plucky

[lumipose-blog]

detour (dawn & kris)

[esfumarse]

Kris kept her eyes focused on the Sinnohan, listening to her describe her friends. It seemed like everybody was looking for a missing piece these days.

She exhaled, relaxing her grip on the Pokeball, and wondered what exactly separated those three. Her first guess was circumstances similar to her own—Public Enemy Number One comes back into power, put pressure on certain folks. It’d be easier to split up and avoid garnering attention, but Kris wouldn’t dismiss the comfort some found in numbers.

“I’m Kris.” She waved, briefly, with the hand she had hidden in her pocket. “And I haven’t seen your friends. Kinda just keep to myself lately, considering how things’ve been lately…” 

Her next words were spoken with a particular softness that could be attributed either to fatigue or empathy.

“Did they take your friends? The gang, where you’re from?”

[lumipose-blog]

At least the other girl seemed like she was starting to relax. Which was a comforting thought, because she really didn't feel like battling or getting into trouble at the moment.

As soon as Kris delivered the news, Dawn sighed, although more comically than seriously. She wasn't entirely expecting to find the boys in Johto, but she figured it could have been worth a shot. "Of course they aren't. And I don't blame you, really."

And she didn't. Dawn had only been in Johto a few hours, but even she could spot all of the grunts lounging around and keeping an eye on everyone. They were far less stealthy than those in Sinnoh, but Rocket didn't seem to be trying to hide their influence in the first place. At least, that's what she'd heard from others. She didn't blame Kris for being so on edge when they first met.

"Maybe," she admitted, the thought never actually occurring to her until Kris mentioned it, "but they'll be sorry if they did."

She paused, then looked back at the other girl. "What about you? Why are you all alone out here?"

[lumipose-blog]

caves (closed @byron)

[fossilking-deactivated20151122]

He watched her as she sat down on the ground, and sat his lamp down on the table before sitting in one of the rough chairs. They weren’t very pretty, but they got the job done. Bastiodon looked up from his nap, before promptly lying back down. 

"Hey, Bastiodon!" Byron shouted. The pokemon looked up again. "It’s Dawn! C’mon, you remember her! Go on, say hello!" The creature got to its feet, and sluggishly lumbered over to her, before lying down beside her. Then it laid its head down and went right back to napping. "Sorry ‘bout him," Byron said. "We’ve all gotten a bit lazy since leaving the gym…" He stopped for a minute, in thought, and then said, "Well, not really lazy persay, just not battling like we used to. We’ve been really hard at work gettin’ all this furniture in order! Right, Bastiodon?" Bastiodon didn’t even look up this time. "Yeah… He worked hard on the table. Did a damn good job too, if I do say so myself! Haaaaahahahahaha!!" 

Then he got a lot quieter. “Yeah, after my escape from Team Galactic I started living in this cave. It’s close enough to the city to keep an eye on things, but far enough away that they won’t think to look for me. As for Roark,” he waved his hand as if to dismiss the notion of his son being exceptionally worried. “The boy’s strong. He can take care of himself. That’s why I left him in charge of Oreburgh! No matter how bad things things get over there, I know that I left the right person in charge! Hahahaha!!” Then he leaned forward a bit. “What about you? After Galactic took over they declared you a terrorist or traitor didn’t they? What have you been up to since then?”

[lumipose-blog]

Byron was the same as ever, she mused, as she listened to him speak with the same vigor and passion she'd become accustom to since their first battle. The cave wasn't exactly the best option for a living space, but he seemed to be making the most of it. Plus, it was better than jail, so.

"Don't worry about it," she replied, smiling gently and patting the top of Bastiodon's head. Next to her, Empoleon looked away in a jealous huff.

She nodded at his reassurances about Roark-- Byron wasn't wrong, but she still wasn't sure if she could ever have the strength to go missing like that with zero contact with her mother. She was always hoping it would never come to that.

"So you really live here all of the time? You've never thought of... I don't know, doing more, or finding other people who are trying to fight Galactic too?"

