suddenly lashed out and the Pikachu felt a sharp pain around his middle as he was lifted off the ground before the dark-type threw the smaller pokemon against the brick wall, and he landed with a dull thud.
He wanted to growl just as loud as the Houndoom, wanted to jump up and give the canine the shock of his life, wanted to pummel him into the ground, but he could barely move. Despite all that, he bared his tiny fangs at the larger pokemon before shooting his last attack, an incredibly weak Thundershock, at the creature that towered above him. It snorted in amusement as it studied its beaten target, and took a step closer... then stopped. The Pikachu was vaguely aware of a voice somewhere not too far away, a flash of gold and white, then the Houndoom was gone, after some other pokemon. The sounds of a quick skirmish reached his ears as a tall, blurry figure came closer. Tired green eyes peered up at the human as she bent down over him, recognizing her as the one across the street before, and he blinked once or twice in a vain attempt to clear his vision. The gold and white blur had returned to her side, more words - why was everything getting so dark? He couldn't tell what was going on, who this human was or even what type of pokemon was standing next to her; everything hurt, his whole body screamed in pain but he could at least make the connection between the vicious Houndoom's disappearance and the pair kneeling next to him. She had interrupted his battle. They had interfered when he could have taken that stupid over-sized dog if he hadn't been surprised...
No you couldn't.
He frowned slightly at the thought, vaguely wondering where that thought came from when his mind was so muddled, his head felt like it was swimming...
She saved me.
He continued to peer up at her, with tired, half-lidded green eyes. The last thing he remembered was a flash of red light.
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Posted: Thu Jan 27, 2011 10:19 pm
The day after the volcano raid ("Better Days" occurred around the same time as the raid); this solo is set the morning after, and the rp "Don't Panic" occurs later that same day.
It had certainly been an emotional night.
When she had agreed to help Luke, she had no idea what she'd gotten herself into. She had every intention of trying her best to get Lucas to speak of his past, anything that could help her figure out what was wrong. She had not intended to divulge so much sensitive information about herself, and worse yet, even cry about it. Arceus, she cried! Cried about it again - how long ago had it been since she last cried? It had to have been at least since Johto - she couldn't remember if she cried at all about it after transferring to Kodo.
But, Arceus, she cried.
In public.
The action was graceless, shameful, and thoroughly embarrassing - she had broken down under the stress and succumbed to the tears. At least, it had always sounded horrible - to just cry in public, showing such an obvious and pathetic weakness, so she had taken great pains to avoid ever doing such a thing. Indeed, if something upset her and threatened to toss her in that direction, she'd stand her ground on the defensive and get angry about it - it was so much easier to cope with such unpleasant situations by just getting angry at them, or even just frustrated. It was so easy, so simple.
But, for some reason, she wouldn't let herself get angry last night, she wouldn't let herself get frustrated or anything. She had been caught so off-guard by the circumstances, by the topics and completely underestimated how they would cause her to react. She had willingly refrained from her usual defenses, and had suffered the painful emotional consequences. And why? Well, it's sort of awkward to thank someone in regards to a sensitive topic and sound incredibly pissed off at the same time. People might get the wrong idea.
Somehow, even though she forsook her defenses, even though she allowed herself to break down like that, graceless as it was... she felt better. It was something she couldn't exactly explain, but she just felt... better. As if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders after carrying it for so long. It was a wonderful feeling, and Lucas helped her to feel this way.
Oh, she'd likely feel horrible about it again within a few weeks, but for now she was content, and happier than she'd been in, well, three or four years. It really was a wonderful feeling...
A small, contented sigh escaped the dark-haired grunt as she stepped out into the hall, fingering the pokeballs at her belt. She had tried for so long to battle with her memories and emotions, endeavoring to change all of her sadness and fear into hatred. Oh, how she hated him, but for the longest time her other emotions far outweighed that hatred, and because every time she so much as considered thinking of the memories, well... It reduced her to a sniffling lump under her blankets in her room. It was horrible.
Why was that? She never realized it until last night - it was because she felt utterly, terribly alone. Even with Odette and Zeus, up until last night, she still felt that way - but then last night, it made sense. And she realized, finally, that she wasn't alone. Lucas had become a wonderful friend in such a short period of time - not even Sarah, who she knew for at least 7 years, had been anywhere close. No one had, and it was an odd feeling to have now, but definitely not unwanted - not in the slightest.
She finally felt like she had the confidence to think about everything without crying.
...she would experiment that later. Not in the hallway.
Such were the thoughts in her head as the confident grunt stepped into the stairwell, and a pair of voices floated up to her.
". . .were on the raid and told me all about it! Have you heard? Team Galactic was there!"
What.
"Weren't they in the last raid? I heard a Shaymin was the cause of that explosion!"
. . .what.
"Yeah, it was. Apparently their leader was there this time, too, I forget what people kept saying his name was. Something weird. Anyway, Galactic stole the Ho-oh from them! They stole what was rightfully ours!"
. . . . .wh..
"Ugh! I can't believe those . . ."
If anyone were to try to get supplies out of an out-of-the-way broom closet within the next half hour, they wouldn't be able to do so. Inside, blockading the door, was a trembling, white-faced young woman, her violet eyes wide with disbelief and fear.
