victory_road | Action | OTA (mostly)

Action | OTA (mostly)

Who: Felix and anyone
Where: Anywhere in Johto or Saffron City and its surrounding routes
When: Early August
Summary: Felix tries to figure out how to deal with his husband going home while he wanders around aimlessly.
Rating: Some sparring, maybe some fight club-style violence.
Log:

A. Meandering Sword (OTA)

Felix has no particular destination. When he runs across trainers who challenge him, he battles them, nearly wordlessly. He and his Pokemon battle efficiently and without mercy. He rarely speaks to anyone unless he must. He doesn't stay in one place for longer than a day. Sometimes he warps elsewhere, sometimes he flies or rides or walks along the routes.

He doesn't need money, but he does need something to keep himself occupied. So he keeps an ear out for challenges he and his team of mostly level 100 Pokemon can take on, whether it's other experienced trainers looking for opponents, catching a powerful Pokemon for someone in exchange for items, or whatever else people might need a trainer like him to do. He stops by the Fight Club in Goldenrod at least once, possibly several times.

Find him anywhere you like. He's not feeling social, but he won't shun people he knows or jobs offered.

B. Back to the Grind (closed to Geralt)

The day after Sylvain vanishes, Felix messages Geralt out of the blue to ask where he is right now. Upon learning that he's at the Blackthorn hot springs, Felix doesn't bother to respond to the message; he just heads to the nearest Pokemon center and warps to Blackthorn, then makes his way there.

When he finds Geralt, all he says is, "Spar with me."

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When he comes across Felix freshly defeating another trainer, he cannot help the subtle look of surprise that crosses his features. It's not that he doesn't expect to see the boys he has made a habit of hassling on the network in person, it's bound to happen eventually, but there's something grim about the air surrounding Felix that feels out of place.

Even when the boy seems fit to snarl and snap at anyone who dares acknowledge his existence, there isn't this burdening weight looming about him. Nay, that battle there was not one for sport, nor earnings, there is something more behind it, and for all Emet-Selch is a man once known for his astounding empathy, this is a mystery he cannot well guess the answer to.

Well, that's a lie, he could indeed take a few guesses, he might even be right, but where would the fun be in that? This is a mystery he rather dig up the clues for, while getting a better read on Felix that the network otherwise denies him.

Thus does he use his mow Rotom to approach, like some lawn themed segue in how he rides it, his expression about as genuine in its curiosity as it ever is in anything.

"My, my... They barely stood a chance! I cannot say I am surprised that you well know how to crush your opposition--I do suppose that fighting spirit of yours needs a more fruitful outlet."

An outlet that isn't losing arguments on the network, is what he doesn't say.

His voice is a high and nasally tone, the one typically used when he's pretending to be friendly. Or, maybe that's just how he sounds when he is being friendly, hard to tell with him.

All the same, Felix is offered a smile, as if they were old friends, despite being none of the sort.

"For such a victory, I must say you look rather sour. What ever could be the matter?"

Felix glances over, not recognizing the voice, but he knows the man’s face well enough. When he sees Emet on whatever the hell that is he’s riding, his expression doesn’t even change.

He just turns around and walks away.

Edited 2021-08-01 22:24 (UTC)

As if it were ever so simple to elude the likes of Emet-Selch. Especially not when he needs not exert even the slightest of effort to keep up! Felix may turn to walk away, but the swiftness of Holeris allows him to cut in front of him within moments. He towers before him, already at an impressive height of 6'4 (and a half), but standing on the Rotom's carriage only adds to that height.

"Come now, I know you are not a man known for his words, but certainly you could spare a few for me when I am so generously extending an olive branch."

Poisoned though that branch may be, the gesture is what truly matters, right?

Geralt receives Felix's message while he's in the hot springs, though that doesn't mean much because of the fact that he's been spending an inordinate amount of time soaking since they arrived. When Felix shows up, he's clearly not in the mood for a soak-- he wants a spar, and, well, Geralt sees little reason to deny him. There's something in his demeanor, as well, something too tight and tense.

"All right," he replies, and hauls himself out of the spring. He dries off and dresses, though he unfortunately doesn't carry his training sword around with him when he goes for a soak.

