I'm going to try for 1 O'clock. If for some reason I miss you, we'll try again for 7. All I need to know before hand is what direction you'd be traveling? Which route would you be on when you bump into this trainer?
Okay! I guess Dan, Margo, and Indy might be heading for mt. Leeman trail? To the cloud temple? So the trainer would be on mt. Leeman I think
@Balthazar007 could I schedule a trainer battle? Just like a random one! I'd like Indy to earn some more money haha. I finished the collab post and sent it to arc. I'm sure it'll be up soon!
Edit: I'm available early tomorrow to all day. I think the best time would be around 1. Or 7!
After dropping the Shuppet off at the troupe, Valen was on his way, deciding to take the Route to Highhill Town. As he headed out into the night, he glanced at the pokeballs around his waist. He hadn't gotten a chance to introduce the new pokemon to Qwerty. There's only two, I could probably handle both of them out.
Hesitantly, he released the Snivy. It was an interesting pokemon, no doubt, with sly amber eyes and a brilliant green coloring. His pokedex went off, rattling off about information on the pokemon. He held out his hand for the pokemon, who sniffed it hesitantly.
Qwerty greeted the Snivy with a cheerful cry, the Snivy responding with the tiniest of smiles.
Valen wasn't sure what to do about the grassy, reptilian ppkemon. The creature seemed hesitant about accepting him, but it hadn't not approved of him.
"Well hi," he didn't know what else to say. "I'm Valerian, just Valen though. Valerian's pretentious enough." The pokemon moved in front him, hardly acknowledging what he'd said. It was certainly testing him, even if he didn't realize it entirely. However, the pokemon reacted positively to Qwerty, and the two communicated and got along, it seemed. Qwerty was enthralled with the new addition to the budding team.
At least they're friendly with each other. Better to have that Snivy like one of us, intstead of neither of us.
The grass rustled, and Valen only just managed to dodge an irate Rattata's tackle. "Ack! Ow!" He'd heard about this, wild pokemon that often attacked trainers to prove themselves or train.
Qwerty and the Snivy were quick to move to the front. Other wild pokemon watched, some curious, others itching to join in the fight.
Huh... He didn't want the wild pokemon to end up too badly hurt. It was tough enough surviving in the wild, after all. "Don't get in too bad of a fight, guys." The Rattata that had attacked them, however, scampered off, feeling quite intimidated. And probably for good reason.
Still, the random encounter had given Valen an idea. There were probably quite a few wild pokemon on this route, weren't there? Perhaps there was a potential team member just waiting to be found on their way to Highhill. Or even potential items that had been dropped. That settled it then.
"While we're on route 1, let's keep an eye out for pokemon, or maybe like stuff on the ground," Valen added. "Who knows? Maybe we'll find a friend or something? I guess, try not to get hurt but we can try and train some too, if a pokemon challenges us I mean."
Qwerty let out a "kre!" The Snivy huffed, though the pokemon wouldn't do something as paltry as look for items, testing moves and building up strength after being in a pokeball was at the highest on the list.
As they fought their battles, practicing their techniques and trying to grow, they continued on the route, the moon round and luminous above them.
Walking on Route. I don't know if this is too specifc, but to help Valen get over his fear of fire pokemon, I'd like him to encounter amd catch a Growlithe eventually. Something that'll force him to catch it? I know that growlithe are uncommon and I know it might take a few posts to find one, but I'm okay with that too :) In the meantime, I guess they'll train to pass the time!
@TheForgottenArc if you want to do a collab, this is kind of how i do it. Since dan has a lot to say and explain to margo amd indy, you write everything dan says. You can control indigo if you want. Then you ssend the post to me and i edit it as i see fit in regards to my character and overall flow. Then we kind of go back and forth until we're both good. I dont think thats how every collab post is done, but its faster than having to go back and forth
Edit: alright i didnt know whether we were doing a collab or not. So I just posted, but there really wasnt much to add or do in the present moment.
sorry it took so long! since it was an emergency visit, i assume it took about 4 hours for dan to text margo and indy, just because like, emergency rooms take FOREVER. i felt bad making everyone wait, so i was hoping it would be okay if I could put the gym battle in at a later date. since this was a collab post, arc, feel free to post. im sure the characters are anxiously awaiting dan's news!
Also, arc, im game for any collabs you want to do!
