victory_road | ⊕ 001 & action option

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⊕ 001 & action option

[ he's not into showing his face off. once he verifies there's a public network and an audio option, he begins to opt for that. but then he looks at all the videos of people and their pokemon, and decides o a different option.

the video opens on the sandy beaches of cherrygrove. his rockruff, bandit, is in the surf, chasing what looks like a stick. he brings it back to jack, who pets his head and then throws it again. his location will also ping as cherrygrove. ]

The name's Jack.

[ his voice is distinctly older, and very rough. it sounds like he may have damaged his throat at some point in his life. his hand, when he throws the stick or pets bandit, is gloved. ]

I've been looking around this place and it looks like the consensus is that people can't go home on their own. I'm not here to ask how to get home, since it seems like that's been covered pretty well.

I wanna talk to those of you that have gone home, or know people that did. And... for those that don't, how you're dealing with not being able to.

[ he ends the video on that note, throwing the stick again for bandit. ]

( cherrygrove )

[ for those actually in his vicinity, they can likely hear jack make the post. other than that, he's spending some time on the beach, playing with bandit and getting his energy out. he's just as open to a battle if you two have similarly leveled pokemon.

or maybe bandit, with all his energy, comes running up to your pokemon and headbutts them. at which point jack follows. ]

Bandit. Come back here.

[ the wagging of his tail doesn't amuse jack. ]

Sorry about him.

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[He is wondering vaguely what sort of war this guy has been through, because he either looks like he's been through one or a particularly unpleasant prison riot. But that doesn't seem like some good introductory questions. Hank, who is in his mid-fifties, has another hell about him. He's doing better, but he's still got the 'depressed hobo' aesthetic.]

Yeah, they straight up stole a confused grandma. Apparently, Halloween puts them in a mood.

My partner switched with another guy, too. It didn't happen to me, I just got front row seats to the shitshow. [Which has opened a whole other can of worms that he has yet to address.]

Just let me know what Pokecenter you'd like me to send it to.

[ jack's been in that depressed hobo aesthetic. he's just cleaned up more recently about it. he'll probably ask about it once they've felt each other out a bit more. ]

Good to know. I'll remember that.

[ and, because he's gotta ask - ] Is your partner Connor?

Yeah, that'd be him. Or at least I think he's the only 'Connor' on this network.

Skinny guy? Kind of like a goofy supermodel?

[He is never letting the goofy thing go. Ever.]

[ jack laughs, and though the sound is rough it's genuine. ]

On the nose. You two seemed to be using the same terms, so I had to ask.

[ look, when you're a gay guy and you have two people referring to each other as partners, he's gotta wonder. ]

He seems like a good kid.

[ connor is an android. connor looks fairly young. he's a 'kid'. ]

He's a good guy. I met him at the right time. [If it weren't for Connor, and everything Connor did for him, he'd absolutely be dead.]

He likes this place and knows exactly what he wants to do. It's easier for him. So I just let him decide what to do. I guess when you're our age and you end up in a place that focuses its entire economy on preteen monster hunting walkabouts you end up just having to play along. Kudos to whatever fucked up god that runs this place that thought to give us the full experience. You know, waking up in the position of a ten year old about to get kicked out of their house. Makes everything relatable.

[He might sound a little sarcastic with that. Just a smidge.]

This place is great for some people. The ones from shitty worlds full of demons trying to kill them or the ones that were discriminated against or exploited. It's good for them, so I figure I can do a little to help them along, too.

I'm pretty sure the woman I was talking to wasn't as old as me. And I definitely couldn't have fit in that bed she had upstairs.

[ seriously, what the heck. there's a tone of amusement in his voice. ]

I'm used to being on the move, so travelling's not a hassle. And they've given me what I need for camping, and there's the Pokecenters if it's too cold.

[ as for the comment about helping others, he gives a little nod, expression sobering. ]

You look like you were an investigator before you were here - was it private, or police?

[ he's betting on police. ]

I was a Lieutenant with the Detroit Police Department. I came during the summer but this time of year is a lot shittier for travel. At least the first couple of towns are pretty easy-going. But I mean, what place here isn't easy going....?

[Oh, wait...]

Okay, so we went to this one place. It has all these lazy pink pokemon called 'Slowpokes' in it. Just laying around. Don't try to catch them. They don't like it.

