012

[a_gentle_boy]

[action, Residential District]
[Sometime in the early evening, there comes a brief rumble of footsteps from one of the towers in the shabbier part of the Residential District before the door bursts open and a small horde of Pokemon stampedes out.

This is shortly followed by a roiling cloud of smoke and a young teenaged boy carrying a pan of fire. ...It was probably a pan of something meant to be edible at some point, but now it's mostly just a pan of fire.

He lobs it as far away from them as possible the moment he makes it to relative safety, coughing and spluttering.]

Someone use Water Gun!

[Sentret, Teddiursa, Togetic, Drifloon, Purrloin, Bagon, Espeon, and Cottonee slowly turn to stare at their trainer.]

...I've got to make friends with a Water type.

[While he works on that, he takes off his oven mitts and begins to beat at the flames with them instead. Good thing cobblestone isn't flammable. ...Well. It's probably not.]


[video, public, much later]
Hi, everyone. ...Um.

It's been a while since everything that happened now. I hope everyone's been able to recover from their injuries - if you still need medical assistance for any reason, please come by the Medical Center. Or I'd be happy to come over and see you, too.

I guess I wanted to ask... what exactly was Sanctuary making and who... saw them? I didn't really understand too much of what was going on, but I feel like... we ought to be telling the Council how we feel about all of this, too, right? Won't they be taking some part in the decisions, too?

Comments

[a_gentle_boy]

[Perhaps surprisingly, Lucas nods the slightest bit.]

I'd want it, too.

[Apparently, he's thought about this for some reason.]

...I mean. I don't know if I'd be able to do it. You'd have to be really... brave, in a way.

It's a kind of suffering I don't think anyone can really understand...

[rainsrespite]

[That surprises her. That surprises her quite a lot. Lucas didn't seem like the sort of boy who'd be given to fooling around and being a dumb kid like she'd been, but it's a little bit morbid. Mature yes but also morbid.]

I agree with you there. I mean...I don't think you come out of something like that whole, or anywhere close to whole. If you come out of it at all. Trauma of that sort doesn't go away...at least I don't think it does.

[She's apparently given it thought too.]

I mean how do you treat that?

[a_gentle_boy]

...Maybe you can't.

[A slight shake of the head. He had a very good reason for asking these questions and for pondering on such matters... but it wasn't something he felt comfortable bringing up at the moment.

After a long silence, he tries on a smile.]

But we're probably jumping too far forward. Um... We don't even know if any of that is true, right? Or how far it really extends.

Sorry to ask these kinds of things... I guess I got a little carried away.

[rainsrespite]

[Yuuna returns that smile with a weak one of her own. Because what else can you do? There's only so much talk about this you can do without dwelling, and that's not something a reasonable person needs to dwell on.]

It's alright. And you're probably right. Only time will tell, Lucas.

Just keep your ear to the ground, you know?

[a_gentle_boy]

I will.

[Though even as he says that, he realizes he has no idea what that phrase means. ...He'll sound stupid if he asks about it now, though, so he'll just go ahead and nod earnestly.]

You, too, Miss Yuuna.

...I think we could all use something a little bit more positive. Maybe we should all go on holiday or something.

[rainsrespite]

[Good, earnest boy...]

Well there's the Day of Fire in Caldera coming up. I'm going, are you?

[a_gentle_boy]

Um... I've heard a little about that, but I'm not quite sure... I guess we're all invited, right?

What's going to happen, do you know?

[rainsrespite]

Oh, it's a party for the solstice. I don't know the specifics, but it should be fun!

[a_gentle_boy]

I'll ask around, then. We've got a lot of Calderans living here now, right?

I think that means it's our first time celebrating something we've never heard about before... that's pretty exciting.

[rainsrespite]

It definitely is. And...at least for me? My one year anniversary of going outside the walls.

[a_gentle_boy]

Ooh...

[He allows a suitably impressed sound to pass from his mouth.]

Was this the war? Or -- no, that was longer than a year ago now.

[rainsrespite]

Oh no, I just...didn't really go out much. I was still kinda finding my feet after school.

[a_gentle_boy]

I see.

Well, nobody really left the city much besides the Rangers back before a few years ago, either. I was only outside because my parents were.

Rangers, I mean.

[rainsrespite]

Well, that's...I did not know that.

[She herself is wearing a Ranger patch on her arm. A more recent member.]

One of the outposts?

[a_gentle_boy]

Uh-huh.

[He hadn't noticed it, as they've been on video and the quality isn't the best. Yuuna will probably recognize that she hasn't met anyone who might have identified themselves as Lucas's parents.]

One of the furthest outposts in the Forest at the time. Actually, we even lived there together in a little cabin because my parents knew their territory so well - the Pokemon didn't mind us, either.

[He sounds a lot more cheerful when he's on this topic. ...Though it was hardly surprising, given what they were previously discussing.]

[rainsrespite]

[She's perceptive enough to have a guess as to why. But given how chipper he is, it's not like she'll spoil that mood.]

Is that so? So...you've been working with Pokemon for a while, huh? Must have been really nice living all the way out there. Exciting, and cozy.

[a_gentle_boy]

Mm-hm. Avey's been with me and -- um, since I was five.

[That was an awkward skip.]

It was a lot of fun. I miss being out there. ...I'm glad I had the chance to live in Union with all of you, but I wish I could go back and forth if I wanted to.

[rainsrespite]

Well, you can always go back out and explore, of course.

[There is that at least!]

[a_gentle_boy]

I know.

[A faint smile.]

It's just... It won't be quite the same as living like that.

[The old cabin was still there. Scorched slightly, the wood rotting. He'd never had the heart to go back inside.]

Anyway... I think that's getting a little off the topic. I'll see if anyone knows more about the holiday.

[rainsrespite]

Good. Do that, and I'll see you there.

[No reason to dwell on the sad stuff, okay? Especially not today. There's enough of that out there.]

[a_gentle_boy]

Mm-hm. I'll see you later!

[And Lucas will wave before closing the line.]