His loud sobbing and endless tears certainly did draw unwanted attention from the surrounding guards. “I knew it.. I.. I knew it..” he muttered between his sniveling where he was nestled snugly in the corner of the cell. It was rather pathetic despite this being one of his all time fears becoming reality. He couldn’t stop, it felt like everything was falling apart all around him.
He shook his head. “I-it’s over.. it’s over.. I failed, this is it.. no one’s comin’.. wh-what if I’m in for life- o-or send me to prison- P-prison’s worse.. Arceus, I don’t wanna go to prison- I won’t survive prison- M’ gonna die, I ain’t gonna see my family again-” his voice got progressively more distressed the more his anxious rambling went on. He didn’t even really register anything Fred had been saying to him.
That is until the other got up close to him, he immediately stiffened and took in a sharp breath. His instincts thought he was about to be punched or something.. He covered his mouth, at least attempting to reign himself in despite that he was still sniffling and trembling slightly. Out.. That would be.. best. He swallowed hard, and despite tears still streaming down his cheeks he was at least quieter than before.
“Y.. you sure..?” he asked, keeping his voice to a whisper. If they got caught, it’d be even worse.. but he can’t just stay here either. “O-okay.. s-sorry.. I-I just n-never th-thought...” He shakes his head. No, he shouldn’t.. dwell on things. That would make it worse. “L.. long and bendy..” He didn’t think he had anything like that. But then he thought of something. “W-wait-” He quickly slipped off his glove and cuff to reveal he was wearing pipe cleaner bracelets. “I.. I didn’t want boss to see me wearin’ ‘em.. b-but they’re long an’ bendy,” he whispered.
He didn’t particularly want to see that Musdale-ass faced prick again, but what could he do: they had a deal, and if he could regain his sight, Lorenz wasn’t going to start looking the gift Rapidash in the mouth.... Now, all he actually wanted to know was why of all the places in Johto, their point of rendez-vous was settled in the middle of that muddy bog on Route 43.
At least, the guy - shit, what was his name again? - was already there when he arrived so that would spare him some much uncomfortable waiting in a place that was occasionally swarmed by horrible wild beasts such as Mareeps. Lorenz didn’t even bother with a greeting, and just started looking into his bag as he closed the distance between himself and that jerk. He took out a sealed package freshly shipped from Sinnoh; Inside it were the very glasses that were both the cause and the solution to his predicament.
"Meeting at a Pokemon Center would have been too hard for you?”
He didn’t want a response to that, actually. He knew full well whatever the other man’s reasons were, they were not worth listening to. He shoved the box into his arms, showing very little care for the probable fragility of its content.
"Eh, whatever. Got your goggles in there. Now, lemme hear about your side of the deal.”
[SMS] [To: Mr. Mean Dumb Face >:U]
[hey so there r so many chix places? like i kno u said myt 2 buy you a bucket like lol which one did u want?]
Polly paused, glancing up at the first chain restaurant for fried chicken they’d found. Who knew if that phone snatcher was even nearby? Not Polly.
[hey]
[hey]
[k so lol wayn so i can get u ur murdered bird?]
Was this too many messages? Good. They had least had a plan for how to “buy” the food. They sent another text with their current location. That should do it, right?
He was in such a hurry with his flight that he nearly crash landed both him and Lavender into the ground. Thankfully he didn’t though, since he didn’t want this all to go wrong at the last second! Once on the ground, he gave a light sigh. “Thanks Lavender- you’re fantastic as always! I promise I’ll take you an’ everyone out later okay?” After a satisfied chirrup from the large bat dragon, he recalled her into his pokeball and finally looked upon his final destination.
Home.
His shoulders relaxed and a warm smile spread on his face. It’s been so long since he’d been back here and yet it still felt like this was where he belonged. It was.. where he was needed. He didn’t waste anymore time as he pushed forward, quickly throwing open the door. “Mom-!” he called out. Though by doing so he ended up startling poor Valerie who was currently making supper and making Eve nearly jump out of her skin. “Adrian-!” they both exclaimed.
“Valerie- Eve-!!” he grinned widely. “I- I’m back home-” Valerie was trying hard not to mess up the food while still being inwardly excited to see her brother again after so many years. Eve stood from where she was sitting and quickly closed the gap between her and Adrian. “Eve I missed yo-” But he was cut off as Eve slapped him roughly across the face.
“You--!!! You-- you’re despicable, making Mom worry like you did! How- How dare you!” she fumed. Adrian was a bit dumbstruck at the suddenness of it, though it was clear she was just overwhelmed. There were so many years of pent up anger in her at both him and her father, but she too had missed him deeply. Even so, she couldn’t just take him coming back so suddenly like that. “Just- go talk to her,” she said, quickly shooing him off. She needed.. time to calm down. “Val- the meat’s burning, I can smell it-” she snapped. Valerie jumped, noticing she’d been watching their exchange a bit too closely and had neglected the food.
