01 [Action]

[withcourage]

[After discovering the sudden disappearance of the foreign plant life, Aster is out and about investigating! ...Not that he still has any clue as to what made it all disappear. His only guess would be that, well...something or other did it. After all, strange plants don't just suddenly appear, reappear when gotten rid of, and then disappear altogether a few days later!]

[The pokemon researcher is currently wandering aimlessly around town, trying to see if there is any plant life at all remaining. Thus far, he's had no luck, and his pokemon aren't really helping. Tonitrus the Eevee is on his shoulder, looking around the area and yawning. The other two were left back at his home because for some reason getting up early to investigate the town did not interest them. What strange pokemon they were.]

I can't believe that it's really all gone. It doesn't make much sense, but none of those plants are left. And all of those pokemon are gone, too. I guess I shouldn't complain about the lack of sneezing, though. I'm definitely glad to be done with that!

The weird weather's gone, too, boss.

[Aster grimaces.]

Oh, don't remind me about those incidents, Tonitrus.

[The Eevee seems to smile proudly at the "pain" induced in his trainer.]

Comments

Aster is so going to get his butt handed to him unless hax

[withcourage]

Preferably something that doesn't wind up with me in the Medical Center. I guess that means...first blood?

[He lets Tonitrus down to the ground, and the Eevee scampers off to the side.]

It was nice knowing you, boss.

Thanks for the vote of confidence.

[Okay, Aster, think... If you have to fight...your only hope is to outsmart your opponent and catch her by surprise. She is likely a lot stronger and faster than he is--well, okay, he could move pretty quickly thanks to being an Electric-type Enlightened. Maybe use that, too... He eyes Absol and waits for her to make the first move.]

Ready when you are!

He gets an A+ for Courage

[unreined]

[Absol grins. The tension seems to have left her body, now that she's engaging in an activity that comes as naturally to her as breathing.]

Here I come! [She dashes forward and- with a single motion- draws her naginata from her back and slashes with a Quick Attack.]

Well, as he says... Courage is the magic that turns dreams into reality!

[withcourage]

[Waitwaitwait she meant fighting with a weapon?! Oh dear Savior... He takes a few steps back to dodge the attack and looks around the area for something to help him out. If he is going to even try to win, he needs something to extend his reach! Stick? Is there a stick anywhere? Nope. Well then.]

[He could always resort to his powers, but yet... He does not want to really use those in a life-or-death situation! Although admittedly he had not used them in a while and probably did not want to get rusty...]

[Well, if nothing else, maybe he could stun her and poke her with a pen until she gave in. That seems about his best bet.]

he said it he said the thing

[unreined]

[Sorry, did Aster say anything? Absol couldn't hear you over the sound of her having immense fun.

She continues to press her attack, slashing again and again in a reckless charge.]

Yes. Yes, he did. *adds once to the counter*

[withcourage]

[Have an Aster running from the attack because why did he agree to this again? Oh, yeah, he's an idiot who is way too nice for his own good.]

[It's too bad that when he finds a stick to use, it's because he trips over it. ]

Ah!

[He winces. If Absol would try an attack now, he would not have any chance to get out of the way. Thus, if she did attack now, he would quickly try to counter with a small jolt of electricity to slow her down.]

[unreined]

Gotcha! [NO MERCY. Absol leaps through the air, and takes the jolt to the face.

It's enough to charge her with static electricity, causing her hair to poof out.]

Nnnnn! [THIS FEELS WEIRD she brushes her skin to make the tingly feeling go away.] The heck was that?!

[withcourage]

[He takes the opportunity to get to his feet! However, once he sees her hair, he can't help but snicker. He also picks up the stick he picked up because having something was better than nothing!]

Electricity, of course! I...I've learned how to control it over the past few years, but I don't use it much. Sorry if it hurt; I wasn't trying to have it do that!

[At least this person probably will not care about the fact that he's a bit different... He does not like to reveal that he's Enlightened to people usually, but he feels like she would probably still lump him together with humans, and he is perfectly okay with that.]

[unreined]

That didn't hurt! [She quickly brushes the hair out of her eyes and charges in to attack again!]

[withcourage]

[Aster smiles.]

Good! I'm glad it didn't!