Dawn paused as Empoleon growled at the mention of Galactic. She looked up at him with a sympathetic smile, then back to Byron with a shrug. "Kind of. I mean, I've been arrested before, but not on charges that can actually get me in trouble... Mostly stuff like making Saturn's life a living hell, really." It sounded kind of lame, she thought, especially when she was talking to someone who had fled for his own liberty. "I've been trying to bide my time until someone comes up with a real plan, and I don't want to give my mom a heart attack by landing myself in serious trouble."

[lumipose-blog]

washed up (@touko)

[achromaticrebel]

Yep, Dawn was definitely someone she’d heard of; Hilda had learned that a girl not too far from her own age had defeated the Sinnoh League. And that the same girl had released Cyrus from dimension he’d found himself in. Hilda was wary at first, but forced herself to relax a little. It’s not like she hadn’t made mistakes with lasting consequences before.

She was the one who had left Unova for years to look for N. She was the one who got there too late.

"Sometimes we make mistakes while trying to do the right thing." Hilda said evenly.

[lumipose-blog]

Well, Hilda's reply at least took a load off of her shoulders. Before she could reply, the abandoned Sunyshore gym came into view.

Instead, Dawn nodded with a small smile at the other girl, then looked ahead at the gym. "That's where we're going. The gym leader left a while ago, so it's been abandoned ever since Galactic raided it-- no one goes there anymore."

The front doors to the gym were locked, but Dawn led Hilda to the back. There was an unlocked door, and after walking through, they were in the back of the gym, behind the stands.

"We're supposed to be waiting for another message," Dawn volunteered, checking her phone, "but right here is probably safest. People don't really come to Sunyshore anymore."

[lumipose-blog]

washed up (@touko)

[achromaticrebel]

Sunyshore was a pretty coastal town. The only time Hilda had ever been in Sinnoh, she stayed mainly in Hearthome; ear low to the ground looking for N.

Fat lot of good that did her.

She laughed,  ”The name’s Hilda. Don’t worry about it, we’ve got some important things to do.” Walking with Dawn, Hilda racked her brain. Her name was familiar, if only vaguely. “I’m not too familiar with Sinnoh or really anyone here, but your name is awfully familiar to me.”

[lumipose-blog]

Dawn winced, debating whether or not to tell Hilda the truth. She didn't really know the other girl yet, but the truth would come out sooner or later. Probably.

"Maybe. I challenged the Sinnoh League and won," she replied, shrugging her shoulders helplessly. She internally scolded herself-- own up to your faults, kiddo. "... And I kind of had a hand in releasing Cyrus from the Distortion World. I guess."

Well, here goes nothing! Hopefully Hilda wasn't terribly judgmental, or being her guide was going to be just awful.

[lumipose-blog]

washed up (@touko)

[achromaticrebel]

When she had heard about what had happened to Red, Hilda knew that  it was imperative to get to Sinnoh immediately. As soon as the news hit the Unovan Resistance, Hilda was the first person to volunteer to go support the members in Sinnoh in any way she could.

A few favors had been called in and Hilda was able to stowaway on a tour ferry making its way from Castelia to Sunyshore. She’d stayed mostly in the storage area, completely cramped and uncomfortable, but thankfully she had managed to sleep some.

Flying as low as she was on the radar, it was a little easier for Hilda to move from region to region undetected, but she took no chances. If all had gone according to plan, Plasma hadn’t noticed her leaving Unova.

She’d been told to keep an eye for the Resistance member that would be greeting her. A blue-haired girl with a pink skirt. Not vague at all, Hilda had grumbled to herself.

When the ferry docked, she was smack in the middle of the crowd when a voice spoke to her. Hilda returned the smile,  glancing at her skirt and hair “I guess you are. Let’s go somewhere a little quieter.”

[lumipose-blog]

"I know just the place."