Galactic? At the volcano?! And at the Poke Ball?! But.. but... I was at the Poke Ball. I was there. They could have killed me right then and there, they could have recognized me and just BAM shot me right then and there, oh dear Arceus what--
Her panicked thoughts continued on a string of expletives coupled with the name of the deity pokemon, followed profusely by more graphic expletives. The thought of being killed on sight was not a pleasant thought in the slightest.
And today had started out so well, too...
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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2011 12:22 pm
This is set immediately before the rp "Poolside Happenstance." Lucas' side of this encounter is found here. This and the following three solos are part of a four-piece collaborative solo by Suudonym and myself. The IC time-frame for these solos is roughly two weeks, beginning with this and each occurring a few days from the preceding solo.Ah, the pool. She tried to go during times when it was completely deserted, mostly so she could have the place to herself and avoid any potential encounters with the opposite sex. Thankfully it was roughly around one of those deserted times that she found herself headed in that direction. Claire, wearing comfortable clothes with her small drawstring bag slung over her shoulder, descended the steps two at a time and halted as soon as she saw a familiar face in the hallway. She offered the older man a smile and a half-wave. "Hey Lucas, how're you feeling?" Hopefully better. The last time she'd seen him, well.. He'd asked her where Morrison was. That had been an extremely disconcerting question.
He regarded her with an obvious hesitance, half-turning in the opposite direction. "Ah..." Insert awkwardly long pause. Did it really take that long to think of a reply? "Hey. Fine. Look, I'm actually really busy, so..."
"Oh, alright," she replied, brow furrowing momentarily before her expression cleared. If he was busy, then who was she to keep him from.. whatever he was busy with? Work, possibly, and she wasn't about to get him in trouble. "I'll see you some other time, then?"
He opened his mouth to reply, closed it again, pressed his lips together, narrowed his eyes, then, "Yeah. See you." As he left, she tilted her head slightly, one brow raising a bit over the other in an obviously puzzled expression. Well that was... odd.. But Lucas was odd sometimes, so she shrugged it off before continuing down the hallway towards the pool.
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Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2011 6:37 pm
This solo takes place sometime several days after the last one, sometime before the rp "Happy to See You, Too." Lucas' side of this encounter is found here."Alright," the young woman said in a determined tone as two flashes of white light expanded and morphed into two small shapes - one chubby Pikachu, and one fluffy blue Eevee, before replacing the pokeballs and taking out her pokedex to check attacks. "Blue, it's time you started battling. Maybe it'll even be an outlet to stop you from chewing everything." Probably not, but she could hope, right? ...right? "Anyway. Zeus, go easy on her because she's so young, alright? No chocolate if you don't," she added with a glare before the Pikachu could even think about not listening. He grumbled his acknowledgment and bounded a few yards away to await instructions. "Oh, and let her hit you."
"P'ka?!" He looked aghast at his trainer. Was she serious? Ugh...
"Alright. Blue," she consulted her pokedex with a quick glance, "Tackle."
"Vui?" She had a vague idea what that was, so she wiggled her behind in the air momentarily before running towards her target. Instead of a collision, at the last instant she pounced on him instead and immediately set about voraciously chewing his ear. Zeus squealed in surprise and pain as he flailed around, trying to get the furry blue menace off.
"Blue!" An exasperated sigh escaped her as she rubbed her face before the sudden creaking of the door alerted her to someone else entering the room. She quickly lowered her hand and turned to look, expression brightening upon seeing the familiar scar-faced man. But.. he was leaving? Without saying anything...? "Lucas, what's up?" She hazarded, expression depressing a bit. "I haven't seen you around too much lately.."
"Sorry," was his excuse, followed promptly by "I just remembered something I need to do," as he was nearly out the door.
"Oh.." Her brows furrowed as he left just as quickly as he'd come in, expression falling completely as the door creaked once again. "Alright... Later."
He said nothing else, just left with a click of the door as it slid back into place. What the hell was that? No hello or even a good-bye? No see you later? What was going on...? He never acted like this... Her brows knitted together again as violet eyes slid to a section of the floor. Come to think of it, the last time she'd seen him he'd pulled a similar stunt. "Look, I'm actually really busy, so..." So he didn't want to talk to her. And again, as soon as he saw her he didn't want to talk to her. He'd said even less to her now than he had last time, as well. What was going on..?
...he wasn't.. avoiding her, was he?
No, no; that was silly. Absolutely ridiculous. Lucas would never do that, he had to just.. just be really busy with stuff. ...but with what? Was he already back on duty? Was he even completely over his concussion? If he wasn't, what the hell would he be busy with? Nothing.
Claire quickly shook her head, fixing a glare on the pair of pokemon and violently pushed the thoughts away. No, Lucas would never do something like that. Never. "Blue," she said sharply, hands clenching into fists as they propped themselves up against her hips. "Tackle. Properly. Now."
