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 Posted: Fri Jul 17, 2009 1:51 pm
Miharu smiled at the little Ralts and pulled her newly upgraded Pokedex out of her pocket, quickly scanning the little Pokemon. It's a psychic type? she thought curiously, also noting that it was native to both the Hoenn and Sinnoh regions. She looked up at Tyra again, wondering just where this girl had come from. She was completely oblivious to the mischief that little Jiro was up to, and instead had turned her attention to the growling Houndour, wondering what she'd done wrong. Miharu quickly stood up, now looking in the same direction the canine was, and when she saw the two figure approaching, she frowned. Uh oh...
Sparkle sensed the shift in the tension long before Miharu did, and the Flaaffy had already taken to clinging to Miharu's leg, watching with wide eyes as the two came closer. "Flaaffy flaa..." she whimpered, ears twitching slightly.
"Shh, Sparkle. It's all right," Miharu said quietly, holding her ground as the angry-looking young woman completely ignored Tyra and stopped directly in front of her. A low growl came from Miharu's throat as she heard one of her most hated phrases escape the violet-eyed girl's lips. She was small for her age and she knew it, but she never let it get her down. Now glaring up at the taller and probably older girl, Miharu crossed her arms, strangely feeling a little braver than she normally would in this situation. Perhaps it was Tyra's influence? "You wanna say that again?" Miharu challenged, surprised at the venomous tone in her voice.
The boy, meanwhile, had hung back a bit, though he seemed to be laughing to himself as he studied the pink-haired Tyra. "Ooh, look at you, aren't you the tough one," he said mockingly, his fingers dancing against the smooth surfaces of the Pokeballs on his belt. He yanked one off, and flipped it up into the air, catching it with ease. He then eyed the tiny Ralts on the ground next to Tyra and he laughed out loud again. "You call that little thing a Pokemon? It's more like a toy doll," he chortled. "A toy doll that my Ekans would love to play with!" With that he threw the sphere against the ground, and the long, purple serpent erupted from within, hissing menacingly as it eyed Jiro, forked tongue tasting the air around it.
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Posted: Fri Jul 17, 2009 4:42 pm
While waiting for an answer, Karrigan seriously considered bolting, as her confidence had seemingly run dry and now she was actually shaking slightly. Karrigan wasn't normally a timid girl, but now she was wondering if perhaps she'd shown up too early. What if she'd woken Bill? She didn't want him to be angry with her, though the thought of him coming down the stairs in a bathrobe to find no one at the door made her eve more leery. Her thoughts were so busy running rampant in her head that she almost didn't notice when one of the doors slowly creaked open, and a young man with dark purple hair, maybe a few years older than she was, poked his head out and greeted her.
Okay... too late to run away now, she thought, carefully taking in his appearance. He was wearing green slacks and a pristine white shirt, and Karrigan couldn't help but notice the grinning cat belt buckle he wore. He was a trench coat and a fedora short of being something straight out of Goodfellas. "Uh..." she started, a little taken aback by his cheery demeanor, but she managed to remember her manners and she managed to put on her usual shy smile. "Good morning," she said with a slight nod, while trying to suppress her surprise. Professor Rowan had told her he was young, but she hadn't expected him to be that young. Or be dressed like a mobster, either. "Bill...?"
=-=-=-=-=
Shocker's ears twitched slowly as she gazed up at Mai, daring only to look towards the food bowl when her stomach grumbled in protest of being empty, effectively ruining her attempt at being stoic. The mouse glanced towards Mai's other Pokemon, each of which gazed back at her with expressionless faces, safe for Serenity. The Espeon's tail flicked a bit and she nodded at the Raichu. Shocker frowned a little, remembering well her little escape attempt from last night, and how the Espeon had been mostly responsible for stopping her. The mouse huffed indignantly, crossing her arms over her chest before she looked away. There was no way she was going to let that pink puffball tell her what to do.
