– ProlongedExposure + Humanity for the uninitiated
It had never been a consideration before, that pokémon and humans could be on equal ground in terms of intelligence, progression, personality... anything that an individual may label as 'humanity,' as a definition of what it meant to be human. Pokémon were dumb animals, to serve with labor or entertainment value to those who were on the top of the food chain. It was a man's world, and despite all the power these pokémon possessed, wielders of the elements of the world around them, they were still beneath the ruling hand of their tamers, the people who manipulated the world to their own benefits.
But in a way, at times... that could be considered a better fate. The humans got to take care of the difficult obstacles, solved problems that plagued a multitude of species, and even shared provisions and safety. The pokémon only had to obey and carry out what they were asked to do, under the false guidance that they couldn't make decisions on their own, and life would cease to be anything more than routine.
Not every pokémon had every necessity at their disposal. The magnemite could even go so far as to say he pitied the wild pokémon, who still had to fight to secure the barest minimum of needs. Years ago, Emmerich had been enlisted as a generator in a mechanized factory, and although things could be considered 'boring' most of the time, the tediousness of the tasks provided kept the metallic pokémon from thinking. All he had to do was focus on what needed to be done, and that was that. He didn't want to think; the trains of thought often lead down dangerous tracks. There was no use treading down such paths, worrying about things that couldn't be changed...
Or maybe the trained pokémon, working day-in and day-out, were the true disadvantaged ones. Will, freedom... they were all just words. Concepts, fantasies, but not reality. They were traits that those at the top, those in charge, were capable of owning. It was what separated the humans from the pokémon, for although their minds worked in similar ways, each had alternate ideals. Survival was first and foremost, everything else was mere luxury.
Emmerich knew his thought patterns had changed, caged in the factory for however long he had been. Maybe it was another survival mechanism, triggered to keep flawed emotions out of the equation. To live, no matter how bare-bones the concept ended up being. But now... now this...
Adjusting a makeshift bag so it didn't slide off the edge of the rocking platform he was currently seated on, the magnemite slowly turned a single hand over in midair, studying it. It had been a long while since he was so close to a human before, but this wasn't quite how he imagined he'd be running into one again after such a length of time. He gripped the bag tighter, but leaned into the cargo at his back, giving no further indication of mental conflict. What was he now..?
He remembered finding the star, but at the time he hadn't thought it anything bizarre. It was silver, and it glowed like something might if infused with electricity -- honestly, that was nothing out of the ordinary for the magnemite. True, the discovery of the pretty ornament led to a bit of curiosity, but he was a task-oriented pokémon, and he was on the clock. Litter should be picked up and missing machinery parts should be reported, lest they lead to problems later on.
They didn't recognize him; he didn't recognize himself. Perhaps all talk of the strange appearance of these 'poké-humans' was restricted to the mainland, but the factory was disjointed from the main hub -- the building was an eyesore, after all. If it was not breaking news or weather coverage, the humans running the factory didn't tend to care for it. Despite all lacking reason for his outlandish image, he was seen as a trespassing child, and this was no place for a child; they didn't deal in child labor.
A wry smile appeared at that, as hypocritical as it was: he'd been working there this entire time! The lines were blurred now, though. He was a child with the body of a pokémon when he first started working there, but now that he looked just like one of them, it was taboo. Nothing else had changed but the physical catalyst for the magnemite, everything else remained the same. Humans were such silly creatures, in that respect, so focused on the superficial that they forgot that they were not the only ones with consciousness in this world.
Then again, I forgot that one as well, the magnemite -- the child -- noted. Wrestling with his own will, with thought processes and the ability to act of his own accord... that was going to take a lot of getting used to. He'd already confused himself more than once. It was only when he could relax without the barrage of stimulation that he was capable of untangling the conflictions and figure out what it was he should be doing. Instinct was easy enough to get a hold of, but common sense didn't always agree with what came of it.
He felt the wagon pause at an intersection along the trail. Taking a quick survey of the area caused Emmerich to snatch up what little he was carrying with him and hop off the back of the wooden platform before it started off again, headed in the direction of town. He had gotten permission to hitch a ride, a much more surveillant driver than the magnemite had been anticipating in charge of the vehicle, but he didn't see a need in informing the good Samaritan of his departure. Social graces were another subtle field he was not yet entirely aware of...
It was on a whim that Emmerich decided to start walking from here. There was no destination in mind, and there was no instinct that drove him further in any direction. Well... he wasn't really ready to face a city yet, but a small town might not be too bad. Or maybe seclusion... Many options seemed tempting at the moment, but his strangely flimsy temperament would likely be the deciding factor when it came down to a temporary ultimatum, when such a decision was required.
[[ Word Count: 1,061 ]]
Posted: Tue Dec 24, 2013 1:42 am
– UnaccustomedFrequency + A change in perspective can be as simple as flipping a switch
Perhaps it was good that Emmerich's easily-detracted destination goals were set in a time of Summer weather, for it was rare that they stuck for more than a few days' time. His sense of direction was often reiterated in favor of a random array of points that were never consistent. While the heat of the afternoon could prove to be unbearable at times, the magnemite was quick to learn the value of shade and moving through open areas in the evenings and early mornings. Of course, there was a particular aversion to venturing out into those spaces in general, so the boy consistently found such obstacles as heat affliction to be minimal. Trees were similarly daunting, however, so that was another point to remapping of his directions.
He was, for the most part, unaware of most other weather conditions. Rain frightened him a bit, but his only exposure to the inclement weather was during a short, few-minute timeframe of a light sprinkling, and it didn't offer any information as to what it was. Of course he hid! It reminded him of the mist that was sparked to the side of the boat ride he took to get off his island in the first place, and that wasn't a memory he was very fond of.
There were never very many windows in the factory he had worked at, and Emery could hardly remember what it was like in the wild. Any phases of the seasons were a highly distant memory, forgotten once the data was no longer required for functionality. Regardless, the tiny island didn't have much differences in the seasonal weather aside from temperature changes and finicky sea levels. Emery was usually stationed where the generators were, down below where natural light didn't really reach, but the sun was pretty much similar. Just... warm, though temperature didn't necessarily affect him as a pokémon back then, either.
The new body in itself was much more of a change to get used to; the landscape seemed trivial in comparison. Mild Summer weather wasn't a very large task to overcome, though, so hurdles such as getting used to a revised body structure -- skin, legs... needing to actually eat -- were much more daring obstacles to work past, and that was only a few of the physical aspects...
Gripping a hand at the midsection of his shirt, the magnemite child noted the burning sensation. He was beginning to become familiar with it over the course of time he'd needed to endure in this new form, but it was an entirely alien feeling when he had first felt it. Hunger: it wasn't something a mechanized pokémon often felt, especially when his 24-hour job had worked itself into keeping him fed on its own. Emery didn't need much electricity to keep going, so it was never a problem then... but the human metabolism required more than just electricity as sustenance. In fact, it seemed to cause more of an adverse effect on the magnemite now that he appeared more human than pokémon to the outside world.
Fishing into the small bag he was carrying with him, Emery pulled out a plastic bag that someone had given to him when he was last in town. It seemed impossible to get much of anything there unless people were actually willing to offer the patronage, but then again, money and the bartering system were a foreign concept to the child. He knew, at the very least, that he couldn't just take anything he wanted without repercussions, as it had never been 'okay' to do that even before now. Living life, in some ways, seemed parallel to working a job: one had to earn what they had in life. It seemed that the one that gave him the snack was aware of the fact that Emery was a pokémon first and foremost, though, so there was a little bit of slack on the difficulty of acquiring food this time; that was not something that was an everyday occurrence, as most people simply wrote him off as being some strange kid that really liked pokémon. Strange indeed... With the rare happenstance the encounter was, however, he knew he was going to have to make this stuff last until he could locate something else that could work as food.
'Trail mix,' what an odd name for a food item. Was it specifically for people that traveled, then? He hadn't much time to linger on the thought, though, for in his inexperience at actually consuming such products, he had great difficulty not choking on it.
Once the boy regained his composure, he verified that the bag was securely strapped to his person before scanning the horizon. There wasn't a whole lot out here that he hadn't passed numerous times already -- a sparse scattering of trees, unkempt grass, hardy wildflowers -- but there was some sense of relief to see it repeatedly in such a manner. On the flip side, it made it feel as though Emery was getting nowhere in his venturing. Was there a point to traversing so far from known civilization, if he were hardly able to take care of himself as it was? He wasn't much of a forager, let alone a hunter, and could barely discern whether something was truly edible. Combine that with the fact he knew nothing of the wilderness, or survival on one's own in general, and it felt like he was just biding his time until things turned for the worst.
Reality getting turned on its head made it easy for the child to become overwhelmed. His unstable mental afflictions made that at least doubly so, but so far, he had been pretty successful at masking that part as well. Of course, it was simple to do so when one insisted on traveling alone, and avoided contact with others... It didn't always help, though, and the more he thought on the futility of his efforts, the more the downward spiral started to affect his functionality.
Emmerich was, he knew very well, his own worst enemy. Indecisiveness and an overall lack of enthusiasm annoyed the child, but it was only a matter of time before he found himself not caring about that. About anything. Was there a point to it? If there was, he was no closer to discovering what it was...
Flinching, his attention was derailed in favor of a peculiar sound. No, it wasn't a sound, it was more of a feeling than anything. It was familiar, but... way out here? It didn't make sense...
During his brief time traveling, Emmerich was not unfamiliar to the things that travelers would randomly leave out in the wild. For various reasons -- not having enough room, a lack of usefulness, inconsideration, misplacement -- people traveling by foot or otherwise were prone to leaving items behind. Most of it was merely due to a lack of a garbage disposal, which was unfortunate, but sometimes there were better reasons. Or, at least, that's what the boy had assumed.
"No way..." he huffed, having sprinted to bridge the gap between the abandoned item and himself. Inching closer, he poked and prodded at the device to make sure it was mostly there, unsure if he should be wary or not at what appeared to be, "...a radio?"
Emery knew of these objects, having seen them in use the few times he had been inside the management's office. It seemed the humans liked to keep these on, to play something called 'music' or to be informed by some disembodied voice as to what was going on in the mainland. Gently picking it up and turning it over in observation, the child noted that it still seemed to be more or less intact. "This could be useful..." he murmured, eyes falling on the back where it appeared the previous owners had made off with what had once occupied the battery compartment. That wouldn't be too much of an issue for a poké-human backup generator.
"Ow!" the reaction was jolted out of the magnemite as he dropped the radio back into the grass. An electrical current had sparked between his fingers and the contraption, and in that second, the radio had briefly kicked to life before it was cut off from the power source. Emery's reaction was mostly out of shock, for the instance had been unexpected -- even the smallest amount of pain was unexpected, even if it was not entirely damaging.
As the boy stared at the still figure of the portable radio, a different realization came to pass in the time he took to flex his fingers a few times, a reaction to the power surge tasing his muscles. He wasn't entirely sure if it had happened when he had first noticed the small piece of commercial machinery or when he had been electrocuted from the battery compartment, but the wave of hopelessness had vanished into thin air. It didn't feel like his worries had been justified at all anymore. Why would he just give up when he had so much to live for? Just because there was no visible path at the moment didn't mean there was no adventure on the horizon. It was the journey that mattered, wasn't it? Not the destination itself.
Gingerly picking the radio up again, the young pokémon was almost afraid that such crushing emotion would spout up again, just as quickly as it had disappeared. How long did that mean he had? How drastic would his actions become? He didn't like thinking, not like this... but he'd never had so much time at his disposal before. Without the constant efforts to get his goals accomplished, those set by others, there was just too much breathing space.
His hands had gotten more shaky, but he busied himself by strapping the radio handle to a strap to his side with the bag. He wasn't scared at all... he wasn't... The tips of his fingers hit the knob at the front and, upon turning the dial, he sent the small device a bit of juice.
Help me...
He caught a breath and held it, as though nervously awaiting a return response to his silent plea. It was mostly static that emerged from the low-tuned speakers, but the magnemite thought he heard the briefest of murmurings underneath the sharp sound. It was strangely comforting.
Premise: One can meet the most interesting of people when one is charged with petty theft. Interesting and angry.
- - -
Roleplay: Under spoiler
Lirilei Pyry was off on another one of his little training exercises...if it could technically be called that. He wasn't on the mountain today at any rate. Nope, today he was off, and on a little mission.
Bells.
He loved bells. He didn't know why he did...but he did. They sounded so pretty when they rang! He had a preference for the smaller higher toned ones but he did have several larger deeper sounding ones which were also quite nice.
Even so, he wanted more. He'd lost a few recently and had decided more were in order and had made the trip off the mountain on the hunt. Escher had brought him his previous bells...so it had been a trial to find where to buy them, but he had prevailed and was now walking back with a small container of bells. The lid was on snug but he was able to shake it and hear it rattle.
This simple thing had a bright smile on his face, and naturally bright eyes even brighter. That was until some adult went running past in a hurry he imagined...and he found himself eating pavement, almost literally. His bells went flying and he gasped in horror as the lid popped open...and his bells went flying all over.
This would not do!
Picking himself up he ignored the aches from the fall and began to scramble to pick them up, scouring the area...counting as he went...and coming up very, very short.
MoogerMint In all his few weeks' time on his own, Emery had yet to find a balance that he was truly satisfied with. Traversing through what was equivalent to an alien world came with its own curiosities and, unfortunately, little time to adapt without something unknown appearing. It was a slow road, but there was some progress over time... in such small doses that it was difficult for the magnemite-child to really notice.
Luckily, he was a little more focused today, so the depressive thoughts remained at bay for the time being. His left hand rested at the front of the portable radio, strapped to his side and turned on to the static it was able to pick up at the moment. The volume was turned down, but without the use of any headphones, his movements were anything but silent. Not that he was really trying to be careful about the noise -- it was his first time heading into town in a while, and he wasn't exactly bashful about it. True, he often got weird looks, but how quick that was to be identified as the norm. He was just glad to be in a more populated environment, even though the child knew that he would quickly regret that decision in a matter of days. Preferences were much like a yo-yo, and seemed to be toyed with by some outside force in much the same way.
Despite the white noise preoccupying Emery's ears, he was still able to pick up the sound of a soft, high-pitched and metallic noise nearby. Dual-toned eyes scanned the rough terrain at his feet, noting that there were some individuals off in the near distant but ignoring their presence for now. It seemed something was reacting to the electric-type in much the same manner as the radio seemed to, but in a more audible manner. Of course curiosity was piqued!
It wasn't until the boy stumbled nearly on top of it did he spot the tiny bell on the floor, having nudged the instrument with a foot. Retrieving it in a hand, he rolled it over and held it to the light of the day. "Hello, what are you now?" he asked the object, smiling slightly when it made another chime with its careful momentum. It wasn't very frequently that he ran into something that was both metal and intriguing! However, he failed to connect the points between it and the upset boy with the box none too far away from his stead.
Lirilei How many were missing…too many. Too many. He looked around, blue eyes scanning the ground, one found in a sidewalk crack and he scrabbled at it with urgency before finally getting it up. That was one less he had to find. He continued to look, noticing people walking nearby, but he didn’t pay too close of attention at first.
A cry of dismay came from him as he watched one get run over by a car and become a shiny pancake, the cry was echoed seconds later as he watched another get kicked down a storm drain in the gutter. He couldn’t get that one now either. His poor bells!
The lid was clamped down tightly and he held the container to his chest protectively while he continued to search only to blink at the boy standing there. He was a strange looking boy, but he had no room to talk he knew. He didn’t look like a human boy what with the multi-colors to him. But what really caught Pyry’s attention was the fact he was holding one of his bells!
Quickly he scrambled to his feet, and he inhaled sharply, obviously unhappy that this kid had one of his bells…and was looking at it like that! He could feel his body growing colder with the anger he was feeling and he fought to keep things in check as his eyes narrowed and he began to stomp over to the other…only to stop the moment he felt a pain in his leg from the fall. Stomping was out then.
Still he walked to the other eyes narrowed and a very clipped “That’s mine!” came from him, though it wasn’t as sharp as it could have been…or as sharp as he’d intended. It was actually semi tremulous. It was his. He just hated confronting people!
MoogerMint The magnemite eased the volume further down with the dial on the front of the radio, a barely audible whisper of sound now. He didn't trust himself with the sound off completely yet, still precarious but determined enough to do something. With the electrical noise hushed, Emery was able to catch the sound of the bell much clearer. He'd heard racket similar before, but they tended to be synthetic sounds coming from a speaker, or the blaring of a horn. This tiny thing didn't give off such a sense of urgency with its clearer sound, but rather, it was a bit more uplifting. Strange indeed!