Dawn looked around, making sure there was no one watching them, and began walking, easily falling into place alongside Hilda. As usual, her go-to spot while in Sunyshore was the abandoned gym, but she hadn't thought too much about where they might go after that. She'd been alerted that many Resistance members would be converging in on Sinnoh soon, but there hadn't been any further instructions about where to meet or stay. 

"So," she finally began, snapping out of her thoughts, "my name's Dawn, by the way. I probably should've mentioned that first..."

Manners, Dawn. Jeez.

[lumipose-blog]

washed up (@touko)

With the amount of traveling Dawn had been doing around the region, she was starting to think about charging for her assistance. Poor Togekiss was probably exhausted from flying, but using fly was much easier than going everywhere on foot. As it stood, she was back in Sunyshore, waiting for a ferry to dock.

She'd been alerted earlier last week that she was being entrusted to pick up another member of the Resistance in Sunyshore. There had been no information about the person she was meeting, and as a result, her imagination ran wild. She didn't imagine most people who hadn't gotten themselves into trouble would need someone to escort them around.

Dawn yawned, rubbing her eyes as the ferry finally began letting the passengers off. She stood on her tiptoes, looking around for her charge-- the only clue she'd been given was that they'd be wearing a white baseball cap. No one seemed to match the description until she caught sight of a girl who couldn't be far off from herself in age. 

Huh. Somehow, she'd been expecting someone much older and intimidating. Either way, Dawn shook her head to clear her mind quickly and jogged over to the girl, offering her a smile. "I think I might be who you're looking for?"

[lumipose-blog]

reunion (@lucas)

[kongoseki]

Okay, so she was mad. That was fair. He hadn’t at all been expecting her to hit him, an "Ow!" near-shouted mixed into uncomfortable laughter born from nerves while he cringed and rubbed his poor, freshly aching shoulder, but Lucas had to suppose that was fair too. He probably deserved it, and whatever else lay in store for him (though he was dreading it, the ominous tone of her low voice only making him cringe further).

He’d been about to respond with a shaky word of agreeance when he was stopped in his tracks by her sudden bolting, dragging him alongside her, but at least his body had the good grace to reactively burst forward with her where his mind halted. “Dawn?!” Was the response that came instead, startled but complacent partly because she was absolutely right and partly because there was really no other option. Truthfully, Lucas wasn’t particularly athletic— generally speaking lab work didn’t involve lifting weights or anything like that— but he was at least capable of hightailing it away from pursuit.

(Sometimes you really piss off wild pokemon and have to book it. It just happens. The struggle is real.)

That didn’t stop him from nearly tripping and hitting the ground hard with his face, regaining balance in the nick of time before the stumble became a fall, a hand shooting up to keep his hat firmly held on his head rather than preparing to catch himself— which in hindsight should have been his natural reaction, but hey, marathon running wasn’t his area of expertise, okay?

[lumipose-blog]

"Can't talk right now," Dawn replied quickly, still dragging him along, "We're kind of busy right now!"

She tugged more on Lucas, urging him to keep up. Man, if there was ever a time she was thankful for those running shoes, it was now. Dawn had never been particularly athletic in her childhood, but walking across a region for a good majority of your teen years tended to get you one way or the other. They were almost in the clear when she felt Lucas halt, and she turned around just in time to see him stumble. 

Dawn groaned and sprinted back over to him, helping him up. She winced. "We'll get you cleaned up when we finally get where we're going."

Reaching for his hand again, she tugged him forward, looking behind them quickly. The grunt was far back, looking around in confusion for them. Perfect. Dawn tugged Lucas' hand, pulling him to the left as they approached an all too familiar building that had been mostly vacant as of late-- Volkner's gym. Dawn pulled Lucas around the side and towards the back where they could remain hidden. They were finally able to stop for breathe, and she took advantage of the break, breathing heavily.

"Okay," she began, speaking in between breaths, "now you can explain yourself." 

[lumipose-blog]

caves (closed @byron)

[fossilking-deactivated20151122]

Byron rummaged through the cave looking for that lantern. He’d lost the damn thing again when he’d bumped the table. Hopefully none of the glass had busted. That lamp had been a gift from a fellow fossil hound and by Arceus he was NOT going to lose it now! 