@Balthazar007 i know you said you wanted me to post indigo entering the gym and youd post after i think? But i was hoping i could take the post you were going to do amd just combine it into my gym battle post.
“Yeah, weird,” Indigo exhaled, putting his arms behind his head. He was trying to ease into a more comfortable position, relax, get rid of the tension inside him.
“You really didn’t know…? Dan’s condition, I mean.” Margo’s normally assertive voice was much more gentle, but she certainly knew she was walking on eggshells. Having seen Indy come to the verge of cracking once before, she didn’t want to be the cause of it happening again. And that went for anyone, really.
“No,” Indy’s voice was flat. “I didn’t. He never told me. You know what…” He sighed. They were walking through Shamba now, the quaint houses and small shops on either side of them on the street. They looked like a couple of normal teenagers having fun. “I never knew… I never knew about his dad being in Team Rocket either.”
“Really?” Margo’s voice was in disbelief. “How…? They talked about it in front of us, just the other day. And I mean, I was practically a stranger.” He couldn’t possibly be serious that he didn’t know these key things about Dan, right?
“I don’t even know,” Indigo rolled his eyes. “Seems like a lot of stuff is coming out now and it’s all so confusing. I guess, like, you know, I wouldn’t feel so insulted if…” He trailed off, thinking. “If he was just more honest? Like, we almost died at Pewter. He went off to go talk to his dad, and then when he comes back, he’s all like, ‘yeah, yeah, dad didn’t know anything.’ At least give me the conversation in detail! We deserve to know that much.”
“Hm,” Margo avoided making any statements of her own, instead feeling out for questions and productive language she could use to help Indigo feel more at ease. “Yeah… It’s a lot to take in. Pewter was the most scared I’ve ever been in my life. It didn’t even seem like you guys cared about what happened to you at first... Say,” Margo paused. “You said you became a trainer to get away from it all, didn’t you? Just a few minutes ago?”
Indigo shrugged. “Yeah.”
“What did you mean by that, exactly?”
“Well… I…” He bit his lip. “Um, I don’t really think I’ve really ever had aspirations, before, you know? Like, okay, it seemed like most of the kids in my school were super figured out and they knew what they wanted to do and everyone was taking a gap year or going straight off to university or something. And then there was me, I didn’t really want anything.” He paused. “I still… Don’t? I mean, I just want to sleep and play videogames.”
Margo stared for a moment before a bubble of laughter escaped her.
Indigo glared, but then he couldn’t help but chortle himself. It sounded so incredibly stupid once he said it outloud. “Oh my goodness, Indy… That’s the STUPIDEST thing I’ve ever heard.”
“I wasn’t done!” Indigo was still laughing. “I—you know what I did? I didn’t want to keep going to school or start working at my parents company so I asked my parents if they’d let me go on a pokemon journey or whatever. And they did—and then I spent like my first two months vacationing in Cinnabar. On their tab.” It felt good to get the ugly truth off his chest. The blunt humor helped dampen the sharp guilt.
Margo gasped, covering her mouth, but her eyes still alight with amusement. “What? Indy—you are such a punk!”
“Yeah, and then they got super mad and they almost made me come home, but I pretty much just begged them to let me stay. They’re not paying for anything anymore though. Me and Dan just like, squat at pokemon centers.” Another laugh. It felt good to be making fun of what had once made him hurt so. Perhaps this was what coping truly was, facing fears directly in some kind of way at least, instead of eschewing them away completely.
“But… That’s not really why you left? I mean, you haven’t really gone too deep into it. All you said was you wanted to sleep and play videogames,” Margo snorted.
“Being at home, there was a lot of pressure, y’know? All the time. Like, my older brother, you met him, Morado. He’s always been like this perfect kid and I’m always getting compared to him. It was just hard. I guess like, you know, I tried for awhile but ugh, my parents… They were always like, ‘why can’t you be more like Mori?’ Ugh. No matter what I did.” He paused, settling into silence.
Margo was just a tiny bit conflicted. After all, Morado Rose was such a gentleman. Sure, maybe Indy was pressured by his parents. But that’s not Mori’s fault. Hm… I did get his number. I should talk to him… She couldn’t help it. ”But forget me.” Indigo crossed his arms, looking at Margo expectantly, breaking her out of her thoughts.
“What about you? Why are you out here?”