"My sword's back in the room. Find a place and I'll meet you there."

It's only a short trip back to the room to fetch his sword, and then he makes his way to whatever open area Felix deemed suitable for their spar. Somewhere that no one would be alarmed about two men trying to beat the shit out of each other with wooden swords.

"Same as usual?"

Their standard fight-to-a-yield kind of spar.

Felix just nods and walks off to find somewhere to wait. They end up facing off in a little clearing mostly surrounded by pines, the better to decrease the chances of someone stumbling upon their spar and getting bent out of shape about it.

When Geralt comes back, Felix doesn't make any of his usual impatient comments - no 'finally' or 'hurry up' or anything. At the question, he just grunts his assent and assumes his ready stance, then launches into the fight without preamble, and without the challenge of his anticipatory smirk that usually accompanies their training.

It won't take long for Geralt to notice something off about the way Felix is fighting. He's not sloppy, not distracted, but he is more aggressive than usual. He fights with more single-minded focus, as though the act of training is the only thing he has--or will allow himself to have--on his mind.

Felix stops and slowly raises his eyes to look up at Emet with--not outright hostility, perhaps strangely, but a certain grim implacability.

"Get out of my way."

"Oh, you've convinced me, sir. Yes, indeed! Such a command is all that was required to repel me from your path." The sarcasm in his tone is accompanied by a playfully high register, as if his mockery is meant more in jest than aught outrightly offensive.

"Nay, only a fool would continue to pursue your company after such a chilling look, though I must admit there is a concerning lack of spirit behind it. An absence which does not inspire much, I'm afraid." Watching Felix closely as he speaks, he then tilts his head ever so slightly to the side. His arms crossing over his chest as he looks contemplative.

"It is clear you seek not company of any sort, not even that of your dear friends. There are only so many explanations as to why, but which one might it be, I wonder..."

Now he steps off from his Rotom-chariot, letting the little beast of a ghost peel off as it kicks up dust in so doing. It's not gone for long, seeing as it chooses now to make donuts around them, like some sort of daredevil-powered fence.

Emet-Selch doesn't look displeased by such a choice, but he certainly isn't stopping it nor outright encouraging it, either.

"How about this: since you seem inclined to battle, shall we indulge in one ourselves, hm? If you win I shall leave you well enough alone. But if I win, you will tell me what ever it could be that silences the otherwise fiery man before me."

He grins, eyebrows raising, "well, what say you?"

Felix is in no mood to put up with this smug asshole, and little by little the urge to tell him to shove his Rotom somewhere very uncomfortable rises.

"You admit to being a fool, then. Good. Now go away."

But Emet does not go away. As he steps down from his lawn mower and the Rotom starts its circling, Felix eyes the Pokemon sidelong and rests his hand on the hilt of the wooden sword at his belt even before the challenge is issued. The Tsareena and the Purrloin by his side seem poised for battle as well, both fiercely protective.

The challenge is a surprise, and Felix doesn't know what Emet could possibly want out of prying into his personal affairs, but the fact that he didn't specify a Pokemon battle and the simmering anger at this unprovoked harassment when Felix can barely think straight through his grief as it is prompt him to reach behind him to draw one of Assal's blades and hold it out, leveling it at Emet in answering challenge. The blade seems to hum in his hand with an anger of its own.

"You want to fight? Fine. Fight me."

Edited 2021-08-02 12:17 (UTC)

The drawn and vibrating sword leveled at him comes at a slight surprise, as is indicative by his expression. Owlish eyes stare on at it, then at Felix though they lack the severity that otherwise might be appropriate to someone being threatened with a blade. He cannot help but wonder if the Doublade's anger is merely at his continued hassling of its trainer, or if this is something more personal.

It feels personal, but he cannot hope to know over what.

After a solid beat, he sighs and rolls his eyes. There's the slightest pull of a grin at his lips however, the play on words amuses him, even if the set up is not what he had intended.

