victory_road

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[Anyone familiar with her, at least the Rockets, will probably notice how absolutely exhausted she looks at this particular point. Mostly she's just huffing to herself and is curled up against the back of a bed in what is probably a Pokemon Center somewhere.

Around her is a rather interesting group that primarily consists of a drifblim, a haunter, a shuppet, and a phantump that are pretty much all finding some weird way to nuzzle against her like a strange pack of cats.]

Anyone else have a problem with a particular type of Pokemon absolutely adoring them for no particular reason? Honestly, they're extremely useful, but this is starting to get a little ridiculous. Even ghosts that aren't mine seem absolutely attracted to me an I haven't the foggiest idea why! [There's a phantump immediately getting between her and the 'gear with something that can only be considered a whine before being delicately tucked under one of her arms, which seems to please the ridiculous ghost.]

Yes, yes, Afa, I know you want attention, but come on... [That's mostly muttered off towards the Pokemon before she's returning her attention back to the screen.]

I suppose I will simply have to see if my theory proves true if I do decide to find a way to travel to Lavendar Town...

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[Steven, however, is in the well-lit finished basement of Jack's house... where he's being nuzzled by a shuppet of his own. A little mimikyu sits perched on his shoulder and a misdreavus and a phantump are both hovering nearby. (A haunter and a drifloon seem to be arguing behind them.)]

I'm sure you don't, [he says in an amused tone of voice.]

[Ah, she shouldn't have thought he'd be literally anywhere else right now. Being with the one sugar daddy in the Rockets must haves its benefits, she supposes.]

As you can see, we solved the mystery of what that egg was. [She sounds far too amused, motioning to the phantump tucked under her arm. Good grief, you absolute idiots.]

Which reminds me, darling, I should be heading through Goldenrod soon if that interests you. I have business to attend to in Kanto and that's the quickest way to get there, evidently~

[LOOK, HE WAS NOT GOING TO SPEND ONE MINUTE LONGER IN THE ROCKET DORMS THAN HE HAD TO. Also, he lives with Jack now. That is a thing. And he's hoping that eventually he'll be making enough money that Jack won't be quite as egregious a sugar daddy as he is currently.]

Oh, so it was Fangorn with Charley. I had my suspicions.

But yes, that would be great, actually. We can do lunch.

[He's pretty sure either Jack will let him use his card or failing that, he can expense it to Team Rocket.]

I'm thinking of heading out there myself some weekend or another. I'm waiting on a package first, though.

[It's better than surviving on the bullshit "allowance" they get, but she's also pretty sure she'd rather die than stay still for very long in this place. Fuck working for other people that aren't herself, after all.]

She's quite an affectionate thing, but I'm not sure if that's due to it being me or just a personality trait in general. [She knows he knows why she's attractive to ghosts, oh well.]

Lunch sounds lovely~ And it would probably do you some good to get out of Goldenrod for a bit, I'd think. Otherwise you may just get stir crazy doing the same thing day in and day out. Unless it's your passion instead of a job, I suppose.

And a package? Just what are you up to?

[Also, technically Jack is just a rich older boyfriend, not a sugar daddy. Sugar daddy implies there's no mutual affection or emotional connection... and somehow there's plenty of both of those. There's a difference.]

I mean, the receptions desk is far from my passion, but I wouldn't say there's nothing here I'm passionate about.

As for that package... [He grins.] Cutting off a lot of time on my so-called Pokemon journey.

[Affection is for losers and people that weren't magical undead skeleton necromancers, thank you very much. She'd rather just have the money part and string someone along, but that's just her.]

I suppose that's fair enough. Nothing here quite takes my fancy right now, but who knows, maybe something will interest me later. [Doubtful. This place is too nice and cheery for her to really give a shit about the majority of it.

Her expression is changing at that grin and she's rolling her eyes and pursing her lips.]

And you're just going to be vague like that? How rude of you.

[Hey, having money and regular emotion-free sex would have been a nice option too, but unfortunately he's falling in love with a space criminal.]

Am I? Oh well.

[He'll just. Switch it to private.]

I'm getting someone's extra copy of the Surf HM, so that when I do go over to Kanto, I can skip Fuschia and just go straight to Cerulean to beat Misty.

But... some people would call that cheating.

[He shrugs.] Not that I really care, but one has to keep up appearances.