Seeing the movement out of the corner of his eye near his current position, Emery's eyes flicked up to meet the boy. He wasn't going to assume what the other child wanted, but he was able to make an educated guess before anything was spoken. Toying with the small chime, he continued to roll it around, magnetized to his hand so he didn't accidentally drop it as he tried to read the icy boy better.
It was possible he had a silly grin on his face, but he wasn't aware of it. The metal-patched poké-child could tell that this other boy was not a normal citizen of the town -- who wouldn't have been able to tell that? There was a ghostly light emanating off from the snowflake-child, tempting Emery to ask about it. This other kid was in a similar situation as he was, wasn't he?
The demand caught Emery off-guard, though, and in reaction, his attention was back on the indicated bell. "Is it?" he asked, slightly disappointed. Was that all he wanted? Well, as soon as he handed it over, that would be the end of it... and to be honest, he kind of liked the attention. He took a few steps back, as though taunting, "Hm, can you prove that this is yours?" He wasn't here when the accident happened, so there was no eyewitness alibi.
Lirilei He watched the boy playing with his bell his bell! rolling it in his hand and grinning at it…that smile made him made…you didn’t smile at his bell like that! Okay so he knew his thinking was irrational and all…but honestly he’d barely gotten to enjoy the bell, or even add it to his collection. He’d lost two for good, and he still had a bunch missing…and now this kid was grinning at his bell?! The nerve!
Though his ire started to vanish the moment he heard the disappointment in the others voice. Oh… he liked the bell? Well…maybe he could probably part with this bell if it kept the other from sounding kind of sad….maybe it would even kind of make him smile…which would be a good thing he thought. He’d just opened his mouth to tell him he could keep it when suddenly he was backing up and with his bell!
“Prove it?” he repeated and it took him a moment to recall the box of bells he was clutching and he pulled his hand away from his chest and gave it a shake metal clinking and tumbling against metal, the various pitches of the bells muffled by the lid, and carefully he opened the lid up and shook the box again, the sounds louder, clearer.
“See?”
So many bells. He had to have had a good two dozen at least…not including the ones he’d dropped! He’d not found a good half dozen or more after the fall and he was thinking he wouldn’t. At this point, he was more focused on the boy who was holding the bell hostage!
MoogerMint Emery wasn't completely oblivious to the way the ice-type appeared to be feeling, his unsureness to the whole situation, but the magnemite opted to act more selfishly despite it. It didn't look like the cryogonal got out and about much, at least around other people, and for that he could feel a bit of sympathy. However, it was exceptionally rare that another chose to approach the walking generator of a pokémon, and he wanted to milk it for all it was worth. Though... burning bridges right off the bat like this probably wasn't the smartest move he'd ever made...
He hesitated at the thought, coinciding with the ice-boy's parroted question and taking another step back. He didn't know what to expect from the box, but as soon as the cryogonal fumbled with the lid of it, it was apparent that it wasn't dangerous. Cautiously, Emery peered in to see the contents before swiftly backing up again -- he didn't want to get to close, at least yet.
Ringing the bell again, he shook his head, "How do I know you didn't just steal all those?" Not that he was doing anything better, but finders keepers, right? At least temporarily -- it was never his intention to keep it, only to lead the other boy on for as long as he could. Teasing, testing the lines, how much until Emery became too annoying to deal with?
Flinching, his movements stopped as he caught the sound of another bell none too far off, reacting to Emery's unintentional magnetic fluctuations; he wasn't focusing as well as he could have been. Were they really that scattered? Offering Pyry a quizzical look, the magnemite dropped the act with little warning, "What happened, did you throw them or something? They're all over the place..."
Lirilei It was true, Pyry was sort of uneasy about the other having his bell, and well who could blame him really. Well plenty of people could maybe, given he wasn't being very mature as far as his attachment to bells was going. Still, he was remaining calm. Calmer than he had been scurrying about for them anyhow!
"Steal?" Oh his eyes widened at the thought and he shook his head from side to side sending his hair flying. "Oh no, no, no! Mister Escher wouldn't like that at all! No, I bought those for myself just a little bit ago!" he was shocked someone would think him capable of stealing! Then again the boy didn't really know him, but still! To equate him with a common thief!?
The sudden shift in behavior was startling to him and he blinked in surprise, jerking the bells a little closer to himself and nearly sloshed some out of the container. "No...I sort of got pushed into and I fell and my container of bells dropped and opened...and away they went." he sighed softly then. Though thinking about the fall he checked the palm of a hand and idly rubbed the slightly raw and red flecked hand on his pants. "Been trying to find them all...one got smushed...one went down a drain...the others..." he shrugged with a frown.
MoogerMint The first inclination Emery had at the mention of a 'Mister Escher' was believing that the other boy was referring to a trainer -- he'd never heard of another pokémon's name attached to such title formalities. He wouldn't have even known what a legendary pokémon was, as a matter of fact, even if told. Heck, even his perception of what a trainer was was skewed. Perhaps if he knew that, his perception of the ice-type would have been much different, but he was under the impression that, due to such 'normal' living arrangements, this other poké-kid must have been better acquainted with how the world worked out here. If that hadn't been the case, Emery likely wouldn't have continued on with such a barrier.
However, barrier or not, there were still a few routes open for the magnemite to converse, things he would have said regardless. "Bought?" ...and then there were things he blurted out before thinking it over. Tossing the captured bell into the air before securing a grip over its entire surface, he pressed on with an indicated pinky to the box clutched so tightly, "Your trainer gave you the money to buy that stuff yourself?" It was amusing to see the mild freakout the cryogonal exibited at the notion of being called out on stealing, giving a light laugh at it, "Chill out, I'm not judging you. I don't care if you stole these or not." There was still that lilt of a taunt, as though he were expecting the wisp of a child to continue defending the fact he was not a thief, but it was fading from his voice.
Before Pyry had fully responded to him, Emery moved himself closer to the sound of the missing bell, sidestepping as cue to indicate that he was still listening. Pulling back a few stray pieces of litter, he rolled another bell out from under a slightly soggy piece of cardboard. Once identified, he swiped it up and returned to where he was standing while conversing with this strangely obsessed poké-child. "Did they at least say they were sorry or something?" the magnemite asked with a frown. While it may have been strange for someone who was acting the brat moments prior to be outwardly concerned, Emery didn't feel that was right. It was one thing to play, even mean-spirited playing, but that wasn't anything but just plain mean. Semantics aside.
Lirilei "Uh-huh...bought. With money Mister Escher said I earned for good behavior, and learning well, and a bunch of things. He said it was a good way to learn how to take care of myself and be responsible and stuff."
"Trainer? Mister Escher isn't a trainer! He's a Palkia! He's a great Pokemon!" he was so full of pride where Escher was concerned! "He saved me when I was a little pokemon and took me in and has been raising me and teaching me ever since up on our mountain! He's Mister Escher, greatest of all the great pokemon!" there was such conviction in his voice, it would be hard to dispute the fact the boy thought very highly of Escher!
"Chill out?" puzzled at the expression and he did begin to let ice crystals form over his skin, the temperature around him dropping quickly. "Like this?" how puzzled he sounded as he tipped his head curiously.
"No...no apologies. Got told to watch where I was going...and I was watching perfectly fine. I was looking ahead knowing I was leaving down to begin the walk back to the mountain. I think he was the one not looking if you ask me." He watched as the other pulled aside the litter and his eyes lit up. "Another bell!" he beamed pleased to see another had been found...and of all things he peered up at the other. "Well....since you found those two...you can keep them. I have a whole box...plus the others back home..." he figured he could spare a few...
About then he was startled beyond all reason as a large truck moving through town pulling its horn as someone nearly cut it off, and being so close to the two poke-children it was loud...and not a sound he was used to. There was a yelp from Pyry and the hand holding the bells flailed sending the bells flying all over while the other hand suddenly jutted out and ice formed on his hand, and he yelled again, this time shards of ice being hurled away from him and towards the truck. Before he realized it wasn't something attacking. Still, the shards went wide and came to rest in the ground beside the truck. He lowered his arm sheepishly...only to reailze he'd lost hold of the box entirely.
"Oh no my bells!"
MoogerMint The concepts that Pyry was speaking of, of an allowance and permission to prowl the city, were quite foreign to the young magnemite. While he was beginning to understand the concepts of 'money' in this world, it was a very fuzzy kind of knowledge, born more out of slight observation and logical puzzle solving than it was out of experience. But for a pokémon to earn a living in that sort of manner... this 'Mister Escher' didn't tell the snowy child that having a roof over his head and a meal to eat was payment enough? Or did Pyry just accomplish a lot more around the house than Emery ever did in the factory he used to be stationed in?
It was all very confusing... and he would have said as much, had it not been for the fact that something more completely alien appeared amid the explanations, "What's a palkia?" Was that a job title? But Pyry said that Mister Escher was a pokémon, and pokémon didn't have job titles, as far as he knew. Regardless, it was ridiculously obvious how devoted this bell-wielding child was to the other pokémon, so maybe he shouldn't ask any more, for fear of looking too outlandishly uneducated. Well, more than he already had, at least. Mister Escher sounded like an interesting individual, to say the least!
Emery's eyes widened when he realized that Pyry was taking his phrasing literally, the temperature in the immediate area suddenly taking a nosedive. He flinched slightly, fighting off a shiver as he exclaimed, "No, that's not what I meant... but that's so cool! Are you an ice-type?" Yes, it was obvious he had never met too wide a variety of pokémon...
It was surprising to note how talkative the cryogonal grew once the subject veered from subjects less touchy. In fact, it seemed it was once subjects focused less on the child himself, much how Emery tended to feel... or maybe that was just the magnemite struggling to find common ground in all this confusion, there was really no telling at this point. Idly toying with the bells in his hands, it was more out of a touch of nervousness than to tease. However, once Pyry allowed Emery to keep them, he quickly held them out in relinquishment, "No that's okay! They're yours; you bought them."
The metallic child was getting mildly fidgety, having both the sudden urge to retreat from the conversation and stick around to see everything through until he was sure things were all right. Before he could voice one way or the other, though, the sudden appearance of the truck knocked all retained thought out of him. Emery wasn't unused to seeing large hauling trucks, but the startling way it drove past paired with Pyry's panic jostled his handle on his magnetic energy to slip slightly. In the rush, his attention was toward the point of possible-danger, cutting off the surrounding noise from reaching him; the radio tied to his side crackled angrily in protest to deaf ears. It hadn't long to reduce volume down to it's nearly-silent noise before Emery reacted out of instinct at the sight of the bells attempting escape, raising steady amplitude as the magnemite attempted to keep the rolling bells from progressing further distance. He was magnetic, after all, and could stop the metal chimes from movement if he concentrated hard enough. "Quick, get them back in the box before they start moving again!" Emery directed, staying stationed for better concentration. There were a lot of them, so he wouldn't be able to keep this up very long.
Lirilei If Pyry had been privvy to Emery's internalizing he'd have explained things as best as he could to ease the other boys confusion, but as he was not, he could not, so he had no idea the other was somewhat baffled by things.
"A Palkia...well...big huuuuge dragon Pokemon! I know he can do some pretty neat things but he's never really told me what and I don't ask. I know he's busy a lot and there's some Rayquayza's that like to try causing me and him trouble...mostly Mister Escher."
"Oh...it's not?" he was surprised that wasn't what the other had meant and he blinked at him curiously. "I didn't know that sorry..." and he gave a sheepish smile. "Yeah, I'm a Cryogonal. Or was one...now I'm well...me...this..." and he waved a hand to himself. "What about you? I can tell you're like me...a pokemon that found one of those stars and changed and stuff...but I can't tell what pokemon you were. Though you look really cool!" he liked the bi-colored look the other had, after getting used to it a little.
There was utter surprise on his face as the other thrust his hand out with the bells, and he frowned. "Oh...well....okay. You seemed sorta sad they were mine so..." he shrugged lightly and reached for the bells, having dropped them into the box just before the little truck fiasco.
Pyry was glad he hadn't been looking at the truck or he'd have hit it he knew. Still, he was amazed at what the other was doing and his hand fell to his side as his jaw dropped. "Wooooow! That's so cool!" there was genuine appreciation for this little talent of the others.
"Oh, oh right! Okay!" he began to scurry then, quickly going around to pick up as many of the bells as fast as possible, though he felt he wasn't moving fast enough for the other boy!
MoogerMint Emery's eyes went wide at the quick description of what a palkia was; if it hadn't been for the fact that the snowy boy was so excited about sharing such information about his employer, he might have been a bit more intimidated. He'd never exactly met a dragon-type before, but they sounded like they were a dangerous breed all on their own! In all honesty, though, the curiosity outweighed the tension. "What sort of neat things can he do?" he asked curiously, though wasn't about to pry about it. Tilting his head slightly, he added, "And what's a rayquaza..?" He sure was chock full of questions!
Pyry was definitely a strange kid... strange and baffling, but somehow charming in his own way. Maybe it was that sincere apology paired with the meek smile, but it just seemed so ridiculously out of place! "You don't have to apologize, I didn't even know you could do that!" he snickered; didn't he just say that was cool? He gave a frustrated-sounding huff at Pyry's explanation of what he was, but there was still a smile on his face to counteract any misunderstanding, "You're still a cryogonal! I still consider myself a pokémon, even if the humans don't." Not that he really ever saw a cryogonal before, either, but he could say he'd seen one now! While the thought of talking about himself would normally be enough of an aversion for him to leave, the questions being asked of him were less personal than what tended to rub him wrong. "The star did this?" he asked; he had suspected as much, but knowing it was the same sort of ornamentation that transformed them had him surprised, "Oh, um... thanks, I guess. I'm a magnemite." The sudden bashfulness, wrought by the complimenting, was not expected. What did the cryogonal mean? There was nothing cool about him!
"Sad?" the metal child jolted. That wasn't it, he was just being a selfish jerk! What was it this other kid was seeing? He didn't feel confrontational about the difference in views about it, but he wanted to know what Pyry meant. Was he actually sad? Emery didn't know... he wanted to say that he knew, but the mind was a strange and foreign frontier. He wasn't brash enough to think he was more correct than anyone else. He just knew how to power a building and work a radio, that was all. And taunt, apparently. Without thinking of the repercussions, as he watched the bells return to their rightful place the magnemite prodded, "Are you a psychic type, too?" No, he was still on the fence about whether Pyry knew any different, but it might not have sounded that way.
As impressed as Emery was for Pyry's ability at staving off a moving truck, he was a little preoccupied in mentioning anything to the effect once he had heard the dismay in the ice-boy's voice. They were actually having fun, as absurd as that sounded, so why sully it with that sort of sadness again? It sounded like things were hard enough today, and since there was actually something Emery could be of use with, then why not? Usefulness had been, of course, a little lacking these past weeks... Watching as the cryogonal began picking them up, Emery inched near the box and toppled it over with a foot so that it was lying on its side, the top as close to facing the scattered pile as he could manage at the moment, "Just slide them in, it'd be faster that way. I can help better once there's less of them on the ground." This kid was actually pretty silly, when he wasn't angry or depressed!
( Continued in next post )
Posted: Tue Dec 24, 2013 1:48 am
Sound Rim post 2
Lirilei Pyry would have probably giggled if he knew that Emery thought of Escher as his employer. He was in a way one could suppose, but he was certainly so much more than that! "All I know is it's something to do with space...and traveling through it. He said it's hard to explain." and he did believe that! There was a lot Escher taught him that was hard to understand.
"Rayquayza's are dragons too. There's two that come around a lot...well one more than the other...Jormungandrr is a meany. Always trying to start fights with Mister Escher and taunting me. I don't like him. I don't really know what they can do but they think they're better than Mister Escher." oh how he glowered then! He was not impressed with the twins!
There was a nod of understanding then and he smiled. "I don't see many people and some of the ones I do think I'm just some strange kid dressed up in...what was that word one used....cause-play?" he shrugged then. He didn't know what "cause playing" was, but whatever.
"Uh-huh. Mister Escher told me a little about the conversation he had with Miss Venka and some others. We had though it was the star I found and they confirmed it." he stared at the other with a bright smile. "Ohh a magnemite! I've never seen one of you before. I really like your hair..." and here he got a little closer. "And your eyes! They're two different colors woooooow" he was truly awed by this!
"Uh-huh. You sounded dis...dissap....sad." he couldn't wrap his mouth around that word properly to get it out. He laughed at being asked if he was a psychic type and shook his head with something akin to a giggle. "Me? Noooo. I'm just an ice type! Why are you a psychic type!?" he was wide eyed again in fascination.
"Oh! Okay!" he beamed and began to scoop the bells into the box, grinning up at the other. "You're right! This does work better mister magnemite sir who's name I don't know!"
