victory_road | Twenty-Third Sacrament: Unity

Entry tags:

Twenty-Third Sacrament: Unity

Who: Walter, Diana, Jinx and Vanitas
Where: Fuchsia City
When: 5th March
Summary: Four traitors uniting to form something new...?
Rating: T for mentions of Pokemon abuse?

Log:

The meeting place, arranged by simple, cryptic letters ferried by Pokemon or sent over Gears, was a small, hole-in-wall cafe, off the beaten path nearby the studio. The Purrloin's Paw was a humble place, most often sought by locals as the Starmiebucks around the corner attracted the eyes of tourists and the famous/infamous workers of the studio. On this particular day it was extremely empty, with only two employees behind the counter, quietly talking to themselves.

Walter was already inside, seated at a corner table that let him see the doorway but hid him from direct line of sight. Assumption was sat at his side, club on his lap as he ate a poffin. Gloom was in his shadow, waiting for his command. Once everyone was gathered and general polite welcomes had been made, she had her orders; hypnotise the workers into a deep sleep and lock the door, flipping the sign to 'Sorry! We're Closed!' Then, they could discuss their 'problem' with Team Rocket.

Once they had their chats and made their preparations, they'd simply stroll out into the sunshine, leaving the cafe and it's sleeping workers as it was...possibly minus some treats from the display counter.

[ While this is made for the group to talk as one, feel free to start threads between characters privately to catch up and assume that there's some casual banter going on too! ]

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Vanitas had been waiting in a lull in things to approach Walter and when he finally got the chance...okay, so maybe he was hesitating. The last time they had been in the same place as one another hadn't exactly gone well. At all. And it's not like they had ever really gotten along prior to the whole bailing on Team Rocket.

His Pokemon had other plans for him, though, and it was Veritas the Cubone that made her way over before Vanitas could intervene. The day old Cubone peered curiously at Assumption and Walter, dragging her bone club with her and tilting her head at them in an almost thoughtful manner.

"It's not nice to stare~" Flood mused as she drifted over, circling the little Cubone and giggling as Veritas just blinked at her. The Phantump waved at Assumption then grinned broadly at Walter as Vanitas slowly approached because goddamn his Pokemon. "Hello, Mr. Walter~"

Assumption smiled to his fellow bone-wearing Pokemon and slipped down to her level, tapping his club against the floor. "Hello."

Walter was used to Pokemon talking to him, and he'd spent enough time around ghosts to be used to their haunting voices. Assumption occasionally spoke to him like that even, now more adapted to it after developing the ability slowly after evolving. "Hello. You are with Vanitas, aren't you?" He vaguely remembered him having a Woobat and a Phantump, back when they had first met.

It hadn't been the best of first meetings and he had meant exactly what he had told him; if Vanitas had tried to steal his Pokemon again, he would have killed him. And while he was still wary, Diana had vouched for him. Given he had abandoned Team Rocket...it didn't mean he was good and wouldn't cause trouble. If anything Walter would be shocked if that was the case, given their communications regarding their ex-employers. But it meant that he cared about Pokemon, and had come to him for advice.

It meant something, although whether it was a meaningful something or a more casual something had yet to be seen.

Vertas blinked and watched Assumption as he moved down to her level, the little thing startling slightly as he tapped his club to the floor. Her gaze lingered on it before she looked at her own little bone, still for a moment before she leaned over to tap it against the floor as well. Once done, she blinked and looked to the larger Pokemon--she did it right?

"More like he's with us," Flood corrected in a sassy tone before dissolving into giggles as she floated closer to Walter and sank down to perch on the arm of his chair. "We've been training him well. Some humans just take time."

"Shut up, Flood," Vanitas muttered as he got close enough now to hear what she was saying, lazily glaring at her as she covered her mouth and started to giggle again. His glare softened out into something more neutral as he shifted his gaze to Walter and he nodded to the older man, tucking his hands into the pockets of his jacket.

Ugh. This was one of those awkward things people always talked about, wasn't it?

Assumption wagged his tail. Yes, that's right! He nodded encouragingly, and tapped a different rhythm. "How are you?" He asked. The taps actually matched their conversation so far; the first taps he had used were to say hello to others in the area. This was to ask how things were.

"Hmm. I think some of my Pokemon would feel the same way." She was clearly a sassy little thing. Walter knew certain Pokemon of his who would proclaim to be more in charge of him than he was of them. Although he didn't know if they proclaimed as much to other people. Hopefully not.

At Vanitas approach he nodded back. It was a bit awkward but for Walter it was more because they hadn't liked each other at first but were now...well, here. He'd never actually been in a position where he could, or would, have considered forgiveness towards someone who purposefully wronged him. Yet he and Vanitas had some common ground that made this, probably not strictly required, but advantageous to them both.

