POKEGEAR (MoM IC Contact)

[halloflamer]

"The name's Blue! I'm busy right now, so leave me a message, and maybe if I like you enough I'll respond... hahaha!

Smell ya later!"

[TEXT | VOICE | VIDEO]

Comments

HE DONE DID IT AGAIN

[h2no]

[about late afternoon-early evening, archie decides to check up on the screaming turds again. he's been doing it intermittently, but had left it for half the day while he was d33stracted elsewhere.

he can't find blue anywhere, so he goes to the last possible place he could be, assuming he hasn't run off.

archie knocks on his door.]

Blue, you in there? I made dinner...

[blueser]

[There's quiet sniffling from the other side of the door, which isn't locked, but the light is off and it's otherwise quiet.]

[At least he does get a response, although it's a muffled and sullen, through a cracking, squeaky prepubescent voice.]

Go away!

[h2no]

[letting out a little exhale, archie looks away from the door. this isn't a foreign situation to him, unfortunately.

he'll just leave blue to it.] Alright, I'm leaving it in the fridge for you, then.

[unfortunately, archie's crobat disagrees. it shoves past him as it hops down the hall, then busts the door open (though doesn't break it) with a wing attack.]

Crobat! Cro! Bat! Crobat! [it chirps at him. you need to eat! you're a growing human!

archie peeks over its head, on tip toes.]

...Uh. Sorry.

[blueser]

[Blue screams]

[Burrowed under his blankets, half convinced he's about to get eaten, Eevee leaps up from where he'd been cuddling his boy on the bed and bristles, leaping down and snapping testily at Crobat's wings.]

What the Shellder is wrong with you!? [Eevee hisses, which just comes out as a bunch of vuivui's for the humans.] Can't you see he wants privacy!

[And then he glares up at Archie, for good measure. Blue is still shivering under his covers, whimpering.]

[h2no]

You're just going to let him mope instead of making him feed? [crobat snaps back, hissing just as angrily. this is incoherent to both of them.] You enabler--!

[whatever he's about to yell at eevee, it doesn't come out. crobat disappears in a beam of red light as archie returns him, not breaking eye contact with eevee the entire time. they'll finish this later, rat.

archie rubs the back of his head.]

Sorry, [again.] Crobats like him are... lively. He's gotten even more bold since we were Ported in here.

[likely due to the fact crobat has been a crobat in america longer than he was in hoenn, but archie doesn't mention this. it's not important. he sighs.]

Blue... are you really alright?

[blueser]

Of course I'm gonna make him eat, [Eevee thumps his paw on the wood floor for effect.] But not while he's upset, you Psyduck!!

[The little Pokémon huffs and puffs as Crobat returns. Yeah, we'll see!! In the meantime, he sends a little beady-eyed glare up at Archie, not backing down from his protective huff in the middle of the floor between them. I thought I told you never speak to me or my son again, pirate.]

[Blue meanwhile just stays under his covers for this whole exchange, but a few moments after the quiet settles in, he sniffles again.]

No...

[h2no]

[archie shoots eevee an apologetic look.]

Do you... wanna talk?

[blueser]

....No....

[He whimpers out, but it's unsure- more like he didn't expect the question than anything. Why would this random Gym Leader from another region care??]

[They were supposed to look after less experienced trainers, he supposes. That explains why he'd given them a place to stay. But did he really care about what Blue, specifically, was upset about? Probably not. No need to waste his energy, or his hopes.]

[h2no]

[he's silent for a moment, not sure how to proceed. he's fucked up plenty times with adult blue, what if he does it again with kid blue? what if this isn't going to go back to normal and he'll have to deal with knowing he ruined him twice.

a very, very light exhale escapes him. there are a couple things that could be bothering the poor kid...]

...It's not easy. Being here.

[blueser]

[Sniff. Blue squirms a little, under the covers, even though he doesn't sit up or turn towards Archie. He doesn't hold the covers quite as tight though, meaning his spiky, mussed-up head pokes out a little.]

...What's the point, without any Pokémon...?

[h2no]

[archie crouches, eventually sitting his ass on the floor. he rests one hand on his fist and holds the other out to eevee, even though he knows it'll be spurned...]