MoogerMint Something to do with space? While it may have been different if he was more knowledgable about outer space at all, Emery's thoughts instead redirected him to the correct path. "So he's a traveler? Or..." he started, shaking his head to cut himself off. No, if they were amazing powers, it would have been more than that! Regardless, it was entirely unexpected to hear of such a young ice type hanging around so many dragon types, or maybe it just seemed that way considering they seemed to be more on the uncommon end of the spectrum. With the way Pyry had been acting earlier, shrouded in that shy yet possessive air, Emery wouldn't have guessed that he had been around the 'mean' variety of individuals so often. Unless maybe they were also his superior, that could make a bit of sense... "The rayquazas think they can do that space stuff better than your boss can?" he attempted a guess, falling a little short of breaking free of his self-inflicted box's walls. It was difficult to imagine such a radically different lifestyle when the magnemite had never experienced much normality himself. Not that this sounded remotely normal, either...
"Heh, I know how that goes," Emery agreed wryly. He'd had his own fair share of encounters with the human populace, but in such a body type, they always seemed to assume that he was human first and foremost, just because the physique directed attention that way. With a sigh, he shrugged, "I don't know what it means, either; it's some other weird human-term. They're kind of selfish, aren't they? I think they trust their eyes too much, on how we look. I mean... I've never seen a human who could do half as much as a pokémon!" Of course, now he was sounding more like a 'selfish pokémon,' but he didn't feel like he was in the wrong!
It was kind of amusing, to be hearing all these unfamiliar names and species from such an excitable pokémon. Truthfully, he didn't know which were names and which were pokémon species anymore, but figured they'd be rather interchangeable at this point anyway. "So they did some research on the star..?" his question was hesitant -- he wasn't exactly sure he liked this new life, but also was not sure whether he should probe about it. Did he want to be angry? No... maybe he could stave that part off.
Once the conversation was directed more towards himself, who he was, Emery grasped at anything that might help him steer the conversation in a different direction. Maybe towards the little cryogonal some more, but he really did seem truly interested. He ran a primary-colored hand through his hair in a partial attempt to cover it when it was indicated, "Well I... kind of preferred... to be a magnemite..." he murmured, resisting the urge to pull away as Pyry took a step nearer. He did freeze, though, and after a moment, Emery realized that that was precisely the chance he needed to change the subject, "I dunno, I think glowing eyes are way more unusual!" There was a nervous smile at that, but he really did like the nifty will o' wisp look!
Emery's expression grew into a bit of a worried frown. Glancing down, he flexed a hand as he tried to find a way to explain the disappointment that had been heard in his voice. It was kind of difficult, he soon realized, to put explanation to something he didn't fully comprehend either, though. He wasn't sad, he was just... "You're not mad about be trying to take them from you?" ...he didn't know how to explain he was irrationally trying to tick Pyry off merely for attention's sake! However, it seemed to have paid off, and for the better -- the cryogonal was talking with him more willingly than if he was still holding his bells for ransom. He snorted out a laugh at the question as to whether he was a psychic type, "If I was a psychic type, you wouldn't be getting all these questions from me! Heh, no... electric and steel, nothing more. Ice type, that's got to be interesting. What's that like?" If nothing else, he certainly hadn't been expecting to run into an ice type way out here, in this dingy town!
Watching as the cryogonal-boy attempted to quickly plow the bells back into the overturned box upon instruction, Emery only remained stationary for as long as he deemed it necessarily. As soon as the majority of the bells were back within their confines, he focused his magnetic capabilities onto the stragglers and off of the congregation so he could roll them back in the box. It was much easier to do so when there were only a few lying about, for using a generalized magnetic field always seemed to lead to problems. The crackling radio was a current testament to that one... The makeshift title that he was given from the gleeful boy with the box had him stumble slightly in surprise; if he had not been engrossed in concentrating on his abilities, he likely would have laughed! "You could have just asked!" he coughed out, the prying laugh evident with his smile, "It's Emery. Well... Emmerich, but people never really used my full name. What's yours?" 'Mister'... that was never something he expected to be attached to him.
Lirilei Pyry gave a smile and a slight shrug "I don't know exactly what he does and I don't remember what he did when he found me. I was sort of in shock at that point." he scuffed his foot on the ground slightly, a wry look given. He didn't want to get into that moment just then, really.
"Maybe...its more they think they're better than everyone, that they're gods and stuff...and everyone else is beneath them. They and Escher don't get along at all, not that Mister Escher hasn't tried they just refuse." a shrug given then. He didn't understand the issues.
There was a smile at Emery's words and a nod. "I don't deal with them too often....usually when I want some more bells. I lose them a lot...and I live on a snowy mountain so I can't get them easily when I do lose them." he didn't like losing his bells! "You're right, some are really selfish, like the one who ran into me earlier." that had been pretty mean!
"Miss Venka had been looking into them, and called a meeting with Mister Escher and they discussed things, along with that rude rayquayza though why they bothered I don't know. It seems he interrupted things quite a bit." he shrugged some. "But I guess it finds pokemon randomly...and sometimes its good...I wanted to change...I wanted to be more helpful to Mister Escher and now look at me! For others its not as helpful I've heard." he recalled the Keldeo's stories!
"You did? Wooow...I've never met anyone who was happier before the change. I was so scared when Mister Escher found me and saved me. I almost died like the rest of my family...." his voice tapered off but he blinked eyes widening in surprise at the other mentioning his eyes. "You think so? Oh, thank you!" he beamed suddenly it lighting up his whole face.
"Mad? Oh no, not mad at all no. I think you were trying to be playful weren't you? You don't seem mean after all, you seem very nice in fact." there was a decisive nod from Pyry as he said that. "It's not bad...it's not fun when it's too hot or sunny though, and I don't like being near fire types. They really scare me." he shuddered some then.
"It's nice to meet you Mister Emmerich sir! I'm Pyry!" he pronounced it slowly, it rolling off his tongue like 'Purr-eeee'. "Mister Escher said it's in...Finish! A human language! It means blizzard or snowstorn." he grinned then, and snow began to kick up around him a little, a few flakes landing on him and blowing towards Emery. "You can just call me Pyry, no misters needed!"
MoogerMint As interesting a story as Pyry's hinted history may have been, Emery knew where to call it quits with the prying. It seemed a touchy subject, and when he thought about how much he himself wouldn't want to divulge his own past, he reeled the conversation back a step or two to avoid it, "So it was enough to help you get through some tough times... I can see how that could be considered pretty powerful!" As well as mysterious, no doubt!
"Gods, huh..." Emery mused on the idea, but was as much at a loss as Pyry seemed to be. Truthfully, he didn't know what the difference was -- they were all pokémon, weren't they? So why the macho act? Of course, this only led the magnemite's mind back to the difference between pokémon and humans... quite ironic, to be certain! He grabbed at his vest and wrinkled his nose, "If they really think they're gods, then why didn't they turn into this form instead? Humans think the very same things." As adverse as the child was growing towards the human populace, he still felt as though they outclassed him, even if they now thought he was one of them... It was interesting to discover that most pokémon actually preferred these new forms, but in Emery's vehemence, he couldn't see the positive side, as stuck on his current bias as he was. "I suppose... in some ways, having hands can be helpful..." he admitted after a moment, holding them up to glance at them again. He didn't used to need them, though, so why not just stay the way he had been? Ignorance truly was bliss, at times.
Blinking, he frowned slightly, more out of amused disbelief than anything else, "Bells? So... what's so important about the bells anyway. Do they do something important?" Well at least now he knew what they were called! He laughed as Pyry brought up the man who had knocked the box of bells from his clutches and nodded, "Yeah, that's a good example!" He had been thinking of something a little less obvious than that, but it was fitting nonetheless!
There was a minor flinch at Pyry's amazement to realize Emery didn't really like his new form, worried that he was perhaps missing something that everyone else seemed to understand with little effort. Was it really so strange that he didn't like being so much more human? What was it that he wasn't seeing? Before he could struggle much further with the confusion, his attention latched back onto the return reminiscence of the cryogonal's past. Death? That was... quite a bit different than what he had been expecting to hear out of such a story, from such a happy-go-lucky child of a pokémon. No wonder this Escher guy was so revered... "No wonder you wanted to be less pokémon, if that's the case. Planning revenge?" he inquired, not seeing the problem with asking such a question. It seemed logical, but considering Emery hadn't dealt with such hard-hitting loss outside of his own being, there was less to correlate with -- it might have been what he chose to do, in Pyry's shoes!
"Mm-hmm!" the magnemite-boy affirmed his statement about the icy-boy's eyes, fiddling with his vest a bit distractedly, "Your eyes are really pretty!" Nope, didn't see anything wrong with that statement, either, and in fact caught himself staring when he saw Pyry's eyes glow more intensely in his exuberance, "Oh woah, I didn't know you could make them glow brighter like that! Do they help you see in the dark better, too?" Oh he could keep going on and on with the questions in his distraction, at this rate.
"Eh? You... seriously..?" Emery sputtered, knocked speechless by Pyry's quick grasp on the situation. He... he didn't need to explain his motives at all? "Th-That's exactly it, how did you know? You seemed pretty upset before, I thought for sure you'd be mad, thinking I was trying to steal them from you or something!" he gaped, amazed. It took him a bit longer before he could regain his composure on the subject as the direction was altered, "You don't like fire types because you're an ice type?" It was curiosity that had him going again; he didn't seem to have a distaste based on pokémon type, but... the opposite... maybe it was something similar. He grinned then, "Well good thing I'm not a fire-type, then!"
Directing the last few bells back into the box, he held them in place until Pyry was able to secure the lid on the top, or at least about-face the opening upward. "Mister?" Emery repeated, turning his attention, "You don't have to call me that, either, it makes me feel like I'm suppose to be older than you!" He took another glance at Pyry's form to verify that they did, indeed, look to be about the same age. That was really all he had to go by, though. "Py-ry... it's a nice name!" he smiled, "It means something? How did you find that out?" How interesting! Was there some sort of hidden meaning to every name? Emery thought it was merely a matter of what sounded good... but then, he wasn't the one to pick out his own name. What an intriquing prospect to consider, if that were the case!
Lirilei There was a nod from Pyry then a light smile given. "Yeah....I thought I was going to die too...but he saved me....so I don't really remember much about what he did or how he did it...just that I'm here now." it was hard to remember the first moment Escher had appeared and what he had done he'd been scared out of his mind after all.
"I don't know honestly. Mister Escher says at least one of them wants a star pretty badly but hadn't found one. I found one by accident really." he shrugged some. "I'm not sure how it works, or even where they come from. They just sort of...do..." he gave a smile and a nod at the others comment on hands. "I like having them. I can move things around easier now, which is helpful."
There was a pleased giggle from the boy and he shook his head in amusement. "Noooo. They don't do anything special, except make me happy. I like bells a lot. They sound happy and bright especially when you have a lot together."
"Revenge? Oh no...Mister Escher took care of them...protected me...fire dogs. I don't know what they were...different kinds of them though. I was partially melted when Mister Escher saved me. It's just nice knowing I can't melt now even if I don't really like hot places or fire even now."
He felt his face go a bit warm at the compliment, and he smiled brighter. "Thank you, thats probably the nicest thing anyones ever said to me!" he gave a nod at the question. "I see very well in the dark, and in the snow and helps others to see me like a beacon."
"You're acting different now...helpful and really nice and asking questions...which tells me you weren't trying to be mean before, you were being playful and you were smiling. I've seen others act like that...people and pokemon both and it's meant to be fun and stuff." he smiled, glad he got it right.
Pyry moved to sit down on the curb then tired of standing for the moment and shook his head. "No....I mean thats probably part of it and I might have always had a distaste...but watching fire dogs chase down me and my family....and my parents and siblings die...and come close to it myself...it's pretty scarring. I try to avoid fire pokemon as much as I can. The few times I've not been able to, I freeze up...and not in a helpful way but scared they'll kill me. I panic....it's part of why I stay on the mountain with Mister Escher, but he likes me to train...to get used to being down off the mountain and around others...and..." he sighed in slight agitation. "I try...it's hard but I try...and it's very good you're not a fire type! I probably would be crying honestly I get that scared."
"Oh...well if you don't want me to call you mister, then Emmerich it is! Unless you prefer Emery?" hey he wanted to make sure! "Mister Escher told me the meaning. I can always ask him what yours means and if I see you again I can tell you!" why not?
MoogerMint He was quiet when Pyry opted to speak a little about his past -- at least, what little he could recollect. It sounded pretty painful, and in direct correlation, Emery didn't think he could relate well enough to say anything worthwhile. Well, except for one thing, at least, which helped to drive his words further, "Maybe it's a good thing that you don't remember what exactly happened, even if it was your first time meeting him. Maybe in time you would be able to forget all the bad stuff, too, so they don't scare you as much." Not that that was very good advice, but from one unknowledgeable in the area of suppression, it seemed to make sense.
Emery snorted at that, "They could have taken mine..." But that sounded a little too bitter to continue the conversation topic at the time, so he shook his head a little, as though he was saying, "Forget it, that was a bad joke." It was interesting, sure, but he didn't know what the point would be of all these what-if scenarios. "What's past is past, I guess. If neither one of us had to look for a star to find it, maybe they're just trying to hard," he noted, then smiled, "Oh did you not have hands as a pokémon, either? Have you found anything else useful about looking like this?" He may have now known the word 'cryogonal,' but that didn't paint a picture from any memory of his!
For a moment, Emery didn't understand how something so small and seemingly meaningless could make the boy so happy. It made sound? Wouldn't that get irritating? He was about to say as much when he remembered the radio strapped to his own side... the same one he liked to keep the volume on at any given time, if he could. The immediate comprehension felt strage to him, considering it was a strange hobby, to say the least... "So how did you find the bells, then? Did you travel into town a lot or something?" he reiterated, straying from his initial protests to the subject.
At the mention of Escher relieving Pyry of the need for revenge by dishing it out himself, Emery thought he could feel himself pale almost immediately. So he wasn't mistaken, this boss of Pyry's was very, very powerful, to be able to aid him from something that devastated his entire family in one night, solely on his own. And while protecting his protégé, no less! When he located his voice, it came strained with the sort of fear one finds when expecting someone like that to suddenly show up out of the blue, "Jeez... what can this guy not do?"
Of course, Emery hadn't thought much of the compliment given, outside of the fact he truly did think the glowing eyes looked much more 'cool' than the sorely mismatched color of his own. To have it stated that it was the nicest thing ever spoken to the other child seemed a little far-fetched, if only for the fact it seemed off that nobody else would have ever said such a thing. Pyry's eyes were very pretty! Maybe he was just pulling Emery's leg... but the meek smile he offered implied that he accepted the thanks given. "Oh I hadn't even thought of others being able to see in the dark as well," the child blinked, finding the link with being a humanoid flashlight to be a bit amusing... but extremely helpful! Pointing at the trailing orbs behind the icy boy, he asked, "So the tails help like that, too?"
He was still fumbling with the seams of his vest when Pyry explained how he could see that Emery was not trying to be vicious about his attack, dumbfounded as much as he was loathe to admit it. "Well I wasn't trying to be mean, but most people... well, take things at face value," the magnemite attempted to further the explanation, "So others act that way, too?" If he wasn't so outlandishly different as he thought on this subject, maybe he wasn't on the more sensitive subjects...
Watching Pyry take a seat, Emery moved to follow, seating himself next to the other boy. He winced when more information was revealed to Pyry's backstory. His words were hesitant, unsure of how to talk with someone about a subject so deep, but he tried nonetheless, "So you were there for all of that? Man... I'm sorry you had to go through it. Most pokémon, I think the worst a lot of them can talk about is having family members taken away, from all those, um... trainers?" He was privy to the most basic of details there, and took a look around the area at the people walking by, off in the distance, "Well I don't hear of that sort of thing happening to the humans, not all that much. Maybe that star helped you out so that sort of thing couldn't ever happen again. I mean, if all the humans think we're human, then maybe the pokémon would, too... and they might leave you alone." Maybe that would also keep him from crying, he didn't like the sound of that! Panic was a common place for Emery to visit, but just because he had familiarity in the area didn't mean he liked it -- not for himself, and not for others, especially the really kind ones!
Now that Emery's attention was fully off the state of the scattered bells, he was quick to chuckle at Pyry's question as to what to call teh magnemite. He really was an oddball! "You call me whatever you feel like calling me, even if it still ends up being 'mister magnemite sir!' I'm not really picky on that, unless it's name-calling. In a mean way," he laughed. Considering he was named by a human, it was likely there was a meaning behind it. The idea was very fascinating, and his hasty nod conveyed the eagerness, "Oh if you could, if he knows, that would be great! Thank you!"
Lirilei "I think it's good I don't remember more either because what I do is scary. Maybe that's why I like bells...they're so bright and happy and don't sound scary. They keep me from thinking of the bad things." he looked thoughtful a moment.
