oukido

[oukido]

Not working feels wrong when he's been working nonstop since he got appointed gym leader. Then he took on academia and, well... it's always something. If he's not busy he starts feeling a little crazy. Maybe a little too much like his grandpa in that way.

Way too much like him, really.

"Thanks for taking care of the family," he says, and means it. Fern's energetic and becoming increasingly opinionated. Apparently Green was the same as an infant. He deserves to grow up in a safe, thriving Pallet.

Eevee wakes up, her ears twitching, and rolls onto her back.

"Sycamore's great. Busy, but happy. He's got a guy he's into and he's been talking my ear off about him. You think I talk a lot, well..."

It's nice, though, he has to admit. To hear about the lives of the people he cares for, even the ones that are usually so far away. Green closes his eyes.

Ohkido's always... doing something. Hiding something. Green would like to be kept somewhat in the loop, but he figures that's asking too much. The old man disappears and he's just learned not to ask questions.

"Tell gramps to give me a call whenever he's back."

[No. Giovanni's digging everywhere. Says there's going to be a tsunami. Viridian not going to be hit. Just going to have Daisy's family stay with me.]

He doesn't doubt Giovanni's sixth sense or the entire network of precautions he'd chaotically invested in either.

[You said you wouldn't go back a lot. Maybe now it's better without the rest of the experiences. The bad stuff. Going back now you can just focus on the nicer stuff. Anyways you needed a vacation and to stop working. Gym's fine. Don't worry.]

He leans on his hand. There were paws on the floor in the background. He's the same as ever, calm and centered Red, if a little more tired. Green looks like he's sleeping better by leaps and bounds.

[How's Sycamore? Oak's been gone for a day. Nothing new.]

Though, he does have a weird feeling about this sudden call and trip.

#blastburned

[oukido]

"First week's fine. Nothin' I can't handle." The jetlag sucked, but he's good now. He's actually sleeping better here. Sycamore's always kind and hospitable, glad to open his home to a friend whenever needed.

The sounds of the city are soothing. Lumiose is... so much bigger than Viridian. Pallet's a postage stamp in comparison.

"Can't believe I'm back here either. Didn't I say like, ten times that I wasn't coming back? That I wouldn't be caught dead back in Kalos? I must be crazy. I swear I saw one of my exes at a café the other day. Eugh."

He did a lot of growing in this city. It's going to be a part of him forever.

"How're things back home? Viridian ain't falling apart, right?"

[Thinking about you.]

It's early, early morning. He's a tea guy over a coffee guy, and his morning tea is still steaming next to his hand.

[How's the first week? Can't believe you headed back to Kalos.]

Pikachu's head pops up from offscreen, nose twitching at Eevee. They'd had a conversation about him teaching, and teaching outside Kanto? Seemed like the right move for him. He had better access to the international subjects.

#blastburned

[oukido]

It really is the best time. Red's awake, and Green's gotten back from teaching. He still doesn't know what the hell possessed him to go back to Kalos and start studying here again—not just studying, but teaching, too. He must be crazy.

Just like his granddad.

He's lying across the bed in the spare room of Sycamore's flat. The hood of his hoodie is pulled over his mess of hair. Eevee's curled up against his side. The Rotom phone floats overhead.

"Morning handsome," he says, followed by a yawn. "Thinkin' about you."

@oukido

R-OTOTOM- R-OTOTOM.

The best time to call him was in the early morning. It's not a problem for him, the early riser. Red sat on the floor, his legs occupied by the Eevee's under the kotatsu. When Rotom's screen blips on, his phone floats in front of him to catch his signing. It's still dark at home.

[Hey. Good afternoon.]

#blastburned

[oukido]

...

"You know, I am very old."

A soul so impossibly ancient, it's a wonder she so easily fell into the small hands of an eleven-year-old boy.

Well... it's more that she allowed herself to fall into those small hands, simply because she was curious about what he would do.

"Before this life, there were things I learned to see. There is a mark on your soul— left by a great evil. It does not taint you. It is only a sign of what you have endured, and the hand that you have extended to save others from that same evil."

#cursedmystic #ask. #eeehehehehe

[oukido]

...

Sniff. Sniff. SNIFFFFFFFFFF.

"You look like you could use a nap! Workin' too hard? Workin' is fun and all, it keeps you movin', but I think it's okay to play, playing's also fun. And eating. Did Green ever invite you over for dinner or anything? He's a really good cook, wouldn't even guess with the junk he lived off of in university! I think you two oughta have a meal together. Make sure to leave some for me okay? Green will tell you not to fall for my big eyes but he always falls for it anyway! Talk about a pushover!"