"Vanitas. Flood was your starter, weren't they?"

There was a moment of Veritas just staring at her club, clearly trying to figure out what she wanted to do before she tapped a rhythm--something new as she attempted to match her words.

"Good." She was a quiet little thing and the words were almost completely drowned out by the taps of her club but it was better than nothing at all. She blinked at Assumption then pointed to him, tapping her club. You? How are you?

Vanitas startled some when Walter spoke to him directly, the younger man glancing at Flood who grinned widely then back to the other man.

"Yeah, she was. Flood and then my Swoobat, Toppler." Swoobat, mind you. Not a Woobat anymore. He's definitely grown quite a bit since they last crossed paths. Still an asshole but at least he had a heart now.

The Marowak grinned and copied her beat, to reflect her meaning back to her. "I'm good too! Is he your trainer?" He nodded to Vanitas. it'd be rude to point his club at him; it'd be a threatening gesture. And they weren't here to start a fight, unless something went wrong.

"You've seen Assumption. My other starter was my Honchkrow, Darkness." Walter still missed Darkness. He was in Johto, with his partner Lyra and their children. Walter still held his Pokeball however, so he was still very much 'his'. Nobody else could command Darkness, which was something he took solace in as he roosted at the same house as Henry Townshend and his friends. Still, he considered Flood quietly, remembering what he knew of Phantumps.

"I have a Phantump as well. But, he is very shy, so I do not currently have him with me."

Veritas turned to look at Vanitas, watching him for a long moment before she nodded and idly tapped her club before pausing then tapping a didn't rhythm. "Papa." Somebody had imprinted on Vanitas.

"Sometimes I wish she was shy. Shy and quiet," Vanitas drawled but there was no real punch to the words and Flood just giggled and drifted over to him, pushing at his cheek with one of her hands.

"Liar liar!" she taunted before settling on his shoulder and resting her head against his. The young man merely rolled his eyes.

"Whatever you say, brat," he murmured before glancing at Walter again. His expression fell back into something neutral again and he seemed to be once more debating with himself, gaze settling on the floor after a moment. "...I'm sorry. For the way I was when we first met."

Assumption nodded. He didn't feel paternal towards the eggs he'd help make. So it only made sense she saw Vanitas as her papa. "Is he a nice papa?"

Walter listened to Vanitas and Flood's exchange. It was obvious they had a connection. He remembered their first meeting, how Flood had intercepted his attempts to leave and then defended Vanitas after Robbie attacked him. It wasn't surprising really. What was surprising were the words Vanitas directed to him. An apology.

Nobody who had hurt him had apologised for it before. It was such an alien concept. He'd had people say they were sorry about what had happened to him during his life before Johto, but it hadn't meant much because they either couldn't have done anything (before from other worlds to him) or it was far too little, far too late for it to mean anything relevant.

Assumption could feel Walter's mind stuttering. He took a few steps back, reaching to hold Walter's hand. It helped bring him back to the present but there was still a pause before Walter found words. "...thank you."

Veritas nodded immediately, clutching her club to her chest now. He was a nice papa--the best papa because he was her papa! She looked over at her trainer again, letting out a quiet hum like noise before letting her club drop so she could tap it again. "My papa. Good papa."

"...I should have apologized sooner but.." Vanitas shrugged slightly and Flood murmured to him in an encouraging manner. "I'm still getting use to this emotions crap. And I'm not great with it..but I wanted..you deserved an apology. And I know it's just words but I'm going to prove to you I mean it."

With this. Their plan to form this group and to fight back. Vanitas was going to prove to Walter that he in for the long haul no matter what.

"Good." That's all that mattered. Assumption squeezed Walter's hand supportively. "Sometimes, you'll need to look after them too."

Getting used to emotions. Walter glanced to Assumption, remembering how he'd treated the little Pokemon he'd been given when he first arrived. How he'd slowly realised that he really could feel again, and that this creature meant more to him than any other soul, living or dead.

"It took me a long time as well. To get used to being myself again, here. It's still difficult." He shared, his voice low and quiet. "You are right. About it just being words... for now. But, it's something nobody's ever said to me before." So it meant something.

Veritas watched the way Assumption interacted with Walter, the way he squeezed the man's hand before looking down at her own hand. She stared at it for a long moment then turned her gaze on Vanitas. "Look after papa.." Could she do that? That's what Flood and Scrapper and the others did wasn't it? Would she be able to one day? "I will. I will look after papa."

Quiet for a moment even after Walter had finished speaking, Vanitas stared at a point beyond the other man in an almost thoughtful way.