I don't know. Maybe I should, because of my position, but I've been here a long time and truly haven't worked it out. The closest I can think of is maybe... it's to learn how to function without relying on them, but that can't be right. We work together, not without each other.

[he raises a shoulder in a shrug.]

All we can do for now is help each other cope.

[another glance at eevee, as if to say yes i know i failed with that before.]

[blueser]

[Eevee keeps his beady eyes on Archie, but no sniffs. That's right, stay right there, pirate man.]

[Blue's quiet for a while, listening to Archie's words. Without relying on his Pokémon... He was just a kid. What was he supposed to be able to do without Pokémon!?]

[He didn't really know much about what really bad stuff there was, outside this world; he'd been too afraid to look. He'd be safe as long as he stayed here, right?]

[But it felt so lonely. Especially when...]

Help each other....

[Blue sniffs, sullen, scoffing.]

Nobody helps me.

[h2no]

Yeah?

[god, that's depressing.]

Well, you're stuck here with me, aren't you? I want to help you.

[blueser]

Only cuz you have to... Cuz you're a Gym Leader.

[Sniffle. His voice keeps wavering, cracking in that way little kid's voices do on the cusp of tears, fighting them back. He's a big boy, Charlie.]

Go help Red. He's the idiot.

[h2no]

I don't have to do anything here, there's no League authority.

[he shugs.]

I'm not offering because I think have to. I'm offering because I want to. I don't care about Red right now, I'm talking to you, an' it's not because I think you're an idiot, either.

[blueser]

.......Why.

[Blue sounds morose, more than skeptical. There's got to be some reason... Why would this guy care about a little brat like Blue? And anyway, there was Red to look after, so why would he...]

You some kind of weirdo?

[h2no]

What? No, no of course not.

[god he hopes blue does actually turn back to normal.]

It's basic human empathy, ya little turd. [said with a light amount of humour.]

[blueser]

[What meets Archie's joking insult is silence, which isn't a good sign.]

I don't get it...

[He clenches his blanket tighter. Hadn't he seen Red upset too...? So then why was he here, wasting his time?]

...Hey, guy. We were both in this same room, right? Me and Red...

[h2no]

[he opens his mouth to answer, but blue asks a... very uncomfortable question before he gets the chance to.]

Yeah.

[there's no elaboration, just yet. he wants to see what blue's going to ask.]

[blueser]

Then... We must be friends, right? [Look Archie, he's 11.] We're big, and we're friends?

[Blue squirms, and then sits up, rubbing his bleary eyes. He looks up at Archie, brows morosely knit, mouth wobbling.]

...You know who I am, right? My gramps is Samuel Oak. You must know who he is. Everyone does.

[h2no]

[he closes his eyes, sighs.]

...Yeah. You and Red, as I knew ya, were friends. [boyfriends, but he doesn't drop that bomb just yet. possibly won't. doesn't know if he should.] Good friends.

[archie looks back to blue.]

I know him, aye, and you.

[blueser]

[Blue looks away, jaw wobbling again, and wipes his eyes with his arm.]

...I'm...

I do everything I can, to be the best... Everyone tells me that I'm talented like gramps was when he was younger. They tell me I'm strong...

But I still can't beat Red. It's not enough... I don't understand...

[h2no]

[he tries to choose his next question carefully:] Does it feel like... the strength and intelligence you have means nothing when you can't do that?

[blueser]

[Blue is... quiet. Why is it that this guy seems to know what to say? Of course an 11 year old wouldn't realize how transparent he is, how common competitive sentiments, the feeling of all or nothing victory, can be at a young age. He thinks he has everyone fooled.]

[Finally he nods, just a little. He opens his mouth, and clenches it closed again, squirming around the words.]

[Then he mumbles into his knees.]

I have all the badges... I destroyed every Gym Leader I fought so far. I beat every trainer I come across, I catch every Pokémon... I'm doing everything right! But every time that loser catches up to me, I lose. Why??

[h2no]

I don't know, [he admits.] As I knew you and Red and even now, you're both way above my level in terms of tactical minds. It seems like you're both quite the young prodigies.

[he sighs.]

I wish I could tell you what brings you two together, but I don't know. All I can say is it won't be the way it is forever. [...] And... I'm sure you've heard this a million times before, but no matter how you perform against Red in battle, you're still one of the top in the world, alright? That's just straight up in your future.