"Not happy being like this huh?" he gave a soft smile. "Maybe you'll get used to it in time? A friend of Mister Eschers....he said he'd love to find one...he's a Keldeo..and he doesn't like being the center of attention, wants to blend in more with everyone. I guess I don't blame him. I don't know despite what happened I think I've been lucky really. I'm not unhappy with things, and I can't remember much from before."
He shook his head and laughed. "Nope no hands! I was like a big floating snowflake. Useful? Hmm...I don't crave meat all the time. Apparently thats all I'd eat before, but now I can eat a lot of things."
He shook the box in his hand, looking thoughtful. "The first bell was something I'd found by accident when I was still a Cryogonal...and Mister Escher brought me some more when he saw how much I liked it."
Turning a little he saw the wary look on the others face and his eyes widened. "Mister Escher is really nice, I promise! He takes care of me now though...like a father or big brother or something...and I do all I can to help him out. You don't have to worry Emmerich, you're so nice he wouldn't hurt you!" he sought to reassure the other, a kind smile on his face.
Pyry looked at his tails and laughed. "They probably do. I'm not around others very much, especially at night. Last time I was somewhere really dark I was too scared to be of much use but it was a dark, dark cave. But I've gotten better about that!"
"Most people are silly and jump to conclusions before they think things through. Hopefully no one gets too mad at you for being silly like you were." well that was one way to sum it all up really.
Listening to Emmerich he smiled softly. "I think it'd be easier to have family taken by trainers...then at least you know they're alive. It's not the same as being together but it's better than knowing they're really gone, you know?"
Picking at the sweater he was wearing for a moment he looked thoughtful once again. "Maybe...though most pokemon seem to be able to tell I'm still a pokemon. Maybe it's because we don't usually look quite human...or we can still smell it on one another or something. I don't know."
"Name calling in a mean way. Nope, not the sort of thing I do!" of course not. He beamed at the other wanting to know more about his name and nodded. "I will ask him and hope to see you again soon so I can tell you!" he gave the other a bright smile that lit his face up again, though he gave a little sigh. "Soon, I have to go. Its a long walk." he raised his hand and pointed to a semi distant mountain. "I live up there."
MoogerMint Talking of bells being 'happy' was certainly more than a little strange... but strangely adequate an explanation. Emery heard the bells in the box jingle slightly as they tapped one another, and considered it a tinny sound he could probably get used to, at least when he didn't have a headache. And speaking of getting used to things... he looked back to his own hands, finding their structure to be one of the oddest things to occur when he grew, "I hope I can get used to it. For all I know, I'm stuck like this, so I'd better make the best of it." He blinked, finding something else to be a little amusing as he turned back to face Pyry, "You know, I had you pegged as kind of an antisocial guy! You know a lot of people, it sounds like!" Which wasn't a bad thing, definitely, just not something Emery had expected!
It was strangely satisfying to know that he was speaking with another floating, mineral-type pokémon! Perhaps it was that reason why Emery let his guard lower a bit more, to a point where he didn't feel quite as foolish with his questions, "So um... what's meat?" Food in general was a strange subject, though.
With the generosity that Pyry was conveying about Escher, both in his quest to find more bells for the cryogonal-child and the following assurances, Emery quickly felt himself relaxing back to his previous state. It really seemed that the palkia was quite nice, but... only because others were nice? Pyry may have thought the magnemite was 'nice' now, but there was no telling later... and even if that feeling was upheld, that didn't mean Escher would share the sentiment. However, there was no telling if Emery was ever likely to even meet the guy, so there was a perk there; it seemed there were more positive chances than negative, in that regard. "Well then, if you say so, I'll believe you," he decided, feeling a bit silly for being so open with the fear reaction -- or maybe Pyry was just that good at picking it out? He hoped it was the latter, honestly!
"Hmm, maybe you should test out how well you can light up the dark, then!" the magnemite snickered, "Preferrably with someone else there; we don't want you getting scared again!" Watching as another person passed by, in the distance, the magnemite had an odd sense of understanding, "Yeah, people can be pretty silly like that... But I can't say I'm much better. I jump to conclusions all the time! Sometimes you just have to, but it can be hard to stop once you get going." It was interesting, maybe he was more human than he initially thought after all.
Hearing Pyry's view on preferred histories, Emery's expression dimmed. He could certainly agree on that, but hearing the other boy's pained explanations hurt the magnemite in a strange way, on the inside. He'd only ever had that feeling when it was more associated with himself, not someone else. The vague recognition materialized as a light swat to Pyry's back before the magnemite rose to his feet, "I do know, and I agree with you. Not knowing can be scary, but it doesn't hurt as much as wishing you could turn events back to an earlier time." He may not have felt that way about an individual himself, but he could see that it would have hurt that much worse.
It was definitely worrisome, to a degree, that other pokémon could recognize the two of them as pokémon themselves. Truthfully, Emery was actually kind of happy to hear that, at least on the whole -- the bigger, more frightening pokémon being able to tell what he was? Not as much. "Then maybe they just won't know how to deal with us. We're not exactly built the same as we were before, or I wouldn't have skin," he attempted with a smile, as much to make Pyry feel better as it was to help himself. The cryogonal was so nice, and if he had to get moving, he didn't want the boy to leave feeling downhearted. Glancing to where the ice-type was indicating, Emery took note of the mountain: intimidating, but it made for a good landmark, if nothing else. He then offered his hand to help the frost child up, "Well I don't want to keep you if you need to get going. How soon did you need to leave? I can walk with you to the outskirts, make sure nobody else tries to take any bells." His grin was impish at the joke, but he meant it.
Lirilei "I think we are sorta stuck like this yeah...at least thats my understanding of it." he blinked at being called anti-social and kind of laughed. "Actually, I usually am. But Mister Escher being who he is knows a lot of people and talks to me about things, or I'm present for certain things...I don't tend to talk to people on my own like this. Not without getting to know them first."
"Meat...well like small animals and fish and stuff are meat. I used to hunt rabbits and stuff when I was in pokemon form." he smiled at Emery saying he'd believe him and reached out to lightly pat him on the arm. "He wouldn't hurt a friend of mine, so you're okay really." of course not!
"Not a bad idea I'll have to try that sometime soon!" he nodded his head at the idea chuckling softly. "I guess conclusion jumping is easy, I don't know if I ever have...probably though." it was hard to think about if he had or not, really. The pat to his back was surprising but he looked to the other with that same light smile at the given comfort. "Yeah you're right. Oh well. Nothing that can be done. Just need to move forward one day at a time."
"Not knowing how to deal with us is good, maybe they'll see us more as humans...and be confused by the pokemon smell." one could hope! "I should probably go soon...the walk back will take me awhile and I don't want to be out after dark. Too easy to get lost." he smiled at the offer and nodded. "We're not far, but being walked to the outskirts would be nice thank you!" He pocketed his box of bells then looking around hoping he'd gotten them all, but he really had to go, so he couldn't take longer to look.
MoogerMint Emery nodded slowly in understanding. He didn't like the idea of being stuck in this form indefinitely, but there wasn't much use to worrying about it now. Everything was different, so he should just learn to deal... probably like any other pokémon in their position had done. The smile returned when Pyry had countered his confusion on where the cryogonal stood on the social spectrum, "I thought that might be the case, but I wasn't sure, since you seemed to know a lot about each of them! It's good, though, it sounds like most of them are nice, at least!"
Mulling over the consideration as to what was considered 'meat,' he was quick to realize that all options mentioned were otherwise considered 'living animals.' Strange name for something like that, but then when you actually ate one, maybe it was best not to call it 'living'... There was a slight shiver to run down his spine at that, until he made an interesting connection. He pinched at his skin then, an amused tone to his voice, "Guess I'm 'meat' now, too, huh?" Larger than what Pyry would eat, but still... and it was more amusing than scary! Especially considering it was about then that Pyry named the magnemite a friend, causing him to glance back to the boy in surprise. Was it really that easy to be able to call someone their friend? After the momentary shock, he laughed, "Promise?" That put any threatening presence that may have been felt from Escher or Pyry at bay.
It was about that moment that Emery remembered another saying that he heard before, 'We're only human.' Could that even be applied to the likes of them, the poké-children? There was some truthfulness to it, but it seemed so derogatory. "I think we all assume some things at some point, even if they're something small, even if they don't really change anything. Maybe you just make the small ones... or you're just really good at not assuming!" he snickered, remembering Pyry taking Emery as a thief at first. It was an easy mistake, but still one about jumping to conclusions, even quickly-remedied conclusions! He was quite happy to see that smile appear back on the snow child's face, "That's the spirit!"
He sure hoped the sight and smell of them and others like them would be enough to confuse full-pokémon, but he supposed that wasn't always going to be the case. "That would be nice. Who knows, maybe not all of them can connect one and one together," he shrugged. Emery had no need to fear any predators before, really, outside of certain humans, but even that wasn't the same sort of fear. He nodded when Pyry indicated the sharper degree of the sun, foreshadowing the fall of night, "Yeah, you're right, and you've got some distance to go..." Not to mention Emery still had to find some place to stay, but that was merely out of preference. Waving a hand as though to hurry the cryogonal along, Emery was hasty in his want to help out. There weren't any humans around that he could see at the moment, and he kind of wanted to keep it that way, even if it was only a matter of yards. "It was nice meeting you, Pyry! Hopefully the next time we can meet will be on better terms," he remarked.
Lirilei "I hear a lot of talk from Mister Escher, so it makes it so I know of a lot of others. I've only met a few on my own. A little Joltik...a Grovyle...a shiny Glaceon...you...." he gave a smile to Emery then. He himself hadn't met many people that didn't center around Escher himself.
There was a soft chuckle then. "Not really....you're not something to be killed and eaten. Not like wild animals and stuff." Well it was true! Emery was not food! The question of his words being a promise was met with a bright laugh and a nod. "I promise! You're my friend and Mister Escher wouldn't hurt you because you are."
He nodded his head then thinking the other was right that they all made assumptions, just in varying degrees. "I have no idea..the few others like us I've met could tell I was a pokemon, but that might be personal experiences talking. I really have no idea."
The edge of town was really close, ridiculously close really. He trudged the short distance and turned to wave to the other then. "Bye Mister Emmerich! It was nice meeting you! Next time I see you hopefully I'll have a meaning for your name!" he waved to the other and turned to start walking, his walk turning into a slight skip after a few steps.
MoogerMint There was no doubt about it, Pyry was definitely a strange kid. Strange and insanely kind. Emery supposed he didn't really have a foot to stand on in regards to the first part, but maybe both sides of the argument were the reason why the magnemite didn't find it necessary to push his luck when he had gotten hold of the bells. It was certainly the happiest he had been since striking out, that was for sure, and his smile was enough to attest to it as he waved the cryogonal-boy off, "Thanks! Be careful out there!"
He watched for a few moments longer -- just to make sure Pyry didn't trip or something -- before turning around and heading back into town. He was just about to scope out the place when his ears caught the familiar, if still rather new, sound of a bell. The boy's first instinct was to turn around, in case Pyry came back because he forgot something. Once he confirmed that that was clearly not the case, he tuned into the soft sound a bit more. Frowning, he hissed, "Wait a minute..." Dialing the radio's volume down completely, he aimed his magnetic abilities forward, only to be smacked in the palm of the hand with a trailing bell.
His eyes went wide, "You have got to be kidding me..."
Premise: While it may not fetch a high price, some items' value is immeasurable nonetheless.
- - -
Roleplay: Under spoiler
Lirilei Lorne was spending the day looking for some new, warm clothes for he and Bast, and generally being a nuisance to people who were out shopping for the holidays. He knew enough about the season to know there was an abundance of money and carelessness. Which meant he was doing pretty good cleaning out unsuspecting shoppers, and lining his own pockets with green.
As he slunk around the crowds trying not to stick out like a sore thumb, he kept an eye out for his next mark, tail swaying behind himself slowly, keen eyes scouring slowly. Ahhh...there's a good one...all on their own... the devious feline smiled to himself and began to carefully stalk his latest victim, hoping that he had something worth his time and efforts.
MoogerMint Despite the temptation it had been to return the misplaced bell to its rightful owner as soon as he had found it, the setting sun insisted another wise decision. There was no telling the exact route Pyry was taking back to the mountains, and the magnemite was unfamiliar with how different the trails were the further along they went. Not only that, but in the dark... it was safer to get everything together in town again, before testing the hazards of that tall land mass in the distance. He'd just try to follow the very vague instructions the cryogonal had offered once he actually felt comfortable about heading out again. Or... whenever he got fed up being around people. Whichever came first.
The bell was pocketed as Emery tapped the face of the radio at his side alive again, volume tuned down to background noise to help him focus. It was never a treat to go into town, per se, but it was something different than the monotony of being lost in the wilderness. Maybe there was someone else around here that could offer more... trail mix, or something less easy to choke on. He was unaware that he was being pursued by one of such devious intent.
Lirilei Lorne was fascinated by the other child. Clearly he was another poke-child like himself, and Bast and the variety of others he’d met or come across over time but he had never seen one who was so multi-colored like this one. The radio on the others person was an interest to him, especially as he saw him fussing with it a little.
As was the fact something shiny had been slipped into a pocket. Money? A ring? The possibilities were high it was something decent, and so Lorne slunk closer, blending into the crowd a bit more while still stalking, wondering how best to slide his hand into that pocket after the shiny trinket that had caught his attention. Waiting till the other hit a less populated portion of the street he struck then, bumping up against the child with a “Sorry! Tripped over my shoe lace!” which he’d conveniently untied earlier. It was also a pair he used solely for moments like this, in case he had to ditch them lest he trip over the untied lace for real! As he used Emery for support as he tripped, his hand came forwards, towards the pocket that shiny had gone into.
MoogerMint Lorne's presence went completely over the magnemite's head. There had never been a time anyone thought to follow him, so it hadn't occurred to him that anyone would think to. It seemed that most of the humans liked to try to avoid their more pokémon-looking counterparts, so all Emmerich was really paying attention to was where his next stop should be. He'd never been in this town before, not until this last week, so he was still just as easily turned around as ever before.
As the purrloin-boy bumped into him, the sudden jolting shock caused the radio at his side to crackle defiantly at the energy Emery generated. He was stunned into speechlessness for a moment, almost pulling his hands quickly toward himself for fear of being grabbed. Blinking at the explanation, he regained control of the emotion and dismissed the fear, offering a polarized hand to help the other boy steady himself. "You okay? You can take a moment to fix that, if you need," he suggested cautiously, shifting a little to help from a better angle. Emery hadn't seen this other kid around, but he was unaware of the ways of the pickpocket, or just how easy it was to fool someone who was unfamiliar.
Lirilei Lorne couldn’t be more pleased that the other boy didn’t even seem to register the fact he was anywhere near. It would make this all the easier having him oblivious like he was! The radio crackling made him rethink taking that. It seemed like it might be broken and what use did a broken radio have for him? Nope better to go after that shiny thing.
His hand had slipped inside that pocket with ease and pulled out what he sought, and pocketed himself a moment, before he bent to tie his shoe. “Thanks. Like I said, sorry about that! I wasn’t trying to run into you, you okay?” he finished tying his shoe and as he straightened disaster struck. Or disaster to him anyhow. The trinket he’d stolen fell out onto the ground which was the first issue. The second was realizing it was nothing but a stupid bell. A BELL! he growled low in his throat that his theft had been of something so…pointless! He scooped it up however and repocketed it quickly, maybe Bast would want it for something! Of course, he realized he’d been outed about a half a heartbeat later, and gave the kid a devious grin. “Later, chump!”
MoogerMint Emery was taken aback by the assurance that Lorne hadn't run into him on purpose. Why would someone purposefully do such a thing? He didn't see the benefits, only that it might be kind of painful. Especially considering the magnemite wasn't exactly the softest person to run into. It seemed the other boy managed to miss any metal patches, though, so that was a plus. "It's okay, you just might want to be more careful. Maybe try double-knotting your shoes if it happens very often, but you didn't hurt me," he suggested, pulling the volume dial on the radio so that it was fully off again. There was no use for a distraction at the moment.
At first, the sound of the bell hitting the asphalt of the road immediately directed the magnemite-child to the pocket he had placed one in just moments before, only to find it empty. There was no suspecting Lorne, thinking that maybe it had just been jostled out of the fabric with the force of the impact. Even though that would have been a long time for it to have been in the air, if that were the case... but he didn't have the opportunity to think that far. He reached out for it, only to freeze when Lorne snatched it up and took of. "Ah, hey, that's not--" Emery began, considering that maybe the other poké-kid had mistaken it for something of his by accident. At least, he did until Lorne's words registered, his mismatched eyes growing wide, "G-Give that back!!" It wasn't even Emery's to give away like that! There was little time wasted in trying to gain ground against the thief, but Lorne was fast!