Mai raised an eyebrow at the exchange and she shook her head. "Look Raichu, either you eat now, or go hungry. It's up to you, and personally I don't really care either way." The Rocket crossed one leg over the other, shooting the Electric-type a very unimpressed look. "And don't be thinking it's poisoned or drugged or anything either," she added, prompting a surprised look from the mouse. "You're not worth the effort."
Shocker's ears drooped a little and her shoulders slumped, but still she shuffled over towards the bowl and gave it a sniff. It actually smelled quite good - better than the Pokemon Center food she had grown used to, and there was actually a very generous serving as well. Before she knew it she had dug in and was enjoying her meal, not caring if she looked like a slob or not. If she was going to get out of here, she needed to keep her strength up.
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Posted: Fri Jul 17, 2009 8:41 pm
Tyra noticed Miharu’s tone and actions and stepped down not getting in the way of the two trainers. It was the Ekans that really had her attention. Poison.... slight worry entered her thoughts with not having any antidotes. Before she could even call on Hunter or make any signal, Jiro jumped forward. Way to step up to the challenge lil one. She wasn’t sure if the fight was on totally but she wasn’t going to waste her time either.
“You’re going to be sorry you ever messed with me! JIRO...” Tyra noticed her little ralts was already focusing his energy. Didn’t seem Jiro was one to waste time in a fight. Rainbow waves emanated from the smaller pokemon and Tyra recognized the confusion attack. ...you little troublemaker! Tyra realized that Jiro had brought this battle on. He must’ve wanted some action Tyra smirked widened into almost a vicious grin. She may have had too much confidence in her pokemon.
The violet eyed girl starred down at her chosen opponent and smiled maliciously.
“My eyes are on you to battle pipsqueak. Didn’t hear? Ears too low to the ground?” The taller girl stood straight, almost sticking her well developed chest out. She dropped both her pokeballs. The bright light went between both trainers and as the girl caught the two pokeballs with ease, the light dimmed to show a taillow and a treecko were released.
“C’mon Kurt let’s show these wannabe’s!” The girl jumped back into a battle stance. Her two pokemon almost looked drunk with the upcoming fight. The taillow tilted its head back and let out a screech which acted much like a battle cry. The treecko stood as tall as it could on its legs to attempt intimidation.
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Posted: Fri Jul 17, 2009 9:49 pm
Riza laughed lightly. Of course she knew that he got Helios back. She was there when he evolved. It was nice to know the whole story now, though. "Well I'm glad it all worked out and you got him back," she said, deciding to take a chance as she reached across the table to lightly rest her hand on top of his. It would also would stop him from making that annoying tapping sound. "No one should ever have to go though what you did, it's just horrible." She too glanced towards the kitchen, finally feeling hungry for the first time in a while and also wondered how long it would be for their meals to come. "That explains a lot, but how did you end up getting tickets to the Breeder's gala anyway?" She pulled her hand back and looked down at the table, wondering how to bring about her next question. "And what went so wrong between you and Kasiya? You guys looked pretty close yesterday at the beach party. Now you wont even mention her name." She gazed up at him intently, still quite dead set on getting her answers.
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thunderbolts_and_sunshine
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Posted: Sat Jul 18, 2009 10:02 am
Keegan's heart beat a bit erratically when Riza's touched his, and though his first instinct was to pull his hand back, he stopped himself and instead adjusted his hand a bit so that he could gently stroke the back of her hand with his thumb. "Thanks," he mumbled, smiling lightly across the table at her. "It means a lot to hear you say that." Though his story was finished he was certain she'd have more questions, some of which he was sure he didn't want to answer. He frowned and looked at the table as Riza's next two questions came about. "The Gala was part of Sheridan's deal. Not only did she want Helios to father a baby Vulpix for her, but she also gave me two tickets. Something about it being in good faith and no hard feelings." He scoffed then and looked away. Yeah right, no hard feelings my a**. He knew that he would never be able to forgive Sheridan for putting him through all that stress. He then narrowed his eyes at Riza. "You know, I've said it before, and I'm gonna say it again. What went on between me and Kasiya is none of your business, and I'd appreciate it if you'd just shut up about it already." His tone was sharp, firm, and final. He glared at the raven-haired girl, letting her know he would say nothing more on the matter. It was a good timing on the waitress' part though, as she placed their respective meals in front of them. Keegan grumbled his thanks and dug in, once again showing off his astounding lack of table manners.
