if there is anybody alder would have expected in FLOCCESY TOWN – it certainly would not have been her. on his way out of the GROCERY STORE on a late afternoon, of all things, just after handing the kids that regularly pulled on his clothes their snack, just after they ran off.
alder had made himself a promise, if he EVER saw her again.
the way he puts his bags down is UNCANNY, so calm and collected as she speaks, as she mentions his daughter.
it’s uncanny for what follows – A RIGHT HOOK ON HER JAW.
the children were gone by now, few people stay out in this very small town – but some were still there nonetheless. alder doesn’t hear the few GASPS as he punches her again. again. AGAIN.
it’s CALCULATED ANGER. he knows where to hit, how hard to strike, the intent to kill firmly contained. but it’s ANGER nonetheless, and such a display of violence that the champion had NEVER shown before.
he grabs the front part of her hood, THROWING her then on the ground. her back strikes the bricks, but he does not feel any pleasure in it. he can’t. alder is not one for vengeance.
but he looks upon her, veins like MOUNTAIN RANGES on his arms and fists.
“ LEAVE. ” leave this region, leave this town. it isn’t a suggestion. not an order, either: the champion is giving her a WARNING. “ and do not EVER speak of my daughter again. ”
She watches him with a sickeningly sweet smile on her face, sugary as the coating to her intentions. Inka had come into this knowing that she’d get a reaction of some sort out of him - none of the possibilities were pleasant, and she knew it. It’s what had made her want to seek him out in the first place, after all.
Nothing could have prepared her for the absolutely brutal blow to her jaw, knocking her backwards as a sharp pain tore through her. She hardly has a moment to even look back at him as he strikes her again and again, finally grabbing her by the hood of her cape and smacking her down onto the ground. Spitting blood onto the bricks, she looks up at him - seeing the burning rage in his eyes.
Twilight immediately raises onto her haunches, the Alolan Ninetales immediately charging up a Shadow Ball in retaliation - only to be stopped by Inka, who raises her hand up to the Ice Type. A signal to stand down. Looking at her with a seemingly indifferent gaze, she dispels the attack and merely glares at Alder with an unsettling darkness in her stare.
She’s not been pummeled like this in quite some time - it seemed the man was still frighteningly strong, despite his age. She looks down at the ground as she tries to struggle to her feet, a trickle of blood steadily dripping down onto the bricks.
And yet, a laugh just barely dies in her throat.
This reaction - this is far better than anything she could have expected. She knew he’d be mad, but this - this far exceeds any hopes she could have ever dreamed of! Such anger, such violence - the visceral white hot rage simply radiating off of him! Coming from a man so widely hailed as gentle and kind, a pacifist to a fault - absolutely fascinating to see he had the potential for such a display of emotion! Yes, yes this is grand - this is grand! It takes everything she has in her to not grin, to not drop her mask. People are watching, after all - and she has a victim card to play.
“Ghh...” Her jaw is in agony the moment she tries to speak, yet she still manages. “Arceus, what is WRONG with you?”
