This marks my first post since forever! Just not feeling the urge to do things here.
But anyways, has anybody thought what Ace would look nice wearing a pair of glasses? Like, his father wears those right? So maybe his son would, too. shrugs
look its january 31st and i need to get at least one artwork before feb comes-
Insert Hell Realm Sword "Two Hundred Yojana in One Slash" right arooooound... here!
yikes you're still going???
As an ordinary witch once said...
Getting to Dr. Harth's house was no simple task. For once, Tuff had to navigate through the eternally rainy Route 9, and goodness, Tuff loathed the rain. Getting his clothes wet is simply never fun. If he were to give his opinion, the autumn route would be so much more enjoyable without it. Maybe that's cue for him to teach his Liepard Sunny Day the next time he comes here, or Raticate, or Honchkrow. No idea why that can be learned by so many Pokémon, but whatever. Sometimes holding onto common sense would only hold you back. At the very least, he brought along a raincoat to get through this mess. Unfortunately, Jax was going with him, and Tuff only brought along a raincoat.
"You sure you don't mind this rain? I could buy you a raincoat if I feel like it," said Tuff. He had asked this question once before. Right now, he's just making sure of things.
"Don't worry! I'm pretty used to this throughout my travels. Getting soaked a little is nothing." Jax reassured with a smile. Well, gotta take his words for it. On another note, when Jax mentioned his 'travels', Tuff realized he hadn't been told much of it, if at all. After 3 or so years of being apart, there are really a lot of things Tuff needs to catch up on.
"Is something the matter?" It only came to Tuff now that he had been spacing out in one place the whole time, and when Jax noticed he was lagging behind, he walked over.
"Hm, I just think that, in the past years, there are a lot of things about you that I've been missing out on. Mind filling me in on all that?" Snapping out of his trance, Tuff figured it would be better if he said what's on his mind. Knowing his friend, he wouldn't say no, right?
"Sure thing, but let's save that for later, alright? We gotta hurry find grampa's friend quick lest the Shadows do something unspeakable," Jax was happy at the prospect, but his voice did raise an air of seriousness to the situation.
The two guys headed further on Route 9, curb-stomping any Shadow grunts in the way. Really, they were all of no trouble to both of them. They really need a better hiring policy. Not that Tuff minded, though, as it really made things more convenient for him. Eventually, the grassy path he and Jax were travelling branched. One was a road of similar landscape and terrain to the rest of the route, with maple trees and leaf-ridden ground and all that. The other was a narrow and dark route where trees seemed to be more densely packed.
"That is one suspicious-looking place," Tuff pointed out.
"I remember now! When I was little, grampa would sometimes take me to his friend's house here. I think we've found it!" Exclaimed Jax. "Let's hurry along!"
While following Jax through the winding path, the first thing Tuff noticed was that the rain was mostly gone. The dense tree foliage must have stopped most of it. What this means is that he could comfortably take off the hood of his raincoat now. Eventually, they came across a forest clearing, where a small house was situated in the middle of it. At first glance, it surely gave off a 'homey' vibe similar to Tuff's own house back in Redwood Forest. Obviously, that's because they're both houses in the middle of the woods. Perhaps the major difference is that his place doesn't rain all the time. That'd be really inconvenient, like how would he hang his clothes- And he's getting sidetracked.
Standing guard at the door was another Shadow grunt, which further affirmed the two that this was the place they were looking for, plus the fact that they really, really needed to hurry. Wasting no time, Tuff and Jax confronted the Shadow grunt head-on, who also seemed to be anticipating their arrival.
"I am Ivory's last line of defense. I see you've broken onto the route, but you won't be getting past me!" She immediately readied her Pokeballs.
"Let's fight her together like usual, Tuff," Jax suggested, holding a Pokeball in his hand.
"Sure thing!" Tuff nodded as he turned to the woman with his own Pokeball. "Somehow, I doubt your odds."
"You won't get to act arrogant as soon as I show you the gap between our power levels! Come out! Raticate, Gourgeist!" She summoned her Pokémon to fight, to which Jax and Tuff responded with a Staraptor and Honchkrow, respectively.
