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Post by KANE on Dec 10, 2011 1:42:32 GMT -5
Fallabor was indeed more underdeveloped than Verdanturf was, but strangely, Steven had never chose to purchase a modest home in the town. In Verdanturf, he had invested in a first floor shoplot and sloppily converted it into a makeshift home for when he wanted some fresh air. In Fallabor, there was no such thing as fresh air - or at least, fresh in the traditional sense. Fresh was defined as sooty to the inhabitants of the agrarian township. It was something that interested Steven greatly, as he soon found out after running a finger across the white wood table he had outside his new residence.
Soot. Ash. From the volcano and open burning, but mainly from the former. Volcanic ash was to some extent related to lava; interest piqued, the ex-champion continued to stare at his ash-covered finger before taking a whiff of it. Then he sneezed. Thorpe eyed him, while maintaining its hover height around Steven's shoulder. The beldum mentally sighed, and the trainer narrowed his eyes.
"What was that, Thorpe?" he muttered aloud. He might be a sick patient suddenly finding a love for dust, but he was still aware of what his pokémon were trying to do to him. In Thorpe's case ... kick him mentally before really driving the point in with a [Take Down]. "Despite it being winter, I see no difference in temperature here in Fallabor, so I honestly do not know what you intend to complain about this time." He flicked away the remnants of the soot, before walking out to the patch of land outside his small house. It was where he could do some gardening if he liked - Thorpe had other ideas.
Gardening? Are you out of your mind? You have stitches in your back and you're going to hunch over a patch of land planting - what, pumpkins for next Halloween? I'd rather you go back to reading tea leaves. [/color] The next thing it knew, Steven was throwing a dawn stone its way.[/size][/blockquote][/quote] |
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Post by KANE on Dec 10, 2011 1:49:54 GMT -5
Alyssa sighed as she walked Northward on Route 114. She had spent practically all day within Meteor Falls, both training and searching for a pokemon she set her eyes on a while ago – Bagon. They were rather rare, and the only location she knew of that had the little Dragon-type pokemon running wild were the Falls. Needless to say she didn’t simply hunt for the Bagon and ignore all else, she also poked around in some caverns she’d never bothered looking into before and training newer additions to her team – Riolu and Godric. Now, Godric marched beside her, his head held high with a smug expression painted on his steel face.
His bright blue eyes were half closed to accompany the expression the Aron held. His walk was almost more of an arrogant strut than anything. His four stubby legs lifted in a deliberate manner, making his movements jerkier than anything. Whenever she glanced at him, Alyssa couldn’t help but smile some. He was confident – too much so for his own good – and it practically bordered on ballsy. He had a habit of sensing out people and pokemon around him that he felt were stronger than him (or everyone for no reason more than for the hell of it, Alyssa wasn’t totally sure) before, more often than not, running up to give them an earful...which humans of course couldn’t understand. Based on what she’d observed of his actions, it was like he challenged them – even though she’d told him numerous times he couldn’t battle with humans, nor pokemon unless she instructed him to do so. He did it anyway, and if he was ignored got irritated and pouty, like a child that was denied a toy in a store.
It’s been so long since I’ve had a young pokemon to raise that I’d forgotten how they can behave... she mused silently, though a bit of laughter escaped her. Then again...he's an Aron that already knows Double-Edge so he's not that young...simply unevolved. Raising this Aron wouldn’t pose a challenge to the Veteran Trainer, but she would have to get used to his mannerisms. She could tell he wanted to be stronger, and she’d promised him that under her guidance, he would do so. Now, he obeyed her for the most part, unless he threw a bit of a tantrum. If that happened, she let Daybreak discipline him. Some called it a bit harsh to have a pokemon as experienced and powerful as Daybreak to deal with him, but her actions were far gentler than they would have been in battle, as though she was a mother scolding a child.