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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2011 11:40 pm
This solo takes place several days after the one prior, with the rp "Late Nights" occurring the day after this encounter. Lucas' side of this encounter is found here.Arceus, she was hungry... Her breakfast had been a lot earlier than normal, so by the time lunch hour rolled around she was starving. A gloved hand stretched out to push open the cafeteria door, violet eyes scanning the line and tables to see how crowded it was, just in... oh, Lucas. Her expression brightened slightly at seeing her friend, but immediately recalled his rather stiff and rude behavior the last time she'd seen him, and her countenance depressed accordingly. The thought of Lucas avoiding her for some inexplicable reason had been plaguing her mind over the past several days, despite her best efforts to keep it at bay. Why would he possibly.. No, no; Lucas would never do such a thing. Never. As if to prove this point to herself, she headed slowly towards his table - the cold, sick knot twisting painfully in the pit of her stomach signaling that she did, indeed, think he might possibly be ignoring her despite the fact her mind refused to believe it. "Hello," she offered hesitantly, completely disregarding the foreboding feelings, "how've you been lately?" He'd been reading a book of some sort that wasn't immediately identifiable to her, though his head inclined slightly - did that mean he'd noticed her before she'd spoken? Maybe - but then he.. closed the book and packed up. He didn't look done at all when she was by the door, so why was he leaving?
Why?
"Fine. Busy," was his curt reply, the words piercing her like cold, cruel needles, with one more Parthian shot - a silent one, his lack of any sort of farewell - as he headed towards the exit.
"...oh." Still no response whatsoever, none, as he disappeared through the double-doors. He completely missed the confusion evident on her face, missed how the pain briefly contorted her features, as one thing became blatantly, painfully clear: Lucas was ignoring her. He was avoiding her, but why? Why? What had she done? Was it something she said? Had she somehow offended him, bothered him with something she'd done, had she crossed a line somewhere she hadn't seen? What happened? Why? Why...?
Suddenly she wasn't hungry anymore.
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Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 10:38 am
This solo takes place immediately after the rp "Do you do this often?" It also takes place a day before the next solo.
Arceus, why had she hugged him? Seriously, there was no need to do that. All he did was give her a pokemon.. There wasn't anything special about that. After all, she'd given that Pidgey to Alba - but then again, that was a different situation entirely since she couldn't keep it anyway - and she'd given Liselle to Lucas... crap, Lucas.
She sighed, furrowing her brows and shoving the thoughts out of her head. Pondering about why Lucas was avoiding her only gave her a headache and made her feel worse, and she didn't want that after having such a wonderful day. So, after running up to her room to grab her bag, she hurried down to the training rooms to see just which pokemon she'd gotten from Aulus. It was either the cool-looking Charmeleon or the hyper-active Growlithe, and she attempted to keep all hopes out of the way so she wouldn't inadvertently disappoint herself. Both were lovely and had great potential, and either would be an awesome addition to her team.
With that thought in mind, she entered the first empty training room she could find, then jogged to one side before unclipping the new pokeball from her belt. After a moment's hesitation, she pulled another first and released her chubby Pikachu, who regarded her with a sleepy partial glare before plopping onto the floor. Completely ignoring his response, she held her breath and pressed the release on the new ball.
The flash of white light that followed quickly morphed into the shape of a large dog, and the Growlithe immediately began wagging her tail and casting around for her person and her friend. Except... she was in a strange room with strange smells, and a strange person and a strange pokemon. Her person and her friend Charmeleon were no where to be seen. With a soft whine her tail stopped wagging and drooped, too fluffy to effectively hide between her legs, and she hunkered down close to the floor. Her ears were pinned to her head, but perked up slightly when she finally noticed Claire - or rather, when she recognized that this was the same person she'd seen at the park earlier that day. Did she know where her person and Charmeleon were?
Aww, poor thing... She couldn't help but feel a bit guilty for the puppy pokemon, so she clipped both balls to her belt before walking over. "Aww, don't be scared," she said gently, leaning down to stroke the canine's head and neck at first, then moving her hand up to scratch her behind the ears. The attention was immediately and obviously super effective, as the brightly-colored Growlithe plopped her rear-end down and started panting contentedly, her large fluffy tail thumping against the ground. Wow, that was a lot easier than she'd thought.. "You're going to be mine now," the young woman informed the happy dog, who merely continued panting while peering up at her with bright orange eyes. "And you can still see your Charmeleon friend sometimes, too."
This evoked an immediate response from the canine, who swiftly jumped up, barked, then began running in excited circles around her. "Wow, this was a lot easier than I thought it'd be," she said mostly to herself, brows raising in mild surprise. Well good, she didn't want to spend a lot of time acclimating her new addition. Still.. She was so.. so... energetic seemed like a nice way to put it. Good thing she brought her bag! "Do you want to play?" Claire asked rhetorically as she shrugged the bag off her shoulder and started digging around in it. The Growlithe suddenly halted and stared up at Claire as if she'd said the most amazing thing ever, her eyes wide and ears alert, waiting. After a moment of rummaging, slender fingers closed around Blue's tennis ball - not like she'd know someone else would play with her ball, not that she'd even care anyway - and pulled it out before putting the bag back on her shoulder. The Growlithe barked excitedly, bouncing around before adopting the classic butt-in-the-air play-stance, waiting eagerly for this person to throw the ball. She couldn't help the excited whine that escaped her. "Alright," Claire chuckled lightly before throwing the tennis ball as hard as she could across the spacious room, "fetch!"