"This will be a knockout! Staraptor, use Close Combat on the Raticate!" Made better, or worse for that Shadow grunt, was the fact that the Raticate was an Alolan one, and so was pummeled to oblivion. Granted, it's unlikely the average Kantonian one would be able to overcome such vicious blows either.
"I call this proactive self-defense. Honchkrow, use Dual Wingbeat on Gourgeist!" Also a super-effective attack. It only took Honchkrow two strikes (which was in the namesake) to slam the floating gourd into the ground where it should be.
"I-Impossible!!! How did you-" The Shadow grunt was so flabbergasted by the swift battle that lasted less than a minute unfolding before her eyes that she could not form the whole sentence.
"Don't worry, miss, you did really well showing us the gap between our power levels. Great job," Tuff sneered with fake concern. It's a bit too enjoyable messing with these people, if he were being honest.
"Fine... I'll just let Ivory deal with you herself! Y-Yeah, that's it!" And so she ran inside the house. All that only to be just bluff. Just then, a loud scream, 'Nooo!' was heard inside. It must have been from Dr. Harth. Now that the door is open, the two quickly head inside.
Jax immediately tried to make a run for where he perceived the screaming would be from, only to be held back when Tuff's hand tugged his arm. In his hand was a large towel.
"Here, Jax. Take this and clean up, wouldn't wanna make a mess in the house, right?" Tuff cheerfully suggested, to which Jax wasn't amused.
"Now's not the time for that! Dr. Harth's in danger! We've gotta come and help him quick-"
"And if some Shadows set up ambushes, we're dead to rights. That woman must've informed of the Ivory person by now," stated Tuff, his expression growing grim. "Charging in recklessly isn't gonna help us anything. It's better to plan ahead before going in." He continued.
"Even if you're saying that, I still can't..." Jax clenched his teeth. "If we're too late and something horrible happens to them..."
"Oh, don't worry about that, Jax. When I heard his scream, it really didn't sound like the scream that someone would make when they're being burned alive, or drowned in the sink,..." Jax mildly shuddered at the image of that, and the fact that Tuff spoke such things with such a carefree expression. "...or having their limbs dismembered, skewered, and grilled over a barbecue. I'm sure the worst thing they did was forcefully taking the Prison Stone. And when that happens, we just need to..." Tuff deliberately drew out his sentence, letting Jax fill in with...
"Take back the Prison Stone," stated Jax. A smile formed on his lips, followed by a sigh of relief. "Thanks, I guess I was being a bit hasty there." And so, he took the towel that Tuff was holding.
"That's the spirit!" Tuff laughed it off. Around this time, he took off his raincoat and put it on the hanger stand, mumbling something along the lines of 'I'll be borrowing this for a sec~'
"By the way, how are we going to plan this ahead?" asked Jax, while he was wiping his hair dry.
"As for that..." Tuff reached into his Cube and pulled out a Dowsing Machine...
"Looks like this one's the real deal." Inside the house's kitchen was a woman donning a purple cloak and black clothes with the Shadows' insignia. Beside her were two Shadow grunts, plus two Science Society scientists who were restraining an old couple in place. Having taken the Prison Stone from them and concluding that this was the real item after thorough examination, Ivory and her crew were about to head off, only for their route to be blocked off by a guy wearing a green cap.
"Stop right there! I'm not going to let you get away after stealing the Prison Stone!" Jax declared.
"I thought I had assigned an ambush near the staircase. How did you get past them?" Asked the purple-cloak woman, to which, Jax chuckled.
"We dealt with them." Said Jax.
And just that, from behind Jax, Tuff peeped his head over, looking at the group of people. The purple-clad woman is most likely the 'Ivory' person that grunt talked about, and it looked like they really had done the deed.
"Yeah, and his liver was particularly delicious!" Tuff chimed in, much to the shock of almost everyone, Jax included. the Ivory person had herself masked from head to toe, so he wasn't sure about her. One of the grunts beside Ivory noticed the red liquid dripping from his smile and believed it was blood and screamed out.
"You vile scum! He was my boyfriend!!!"
"Tuff, what did you- Wait, that's not blood, isn't it?" Jax turned to face him as well. Notably, despite being so close, he couldn't smell any metallic scent coming off, which made him suspect that it wasn't the case.