The white-haired trainer had been so absorbed in her thoughts that she hadn’t even notice that they’d arrived in Fallarbor Town. A farm community with small gardens... she thought. That was the general description given to those unfamiliar with the area or region. The ash that almost constantly fell from the sky and covered the ground was a stark contrast to Verdanturf, where she’d grown up for the first ten years of her life. The windswept highlands with the sweet fragrance of grass... A place for fresh air. She disliked the fact that she couldn’t set foot within one-hundred feet of the town border, but almost nothing there belonged to her anymore, aside form her room in her parents’ house.
”Aron, Aron!”
She looked down in time to see Godric scamper off a short distance away to a man crouched in front of what she assumed was his house. She kept walking and was about to call out to Aron and apologize when recognizing the man made her halt-mid step. Steven...? She blinked in surprise and shook her head, stepping closer. What the hell is he doing in Fallarbor, of all places...? she wondered. Looking up, she continued the thought with. Does he own the house...? She would assume so based on the fact he was crouched in the garden in front of it, and the Beldum floating near him seemed to be in no rush to go anywhere.
Walking a bit closer, she stopped about ten feet off, while Godric – still relatively untrained as far as manners went – came up behind Steven slowly, to peer over the former Champion’s shoe curiously to see what he was doing before turning his bright blue eyes on the man. ”Aron?”
Alyssa sighed inwardly. At least he’s not being too much of a pest... She walked forward before reminding herself, ..for now.
She adjusted the red hat on her head before crossing her arms and speaking loud enough for Steven to hear. ”You’re the last person I expected to see in Fallarbor, Steven...”
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Post by KANE on Dec 10, 2011 1:50:28 GMT -5
Come again? I don't recall ever being a fortune teller. At least it's better than being a metal leg.
Hissing back at Steven's retort, Thorpe moved out of the dawn stone's trajectory. Metal leg, its foot - wait, no. That was just playing right into the insult hurled its way. It was above that sort of thing; rolling its sole eye, Thorpe nudged the stone back to the former champion (who picked it up) before holding its silence. Now really wasn't the time to be fighting over matters like this. Verbal fights were best left to moments where Steven had his tea and friends for company. That is, if it was even let out of its pokéball when guests were around - Steven had eventually learned.
"Hmm," Thorpe turned to see Steven humming amusedly to himself, "The soil is surprisingly good for crops and cultivating crystals." Thorpe rolled its eyes again. This was getting a tad old; it wondered how Cross and the rest put up with his eccentricities. "If I place this dawn stone - ouch." Thorpe snickered; Steven shot him a glare. The retired man might have been stepping around in the small earthen area but he was still someone bearing an injury.
He hadn't bothered to take time off to recuperate after getting his bullet removed. He still wore his formal wear, albeit in a more casual manner - shirt half-tucked in, no blazer, missing ascot. He looked like a man coming home beat from work. Rest and recovery, in his opinion, was best done when doing something he enjoyed. Time passed faster that way - That's why you have no sense of time. - and despite the clear wryness in Thorpe's words, Steven had to agree. Time moved far too quickly for him to ever think of keeping up with it. And then there was the not-so-newcomer that seemed to be following him or something.
His head snapped towards Alyssa. The last person she expected to see. How many people did she know anyway? It probably wasn't a big deal to see him. He went wherever there were interesting things to see, and it happened that he found ash interesting. There he had his explanation at the ready, but he found it wiser to hold his tongue. Daigo was slipping through; Steven forced himself to keep his composure - a hand moved to tug at his non-existent ascot before he moved it to adjust his collar instead.
"Did you expect the lux president, then?" |
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Post by KANE on Dec 10, 2011 1:51:28 GMT -5
Alyssa stood relatively still, keeping her arms crossed as the ash from the volcano continued to fall lightly around them. She had been outside long enough for the falling ash to start turning her hair a medium shade of gray compared to the white it normally was. Her light blue eyes moved from Steven to the Beldum floating behind him. She had known what a Beldum looked like from the few trainers she’d encountered with one, but she’d never seen one in a more relaxed state, she’d only ever battled them. There were times when she was working with Cannon that she had wondered if raising him would have been any easier if she’d caught him as a Beldum rather than a Metang. However, on the other side of that coin she’d told herself not to wish things had been different – if that was the case, they may not have happened at all, and she considered herself lucky to be able to find one of the Iron Leg pokemon that would result in a Metagross – now a powerful asset to her team.