"Awrr!" The fire-type took off like a shot after the ball as it bounced in long arcs, managing to catch it mid-air after another bounce off the floor, then turned and raced back. "Good girl," the violet-eyed grunt said with a chuckle as the ball was dropped into the palm of one hand, and she briefly scratched the dog behind the ears again. "I need to think of a name for you," she said with a thoughtful frown as she straightened up, tossing the ball straight up in the air and catching it with the same hand a couple times. The eager fire-type wiggled excitedly, barely able to contain her enthusiasm for the game, and her unbridled excitement brought a bemused smile to Claire's face. Later. She could think of a name later. But for now... "Fetch!" She said again as she tossed the ball towards the other side of the training room, watching the brightly-colored Growlithe chase after it once more.
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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed May 04, 2011 11:02 pm
This solo takes place between the last solo and the rp "Rye or pumpernickel? ...what are those?" Lucas' side of this encounter is found here.Just another flight of stairs she had to ascend, another hallway she had to walk through to get to her room. A slender hand raised to run through her long black hair, pushing a few locks away from her face as the standard issue gray boots she wore clicked against the tile flooring. It had been a long day, and she was more than ready to get the hell out of her uniform in favor of more comfortable clothes in which to work out. She really needed it. Another small sigh escaped her as she prepared to round a corner --
-- and was nearly barreled over in the process as she came face to face with the one person she never thought she'd ever want to avoid. "Lucas," she said in her surprise, violet eyes widening slightly and slim eyebrows raising to show just how much she hadn't expected to run into him. He hadn't said anything, just stepped back a foot or two with a look she couldn't quite figure out. Her lips parted to speak again but she clearly hesitated as her brows lowered to knit together. A hand reached up to awkwardly and unnecessarily brush a lock of hair behind her ear, and her violet eyes slid to a random tile on the floor to concentrate on instead. She wanted to ask him so many questions, ask him what he was thinking, what did he hope to accomplish by avoiding her, but most importantly, she wanted to ask him why. Why was he doing this? Why did he want to? Why, why, why? But as much as she wanted to ask him all these things, she couldn't. No matter how much she willed herself to speak, she couldn't do it. Her body refused to make her thoughts audible.
Footfalls echoed in the hallway again as he completely ignored her, not saying a word, he just simply... walked right past her. He didn't even look at her. He was walking away from her again, this time without saying anything. It was now painfully clear that he was avoiding and ignoring her, even though it was clear before, this just rubbed salt and dirt in the already gaping wound. Her breath caught in her throat for just a moment before she turned to face him quickly, her hesitance ending as she spoke with a hurt, confused expression on her face and the same feelings evident in her words. "Lucas, wait! What's wrong? Why are... what did I do?" Why was he ignoring her? What had she done to invoke this? What had she done to deserve this? All she did was try to help him, and this was what she got in return. This was her treatment for trying to be a good friend. What the hell was this?
She saw him stop but he didn't turn to look at her, and her breath caught in her throat once more as he sighed and rubbed at his eyes. Had she seen the grimace her perception of his actions might have had a different meaning, but his weariness, his sigh, his lack of words - still nothing, he said less and less every time she saw him - were interpreted as frustration. Exasperation. He was tired, he was done - done with her, perhaps. Probably. More than likely. He was annoyed, irritated at no one but her. Her. The closest friend she'd had for years wouldn't even speak to her and somehow it was all her fault.
She stood there for a moment, watching him continue to walk away, but she couldn't just leave. Not yet. Her whole body felt too numb and cold to move, and her hands had begun clenching and unclenching halfway through the incredibly brief meeting and continued to do so. He never looked back so he would completely miss the crestfallen look on her face, he wouldn't see the mixture of worry, concern, confusion and pain that contorted her features. The amalgam of emotions nearly brought her to tears. "W--" Why are you ignoring me? "--wh.." What did I do..? "I..." I.. I trusted you... Why would you do this to me..? Why...?
A shaky inhalation clearly displayed her overemotional state, and a pale hand reached up to run five fingers through her thick hair. Her expression suddenly steeled as she abruptly spun on her heel and continued down the hall at a brisk, determined pace, her boots clicking along the floor and echoing down the hallway once again. Now she really needed to work out. She needed to hit something. Hard.
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Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2011 11:13 pm
This solo takes place between "Not Alone" and "Not you again..."
"Ember."
"Qui..?"
"No, Luc. Ember."
A pitifully tiny flame blew out from the albino pokemon's mouth, barely the size of a quarter, and Claire sighed, slender fingers running through her hair. As much as she liked the little Cyndaquil - especially because Lucas went to the trouble to get him for her - she was starting to realize she might have to admit that he was sort of... useless. Like Blue, except she could be useful for annoying enemies to death. Or co-workers. But Luc was just a little bundle of nerves, jumping and whimpering at the slightest noises, and hiding whenever something spooked him. His back hadn't even burned yet. Well, it had - pink, no surprise there - but only when he sneezed. That was it. Certainly they could control it, make it flare up whenever they wanted? Her 'dex had said when they're scared as well, but he hadn't done it any of the times he'd been spooked yet. The only reason she knew he wasn't totally defective was the fact she'd seen the pink flames erupt from his back with her own eyes - small and rather pitiful and short-lived, but at least they were there - but only when he sneezed. It was getting sort of ridiculous - it was so hard to train him when the only way he'd defend himself was to squeal and either hide behind something (or someone) or curl up into a whimpering ball.
