ohmyarceus | Test Drive Meme

[He is taking her in the right direction thankfully. The Ruins of Alph are next to it and he wants to visit the Yamask family there. Not that Serenity knows that.]

You haven't seen Saffron.

[Smoggy city. And wait until she finds out about Grimer and Koffing.]

Good. I don't need him threatening me when he finds out I stumbled across you...

[He suppresses a shudder.]

... I'm impressed you made it as far as you did. Did any of the others from Domino reach out or have you been by yourself?

[It's nice having someone rooting for her even if it isn't a requirement. This does take a lot of muscle strength.. so there is some question as to if her new friend will be able to pull it off.

As she climbs she tries to think of some better advice she could give.]

Lot's of practice, you just need to be patient with it.

[She continues up, until she reaches the top then descends back down.]

Don't feel as if you need to beat my time, just get used to handling the rope.

That's not bad, I can live with that.

[That's better than he could have hoped for really]

Maybe- I can understand why they would have selected some people you mentioned... but...

[Look. He knows he's not much of a gamer. Sometimes he plays the odd game with his friends, or when he's forced to for survival but he's not a big name in the industry. His selection seems random]

Yugi always wants to mention his friends.

Honestly, I don't get why I was chosen either. I'm a businessman.

That's the Yugi I know. It's nice to know he doesn't let the fame get to him.

Aren't you a duelist? Huh, I was kind of under the impression that you were.

Yeah, I can't picture that happening to him.

I duel, but I wouldn't call myself a Duelist. I could be if I wanted to, I suppose. I'm more in the business of ... hiring Duelists, you could say. Or I was, at least.

Me neither, but I had to check in on him.

Hiring them to do what exactly?

Of course.

Duel, naturally. It's ... complicated. Another man and I were fighting for control of a mining town. He set up a system of each putting up a Duelist every night, and the loser would go to work for the boss of the winner in the mines. We paid them well, and Duelists came from all over the place to fight for us. It wouldn't have been a bad set-up, only my rival is a cruel man and he let his guards torture his miners. I could never prove it, but as time went on, it was obvious it was true. I tried to overthrow him, but the best we were able to do was hold him off from taking over completely.

Yikes, so if you lost the duel it meant you'd be doing manual labor the next day? For how long? That's backbreaking work, and you really found enough competitors to go for it?

Man, that just burns me up the way some guys think they can treat their employees however they want. None of the miners would ever come forward?

[If you don't spell it out to him, Tristan can be pretty clueless. As long as Joey and Mai understand it, it's fine]

Hey, I don't mean anything by it.. not really. He's my best pal- and... I worry about the guy. There, I said it. Are you happy?

[Texting is hard]

No problem.

Been there. I won't say I was totally cool with it, but I've been through this kind of thing more than I like to think about. Maybe saying I was resigned to it was more of a way to describe it.

[He might of panicked, a little, but no one needs to know that]

[Guess he'd at least pick up a few things from watching Yugi and Joey duel. Still, that outcome could have turned out a little better for him.

He also is courageous with stunning good looks to boot.

Like Pokémon, like master - The Chimchar is only too grateful for the attention that is paid to it. It inclines his head to make it easier for her to reach it and coos it's own version of thanks.

Tristan was about to say that he'd lead so that if anything did jump out he'd be able to shield her from it, but Serenity beats him to it. Not that he was complaining as he felt her hand intertwine with his. He's initially so stunned by the familiarity of the gesture, that he nearly topples over when he's yanked forward. Catching himself he ran after her. It's over too swiftly, and all the warmth leaves his form when she takes her hand back.]

I jus- Oh, right. I've been here for a little while now. [Having to go along with the story to hold up his own] It's name? [He's not even sure it followed them. Casting an uneasy glance behind them, he spots the little guy scratching behind it's ear. Good, so he did follow.. but what kind of name can I give a monkey?! He simply had to come up with a name, and fast, or she'd question the validity of his earlier statements.] I've just been calling him Ape. [Which isn't much of a name. Well he's a primate with a fire tail.. so "flame ape". Man Tristan is bad at this.] I want it to be something that matches his personality, so.. I've been giving it a lot of thought. [As of right now. Not so much before]

Yeah, exactly. You'd be surprised how many people were willing to risk it just to get rich dueling for us. The set up was to work in the mines indefinitely.

Malcolm and his men were real pieces of work. The miners are coming forward now, but back then, they couldn't. Whenever any of them tried to escape Malcolm's mine, they were caught again.

“Yep, that is the one. That thin is a nifty thing to use on the go,” Isabela replies in a relieved tone, “Oh gee thanks. That is really honest of you to say that. Most folks in my home had used to see me in a little shallower light which did annoyed me for a long time.”

[ tristan, aren't you always clueless... /shot. ]

lots of things make me happy, but, that isn't one of them. it might make HIM happy to hear it though. he really does seem to be holding his own here, though. make sure you look for him to check in just in case it's all bravado.

[ it certainly can be. ]

i can understand that, i suppose, considering all the stuff you and your pals have been through. [ and herself, too. ] how you holding up now?

( probably not. she might make it a small bit of the way but she isn't exactly miss muscles. this seems better suited to her brother or even tristan. the pair of them definitely have more chance with something like this than her petite form. )

Wow, you did amazing!

