Earning her keep

[arceusstansme]

Who: Akari and any poor sod who crosses her path.
What: Akari is here to prove her worth to Bottlecap Bay. Whether you like it or not.
Where: Bottlecap Bay
When: Sometime during April (all of it)
Warnings: Swearing, the traumas:tm:



Some people (or, well, Pokémon) would take a day or two to adjust to having their bodies shaped into something new and thrown into a new location. Maybe take a moment to adjust to any weird dysmorphia about suddenly having no fingers or being a sentient bag of garbage (which, let's be real, isn't a change for some people.)

Akari on the other hand started to work. Someone needed a berry delivered from point A to point B without being eaten somewhere in the middle? Akari was on it. Needed someone to go tell their kid who was playing dangerously close to a ledge to stop it? Akari was already there. It didn't matter; it seemed like the moment someone looked mildly uncomfortable, the Cyndaquil was already there trying to fix an ill or find something.

It would be impressive if it seemed like she took a break. Or if she didn't seem like she was just sitting in traffic waiting for a light to turn as she listened to whatever someone needed. It was also obvious she was also trying to make sure the task was done 100 percent, even if she checked back in with the person like she was throwing a cigarette butt at them when she was done.

That was just the nature of her. Sometimes you might see her resting her feet for a second or two; other times you might see her waiting for someone or something to appear to give a message or deliver something. Or sometimes, she might stop and stare at you for a moment before asking if you needed help.

Comments

[seacub]

To that, he just nods.

"...It's probably a lot harder right now, huh. Do pokemon actually age the way humans do..?"

Hmm. Hmmmmmm.

....Hmmmmmmmm. "............what kind of berry?"

Look he has to know if he'll enjoy the berry on a sucker's bet.

[arceusstansme]

Akari thinks for a moment, "Pecha."

She knows even if she looses the bet, she could probably find Ingo with a Pecha berry someplace close by she could bum off him. Plus, Pecha berries were nice.

"And previously being humans would add into that confusion too. Like, I would assume one level per year of life, but here we are."

[seacub]

A sweet berry!

That should be fine, as long as it isn't sour. He just nods.

And then blinks. "Leve- Oh, right. I think I heard those mentioned... ...how do you even measure 'level'?"

[arceusstansme]

"Like, it's kinda obvious, especially as you figure out 'moves'." She explained.

"Or like, where they are with their evolution. Like Ingo is a Typhlosion, so he is level 36 at least."

[seacub]

"Huh..."

Huhhhhhh...

He ponders this.

"....What would you say about a Cubone that doesn't have ground moves?"

The answer in fact depends on how well Emporio can throw.

[arceusstansme]

"Every Cubone can do Mudslap fresh from the egg. You sure you don't have it? Maybe somehow you were given other moves in some weird middle ground thing. Random tutor move or something."

[seacub]

"We've tried pretty extensively, yeah."

Though that's a potentially good point.

"...Would you be able to tell..?"

Just. Hypothetically, because he's not about to start throwing moves around here.

[arceusstansme]

"We can go through the list and see what happens. Maybe the Doctor has a way to find out too."

Akari went through all the moves she could think of for a Cyndaquil and alas, she was very low level. Awful. Well, rags-to-riches story! Everyone loves an underdog.

"Then we can also figure out if you should change up your moves to. Always good to have plenty of coverage. Also, it would be good because Cubones move kinda slow, so we should find out if you have any hard-hitting moves at the moment."

She starts trying to drag the boy into a clothing shop.

ilu secret power

[seacub]

"For a moment we thought I had an electric move and a grass move, but we're pretty sure that isn't right..."

It was Normal every time.

"Uh- a-anyway we tried using the type muffins, that was how the electric-look-alike happened..."

He's just. Being dragged in. Akari is surprisingly enough slightly larger than he is, so it's not as hard as one would expect. Also, he's not really fighting against the idea of going inside, he has to do that part anyway.

[arceusstansme]

"Really? Maybe we should do a few test runs together."

And sure enough she starts grabbing some things and throwing it at the Cubone.

"Oh, like, by the way, I'm Akari."

She realized she hasn't even introduced herself.

[seacub]

"Like on some training gro- AH-!"

Clothing! An onslaught of clothing!!!

"E...Emporio..."

...comes the muffled reply.

[arceusstansme]

"Big name for a tiny guy." she said throwing another item of clothing at him.

"Got a nickname?"

[seacub]

"Uhh-"

FWUMP

He's going to end up a pile.