Claire sat on the floor of the training room with an exasperated sigh before pinching the bridge of her nose, absently watching her other pokemon train while Luc huddled under her knee and Blue played with a chewtoy nearby. She hardly noticed when the little blue Eevee bounded over, was vaguely aware of her wiggling her rump in the air, but she was very aware of the small set of sharp teeth now buried in the skin of her hand. "Ow! Blue! What was--"
"Quil!" A flash of white and pink fire suddenly launched itself at Blue, whose golden eyes widened in surprise as Luc tackled her to the ground. Vicious growls erupted from somewhere deep inside his tiny body, pink flames sputtering and flaring from his back. The agent had never seen his fire so large or bright - nor had she ever seen this side of him before. "Luc!" She voiced her shock, eyebrows raised as high as they could go. In an instant the Cyndaquil cringed and his flames disappeared, and with a whimper he cuddled Claire's hand, looking just as pitiful as he'd been five minutes ago.
What. The hell. Was that?
Blue looked just as surprised as Claire, and with a muffled squeak she dove behind her owner's back to hide from the fire-type, who was too busy whimpering piteously to notice. Struck with a sudden thought, the black-haired woman leaned forward suddenly and looked behind her at Blue before exclaiming a loud and convincing, "ow!" Poor Blue hadn't done anything, but that didn't matter.
The effect was immediate - pink flames instantly erupted from Luc's back as he growled viciously, diving for Blue. With a wail she turned tail and fled, the Cyndaquil in hot pursuit. Not only was he keeping up, he was catching up. A smile slowly, very slowly spread across Claire's face as a realization hit her, and she stood up once more, dusting herself off in the process. "Zeus, come here. I've a new job for you."
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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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Posted: Sat Jul 07, 2012 3:40 pm
This solo takes place the night before "New Assignments."
It was evening, and the air was deliciously cool. It'd been hot today, but it had cooled off rather nicely, and had enticed a certain Agent and her bird to fly to the city for a while. Claire didn't have any business there, but it would be nice to relax in the park for a while. She was currently sitting on a bench, Zeus snoozing beside her and Odette preening off to the side, when a very odd sight passed them: A rich-looking snob of a girl on a beautiful-looking Rapidash (loaded with saddlebags) and ended with a black Metang carrying yet more bags. From her pretty head down to the brand-name bags carried by her pokemon, this brunette all but oozed wealth, and Claire's violet eyes narrowed appraisingly. Once the girl had rounded the corner, and the seasoned Agent made an educated guess on where her new target would end up. "C'mon Zeus," she muttered quietly as she stood, and the Pikachu looked up. He could sense the sudden change in her demeanor, and suddenly he was wide awake. With a "chu" he jumped up onto her shoulder, and Claire held a hand up to Odette. "Stay there, by those trees." The bird clacked her beak disapprovingly, but moved over to the spot indicated regardless.
That done, the dark-haired Agent quickly but carefully stepped over to the treeline and sneaked, as quietly as she could manage, around towards where she figured the girl had gone. She'd been to this park enough times to know where most of the benched areas were, and there was a nice, quiet little secluded one right around.... there.
And there she was, sitting on the bench with her stuff nearby. She even had out two more lovely pokemon - what looked like a shiny Absol, and a pretty little Umbreon with an expensive-looking collar. Perfect. The idiot even put their pokeballs just on top of her bag, right in the open - it was almost as if she was asking someone to take them. Claire reached a hand up in front of Zeus's face before silently pointing at the bench. "Get me one," she commanded, her voice barely above a whisper, but he heard and understood, and he noiselessly hopped down to the ground to slink forward as quietly as he could manage. Unfortunately, quietly also meant slow.
After what seemed like an eternity, he emerged from the bushes - not without a little noise, but it couldn't be helped - but thankfully the girl stood at that moment and masked any noise he made with her own huffing and not-too-quiet footsteps. He wasn't sure how anyone could stomp in heels, but she managed it somehow... Either way, he froze in place for a few minutes, green eyes staring up at her and poised to make a run for it if she or her pokemon noticed him... But none of them did. Whew.
The Pikachu exhaled silently before he slunk out of the bushes, his belly low to the ground as he crept up to the far side of the bench. He waited for her to turn and walk the other way again, gauging her speed and average time between changing directions - as well as where her pokemon were looking - before he darted up and grabbed the first ball his paw could reach, shoved it in his mouth and high-tailed it back to the bushes. Although he tried to be quiet, he unfortunately made some noise - but luckily just the Umbreon noticed, since there were no other noises or voices. One was fine with him.