"Stupid Team Galactic," he grumbled as he felt around the table for it. "If they hadn’t come back, acting like they owned the damn place then I might not have lost my lamp! Now…where…?" His hand touched something metal and he almost jumped for joy…until he realized he’d just found Bastiodon for the third time. "Darn it all, Bastiodon!" the Pokemon raised its head slightly. "I thought I asked you to help me look!" Bastiodon didn’t reply, it just laid back down. "Damn lazy…" His hand bumped something, and this one moved! "Ah hah!" he said.

He gripped the lamp in his right hand and was about to light it when suddenly a scream reverberated through his home. It startled him so much that he dropped the lamp on his foot. “Ah! Crap!” He dropped to the ground and started caressing his poor injured toes, when suddenly a voice at the end of the cave asked if it was him. “Yeah!” he shouted. “It’s me! And who the hell are you, huh?!” He picked up and lit (finally) the lamp. “There! Now that I can see a bit just who the… Hey! It’s the amazing challenger! Your name was Dawn, wasn’t it?” He lowered the lantern a bit to keep from blinding her. “Gwaaaaahahahahahaha!! I remember now! You beat me reeeeal good you did! C’mon in! You look like you’re a bit tired. There’s more than enough light to be shared!”

[lumipose-blog]

His booming voice still took her a moment to get used to, but she ultimately relaxed after he remembered her. Dawn sighed in relief, lowering her flashlight and slouching. Behind her, Empoleon rolled his eyes at her. 

"Jeez, you nearly scared the life out of me," she pouted, walking closer. "I thought you were an angry Ursaring or something."

Dawn sat down on the ground, glad to be able to rest her feet for the first time all day. Even if a cave wasn't the most comfortable spot in the world to spend the night, it was better than the outside. And she'd finally found Byron, which meant this whole trip hadn't been for nothing after all. 

She leaned back against her palms, looking up at the older man with an admonishing expression. "Have you really been hiding out here the whole time? Everyone's been looking for you! I bet Roark nearly had a heart attack."

[lumipose-blog]

rained out (open)

[malitias]

He glared at Dawn, while Umbreon stepped in front of him protectively. “Now, now. There’s no need for that. If I were here for a battle, we would have begun already. I advise you put your pokemon away before we have to take it ourselves.”

Saturn’s attention was turned back to Red. “Why, you don’t know your charges? How about this: treason against Team Rocket. And, I’m sure you’re thinking, ‘what jurisdiction does Galactic have over that?’, and the answer is quite simple: if you’re considered a criminal elsewhere, you’re considered one here, as well.” The smirk on his face was far from concealed; he knew exactly how awful this sounded. For them, anyway.

Taking a large step closer, the grunts moved to surround the other two. “Now, seeing as I’m sure you weren’t aware of his criminal status, I unfortunately cannot arrest you, Dawn.” 

"But, if either of you decide to make this process messy, well…" He gestured around him, where three more grunts surfaced out of buildings and from behind others. "…I’m afraid you won’t be winning. You’ll only make things harder for yourself if you don’t come peacefully."

[lumipose-blog]

"Saturn's a commander in Team Galactic," Dawn said to Red quickly, not taking her eyes off of the aforementioned man. Next to her, Lucario stood alert, growling at Saturn's suggestion.

"It's not a battle unless someone attacks first," she replied, eyes narrowing. "You're not planning on picking a fight, are you? Last time I checked, you don't have an exceptional track record when it comes to battling me."

She felt torn, unsure of how this could end. On one hand, she didn't want to see Red arrested, and she'd be willing to battle alongside him for his freedom. But on the other hand, she was so close to home, and could she really do that to her mother? 

Dawn glanced at Red quickly out of the corner of her eye, completely ignoring Saturn's warning. "It's up to you. I'll do whatever you decide." 

[lumipose-blog]

rained out (open)

[malitias]

Oh, my. What’s this?