Margo paused, her smile slowly withering despite her shining eyes. She avoided the directness of his eye contact, instead opting to look at a shop window filled with pastry treats for both humans and pokemon, leaning over. Appreciating the intricacies of the frosting and designs, Margo searched her brain for an answer. She knew eventually she would have to explain her appearance but she wished she had thought more about what exactly she would say to her two new companions.
“Well… I’m just out here to sleep under the stars and play my own games.” She straightened now, laughing once more as she poked some fun at Indy. He rolled his eyes at her before continuing to wait for her serious answer, his eyes glancing over the food with her. “I’m just kidding with you. I’m out here… I suppose for the same reason as you, in a way. I wanted to get away from… my family.” She felt like she was stabbing them, the way she made it sound. “They were just so… overbearing? They were shoving their aspirations on me, without ever asking what I wanted to be or what I liked to do. It was always just assumed from the moment I could walk and talk that I’d be a breeder like them.”
Indy let out a low whistle. ”I know what that feels like.”
She could feel her eyes pricking with hot tears, but she didn’t let them form enough to fall down her face. They were angry tears, but there was a tinge of guilt mixed in with her emotions. Keeping the ghost of a smile she had left on her face, she turned from the window and continued their walking, Indy looking at her with… sympathy, perhaps? He’d never heard her speak in such an anguished way before. “It’s annoying to have anything forced upon you, and something that determines the rest of your life? No thanks, I’ll pass. I want to explore! I want to have fun! I want to be an actual teenager who’s not polite all the time and makes mistakes and has time for herself.” The passion in her voice suddenly returned, Margo whirling on her companion and taking his hands in hers abruptly, bringing them up to eye level dramatically.
”Uh-”
“Do you know what I mean? I want to learn who Margo is, truly, underneath all the preconceptions about myself that my own family threw on top of who I honestly am! I’m a blank slate, I can be whatever I want, and I want to try out everything I can while I have this freedom!” She could feel herself rambling, letting Indy out of her grasp and turning once more away from him and leading them down the street further.
Who knew Margo was going through all this? She-- she even tells me more than Dan does... Indy shoved his hands into his pockets. He wasn’t as angry anymore, now it had just dissolved into a dissatisfied ache. Still, he listened to Margo intently all the same.
“Even if it doesn’t last… I want to take advantage of all these opportunities before me. That includes when they scare me to death and I wake up in a hospital with two crazy boys. My parents would probably kill me if they knew I had run away and now I was traveling around with boys.”
Margo giggled to herself, throwing a grin over her shoulder at Indigo.
”Ha,” Indigo let out the tiniest of smiles. ”I promise I won’t tell.” He pantomined a zipped going across his lips.
Margo sighed. It had felt good to talk out everything, sure, but there had been one crucial component missing. Dan. Whether he wanted to open or not, he was going to, she thought fiercely.
”You know, I’m sure Dan will come around,” she reassured Indy. ”Give him some time.”
”Yeah… I know. I guess we can just try to open up to him more, and maybe he’ll do the same.”
”Well, Indy, it was nice talking to you but I’m off.” Margo twirled.
”Where to?”
”Training, of course!” Margo pumped a fist into the air. ”If we ever get ambushed again, I’ll be prepared. And hey, I’ve already beaten you.” A fiendish grin.
”Get real, you got lucky,” Indigo snorted.
Margo fluttered her lashes. ”Is that so? Well, keep thinking like that and you’ll just fall further behind. See you later!”
”Uh-- yeah, later!” Indigo stared as Margo ran off, a now released Crowne close behind her. Looking up to the sky, he wondered what he wanted to do before remembering there was a gym match that he could participate in.
”Let’s get this over with,” he said. Glancing at his pokeballs, he trekked to the gym.
After the gym battle and training, the two received a text from Dan. It didn’t take long for Indy and Margo to get to Dan’s hospital room. Evening was starting to settle now, Dan had been in the emergency room for quite a while. That was how emergency rooms were, usually, packed full with schedule and not enough staff and too much to do.
”Dan…” Indigo uttered. ”So… Uh, you feeling okay?” Having blown off plenty of steam, he was ready to listen.
Hawka the Torchic F- lvl 28+1=29 Mimzy the Buneary F- 27+1=28 Kovi the Vivillion M- 31 Neon the Magnemite M= 29
Items: small pearl ×1 Kee Berry ×9 pokeball ×2 White Herb ×2 Cheri berry x11