It was fine with Claire, too; she'd knelt next to a tree and watched through the bushes so if the girl looked this way, she wouldn't see her. As Zeus returned and dropped the luxury ball into her hand - of course this girl would only use luxury balls instead of regular pokeballs - so the Agent reached her other hand down to stroke his head and ears gratefully as a smile slowly formed on her face. She raised her free hand after a moment and jerked her thumb at her back - the electric-type got the silent hint and jumped up to it and held on - then slowly stood up, but remained sort of crouched so as not to draw any attention to herself. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she half-raised the new ball in her hand, waiting for the girl to be too focused--
With a swift button-press one of the girl's pokemon disappeared into the stolen ball - the Umbreon, it seemed - and as soon as it was Claire turned around and ran through the brush.
"...Anya?"
Was that the Umbreon's name, then? Probabl--
"Anastasia?"
...or maybe it was a nickname. Anastasia was actually a pretty name. No time to think about names at the moment, however; Claire clipped the ball to her belt and continued to weave through the trees, especially since she heard the girl giving chase. It took her a brief moment for her to emerge near Odette, another moment to hoist herself onto the bird's back, and one more for said bird to launch herself into the air with practiced ease. One, two, three flaps and the trio was soaring off over the woods and back to the base. With a glance, Claire didn't see the girl anywhere out in the open, so she was probably still in the wooded area. Ha, idiot. The rich ones were always the easiest to steal from, and seemed too caught up in themselves to even give half a care to their pokemon. Sort of like Artemis - Jasmine too, she supposed, but the Vaporeon was still such an obnoxious nuisance. She didn't count.
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Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2012 2:52 pm
This solo takes place several hours after "New Assignments," sometime in the evening.Hazel eyes stared down at the gauze and bandages wrapped carefully around her injured arm, and the slender fingers of the opposite hand traced along its length very gently. She could barely feel the touch through the bandages and the pain killers they'd given her, but she could still feel the fear, feel the harsh eyes staring at her, feel the fangs sunken into her skin, feel the tug on her arm before he flung her away by it and left deep, bloody gashes in her flesh from his fangs.
She shuddered visibly before she shook her head and frowned at herself, trying to push the thoughts from her mind. She could not -- no, she would not be afraid of that.. that thing. No, he wasn't a thing, he wasn't an it; fear of his gender, fear of him was bad. It was easy to fear an 'it', to dress it up and blow it way out of proportion. No; she would not fear an 'it' and she would most certainly not fear her new Charizard.
Ares.
The name seemed very fitting, in her opinion - Ares was the Greek god of war, after all, and therefore probably was characterized as particularly violent. Just like her Charizard. Lovely.
"Ugh," she huffed as she flopped down on her back on her bed, careful of her arm still. Zeus grumbled and repositioned himself on her bed, briefly annoyed at the disturbance, but Claire paid him no mind. She couldn't just keep sitting here, thinking about him. She had absolutely no desire to see him so soon - she wasn't even sure if she should take him to be healed yet or not, given his behavior; he'd be much easier to deal with when he was already considerably weakened, but at the same time it wasn't.. really fair to him. It wasn't his fault someone had put him in a dark ball and made him so vicious. He was more than likely stolen. He probably liked his trainer. Hell, he may even have loved his trainer, which would explain why he was so inherently angry and murderous.
"No, I'm not going to think about it anymore," she said aloud to no one but herself, as she pushed herself up to a sitting position once more. She had to do... something, anything to take her mind off this. Something productive.
Hazel eyes slid to the luxury ball sitting so prettily on her desk, and in a few brief moments she'd changed, called Zeus, clipped a few balls to her belt and the now violet-eyed agent was gone.
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In no time at all she'd acquired a completely empty training room, had specifically and firmly marked it 'occupied' and shut the door behind her - it wouldn't do for her new acquisition to escape. She didn't expect nearly as much trouble from this one, though; a pampered Umbreon was nothing like a dark, vicious and large Charizard.
Claire shrugged the shoulder that Zeus was on - a silent command he acknowledged and responded to immediately by jumping down and walking next to her as she strode to the middle of the training room. She hesitated only briefly - pampered Umbreon was not vicious murderbeast Charizard - before she pushed the button on the luxury ball.
The beam of white light that arced gracefully across the room ended in a distinctly smaller-than-average Umbreon-shaped creature, and Anastasia opened her bright blue eyes to see the arena floor below her and high walls in front of her. Last she knew she was with Seraphine in the park, but now she was in an arena... That didn't make much sense.. With a growing feeling of foreboding, her ears slicked back as she half-turned--
--to see someone holding her ball who was definitely not Seraphine.
No. No, this couldn't happen! Vahy'n was stolen. Jasmine was stolen. Anastasia did not get stolen -- just... No, no no no this couldn't happen!
With a pathetic, frightened keen the Umbreon backed up against the wall and collapsed in a little heap on the floor, starting to tremble as she stared at this strange person who had her ball. She was dressed like a trainer, but what if she wasn't? Only Team Rocket stole pokemon, right? But she didn't.. No, no....
She couldn't have been stolen....