What Saturn had disguised as a simple, yet rainy, walk through the streets of Sunyshore had worked out perfectly. A few hours ago, a grunt came rushing in, telling Saturn that Dawn had been spotted in town, along with someone he didn’t recognize. Some brief research showed that the mystery boy was named Red, a person from Kanto who was driven out by Team Rocket, and surely, he’d be facing time if he was found in his home region…

So, why not grab him ourselves? Not only would it prove Galactic’s new power, but also give them leverage over the Rocket’s. A perfect plan, ah yes. Tragically, Saturn still had nothing to arrest Dawn for (other than being annoying), so this boy would have to suffice.

He rounded a corner, accompanied by two grunts and his Umbreon. “Well, well. What intuition you have, Red! You are certainly not alone. At least, not at the moment. We’ll see what prison has to say about that later on.”

[lumipose-blog]

Before Dawn could even reply to Red, she looked around, thinking she heard something too. Almost immediately, Saturn had stepped out into the open, accompanied by his Umbreon and two grunts. Like a reflex, Dawn was already reaching into her bag for a Pokeball, pulling it out swiftly and releasing Lucario next to her. 

"Saturn," she said, disdain dripping into her words, "I didn't know it was illegal to walk around the region now."

She could tell, for once, it wasn't her that the Galactic commander was after. And there was a chance that this confrontation could end in a battle if they all weren't careful.

[lumipose-blog]

caves (closed @byron)

While most of the gym leaders had bent to the will of Team Galactic one way or another, everyone in Sinnoh had heard the story of how Byron escaped arrest and was hiding out somewhere. No one had heard from him since, and Dawn had decided that it would probably be in his best interest for someone to find him. She'd tried Canalave, with little luck, and even Roark seemed to be a dead end.

She was on her way to the nearest Pokemon Center, but it was still some ways away, and night was starting to fall. Dawn looked behind her at Empoleon with an exasperated sigh, realizing she'd have to camp out for the night at one of the nearby caves. 

"Come on," she groaned, Empoleon following faithfully behind her as she walked into the entrance of the nearest cave. Hopefully there wouldn't be any slumbering Pokemon inside.

As they stepped further into the cave, Dawn could've sworn she heard someone or something rustling around inside and mumbling. The noise sounded as if it was getting closer, and she reached inside of her bag for a flashlight. She barely managed to pull it out in time and turn it on, shining it ahead of her. 

Out of shock, she screamed upon realizing it was another person. After she was able to calm down, she squinted in recognition and took another step closer. "... Byron? Is that you?"

[lumipose-blog]

rained out (open)

[revolutionistic]

It was really annoying— the whole situation, that is. Having your gym watched over by a team that wasn’t agreed with by the majority when they first showed up must have been awful, especially if you were one of those gym leaders got to watch their crimes unfold. He could only imagine what it was like and, even then, he didn’t want to think about it for long.

The idea of gym leaders not caring about the situation made him a little worried as well and a whole lot of irritated. He didn’t show it on his face, but Red would never understand how someone, especially someone with their position, just couldn’t.. care. Not after what some people were facing. Besides that, his childhood friend and rival, Green, was a gym leader and to think that there was a possibility that he, out of all of the league members, didn’t care was something he immediately tacked as stupid.

"I’m sure they care," he insisted, scratching the side of his cheek. "Even if it doesn’t seem like it, even if it’s not because of the big picture, I’d be really annoyed if people came in and invaded my privacy, watching me and my gym all of the time." Of course, there were worse things, but he had avoided the gaze of the teams for a while. Maybe he’d gotten too used to that sort of security, even if it was lonely.

The mention of Kanto made him bite back a sigh. Really, he didn’t care to talk about it, but he wasn’t going to push it away, either. Avoiding things never made them better. “Yeah, um, I do, but that’d be pretty obvious, right? I don’t know where the other two trainers— Fire and Leaf— went, but my mom and, uh, best friend are back there..” 

