[catch-all]

[nightyorb]

Who: Riz, Boober, Mando, Gobo, Eda
Where: Partially Saffron City, partially Goldenrod City
When: June 30th
Summary: Riz is very small and thinks he is kidnapped. You can imagine how stressful this is (for everybody else)
Rating: gen

Comments

[soupguy]

Well that's just great to hear. Of course, Boober can't say it's an unfair assumption, but he feels like it's going to be a really long... However long this lasts. And he's already so very tired.

"No, I'm not a kidnapper," he sighs, tilting his head back - thought the temptation to hit his forehead against the upper bunk's frame is very strong.

[nightyorb]

"That's exactly what a kidnapper would say," Riz pipes up, clearly not ready to start believing anything this guy is saying. "I want my mom and dad."

[soupguy]

Okay, there's the thunk of his head hitting against the frame. Just the once, but how does he handle this?

"And I wish I could bring them here for you, Riz." Which is always true, really. Riz clearly misses the Bad Kids a lot every day, but his longing for his parents - well, Pok is a complicated situation, but still - that is very evident whenever they come up. "Trust me. I'm sure they could handle this better than I could."

[nightyorb]

"I know our phone number! Let me call them!"

His parents had taught him this exactly for situations like this.

(Okay, probably they taught him this for the far more likely situation of Riz wandering off and getting lost, but lets not fuss over those minor details)

[soupguy]

Boober does not know how to explain to him the "different world" thing. He also doesn't know how he's going to stomach the potential reaction to Riz not being able to call his parents, but he does know he has to let him try. Because this is Riz, even if it's Riz as a little kid. Riz gets stuck on things.

So Boober climbs down to retrieve his Pokegear. He opens it to the call screen and, with a heavy sigh, passes up to Riz.

"I won't stop you from trying. I know that's not going to work, you can't let things go that easily." Despite everything, the words come out rather fondly, though the dread in the pit of his stomach is still strong.

[nightyorb]

Riz frowns as Boober hands him his Pokegear, turning it over in his hands. "Is this your crystal? It's super weird."

He (obviously!) doesn't have his own crystal, but his mom and dad do, and they look nothing like this. This looks more like something you'd see in a cartoon than a proper phone.

[soupguy]

"My...? Oh, yeah, that's what you have for this. It's like that, yes," Boober says with a nod. "You can talk to people with it, or use it to read information."

[nightyorb]

"Huh." Which is all Riz has to say before he starts to punch in the oh so carefully memorised phone number. Unfortunately, that number means nothing, so instead of hearing his mom or dad on the phone, all he gets is a pleasant female voice telling him 'this number is not in service, please try again'. Which he does! Three times, four times, but each time the message stays the same.

"Why won't it work?"

[soupguy]

It's heartbreaking, to see him keep trying to contact them. It's also stressful, because he does not know how to handle this. Not even a little bit. He wants to sink into the floor and just disappear until this gets better. (Hopefully, anyway. He's never going to bank on things going right.) But he has to be here for Riz. He has to.

"They're not here. I'm sorry, Riz, but I'm going to make sure you're safe until you can get back to them."

[nightyorb]

So far, Riz has been rather feisty -- combative even. But part of that had perhaps been that there had been somewhat of a guideline for him to follow. All he had to do was call his parents' number and it would be okay. That's why he had learned it, after all.

Now that that has proven to be ineffective, he's suddenly at a loss. And unfortunately for Boober, said loss is starting to manifest in the way it often does in children.

First Riz's lip screws up, his breath starting to hitch a little as big tears start to gather at the corner of his eyes.

[soupguy]

"Oh no."

For a moment, Boober just stares and feels useless. It is truly a disgusting feeling to not be able to help here, but then... Maybe there is a little something he can do, for whatever it's worth. He gets back down to his own bed, gathers a dozing Rôti in his arms - she barely stirs at all - and deposits the sleepy Lechonk in front of Riz. He wishes he knew where Loggy was at the moment, but this is - in his opinion - definitely comparable.

Rôti peers at the not-quite-familiar person before her curiously, as Boober explains, "You can give her a hug, if it will help. She's cuddly, and that helps me when I get too scared."