Lirilei He couldn’t believe his luck. This guy was so freaking naïve it was almost painful to witness! He listened to the offered suggestion with a mental roll of his eyes. Right. Double knotting. Sure. Not likely. Still he smiled at the suggestion and bobbed his head as if it was the best idea he’d ever heard.
“Not likely!” Lorne spat the words over his shoulder as he began to bob and weave through the crowd, toppling more than one person in his reckless dash. All with purpose of course. Lose himself in the mayhem so the other boy couldn’t catch him. Then he got blocked by cars crossing and he looked both ways quickly anxious to find a different way out of this mess and skittered off to the left, less people there but more places he could get lost in. Hopefully!
MoogerMint It was quickly becoming apparent, if it wasn't from the start, that there was little that the magnemite-boy could do to keep up with the thief with Pyry's bell. Lorne was likely used to evading capture, running and disappearing into crowded streets. Emery was immensely less used to the city, or any environment other than the factory setting he had grown so accustomed to. Normally he wouldn't even care to get the bell back, but his mind had already been made up to return it, and the start of preparations to leave had already been set. It wasn't a task he was used to accomplishing, but by all means, he meant to finish it successfully!
Emmerich was not light on his feet, and he was not very adept at moving so skillfully through the crowds. More than once, he found himself struggling past those that Lorne knocked over, or was similarly jostled. This wasn't going to work! He pressed himself closer to the buildings to the edge of the sidewalk, but progress seemed to roll backwards with the move and he was beginning to get agitated. At this rate, he'd lose that purrloin for good, and then what was he going to do?
He couldn't see Lorne any longer, but he kept himself moving forward nonetheless. The adrenaline coursing through with his rising panic and increased heart rate made it sound like static in his ears. His actions were getting more desperate as time wore on, despite the miniscule lapse of time. He wasn't even thoroughly thinking out his actions before carrying them out, but his goal had been set and there was no changing it. Repelling people away, using even the smallest metallic items they carried, he carved himself a path at the walls of the shops, listening for the ring of the bell as he ran.
Lirilei “Just…a bell…the hell…does he want it…for…?” the words were panted out as he continued to run, getting a little winded. Note to self….stick to older people. They tend to give up quicker than another kid. Damn! Lorne was glad he knew the city so well though. He’d find somewhere to lay low with the bell.
Glancing back was a mistake as he saw people suddenly moving aside, and Lorne felt a sudden stab of fear in him. What is he doing!? the idea was scary honestly! Slipping on water Lorne fell momentarily, the bell clattering away from him though he was scrambling then fingers curling around the bell again and he continued on, bell shoved into a pocket as he jumped at the chain link fence ahead of him and began to climb it.
MoogerMint In his desperate focus, Emery hardly batted an eye at those that he was shoving away. By the time he cut his way through the congested streets, made more so by the two poké-kids' rampage, attention was almost solely diverted to a single target. No, he was no longer focused solely on catching Lorne at this point, but the bell still within his grasp -- he barely even saw the violet-coated child any longer.
He did, however, see the platform that the thief was perched upon, climbing steadily higher. If the magnemite were to give chase, Lorne would surely be up and over before Emery arrived to the base of the fence. At least, that would be the case if it hadn't been chain link.
Emery was not careful about tearing the bolts from the cuffs around the poles to either side of the purrloin, popping out of their fastenings with a sound similar to that of a gunshot. With the chains no longer secured, the child focused his abilities to tearing the body of the fence from one pole and rolling it to the other, attempting to ensnare the purrloin within the very same object he had hoped to escape with. He kept up quick pace to reach the laid trap, his eyes narrowed with intention, "I believe you have something that doesn't belong to you."
Lirilei He was in the clear he just knew it! The other kid was as slow as…well a Slowbro! He’d be up and over the fence and well on his merry way before long if he climbed just a little faster. So close…his hand was a few inches from the top when he heard the sudden noise.
“What the fu-aaaahhhh!” the expletive died on his lips as he felt the fence he was perched on suddenly lurching forward…no sideways….oh crap it was rolling on him! A panicked look filled his green eyes as he found himself suddenly burritoed in chain link.
This kid was scary. What the hell was he? The words though they were heard and his ear pricked a little a nod of sorts given. “Yeah…front left pocket. I’d get it for you but…well.” He rattled the fencing just slightly to indicate the predicament preventing the retrieval of the sought after item. “Just a stupid bell. No need to nearly kill a guy over it geez.”
MoogerMint Once he reached the twisted fence, Emery gave a single sharp nod, reaching through the gaps in the links to retrieve the bell himself. He hadn't even considered releasing Lorne from those metallic clutches until Pyry's bell was back in the palm of his hand and his feet were back on solid ground. He hesitated to let go of the tiny instrument, holding on tighter instead of placing it back in his pocket, as though the fold of fabric would only end up once more failing in its mission to keep the bell safe.
His eyes snapped back to Lorne as soon as the last words left his mouth, a sharp glare cast across. "If it's so stupid, why did you steal it in the first place?!" the magnemite snarled, gripping the chain at chest-level and shaking it once in emphasis. A ThunderShock arced from his fingers in reaction, shooting skywards and towards the trapped purrloin. Emery yanked his hand from the chain upon seeing the light, eyes growing wide. He didn't... he didn't do that! He didn't--
He stormed off a few paces, but it was subconsciously to avoid any countering attack for what he meant to do next. Carefully, he unwrapped the fence from around Lorne's person, allowing the feline-boy free reign of himself once more. Emery didn't dare say anything else, fingers tightening around the bell; he didn't feel like his body was his own anymore.
Lirilei Lorne almost breathed a sigh of relief as the bell was taken from him and held by the other. That was fine if he’d lost his take, better that than his life…and that’s what it felt like he’d have lost if he’d not given it back…or at least indicated where it was so it could be taken back! He wasn’t that stupid.
“Never know what might fetch a price when sold. That and I thought my friend might like it. Not my sort of thing though.” He sniffed in obvious disdain at the bell, even as the magnemite boy snarled at him, a growl of his own emitted as the fence he was encased in like a Purrloin sausage was rattled and he along with it.
It was that light coming down that had his eyes closing and he bracing for an impact that never came. He breathed a heavy sigh of relief, though tensed again as the boy came close again. What now!? Though once his feet were on the ground he jumped a few steps backwards, eying the boy warily as he tried to decide if he wanted to attack or not..and decided not. No he could go to another part of town and find some other mark. He was done here.
“Just keep your stupid bell.” He spat and started for a wooden fence not far off and scaled it, pausing long enough to look over his shoulder at Emery before jumping to the other side. A coward? Maybe. But then he also didn’t want to explain things to Bast if he’d come home messed up. Easier to flee.
Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2014 2:50 am
– Roleplay#3 +
Title: Fool For Love (messenger RP) Participants: Briar & Emmerich Stages: Child (both) Status:Complete!
Premise: Attraction in the broadest of terms can lead to even greater problems...
- - -
Roleplay: Under spoiler
Lirilei It was a chilly day today, as was the day before but Briar was out and about anyhow. She didn’t want to be inside on such a pretty day. Draven was helping Rhyin with something or other she’d had no interest in and had slipped out easily enough while they were occupied. She’d traversed around the lake a little, the particles of ice clinging to the stiller portions of water looking crystalline and beautiful. As she walked she spotted a bag at the side of the road and it interested her enough to investigate.
Poking it with a stick brought about an odd noise she couldn’t place but nothing moved inside so she bent down to open the bag and saw a bunch of…something inside…what were they? It took her a few moments of hard thinking. TM’s! That’s what they were! She’d seen them before as a pokemon yes, but it was a blurry memory. Her fingers curled around the bag and she hefted it, trying to lift it up and grunted in surprise. It was heavy! It was also throwing her off balance! She staggered backwards the weight of the bag dragging her not only down but backwards.
Still she didn’t just drop the bag, she didn’t want to break the TM’s inside of it, not when there could possibly be something useful in there! Maybe she could learn a worthwhile move! The idea was a thrilling one. Instead she was careening towards a muddy portion of the trail she was on, unable to stop a surprised yelp coming from her as she finally began losing to gravity entirely.
MoogerMint With his temperament thrown off-kilter by... certain recent mishaps, Emmerich made preparations to move up his expected time of departure from the town by a few days. That is to say, the boy hastened his own retreat to take place in a matter of hours from the time he had regained temporary ownership of Pyry's missing bell. Sleep was going to have to take place outside the range of social interaction, for at present, he was unsure just how much control he still had over his own actions. These types of manic bouts were especially dangerous, and he didn't want to endanger anyone else if he could avoid it, simply because he wanted to rest somewhere more comfortable -- Lorne was enough of a sacrifice toward that cause, even if he was trying to steal something that wasn't rightfully his. Who was to say, the next victim may have ended up being that much more innocent.
He managed to collect some rations before leaving, but it was almost certain he hadn't gained as much as he could have if he had been more thorough, or more contextually aware. Maybe in the next town, if he made it that far... he just had to move out of contact with others. The fresh air sometimes did the magnemite some good, as long as he was able to keep from thinking too hard on any subject. Maybe this was going to be harder than he thought...
It hadn't been more than an hour or two since Emery started on the trail outside of town, aiming for the vague notion that Pyry lived somewhere on that... rather massive mountain in the distance; he'd have to be thorough if he was going to locate that weird kid. Distractions were much too few and far between to be helpful for Emery's state-of-mind, but the journey had only just been restarted, so who knew? Maybe--
It had only been out of the corner of his eye that he spotted Briar pick up the bag from the side of the road, but once she began swaying backward. He hesitated a moment, but it was quickly apparent that she was not going to be able to stay upright in her insistence to keep a firm grasp on that grungy-looking bag. "W-Watch it!" he called over to her, dashing over to her without a second thought. He reached to latch onto the pachirisu-girl's arms, already working -- and failing -- to stabilize the flimsy container before he could get a hold on the bag himself. Keeping one hand around her wrist, he made sure she wasn't in danger of teetering over any further before letting go. "Are you okay?" he asked, frowning; he attributed the slight static sound he was hearing to the adrenaline kick.
Lirilei There was mud, trees, a few rocks…the normal things found along a trail winding near a lake which still lay some distance from the large mountain still much further off. Briar, had been certain she was going to not only land in the mud but with her more oft than not rotten luck land on a rock, or against a tree and be hurt and dirty.
So it was with complete and total surprise she felt a hand on her wrist and her eyes snapped open expecting to see Draven even if the voice hadn’t sounded familiar to her. So she was very surprised to realize it wasn’t the Dragonite boy she’d known for as long as she could remember, but some other boy…who had kept her from falling.
This fact alone made her eyes open fully and a sudden bright smile crossing her lips as she peered upwards at him. He wasn’t much bigger than her height wise, but enough so that tilting her head back a little had been necessary. She had a feeling she’d always be on the small side but that was another thing for another day. She gave a nod of her head, hair bobbing as she did so, voice coming out rather chipper.
Which was normal enough for her these days. “I am thanks to you!” there was another bright smile, a friendly look on her face. “I’m glad you came by when you did, thank you so much!” she glanced to the bag again and frowned. “I didn’t realize how heavy it was when I tried to lift it.”
MoogerMint His expression lessened in intensity of concern once the pachirisu spoke up. She sounded so unfazed, not a hesitation in her words, that any worry that she might have twisted an ankle or similar evaporated. It didn't help that she appeared so petite, it looked like a stumble could easily injure her! Nodding in return, Emery offered a bit of a smile as well, "Good, I'm glad!" He was fairly certain anyone would have helped her out if they were traveling along this trail as well, but, well... he was the only one here. "Are you traveling by yourself?" the question came suddenly, without proper attention given to where it needed to first. Recognizing this, he shook his head and turned attention back to the bag in hand, "How'd you carry this so far out here?" It hadn't occurred to him that it wasn't something she already had in her possession -- it seemed too packed a bag for someone to just toss away!
She seemed like a really friendly individual, and because of that... Emery was half expecting her to turn out just like Lorne had. It was a brief spark of an idea, quickly snuffed out when he turned back to her and saw her bright, sincere expression. He flinched as he saw it, feeling as though a low electrical current surged through his body. The static he had heard wasn't from the adrenaline, was it..? Realizing his hand was still about her wrist despite her feet firmly on solid ground, he fumbled with his grip and clumsily transferred it to the bag with the other hand, his face quickly tinting pink. She's an electric-type! Despite his knowledge on the affliction, a crush was still a crush, no matter in what manner it was created.
"H-Here, let's, um... let's just maybe set it down," he tried directing, but his tone had grown more uneasy with the recognition of his condition. Taking a few silent breaths, he wrested some of his composure back in his control. The pause was still evident, but the receding panic was less so, "Where are you taking it? Maybe I can help carry it. I don't think you can really do it on your own." Emery flashed a sheepish smile, attempting to overcome uneasiness by acting like he would have otherwise. His mind was pretty good at tricking itself, so it had a good shot of working.
Lirilei “Today I am yes.” She smiled at him still as she spoke. She was a lot happier now since this change than she’d ever been as a pokemon. She was also a lot happier since finding Draven again. Though she blinked at the question and shook her head. “I didn’t carry it here. I found it while I was walking and after poking it to make sure it was safe looked inside and decided it might be worth looking through. It’s full of TM’s!” there was an excited glint in her eyes as she spoke of them.
“Well I live off that direction…” she pointed with a finger at a dense copse of tree’s. She’d been wandering for awhile. “At the moment I was just going to move off the path and find somewhere to sit and go through them and see if anything was useful or not.” And how she hoped something would be! She blushed a little at his words a sheepish smile given. “You’re right I probably can’t….I’m not very strong even since the change and all.” Which was too bad, but she’d take what she was given. “Are you sure you don’t mind helping me?” her eyes lit up at his offer and the smile came back as she clapped her hands together a moment in glee, a sudden sparking coming from her cheeks which made her blush some. That was new!
Walking a few paces away she looked around a moment for a good, and slightly out of sight spot they could move the bag. “Maybe down here? It’s kind of close to the water I know, but the ground is flat, and there’s plenty of cover from prying eyes.” From any direction!
MoogerMint If Briar hadn't been being so friendly and cheerful, it might have been easier for Emmerich to concentrate on her words more. Didn't she realize how distracting it was when she acted so adorable!? To refocus, he aligned tuning with her words as a task set upon himself, and the redirection helped, just so long as conversation continued.
Glancing back down at the bag in-hand, he wondered if someone had left it by the side of the road in the hopes to pick it up again later. If that was the case, then why had they left it in the open like that? The outside of it was pretty dirty, too, so it had likely been here for at least a few days. However, the contents really threw him off, "Wait, TMs? Why would someone just throw something like that away?" He almost opened it to get a look for himself, but thought better of delving into someone else's things -- especially since they now, in a way, belonged to the sweetheart of a pachirisu. "Do TMs disappear after they've been used?" he asked; it would suck if they were all blank... but he wasn't entirely sure how a TM worked.
Following where the girl's outstretched hand indicated, Emery made note of the general direction. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to know where she lived... but the opportunity presented itself before he thought better of it. Seeing her blush only caused Emery to fluster all the more, but he attempted to detract attention from either side of the reaction, "N-No, it's okay, I'll help! It's no problem! It's a pretty heavy bag, so it's good to have the help!" Focus! he scolded himself, readjusting his hold on the bag. As dangerous as it seemed to be to stick around, he wasn't about to leave her here, by herself with such a weighty load.
Her excitement at the confirmed aid knocked a smile from the magnemite, especially considering it seemed over-the-top to him... which only reaffirmed the fact that she was extremely cute. This refocusing thing wasn't working as well as Emery would have liked! Turning attention to where Briar picked out an out-of-the-way spot to sift through the TMs presented another idea to the magnemite -- maybe if he just... tried looking at her less, maybe that would help? Before even responding, Emery attempted to start heading to the pointed out spot, until he realized he forgot to answer, "Sure, that works. I can help with that, too, if you'd like! Though I'm not sure how much I can, to be honest..." Maybe he was just prolonging his misery, but at least it was for a good cause. Hopefully.
Lirilei He is so nice! That was the thought going through her head at the boy who was helping her. He was nothing like Draven, or even Jacen. It was interesting meeting another like them that had changed. She was also utterly oblivious to the conflicts she was causing within the magnemite boy.
“I don’t know. I was wondering the same thing, but it looks like it’s been there awhile. I wonder if someone traveling lost it and didn’t realize it.” She reached up and tucked some hair back off her face then since it was bothering her at the moment. “I’m not sure if they do but you’re welcome to look through them with me to see if there’s something you might find useful. Especially since you’re being so nice and helping me out.”