[lumipose-blog]

Hikari shrugged, unsure of whether or not to let her hopes up. She was an optimist by nature and tended to believe that people were truly good when it came down to it, but she also wasn't sure if she could deal with feeling twice as betrayed by a person she considered a friend. If she forced herself to have no expectations, then she could never be disappointed. 

"Well, one of the gym leaders here abandoned his gym," she replied, looking back down at the ground in front of them. Volkner's departure was still fresh on her mind and stinging. She hadn't caught up with him yet, but she'd heard by now that he'd left Sunyshore. "I've thought about looking for him, but I don't even know what I'd say if I got to talk to him. All of the other gym leaders just seem kind of caught in the middle-- er, except Fantina and Byron."

Everyone knew Fantina was helping to lead the rebellion and Byron had been in jail, recently breaking out.

She nodded, understanding his situation. Well, not the exiled from home part, but being unsure where your best friends are and worrying about your family. She knew that feeling too well.

"I found one of my friends not too long ago, but the other one is still missing..." she trailed off, pursing her lips. "This will actually be the first time I've been able to see my mom in months. I didn't want Galactic spying on and hassling her too, so I left home a while ago. We haven't really been able to keep in touch all that much since."

[lumipose-blog]

rained out (open)

[revolutionistic]

Red pressed his lips into a thin line at the teasing and raised his eyebrows. He had given up on blocking the rain, so now he reached up to touch his face, pretending to be offended. “Don’t pick on me. I’m crying, see?” He gestured to the droplets of rain that had gotten onto his face once his makeshift protection was gone.

After he spoke, he relaxed again, even going so far as to laugh lightly under his breath. “I… actually, I’ve been avoiding gyms a bit, but I was there for a bit, yeah. It’s not like I’m completely clueless, so I am suspicious of… some people.” Maybe his childhood journey had conditioned him to trust Nurse Joys too easily because the PokeCenter never struck him as dangerous despite probably being easy to manipulate by any of the teams at this rate.

He briefly wondered what Twinleaf Town was like. Dawn had said that she had grown up there and Red couldn’t help but wonder if it was anything like where he had grown up back in Kanto. The idea made him a little sad, but things were… different now. He had to move on, even if it meant not thinking about family and close friends for a while.

"That’s kinda creepy," he said lightheartedly, but he knew it was worse than that. Being under strict watch must suck, maybe even more so than being by yourself. He couldn’t judge just from what she said, though. "I, uh, guess it’s not as bad as it could be, though. I’d want to mess with them too, if I were you."

[lumipose-blog]

Dawn grinned up at him, surprised that he went along with her teasing. She figured someone on the run would probably be stoic, leaving their sense of humor behind out of necessity. "Jeez, sorry. I'll try to be more considerate from now on-- I had no idea you were so emotional!"

"Yeah... The gym's probably aren't the safest bet, what with them being watched all of the time and all." She pouted, crossing her arms against her chest. "The gym leaders here are good people, really. Or, at least they were before the takeover. I know some of them are being forced into cooperation, but I'm always worried that maybe they don't care..." Even if she'd already battled and defeated them, Dawn still looked up to the gym leaders for the most part, and the idea of her assumptions of them being wrong was disheartening. 

She shrugged again. "Well, sometimes it's fun trying to mess with the grunts, but it's mostly just a nuisance unless I run into one of the commanders. The grunts are pretty harmless for the most part." It was true-- they were usually around her age with much weaker Pokemon. It occurred to Dawn finally that Red was really the champion of Kanto before everything went down. She pursed her lips -- she'd like to challenge him, but it wasn't really a viable option right now.

"Do you miss Kanto?" she asked, looking back up. It was kind of personal, but the words were out of her mouth before she could think better of it.

[lumipose-blog]

rained out (open)

[revolutionistic]

Red simply allowed her to pull him along, not really feeling up to protesting. She probably had a much better idea than he did and, from the sound of it, this was proving true— so far, at least, because at least her plan involved being careful. And to think he thought Sinnoh was safe..