"Geez, you busted me!" Tuff took out a handkerchief and wiped it off his mouth. "It's just syrup, don't worry about that, Jax. But anyway, was the prank any fun?"
The room was filled with silence, save for the aforementioned grunt shouting out a 'No!' at his face.
"So, what's this Dowsing Machine for?" Jax questioned after taking a look at the item. Aside from looking like and colored after the face of a Kantonian Raticate, he wasn't sure what Tuff was going to do with it.
"Don't underestimate the Visionary Nasrin Pendulum, Jax. While it's true that it's a dowsing machine, it can do a lot more than that!" Not waiting for Jax to question what in the world is a 'Visionary Nasrin Pendulum', Tuff pressed a few buttons, and the screen switched to what looked like a map, filled with many dots.
"I calibrated the radar of this thing to let us detect things from up to 10km away. And not just objects, this lets you detect living creatures, humans included." Tuff pointed to the red dot in the center of the screen. "The radar takes up the centerpoint of the map, and the two yellow dots nearby are us, well, it stands for people in general."
"I see," Jax hummed in acknowledgement. "Tuff, look!" His eyes widened as he pointed to the top-left corner of the display screen. From the place where the two were, following a corridor that led north, then turning west, a room was located at the end of it. Inside, it was scattered with many yellow dots.
"Don't you think this could be where grampa's friend is?" asked Jax, to which Tuff nodded.
"That's a possibility."
"And not just that," Jax pointed to another location, this time being the turning corner of the hallway, a yellow dot -someone- was located on the other side, where if the two guys looked from the entrance, they could not be seen.
"They really placed an ambush for us," Both Tuff and Jax said in unison, resulting in them both looking at each other in surprise.
"I've been hearing chatting noise from the entrance door now, but it seems that had died down." A Shadow grunt thought to himself. "Miss Ivory and her warned me of intruders, but maybe they've really chickened out-" Just then, the moment he thought he could maybe relax for a bit, he heard footsteps. He saw a shadow of someone getting closer; all he needed was to wait for the right time, then use Lunge at the intruder! As simple as that.
Little did he know the next moment was a loaded crossbow pointing at his face, ready to fire at any moment.
"Shoot, and I'll move." Exclaimed Tuff.
"You mean: 'Move and I'll shoot'?" The Shadow grunt corrected his words.
"Ack! I messed up! Jax, your turn!" While the Shadow grunt was confused, Tuff dashed to the side, revealing Jax who was about to charge in for a punch. Before he could react, Jax had landed a nice, clean punch to the man's gut. The Shadow grunt let out a choked scream as he was sent back by the force of the punch, now laying on the floor unmoving.
"Wow, Jax, you're so strong!" Tuff started with a round of applause before sauntering closer to the other guy.
"Thanks! I did quite a lot of workouts and martial arts training," said Jax. That must explain his fitness. Looking at his getup, it's easy to see the kinda lifestyle of his. In all seriousness, tank tops are the kind of outfit that is really picky with who's wearing it. Jax had the build and was wearing one, which, to note, had arm holes that nearly reached all the way to the waist, as if he were flaunting his muscles as proof of achievement or whatever for everyone to see. In fact, the more Tuff looked, the more he wanted to...
"Hey, can I touch your biceps? Just a little bit," That surely came out of nowhere. Jax, understandably, was taken aback.
"Hm, sure thing, but what gives?" And now Tuff realized he had to answer the damn question or else he'd look kinda weird. Scratch that, really weird! He might as well come clean and say the thing that's on his mind right now.
"I might've gotten a bit envious. Like, you get to be tall, and muscular, and whatever. And even if I'm not exactly unfit, it'd be really great if I had a bit more muscle to myself..." Normally, Tuff couldn't care less about how others perceive him, but when it's Jax, his first friend when Tuff was just little, it hits different, somehow. "Goodness, what am I saying-" Before he could finish, Jax cut him off.
"I don't think that's a ridiculous thing to wish for at all! Isn't it normal for guys to wish to be fit? After we're done with this, I can give you some workout tips."
Oh crap. Tuff really got himself sidetracked for this.