"That is my fault, I had not clearly specified my meaning—but it would be churlish to rescind mine offer due to pedantic technicalities. And so..." Likewise he reaches behind himself to release and draw forth his own blades—though they are of a differing color than those of Felix's. Taking one of the swords in hand as the other floats not far from him, he swiftly draws back with precise footwork. His free arm lifted and poised opposite of the blade lifted as he turns more of his right shoulder towards Felix in what is a fencer's sabre en-garde stance. Meeting his blade with Felix's own, his eyebrows tick upward with amusement.

"Shall we?"

Edited 2021-08-02 22:14 (UTC)

When Cecil finally exits Saffron City with his groceries, intent on renewing the Lunar Gym's stockpile of leftovers before nightfall, he does not expect to see a familiar face near the city gates, battling some local trainer who's obviously out of his league. Stopping to watch may not be the most practical use of his time, but it is certainly more entertaining that stirring soup every so often.

That said, there is something... odd, about Felix's battle technique today. Perhaps it's his silence, his mercilessness, his apparent lack of enjoyment. Whatever the source, it's enough to convince Cecil to stay until the inevitable victory, and to approach slowly once the loser leaves.

"...A very efficient victory. No move wasted, no opportunity discarded."

Ilex Forest is vast and dark. Difficult to navigate, at times. Brambles catch on you as you walk. Sometimes she sees odd shapes and lights in the night, when she goes wandering. But it is near enough to Azalea Town, and so she sometimes finds herself in it. Gathers berries for her pokemon. Trains them, too.

It is odd, though, to find someone else here. Odder still, that it is a man she has seen training his pokemon before. He walks with purpose. What that purpose is, she does not know. Where he is going, she does not know. But she watches him as he passes near, all the same. As if by watching, she may understand.

"You are training again?" she asks. What kind of training, she will soon know.

The mint-cream Alcremie who dealt the final blow that ended the battle turns toward the newcomer before Felix does, as he busies himself for a moment fishing a berry out of his bag and tossing it to her with a curt nod. She catches it easily and munches with a respectful nod back. He's been spending a lot of time training with her ever since Lysithea left; if she ever comes back, Felix wants to be able to show her plenty of progress with Kendal.

If she ever comes back. How often do people come back once they've left? Is it common? Or is Dedue an anomaly?

He finally runs out of excuses to put off turning around, and he gives Cecil a similar nod of greeting.

"Cecil. Thank you."

Ilex Forest is not a place Felix ever would have thought he'd be trudging through like this again. Any other time, he'd be flying over it or warping to avoid it altogether. There's no point in coming here; he's already caught all the creatures he'd want from the wild here, and the rest of them aren't strong enough to bother fighting. The local trainers who tend to wander around here, too, are too weak to care about.

But he's here because this is where Inda first hatched. He's here torturing himself again with memories because he doesn't know what else to do with himself. Inda herself is a Tsareena now, having come so far since that afternoon under the dappled sunlight here, and she walks beside him with her hand in his, thinking the same thoughts.

The voice jars them both out of their reverie, glancing over to see Rei there.

"...you. I remember you." At least he won't have to endure small talk, with her. "Do we look like we're training to you?"

Felix is uncharacteristically silent when Geralt makes his way to that secluded little woodland spot. Normally, he'd be all bluster and impatience, as though every second that they aren't fighting is an insult to him. But Felix, not pushing and pushing? Odd. Puts him a little on his guard.

Which is well enough, because he barely settles into his stance before Felix is coming at him, hard and fast. Fiercer than he would usually start a bout off with; Geralt keeps pace with him, matches him step for step, but stays defensive rather than pushing back. Part of it is to let Felix burn off a little of whatever is driving him like this, and part is to see how long he'll be able to keep it up. He wouldn't be the first man to go into a fight full of piss and vinegar only to find out that he can't carry that energy all the way through on spite alone.

His form is still good, but Felix is throwing a lot of his (lighter) weight behind each strike. Geralt takes it for a while, blocking the strikes as they come, until one thrust that he side-steps and lets Felix's momentum carry him through. He pivots and brings the flat of his training sword in a slap against the back of his calf, not far from where, once upon a time, he'd left a cut.

Fortunately(?) for Felix, it isn't just spite; he's had to last much, much longer than this while giving it his all in battle to survive, and this is far from the first time he's used training as an outlet for strong emotions.