She looked down at her Aron when the sunlight – dimmer than usual due to the light cloud of ash – glinted off of his iron hide. The tiny Iron-Armor pokemon moved closer to the other pokemon. She held her breath then let it go in a silent, relieved sigh as Godric strangely didn’t go about giving Steven’s Beldum an earful. Was he finally learning, or was there something else that was preventing him – either consciously or unconsciously – from being the obnoxious little challenger that he tried to be? Whatever the case, she was grateful for his lack of over-confident behavior. He moved out from beneath the Beldum after staring up at it for a moment.
Alyssa looked at Steven when he spoke.
”Did you expect to see the Lux President, then?”
That, she found a strangely amusing notion. She let a small smile slip onto her face, accompanied by a rather quiet chortle of laughter that ended sooner than a full laugh would have. ”I’ll be damned if I was expecting the Lux President. Needless to say that would be an…interesting confrontation..” she said, letting a slightly sarcastic edge enter her voice. If she met Lux’s President here, things would more likely than not end poorly for either side.
She glanced up at the house behind him. Most of the people she’d established contact with – more than simply battling them or stopping in their house if it was near after a battle for whatever reason – were now allied with Lux, undoubtedly. Not many of them had seemed like the type to stray too far from what would be seen as the ‘best bet’ in a situation…in other words, not turning to Nox. Currently the only place the white-haired trainer recognized as ‘safe’ was her Secret Base. The only home she’d known was her parents, which she was now banned from. ….maybe that should change? she wondered idly. It might be smart…
She looked down as Godric moved again, this time nosing the mixed ash and soil around Steven’s shoes as though looking for something to eat. …Arons generally eat iron ore… Alyssa recalled, watching the small pokemon for a moment. …I guess he’ll learn better than trying to eat ash or soil if he takes a bite… Looking back up at Steven, she spoke again
”An ever-present cloud of Volcanic Ash isn’t exactly what I’d call ‘fresh air’ for recovery…” she stated, glancing to the East on Route 113 where the ashfall was heaviest. ”Or do you find doing something that interests you an easier to way to recover, in spite of how beneficial the surrounding air is to you?”
Do you like ash, too? she mused silently, though half-serious. Ash and farming were the only two things that Alyssa could think of that would interest someone in the tiny town.
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Post by KANE on Dec 11, 2011 15:00:49 GMT -5
Interesting confrontation indeed. Steven didn't doubt the fact that the lux president was someone with a lot of informants and data at his fingertips. In fact, he knew the other man by extension - his father's company was partially funded and supported by him. His company, too, Steven thought grimly, the wound in his back sending a sharp jolt of pain to remind him of the reality he lived in - the company he would have owned if he hadn't got into trouble with daddy dearest.
"And you are not my mother," Steven replied good-naturedly, not letting emotions get the better of him. A wound wasn't going to heal if he aggravated it both mentally and physically. The former champion extended a finger, once again catching soot on the tip of it that he studied almost too keenly. He enjoyed this kind of relaxation more than anything else, yes. Alyssa was right on the money. Planting small crops and watching them grow was something he knew he would enjoy as well, but it took a lot of time - too much time eating into his greater research of rocks.
If he had more time - just one more hour - he would have indulged in bonsai-cultivating as well. There was something inexplicably interesting about those plants that never grew. In a way, he never did, too. Daigo had stopped somewhere and replaced by mature, cool, collected Steven Stone. Tsuwabuki Daigo was nowhere to be seen, though that mask he had on slipped once or twice already. |
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Post by KANE on Dec 11, 2011 18:42:15 GMT -5
”And you are not my mother.”