"...I didn't have any other emotions except the dark ones before I came here. I didn't know what anything but hate, pain and sadness were," he admitted, blinking out of his thoughts to look at Walter. "It's scarier than some of the stuff I've seen before which is saying something." A pause. "Hopefully I can prove to you I mean it then."

"I know you will." Assumption remembered being so small, and so reliant on Walter. And then Henry Townshend had come into his life, spitting froth and attacking Walter like an enraged Primeape. His expression became serious and he tapped a low, warning beat. "Be careful of Henry Townshend. When I was young, he tried to kill my trainer. We should all be wary of him."

Walter nodded, giving him a look that was both...understanding, and sympathetic. "You get used to it. To what you felt, and that it was how life is. And then we're here, and there's more than we were ever meant to have." It was frightening. To be alive again and to be whole, after a decade of being something divine and terrible, something that was dead and yet couldn't rest or die.

"I will keep an open mind. But, I hope you will." He murmured the last part softly.

"Henry.." Veritas repeated the first name then tipped her head down, looking at her bone club thoughtfully. "Henry. Will not let him hurt papa." She thunks her club against the ground roughly as she says it, grip on it tightening. Nothing was going to harm Vanitas on her watch.

"It's unbearable sometimes," the younger man admitted softly, glancing towards the front window of the shop. "Sometimes I almost wish I couldn't feel all of it...but then I these guys remind me why it's not so bad." It's said with an attempt at a dry edge now but it falls flat as Flood giggles on his shoulder, the Phantump poking at his cheek before she drifts off his shoulder to go check on Veritas,

"...Thanks, Walter."

Assumption nodded solemnly. "I know you won't." She just needed to be warned about him.

At the thanks, Walter lowered his head and his gaze, looking at the table. He didn't feel like he deserved those words. He hadn't done anything for Vanitas. But they agreed on one thing. "Pokemon truly are a blessing. They don't... heal, everything. Or change what we were, or are. But they make it better."

Assumption wagged his tail at the comments, leaning on Walter with a happy sound. From the shadows, Gloom slipped forward to hug Walter around his shoulders. He turned his head to her with a faint smile, lifting a hand to pet her head.

"Yeah..they do," Vanitas murmured, watching as Gloom appeared to hug Walter like she did unable to help a slight smile of his own.

This really was a far cry from their first meeting, wasn't it?

Veritas shuffles back over to him and the young man doesn't hesitate to kneel down and scoop her up, easily tucking her into his jacket where she's safe and warm. The Cubone cuddles against him, eyes closed contently now that she was back with her trainer.

"Once we're all in Lavender Town, do...could we train together?" he asked, gaze still on Veritas even as he straightened up, an arm underneath the Pokemon in his jacket to steady her. "I don't have the badges that you guys do and I want to make sure I can keep up when everything hits the fan."

Walter looked up and saw how Vanitas held Veritas. It was a far cry from how he had handled Assumption when he first arrived in this world, unaccustomed to having a creature to be close to and care for. But it was good to see Vanitas handle her like that.

It really was so strange, just how different this was from their first meeting. He still didn't want to have certain Pokemon of his out around Vanitas, such as Joseph, but... he wasn't adverse to Vanitas' company entirely. It was a strange new experience, to be sat with someone who had attempted to hurt him but to not want to immediately lash at them or push him away.

"...Yes. I would like that." He'd need to make sure not to bring Robbie, but he had other Pokemon that required the training. It would be beneficial, both to hone his own training and his Pokemon's experience, but also to compare their battling techniques. He wanted to learn more, and there was only so much he could learn from the trainers of this world.

"Do you intend to seek the badges as well?"

It was thanks to the Pokemon he'd come to care for that Vanitas had learned the majority of the feelings he had. That he'd learned to accept them and allowed himself to actually feel them. Veritas was just the newest addition to the same family he'd developed for himself and he wouldn't trade them for the world.

Or worlds.

"Eventually, yeah," he said with a nod, a slight grin touching his lips. "I didn't get very far in Johto so I may as well try and sweep things here in Kanto. If nothing else I want to make use of the HMs they allow you to use freely."

Walter nodded. He'd found the material rewards from the Gym Battles to be... somewhat lacking in certain aspects. But there was one prize that had exceeded his expectations in every way.

"That is wise. And if you defeat all the gyms in one region, they will give you a Key Stone; it facilitates a unique power that I have been testing in my gym battles in this region, called Mega Evolution. You may wish to look into it. Only certain Pokemon can use it."

At his side, Assumption nodded eagerly. Yes! Mega Evolution looked like a lot of fun, and it was very powerful.

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Twenty-Third Sacrament: Unity

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