=====
The punk and his Ekans weren't expecting the puny little Pokemon before them to suddenly attack, and the snake Pokemon was suddenly struck by a blast of colourful, psychic energy, and the punk growled angrily, adjusting the red bandanna around his head. "You'll pay for that, squirt!" he shouted, pointing a gloved hand at the tiny Ralts. "Give it a Poison Sting, Ekans! Teach it a lesson!" Hissing, the purple snake rose up, not pleased about taking that super-effective hit and it opened its mouth, firing a volley of glowing, venomous barbs at Jiro.
Miharu's fists were clenched tightly at her sides, her mouth set in an annoyed frown. All her life she'd been picked on for her size and for the most part she'd learned to ignore it, but there was something about Violet Eyes' tone that really set her off. "I heard you just fine," Miharu shot back, crossing her arms over her chest (perhaps out of embarrassment). "You must be really tough, picking on people that are smaller than you."
Sparkle, still clinging to Miharu's leg, looked up at her trainer, and tilted her head. "Flaa?" she asked, a little surprised that her trainer was acting so brave. She looked towards the two Pokemon, and narrowed her eyes. If Miharu wasn't afraid, then she wouldn't be afraid either. "Flaaffy flaa!" she cried, suddenly dashing forward. Blue electricity flared up from her woolly body and she sent it in an arc towards the small blue and red bird, though her wild Thundershock was far from accurate.
"Sparkle..." Miharu started, but stopped, and smiled. It seemed that Sparkle would not be intimidated either.
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Posted: Sat Jul 18, 2009 10:18 am
Kuza shrugged and looked over at Yaku. "It's so hard for me to attack now...I kind of don't even want to be here, y'know?" He sat down on the ground and looked very bored with what was going on. His Muk was surrounded by sand. "I guess just use Toxic on Sandslash. I mean, if you want."
"Brilliant idea, bro!" Yaku laughed, "Weezing, use Toxic on Electabuzz! We'll show the two of you that it isn't brute strength that gets you through a battle!" The Weezing bobbed up and down for a moment then unleashed a putrid ball of purple goo right towards his feline foe.
Kilik growled. Toxic was a nasty status effect that he could likely do without. Sure, he could finish the battle before Cable was too beaten down by it, but he didn't want to run that risk. As he was about to call for a command, he noticed someone waving over at Kasiya and himself. It was Mitsu! He smiled brightly. Well, I can't perform poorly. What would she think? A light laugh escaped his lips. He also noticed Dante, the boy who had given him Bahamut, was with her. His heart sank - was he here because he wanted him back? Shaking the thought from his mind, Kilik swept the air with his arm. "Alright, Cable!" he barked, "Use your Shock Wave! Stay far away from that sludge!" With an affirmative nod, Cable did a flip backwards while charging up his body with electricity. The Toxic landed mere inches from his feet when he landed and he unleashed the Shock Wave right towards the Weezing with a loud cry. "This is ours," Kilik smiled, giving Kasiya a slight nod.
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Posted: Sat Jul 18, 2009 4:23 pm
"So this is it then, Blaziken's last stand Hitmonchan! But our passion burns hotter than any flamire, Fire Punch!" Hitmonchan cried out as his fist burst into intense flames as he swung it to meet Bleziken's leg. The fire trailed from his fist making a gnarly streak of red, his fist resembling a comet of its own as Hitmonchan put all his might into his blazing arm. When foot and fist collided there was an intense outburst of heat waves that even made the beach going Brawly sweat as he shielded himself from the fiery flash that lasted but a moment. Hitmonchan was deadlocked in the battle for the finishing blow against the opponent's Blaziken, unwilling to let himself fail against this particular attack for he had gained a respect for her and the only way he could think to show this was to defeat her. But there was no denying that her flames were definitely much hotter than his, hotter than they had been in the entire battle so far. His own flaming fist was doing little to protect Hitmonchan from the heat radiating from Bleziken's kick and it took all his might to push back one final time getting blasted back by the kick feeling a terrible stinging sensation as his arm and half of his upper body became afflicted by a burn.