Alyssa brought her right hand up to cover her mouth, the side of her index finger’s knuckle pressed against the skin above her upper lip as a snerk from the white-haired trainer was heard. She was smiling behind her hand, and it was probably poorly hidden – able to be seen by anyone that looked past the appendage. The sound was unable to be contained completely, though, and she actually laughed for a few seconds before it died when she swallowed it back – almost literally. ”I should hope not.” she responded. It wasn’t meant to be an insult. Truly the thought of being anybody’s mother was a rather undesired thought in Alyssa’s mind. She was too ambitious too bogged down with the responsibilities that came of being a parent, she’d learned that from her father who’d had to retire as a businessman and become a Breeder alongside Alyssa’s mother to take care of her.
”I’m only concerned for your recovery.” she stated simply, shrugging a bit and dropping her hand back to remain crossed over her narrow waist. And in all technicality your boss… she realized silently. The idea of being somebody’s boss also didn’t appeal much to the Veteran trainer…at least not the word itself. To her, it drew a line of power between people that she didn’t exactly look up to. However, if needed, Alyssa knew she would use that power. She gave her head a small shake and walked forward slightly, closer to Steven’s house. She made eye contact with Godric, who held her gaze for a moment before walking a few feet away, seemingly following his nose before he took a small, testing bite out of some of the ash by the side of the road.
An abrupt fit of coughing in dislike came from the Aron, accompanied by closed eyes as though the pokemon were grimacing, and the rather rough shaking of his head. Alyssa, parallel with Steven (though behind him) at this point, turned to look at the Steel-type pokemon, sighing slightly. ”Serves you right, Godric…” she told him. Her words causing him to stop moving and manage to quiet his coughing so he could look up sheepishly at his trainer. ”Maybe you should stick to something you know you’ll like…iron ore, perhaps?” she suggested mildly.
”A…aron.” he said, his small body trembling before a final cough escaped him. He shook his head before walking back towards his trainer. Alyssa glanced at Steven’s back before at his house. She stayed silent for a moment, glancing between the person and object every few seconds. The man truly was absorbed with what he was doing. Would he notice her slip by?
Suddenly she felt a mischievous air stir up within her, something she hadn’t felt since she was a teenager. Suddenly, an idea struck her. That’s an interesting thought… she mused silently, glancing once again at the former champion. See if you can break in to his house without him noticing… Although it would probably be met with confused and negative reactions, the want to see if she could was simply overwhelming.
I wonder… she thought quietly, glancing down at Godric, who was staring at her. She raised her index finger to her lips before nodding at Steven and his Beldum. The Aron looked at her quizzically before nodding as well, following his trainer as she moved quietly towards the front door.
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Post by KANE on Dec 12, 2011 12:14:45 GMT -5
concerned for his recovery? he could handle himself just fine. he'd been surviving this long without his father's aid, hadn't he? steven had thought those thoughts, but kept them to himself. he didn't need to add more statements to a conversation where alyssa seemed hellbent on one-upping him no matter what he said. deciding to leave her to her own devices, the former champion settled in a seating position on the earthen patch, with thorpe hovering around his shoulders.
she's going into the house. she's already inside! have you no sense of urgency?
[/color] thorpe was anxious about the intruder, but steven remained calm. he continued pulling the weeds from the earthy ground, digging with his bare hands to feel the texture of the mud. slightly damp, powdery because of the soot. plants would certainly flourish in this, he thought. perhaps he ought to look into those bonsai - but they might grow larger than they should due to the fertile earth. ah, the decisions he had to make sometimes. if alyssa tried, the front door would swing open rather easily. inside, the cottage was still relatively intact and not in the least messy. it was usually be as if wing had chose to throw a tantrum in doors - crates overturned, picture frames hanging lopsided and a near-empty kettle whistling its heart out on the stove. as this was a relatively new purchase, everything was still amazingly in place. even the couch seemed inviting for house guests to sit on, for it wasn't quite stained by a careless spilling of tea, or drop of slime steven occasionally had to clean off stones freshly-shipped to whichever home fancied him at the moment. other than its neat interior and yet-unopened boxes, there was nothing else of interest in the home. it was small, good enough for a retired man to live in while pursuing old hobbies like gardening, fishing, and of course - ore researching.[/size][/justify][/blockquote][/quote] |
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Post by KANE on Dec 12, 2011 17:32:00 GMT -5
Godric nosed Alyssa’s heel when she turned silently to face the door. She glanced down at him to meet a confused expression. Oh right... she thought. Godric wasn’t any sort of Psychic pokemmon, he didn’t hear her thoughts. She simply shook her head a little and gave the Iron-Armor pokemon a small smile before looking at the door then. The Beldum with Steven had probably heard her thoughts and already alerted its trainer to her intentions. The one problem...in some situations, other times it was a huge advantage...with psychic pokemon was that no such thing as an element of surprise, particularly if there was a pokemon like an Espeon around, who were gifted with the natural ability to see the short-term future.