The agent shifted her weight to one foot as she clipped the ball back to her belt and studied the Umbreon very carefully. It was kind of small; unique coat pattern, probably from a reputable and expensive breeder... Expensive looking collar (were those pink diamonds on it...?), and when presented with such a situation, it didn't seem to be at all capable of handling it besides curling up on the floor. Acceptance? No, certainly not. Fear, in all likelihood. Fear was easier to deal with than aggression. "Zeus," she said, and her violet eyes cast down just in time to meet his raised green ones for a moment, "go say hello."
The electric-type grunted out an indifferent "chu" of acknowledgement before he headed towards the Umbreon against the wall.
What? 'Go say hello?' What did that mean?! It certainly couldn't mean anything good, and Anya's blue eyes darted around as she scrambled to find out her options.
She had none. s**t.
This room had no windows, one heavy-looking (closed) door, one girl that was probably a Rocket even though she didn't look like one, and a pokemon heading towards her. One that quite possibly had plans to hurt her or something. There wasn't really anything she could do... But she had to do something!
With a nervous trill, the dark-type suddenly launched to her paws and darted off down the room, sticking close to the wall to avoid the Pikachu and the stranger. If she could just get to the door, she could try to open it maybe and escape! Once she was out, surely there must be an easy way to the exit from there, right? Right. There had to be. Had to.
Zeus halted and turned to give Claire an exasperated look. There was no way she could bribe him to chase that Umbreon around in circles - no way in hell. Claire rolled her eyes and pulled out a ball and pressed the release, figuring maybe Artemis would --
That wasn't Artemis.
The agent looked down at the ball she'd grabbed that she thought had belonged to her Growlithe - that's where it usually was, anyway - and found a luxury ball instead, a luxury ball that didn't belong to her recently acquired Umbreon.
Jasmine appeared in a brilliant flash of white light - placed neatly between Anastasia and the door, where Claire had planned to situate Artemis - and the dark-type halted immediately before hitting the other Eeveelution. It didn't take but a moment on either side for a swift look of surprised recognition to appear on both - Anya's ears perked up, and Jasmine splayed her fins. The former could all but stare at the spotted pokemon in disbelief.
course it is,> she snorted, wrinkling her nose at the dark-type.
Anya stopped, ears drooping as an awful realization struck her.
the Vaporeon sniffed as she sat down gracefully, her tail curling over her paws as her earrings jingled softly. least she gets me caviar sometimes, but-->
Anya interrupted quickly with a stomp of one paw. She'd forgotten that she didn't like Jasmine in her absence. She paused, staring up at the pale water-type desperately to see if she understood the gravity of the situation.
Jasmine was indeed shocked, but not for the same reasons. Her deep blue eyes were wide in disbelief.
the Umbreon affirmed with a solemn nod.
Jasmine swallowed hard.
Anastasia frowned, ears flicked back.
Anastasia was interrupted by a swift growl from the Vaporeon, whose fins slicked back against her head as she stood, small fangs bared. dare they sell my things?! How dare they!>
course it's what matters!> The water-type suddenly shouted with a furious stomp of her forepaw. a** about that brat of yours or my Mistress - especially if they've sold my things! And the house?! Bah! Forget them; it's much better here,> she said haughtily as she turned her nose up and sauntered over to Claire's side. The agent watched, eyebrows raised in surprise. She hadn't seen such behavior in her Vaporeon since she stole her, and she certainly never sat near her willingly. Jasmine closed her eyes and kept her nose turned up as she sat down again near the Rocket.
Anastasia asked bitterly, nearly trembling. How could she do this? How could she act this way? Was she that ungrateful for everything Adelaide had done for her...? Did she only care about the things Adelaide had bought for her...? After a few brief moments, the dark-type glanced around with a frown before focusing on the Vaporeon again. Her mouth felt dry in anticipation of the answer she knew was coming, but she had to ask the question regardless. She had to know. She had to make sure.
Jasmine replied, curling her tail carefully around her paws.
Anastasia hung her head, her light blue eyes squeezed shut.
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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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Posted: Mon May 06, 2013 12:52 am
Claire sat on the edge of her bed, her elbows propped up on her knees and her upper body hunched forward so she could rest her chin on her palms, her hazel eyes drifting lazily between the pokemon scattered throughout her quarters. Mostly she focused on a specific pair, although the two pokemon weren't resting anywhere near each other. Jasmine lay atop a large cushion with blankets, a set of dishes beside her filled with water and a gourmet pokemon food, looking very smug and pleased with herself; and Anastasia, who was laying underneath the desk, sleeping on nothing and near nothing of her own. The white collar had even been removed from her, unlike the copious amounts of jewelry from the Vaporeon. Oh, Claire had tried to remove it - had succeeded with some of it, in fact, but had given it back as rewards for good behavior. Rewards - that was why the spoiled little water-type had such a high-quality bed and food. The agent liked to reward good behavior sparingly, though it was getting more and more difficult to reward such an incredibly spoiled pokemon. The Eeveelution seemed to be playing the exact same game, except the other way around - whereas Claire had aimed to reward less and less frequently for a behavior, the Vaporeon had performed the action less and less frequently to match the lessened rewards. She didn't want to train, that much was clear, but she would do what she was told up to a certain point, and only if she knew beforehand that she would be rewarded. Except... she seemed to be requiring bigger or more numerous rewards for the exact same actions as before. More payment for the same amount of work - for the same, or less, level of effort. That was completely unacceptable, although Claire hadn't ever had to deal with a pokemon such as this before, and despite having her for quite a long time now, she still wasn't entirely sure how to handle her. She thought she knew, thought she had a good chance to change her and make her useful, but... Perhaps not. Shame, though; she'd put so much time and effort into trying to train the pokemon, and she hated to think it would be all for naught, but honestly, this wasn't the first time she'd considered this pokemon to be just a waste of her time. It was hard to give rewards to such a spoiled, materialistic pokemon, and Jasmine was very obviously happiest when she was lazing about with all of her things...