"ACK! The mission! Mission first! I hate the fact that it's the second time I'm saying this. Jax, you go ahead first! I'm dealing with this grunt for a bit." Tuff walked over to the defeated Shadow grunt, who was fortunately still knocked out with some rope in his hand, presumably to prevent him from escaping or interfering with the two's business with the other group of Shadows.
"And by the way, Jax. You didn't really mind what I just said, right? Asked Tuff. "Not that I care much or anything."
"Not at all!" Jax spared a glance at his friend before running towards the kitchen, where the rest of the Shadows were.
"And while doing all that, I felt like praking!" Tuff cheerfully stated for the rest of the room to hear. It would've sounded innocuous had it not been for his bizarre taste in humor "The syrup tasted great~"
While Jax was at a loss for words, it was Ivory who broke the silence in the room.
"I don't have time for some silly banter between friends or whatnot. I'm feeling a bit merciful, so if you leave now, I promise that no harm will come to you two."
And that was the trigger for everyone to get back onto what they were supposed to be doing. Jax was quick to come up with a counter.
"You think I'm gonna let you walk out of here?! You stole the Prison Stone... the very thing needed to seal and unseal the dark force! You couldn't possibly want it for anything, except evil!"
On the other side, Ivory let out a low hum as she took in Jax's words.
"I'm afraid, as always, that you're quite mistaken." She spoke with a chillingly calm voice. "But I'll humor you for a moment: What, exactly, do you think we're planning? Based on what you've seen of us. Please, enlighten me." Now that got Tuff thinking. From Arthur's words, the Shadows were trying to summon the dark force, but for what exactly? If the dark force is so powerful, then there are surely a lot of ways that power can be taken advantage of.
"People at their core are selfish, so naturally they would want to use it for something that could benefit them."
"What else? Capturing the Legendary bird Pokémon... stealing the Prison Stone... You intend to plunge Borrius into war and darkness!" Such was Jax's own retort.
"Interesting, and why do you think we'd ever do that? Send our own region into chaos?" Ivory pressed further.
"What? Well... rule the world? The dark force is an incredible power, and..." While world domination does seem like a cliché goal, it's not entirely out of place, considering what Tuff had hypothesized before, it's still something that could be used for one's benefit. On another note, it seemed that Jax was starting to falter on his own words. He's in a pinch, now. Tuff really could use this opportunity to chime in like he did just before.
"I knew it. You can only think of simple, immature motives," Ivory's piercing words took Jax aback. "You think that the "force we intend to release" is only for destruction. In fact, our intent is to save. Save something that we unjustly lost, and would sacrifice much to regain... I'm sure that friend of yours is currently thinking the same, too."
Suddenly, all eyes were on Tuff. Being the center of attention isn't bad, but it sure comes with a fair share of stress, too. Especially since he needed to back Jax up in this verbal debate that came outta nowhere. Tuff could feel Jax's desperate eyes on him, looking for support. Maybe today's game, he's going to play hero. And so, he spoke up.
"Geez, Miss Ivory, don't lump me together with you people!" Tuff sneered at the Shadows' admin. "You can keep saying that your motives are holier than thou all you want, you really haven't done or said anything that would make us believe your words, eh?"
Ivory didn't reply. Tuff used it as a cue to continue.
"Didn't you tell Jax to judge your motives based on what he's seen of you people? World domination might sound like a cliche goal from those superhero TV shows that Jax watches every day-" This earned a quick 'Hey!' from the other male. "But that's because you all never gave him, and by extension, me and other people, any impression other than that of those cliche villains!" Tuff continued. "Let's see: Having a group that sounds like a terrorist, or at least a nefarious organization? Check. Stealing rare Pokémon, especially ones that play an important role in keeping the region's power balance in check? Also check. Barring off a whole entire route and making traffic and everything else go nuts because of it? Check. Kidnapping people, myself included? Check. Terrorizing an old couple for an item catalyst to finishing the ritual that is said to unleash literal dark forces? Check. That's your public image so far, Miss Ivory, and even after that, you still think that we have cause to believe in your supposed 'goodness'? Because your methods don't seem like that. I'd say you people need a dose of self-introspection."
"Tuff...!" Jax was utterly delighted hearing the words coming out of his friend. He would have jumped for a hug had it not been the wrong occassion to be doing that. Tuff also felt proud of it as well. Maybe he was thinking of something like: "Damn, I'm so cool" or whatnot.