But he does notice that Geralt isn't fighting back, and that frustrates him. For a few minutes, his strategy shifts in an attempt to provoke the witcher into going on the offensive, but after this frankly condescending hit, Felix stops and turns to glare up at him.

"You're holding back. Stop it."

"No. But looks can be deceiving."

Walking through the forest at night can often prove this principle.

She is quiet for a time. Nincada chirp nearby. Glowing lights appear and disappear through the brush. He is not alone, but seems lonely.

"Do you require assistance finding the path back out?"

"You're welcome. And of course, this young lady did just as well, striking precisely as expected of her. It's obvious that you work very well together."

Even as he speaks, he carefully reaches into one of his bags, takes out an individually wrapped chocolate cupcake, and crouches to offer it to the young lady in question. Such great efforts must be rewarded after all.

"Though I visit Saffron often, I'd yet to see you here. You've recently arrived in town, then?"

Felix blinks, not having expected the continuing compliments, but Kendal preens a bit and happily accepts the cupcake. Felix would normally roll his eyes and make some comment about spoiling the Alcremie with sweets the same way Lysithea always did, but his heart's not in it today, so he just watches her unwrap the cupcake and savor the chocolate, not looking up at Cecil when he responds with a nod.

"I have. We completed the Johto league gyms and came here on that...train thing." A pause. "As for Saffron, I doubt I'll stay long."

"In this case, they're not. We're just walking."

An old instinct rises up from the depths of his mind, one that says he should tell this girl to get lost. He doesn't, partially because she would probably take it completely literally and partially because unlike most people who intrude upon his solitude, she's quiet and doesn't say a lot of pointless, meaningless things. Her presence is, surprisingly, not irritating.

"No. We've been here before."

"I see."

The quiet returns. The stars and moon shine from above, bathing the forest with a dim reflected light. It is summer and the air is hot and humid, except for when a breeze brings coolness along with it.

"It is a good night for walking."

Serene.

Edited 2021-08-07 12:56 (UTC)

"Ah, the train. A most impressive vehicle, even if the celebration of its reopening was sadly tainted. You've no such technology in your world either, then?"

At least, that's what he assumes from the way Felix worded it. A great portion of his attention is dedicated to that adorable little Alcremie, but he is very much listening.

"Truly? What a shame. You could spend weeks upon weeks in Saffron, yet never do the same activity twice. Still, I suppose that means very little, if the purpose of your visit is more targeted and defined."

"It was cold the last time we were here. Snowing."

It's a bit of a non-sequitur, maybe. But this is where they ran into their first real snowstorm in Johto. This is where Felix held Sylvain in his arms in a pile of their Pokemon for hours under a tent, surrounded by friends and warmed by Dean's fire. This is where Felix rolled his eyes at Sylvain and Chip's ridiculousness as they stuffed marshmallows into their mouths until they couldn't fit any more.

Felix has no idea what Cecil's talking about with the reopening celebration, but it barely even occurs to him to ask. He just watches as Kendal munches the cupcake, until she suddenly notices the color of Cecil's hair and reaches up to pat it with something of a sad look on her face. Felix glances away.

"Not even close. The fastest way to travel in Fodlan is by wyvern or pegasus. If we had something like that train, I can't even imagine what the world would be like."

He shakes his head. "My visit has no purpose. I'm just...traveling." Wandering, really.

He lets a few moments of silence pass before, in a quieter voice, he says, "...Cecil. You told me once that others from your world were here, but they all returned home. And that you've been here for years. In all that time, you've never once seen any of them again?"

"I have never seen snow before. What was it like?"

It is too hot where she is from. Boiling at times. Stifling. Sticky and hot. But you get used to it, because one must get used to it.

So many things are different here.

Felix glances over at her, blinking. Never seen snow? Huh.

He fishes out his Gear and flips through his many photos until he finds a few of himself and Dimitri having a snowball fight (which devolves in the later pictures into snow-wrestling and trying to bury each other), and hands it to her.

"It's cold and wet. The texture varies."

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Action | OTA (mostly)

Route 34 south of Goldenrod

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Fuck getting therapy, hit somebody with a sword

see, geralt knows what's up

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Saffron City limits, route 7 side

Ilex Forest

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