confuse/confound

they forgot what they lost but they know it was good

[aluialtumes]

Landing Party | Phoebe & Nate

[wereso-nate-blog]

"I’m glad to hear it," Nate laughed. Phoebe’s bubbly manner and childlike appearance were disarming. Her name was vaguely familiar, but Nate couldn’t place it. He knew he’d never seen this girl before: he’d remember meeting someone with such a bright smile.

"It’s nice to see someone else who can smile easily," he said. "Positivity is hard to come by, these days. I think it’s important we don’t forget what happiness feels like."

He absentmindedly twirled the ball in his hand. “I mean, even though volleyball isn’t like, mega-popular back home, there are still a ton of people who follow and enjoy it. It’s like, when they can be excited for things and share that with each other, everything’s back to normal. I’ll keep playing as hard as I can if it helps keep that happiness around.”

Nate had said the words many times before in his mind, but hearing them aloud now, they sounded hopelessly naïve. What was he selling, temporary escapism? His coaches had so easily sold him on it, trusting as he was.With a quiet sigh, he held the ball in both hands and stared at it as if it could somehow provide an answer to what he was feeling.

"Though, lately…I feel like I haven’t done enough," he said softly.

Then, like a stray volleyball falling from the sky, it hit him.

"Wait, Phoebe? As in the Hoenn League’s Phoebe?"

[aluialtumes]

His remarks on happiness were met with a solemn nod; Phoebe herself had made this her personal mission, of sorts, although it was more habit than anything. Even before all this mess, she had always been the type to smile in the face of adversity--if not for herself, for those around her. If no one else could offer the comfort of a positive outlook, she would always be the one to turn to.

"Escapism is a powerful thing," she said, her smile dropping only slightly. It was sad that such a thing was necessary--that people found themselves needing a way out of reality, if only temporarily. "In the right dosage during times like these, it can be a lifesaver. Let people enjoy what remnants of normal life they have left, right?"

Her head tilted to the side, brow furrowed slightly at the boy before her. "I'm sure you've been doing all you can, dear. It's important to try your best when people are looking up to you, so as long as you do that, it'll be fine."

The sudden change in expression and tone briefly caught her off guard, but within moments Phoebe was laughing again--a high, bubbling laughter.

"You caught me! Elite Four Phoebe, at your service." She knelt into a deep, playful curtsy, sarong lifting on the side it tied at as if she didn't notice or care about how precariously high the view of her slender leg went through the fabric. "I'm guessing you aren't a native."

[aluialtumes]

Landing Party | Phoebe & Nate

[wereso-nate-blog]

Nate stopped in his tracks, wincing as the ball made contact and sent the woman stumbling backwards onto her ass. It hadn’t been that hard of a hit, but she looked pretty delicate and obviously hadn’t been prepared to play surprise volleyball this morning. At least it hadn’t hit her in the face.

He stood frozen while she picked herself up and grabbed the ball, wondering how she’d react. To his relief, a smile spread across her face as she got closer. She tossed the ball back, and he caught it.

"That was a nice shot. Besides the knocking me on my ass part, I mean."

"I’m really sorry about that." Nate rubbed the back of his neck with a sheepish smile. "The beach is especially nice today, and…we got a little carried away. Sorry."

Jolteon let out a quiet huff at that, dissatisfied with being implicated in the incident. He stepped out from behind Nate’s leg to sniff curiously at the stranger. Nate continued talking, comfortable with the knowledge that she wasn’t angry. ”You did stop the ball pretty well, though…I might try that technique in the future.” He pretended to look thoughtful for a moment before grinning and extending his hand.

"I’m Nate, by the way. That’s Jolteon. Um, if you’re injured at all, I’d be happy to walk you to the nearest lifeguard station. I mean, it’s the least I could do, right?"

[aluialtumes]

As the Jolteon approached her, sniffing curiously, Phoebe smiled and knelt down. She extended her hand to the Pokémon, giving him the chance to size her up before she moved to give him a scratch behind the ears.

"I'm not sure how well that would serve you in a real match," she replied with a laugh. As Nate extended his hand, Phoebe offered a grin to match and stood straight once again; she took his hand in her own, giving it a gentle squeeze and a shake before returning it to her own hip, cocked slightly to one side.

"Nice to meet you! I'm Phoebe." Her smile was bright and genuine, and the wide-eyed cheer on her face was girlish, almost childish in nature; the illusion of her youth was amplified by her tiny stature, standing barely over five feet tall. One would be hard-pressed to believe that someone so petite and cheerful had such a powerful connection with the dead--much less that she was a member of the renowned Elite Four.