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Posted: Sat Jul 18, 2009 4:42 pm
The punk girl saw the wild bolts and quirked up her right eyebrow. The Taillow hopped away from the bolts with ease. As it stood there it fluffed up in confidence and almost looked cocky.
“HAH This is going to be too easy shrimp, can you put up a better fight than that? At least even act it? Is your brain as small as you? Or do you think you can throw another pokemon out for my Treecko to have some fun?” The violet eyed girl chuckled. “Seems you can act brave but got nothing to back it!” The smile that came across her face almost seemed to drip with disrespect for the other trainer. “Taillow quick attack!”
The small birds wings spread out to their full wing span and it lowered its front as it started to charge the flaafy. The speed kept increasing with every step closing the distance between it and its opponent.
Tyra panicked briefly at the barbs that were flung at Jiro. However her panic was for nothing as the small ralts used his size to his advantage by dropping to the ground and rolling away. Tyra feeling much more confidence in her newest addition grinned evilly.
“Oh yes...lesson taught!” She clenched her fists and shifted her right foot behind her, as her arm shot out she yelled out her next attack. Jiro’s body began to vibrate and a second ralts appeared.
Tyra heard Hunter from where her belongings were. She was howling to cheer on the ralts. Tyra realized that Freya was still in her ball, and it being Jiro’s first fight the least she could do was get all the team cheering. Tyra reached back quickly not removing her eyes from Jiro and released Freya. The machop started hopping from foot to foot excited about the fight and even more so for not missing it. She clapped her hands to cheer.
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Posted: Sat Jul 18, 2009 5:53 pm
"You talkin' ta me?" Venerax replied in his best gangster voice as the young girl stared at him skeptically and cautiously. He let it linger for a few moments before chuckling.
"Sorry," He said regaining his composure. "I'm not Bill. Names Venerax. I'm one of Bill's guests. I'm guessing your the expected one though."
He held out his hand with a smile.
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Posted: Sat Jul 18, 2009 8:13 pm
Maven realizing the time led her two pokemon to be underneath the shade of a nearby tree. Placing her backpack down and pulling out food for both her and her team. She put to the side a couple of berries for treats after they had lunch. Leaning against the tree and eating a sandwich and starred up into the sky. She let her mind wander...the nightmare was becoming an every night thing. She couldn’t believe the nightmare she had when she shared the room after Kasiya’s battle kept coming back, night after night.
The nightmare wasn’t always the same, similar but not identical. Aside from training Phyra for contests, and getting Vixy’s strength up, it was what took up most of her mind. She didn’t want to admit it but it was mostly the reason for not going to the beach party, or the first contest. She wanted to figure things out. Her mind drifted through the different scenarios. It wasn’t until she felt two little paws on her chest and a cold nose against her chin that she shook her head clear.
“Hey Vixy.” Maven reached up and scratched between the fire fox’s ears. “Yeah I have been a bit distracted. You are improving nicely...hmm I do wonder how Kasiya and Keegan are doing. Hey! I have their numbers!”
Maven suddenly realizing that some time had passed since she last heard from her friends. She pulled out her pokenav and started on a message to Kasiya first.
Hey Kasiya,
I know I missed the beach party I hope you had a chance to go and had fun. I haven’t gotten much further, heading to Celadon wanting to pick up a few items before the next contest for Phyra. How’d the training go in that mansion area for you? Well just wanted to send a quick hi before I pack up the team to get moving. Best wishes ~ M
Kasiya wasn’t a friend of long ago so Maven had a hard time trying to figure out what to say. Her encounter with Kasiya was short but it had its impact on Maven’s life, as did her experience with Keegan. As her pokenav let her know her message went through she went to her contacts and picked out Keegan.