As he took off walking without a word she couldn’t help a soft giggle. He was so different from the boys she was used to, it was funny. She found him odd, but in a good way and she tagged along behind him as he began to speak, and it wasn’t until they were at the spot she thought would be good that she skipped around in front of him again a hand coming to rest on his lightly to get his attention. “I’m Briar, what’s your name?” and there she was…invading personal space again in her own sweet, oblivious little way peering up at him again with those wide eyes as her tail shifted and partially wrapped around her. “It might be a little cold this close to the water…so we might not want to take long looking through the bag. I’d hate for you to get sick because you helped me.” The idea wiped the smile off her face, replacing it with a frown, fingers knotting together a moment in consternation. “I hope there’s something useful in there… be nice to know more than useless moves…” her words were softly uttered as she waited for the bag to be sat down.
MoogerMint Paying clear attention to the words that were spoken, Emery logged the two tasks in his current, mental itinerary, pushing other distractions aside as he carried the hefty bag over to the spot by the lake. Between strides, it was simplistic enough to formulate a return response, "That's what I was thinking, too. I don't know much about TMs, but it couldn't hurt to look through them anyway. Do you know what types you can learn?" Come to think of it, did any pokémon really know what they could learn from a technical machine? He shook his head lightly to add to the response, but it was a very minor movement, "I don't have to take any of them, I'm just happy to help out." The reply came less from altruism and more from the fact that receiving a TM would give more of an attachment to the pachirisu, more selfish than selfless.
While he wasn't struggling with the bag nearly as much as the girl had been, he could easily see how it had been giving her so much trouble. A few times, he nearly stumbled and slid down the slightly-tilted embankment, weighted down with the bulk of the bag he was carrying. Emery made sure he had both feet flat on the grass once he reached the indicated spot before considering placing the load down onto the grass, unsure how delicate the technology really was or even if it would still work anymore regardless of how it was handled. Before he could lower it, though, he felt a touch on his hand and immediately froze in place. H-How was he supposed to ignore her when she insisted on staying in his line of sight like that!? Never mind that she was not privy to the decisions he made for himself in such regard; while his expression didn't give any of that mental turmoil away, the lightly flushed cheeks may have, "It's Emery. Well... Emmerich, but most people at the factory tended to call me Emery." Yeah, he hadn't been fully conscious of how much information he'd given, just that when either of them were speaking, it became easier to ignore the sudden rise in his own temperature.
He broke away from her grip then, moving to quickly set the bag on the ground; at least he had the excuse, for otherwise he wasn't sure he'd have been able to move. Opening the top and sitting to the side of it, across from Briar, he forcibly changed the subject, "You're right, this is a pretty good spot. People wouldn't bug us here unless they knew we were down here in the first place. Come on, have a seat." Again, he was trying not to look at her, distracting himself by fidgeting with the top of the bag so that it could be left alone and not collapse in on itself once his hands were removed. There was something she said, though, that caught his attention; an unfamiliar word, "...Sick?" Magnemites didn't get sick, so experience was null to that extent... but a magnemite-human, that most certainly a different story. Why would being cold harm him? He didn't understand it.
Lirilei “I remember my old trainer saying something about electric moves since I’m an electric pokemon. Or well was before that change. I guess I’m still a pokemon though huh?” she gave a little laugh as she said that. It wasn’t something she’d thought on before actually. “I’m not sure if there’s anything else I can learn. I remember Ami had another pokemon and he learned a lot of moves that weren’t just limited to his type. So I guess there might be others I can learn. What about you?”
Her eyes lit up at his name and she beamed at him again. “Emery it is then!” her voice was a bright little chirrup as she spoke. Her change had wrought a huge change in her personality, and it helped she didn’t feel quite so frightened anymore. Hard to when you had a Dragonite as a paramour! “Factory? What’s one of those? What were you doing there?” she looked incredibly interested as she rocked back and forth just slightly on her feet as she waited for an answer before suddenly plopping down in the grass, thankful for the relative dryness of the ground!
“You know, a cold or something from being down here by the water. I’m really lucky I didn’t get sick the first time I found the lake. It was really cold, and I fell in the lake. That wasn’t any fun at all. But I got dried up and changed my clothes pretty quickly so it helped.” She peeked into the bag then and began to pull some out. “Oh! Look Emery!” she reached out to him again and suddenly was sitting shoulder to shoulder with him. “On the top here it gives each number, the name, and a slight description! This one is TM #45…Attract. Oh I already know that one…” and she didn’t sound happy about that as she set it aside. “TM #74…. Gyroball…The user tackles the target with a high-speed spin. The slower the user compared to the target, the greater the move’s power.” she had the TM close to her face to read the print was so tiny! “Lets see what else is in here. I can’t tell if they work or not though hmmm…”
MoogerMint "Why wouldn't you still be a pokémon?" the magnemite-boy asked, "Just because you look a little different than before doesn't mean you're not a pokémon. Maybe it's just a new type of evolution or something... but it's not much different than that, at least the way I see it." Pyry had said it was because of the star that was found, so Emery was quick to associate it once more, "You found a star, didn't you? Maybe it's like one of those evolution stones or something!" He was peering around inside the bag as he rambled, seeming interested on the functional status of the contents when all he was trying to do was distract himself and save him the trouble of eye contact. He thought about what types he had ever heard of others learning from TMs but, although he knew what they did, he couldn't come up with a single instance, "Was Ami your trainer? Hmm, well, I'm electric and steel, so... any of those, probably? Maybe normal-types? I'm really not sure, to be honest. Maybe we could try a few and just see if they stick." He didn't suppose it said what pokémon it worked on, in the fine print...
Briar's sunny disposition came as a double-edged knife -- while it was a relief that Emery's own nonverbal communication tactics weren't pressing on her own positivity, it was also entirely charming. He almost wished that she would have called him by his full first name, just to offer the distance, but hearing her say it... any form of his given name would have likely elicited the same feeling. It was almost as though he believed that he had to keep talking in order to not freeze up in the midst of interaction, "Yeah, a factory, it's where I used to live, and work. I think there are different types of factories, but they called me a generator." Holding his fingers near one another, Emery caused electricity to arc between his hands in demonstration, "I could power things for them using magnetic energy and electricity. I think they said it saved them money or something..." And then they had kicked him out, because they hadn't thought he was a pokémon any longer... and probably not as much use to them.
At the pachirisu-girl's explanation, Emery shook his head, never hearing about getting sick from getting cold or wet before. That was common to have occur? He seemed a bit more frazzled than before; was he going to have to be more careful? "Have you ever been sick, then?" he asked, wondering what he was going to have to look out for. In his worried haste, he momentarily forgot that he was trying to avoid eye contact, especially when she exclaimed his name in excitement over a discovery. He leaned over slightly to peek into the bag as well, particularly because he hadn't actually read anything when his eyes had grazed over the contents before, only to freeze once more at the contact. Rocking back to his former position, his eyes were trained to where she was pointing, at the words scrawled on the TM in her hand. He was having a difficult time keeping full attention on her words, however, in his attempt to see if he couldn't just will his heart to stop beating so forcefully. "You know it already?" he asked, unsure as to what Attract even did as a move. Emery leaned against her a bit more, as though he were attempting to see the small print the girl was trying to read. Having the contact was nice enough, and he supposed it would be okay if he kept it to this only... the problem was in wanting to move after he confirmed that much. "Think you can use Gyroball? Maybe we can pick one we know we wouldn't be able to use and see what happens when we try to learn it anyway," he suggested, "It would be funny if we could use something like... like a ground-type move." Using something that the user was weak to seemed absurd, despite being a fact that Emery wasn't quite fully aware of.
Lirilei "Well we don't really look completely like one. Some do more than others I think though. Someone I knew...he was a Vanilite before changing and he looked more like a pale little boy than a pokemon." she sounded thoughtful as she spoke to Emery. There was a surprise at the mention of the star and she gave a quick nod of her head. "I did! I was on my own, and it was kind of scary out there. I was teeny. It was a little better once I changed though." not quite as skittish at least.
She let him search through the bag because she knew it was an exciting find! "She was but I ran away with a friends help. She wasn't very nice her and her friend. Always making Butch attack me and hurt me and I had no real way to protect myself. That's why finding this bag of TM's is so exciting!" at least it was a good reason for her excitement!
"Oh!" her eyes widened with delight as she watched the electricity arcing between his hands, an amazed look on her face. "Wow thats so neat!"
"I almost got sick after falling in the lake, but I was lucky that it wasn't worse than sniffles or anything. The Vanilite I talked about earlier he got really sick and had a fever and it was scary." very, very scary.
"I do...it's one of the ones Ami said was best for me to use...I think the way she said it was I wasn't allowed to learn moves that would hurt me, or weren't cute she only wanted me to be cute..." she shook her head a moment. "I'd show you, but it's not a very nice move in my opinion. If it works, it makes it so you like me for a little bit, and I don't think it's fair to make people feel things they wouldn't feel on their own you know?"
There was a thoughtful look and she shook her head. "I don't think so. Doesn't sound like one I remember Ami talking about." she reached out for it, her fingers brushing along his hand by accident and she opened the TM case up...and nothing. "There should be a light...or something...so I guess we know this one doesn't work. For me anyhow." she rummaged some more. "Oh...whats this... ex....exper.....mental...?" she stumbled over the word experimental a moment then moved on. "Karma Bond....never heard of it." she shrugged and set it aside then. "Do you see any you want?"
MoogerMint "I suppose it was kind of a big change from before..." Emery considered with a murmur. He hadn't been witness to another pokémon's change from one stage to the next, but he really did prefer to think of it as something more naturally-occurring than it probably was. It left less to be worried about in this crazy, alien world outside the factory. "You were scared because you were small, then?" the boy asked, perplexed. She didn't seem like the type to fear so easily, with such a friendly nature at her disposal!
He realized that it may have appeared obvious that he was avoiding eye contact at this point, by rummaging through the bad and... not much else. Pulling a few TMs out without stopping to look them over more carefully, Emery opted to try handing them off to Briar and see about going back through the bag for more. "So... your trainer liked to battle?" he offered, missing the main problem of the situation Briar had once been a part of. He glossed over one of the TMs, holding it up before reading it aloud. "Taunt. That sounds..." the boy began, finishing his sentence by making a face at the contraption.
Pulling his hands back from his electrical display, Emery gave a soft smirk once Briar reacted to it. It was a bit of a relief that she was focusing on that part of the explanation that the words that he spoke. After all, he was fairly certain most others couldn't relate to his history, and he wasn't entirely sure how to explain it any further. The thought of being abandoned was also gladly pushed from his mind, the pachirisu's excitement allowing for a more positive frame of mind.
The magnemite pondered what it would be like to fall into a body of water and get sick from it, but he was still unsure how that was supposed to work. "What's it like, getting sick? Does the lake have... germs or something?" the child asked, confused. Was he putting her out, trying to explain 'illness' to a kid that had never experienced anything of the sort before? He didn't know what made it so scary. What was a fever?
Emery snorted at Briar's explanation of how her moves had been chosen by her previous trainer, "Cute? Since when was fighting 'cute'?" He flinched as the girl described her Attract move, dropping the TM he currently had in hand onto the grass in front of him. What, so he would be feeling this way regardless!? "I... W-wh..." he attempted, blinking before picking up the disk that vacated his grip and trying again, "That's something she considered cute?" After releasing some of that pent up irritation on the matter, he couldn't help but feel sorry for the pachirisu. While his own feelings might have been a lie currently, Briar was still really kind and attractive on her own, regardless of this technological spell. Talk about issues with self-confidence down the road, yeesh...
Poking a bit at the Gyroball TM, looking to see if it listed who all could use it somewhere, he hadn't been aware of Briar's hand nearing until she had tried to take it to experiment with. He bit his tongue at her touch, a split-second action undertaken to prevent himself from zapping her out of surprise, made easier by the skipped heartbeat. He gave little indication outside of probably leaning a little too far into her than was normally comfortable, the redirected attention breaking him from realizing it. Nope, that most certainly hurt... "Well, it's... it's good we can test them like that," he stuttered after a moment. This was getting ridiculous, he really should be leaving as soon as he was capable of... without cutting things too noticeably short. He didn't want to do anything he'd regret later! Only paying half-attention to what she read off, he picked the Karma Bond TM up and indicated it with a quick tilt, "I can test it out. If it works, I could just take this one?" Never mind that he really didn't want to keep any, but she kept insisting, and he didn't want to be a disappointment... "You should keep any of the others. Maybe you could sell the ones that don't work? Or maybe one of your friends could use them?" he insisted, scooting back and sitting up straighter once he realized how close he had gotten to the girl. He needed to leave... he was too close!
( Continued in next post )
MoogerMint Crew
Sparkly Pants
Offline
MoogerMint Crew
Sparkly Pants
Offline
Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2014 2:52 am
Fool For Love post 2
Lirilei "Yeah...because I was small and couldn't take care of myself. It's scary when you don't have any moves that will actually save yourself. Doesn't help the girl my friend Draven and I found when we were pokemon, was in a car accident with her dad and I in the car...I thought they had died. It looked like it anyhow. So I was all alone, and scared and hurt...even after I was taken to a pokemon center and healed I was scared and I ran away." which had been a bad idea of course.
Briar fortunately was oblivious to the lack of eye contact as she was looking at the TM's as they came out, an exclamation of surprise as she saw one or two marked as HM's. "She and her friend were...strange. They would make Butch and me battle...and I'd always end up hurt because of him, and Draven was always sent in to save me. I don't know why they did it." it had been weird.
"It might have germs...but I guess humans get sick easier than pokemon do. Well when Jacen got sick he was coughing a lot, and got really really hot from the fever and slept a lot and was too weak to do much of anything. It was scary."
"No idea, but thats what Ami wanted. So I learned Attract and Captivate which is similar and just...stupid and useless. I hate using them and haven't since I ran away." she muttered and crossed her arms over her chest lightly. No, she wasn't thrilled about her past and being used as she had.
Briar noticed he leaned in closer, but figured it was to see her test the TM and totally didn't mind it, flashing him another one of her bright smiles. "Sure if you want! There's a lot here you taking a few won't be bad, and you helped me carry that heavy bag so it's the least I can do as a thank you Emery!" She looked interested at the idea of selling the extras and beamed. "Not a bad idea! Draven and Claret can look through them and then the rest we can sell. I bet Rhiyn would do that."
MoogerMint Emery thought on Briar's explanation as to why she had been so scared before her transformation. The lack of complete understanding stemmed from his ignorance of being both a wild pokémon as well as a pokémon with a trainer, so what knowledge he had of either one was limited to hearsay. Wasn't what her trainer doing a form of torture, if they forbid the pachirisu to actually defend herself? "Why isn't that illegal?" he asked, more to himself than anything, his face immediately contorting into a scowl, "Never mind... I already know why." Sighing, he rocked back so that he was propping himself up by leaning on the palms of his hands behind himself, slouching. "Sounds like you really had a tough time. Was it really dangerous when you had gone off on your own, then?" he asked carefully. She seemed so worried, he had to consciously tell himself not to comfort the girl with a hug, or anything else that required the closing of proximity. No, he had to distance himself, both physically and mentally. He didn't want to know so much about her! He had to convince himself of that, at least.
The sudden sound that came from Briar's mouth caught Emery unaware, and he found himself looking to her, curious. It seemed she had found something within the bag that pleased her... well good, then this whole thing wasn't a waste of time after all! He had been beginning to thing that there wasn't much that she could really use! However, what smile he had gotten out of it was quickly replaced by a baffled frown at her recollection of her previous trainer's habits, "That sounds... really weird. Then again, I never understood why humans had us pokémon battle each other at all, so..."
As a nearly-inorganic pokémon, Emery had never been subjected to the weaknesses that those with more fleshy bodies had. He worked with similar for years, until he had been tossed out on his own, so first-hand knowledge of what 'illness' was was mostly beyond his comprehension. Despite being the one to bring up the suggestion, he didn't even really understand what 'germs' were, either, other than many things seemed to have them and had to be sanitized to get rid of them. It seemed awkward to ask anything further of the pachirisu, though, especially considering the subject matter... so he merely nodded his head as he listened to the girl recount whoever Jacen was and his battle with sickness. At least he could take down some mental notes this way.
It was a little nerve-wracking to know that Briar had moves that could make the magnemite's situation all the worse, but in knowing that the girl more or less refused to use them, it became easier to push such panic aside. "Well now, at least, you'll be able to learn something more useful to you," he parried, "There are a lot of TMs here. Maybe you can replace your whole moveset!" Emery had to snicker at her visible disapproval of the moves she had been forced to learn; it just seemed so comical to see her upset over something that was easily remedied now that she was separated from Ami.
