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

Well now we gotta CW for the American Prison System. And Police Brutality. :'|

[seacub]

"Oh." Hm.

"...It's...a country? I'm not really sure how best to explain it...it's a really big country though, divided into states...Mine was one of the southernmost ones. A...anyway, I..."

...

He's not really sure how to explain this either.

He's not sure he wants to.

"...Sometimes people aren't put in jail because they belong there. ...often times, the people chosen to guard those places don't care," he finally says quietly. "...Maybe they weren't evil. ...But they were still happy to have power over something, and I couldn't risk trusting someone like that. ...especially not if they might have reported to her murderer."

[arceusstansme]

Oh, she knew those vibes.

"Yeah, some people just suck. And due to their innate suckiness deserve to have someone break into their house, eat all their food and mess up their hair."

Her expression was carefully schooled, but she had done it plenty of times, keeping a devil-may-care smile on her face.

"Sucks that you had to deal with that."

[seacub]

Another laugh. A somewhat pained smile, as well.

"That's...basically how it goes with law enforcement in Florida, is all. And I mean, I still avoided most of it! ...I just couldn't really go anywhere because of how successful that was."

A look around the place. "It's been a pretty big change in experience, coming here!"

[arceusstansme]

"Oh yeah, Pokémon are great. Like, so happy to be a Cyndaquil, like, they are adorable. Like me."

Most humble girl in the world.

"Like, I found out some people come from places without Pokémon and I can't help but to feel sorry for them."

[seacub]

"It definitely makes it more of a learning curve... ...but not a bad one?"

Most humblest and adorablest, there she is huh.

"And I'm learning a lot in the archives. ...e...even if I still haven't figured out everything about myself..."

[arceusstansme]

"Pokémon are mysterious creatures, bask in being cool and mysterious."

[seacub]

"It does seem neat to be cool and mysterious..."

He's very much saying that to join in on the bit, but considering what Akari sounds like at the best of times, that's probably the best way to go about it.

[arceusstansme]

She laughs a little, it doesn't seem to fit her. It sounds almost girlish, not like a teenager who would be willing to burn a man.

"There we go, it is. Like- you don't know all your moves yet, and like, how do we evolve, will it feel weird?"

[seacub]

"Uh-huh, uh-huh..."

Actually, that last comment made him realize- "Oh...a few others mentioned that, 'evolving'. It sounds more...sudden than what it normally means at home? Do you know what normally happens?"

[arceusstansme]

"A Pokémon when it gets stronger will suddenly change shape or form. Some don't want to evolve, some do, you can also, like, shout at them when they are evolving to make them stop."

She shrugs, "But they can try again later. Sometimes there is a good reason to not want to evolve just yet."

[seacub]

"Like...spooking them out of..."

Right not the point. "Well that's definitely different here...Evolution normally explains the process a species takes over thousands of years to do that... ...so it's just a part of growing up a pokemon then?"

[arceusstansme]

"A lot of Pokémon choose not to evolve, and it is weird to think evolution needing thousands of years to work."

[seacub]

"I think it might help to think of them as two different things. ...Which, they are, but still. ...Though you definitely can't just 'decide' not to 'grow up'..."

[arceusstansme]

"Evolution is more like...getting a stronger state. Not really growing up the more I think about it in a traditional sense."

[seacub]

"Like...uhhh..."

...

No there's really no word for it. "...I get the feeling I'll have to just see it in person huh..."

[arceusstansme]

"It is like really cool. Some Pokemon evolve because of certain elemental stones, others need like to have a bestie and level up at a certain time of day, all sorts of things."

[seacub]

"An evolution based on friendship..."

Neat. Couldn't be him.

"But in my case it's just 'level' huh..."

[arceusstansme]

"Could be. We don't know how things happen here, but perhaps it is predictable. Perhaps because everyone is a Pokémon here, there are some books about it."

[seacub]

Emporio....

Deflates.

"That just means no one knows at all then..."

He feels somehow disheartened...

[arceusstansme]

"But isn't that the cool part? You get to discover and learn about them and grow with them yourself."

She says, as she happily thinks about the things she learned about Pokémon in her own journey.

[seacub]

"I- I guess so...it's more that I'd like to be ready, I guess. I already feel like I'm missing something, not having any 'ground type' stuff... ...and it feels like most of what I've learned came from just talking now, even after everything I read."

[arceusstansme]

"Hey, hey- don't act like that." she said, her expression not changing much, after all - she can't look like a softy. Even though she could be punted over a building by almost any other Pokémon.

"I must be low leveled because I don't even know Ember yet, but- thats a good thing! Like, you can train yourself up. Pokemon caught at a lower level and trained up tend to be stronger than their wild counterparts of the same level."

She pointed out. "Plus, because you're not being told it and get to discover it, that means you can fine tune it best for you."

[seacub]

He's...skeptical, at least a bit. That might just be his nature at this point though. He is steadfastly refusing those clothes after all.

"...They are..?" he finally says though, probably in reply to that matter of wild versus young caught. "...I guess that's a bit better... ...and I was picked for Lum more than anything known for combat I suppose..."

He is, admittedly, feeling a bit like he's floundering and tends to panic in such a moment.

[arceusstansme]

"Yeah, so now put on the shirt with a pikachu on it." She said grabbing it. "Or I will force it on you. Along with the most hideous hat I can find."

[seacub]

"ACK...!"

NooOOoOOOO-

"How do you even know that'll fit..!!"