usedlaserbeam | 002 | Cherrygrove City

Entry tags:

002 | Cherrygrove City | Action;

[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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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....

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.

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

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

And I'm sure she's the most-loved cat in all of Johto for it.

[It's a guess, of course; no one's used a pronoun other than "it" up until this point. But it's a guess that ought to get him an answer, one way or another.]

[ Niou's sure it was a deliberate guess, intended to elicit an answer, so he at least lets that part slip. His own provocation is equally deliberate, leading them back to the original question without answering it. ]

Of course she is. Though Oshitari's got one, too, named Cassandra. Might could give us a run for our money, the way he fawns over her.

[And so they're back to names again--and the continued lack of the one belonging to Niou's cat.]

Do you think so? I can't imagine you'd let Oshitari-kun beat you in anything, Niou-kun.

Oh, I don't. Trust me, if I get seriously worried, I'll kick it up a notch.

Then I'll look forward to being introduced to her sometime. Unless you have her with you now?

Only always.

[ Unhesitating, Niou produces a Pokéball and tosses it off to the side. A Persian emerges, sleek and elegant, and she meowls loudly, immediately bounding to catch up with her trainer, who never stopped walking. She keeps pace with him, rubbing her head on his leg, and doesn't seem to notice Yagyuu immediately. ]

[A cat, indeed. And for a minute, the question of her name goes by the wayside entirely as Yagyuu just watches the two of them. It had been partly facetious when he'd dubbed her the best-loved cat in all of Johto, but the other part of him knows his partner, and that half wasn't far off the mark.]

She's lovely.

[ She notices him then — she rushes a few steps forward to get in front of them, and then she's trotting somewhat awkwardly sideways before Yagyuu, looking eagerly up at him and meowing melodically and loudly.

Niou chuckles. ]

And she makes money, too.

You're just full of enterprising ways of supporting yourself, aren't you, Niou-kun?

[And he leans forward a little, slightly more toward the Persian's level.]

Ah, hello.

Absolutely.

[ She seems delighted to be spoken to, if the little prance she does upon being greeted is any indication. There's almost no delay between his greeting and hers, either — she rushes to his side and winds skillfully around and between his feet as he walks, without so much as beginning to trip him. ]

[There's a fond sort of look crossing Yagyuu's face at that, one that's not quite a smile, and it's hard to say whether it's more because of the cat's antics or because she's so clearly the right cat for Niou.]

And do I pass inspection, then?

[He's talking to the cat. Probably.]

[ In reply, she comes to walk between the two of them, adopting a swaying sort of gait that lets her rub against each of their legs in alternating steps. Her purring can be heard from their standing height. ]

Everyone passes inspection. [ Dryly. ] She likes everybody.

And to think, I'd hoped I would be considered special.

She's the special one.

[ It's said with just enough sarcasm for 'special' to become a subtle jab, but of course, the Persian doesn't notice. ]

Yet you keep her anyway. Are you getting sentimental, Niou-kun?

Are you gettin' sentimental?

[ Completely petulant. This is how Niou lets you know you've won. ]

[Sweet victory. It never gets old.]

At the moment? Of course.

[ Niou rolls his eyes and reaches down to scratch the cat's ears. She walks a few steps on her tiptoes, her happy rumbling growing louder.

Well, he's already lost, hasn't he? Besides, there's really no point in pretending he doesn't miss his cat. ]

Her name's Sudoku.

[And up go his eyebrows, though he manages to resist the urge to push up his glasses in accompaniment. Yukimura naming his Pokemon in tribute to his absent team was one thing, but for Niou to choose that name in particular for this faithful, adoring cat--

--and his mind goes back to Hirochii the supposed gremlin-ghost, but this time in an entirely different way.]

It's a good choice.

[ He lifts his shoulders a little, shrugging off the apparent significance of it. ]

Well, yeah.

Niou-kun--

[But no, this isn't the time. Later. A few hours won't make that much of a difference.]

--You'll have to introduce me to the others sometime, as well.

[ The break is subtle, but Niou hears it, not that you can tell. He makes no mention of it, and his expression, now morphing from deliberately nonchalant to mischievous and eager, betrays nothing.

Reaching into a side pocket on his bag, he pulls out a purple screwdriver and tosses it to Yagyuu without warning. ]

002 | Cherrygrove City | Action;

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