Placing her hand on the doorknob, she gave it an experimental turn to the side. Figured.. she thought, pushing the door open rather easily. It was rather quiet as far as swinging open went, as though the hinges had recently been oiled so that they didn’t squeak or groan when the door was opened to allow a person or pokemon inside. Pushing it a bit further, she waited for Godric to scamper inside before she slipped in herself, quietly closing the door behind her. Placing her hands in her pockets, she watched the tiny Aron mill about, nosing things at his level here and there.
”Godric..” Alyssa said, getting his attention. ”Just don’t harm anything, alright? I doubt that’s any way to get on Steven’s good side.” A grunt from the blue-eyed pokemon signified his obedience, and his trainer nodded a bit, looking back at the lock on the closed door. She studied it for a moment before frowning. That would have been beyond easy to pick... she thought, dropping her hand to a pocket on her leg. She felt her lock-pick-ring within it, beside her cell phone. The ring held a torison wrench, twist-flex torison, offset diamond pick, ball pick, half-diamond pick, short hook, medium hook, L-rake, C-rake, slagel pick, a warded pick, and two bump keys. Maybe I should look into a decoder pick... she thought silently, biting the inside of her lip before looking up. If she got one, it would definitely be useful.
The white-haired trainer looked around for a moment before beginning to move. She looked at some of the various pictures that he had unpacked. Mostly, the house consisted of unopened boxes save for some pieces of furniture. Alyssa walked over to the couch in the far corner of the house, contemplating sitting for a moment before she followed through with the motion. She sat rather close to the edge, and crossed her right leg over the left, bent at the knee. The house was relatively nice I guess if it supports his interests its just fine for him.. she thought, looking at Godric.
Picking up a book off the arm of the couch, she glanced at the title and author. Geology...why am I not surprised... she mused before opening it, resting it flat on the arm of the couch beside her elbow as she propped her temple against her curled-over fingers, beginning to read. Absorbed in a book and relatively relaxed as she was, her sense of time evaporated.
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Post by KANE on Dec 28, 2011 0:07:21 GMT -5
time passed quicker than steven and alyssa both had imagined, and when the former champion looked up from his seated position, the skies had already started to melt into a darker blue - it was late afternoon, almost evening already. he glanced at his watch; it seemed that he had mistaken the colour of the skies for a different time. the flow of time in fallabor seemed to be drastically different, with the ashes and soot altering the sun's rays to an extent not found anywhere else in hoenn. figuring that alyssa had at long last, left him to his own devices - even thorpe had disappeared to whereabouts unknown - he trooped back to his cottage, where he -
"- and have you been sitting here all this while?" he said, almost curiously, but mainly with annoyance. "i should be a good host and welcome you in," steven added, teeth grit. this female was an intruder, yet his leader. even though he had no particular respect for hierarchy in nox (or lux for that matter), he wasn't about to haul and throw her out of the house. the prospect, however, was sorely tempting. he eyed godric, swearing that if the aron toppled something, he would have it thrown into the depths of meteor falls, never to be seen again. he went into the kitchen, and busied himself with tea.
emotions calmer, he emerged from the kitchen with two cups of tea in hand. one he placed next to alyssa, the other, he sipped gingerly while staring down at her. steven hadn't bothered to take a seat. he watched her, silent. |
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Post by KANE on Dec 28, 2011 0:07:36 GMT -5
”....and have you been sitting here all this while?”