He looked around whenever she did, wanting to stay on top of things now despite his seemingly aloof… well, everything. The thought of getting into more trouble than he already had before was really something he didn’t want to consider twice and, although they say ignorance is bliss, Red was pretty grateful for her company at this point.

"Ugh," he muttered, as if the whole idea of Team Rocket was a nuisance. He wrinkled his nose and kept his gaze ahead after that, lifting a hand to shield his eyes from the rain (because he wasn’t stupid enough to wear his signature hat, at least), but it didn’t really help at all. "Yeah, that’s fine, I think. I’ll follow your lead from now on." At least temporarily. He wouldn’t want to become an eventual burden.

"I’ve been, uh, staying underground," he said in a lower voice, wanting to make sure that there was no one listening even if he didn’t see anyone around. "How come you’re so.. um. Safe?"

[lumipose-blog]

Luckily for the both of them, Twinleaf wasn't far away. She knew he wouldn't be sticking with her forever, but she could at least get him someplace safe and help him figure out how to get to wherever he needed to go next. Besides, her mom would probably be ecstatic that despite the fact her daughter had become such a troublemaker lately, she was still being social as ever. If that was what you wanted to call it.

She noticed him following her actions, looking wherever she did whenever she did. It was almost amusing. "I think we're okay now. It doesn't look like there are any members of Galactic following us."

"So, I'm assuming you must have spent a lot of time in Oreburgh, huh?" She paused, pursing her lips to keep from grinning. Hopefully he could take a little teasing. "Jeez, no wonder you're so pale." 

Dawn shrugged again, sticking her hands in the pockets of her sweatshirt. "I don't know if I'd call myself safe. I just really...haven't done anything to get myself into too much trouble yet. Sometimes I do minor things to mess with Galactic, but I know if I caused too much trouble and got myself arrested, my mom would probably have a heart attack. But Galactic usually has grunts watching me and my friends anyway just in case." 

[lumipose-blog]

rained out (open)

[revolutionistic]

"Huh?" He furrowed his eyebrows, staring down at her with an expression of confusion, and after a moment, he looked around the PokeCenter almost as if he were expecting Team Rocket members to show up at any moment. Of course, this was a stupid thought and he realized this almost a second after it came to mind, turning his face back to Dawn.

So she was concerned.. He couldn’t say that that he wasn’t at all, but Red seriously hadn’t been expecting any trouble to come from this trip. First of all, a lot of people couldn’t judge him from appearance, only name, as far as he could tell. Maybe it was a little stupid to just give his identity to her off the bat, but that was something to worry about at a later time.

Second of all, well, he had been keeping low for such a long time that one short visit above couldn’t really hurt, or so he thought, but this girl probably had a better grip on the situation than he did. Racking his brain for any information regarding her, since he didn’t figure a normal person would freak out over him like this, it took him a moment before a few things clicked. “Oh— you’re. You’re that Dawn, huh.”

He had only heard of her vaguely before (there had been something to do with freeing Cyrus, he knew that much), but it was enough to assume some things. Nodding in agreement, he began to head towards the exit, pausing at the automatic doors to peer out at the rain.

He looked back, offering another sheepish smile. “Where I need to go, right… well.. To be honest, I was just looking for a change of scenery. Anything will do so long as it’s another town.”

[lumipose-blog]

"Y...eah... I'm that Dawn."

He...didn't even have a plan. It almost sounded like he was just going on vacation. Dawn sighed and grabbed his wrist, dragging him towards the exit. Looked like they were both just going to have to brave the storm.

"Come on, I'll take you where I'm going. I was going to finish the walk tomorrow, but we should probably go now... Just to be safe." As they exited the Pokemon Center, she looked around, making sure that there weren't any Galactic Grunts still lurking, and started walking. 

"Uh, so, we're going to Twinleaf Town. It's where I grew up. I'm hoping to meet up with a friend there." She paused speaking for a moment. "But, really, you should be careful. Cyrus has eyes here all over the place. I'm sure he'd love to hand deliver you to Team Rocket."