"...No? I, uh. I was more concerned with giving myself a name..."

[arceusstansme]

"Giving yourself a name?"

She asked, a little confused. Why would a kid need to name himself? Did he also lose his memories?

[seacub]

To that, Emporio shrugs- while also shedding the clothes that landed on him so far.

"Well, no one else was there to give me one...and I couldn't remember what my mom called me. So...I just came up with something using the sounds I remembered from her."

That's.....................SUPER DEPRESSING!

[arceusstansme]

"Well, that sucks. Surprised you could think of a name like that, considering you're like what? Nine? Doubt I could've done that when I was nine."

She didn't remember what she was like when she was nine. She never had reason to think on how she was to be honest.

[seacub]

"....I'm 12 now but...I mean, I was probably closer to 3 at the time..?"

There's a lot being said with those words and Emporio might not have caught what.

[arceusstansme]

"..."

She stares at the Cubone for a long moment.

"Excuse me, what? Who did you have watching over you? Why didn't they name you?"

Akari meeting Anasui later like 'i see, i see,'

[seacub]

The cubone scratches his bare head, oblivious to the growing proof that he was really always a cubone, he just didn't look like one.

For after all, his answer is-

"Well... ...there wasn't. After my mom was killed, there was no one. ...Not like that anyway."

[arceusstansme]

"..."

[Akari is trying to process that.]

"What? Were you just a free-roaming toddler. People going around like, 'Yup, that isn't a literal infant running around. It will feed and potty-train itself.'"

[Oh. Oh. Akari is going to have to go to wherever the Cubone came from and slap some bitches.]

[seacub]

He can't help it.

He laughs. "PFfhfh...Hehehehe...HEH...N...No, I mean...I guess free-roaming is right, but I made it pretty hard for anyone to comment," Emporio wheezes, arms around his middle as he fights a grin.

It does sober though, if only because he knows this next part tends to bring the mood down no matter what he wants to do.

"...It's like I said, but I had to stay hidden," he explains more carefully. "...I had to. It was too dangerous otherwise. I was born in, and grew up in a prison. ...it's where I lived until I came here."

Unfortunately for Akari, the bitches have all been annihilated, and there is no one to slap.

(Fortunately, one could argue Emporio did the slapping??)

[arceusstansme]

"So like what, if a prison guard saw you, they would be like 'Yes, this toddler has committed a crime, obviously'"

She was trying to process this and it was obvious she was thinking all the adults in Emporio's life must have been pants-on-head stupid.

"Yup, this child, this infant, this thing that can't string a sentence together but can somehow make a multi-syllable name obviously must have committed a prison worthy crime of like, taking a cookie from the cookie jar."

I should maybe say CW talking about murder in here huh,

[seacub]

"PffhfhfHFhfhfhf..."

Akari's nature makes this a lot easier to talk about, honestly.

Even if it's about the worst moment of his tiny tiny life, it just...makes it easier. "N..no. Not like that, it's more..."

"...someone killed my mom. ...I didn't want to find the one who did it, in case they decided I had to die too."

[arceusstansme]

"Give me a moment to process everything you just said."

She said, holding up one of her nubs, as if asking for a pause.

"So, your mom ended up in prison, you were already baking or about to start being baked, had no medical care during this time, you were born and like...none of the guards or anything noticed this?"

Sorry, she is mildly hung up.

"What sort of underfunded prison was this? Or was this like a prison where they were hoping everyone would just...go feral on each other? Throw a loaf of bread at everyone and go 'Alright guys, kill for it.'"

[seacub]

"Hahahah! I can explain the part where I was hidden at least..! I don't fully understand it, but..."

Mmmm. "Well, I have...had, anyway, what was called a 'Stand'. For most people, those manifested as their own entities- things with incredible powers, and strength... ...for me though, mine just kind of was a thing I could do. And in this case, that was accessing 'ghost rooms'."

The cubone pauses- he has to explain ghost rooms now. "A ghost room is... ...if I say, 'A memory of a place', does that make sense? Part of the prison burned down in the 80s, and I've been able to access that room that was destroyed for as long as I remember. Most likely...even when I wasn't born. When I was baking," he adds with a snort, "...Most likely, my mom found that room because of me, and used it to keep me hidden."

With a shrug, he adds, "...from there I just stayed hidden. I would use ghost objects to blend in, learn the guard patterns, the camera locations...honestly, Green Dolphin is top security. It's...one of the most intense prisons in the USA actually."

Emporio winces. "...it also had a lot of Stand users, thanks to the one who killed my mom..."