victory_road | MR ARCEUS

[ the little lost falinks finds itself bumping against naoto's leg when he was in the middle of training. ever since his enhanced healing came back, he had nothing to worry about when it came to his prosthetics-- it was like he was good as new!

but back to the matter at hand. wow, that's something unexpected! he relaxes his stance as he turned his attention to the lost pokemon, and smiled. ]

Where'd you come from? Where's the rest of your little party?

[ his absol came round with a curious look, then looking up at naoto as if to say "we should help." that only caused her trainer to nod. ]

Oh, absolutely, Million. Come on, let's find you your party, okay?

[ naoto picks up the stray falinks, looking around curiously at first, only to start walking in a random direction while calling out. ]

Helloooo! Did anyone lose a Falinks around here?!

[ The Falinks whines, waggling it's little legs as Naoto picks them up, clearly distressed at being separated from the rest of it's group. Judging by the smaller helmet, they aren't a leader Falinks, after all.

Fortunately, Naoto doesn't have to look for very long, as Hibiki hears and calls back, albeit faintly due to being fairly far away. ]

A-Ahh!! Yes, over here!!

[ Never mind the fact she's still in her Symphogear, she has to take care of a group of Falinks... which ends up being pretty stressful when one suddenly goes MISSING.

Speaking of, she was fortunate enough to hear Naoto, but how is she going to get to him—oh, there she is, soaring through the air after a huge jump boosted by her Gear... holding four Falinks under her arms, two under each arm... and one other clinging to her scarf, flapping wildly in the wind as she starts to fall... ]

[ oh, that call back is a good sign. at least the little guy wasn't too far away from his trainer. naoto hums, trying to follow the sound before his absol bumped his leg. they've trained together to the point that naoto knows that it was warning him to move anywhere but there. that alone made the teenager look everywhere for the possible attack.

when he spotted it-- rather, a girl screaming at the top of her lungs as she's about to land right nearby, he sighs. ]

Great.

[ he tightens his grip on the falinks before jumping away, very narrowly missing the impact zone and threatening the girl's landing. he manages to back handspring onto his feet, to where his own absol landed from her own dodge. he huffs before speaking. ]

If that's not an entrance, I don't know what is. [ but as he spots the other five falinks under her arms, he knows that this sixth one is hers. that causes naoto to put down the sixth falinks onto the ground so it can reunite with the rest. ] But hey, at least your family came to you, little guy!

[ Hibiki collides with the ground, landing on her feet... but still forming a small crater where she landed, despite the boosters that fired up to slow her fall. She drops the four Falinks under her arms, and they immediately run to reunite with their now-found comrade... while the remaining Falinks that had been dangling from her scarf dizzily waddles in a few directions before falling over, eyes spinning. ]

A-Ahaha... sorry...

[ She may have been panicking a little. Just a smidge. An acceptable level of panic.

Three soldier Falinks begin to cheer as they reunite with their friend... before the leader Falinks waddles over and bonks them over the head for getting lost in the first place. The lost Falinks does look apologetic, though... so it's quickly back to celebrating their reunion. All of them. ]

Thanks, though... I was really starting to panic when I found out I was missing one of them...

[ First day in the Pokemon world and she's already taking care of six little creatures... ]

Yeah, these little things seem like a headache to deal with. At least I found it before it waddled off too far.

[ but naoto eyes the crater where the girl landed, plus all that fancy armor. ]

Also, there's really no need to be wearing all that armor. This place is safe-- more so than others, but that's beside the point.

A-Ah! This is! Um...!

[ Crap, how does she explain this... especially in what is probably another world. Usually if anybody asks, she just says she works for the government... which isn't actually a lie.

Well, considering that it's another world she's in, maybe it wouldn't hurt...? ]

Y-Yeah, you're probably right... but I was hoping that if I kept it on long enough, my friends might be able to detect me...?

[ Man, the truth is so much easier. ]

Detect you...? [ silence as naoto thinks about it. ] Oh, like a cellphone signal?

[ it makes the most sense, honestly. and given that naoto has traveled worlds for a minute? yeah, he's taking it in stride. ]

Ah, yeah! Like a cellphone signal!

[ She sure doesn't know how else to explain it! All of the technobabble just flies right over Hibiki's head most of the time until she understands it enough.

That being said, she then sighs. ]

But... no such luck... I've had this on for hours now and all of the communication lines are static...

Well, yeah. No signal would ever get across dimensional lines. [ there had to be some boundaries to what gets through, so he's not remotely surprised. ]

I'm sure you'll get home sooner rather than later. And I mean, you got a tiny army in the Falinks, at least!

[ meanwhile his absol just stares at the 6-in-1 pokemon. she wants to hold them close. ]

No way...

[ She slumps over, clearly distraught by that fact... and can you really blame her? One moment she was in bed with Miku, and the next moment, she was waking up in another world! She feels bad! She doesn't wanna keep worrying Miku like this!! Yet it keeps happening!!!

He is right about the Falinks, though. ]

Right! I was told that you could only keep one inside a Pokeball, but then a whole bunch popped out!

[ Speaking of, all of the Falinks are currently starting to surround Naoto's Absol... looking up at them... ooooh... ]

[ he has the urge to comfort hibiki in her despair(?). it was definitely the big brother instinct in him, but really, she does look like she needs it. ] If it makes you feel any better, at least know it's possible to get back? You're not trapped here in the slightest.

[ after all, he might stay for a year or so in a given world but he always made it out, so it was entirely possible.

on the topic of pokemon, though. ] Yeah, Falinks are like that. Apparently it's because they work best as a team, not apart.

[ the absol does not flinch when surrounded. in fact, she smiles and gives them a nod. if they want to ride her, then she will let them! ]

[ And ride her they do... or at least, they attempt to. Turns out, it's not actually easy for six Falinks to fit on a single Absol's back, all in a single-file line... but they're trying anyway, with... debatable levels of success. ]

Eh? Really! How!? There was no warning, and I don't want anybody back home to freak out or something...

[ She giggles at the mention of the Falinks, though. They're kind of like herself, then! Six of them, all working together as one... ahh, she misses home now... ]

[ million is nonplussed by the tiny pokemon climbing up onto her. in fact, she quite likes it.

to hibiki's question, however, he doesn't know how to respond. ]

I'm still trying to figure that one out myself, actually. I see a lot of people coming in, but not often leaving, y'know? [ he sighs. ] Really wish I could give you a straight answer, though.

Ah... I see...

[ Her mood drops as quickly as it rose. Sorry, Miku... she may not be home for a little while again. Gah, the thought immediately makes it feel like there's a weight on her chest. Is she really about to make her worried again? Vanishing without so much as a single word... ]

Listen, for all you know, you'll be back home within the day, okay? Don't lose hope now, alright?

[ ah, he's not sure that pick-me-up would work, but he's gotta try! it's the big brother instincts in him! ]

Mm... right...!

[ For Hibiki, at least, it works pretty well. He's right, after all. Giving up hope isn't going to help anybody, least of all herself. She isn't turning a complete 180, seeing as how the worry is still present on her face... but she smiles.

Don't worry, everything will be fine, right? ]

And I mean, I can speak from experience. This is maybe my third world going to? You'll be fine.

[ he's grinning as if this was very casual information to drop. he may have been stuck here longer, but he's not going to sweat it. ]

Eh!? You've been to different worlds already!?

[ Totally casual information to drop. As you can see, Hibiki is reacting very casually to it. ]

Yeah. Being here makes it the third world I've been to, actually.

[ naoto brings no shame to the table, sorry hibiki. if you've gone through it once, more travels do not phase you. ]

MR ARCEUS

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