Adrian just nodded, a happiness welling in him he could hardly contain just at seeing Val and Eve again.. He hoped he’d get a chance to see the triplets too, though he knew they were off on their pokemon journey. He quickly made his way towards his mom’s bedroom, where she was resting. Her illness kept her mostly bedridden these days.. He needed to see her again. So he could tell her face-to-face..
He pushed open the door. “Mom-” Gina looked up suddenly as her door flew open, though at seeing her son standing at the door quickly overwhelmed her with so many emotions.
“Addy-!! Addy baby-” Adrian quickly made his way to her bedside so she could shower his face in kisses. “Oh Addy, I missed you so much..” she pulled him in to hold him close, and he wrapped his arms around her as well.
“M-mom.. I missed you too..” Tears welled in both of their eyes as they hugged each other tighter. He was so afraid he wasn’t going to get the chance to see her again. That if he came back, it’d be too late to do anything for her. “Mom I gotta tell ya, you’re not gonna believe it-” He pulled away from the hug, but held both his mom’s hands in his.
“I met Steven Stone, the Champion of the League in Hoenn. He’s- he’s a good friend-” he wiped his face a bit since he had actually begun crying. “H-he introduced me to Roark wh-when there was a rock pokemon convention in Hoenn. I.. I talked to Roark ‘bout everythin’ a-an’ we battled. Mom, he said he’d hire me at the gym-” He did make a deal with him to get a proper trainer card made though, one that was actually legal. But that was a small stepping stone to what was now his much brighter future. Gina’s face showed everything from shock to surprise to overwhelming relief.
“Oh Addy- Addy, I’m so proud of you..” She cupped his face in her hands. Her little boy is finally all grown up. Adrian was smiling widely, placing his hands over hers on his face.
“That’s not all though.. h-he said he wanted to do everythin’ he could to help ya out.. He’s gonna help cover the costs o’ your treatments an’ everythin’--” She gasped a bit.
“Oh sweetie but-”
“Don’ worry ‘bout it Mom. He said I could pay it back by jus’ bein’ a real good trainer for his gym.” His chest welled with happiness at seeing the look on her face when he told her. This is what he was living for. This was why he was here, and where he belonged. “Maybe.. maybe one day I’ll be gym leader, yeah?” His mom beamed and pulled him into another hug.
“Oh sweetie, I want nothing more than for you to be able to follow your dreams..” She had felt so guilty for so long by putting such a huge burden on her eldest child back when he was younger.. but now that burden felt like it had been lifted. He pulled away again just enough that he could cup her face in his hands.
“Everythin’ is gonna be alright now, I promise. I’m stayin’ here from now on, an’ I ain’t goin’ anywhere. I’ll be here for you an’ the girls an’ I’ll work my hardest to keep it that way.” He smiled warmly. “Everythin’s gonna be okay.” A lot of things happened on his path here, good and bad. But.. he wouldn’t trade it for the world, even the bad stuff. They say everything happens for a reason. His mom’s tears trickled down her cheeks, her smile seemingly brightening the world around him.
💦!! //from fred... he's going to be her hairdresser~
My Muse broke their wrist recently and can’t do much. Send 💦 to help them wash their hair
Another day, another grunt sent to help her out while she’s still in recovery. Clarissa’s patience is starting to wear thin: blasted arm, freaking ribs… What she needs most in the world (more than a pay-rise and that sweet new pair of gold-and-white boxing gloves) is to get struck with green lightning, or bitten by a radioactive Spinarak so that she gains super-neato, super-human healing powers. The sooner her bones heal, the sooner she can go back to caring for her own damn self, in place of the “services” of her sulky coworkers who huffed about their job as if they’d rather be sweeping the Pokémon cages than lending a higher-ranking agent a hand.
She’s fuckity-done with being manhandled, but her interest piques just a little when she winces her way to the door and finds this particular grunt—Frank? Ferdinand? Fred—standing on the welcome mat. (Note: a welcome mat at a Rocket safe-house is pretty oxymoronic, ain’t it?)
Clarissa knows this grunt. Well, sorta. To the extent that she knows his name and rank. She’s pretty sure they musta worked a couple of the same missions back when she was at the same level, albeit under different directives. At very least they’ve collided in the hall a couple times—but they’ve never actually hung out.
“Yo Frank, we’ve never actually hung out.” Clarissa muses her previous thought aloud over the splatter of the shower-head being directed across her scalp. “Why not? You seem passably not-an-asshole. Figures that this’d be the first time, right?”