Their shared moment of joy quickly dissipated when Ivory spoke up.
"I see none of you two will ever understand what we're trying to achieve. I won't bother explaining anymore. Alakazam, dispatch them!" A yellow-colored, bipedal creature came out of Ivory's Poké Ball. Suddenly, Tuff and Jax lost control of their body as they were both lifted mid-air with ease.
"That's Psychic! She's used this trick on me back in Fallshore!" Jax clenched his teeth.
"Ugh, in that case... Honchkrow, stand by for battl- Wait what?" From Tuff's pockets, a Poké Ball dropped out, summoning Honchkrow, which immediately went for a Sucker Punch on the Alakazam. Being a Dark-type, Psychic attacks are of no effect. Combined with Alakazam's brittle defenses, it was easily sent flying out of the window. Ivory let out an annoyed 'tsk' before recalling her Pokémon. At the same time, Tuff and Jax were freed from the telekinesis effect of the Pokémon. Jax landed on his feet nicely, though Tuff was plopped down not nearly as gently, a smack sound included.
"Owowowowwwwww..." Immediately, Jax came over.
"You alright?" Asked Jax as he tried to get Tuff up.
"It hurts, but it shouldn't be too bad. Besides, 'Krow's got 2 kills today! Gotta be sure to treat it to McDonald's!" Tuff happily mentioned. Hearing the prospect of food, Honckrow hopped over, cawing in delight. Gluttonous monster.
"Kaw kaw kaw FREE FOOD!!!" While Tuff mentally facepalmed, Jax was about to ask how the Pokémon was able to speak human language, but figured it was not the time for any of that.
As Jax helped Tuff get up, he turned to Ivory with a look of determination, then faced his friend again.
"Say, how about we..." Jax dragged out his sentence...
"...Sic on her together," and Tuff added, with a not-so-pleasant grin. "Some people these days are so uncouth that they have forgotten the spirit of Pokémon battles. If you want to kill the general, first shoot down his mount, that being his Pokémon, and then ride that Pokémon to trample the general underfoot. Prepare yourself!"
"I don't think that's how Pokémon battles work..."
official lore for claire. do note that i am only about halfway through the game, and have witnessed aklove’s betrayal.
content warning for discussion of eating disorders and poor child raising. this family needs help.
Backstory
Claire was born to Vérène Monette and Aros (surname unknown) nineteen years ago. Her mother is an extremely successful actor, and her father was a well-known scientist (and, to most, a hero).
Aros and Véréne met very early in Véréne’s acting career. At the time, Véréne held a sweet, doting personality, making sure everyone around her felt her love. In fact, her Pokémon reflected it: a Sylveon, Swoobat, and a Togekiss.
From acquaintances, to friends, to eventual lovers. Aros was initially drawn to Véréne’s sweetness and care for Pokémon, but as time went on, and they got to know each other, cracks in Vérène began to show. Her constant need to appease and maintain her own self-image were the worst, but for his wife, Aros would stick by her. In the best case scenario, he would be able to pull her out of those habits entirely.
It was only after Aros’ disappearance when Claire was an infant that things took a turn. No support system, just a daughter all too willing to make her mother happy.
Vérène decided that her daughter would follow her same footsteps, minus the challenges she had to face while climbing her way to fame. Claire already has a head start, being her daughter, so why shouldn’t she capitalize on it?
Claire’s early life left little to be decided. Her mother made all the important decisions (as she should)— down to the minute. What Claire ate, how much, what she wore, what she could and couldn’t say, what she could do…it all wasn’t up to Claire.
Her mother is particularly controlling over food. After all, she can’t have her own daughter looking ‘unattractive’ for the cameras, or worse— tabloids on how her dear daughter looks so different from her mom in ‘that’ department. If Vérène has to watch what she eats to stay pretty, then it shouldn’t do any harm to have her daughter do the same.
Their riches meant they could live lavishly, and yet, home life wasn’t great. Any acting out, any true expression, were shut down immediately in the household. She simply cannot act on her own— she needs to be guided, forced, ordered — anything.