"I'm fine, really. I've taken harder falls than that. I may look small, but a little hit with a volleyball isn't enough to hurt me." Her tone had a teasing lilt to it, and her assurance was punctuated with a playful wink.

[pkmntrainerdaigos-deactivated20]

Attempting || 「 Steven + Phoebe 」

          » The man had finally managed to enter into his home in Mossdeep. They weren’t going to let him go away that easily. The grunts had been asking him a plethora of questions. At first, Steven was able to answer them, but then it started to irritated him. You know the feeling where you want someone to shut up so you get the urge to punch them? Well, that’s what Steven was wanting to do: Punch them. Although, he had to think rationally. They weren’t really hurting him, so there really was no point in hurting them.

          » His logic was that as long as no one was hurting him personally, there was no point in getting messy. He was reserved but he observed everything. You could say that he didn’t really care that Team Aqua or Team Magma are running around Hoenn trying to destroy and conquer. As long as they aren’t fighting me or messing with me, there’s no need to fight back. He was avoiding conflict, always. Even as an adult, he didn’t care at all about being the heir to Devon. It was always to run away from responsibility forever and ever.

           » Except, deep down, he cared. This was his home after all. When Hoenn fell the second time, he felt guilty. Even Wallace managed to do something to save Hoenn. I’m awful. It didn’t matter anymore, you can’t change the past. Speaking of Wallace, he hadn’t seen that man in a long time. Of course, none of it matter. He was probably too busy to see him, too caught up with what’s happening. Sitting down in his chair, Steven grabbed his Pokemon that he didn’t have in his party and embraced it.

          » Groan. “What am I going to do, Beldum? What should I do?” The small Pokemon gave Steven a bewildered look then it chirped. Steven let out an airy laugh. “It’s okay, thank you.” Suddenly, he thought of something. Even though he just got into his house, he thought it was be a grand idea to go out again. Go to Sinnoh, maybe Unova. Especially with the small bit of information he overheard, he might as well go out again. Try to actually do something for the resistance. “Alright! Lets get going shall we?” 

          » After taking a small nap, Steven said goodbye to his Beldum, which at this point, was used to seeing his trainer leave often. Locking his door, he was standing outside once more. Inhale. Exhale. “Okay, lets rock and roll.” He then started to wander off in his city.

[aluialtumes]

These days, Phoebe didn't often find herself in Mossdeep City. The diving town had previously been a past favorite of the Elite (dive bars and divers; no other combination made Wailmer watching quite as entertaining), but she hadn't found herself standing in the shadow of the Space Center in months.

She wasn't sure exactly why she'd come back now. In all reality it was likely a need for comfort--seeking familiarity in old hobbies and places, possibly an old friend or two. Something, anything, to serve as a reminder that there was still some semblance of normalcy somewhere in her world.

She hadn't quite taken into consideration that her island paradise held two strong areas of interest for both halves of their new leaders, and found herself faced with a significant increase of grunt activity. She knew they were watching her as she moved throughout the city, but managed to avoid any direct confrontations or questioning.

A quiet sigh was given as Phoebe wove her way through the heart of the city, lips pressed into a thin frown. She certainly wasn't happy with this development, but she didn't intend to let it stop her from having her fun--as much fun as she could possibly manage to have, at any rate. Her prospects were not looking very good at the moment.

She almost did a double take when she saw him pass her by; he seemed distracted and more tired than she cared to remember him from the last time they saw one another, but there was no mistaking that mess of silver-blue hair and the shock of a red cravat. Suddenly, she found herself smiling like a child on Christmas morning--how long had it been? Far too long, if you asked her.

Doing her best to stay out of his line of sight, she withdrew her Haunter with a giggle and the duo crept behind the former Champion as he wandered along. Covering her mouth with a hand to keep herself from laughing aloud, she stood a yard or two behind him as Haunter slipped about unseen and gave Steven a solid bop on the back of his head.

[wereso-nate-blog]

They'd been mad at him for disappearing for those several days, perhaps rightfully so. Initially, they'd believed his lie that the newfound public popularity was stressing him out and he needed to get away for a bit. But his apparent lack of focus and the noticeable absence of Emboar convinced them something else was wrong. Everything spilled out involuntarily then, and after he'd assured them Team Plasma had absolutely no knowledge of his involvement, they promised him he had their unconditional trust.

When his performance still didn't improve, his coaches' solution was to drag him to Hoenn for two weeks of "intensive training" in preparation for the final tournament of the season. When they arrived, though, Nate had been told that while he was expected to practice, he was mainly here to "loosen up and enjoy the change of scenery."

Nate had to admit the change of environment was having a positive effect. International travel had resumed only recently and in a limited fashion, so the atmosphere in Lilycove City had an overwhelmingly local vibe. He'd chosen to spend the day at the beach with Jolteon, bringing a ball along so he could work on a few basics when he felt up for it. It quickly turned into a game, though, as anything involving Jolteon usually did.