We made it to Goldenrod and decided to stay for the winter. It has a pretty decent transit system.

Can't say I ever dealt with anyone there personally, but nice. I used to be in the army, myself, but that was years ago.

[ he's not about to be disclosing he headed an international organization that answered to the UN. he's just a bit too wary for that yet. ]

It's not the worst, and the jacket isn't just for show, thankfully. [ he listens to this story about slowpokes, making a note about their apparent dislike of being captured. ]

Goldenrod's been mentioned to me a few times. It's one of the bigger cities, has a little of everything and a huge mall?

I'd wondered, but I didn't want to assume too much. [Scarred up faces never came with deliriously happy stories.] My last assignment was with homicide but I was with narcotics before that.

And... well... being from Detroit, it feels kind of mediocre to be honest. But it does have one of those Japanese style bullet trains and average suburbs and food carts. Also a big sports stadium.

[Which he's looking forward to when baseball season rolls around because he needs a taste of normalcy.]

Pretty much has the important stuff without the dealer signaling. People can't get addicted to anything here anyway, so that's not going to happen. [Honestly, for someone that wants a better world, he doesn't sound all that delighted about that.]

[ deadpan, gesturing to his face: ] What gave it away?

[ there's a quirk to his lips, though, that lets the other know he's joking. he knows he shows the wear and tear of combat more than most.

he listens to hank talk about it, and yeah - he doesn't seem super happy about it. but jack figures it's because it's nothing that hank worked for. it's like struggling to accomplish something, only to go somewhere where all that means nothing and no one knows why you would even bother to do it.

at least, he can sympathize. ]

There's something missing. Not that I want the criminal element back in here, but there's a difference between places like this and Detroit, or Giza.

[ he takes a breath. ]

They never struggled.

I guess uh... It's just complicated, that's all. It fuckin' sneaks up on you. If you're looking for something to believe in or fight for, it's harder to find here. Everything is always going to be fine.

[He's glad for the people that needed a solid world that worked well, that needed that security. But after years of losing faith and hope, he'd finally found some in seeing people work together. When he saw his machine-hunter partner start viewing his own kind as people in need of help instead of threats. And here? ...Well, none of that hope and faith matter anymore.]

[His bullshit mixed up sad brain isn't great at dealing with it.]

And it was the haircut. [He says wryly, moving on to that.] I figure most inmates ditch the haircut when they get out. So that probably came from legit combat. Don't worry, I got my fair share of scars. You get some knife and bullet holes in my line of work.

[But his aren't as aesthetically pleasing because he uses donuts as a comfort food and when you've been stabbed in the gut?]

The criminal element here is just an organized group meant to steal Pokemon. The worst they do is target kids- surprisingly kids for the most part, in transit on the routes, to steal some of their pokemon. It's fuckin' weird we don't seem to get targeted as often, being that outsiders in any society tend to be easy pickings for theft. But uh... considering that most of us came from rougher worlds?

[Probably for a Rocket's best.]

There have been major efforts to steal from us though, but they were before my time. I'm still scraping up details on those incidents. Hard to keep track when everything is in flux and people come and go.

If it were easy to figure out, therapists would be out of a job.

[ jack can, at least, lean on that a little bit. in regards to something to believe in or fight for. when hank mentions the haircut, that it looks some kind of institutional, he gives a little laugh. all right, you've got him there.

and jack has (or had) a few unfair advantages in staying in shape for his age. ]

I've heard mention of that group. Team Rocket, right?

[ he frowns pretty deeply at the mention of them preying on kids, even if it's stealing pokemon. ]

Yeah, easier to steal from people who are less likely to speak up or make a fuss about it. I don't wanna step on any toes, but if you need anything, I'd be willing to help out. Or just let you know if I see any of the punks.

Haven't run into any yet. [That he knows of.] And every time I've looked, it's turned up dead ends.

Mostly I just look for your standard missing trainers and pokemon, use your standard missing persons tactics. Easy enough and most of the time it works. I leave the Rockets to the Jennies.

You see some nice girls in very non-functional police uniforms? Those are the local police. They all look alike. I swear to god I was convinced they were secretly androids for like... fuckin' months.

Edited 2019-01-30 18:20 (UTC)

I've seen the Jennies. Well, a Jenny. Then I saw another and thought she was the same one - she set me straight pretty quickly. Lack of functional outfit or not, they've got attitude.

