usedlaserbeam | 002 | Cherrygrove City

[After a productive (but admittedly somewhat boring) five hours of work sorting and filing papers at the Cherrygrove Pokémon Center, it's finally time for Yagyuu to head for home--or at least, for the room at the Cherrygrove Inn he's been sharing with Kirihara-kun since they both arrived in the city yesterday. He'd gladly work longer hours if they'd let him, but the rules are strict for minors, and so he's being cheerfully shooed out as soon as his time is up for the day.

As a result, anyone in the vicinity of the Center in Cherrygrove will probably see him exiting the front doors, his Breeder's Manual already open in one hand for casual perusal as he starts his walk back toward the inn. Strangely, he doesn't seem to have any Pokémon with him, though he does have his backpack slung casually over his shoulder like a model student might.

All things considered, he's not hard to spot, both from his lack of visible Pokémon and his bright yellow Rikkai jersey with the collar popped up at the neck. Which means he's also a prime target for bothering, should anyone feel so inclined.]

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Almost like raising children, really. [bit wry at that. his Flygon makes a purring sound, though, and he looks over to her, thoughtful.]

-- sorry, you just came from the Center, didn't you.

I did, yes. Your timely arrival just coincided with my walk back to the inn.

[But the remark about raising children caught his attention--and curiosity.]

I suppose that means I ought to choose the names of my other team members with care in the future.

Maybe. Will you be keeping the literary naming theme?

[a bit of fishing, here. he's been toying with that 'Phantom' reference since Yagyuu's first mentioned it in their conversation, and based on their previous discussions on literature (and his subsequent delight in figuring that Yagyuu's well-versed in the classics), he thinks this is, perhaps, plausible.

but then again, he could always be wrong.]

[And he lets his eyebrows go up, because Fuji just managed to prove himself interesting again. He remembers their previous discussions on literature as well, of course, but he'd never mentioned his favorite. That Fuji successfully made the intuitive leap necessary to guess...yes, that is interesting, isn't it.]

That would depend, I think, on whether or not my next acquisition looks like a Christine.

[so it is. he wonders if he should warn him that all books in this land invariably end up sporting a pokemon theme to them, but decides against it -- his reaction, he thinks, might be interesting to gauge. if nothing else, Christine the singing skitty sensation is a fairly interesting prospect.]

Well, I'd have trouble imagining a pokemon that resembles Christine Daaé, really. But there are several pokemon around that are known for their singing.

[To say nothing of his reaction to And Then There Were Unown, if it also takes its toll on books brought along as possessions from back home. It's not likely he'll take well to such mockeries of the classics, but at heart Yagyuu is a reader, and eventually his resistance will wear down.]

Are there really? [He looks a little amused at the prospect.] I'll have to remember that for the future. In the present, though, I think it'd be slightly more prudent to acquire a practical Pokemon first and let the name come second, rather than picking out a name and then looking for one that might fit it.

I can't see why you couldn't do both. [a thoughtful hum, here] After all, you could pick the name and search for a pokemon that's both fitting and prudent.

I'd say that would do the character justice.

I could, assuming I knew where to look. And precisely what it was I hoped to find, when I did.

Isn't the element of uncertainty what makes the joy of acquisition in the end fulfilling?

There isn't much uncertainty if I've planned for the acquisition beforehand. Picking the name first makes the process into little more than an interview or popularity contest, with first place being the honor of earning the name. Fulfilling would be finding the one that suits me best and discovering a fitting name for it once I did.

Oh? How methodical. [he blinks here, shuttering.] I suppose something like this makes fate seem like a child's game.

[And that earns a cock of the head.]

What makes you say that, Fuji-kun?

Number of things. I guess you can construct your own fate by picking and choosing carefully.

To a point. It's possible to reduce a great deal of uncertainty in an endeavor, but nigh-impossible to eliminate it completely.

Mm, is that so? [he spends a moment to gauge the other boy out of the corner of his eye, curious, before blinking. it might just be his fatigue catching up to him, but he finds it a little jarring that those words resonate.]

The last bit of uncertainty is where the element of risk lies.

[Yagyuu, of course, is thinking of tennis, because this is Seigaku's Fuji and it's always going to be tennis first, at least until he's been here longer and he becomes less entrenched in his memories of home. This time, he's thinking of Regionals, of a promise made to an infirm captain, of a match decided between two data masters, a boast to finish in thirteen minutes, the fall of an emperor. Rikkai had raised their certainty of victory as high as it could go, and yet--]

And that puts us back to the joy of acquisition. Some would argue that the risk is what gives value to the success.

[And maybe it's ruthless to draw Fuji into an exchange like this when he's so obviously exhausted--and moreover, when he's done Yagyuu the distinct favor of reuniting him with his team in the process--but Yagyuu of all people knows that sometimes ruthlessness is an inevitability, and it's no reason not to take advantage of it.]

[on the other hand, Fuji has yet to make the connection -- he's spent the past six months doing very little thinking on tennis at any length or form, and therefore memories of Seigaku's matches rarely pop to the forefront of his mind. however, even through his general fatigue, he is perceptive to undercurrents in conversations-- and there is one now, buzzing at his peripheral vision. and he frowns, inwardly, because he doesn't know Yagyuu well enough to pinpoint the exact nature of the subtext. it might be tennis, he thinks, because that's ultimate the connecting thread between himself and this boy here, but around Rikkai as a general rule, he's learned not to make assumptions.

therefore, he shutters and takes a proverbial step backward, doing the verbal equivalent of what a counter-puncher does on the court.]

Some might. Though if risk is capable of bringing success, one might ask after what the value of success is, if it's achieved without the risk.

It depends on where the observer's focus lies. Some emphasize the process and believe that the reward lies as much in the journey as in the destination. The success is valued because odds were surmounted to achieve it, and failure was always a real and credible possibility.

[There's an odd sort of note that enters Yagyuu's tone as he elaborates on the ideas, an undertone of some emotion that keeps his words personal, saving them from sounding like pure speculative philosophy.]

And there are others to whom the risk is irrelevant, because the success alone is what matters, regardless of how it's won. Their focus is solely on the desired outcome, not what was necessary to achieve it.

002 | Cherrygrove City | Action;

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