"Oh, so you're a pro now, huh?" he teased. He set the ball low, passing it in the Pokémon's general direction. Jolteon returned the ball faster than expected, and Nate was barely able to catch it in a hurried dig that sent it spinning high in the air. He tried to dig again to regain control, but the ball caught the side of his arm and bounced off at a sharp angle.

"Aw, man." Nate started off after the ball, tracking its course against the cloudless sky to see where it would land. He was disappointed to find it was on a collision course with a young, dark-haired woman walking along the shore. She was looking the other way, out to the ocean, so she'd never see it coming. Nate called out to her.

"Yo! Heads up!"

[aluialtumes]

Being lost in thought was a habit that Phoebe found herself indulging in too often as of late. Before, she had always done her best to avoid letting her mind wander; after all, it was dangerous to lose track of one's mind when it had a tendency of getting itself stuck surrounded by phantoms and spirits. She had grown up on stories of psychics and channelers who had gone mad that way.

That said, it was all too easy to slip into a lax state of awareness on the beach. She felt more comfortable here than anywhere else in the world, with the sand beneath her bare feet and the smell of brine on her sinuses. The rhythmic sound of waves breaking on the shore, disturbed only by the occasional squawk of a Wingull, lulled Phoebe into a sense of security--despite the current circumstances, where security came so seldom and so little.

With her mind wandering and her gaze fixed out to sea, watching the bright blue of the horizon and the white foam of the waves crash and break into one another, the sound of a voice calling out to her went almost entirely unnoticed. Technically, she noticed just vaguely that she was approaching a more populated area of the beach, and she heard the yell--she just failed to notice the ball hurtling towards her, and didn't bother considering that the yell was directed at her for that reason.

The connection was made at roughly the same time the ball connected with her torso, taking her by surprise and completely throwing off her balance. Being rather petite as it was, the shock of being hit suddenly sent Phoebe stumbling back a step or two, ultimately landing beside the offending object on her rear. Her eyes were wide for a moment, blinking against the sunlight first at the ball and then at the boy she assumed had sent it in her direction, until she was able to bring herself back into awareness.

Slowly, Phoebe picked herself back up and knelt down to collect the volleyball. Spinning it idly in her hands as she approached the boy and his Jolteon, a grin dimpling her cheeks, she tossed it back in his direction as she walked nearer.

"That was a nice shot. Besides the knocking me on my ass part, I mean."

[aluialtumes]

Landing Party [Open]

As of late it seemed that keeping a low profile, in light of recent events, was becoming increasingly difficult. Typically, Phoebe was never one to complain about attention (it was always well-known and never doubted that she eagerly encouraged it)--however, there came a point where enough was simply enough. That point, she thought, had been passed weeks ago.

Having connections to the Red and Blue orbs in Hoenn put her in a tight enough position as it was, but being a member of the Elite only made things so much worse. They might not have been so bad, really, if not for the Champion's frankly remarkable dedication to public stupidity. Wallace had always had a talent for assuming the spotlight wherever he went, but there was a time and place, and a full-scale overhaul of the system to make way for an eco-terrorist dictatorship was not one of those times. His vocal attempts to spark insurrection were doing nothing, save making things more difficult for his League.

A quiet sigh accessorized the small, pouting frown she wore only in private, even now. She sat cross-legged atop the head of a large Drifblim, doing its best to remain discreet during its flight; trips to visit her grandparents in their current hiding place with the Orbs were becoming harder and harder to make, and detection was something she wasn't willing to risk. Someone had to deliver them supplies and food, however, and thus far Phoebe had failed to trust anyone else with knowledge of their location.

The return trips were the hardest. It was simple enough to slip out of her home in Lilycove late at night and be sure she lost any potential following eyes, but returning subtly wasn't much of an option after vanishing without a trace for at least a day's time. The physical act of leaving her grandparents alone on a remote island cave failed to make things any easier. She missed them. She missed their little cottage on Mt. Pyre. She missed things being normal, and safe.

They landed on the far edge of Lilycove, hidden from the city by the towering cliffs and nestled quietly into a long, empty stretch of beach. Drifblim was returned to their PokéBall, and Phoebe ran a petite hand through her tussled, windswept black hair before she began the long walk back towards her home in the city.

[aluialtumes]

WHAT MAKES YOU FEEL BETTER WHEN YOU ARE IN A BAD MOOD?

A lot of stuff, really. Exercise, mostly, but tea and some quiet time alone or spending time with fun people usually helps! I'm not really one for bad moods to begin with--or at least I wasn't before.