[ so they... have that going for them? he didn't realize they were what counted as the police here, though. big yikes. ]

Good to know, though. I'll know who to bring any Rockets if I happen on them. And at least you don't need a specific type of Pokemon to look for missing people.

According to what I read, the local police use Growlithes and Electrikes for their work. So I decided to train my Pokemon with 'Odor Sleuth'. They're inclined to have a good sense of smell. Stoutlands are good for it, too. They're regularly used as rescue dogs.

I can't do birds or they'd be pretty good for aerial reconnaissance. ['Can't do' in that they, for whatever reason, make his skin crawl. Hank has the stupidest unease about birds.] Might eventually train up a dragon type for that.

...Yeah I still... This is a place where you talk about fuckin' dragons for rescue work. It'll just hit you sometimes.

Like it's hitting me right now?

[ jack shakes his head a little, waving a hand. ]

It's a lot to get used to. Feels like I'm in some kind of very complicated game, which I guess I have previous experience with.

[ maybe he can treat it like one of those, or like his old strike commander job. ]

[There are things Hank could say to that but he realizes it doesn't really help anything because, it might be some cashgrab back home, but walking and eating and living in it, this shit is real enough. Real and complete bullshit nonsense but still real.]

Yeah. Good way of looking at it. And there's still donuts and barbecue. It's not Narnia different.

There are some people that didn't go with their assigned jobs. I mean, I've been doing the breeding thing mostly to help out my partner. I get all licensed advantages for it. Otherwise, I just work a day job like I would have normally- okay, not exactly normally since I'm not a cop but you get the idea.

What are the benefits to being a breeder over a trainer? The 'dex explained it to me a little bit, that my Pokemon would work harder or something like that?

[ how do explain leveling up mechanics. jack looks thoughtful for the moment. ]

I'm used to figuring things out on my own. So, I'm pretty sure I'll be able to find something to do.

We make more eggs for whatever reason when we're in charge of the pokemon fuckin'. Which we have no idea how that happens. Just suddenly eggs happen.

I guess we can breed rare ones, too. If we have a rare parent.

[He holds up his breeder's handbook, which has a ridiculous amount of various post-it notes sticking out from pages and some various travel stickers now jammed onto the cover.]

A few people mentioned that - that Pokemon came from eggs, no exceptions. Made me a little concerned about the eggs in stores, but it seems they're a pretty different size.

[ he looks at the book, letting out a low whistle. ]

Damn.

Yeah, just... more stuff that's fuckin' weird I guess. Even the giant Onyx things come out of eggs. Something will hatch small and then grow within a day or so.

[He tosses the book off to the side, being classy like that.]

Anyway, not that I'm any sort of expert but if I'm around and you need help, just hit me up.

That's the one that looks like a rock snake?

[ boy he has seen some pictures. either way, he watches the book go away with amusement. bandit nips at his fingers, and he reaches down to pet him again. ]

Thanks, Hank. I'll be sure to ask you if something comes up. I should be fine for the moment - I hear it's colder past Cherrygrove, though.

Yeah, that's the one. I have this little one- she's a flower... thing. Floette? Anyway when she was her smallest version we introduced her to Connor's Onyx and it went cross-eyed trying to look at her.

[He's kind of fond of Onyxes now, thanks to that.]

It's generally pretty cold right now, yeah. Get a good coat out there. If you got a fire type, keep it out and keep it close by. I'm from Detroit, so I'm pretty used to the cold, but if I have the means to not have frigid fingers I'm absolutely going to use them.

I've just got bandit at the moment - that egg you offered, it's a a fire type, right? Do you know how long it takes to.... hatch them?

[ because bandit is small but he's a rock type so he's not particularly made of warms right now. ]

Don't think anyone really wants to be cold, even if they're used to it. It's been hitting me harder than it usually does.

About four days. A short stay in Cherrygrove should cover it.

Well, we tend to be a little weaker here. After all, my android partner turned to a human, after all. It's happened to a few people.

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i'm timey wimeying because otherwise all of jack's responses would be drunker and drunker

As if this man had any room to judge.

LMAO fair. it's how jack is finding out he doesn't have his ~super genes~

Welcome to being a cheap date, Jack. Living the dream.

but he can no longer bench press ridiculous amounts

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