...Did he take a single breath?

#earth master #ask. #puppy :)

[oukido]

...

"Yannow, yer li'l guy, Bappy, one who looks like a, umm, ummm, éclair, think that's what they call 'em. Time when ya left him 'ere with the little guy he smacked me in the face with those spines when I went sniffin' him."

He seems to be fondly reminiscing this, though.

"An accident! Prob'ly! Think I startled him! S'okay, didn't feel a thing!"

#monterraverde #ask. #'little guy' refers to green #guy getting roasted by his own pokemon....... smh

[oukido]

send me a “...” and one of my muse’s pokemon will talk to you.

Specify a question or subject or even the pokemon for bonus points.

#choking and coughing

[oukido]

WOW HI GANG i'm still alive i've just been having... issues. seasonal depression and life stuff and just a lot of stress, been having issues keeping up w/ my more active blog too. hiiiiii (coughs up blood)

#ooc. #just saw its been exactly 4 months since ive posted. Um

[oukido]

Rowan is very polite and very attentive. He looks away from setting up the tea kettle so he can watch Red speak, Green notes. Lucas is good at remaining focused on what he had already been doing, but his head is tilted their way, curious.

When Red's hands still Green opens his mouth, but Rowan speaks.

"The Griseous Orb," Rowan echoes. Green blinks. Oh, so he understands? Well, that's... good. It'll make this conversation go by a lot smoother and a lot faster. "Hmm...! The Black Fog, too? Yes, I know it."

"You know it?" Green sounds as baffled as he looks.

"I was in Kanto in 2007 studying the Pokédex systems with your grandfather, the same time as the incident was occurring. Yukinari disappeared. I remained in Pallet."

Yeah, Green remembers his grandfather seemingly vanishing without a trace. Daisy had been freaking out, calling him constantly to make sure he was safe, to ask him if he'd seen Ohkido anywhere. At the time, Green had mostly just been annoyed rather than concerned.

Rowan turns again and reaches into the little fridge. Three Rage Candy Bars are produced, and he places them on the kotatsu. "...Well, that is all I know, which is to say: not much at all. Was it not defeated?"

Green makes a face, glancing back at Red. He reaches over to take one of the candy bars and work on unwrapping it.

"Apparently not," Green mutters.

"I see." Rowan looks contemplative. He pauses to turn the stove on an then walks over, lowering himself down at the kotatsu as well. "Then the Black Fog and your search for the Griseous Orb are connected? I must say, I'm surprised you came to me."

"Your name was in a book I found. The Journal to Sinnoh Folklore. It mentions the Griseous Orb. Plus, y'know, bein' the professor... figured you'd know something."

"Yes. I remember that one." Rowan hums. He looks at Red again. "How did you come to hear of the orb?"

Creation of everything. Maybe. His brow furrowed in that same "stern" look that it did when he was thinking.

[When you give a god a name, it becomes a god.]

He's not so sure about the intentional nature of anything. Life and existence was so chaotic and unpredictable, the order of things random and without intention. These great spirits were there- hell he could feel them in the shadow of this place like incoming rainstorms. Sinnoh is such a different place of power- It's overwhelming.

[It's overwhelming here.]

He can see why Cynthia rooted herself here and grew to the point that she did.

She's probably doing just as well as they were. Hell, she's probably stronger now than ever.

They should go see here.

A door opens from further in the behavior lab and he watches the Professor cross the room with that briefcase. Green straightens up, something he has to think about, and Red nods 'good morning'.

The man in front of them is stern, but not unfriendly at all. In contrast, he seems to be the kind of person whose kindness got him in trouble more than once. Rowan's hair is wiry and thick, and he's winning a battle with balding by seeming uncharacteristically sturdy.

If ever a man was a representation of an old tree with strong roots, this seemed like that man.

Green moves past Oak and Red lingers on the topic for just a moment more to puzzle over- Rowan seems to know the professor's propensity for... something.

He's probably doing the same thing Green is doing for the same reasons that they didn't tell Dr. Ohkido where they were going.

Your grandfather doing something he doesn't want us to know about.

Green hands the speaking floor to him and he looks up at the professor from his seat, scooting to the edge of it to make his hands more visible.

[We are looking for an artifact called the Griseous Orb.]

That was it. On a hunch and a pipedream.

[But we're here because of something- a monster called "The Black Fog". