victory_road | 129th moon - Sinnoh Vacation Catchall

No prompt fits? Poke him here!

You know that little bar near the Pokémon Center, the one with the delicious whisky and the tasteful colored lights? Cecil is there tonight, and he's already making friends with a few curious regulars.

"-it's not that I dislike this world, far from it! But I know that if my mother-in-law were to learn how long I've been here, she'd bring it up at every potential opportunity for the rest of her life."

A few of the locals nod understandingly at that. Some problems truly are universal! Which is sad. Maybe another round will cheer everyone up.

"Why, because you 'ran away' from your responsibilities or something?" It's said with a chuckle as Riku moseys into the bar... "Heh. I don't even wanna know what my parents would think."

He's not really that much of a bar hopper, but dang it. He needs to unwind. This is a vacation, not the time to be fussing over PGC logistics.

So here he is, not-so-gracefully joining the crowd.

And to think he's been here over a third of his life. He winces at the thought, but tries to hide the reaction as quick as possible with a laid back expression.

"I would certainly hear about Rosa's great difficulties in raising our son and ruling over Baron alone. And about foolish boys who abandon innocent maidens to go on dangerous adventures, or worse, drag them along. She never approved of that part."

Somehow, Cecil still manages to sound pretty fond of the old woman. He lifts his glass to take a drink, only to frown slightly when he finds it empty. Did he truly drink it so quickly? Oh well, now that Riku's here, he might as well pay for another round.

While the bartender gets started on that, he ponders Riku's words.

"Perhaps they'd not be able to think at all, at first, upon seeing their son grown so tall. That would buy you a few minutes to explain the situation, or to impress them with the size of your team."

...Ah, right. Cecil's a dad.

Riku falls silent briefly. Come to think of it, he's at that age where most adults start considering that kinda stuff, huh? A frown crosses his lips. That's... hm.

Well, not something to worry about now. He shakes his head.

"Ha. Parenting sounds pretty hectic, honestly. Can't say I envy them- or my parents." But he was never... particularly close with them in the first place. "Honestly, though, one thing I wonder... Guys like us, who've been here for a while. Just. How to deal with how much we've changed. Like if someone back home were to come here after years of being gone and see us now..."

Would things even be close to the same?

"It is hectic. And delightful, tiring, fulfilling... Though I can only speak as a man who was lucky enough to have an easy child, a mutually supportive relationship and a strong social net. Raising a child in a world where either parent might disappear at any time would be far more difficult."

So would raising a child while pregnant with another, right after losing your spouse, for that matter. He closes his eyes and chases that thought away. Not now.

How long has it been, since someone from home last showed up? Since he was last reunited with one of his former comrades? If they were to see him now, what would they think? He doesn't know. Without his leave, his eyes open once more.

"I'd like to think that it would not make much of a difference. That our lack of choice would smooth over any confused feelings, any unexpected change in habits or personality. ...But perhaps that, too, is the luxury of a man who was old and stable enough to not need to change too much to survive in a new world. I cannot imagine how it was for someone your age, or how a sudden arrival would react to seeing a boy grown into a man."

"Ugh, yeah. I was a real idiot at fifteen. Probably still a bit of one now." He rubs his neck, tittering under his breath. "But that's what I don't get. What makes us so 'special' when so many people have disappeared? Makes it hard to know sometimes how... invested I oughta get, I guess."

Which is part of the problem. The way he distanced himself for a while. Disengaged. Stopped paying as much attention. Ugh.

"I want to try and turn things around- get the PGC going again, try to focus on what is here, but I guess it's just easy to disassociate sometimes. Been so long since I was home or saw anyone from home that I sometimes wonder what'd happen if I ended up in one of those week-long naps and woke up with new memories..."

"I've no idea. It's not our homeworlds, not our age, probably not our battling talent, certainly not our presence and activity within the local expatriate community."

He thinks about that for a few moments.

"Well, none who have defeated the Elite Four have disappeared since, as far as I know, whether or not they've officially built their gym. Still, that hardly explain the years that preceded our our victories. Besides, I truly doubt we few were the only ones from that time to have the potential-"

His musings are interrupted when the bartender starts distributing the drinks. He takes a long look at his own, before snatching it up and downing half of it in one go. Once that's swallowed, he frowns. What was he talking about again?

"You might be pleasantly surprised by your hypothetical nap. Goddess knows I've been far less stressed since mine. Then again going through adolescence and your 'idiot years' twice could be something of a nightmare, depending on your point of view. Not that you'd remember the first set during the second."

"Man, I remember when people thought getting the badges was our ticket home. Funny how that turns out, right?" He snickers under his breath. Man, and then they moved that goalpost to the Elite Four. Still no dice.

Oh, what a world. Ah, but drinks? Riku turns to the bartender and flashes a smile.

"Honestly, I just wonder how I'd reconcile the extra memories. Spent the last decade here just getting by, so getting thrust into some worldhopping adventure I've only heard about by proxy... I don't even know what that'd do to me. And would my age regress, or would it just be mental?" These are the things he thinks about every now and then.

It's a bit unsettling, to say the least.

"Back when we could only earn eight, and Kanto was only a rumor whisper by those more familiar with this world... Who knows? Once we've a full, eight-gym Aurora League, perhaps whoever first earns all the badges will magically unlock a path home. Would that not be a fitting homage to the old days?"

He does not particularly believe that theory, and it shows in his tone and his casual shrug. Still, surely it would amuse those who remember that time...

"I'd love to answer that question, but if my body suddenly lost eight years while I slept, it has yet to make that apparent. Still, a worldhopping adventure could be a nice change from your current routine! ...Unless what you've heard implies that it would also be generally stressful, in which case you're better off with the timeline disrepancy."

But what does he know? He's always been the latest, the one announcing what the future holds. And the few memories he regained were a blessing, rather than a potential source of confusion. What was a boon to him could lead to the collapse of the identity Riku built over the last decade, for all they know.

"Ha. It would, but man... the idea of going home's just daunting." Riku's gazes wanders to the ceiling, and his posture tenses ever so slightly. "Just... the fact that it'd mean losing the past ten years. If there was a way to keep those memories, maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

But if we just forget when we go... what's the point of even being here? I keep finding myself asking stuff like that. What's the point of getting close to people who're a revolving door? What's the point of opening your heart to someone when they could get torn away in a heartbeat, and even if they do come back, they might be back to how they were before, while you've changed..."

A dry snicker slips from him. "...Man, it's so cynical when you think about it. Probably better not to, honestly. I guess one of those mental trips home might soften the blow, but I think it'd also be a lot to mentally reconcile."

Benefit to Cecil being an adult. More mental maturity already.

It is indeed cynical! And in other circumstances, he might agree, but. But. That maturity comes with a breadth of relevant experiences, too.

"...Even if we are split apart, even if those we have lost return without their memories, even if we ourselves lose them upon going home, our hearts remain connected. That, I know for certain."

With surprising vigor, he sets his drink on the counter, startling the bartender. He ignores that reaction. Building friendships and making memories that could disappear at any time may be odd and frightening, but it is not pointless.

"This is not my first time in a strange world, surrounded by people from other lands. I was younger than you are, back then, and when I returned home I completely forgot those adventures. Yet one day, I woke up in a terrible state in this land, I saw the faces of my former comrades on the Pokégear, and I remembered. Nearly two decades of amnesia caused by divine intervention, my mind under the effect of magics that had nearly shattered it, but all it took was similar circumstances and the sound of their voices."

He picks his glass back up, takes a sip. The taste of the alcohol seems far less pleasant than it was earlier this evening. How strange.

"Perhaps it's the same for the memories we make here. They might simply be buried, more or less deeply, yet possible to trigger under the right circumstances. Unless people return after recovering them, how could we know?"

"Heh. You know, that sounds like something Sora or Ven would say." A sad smile crosses his face. Man... They've both been gone for so long, too. It's still kind of unreal.

"I guess it's possible those memories could reawaken at some point, but... I guess the other problem's just. What we leave behind. Our teams. Our accomplishments. I get that taking Pokemon with us could probably disrupt some 'balance' between dimensions, but a lot of us raise Pokemon from birth. Are we really just supposed to leave them behind?"

If there was just a way to... choose. To keep the memories. To keep at least some Pokemon. To know that this isn't all just a drawn out fever dream. Heh, that'd be something.

"Though I believe I first heard it from Aerith, multiple people expressed a similar sentiment during those early years. Optimists, mostly, for some strange reason."

He remembers Ven faintly, Sora clearly, Aerith fondly. Optimists indeed, enough for his own smile to bloom brightly for an instant. Yet it fades away soon enough.

"That is rather unfair. Pokémon that are left behind often soothe the wounds of the people that remain here, of course, and it would be cruel to rip them away from everything they've ever known... Yet I cannot help but think that I have plenty of space at home for my whole team, and then some. That I could take care of them just as well in Baron as I can in Celadon."

Down the glass goes once more, the better to allow him to tap his fingers against it.

"I could live without the recognition of my achievements, so to speak, but the thought of leaving them behind... It complicates matters greatly."

Of course, the moment Cecil found himself on the other end of the warp, he made a beeline for the shops. Who could blame him? New TMs! Honey products! Equipment that might help him keep a garden alive for the first time in years! The resulting shopping spree was by all accounts very productive.

...A little too productive, as it happens.

Therefore, during the afternoon, he sets up a small but lovely picnic among the flowers. Anyone who enjoys honey, omelettes, sandwiches or honey omelette sandwiches is welcome to partake. He's got plenty of food for everyone, plus even a few curious yet bold wild Pokémon.

And who knows? Perhaps Shaymin enjoys honey omelettes sandwiches, too...

Edited 2020-08-16 19:11 (UTC)

129th moon - Sinnoh Vacation Catchall

WILDCARD

BAR NIGHT (August 11th)

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meant to get to this sooner, but wrist pain and patron commission crunch happened >.o

:O Your poor wrist! Don't strain it!

okay, that's rude >( Gmail didn't give me a notification for this at all.

Rude, Gmail. Super rude.

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bah. Family emergency happened- sorry for yet another delay x_x

Oh dear, I hope everything's alright!

IT'S BEEN... a rollercoaster, tbh. Some other dumb stuff came up, too. This month is just lame. xP

The whole year's been lame, to be fair.

FLOAROMA MEADOW (August 14th)