Claire never had any true friends, growing up. They were all people of similar status and age— a son of another famous actress here, a budding idol there, all people who needed to climb to the top as much as Claire. Partnerships were transactional as well. Put in a good word for someone else, and they must do the same.
At twelve years old, Claire began her career as a Pokémon performer— the perfect segway into an acting career later down the line. She quickly rose through the ranks with her beauty, charisma, and Pokémon, though, prior to the start of her journey, took a hiatus.
Her most trusted partner was a white Floette, raised from when she was a child. Vérène strictly forbade her from evolving it, as doing so would ruin Claire’s ‘cute’ persona on stage.
Claire’s goals were her mother’s goals, at least up until she got wrapped up in what the Shadows were doing. At first, she lied to her mother, saying that she was just requested by the new professor down the road to help with his work. However, after beating the Dresco Gym and word reaching her mother….well, she can’t back out of this now.
Oh, and saving Borrius too, she supposed.
Personality
Claire can be first described as a people-pleaser. She presents herself with a polite smile, follows conversation politely, and most importantly, say what she knows they want to hear. If there is no conflict, everything is fine and well for her.
To this day, Claire has trouble with her free will. Even when it comes to something as simple as food choices, picking between a flavor, she can’t make that sort of decision based on what she wants. It’s always ‘would Mom be okay with this?’ or ‘would she want me to make this decision?’. In most cases, she has to be actively told what to do, or what needs to be done in order for her to truly take action. It’s how she takes on the Shadows in the first place: she was told to, and thus she must stop them by any means necessary.
A ‘puppet’, perhaps.
All Claire knows she wants is to please her mother and gain her approval. Everyone else— who cares? It would only be on her journey when she is finally able to exercise free will, and even then, she doesn’t know what to do with it.
Her sense of identity is extremely limited as well. She’s constantly keeping up an act of some sort, to the point where her ‘true self’ is…difficult to identify. Around most people, she takes on that usual happy, polite, and agreeable self. When the situation calls for it, she lies and deceives to ensure that what she’s ordered to do goes without a hitch.
Disguising herself isn’t off the table, either. She has already gotten into the habit of doing so when going in public (wouldn’t want to be annoyed by paparazzi or spotted by the wrong people), and if changing her appearance and disposition allow her to get where she needs to be, then why not?
The biggest chance is when she is in battle, where she forfeits the act in favor of one goal: defeating the enemy as fast as possible.
Battle
Claire doesn’t have much strategy beyond a couple setup moves at best. She prefers to take the straightest path to victory (with the least amount of trouble), even if it’s against a far stronger opponent. Her style focuses on speed and hard hitting moves.
The majority of her Pokémon share similar qualities: an elegant, beautiful, or ‘cute’ appearance. It’s what her mother would have wanted.
Pokémon:
She caught many Pokémon as she experimented with the teams that ‘felt right’.
hello chat. I was forgiven of my sins and now I have my device back
anyways im back with ART!!! (spoiler warning) it's aklove art because aklove is my son he is not insane he is my beautiful son who is the age of 3 years old 🩷
pokemon unbound player's pov 2 seconds before Aklove hits them with 2 nuclear bombs :
ivory: exposing the shadow warriors to light for too long will reduce them to dust.
claire:
jokes aside, the shadow warriors seem to be similar to vampires. the weakness to light is obvious, but it also seems that people can be turned into them. thankfully, that is reversible if trainers act quickly.
can’t control themselves either…interesting. other than mindless soldiers, I’m curious as to why the shadows make these
Happenings in the Unbound Neighborhood server (not the official server btw)
"If you see me on the shelves somewhere, DO NOT ASK!"
Introducing TuffMultiSurfaceCleaner! Wiping the entirety of Borrius clean with his every step! Get one in your house for the mere price of 7819240 Pokedollars.
Happenings in the Unbound Neighborhood server (not the official server btw)
"If you see me on the shelves somewhere, DO NOT ASK!"
Introducing TuffMultiSurfaceCleaner! Wiping the entirety of Borrius clean with his every step! Get one in your house for the mere price of 7819240 Pokedollars.
origamiaround
annaxmalina
turnnoffyourmind
dailybridgerton
pixelskylines
baratheonpilled
snowghoul