Every time Briar placed that cheerful grin on her face, Emery could have sworn his heart beat a little faster, his face tipping more toward the warmer hues. "Th-Thanks, but it was really no problem!" he attempted to insist, fumbling for the TM to detract from his expression. Mimicking what Briar had done moments prior to show how one was supposed to be able to intake the information, opening the case with fidgety hands. "If nobody can or wants to use what's left, it doesn't hurt to make a bit of profit off of it. It doesn't look like the original owner of the bag was planning on coming back for it, so finders k--" he distractedly started rambling before he cut himself short, pulling his hand abruptly away from the TM in his hand with a quietly hissed yelp. Well, there was definitely a light... but he wasn't entirely sure that's what Briar had meant. He was able to decipher some information from the machine, but it was broken. It felt almost as though someone had gathered all the data for it after it shattered and haphazardly glued it back together again without bothering to make sure if the pieces fit. "It... that was weird," he stated after a moment. An understatement, of course; it definitely rattled the boy.
Lirilei The question about what had been done not being illegal was met with a shrug. "Probably because they were just teenagers, and at the time I was nothing but a "dumb pokemon" to them. People seem surprised to realize we have thoughts and feelings. I wonder sometimes how she'd have handled things after I started to look like this." probably not very well.
She gave a wry smile at the next question. "I got chased by an Ursaring and it scratched me a little but it healed up pretty well before I changed. It was just scary because I knew I couldn't protect myself if I had to. I probably could have bitten or scratched someone, natural instinct and all...but past that?" she shuddered a little. "It was worse the times it was pitch black and there wasn't even the moon or stars out to see by. I hated that the most."
"To make us stronger, to win battles...Ami's friend used to talk about the Elite Four, and how if a trainer and their pokemon were good enough they'd get fame and stuff. It sounded stupid to me too." a shrug given. It was fortunately in the past and her trainer too anime obsessed to properly train anyone or anything. It was probably best, she'd have never made the cut for an elite team.
"Would be nice...would have done me a lot more good when I was off running around on my own thinking I was all alone in the world still." there was the slightest of mutters from her. It was a sore spot, knowing she was so weak really. "You know replacing my whole moveset with decent things is a wonderful idea." she beamed at him then, her annoyance fading.
Briar leaned in close at Emery's confused exclamation wondering what had happened. "Are you okay Emery?" she frowned some looking at him with concern in her eyes. Though she nodded her head again. "It looks like it was dropped or thrown so you're probably right about no one coming back for it." it wasn't a bad thing she didn't think, and some money to help out Rhyin take care of them all wasn't a bad idea either!
MoogerMint Emmerich closed his eyes as Briar relayed what she thought was the reasoning behind her previous trainer's and her friend's actions, of forcing combat on living creatures deemed as toys, flinching very slightly at it. They were on the same wavelength as far as it went, but recalling those thoughts were painful. "We're the lesser beings to the humans. Always have been, and these changes many of us have been experiencing still might not change their minds about it. I'd hope that seeing it first-hand would enlighten them a little, but..." ...but he had very little faith in humanity.
Frowning, he imagined what it would have been like if the petite girl went up against a monstrosity of an ursaring. No, she was still a pokemon, there would have been considerably more of a size difference, likely compounded onto a skill difference. Briar was lucky to have survived that in one piece! Not that he was going to say that... there was no need to frighten her any further than she had been! "W-Was there any reason it attacked you in the first place..?" he asked, realizing partway through the question that he was getting too wrapped up in the situation again. Curse it! But really... it would help him, in his own travels, wouldn't it? Any excuse to stay, it seemed, was worth exploring, even if he was kicking himself more and more for extending the misery.
"It sounds like you got out of there before things got really bad for you, if they were going to try aiming higher in their competitions," Emery stated, rocking back slightly as he explored the idea. The whole thing really just sickened him, more so now that he had the breathing space to properly think about it, out in the world. He really didn't like this feeling, this hatred and prejudice... especially since he was now feeling much of what he despised about the humans. They were alike, in some ways, but he didn't honestly want that to be the case. To shake it off, he tried to alter the flow of the conversation, "I don't suppose they could be taken to court now that some people consider us humans, too..." Maybe if the judge saw them more as mere animals, it could work.
"You're never alone out there, I'm sure plenty of people would be willing to help!" the boy spouted off before he had the chance to restrain the urge. Who wouldn't want to help her? He found it nigh impossible a notion, as much as logic attempted to nudge itself further into that faulty thought process. He knew well enough that most people wouldn't, but his mind was also clouded, and he was distracted enough just trying not to reach out and grab her hand to emphasize his point. Hesitating with the blush that appeared once Briar expressed her feelings on the idea of replacing her moveset helped to keep his hands to himself well enough with the jolt. She looked so pretty when she was happy, and being able to coax that smile back out again...
He nearly yelped once more when his train of thought was detracted with the girl's sudden nearness. No no, he couldn't stay any longer! He reached the extent of his willpower, and he had to get out of the place before it was entirely drained. The boy floundered a bit with the experimental TM case, grasping for a shaky laugh, "I'm fine, I just... I just haven't done that before, that must have been the problem." He jumped to his feet and took a few steps back toward the pathway, up the grassy incline toward where they found the bag by the side before pausing. This should be a good distance to say farewells... Turning back, he had a more convincing smile on his face, "Yeah, I think that is grounds for keeping it. Besides, if the weather changes it might ruin them anyway. Speaking of which, I should get going before the weather decides to turn at all. Can't be too careful." Not that there was more than a sparse scattering of precipitation-free cloud coverage in the sky... but he was still unfamiliar with weather changes. After taking a few more steps, he hesitated and indicated the bag, "Oh! I'm sorry, I almost forgot... did you need help bringing that bag back to your place or anything..?" As eager as he was to get out of there, he couldn't just leave her stranded with something she could hardly carry... but at least now there was some physical distance between them.
Lirilei "I don't know, maybe if I'd been there when I changed things would have been different but I'm glad I wasn't when it happened. Who knows what they would have done, probably tried to dress me up in stupid clothes on top of it all too." Briar grumbled just slightly. She didn't mind clothes, and sometimes those girls had very cute things, but not always. She just didn't like tween/teen girls it would seem.
"I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was trying to catch something and I startled it, and its prey got away. I was almost it's replacement meal." she didn't suppress a shudder at the thought. It was more than a little scary that idea! "But I was able to get through smaller areas easier and got away pretty quickly thankfully."
Briar gave a slight shrug at the question as she had no real idea. "Honestly, I don't want to see either of them ever again. So I suppose that means they can get away with what they were doing...and I don't think they meant harm really...they had only had pokemon a few years at most so they probably were just being...well kids." it was the best explanation she had for their behavior, really.
There was a pleased smile on her face at his words, eyes almost sparkling. "I hope you're right. Probably if I hadn't been in the woods I would have found help." and her running from the pokemon center in fright wouldn't have helped matters of course.
"Oh okay, well if you're sure you're okay there Emery." she was giving him a concerned look, but it was fading at his assurances he was fine. That was the important part!
Looking to the bag she shook her head and smiled. "No it's okay, it can stay there. It's off the road and out of the way, so I can get one of my friends to help me with it later." she stood, hands brushing over her dress and gave him another bright smile as she moved towards him to say a proper goodbye...and by proper, she intended to hug him. "It was really nice meeting you Emery, thank you so much for the help with the bag!" she was beaming at him, all wide happy eyes and bright smiles as she looked at him quite unaware of her effect on him.
MoogerMint Emmerich blinked at the thought, tilting his head a little at the thought. Oh that's right, those girls wouldn't have even known the pachirisu had grown at all if she had refused to go back! This strange evolution pattern the pokémon such as themselves were experiencing lately, it was still a pretty new thing, wasn't it? "Hnn, then maybe it was for the best that it turned out that way, even if it seems like an injustice..." the boy considered, conceding.
Well, Briar's plight with the ursaring definitely did not bode very well for Emery's own future expeditions into the wild. How many... how many pokémon were predatory? How many ate other living creatures as food? He recalled that Pyry had mentioned similar and, although it hadn't worried Emery then, it was more disturbing to think of a massive predator looking at him in the way he had previously joked about. His attention caught hold of the girl as she shuddered, causing the magnemite to flinch. Before he was able to restrain himself completely, he had already raised his hands slightly in an effort to reach over and comfort Briar. Quickly, he grabbed at his hands and pulled them to the ground, leaning on them a bit in an attempt to restrict movement further, despite the need having dissipated. "W-Well... now you don't have to worry about that happening again, right?" he countered. Right! She seemed happier, as though safe now, and she had a few TMs she could use sitting right there! Apparently a few friends to help her out as well... which was mildly distressing when he realized he couldn't be included amongst that number.
"Do... kids really act like that normally?" Emery asked, baffled. All kids learned those habits so early on? It seemed like society was self-defeating, and prone to recycling the same loops that crippled the populace as a whole. At this point, it seemed impossible for Emery to see the human race under anything but a negative light, having traversed too far down the train of thought. He gave an audible sigh, shaking his head, but said nothing more on the matter.
The tinge of red across his features didn't lessen when Briar reacted so ecstatically to the boy's assured statement. It became more difficult to speak through the tenseness, through the bubbling heat, but focus kept the obvious effects to a minimum outside what was notably visible. "Well, just... make sure you try not to travel that far into the forest by yourself anymore," he advised, "A lot of pokémon live there!" A lot of dangerous ones at that!
Once at a comfortable distance, Emmerich dismissed Briar's concern with a smile, as if to say, "See? I'm perfectly fine!" He didn't want to see her look at him like that, she looked so much better when she was wearing a smile! Nodding at her assertion that she would be fine with the bag, Emery took one last glance at it to be positive it was out of sight and immediate danger. Water could still harm the components, so close to the pond, but it didn't sound as though she planned to leave the bag here for very long. Well... good. He didn't have to linger here more than was necessary, in that case. With a start, he realized she had moved closer again while his attention was diverted, and that surprise rooted his footing. At least it didn't lock too much else in place, and he used the limited mobility to wave her off, "Good! Well, it was nice meeting you, too, Briar! The bag... it was no problem. I just.... yeah, wanted to help..." Go away, go away..! Why was she bridging the gap he just made?
Lirilei "Hopefully they grow out of it soon before they inflict that kind of torture on any other pokemon." and as far as Briar was concerned it had been very torturous. She'd been beaten up constantly, and injured and in tons of pain...all for their amusement. It made her sick to her stomach!
Briar didn't find anything off about Emery's behavior, the sudden raising of his hands or him pulling them back down. She wasn't the type to judge another based on that sort of thing. She couldn't help but give a low laugh. "Well I don't know...I mean it's still a big bear...and bears can maul humans...so I don't know if I'm better off, or not now." maybe she was doubly likely to find herself at the mercy of a large, grumpy bear...be it pokemon or not!
"I don't think they do normally...but they did. I think it was all those weird cartoons they watched." she didn't understand anime then, or even now. So she didn't know what was so enertaining about it, or why it made them behave as they had....but they had was the b ottom line.
"You're right they do, and now I can't really fit into the cracks and crevices to hide like before. So definitely safer to be with someone than on my own if I venture in too deeply." much, much safer.
Briar was oblivious to the fact he was trying to put space between them. Instead she was more interested in giving a proper sort of goodbye to her new friend, and she reached out and gave him a friendly hug. "Thank you again for the help and it was nice meeting you! If you ever come this way again, there's a cabin just that way, you can come say hi and meet my other friends okay?" Other, as in she was calling him friend too. She beamed at him as she spoke, eyes lit up. "Safe travels Emery!"
MoogerMint While entirely in agreement with Briar's hopefulness on her previous trainers' actions toward pokémon-kind, Emery's snort and shake of the head displayed his doubtfulness to that extent. As long as it became habit to torture those smaller than them, he supposed, but he really lacked the faith. Briar was lucky she got out while she still could! Who knows how that treatment might have progressed! Especially with these... 'cartoons' they seemed to watch. Whatever those were, they seemed to only feed their addictions.
The boy's hands were still pressed into the grass, but he was lessening the pressure he was placing on them gradually as the pachirisu spoke. Her words, however, were no consolation, so his released grip was partially out of a creeping fear of his own, not usually felt. "Well, um..." he attempted, trying to come up with some way she could escape the maulings of a grizzly-type creature, "...you could... try using Attract?" Oh, of course that would be the first thing to suggest, outside of hiding! For all intents and purposes, though, Emery was quite knowledgeable as to how well the move could work for her...
Emery flinched as Briar continued to near, but his feet wouldn't allow for him to take the steps back he was mentally screaming at them to do. "It's... thanks, really, it wasn't any problem," he stumbled over the words, his hands held up as though to emphasize that she didn't need to thank him anymore. Or come any closer. "W-What are you--?" the boy sputtered out, all too late. Briar's arms were quickly wrapped around his torso, and he froze in place, disbelieving. He wasn't hearing her anymore, the quickened blood flow racing enough to drown out anything but his own heartbeat.
Blue screens had nothing on him. Before he realized what he was doing, before he had any time to react, to prevent it, he had already pulled the small pachirisu girl into a kiss. He didn't even remember it happening, but he gasped sharply as he yanked himself away, his expression conveying his horror. "I-I-I'm so sorry! I don't know -- I don't know what came over me!" the boy panicked, "Oh god, I'm so sorry." He had been so close, so close to avoiding contact! This whole mess, it was falling apart.
Lirilei Briar couldn't fault Emery for his disbelief on her former trainer and her friends behavior. She was pretty sure it was still as bad as when she'd been there and once more she was struck by how glad she was they'd run away when they had. A not so small part of her feared she'd have eventually been injured beyond repair after much longer. If not worse.
There was a grimace at his suggestion but a soft sigh of defeat. "Yeah...you're right it'd probably work pretty good wouldn't it?" as much as she hated to admit it, Attract realy was her strongest move in the long run and her best defense if it turned out she needed to use it. Still she'd do all she could to avoid that sort of situation!
His reaction to her coming near was realized moments too late. She was already hugging hm. He was just a little taller than her so she had to peer up at him even as he was freaking out at the hug. It was his own arms tightening around her, pulling her closer to him that suddenly had her blushing a pretty pink color, Draven was the only one to hold her this close for hugs!
That kiss however! It made the pink rocket to red as he eyes closed, she almost instinctively returning the kiss, though it was only a quick return before he was yanking himself away from her mortified and she...was stunned. A hand raised to her lips as she gave him a wide eyed look of wonder, a sudden shy smile on her face. "Wow...that was my first kiss." she cleared her throat a moment with a soft giggle. "It's okay really. I didn't mind it, but probably we shouldn't do that again. I don't think Draven would like it if he found out." oh she was sure he wouldn't. She took a few steps back so he wouldn't look so much like a cornered animal.
MoogerMint Hearing the negative downturn to Briar's voice, Emery realized how awful his suggestion had been, and not only considering his own feelings on the Attract move. He tried to find some sort of... semi-clever way to play it off, eyes landing back on the bag of TMs. He had to keep himself from snapping his fingers at the obvious means of derailment, "Well, it could work half the time, but hey, that's what the TMs are for. It's just for now, I'm sure you'll be able to build up what you can do to keep yourself safe. Then you won't have to rely on anyone else anymore!" Sure, it wasn't a bad thing to have a partner in times like that, but the necessity for survival tended to outweigh the ideals.
He wasn't sure what part of that embrace he imagined and what actually happened, but there was no way he was about to question it. To be honest, it had felt nice, comfortable... but maybe that was what had ultimately scared him the most. He'd never been touched like that, never been comforted, held... kissed... was that going to happen every single time!?
There was some visible hesitation before Emery chanced a look Briar's way, not until her words cut through the panic and psychobabble. "Um... me neither, actually," he cautiously divulged, wondering if that somehow made him a worse person for instigating it. Briar didn't seem angry, though, or like she wanted to get as far away from him as she possibly could. She almost looked like she could have enjoyed it... but he wasn't sure if that was just himself hoping that to be the case. She... hadn't been the one to pull away, though. Should he have hesitated a bit more before doing so? That deep crimson color somehow made her seem more-- He buried his face in his hands to try to stop the running assessment, but gave a nod in agreement to the pachirisu's suggestion. "This is so twisted..." Emery sighed, his voice still a bit shaky, "I can't believe I did that." Was it just him, or was he starting to sound like a broken record? His words, along with the shared awkwardness, were strangely helping to lessen the terror of the situation, and he gave a quiet snicker, strained with disbelief.
Lirilei Briar gave a smile at his words, a nod given. This was true, the move didn't always work and she did have a bag of TM's at her disposal now, so she could learn something to completely erase knowing Attract, right? She sure hoped so! "That's right, that's what they're for and I plan to make good use of them." oh indeed.