Anastasia, on the other hand, Claire thought as hazel eyes drifted over to the dark-type under the desk, had never looked even remotely happy. She'd seemed scared, upset, desperate, dejected, and eventually defeated. Oh yes, it had taken her quite a while, but she felt she'd quite broken the Umbreon. She no longer tried to escape during training sessions, and indeed had finally begun to do as she was told. She didn't seem to like it, of course, though she obeyed most of the time. Never enthusiastic or happy or pleased with praise - the dark-type always looked depressed. It almost made Claire feel bad.
Almost.
While Anastasia had been difficult, she definitely wasn't impossible, and she at least showed promise now. Jasmine, on the other hand, had been in her care longer, and showed little. Pitifully little.
The agent's eyes narrowed at the Vaporeon appraisingly for quite a long period of time before she stood and moved to her desk to pick up a luxury ball, pointed it toward Jasmine, pressed the central button, and effectively recalled the water-type into the sphere. Tossing it into the air once and catching it, the agent stepped to the door, opened it, and left with the ball in hand.
She returned about twenty minutes later without it.
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Posted: Mon May 06, 2013 1:35 pm
If the Vaporeon's absence had only lasted several hours, that would have been fine - she herself had been stuck in the labs for a few hours once while they had scanned her with things and drawn blood from her, but the Rocket who held her had come back for her. Claire, she had learned through idle observation, was the girl's name. Claire had retrieved her after several long, agonizing hours. She had begun to think she'd be there forever. That was, however, quite a few months ago, and it only happened once. She'd thought maybe it was Jasmine's turn for such a visit, but the thought immediately brought up a memory, one from when she herself had returned from such a trip, and the Vaporeon had admitted that she, too, had had a similar procedure done shortly after her theft. So if that wasn't it... She had no idea where Jasmine could be, though she tried to stay hopeful. That was hard, though, considering immediately upon the Rocket's return, the girl had picked up Jasmine's bed and shoved it into her closet, and distributed the more expensive food amongst the rest of her pokemon.
If Jasmine's absence had only lasted several hours, and if her things hadn't been effectively given out or locked away, that would have been fine. But, as the hours dragged into days and the days dragged into the better part of a week, the Umbreon had lost hope and had gained a persisting fear and dread over the fate of the water-type. None of the other pokemon even seemed to notice or care, as if Jasmine's disappearance wasn't anything to question or worry over or even consider. When Jasmine had disappeared from her household, all of them had felt it, even Seraphine's newer pokemon who hadn't even known the Vaporeon. They all felt the loss and knew what it meant, they had all tried to search for her, but to no avail. Here, though, none of them even seemed to notice. Or if they had noticed, they very obviously didn't care. Such a realization frightened her more than anything, that a pokemon could just disappear and they wouldn't bat an eye. Maybe it would be different if the missing pokemon was one of their own teammates, but still...
A voice snapped, and effectively ripped the Umbreon from her thoughts and pulling her back to the present. She stumbled a few steps backwards across the training room floor, staring wide-eyed at her temporary assailant. Zeus growled, his ears slicked back.
Anastasia replied unhappily, her ears laying flat against her back as she hunkered herself down lower to the ground.
what?> The electric-type growled, folding his arms across his chest as he glared down at her.
she blurted out without thinking, then immediately sank to the ground once she realized what she'd said and how it was probably unacceptable. At the Pikachu's look of mild surprise and a notable lack of scolding, Anastasia focused her blue eyes on her paws and continued uncertainly,
Zeus started with a snort. useless. So she got rid of her.>
<...she.. got rid of her?> The dread deep down inside her swelled and morphed and took root even more firmly. <..do you know where..?>
the Pikachu said with a shrug, seeming indifferent to her emotions. He paused, then gave her a meaningful glare, <You're not useless, are you?>
A sudden intake of breath marked her realization. If Jasmine had been deemed useless and taken to the labs or to storage, there was absolutely no way to escape from there - from either place. Some of the pokemon she'd seen during her short time in the labs had looked awful and so miserable, she didn't even want to imagine what sort of horrible things they did there... Storage at least sounded a little better, though not by much. Either seemed impossible to escape from, and if she were to ever end up in either location, she would never see Sera again. Anya squeezed her eyes shut, then shook her head a little. Her voice was quiet, but after a few moments she pushed herself to her paws and shook her head more firmly, If she were useless, she would be locked away forever. If she wasn't, then maybe, just maybe, she would have a chance to escape...
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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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