[Ah, of course that would be the reason he was vague, she can't help a grin of her own as she's shifting around to stretch just a bit. Ignore the fact that her arms totally should not be going backward like that, it's fine.]

Most would call that cheating, but it's not like it really matters at the end of the day.

Are you really going to bother with this gym challenge bullshit? We already get paid and the like, I don't see much of a point in it other than for pride.

Well. Not the whole Gym challenge. Just the ones that help me cut down travel times. Basically, if I do Cerulean, Celadon, and Saffron, that'll let me Surf on Fail Whale's back and Fly with... well, actually, I've got three or so that could Fly if I've got that HM.

I'm a practical man, Lydia. I'm not going to challenge gyms that don't directly benefit me. It just happens that these three do.

Seems rather ridiculous that you would need some sort of ability to be able to do those things. Shouldn't something that can swim or fly already be able to do those things?

[She's still not entirely sure on how all this garbage works, to be perfectly fair, but she's also content to just use teleports or travel on foot if she has to. It's not like she's not from a fantasy world that doesn't have too much in travel options.]

I wouldn't call it practical if it's something they should be able to do without something like that. But call it as you will, darling, I'm not about to stop you. At least not while it serves no purpose to me.

Swimming at the surface doesn't come naturally to Wailmer or Wailords. That's why you need to teach them Surf... and for some reason, they won't do it outside of battle unless you defeat the right gyms. Same thing when it comes to Pokemon Flying people. It's stupid, but it's how things work here.

Besides. I have warps for Saffron and Celadon, so I'd only have to travel to Cerulean. And that would give me an excuse to invite Jack to the cozy B&B nearby afterward.

The longer I'm in this place the more I realize how absolutely stupid the rules of it all is. It's more complicated than it needs to be and it really does make you wonder how things ended up this way, doesn't it? How did these creatures manage it without these gyms around to begin with, I wonder.

[She's actually just fake gagging now.]

Please, the more you go on about your domestic life the more I want to gag. And not in a good way.

[He rolls his eyes.]

Look. Maybe I like having a boyfriend who I don't have to worry will run away screaming if I tell him half of what's in my head.

But fine. No more boyfriend talk.

[Oh come on, there's no reason to be so upset at her. She's merely waving a hand, not seeming particularly bothered if she ever was.]

You humans and your needs and wants, I swear. When your lives flash before you in the blink of an eye compared to the longer-lived races. Even elven children remain children in the time a human lives their full life.

But you aren't exactly human, either, are you?

Well. How do you define human? From a strictly biological standpoint, I started out that way. And I'm technically one again.

You never did tell me how all of that worked. I told you so much and yet I have been told so very little.

Seems rather unfair, doesn't it? [She's huffing softly and lowering her voice to mostly a mutter.] What difference is there between elf and human if you take away everything but slight physical differences in this place...

Well. When a human gets kidnapped to the realm of the True Fae, they change according to where they get put and how they're used. It's just-- part of that realm.

You stick someone in the dark for years, he becomes a creature of darkness.

Further proving my point about humans, everything is so quick and in a flash with the type. You make a change around them or to them and they act as if they have to adapt immediately or they'll die somehow.

If it were an important change that was to their body, certainly. But even something as slight as a difference in memory, a difference in place, a difference in their reality and they act as if it's the end of the world.

Fascinating, isn't it?

[He just shakes his head and reaches up to give the shuppet at his cheek a scritch.]

Did you do that to people in Wonderland, Lydia?

[Oh, she can't help the faintest hint of a smile.]

Everything that happened in Wonderland was by their own choosing, I assure you. If we took something, it was fair and square and they knew the rules of what it meant when they came in. No one had to stay there. [That's a lie, but it's not as if he knows any better.]

[He meets it with a tiny smile of his own.]

Of course, they didn't.

You just-- preyed upon those who were foolish enough to gamble against you.

If they were stupid enough to gamble their own selves against the prospect of having their heart's greatest desire, then they deserved everything they earned along the way. Selfish, foolish creatures, all of them.

Well, adventurers are like that.

[He's played enough D&D to know.]

Did any of them get their heart's greatest desire?

[He's looking at her like he already suspects the answer.]

Edited (BRACKETS o9) 2020-03-29 07:22 (UTC)

They certainly are.

[She's dealt with her fair share of stupid adventurers, it's fine. It's totally fine.

Though she does hum for a brief second, not quite sure how to handle this exactly.]

I... suppose that three did, at the very end.

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