002 | Cherrygrove City | Action;

[usedlaserbeam]

[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.]

Comments

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[futariniousama.livejournal.com]

Yeaaah, 'pocket monsters' is kind of a misnomer. Veeeery few of 'em are actually pocket-sized. We're talkin' six-foot-long bugs and twenty-eight-foot long rock snakes and shit.

[ He chuckles. Six months has given him plenty of time to adjust to Johto and its inhabitants, and he's grown accustomed to a certain amount of suspension of disbelief in the meanwhile. He's looking forward to watching Yagyuu gape (in a dignified, subtle fashion, of course) at some of the region's more alarming natives. ]

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[usedlaserbeam.livejournal.com]

Don't forget I've seen Fuji-kun's Osaka firsthand. Hardly pocket-sized at all.

[Though there's still plenty left to shock and startle him, of course. But for now he offers Niou a shrug.]

Which reminds me, you'll have to meet Phantom at some point. I think you'll approve.

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[futariniousama.livejournal.com]

[ He chuckles. ]

Phantom, huh? Colour me surprised. Tell me you're gonna catch somethin' moronic and pitiful and name it 'Raoul.'

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[usedlaserbeam.livejournal.com]

And why would I want a creature in my roster devoted solely to being 'moronic and pitiful'? I'm hardly that vindictive, Niou-kun.

[Or that careless, strategically speaking.]

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[futariniousama.livejournal.com]

[ Dripping with sarcasm: ]

Oh, my bad, I forgot. You're not vindictive. Or petty. Or childish. Or spiteful. Or...

[ Feel free to stop him anytime. ]

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[usedlaserbeam.livejournal.com]

...you?

[The smoothest interjection in the world, that.]

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[futariniousama.livejournal.com]

[ He laughs outright, both happy and sardonic, somehow. ]

Yeah, that either.

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[usedlaserbeam.livejournal.com]

That's for the best. Whatever would the world do if there were two of you in it?

[He says it like there couldn't be someday, like there's not a white wig and set of contacts in his backpack that would let him do exactly that.]

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[futariniousama.livejournal.com]

Could be a sign of the endtimes, you know. Two of me, I mean... maybe the world couldn't handle it.

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[usedlaserbeam.livejournal.com]

'It ain't big enough for the both of us', is that how it goes?

[He remarks, as at last the Cherrygrove Inn comes into view.]

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[futariniousama.livejournal.com]

Yeah, somethin' like that. Besides, there's some theory about how if you meet yourself in person and you touch, you implode the universe. Maybe that's just with time travel, though....

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[usedlaserbeam.livejournal.com]

Or you somehow manage to become your own grandfather, if you prefer the paradoxical route.

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[futariniousama.livejournal.com]

Hmm. That's a tough one. I do like paradoxes, but I'm not really lookin' forward to nailin' Grandma. Or lookin'... backward... to it. Whatever.

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[usedlaserbeam.livejournal.com]

Perhaps we'll have to find one that's more to your liking, then. No need for time travel; we'll merely put a cat in a box.

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[futariniousama.livejournal.com]

[ Almost eagerly: ] I have a cat.

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[usedlaserbeam.livejournal.com]

Then all we need is a box.

[A pause.]

What did you call it?

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[futariniousama.livejournal.com]

My cat?

[ Oh, look, Niou's stalling. ]

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[usedlaserbeam.livejournal.com]

I assume you named it.

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[futariniousama.livejournal.com]

Well, yeah. The only one I haven't named yet is this ghost motherfucker I've got. Not sure about it yet.

[ He knows if he tells Yagyuu the answer, Yagyuu will pinpoint it as a symptom of homesickness. Best to dance around it and make it even more obvious. ]

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[usedlaserbeam.livejournal.com]

A cat and a ghost? That's quite an entourage.

[He's just waiting. They both know Niou is avoiding the issue. Now it's just a silent war of attrition to see who bites first.]

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[futariniousama.livejournal.com]

And a hybridization of putty and jello with a shit-eating smile. ... And a giraffe with a face on its tail. And a ghost robot that possesses appliances, and a network-hacking robot, and a flying fire-lizard, and a fat little gremlin-ghost named Hirochii.

[ Innocent! ]

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[usedlaserbeam.livejournal.com]

[He was about to remark on the giraffe with the face on its tail, given that he's seen one of those with Akaya as well, but--what was that last one.]

Somehow, I'm entirely unsurprised.

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[futariniousama.livejournal.com]

I've been meanin' to collect this cute little tentacle monster and this fat pink thing with a giant tongue.

[ A beat. ] Jesus, you could make a porno with those two....

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[usedlaserbeam.livejournal.com]

The difficult part would be finding an audience to market it to, I'm sure.

[This conversation. What is it.]

But given the choice, I think I'd take the cat.

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[futariniousama.livejournal.com]

Oh, you don't get the cat. That one's mine.

[ Just your standard, run-of-the-mill conversation at Rikkai. ]