Hey Keegan,
I hope you had a good time at the party you had mentioned. How are things going with you? Just thought I should send a message since it’s been awhile. Vixy’s doing fantastic, wish you could’ve seen the flames that came out of her today during training. From where we parted I haven’t left but that changes today so best of luck on your adventures, hope to see you again.
Maven
Watching the message go through she put it back and started to pack up their lunch. Phyra noticing the pack up eyed Maven cautiously. The pony wasn’t sure if her trainer was packing to move on or to head back into town. Vixy paid no attention as she pounced on flowers. Maven gave a whistle to gain the energetic pokemon’s attention.
“Let’s head to Celadon and see what that town has to offer shall we?” Maven said and it seemed to her that Phyra approved of the change of scenery.
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Posted: Sun Jul 19, 2009 10:23 am
Miharu raised an eyebrow at the sight of the charging Taillow, not at all surprised that it had dodged Sparkle's first Thundershock. The Flaaffy often forgot to take aim when she fired, and she could see that the little bird was incredibly fast. "Sparkle, hold your ground," she commanded sharply, ignoring the punk girl's taunts. She would just have to show her that size (and well-developed chests) had nothing to do with one's strength when battling Pokemon. The small bird slammed directly into Sparkle's stomach, causing the Flaaffy to stagger a bit. If they make too much contact with Sparkle her Static ability could paralyze it, she thought. "Sparkle, grab the bird and use your Cotton Spore!" Sparkle bleated loudly and reached out swiftly to try and get a hold of the Taillow before she began to shake her whole body, sending up puffs of fluffy white cotton that could stick to their target and reduce their movement speed. Miharu then eyed the Treecko and frowned. "As you wish," she growled as she snatched Petunia's Park Ball from her belt and let it fly. "Give the gecko or whatever it's called a Seismic Toss!" The mighty Pinsir burst from her sphere and was already charging towards the Wood Gecko Pokemon, her mighty pincers snapping together dangerously.
"What?" the punk boy shouted, first annoyed that the small Ralts had avoided the barrage of Poison Sting, but also now that there were two of Jiro staring back at them. "Whatever, it doesn't matter anyway! Ekans, freeze them in their tracks with a Glare!" Also annoyed, the snake slithered forward, swaying dangerously back and forth before it rose up, a menacing Glare crossing its features as it stared down the small Ralts.
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Posted: Sun Jul 19, 2009 10:50 am
Kasiya growled to herself as well, and she frowned. She also was not a fan of having her Pokemon suffer from being badly poisoned from Toxic, and she looked to Digger, wondering if there was a way they could counter or block it. He definitely wasn't as nimble as Cable, and their options were limited. "Digger, use Rollout to try and push through it!" she shouted, not sure what else to do. The Sandslash ducked into a spiny ball and he began to roll forward, quickly gaining speed as his spikes helped to propel him forward. The toxic sludge ball splattered against his thick hide and it went everywhere, though the momentum managed to keep most of it from sticking to Digger's body. Even still he could feel the burning, yet icy sensation as the poison slowly began to seep into his system. Even still he continued to press onward, aiming to to land at least a glancing blow on the gooey creature that was the Muk.
"Hmm?" Kasiya heard Kilik's quiet laughter and she followed his gaze, looking a little surprised when she saw Mitsu standing there, with Dante right beside her. She bit her lip for a moment, not sure what Mitsu's feelings were towards her for a moment, but when the purple-haired girl smiled and waved, she smiled too. After all Mitsu was one of her best friends and she knew that their friendship wouldn't end that easily. Her gaze came to rest on Dante and again she couldn't help but wonder if he was going to ask her about Levi, or ask for her back. Well, regardless she is his Pokemon, and I did promise. She looked back over at Kilik and nodded. "Let's show them who the stronger team is!"
