victory_road | [Video] [005]

[The video isn't immediately focused on Connor today, instead it's focused on a Swanna. Said Swanna is in the process of sneaking up behind Hank, wings flared, and she pecks at his ankles (earning an "ow, what the fuck!") before realising the camera is on her. Then she hides her face behind a wing, demure as anything.]

Everyone saw that, you know.

[The camera shifts closer to her, and she waddles off to hide. Almost as soon as the focus is off her? There's another swear from Hank, followed by a deep sigh.]

Well, I was hoping being seen by everyone would make her stop. She's quite shy usually. Does anyone with a Swanna have this problem? Hank doesn't like birds as it is, I don't want to have to keep her in her ball all of the time just to stop her from doing this. Bribing her with food isn't working.

And I suppose I'll ask while I'm here, does anyone have any recommendations for dark or psychic type pokemon? I have a Kadabra, a Houndoom and an Alolan Meowth. And if anyone has a Carvanha or Lileep that they wouldn't mind breeding, I'd like to know.

[Connor likes to just chase after certain pokemon to train up sometimes.]

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Connor. Look at me.

[He turns a little, even if it means he dislodges where Connor leans, so he can put his hands on his shoulders.]

Pokemon think a lot like people and a lot like animals. Sometimes people are assholes. [Like him. The small shrug admits that.] And swans are always assholes. And you can't make someone get along with anyone. Trainers are expected to raise fighters here, not family companions. You've not failed there, he's just a fuckin' dick and I don't think you can change that.

And... seems like from what all the eggheads here say [boy what an old term that is] pokemon and people act like partnerships. And you above all else know a partnership requires two. There's only so much you can give before it's the other person coming up short.

Now, I [he points at himself with one hand, jamming two fingers into his own chest] have given about all I can in the way of patience. The bird is... the fuckin' asshole bird. [YEAH HE'LL CALL IT THAT. Those demure looks are all lies.] But I tell you what, how about instead of me renting another room, right now, you put the swan away for a bit. Put away everyone but Crockett and I'll get Tubbs back out. And we'll go look for a house with a garden and shed, right?

That way the pokemon will have room. I mean... right now I don't even have room for mine to get around. I keep most of mine up other than Hunter and Luann and Connie because there's just no room. [Connor wants his out all the time, after all, and Tubbs is huge.]

Plenty of people raise their pokemon like family.

[He protests dully, because he's come to think of all his pokemon as one huge family now. It's not like he ever had one back home, after all. He looks up at Hank hopefully though when he mentions getting a house.]

With a house you could spend time away from her.

[And it wouldn't feel like Hank was being driven away.]

Let's go look for a house, then.

[He attempts a smile, then looks down at Odette.]

You're going to have to go back in your ball for a little while. I'll let you out later.

[She seems to accept it, at least. Even if she doesn't look happy about the entire situation.]

Yeah. They do. But that's not your job as a trainer. You just do that for you. It's not my job as a breeder, either. But you know... [He gestures.] My point isn't that you shouldn't, but that you didn't fail because this isn't going how you'd like. I'm tellin' you this because your makers fucked up and won't let you just accept an 'I'm doing the best I can' as a correct answer so you kick yourself. And doing your best is fine.

[Hank sighs puts Connie away, who gives him a pitiful look but understands, leaving only Tubbs out outside of the door. Those two big ones are the most important ones. They're the ones that need to get around.]

God I didn't want our first fuckin' dating fight or whatever this is to be about fuckin' pokemon swans. Why this?

[Hank looks up at the ceiling like he's specifically asking fucking god why his first fight with his android-turned-human boyfriend is about a fake combat swan. Now second to the top of his list of accusations to present to his creator is this shit.]

[Connor supposes Hank has a point, but he can't quite get his head around it. He was never programmed to fail, and that carried over as a human. His best isn't good enough if he's screwing it up. He needs to be better.]

We're not really fighting though, are we?

[He takes Hank's hand and leads him out of the door, though he has to put Crockett in its ball and then let it out again so it can get through the doorway.]

I wonder if they have houses with ponds. For the water pokemon. I would guess it's quite common here, due to the amount of people who own water type pokemon.

[Connor would rather talk about their new house than try to figure out if they're fighting or not.]

It almost feels like a fight. [Honestly, his ex-wife would have taken this as a fight, so he's a little surprised by Connor's amiability.] There are probably a ton of 'em. This place is made for people with Pokemon, right? I bet even the apartment buildings have places for people to let their water Pokemon out.

You know, Connor. How do you know they don't have a place like your Zen Garden while they're in their balls? Have you actually asked Crockett? [Because fuck knows suddenly Connor can talk to his Magnezone and that's odd.]

[He rubs his thumbs over Connor's knuckles, still surprised at how delicate his fingers are through his own.]

I have asked what's inside the pokeballs, but either Crockett doesn't know or has no way of explaining it to me. Besides, if it was as easy as asking a pokemon, I'm sure everyone would know what was inside one.

[He wonders sometimes if it isn't like being asleep. Maybe the pokemon only comprehends what's outside the ball, and when they go inside it they become "inactive". He knows the PC comes with a nice place for pokemon to roam around in, but the balls? He's really not sure.]

You know, I was doing some research 'cause this older couple was missing their Snorlax- big friendly guy by the way, just fell asleep in someone's shed -anyway, they still had his old goddamn ball from god knows when. They said he liked that one and didn't like the newer ones as much.

So maybe they get preferences or something. Maybe he liked how it looked, or it was that it was the one he was caught in or something. Fuck if I know. Thought that was pretty interesting, though.

[It's funny when he can think of someone as an 'older couple', he realizes. They had twenty good years on him and looked very much in love. It was sweet.]

Anyway- [He pulls out his faithful notebook.] So. We need a pond. Rooms big enough for these guys. But we don't exactly need a lot of rooms, right?

Well, if pokemon can get attached to toys, I don't see why they couldn't get attached to their pokeballs. I'm sure stranger things have happened.

[He peers at the notebook.]

No, we don't need many rooms. Just enough space inside those rooms for the pokemon to move comfortably.

Dammit, I wish we could remember some of this when we went back.

[Because then he could really consider where he'd go. If he'd sell his house. If he'd move the hell away from Detroit, take Connor with him, try to keep him secret. What would picking out a place with him be like in the real world? Not a lot of rooms, he guesses the consensus would be.]

Anyway, yeah. That sounds good. Though you remind me, storage space because they'll want toys and shit.

[At least one of them will but he has a lot of arms.]

I wish we could, too. But logically, if we come to one conclusion together here based on our preferences, we should come to a similar one back home, too. Even without remembering this.

[It might take more work to actually get packed up in Detroit, but he thinks they could manage it.]

Right. Storage space. Should we have a room for the pokemon to play in? Then we won't have to fall all over their toys whenever they feel like they want to play with them.

[There might be not much of a choice but to leave with a little, considering it's an abandoned city at that point.]

[Still, mind on the present. The very fucking strange Pokemon oriented present.]

They're pretty much going to play anywhere they have space. It's what kids and pets both do.

I guess so.

[Hank would know better than him, he supposes.]

Where do we want the house to be? I don't have much of a preference as far as that's concerned.

[Video] [005]

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