[He is caught a bit by surprise as she rushes in to attack again, and he hastily brings up the stick and an arm to try to block...]

[Except the thin stick is sliced in half and she score a cut on his arm. Thankfully, his coat prevents it from being any worse!]

Well, I guess you won! Not that I expected to have a chance!

[He laughs, almost completely disregarding the pain. He takes off his lab coat so it wouldn't get stained with blood. The long-sleeved shirt he wears underneath is black, so he doesn't worry about that.]

It's good to stretch and run around! I'll need to be quick on my feet to survive when I go out into the wilderness, after all!

[unreined]

Of course it didn't hurt! Hmph! [She immediately stops once she has "won" and sheathes her weapon. But she still seems really irritated by the tingly-zappy feeling and crosses her arms in a huff.]

At least you have guts... I'll give you that much. [She reaches into one of her pouches and pops an Oren Berry into her mouth. Without looking at him, she holds out the pouch to Aster.]

[withcourage]

[He chuckles. Upon seeing the pouch, he blinks, but takes one out and pops it into his mouth.]

I'll take that as a compliment. Thanks! And thanks for the berry!

[He continues to eat the berry and swallows. Tonitrus the Eevee runs up to him.]

Hey, you survived after all!

[Aster rolls his eyes.]

Of course I did. You of little faith...

[He glances back at Absol.]

So, what's your name, then?

[unreined]

... Absol. What about you?

[withcourage]

Aster. It's a pleasure to meet you, Absol!

[His eevee then puffs up his chest and speaks.]

And I'm Tonitrus!

[unreined]

An "Aster", huh...? [She squats down to get a better look at Tonitrus.] And you're an Eevee, right?

[withcourage]

[The Eevee nods proudly.]

Yep! I'm an eevee, and the boss and I have been together since he was little-er! You can call him "idiot," if you want, though!

Hey!

[Tonitrus snickers at his trainer.]

Well, you can't tell me you haven't done some stupid things!

W-well, no, but...

[unreined]

"Idiot"? [Sorry, can't suppress a smirk at that.]

[withcourage]

Yeah! I mean, he's done stuff like gone out into the woods without food...

Tonitrus...

Forgotten other things he's needed for his research at home...

Tonitrus.

And he's done dangerous things without a thought to his well-being. He's a grade A idiot!

And I'm still doing okay!

[His attention is finally brought to the cut on his arm. He grabs a bandage from a pouch, wraps his arm, and ignores it again.]

[unreined]

[Absol can't help but laugh at that, even if it's more like a snigger.]

Well, if nothing else, you just proved how "resilient" humans are after all... even if it's because you're still standing despite all that.

[withcourage]

As we sometimes say: what doesn't kill you makes you stronger! Even if we face a lot of trouble and danger, if we can get through it we'll come out better than before!

[He grins.]

I'm glad, though. We're not perfect, and some of us humans really are bad, but I'd say we're not nearly as weak or bad as some people consider us to be! That just depends on the individual to decide that for him or herself! I don't know if I'd call myself a shining example of humanity's strength, though. I'm more of an intellectual, after all.

[unreined]

Mmm... [Absol turns away, popping another Oren Berry in her mouth and chewing away at it. He was making an annoying amount of sense for a human, not that she would ever admit that to his face.]

Listen, you. I won our fight, so give me one of those "maps" you mentioned and maybe I'll consider us even.

[withcourage]

[Aster chuckles and produces one from his same pouch. He offers it out to her.]

Here you go! Have you ever used one before?

[unreined]

It shouldn't be too... [She actually opens it up and looks at it.] ... urgh.

[withcourage]

It can be a bit overwhelming if you're not used to it. I'll explain about how it works!

[With a smile, he begins explaining what each symbol means and would describe to her what any building or area is if she asks.]

[unreined]

[Absol sits and listens, but it soon becomes clear that she's having a really hard time getting her head around how the map works. Maybe she's the kind of person who learns things faster in practice instead of theory?]

[She is grateful for the explanations of Union's buildings, though.]

This human nest has... a lot of things in it.

[withcourage]

That's for sure! There's something for whatever anyone needs.

[He does pick up on her predicament, however!]

Would you like for me to give you a tour to get a better idea of things?