( when dana comes back down, serenity looks up at the rope and frets about how high she might get up even a quarter of the height she gained. taking the rope in her hands, she starts to pull herself up once the rope is given to herself. she manages to shimmy her way up to nearly about a third of the way up before her hands are burning and her legs just can't manage anymore of it. not even halfway up, serenity lets herself slide back down the rope and let her feet touch the ground! )

Oof... That wasn't nearly as good as you did... Oh well! I tried, that's all that matters, right?

( she can help but chuckle. ) Hot chocolate and food, too? Really? ( her brother is the coolest.

she's watching him get everything out and prepared for, just somewhat in awe of him. serenity has always been so very, very proud of her brother and often times acts as his biggest fan -- because she is. when he retrieves the blanket, serenity takes it as it's offered and wraps up in it. even with the itchiness, it's eagerly welcomed because of how cold she is after all that time in the rain. )

Thanks Joey, you really are the best big brother anyone could ever ask for.

( fortunately, serenity still considered him an amazing duelist in spite of the missteps and all. it was a high pressure situation, after all.

he's so very humble and modest, as well.

the cooing is absolutely adorable and serenity takes a moment to pet at him just to hear even more of it! once it's made clear, though, that they should put distance from themselves and the bushes, serenity takes tristan's hand and hurries away from the tall grass where the critters tend to leap out at trainers and other passersby. )

I knew it! That's how come you and your partner work well together. ( little does she know that that's the first time tristan has actually worked with the monkey-mon. she claps her hands together, interlacing fingers with herself and leans forward just a bit. ) It's super nice to meet you, Ape! You're a really great pokemon and your trainer is just awesome, too. ( praise, praise and more praise... )

Teleporting? You can teleport? That sounds kind of scary...

INDEFINITELY?! That's nuts! No wonder it was a great system for the owners, but no one should be trapped in any occupation with no opportunity to leave.

[This new information was definitely having Tristan rethink a few things about this guy. Sure, he'd been forthcoming with useful information, but he was part of a rather unjust system of hiring new recruits....]

That's how these things usually seem to start. Least they're finally starting to speak up about it, and finally able to.

Tristan examined the Pokégear a little closer, starting to press a few buttons on it. For it's part the chimchar leans over to spy at it himself, partially dropping over it's trainer's face.

".. Did I stick my foot in my mouth already?" Not sure whether she was being sarcastic or not. I mean, he had commented on her looks which might have been triggering if that's what she was used to. "That might be a new world record." The self-deprecating humor was meant to lighten the atmosphere.

"If you saw the guys I usually hang out with, you'd understand why I said it."

[Although Radley is admitting to everything despite being aware it could turn Tristan against him.]

You're right, they shouldn't. We were trying to overthrow Malcolm so the system would stop. We were caught in an endless cycle. The town is free now, thankfully.

It only works traveling to the next town over, and then the next one from there, but it's useful. We have to wait several minutes between each teleport or we'll get real dizzy.

[That is also something he was taking into consideration. It certainly helps that there wasn't any discernable hesitation in denouncing the practice.]

I guess that makes sense. Without something to go on you were stuck fighting fire with fire.

The future has it's own problems, huh?

Edited 2023-03-09 07:40 (UTC)

Yeah, unfortunately.

The hardest part is probably dealing with the terrible memories of how things were. Those who came through the worst of it aren't likely to recover easily.

[Joey just scratches at the back of his head awkwardly, always liking receiving praise from his little sister but never knowing how to process compliments in-general.]

It's da least I can do for da best little sistah in da whole world! You know I got ya back Serenity.

[He gives her a grin before pulling a Pokeball off his belt.]

We ain't even stahted yet doe'! Go Alligator Sword!

[Joey throws a Pokeball just outside the cave entrance and it erupts in a ball of light to reveal a large blue-green crocodilian creature.]

I need'ja ta find us some decent stuff for makin' a fire ok? It's all gonna be wet, a'course, but do da best ya can.

[He flashes the Pokemon a thumbs-up and it returns the gesture before lumbering-off. Joey then returns his attention to his tending to his sister and sorting through the myriad of equipment he has.]

Alligator's Sword loves da watah, so he won't mind da rain one bit. With a little luck he'll bring us some decent wood, and Red-Eyes can staht us a fire right aftah.

[Unlatching a camping kettle from the side of his pack, Joey produces a couple of packets of drink mix and tosses them to Serenity. Were she to inspect them she'd be able to see that they containted a couple of different blends of hot chocolate mixes. There's one for a minty blend, one for a smooth blend, and one for a classic blend, and all come with little marshmallows.]

I've only got da powder stuff I'm afraid. I tried bringin' da real good food along when I first stahted travelin' but I learned real-fast dat the fresh kinda stuff don't last too long, and dat eatin' food dat ain't in a good state is a real bad idea when ya livin' outdoors.

[Grimacing at the memory, Joey shakes his head and returns his attention to the tast at-hand.]

It's a lotta sealed n' dry foods now. Dey're not as tasty as da stuff you'd eat normally, but dey stay bettah a lot longah.

Test Drive Meme - March & April

No need to apologize! I'm always up for backtagging. <3

It's cute, you're fine.

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NO. i'm not cute. i'm tiny and evil. how very dare you.

totes! just busy weekend and start of the week. :)

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