Alyssa’s surprise registered as no more than a few rapid blinks and her looking up from the letters which she’d only managed to get halfway through. The ‘Leader’ business came with more paperwork than she liked, and what she had to read got ever longer, and how uninteresting it was seemed to be the same way, increasing just as much alongside the length. There was only a document every few weeks that caught her interest. One, like what she had in her hand, that had to be upwards of twenty pages, had been delivered in a brown-orange envelope, seeing as it was too thick (even without folding it over) to fit in any normal-sized envelope.
With a letter or document like this, however, her attention became rather indirect. Sure, she could read for hours on end and barely notice the time fly, but if something didn’t interest her, it didn’t get accomplished as easily as it could have been. Her thoughts often took her in directions away from the subject at hand; bouncing off a tangent presented from the information...such was the case from this.
”I should be a good host and welcome you in.”
Alyssa could see from the subtle twitch of a muscle in his jaw that his teeth were grit, the muscle adjusting to the unnatural position for however long it was held. She didn’t necessarily blame him...she had, in all technicality, broken into his house after all. It seemed, though, that both of them had lost track of time while they were engrossed in their respective activities. She had let her curious and more daring side get a hold of her, as it had many times when she was a teenager. He probably thinks I have no more sense than one given this... she thought, vague amusement pulling at the corners of her mouth at his turned back.
When he returned from his kitchen, she sat back and folded the document to the best of her ability and shoved it ungracefully – though thankfully quietly – into the pocket on her pant-leg. Zipping it shut as he placed the tea next to her, she glanced around the room to look for Godric. At first she was worried the Aron had gotten his nose into a posession of Steven’s before he came marching out from around the couch, eyes closed as though pleased with himself.
”~Ar...on...Ar...on...Ar...on.~”
The pokemon murmured its name quietly as it marched until it came up beside its trainer’s black running shoes. Turning ninety degrees to the left, to face the door, he sank to the ground, short, stubby legs extended as he laid there, apparently tired out from exploring Steven’s home for the time it took the trainers to become aware of passed time.
Obliging to the tea presented to her, Alyssa took it in her hands, holding the cup carefully, letting the warmth seep to her fingers before she raised it to her mouth, taking a small mouthful. It was delicious. She closed her eyes momentarily to let the flavor sink into her tongue.
”I guess I lost track of time.” she began. ”I apologize for...’breaking in’” she told him sheepishly, though she didn’t let it show as she sipped the tea again before looking up at the man that stood at least a head taller than her under normal circumstances, much less her sitting and him standing. ”I gave in to my curiosity. Though...I would recommend getting a better lock for your door. That one...” she nodded to it, ”I could pick the one you have now in less than a minute.”
Waiting a moment before continuing, she spoke again, this time quieter. ”...I can now say rumors I’ve heard of your proficiency in tea-making are true. This tea is wonderful, Steven...”
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Post by KANE on Jan 1, 2012 11:35:44 GMT -5
'screw you' were the first words that hit steven in the head but he restrained himself and looked alyssa in the eye. curiosity killed the cat ... like how it had nearly killed them both during their brief time spent in devon corp. danger seemed to have no effect - ... right, he was a retired man. nearing thirty, too. he didn't have time to spend on fighting or trivial things that weren't rocks or plant-cultivating. that patch of land in front of his cottage was interesting enough for him to throw aside his research for one, maybe two days.
"i don't care," he told her bluntly. if anything, he slept in the living room himself. with wing or chain if he liked. they were better alarms and locks than anything else, he figured. and besides, he rarely slept unless really needed; he was grateful that he hadn't took a serious hit to his appearance ... yet. (he tried to convince himself that he was ageing.)
".... thank you," he muttered in response, still standing and looking down upon the white-haired female. "i expect there to be better tea-makers around, however." he gently nudged her attention towards the teapot sitting on a nearby half-table, indicating that she was free to refill her tea when her cup was empty. there was enough to go around after all. excusing himself, he trooped to the back of the house, dipping a hand into his trousers' pockets and grinned.
wasn't there that interesting rock he found while digging in the mud to investigate? |
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