=-=-=-=-=
That same type of countering, Jaeshan thought, frowning as the flaming foot and flaming fist met, creating a massive burst of intense heat. From there he could not tell who had the upper hand, and he was quite worried about Blaziken by now. When the heat seemed to die down a bit he scanned the area, quickly taking note of the Hitmonchan and the burn he'd suffered. Blaziken wasn't in much better shape though, as she too had been pushed back a bit and she was down to her knees, chest heaving heavily. Flames no longer blazed from her wrists and Jaeshan knew then and there that she was done. He wouldn't force her to continue. "Okay Blaziken, that's it! You were awesome," he added once the Blaze Pokemon had been returned to her ball. "Rest up girl, you deserve it."
He had but one option left and he chose to use it now. Jaeshan once more took Shelgon's Pokeball from his belt and he sent it flying. "Okay Shelgon, let's win this one for Blaziken! Use Zen Headbutt!" he shouted, thrusting his hand forward. Shelgon bellowed loudly and she began to charge, her stubby legs carrying her forwards as a bluish tint began to glow above her eyes and it soon grew larger, charging her body with Psychic energy as she prepared to slam into the weakened Hitmonchan.
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Posted: Sun Jul 19, 2009 7:16 pm
"Oh man, ruthless! No time to rest Hitmonchan, Ice Punch!" The command was issued and Brawly knew Hitmonchan would carry it out, but he also knew that this was over. Hitmonchan had had it, that Blaze Kick took all his energy to counter and it still managed to take it's toll on him. Hitmonchan's body ached, his muscles were starting to tire and the spreading burn did not subside. But this was no time to complain, he still had a job to do and he would to it to the very end, Hitmonchan's fighting spirit would not allow him to accept what he and his trainer already knew. He did not rush forward this time but instead stood his ground as his fist's temperature dropped and became covered in a frigid white aura, despite the icy nature of the attack this did nothing to mitigate the intense burning on his body. When the Shelgon was in range Hitmonchan used all he had left to plunge his fist into the blueish aura and tried to break through to the Endurance Pokemon, but he was very tired and the pain radiating through his body from the burn made it impossible to attack at full strength. Hitmonchan's best efforts weren't enough, the aura felt almost solid as it pushed his fist back and collided with Hitmonchan's body, the psychic attack even more unbearable than the fatigue and burn combined, which sent him sailing backwards where he landed face up, no longer able to move a muscle. Hitmonchan's only regret was not having been in the battle from the start. His eyes closed as the red light washed over him and returned him to his pokeball. "Great job Hitmonchan, you gave it more than your all."
"Hitmonchan is unable to battle, the winner is the challenger Jaeshan!"
"Totally swamped me dude, two times in one day...I must be getting rusty." Brawly said with a grin on his face. He wasn't disappointing at all actually, both battles had been fun, this this last one was truly something. "Thanks. You've earned this." He said, holding up a little box with a shining Knlucke Badge."
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Posted: Sun Jul 19, 2009 8:29 pm
The girl watched as her Taillow got captured into the arms of the opponent Flaaffy. Her eyes lowered in anger knowing that Taillow’s greatest advantage was it’s speed. The smaller pokemon struggled against the grasp and the cotton that was attaching to its feathers.
“Shake it off Taillow!! PECK!” The bird pokemon tried to focus its thoughts to try and move its head and drive its beak into the sheep. The Treecko on the other hand had been waiting for a command and was taken by surprise in the pincers of the bug pokemon. As it came down to the ground it rolled away from the Pinsir and shook it’s head. “Treecko! SQUASH THAT BUG!” The girl called out. Treecko jumped up and closing its fists together aimed for the Pinsir’s stomach. “Guess you got some challenge in you, little girl.” The girl tried to keep her smirk on her face against the other trainer.
Tyra winced slightly as she noticed that her newest addition stopped moving. Jiro was paralyzed. She quickly went through her inventory in her head...she hadn’t hit a store in a while and had nothing to cure paralysis. Guess we wait till you shake yourself out of it boy...you can do it... Hunter howled from her spot to sympathize with her teammate knowing the feeling of paralysis. Freya started jumping with more energy wanting to get into the fight to help out her new friend.
Knowing it wasn't a total loss Tyra clenched her teeth and tightened her fists. "Jiro Growl!" Tyra hoped so hard in hear head that the growl would work to at least show this punk he didn't win against her Ralts.