[lumipose-blog]

rained out (open)

[revolutionistic]

"Oh, they don’t—" He stopped. Technology was truly an enigma. He always took the Poketch as something that had a map, but maybe it didn’t, or maybe she had different uses for it, or maybe she didn’t have the map application installed, or maybe— well, in any case, it didn’t really matter all that much.

Red’s gaze followed to where she pointed and he couldn’t help but sigh. Children. He nodded once she noticed the issue and looked back, shrugging his shoulders and tilting his head briefly to show his defeat when it came to that map. He had given up on it a long time ago.

"Really?" He seemed excited at the idea of that— it was better than just looking at a map and assuming things. This way Red could get pointed in the right direction by a local and maybe he could even get actual information about the routes he had to take. Nodding once more, he forced a smile. "Ahhh— uhh.. Red. I’m from Kanto."

[lumipose-blog]

He brightened up at her offer of help, which at least improved her mood a little bit. She always felt better when she could help someone else out. "Yeah, of course. So where are you--"

His name sounded familiar to her. It took a second for it to register in her head, and once it did, her eyes widened. In a second, she was already taking a step closer and glaring up at him in concern and whispering. "What are you doing hanging out in a Pokemon Center out in the open like this? That's dangerous!"

She looked towards the exit with a sigh. "Come on, we need to get you to wherever you need to go."

Of course she knew who he was-- most people did, even if they weren't in the Resistance. But even in another region, she figured it wasn't safe for him. If Cyrus could have grunts following her around Sinnoh, she figured that it would be no problem for either Giovanni or Cyrus to keep track of Red if they found him in the first place. 

[lumipose-blog]

rained out (open)

[revolutionistic]

Being in a new place was somehow pretty difficult, even when he had actually been in Sinnoh for around a year or so already. Surprisingly (or maybe not), although he might have traveled pretty extensively underneath a region, it didn’t really mean that he had any knowledge of the surface… like, at all. This left him pretty confused whenever he decided that he needed to go to a certain place for, you know, confidential reasons, and to make it worse, it was raining.

Once he had located one, Red had immediately taken shelter inside the nearest PokeCenter and, after a bit of investigating (see: reading a sign), he found that he was in Eterna City. Luckily enough for him, he had been here before, but not-so-luckily, he didn’t actually know what the closest town was or which way he needed to go in order to get there.

It was customary that almost every PokeCenter had a map of the region hanging somewhere on the wall, but just as he was thinking of going to check it out, it seemed to get fairly busy (suspiciously so, if you ask him— it was so sudden) as some preteens (who he assumed to be trainers on their journeys, or something) crowded around his only indication of where to go. Oh.

Well, that left him with two options: 1) wait it out or 2) ask someone else. While Red was normally a pretty patient guy, he had places to go and people to see. So, upon deciding to go with the latter solution, he turned to the closest person he saw (who already didn’t seem very happy about getting soaked by the rain, but he was willing to push his luck) and spoke up.

"Ah, you wouldn’t happen to have a map of the region on you, would you? I’m not… really a local," he began, raising his arm and pushing his sleeve up some to indicate his lack of a Poketch, "and, uh, I’m a bit… technologically challenged, as you can see. I just need to know the next town over— please." Right, people liked when things were polite.

[lumipose-blog]

A taller boy approached her while she was sitting down. Normally, Dawn was rather friendly and personable, but tonight she was incredibly grumpy and put off. Of course, it wasn't this stranger's fault, so she'd try her best not to take it out on him even if she couldn't be a ray of sunshine.

"Uh, I don't anymore," she finally said, shrugging with a sheepish smile. "I haven't been on my journey for a while, and I've lived in Sinnoh my whole life... There's one on the wall over there." She pointed to their left, then saw all of the kids crowded around it, probably eager to find their way to the next town.

Dawn sighed. "Or, I could tell you how to get where you need to go since it doesn't look like they're going anywhere anytime soon..." It finally occurred to her that she'd never introduced herself. "Er, my name's Dawn, by the way."