There was a soft giggle, nothing mean just sort of stunned by it all really, and while she was a light shade of pink she was otherwise unbothered by the whole thing. Oh sure it had been a nice kiss, surprisng as it was, but he seemed just as surprised and realized he hadn't really planned on doing that. So, no sense in getting mad about it. At least she was level headed!
"It's okay really, I'm not mad and you look more surprised by what happened than I am. You're certainly being harder on yourself than I am." it was true! He seemed to be mortified with himself for what happened where as she was just pleasant surprised.
Staying put, finding it to be the safer idea she gave him a warm smile. "I should let you keep traveling so you can find somewhere safe to stop and rest for the night."
MoogerMint Emery lifted his head cautiously again once he heard Briar's quiet laugh. She... she really wasn't mad, was she? She wasn't just saying that, she actually meant it. His attention diverted, but her words caused him to smile more sincerely instead of so cynically. "Well, I didn't want to overstep any bounds..." the boy explained, tapping his thumbs together nervously. He still felt as though he had gone far past that in such a short encounter, but Briar was so accommodating that it was difficult to know for sure.
Making sure his materials were securely attached, the radio handle still strapped to his belt, he gave a nod at the pachirisu's suggestion. He didn't know where the closest place was to crash for the night, and was half expecting to be roughing it for a while yet due to this. Divergent eyes trained back to Briar, he turned back but momentarily with a sheepish offer, "Once I get this problem under control, I wouldn't mind... I mean, if you don't..." He bit at the inside of his lip, irritated with how difficult it was to say before he opted to take it simpler, "I'll see you later?"
Lirilei She could see the surprise at her reaction from him, and it looked like relief as well and she couldn’t help but smile a bit more. She hated others feeling uncomfortable especially if she had the means of fixing that problem. Apparently she’d done the right thing, and it made her feel good inside for making him feel good. This was…well good!
Watching him check his things there was a nod at the words he was trying to get out, and she smiled again, a warm friendly thing. “I’d really like it if you visited again. That path there leads to the cabin I live in with my friends, so you can find me if you want. Safe travels Emery!” it was the best she could offer really, and truly safe travels were what all individuals needed, friend or otherwise.
* * * * *
Level: 16 --> 16 EMMERICH learned KARMA BOND
Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2014 2:55 am
– Decompiler + Translating to instinct is not usually a smooth transition
Confliction seemed to be a common occurrence out in this world, and it came in a variety of flavors. That was one thing that was for certain: life was most assuredly not dull, but whether or not this was a good thing had yet to be determined. In some cases, when events happened in such rapid succession, they worked to keep one's mind off of anything else that may be bothering the individual, physically or mentally, in favor of dealing with what was currently presented before them. Unfortunately, it could also work to enhance such prior concerns by making the one experiencing them work with the set frame of mind that was already in place, instead of redirecting it to be more constructive.
Of course, with his luck, it seemed that the majority of the recent encounters Emery had experienced reinforced the latter. No, maybe it was a bit of both... but they swerved back and forth in such a dizzying manner, and always ended negatively. He almost had a hold of it, he did... but just before his hands could grasp firmly onto that control, it was abruptly smacked away.
Why did things have to be so unpredictable? Why did people have to be so unpredictable? He had heard of thieves before, but had never thought about chancing an encounter with one of them. Despite it having been a good day's worth of time since, Pyry's bell, which had been stolen for a brief interval, had not left his hand for longer than a half hour, and that had just been the once. After all, it was difficult to help a petite poké-child like Briar move such a heavy bag when one's hands were occupied.
His fingers tightened around the small metallic bell, footsteps hesitating momentarily until Emery decided to turn his attention back behind him, along the trail that he had been traversing over the course of the day. It was mostly open hillside, the roads left behind in favor of travel through an area considerably less dense with traffic. Not that the previous path had been very congested -- quite the opposite -- but the chances of running into any other human or human-like individual were much higher the longer he remained along that road. Judging from how his last few encounters seemed to devolve further, tear at his psyche more tenaciously, he couldn't risk another confrontation; he couldn't handle it. Everyone else's actions were variable as it was, but when his own erratic behavior was thrown into the mix...
Emery closed his eyes, releasing a loosely-controlled, agitated sigh. He pivoted back around and continued on his way, turning the dial on the radio to see if he couldn't locate something other than static out here. Truth was, he wasn't expecting the old piece of electronic material to be capable of being used as a true radio anymore -- it had been fairly broken down when he had found it -- but the search still eased the mind a little. Or it would have, if he had truly been paying attention to the electric snow he heard.
Why the reflection? He didn't want to think about it. It seemed absurd that there seemed to be this lofty notion that taking a walk through nature cleared one's head, an idea he had picked up when someone in town had off-handedly asked what he tended to do with his time. If that was what the open air was supposed to do, it had done a lousy job so far! Contrary to such popular belief, it gave even more space to actually think problems over. Maybe Emery had been misled? It didn't truly matter, in the end, for he had a destination in mind, even if it carried with it the baggage of breathing space.
At the very least, there was the assurance that it was much less likely he was to run into another thief out in these parts, after what was supposedly a stupid trinket, at least before Emery could see them coming. How likely were electric- or steel-types out here, though? He gritted his teeth at the fresh memory, but considered the specific, worrisome effect would likely only work if the other individual was also a changed pokémon. That was the hope, at least. As nice as the feeling might be at the time, the feelings of attraction were all artificially-created; once he was out of the vicinity, the emotion evaporated like steam. Briar was nice, and a good friend, but nothing more... he didn't feel the urge to turn around and go back anymore.
It was so frustrating! What about himself was truly genuine, and not merely a byproduct of the environment!?
The radio crackled loudly at his side, but the boy had long since failed to realize it was even still on. His head was whirling in a confused cycle of negativity before the white noise was able to successfully breach it, where his thoughts landed abruptly to a single thought. The disarray was still present, but it a more focused manner: what was that TM business all about, anyway? Was that really normal, to have been electrocuted by a disk? It didn't seem to cause a similar reaction toward Briar, so what did it mean? He still had seen images, broken as they were, so it wasn't that it had been denying him considering he could still learn it, right? Or was it rejecting him, as a wielder of the skill, and not necessarily because he was a magnemite? Was he considered less of a pokémon compared to how well Briar had fared after her transformation? Maybe his head just couldn't process it...
Glancing down at the palm of his hand, red in color, he idly curled his fingers and released them in slow repetition. He'd get an answer if he just tried it out, would he not? If he couldn't use the skill, then he couldn't learn it to begin with. It seemed a simple enough theory.
He was near enough a sturdy-looking tree, so he thought he'd use it as a practice dummy of sorts. Emery wasn't entirely sure what this thing was supposed to do in the first place, but most moves as a pokémon could be felt, if not outright witnessed. The scrambled images were a mess to sort through, however, and he was having a difficult time sorting them out, piecing them together in the proper order. So many splinters, fractured film tossed together in a heap of data... he wasn't a translator; he didn't have an encryption key for this hash code! Trial-and-error was going to take ages... wasn't it supposed to come naturally?
It had been more out of frustration that he attempted the move at all. The images from the faulty TM had been haphazardly seared into his mind, but it was still a confusing and jumbled chaotic mess of a set of instructions. If it was meant to become instinct, he felt as though he hadn't unlocked anything it had overwritten. Was it accidentally imprinted on a part of the brain that wasn't consciously used? Something had to kick it into gear!
"Why won't you work!?" he hissed at himself, trying to toss something, anything, at the surface of the oak. Focused intent seemed to work on the matter, but not in the way Emery had been expecting. Something seemed to try to materialize to his right, just out of sight, but the sudden appearance caused the child to violently flinch away, scrambling a few steps away. Wide-eyed, he looked around... only to find the scenery just as unaffected as before. A thought came to mind, and his heart began to race in insecure fear, Was it someone else trying to steal Pyry's bell? No matter how wildly he scanned the area, however, no trace could be spotted, and there was nothing different -- the wind was hardly even blowing at all to cause anything to seemingly move of its own accord.
With a sigh, Emmerich attempted to settle his nerves, attention turning once more to the offending hand he had been using to test the broken TM. "I'm not starting to hallucinate, am I?" he seemed to ask it, sounding defeated. It wouldn't have been the first time, but it was never a good sign. He blinked once, his exasperation slowly melting into a soft frown, "Wait a minute..."
Realization may have dawned on him, but it was overwrought with no less confusion. It didn't... look the same, but it was something nevertheless. With a slow breath, he repeated the process, duplicated the data he had tested, and came to the same result. This time, however, he struck through with it, went by instinct instead of responding to outside distractions, as a true battle might.
Appearing in the air next to him were a couple of small steel objects, though no further defining characteristic could be deduced before they were launched at the opponent. Impact told of what mere observation of the item could not say as they bent their way straight for their designated target as though the air were water, giving a small, damaging explosion upon collision. Emery studied the shattered tree bark, appearing unfazed until he let loose a quiet whistle moments later, "Bombs. Huh. Did not see that coming..."
He placed his hands in his pockets, considering the situation. That wasn't the move he had been trying to do; it looked all wrong. However, it was a start. "Didn't realize I had leveled so much," he noted aloud, taking a few steps forward, "or that I could level at all, in this form. I wonder if I've learned anything else without being fully aware of it." Perhaps the idea had been but a passing thought, but it took root. After all, he hadn't been aware of Magnet Bomb, but it lit the impression that maybe that TM really had been successful after all. Maybe he just hadn't been a high enough level yet? The finer points to TMs weren't common knowledge for him, after all, so it didn't seem like it would have been out of the question.
It took some doing for Emery to remember which of the moves he had learned from before, but they were not abilities he could so easily forget without being overwritten, as per the fluid nature of the pokémon mind. It had been a long enough time, however, that it felt as though he were learning them all over again, surprised with the results. Next on the rotation was Supersonic and, although it didn't have an effect on the tree itself, was met with a dawning, "Oh yeah!" The sensation felt from casting the sound waves to the air was testament to the fact it had not been a failed launch, as before.
Thunder Shock came similarly, but there was something that seemed different about it. It had a much more powerful kick to it than Emery ever remembered it exibiting before. There was a thought that maybe it was because of the body he was now trapped in and it's aversion to electricity intake, but he couldn't be certain; it was his only electric-type attack. Unfortunately, the moves didn't seem to embed their given names into the data as they were learned -- that was a human habit.
With the cutting pressure digging into the shards of tree bark with a familiar Sonic Boom, the boy's frustration seemed to mount a bit. Pokémon only learned four moves that they could hold on to at any given point, and he had just finished cycling through all of them. "So... the TM didn't work after all?" he asked, baffled. Then... then what was all this that was so forcibly inscribed in his head after he had tried to absorb the information off of that stupid thing?
The static was still sibilating over the stifling silence. Emery was annoyed, but the piercing sound of the radio speakers was working. He heaved another irritable sigh, but he let it go, "Oh well. It must have been too damaged to get anything complete off of." It kept the blame off of him that way, at least, but it was just not something that was worth getting so worked up over...
...it just took him three hours to realize that much.
– NorthernInfluence + Shifts in scenery can impart other differences as well
Rain was a very odd phenomenon. Every time water came down from overhead, Emmerich couldn't help but wonder if a water-type was manipulating the sky nearby. Weather patterns were not unknown incidents, but their mechanics were still quite puzzling for one who had lived out the majority of his life in a basement. So to speak.
The outside temperatures had shifted to a warmer climate as the days progressed, turning the chillier mornings into merely chance encounters of moisture. The sky was still sparse in general, but each occurrence of rain was met with little more than disdain.
As the water fell, anything exposed to the air would be met with a sensation similar to a pinch. It wasn't exactly painful, but it was quite uncomfortable. Emery could curse at it, as distracting as it was, but would inevitably try to find cover where possible. As of yet, the clouds hadn't allowed for much more than a light spring shower, but the knowledge of a downpour likely would have set the boy much more on edge, had he known of its existence.
Off and on, as he scaled further up the mountain, he found himself grateful of the trees that were scattered here and there along the face of the massive landmark. Once he had pushed past the forest, it had become considerably easier to avoid the denser collections of trees, as daunting as they were, yet still have adequate enough cover. Glancing up through the canopy foliage, it was easy enough to wait out the passing, light storms. He might not have been as compact as he had been as an unchanged pokémon, but he was still small for a human, which made concealment from the rain a simple enough matter.
It had been perhaps five minutes since the last bout had started, but it had reached its finale just as quickly. Emery peered out from under the outer edge of the branches, but remained rooted for a few moments longer, just to be sure he had waited the entirety of the shower out. Making sure everything was securely strapped, he then continued on his way.
The directions he had been given encompassed such a vague point, it would likely be a miracle if he ever stumbled across the place he was trying to get to. Heck, would he even recognize the area if he walked clear through it? His footsteps didn't slacken, but the boy was worried about it nonetheless. It's not like he had anything better to do with his time, really, but how long would he be trapped up here, in this extensive length of mountain range, before he found any trace of Pyry at all? Or even whoever this 'Mister Escher' was?
Lightly, he shook the bell, hearing the soft, metallic chime over the rustling of the wind. All this for something that most people took as insignificant... sometimes Emery wondered if he felt the same about it. If that were the case, though, then why was he out here so far anyway? Maybe it was just to pass the time... but then what was he going to do once this quest was completed? Figure out what else this mountain had hidden, way up here? Seemed more than a little foolhardy, but why not?
He took a glance around the area, finding the first signs of frost on a far outcropping of boulders. Having been lost in thought, the magnemite hadn't been paying close enough attention to notice the finer details until now. Didn't frost only really come out in the mornings? That had been the only time Emery had really seen it, when the dew froze overnight only to be melted with the sun... how strange.
Emery was getting nearer the summit, however, and the unknown only seemed to multiply from there. He knew of rain, of wind, sun, frost... but snow was something entirely new. Sure, he could see it from afar, but actually experiencing it was an entirely different void of knowledge.
And he really wasn't enjoying it one bit.
"So this is where ice-types live, huh?" he studied the layer of snow at his feet, kicking it a little. It made sense after all: they tended to need things cold, didn't they? Maybe it would be better than rain, unless the sky liked to dump both on an area at once, but that seemed unlikely. It actually wasn't so bad... at least for the first ten minutes he had to stroll through this winter wonderland.
By the time the previous greenery was out of view, the radio that served as background noise took on a reverberating base to its common static. Usually that meant interference, and the altitude difference was no doubt the most likely candidate for its cause. How long had it been going on? It must have been gradual, but it had grown to be an obvious tonal difference now in the landscape of silence. Almost creepy, even.
He reached for the knob as he continued moving, only to stop in his tracks with a wince. A sharp pain shot through his arm, but it was different from the normal electrical surges he was more familiar with, almost affecting straight down to the skeletal structure beneath. It might very well have been, but Emery wasn't sure. He reached over to the top of his forearm with the opposing hand, only to be met with similar resistance.
"What the--!?" he hissed through clenched teeth, but didn't have a need to further the query. Emery was not dressed for this kind of weather, and the damage it was doing was making itself clear. His skin may have been susceptible to the cold on its own, but part of that surface area was still metallic... and that was absorbing the freezing air all the quicker. Frostbite was already becoming evident near the edges, where metal met skin, but it didn't dampen the feeling of being stabbed by icepicks.
His dual-colored eyes turned skyward, noting that the sky almost appeared to mirror the blank and vast whiteness of the area, as though someone had taken an eraser to the scenery. This unfamiliar landscape was frightening enough, but the fact that just standing here was injuring him dug that feeling far deeper. Not to mention the static really wasn't helping matters, but by this point, Emery had more or less forgotten that he had the power to turn it off.
Panic was not a foreign concept, but there was never usually any time for the boy to prepare to deal with it, to counteract it with basic logic. No, it hit full-force, and fried most of the circuits of rationale, save for the basest of survival instinct. A shiver ran up his spine as he scanned the cliff faces, his arms clutched tightly around his midsection and refusing to budge. There seemed to be an alcove in one of them, a bit in the distance, so maybe he could regain some of his internal body temperature that way...
It wasn't as deep as he was hoping it would be, but he saw no other choices at present -- beggars couldn't be choosers, after all. He scrambled quickly inside, huddling in a far corner of the small cave. He didn't even think to scope the place out first, to make sure nobody else was already living within, he just wanted out of the snow. Pulling his knees up to his forehead, he buried his face as much as he could, trying to coax the feeling back into... well, everything, as though he could wait out the perpetual weather conditions. Even his brain seemed to be numb from the cold, blood like ice circulating through his body. He didn't have the energy to feel pain anymore, but perhaps that had been a blessing in disguise.
Emery's ears fell deaf to all but the asymmetrical waveforms of the glitchy radio. Had the bass gotten louder? He could have sworn that he could almost make a voice out in the static, as he always felt like he could, but now it didn't sound anything short of menacing...