Jiro attempted with all his might to get the growl that was wanting to come out from the pit of his stomach...but it deflated.
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Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2009 7:38 pm
Above all else... ((Whoa, so many good posts to try and read!))
Just as the swishy-hipped barber was finishing brushing all the little bits of clipped purple hair from Travis' neck the little bell on the door rang. The barber glanced over and waved one hand at the newstand then went back to tidying Travis' haircut.
"Just put them over there, I'll get to them later." he called, intent on his work. The delivery man who had appeared in the doorway with a stack of newspapers nodded and carried them over, his burly arms making easy work of the thick pile. Travis kept his head down but underneath the long black gown he wore to protect his clothes his hands were gripping tight to the leather arms of the chair. He heard the man come over and the scribbling of a pen as the barber signed off on the newspapers, then-
"Nice haircut." the delivery man rumbled. Travis nodded as he turned away, the bell ringing again as he left the store.
"Well, shall we get the dye and hide this carefree colour?" The barber asked as he swept the floor. Again Travis nodded and said nothing, keeping his eyes down and relaxing his grip on the chair only slightly.
A few minutes later found his newly shortened deep purple hair covered in a foul smelling brown dye and a new towel over his shoulders to keep his clothes clean.
"Now, that needs to set for at least twenty minutes before I rinse it out or the colour wont stick." the barber explained as he tidied up the counter infront of where Travis sat. "Would you like a newspaper or a magazine to pass the time, honey?"
The former Rocket thought about it for a moment. "A newspaper would be nice." he replied quietly and was relieved when the barber simply went and got him one then went away.
I hate small talk. Useless. he thought to himself as he scanned the front page. Some big gala in a place he'd never heard of had been a hit the night before but other than that things seemed quiet. He read the ball story and idly wondered if any Rockets had been there scoping out the Pokemon or planning a hit. That's what I would've done. he thought smugly and opened the paper to the first inner section. A moment later he snapped it shut, his face white in the mirror.
"Something wrong, honey?" The barber asked from his chair as he looked overtop of a stylist magazine.
Travis swallowed and shook his head, reopening the paper. "No, nothing, just a fly startled me." he lied as he stared at a picture of himself from the inside cover and a headline that read "Pokemon Thief Still At Large". Next to it another smaller headline read "Rocket Beach Rampage still under Investigation". He read both stories earnestly, his eyes devouring the black ink like a man in a desert who'd found an oasis.
Odd they'd spring me the same day a big hit was made. Not like I could've talked about it, I didn't even know! he raged silently, reading the stories again then closing the paper. Or maybe it was something else, maybe the hit on the beach was a distraction for what I'd done? I wish I knew. Not like it matters anymore what I do, or what Team Rocket does. Gotta cut the apron strings and quit caring about them. It's not like they ever cared about me...
"You look like you've seen a ghost." the barber said as he checked his watch and meandered over. "Ready to get that dye out?" Travis met his eyes again in the mirror and gave a rueful smile.
"Yeah, let's see the damage." The barber gave a mock gasp.
"Damage? I only did what you asked! Tsk tsk." he led Travis back to a sink and rinsed his now much shorter hair. When he was done he ran some spicy smelling gel into it, making it stick up, then handed his customer a small mirror. "Well, what do you think?"
The short hair took five years off of Travis, making him appear a lot younger than he was. A shave would take another year but there was no way he was letting anyone else near his throat with a razor. It was brown and short and spikey and that was different enough for him.
"Looks good. I know you don't like it but thanks." The barber beamed and shrugged.
"Whatever you want, that's what I do." he said, accepting Travis' money and small tip. Finally finished in the shop and anxious to leave Travis gathered up his pack and hat, placing the slightly rumpled newspaper on the rack with the others.
"See you around." he said as he opened the shop door. The barber gave him a top-to-toes glance and a small wink.
"I sure hope so!" Travis blushed and left, his feet carrying him swiftly to the edge of town, unknowingly towards the wilds near Mt. Moon.
may you know joy
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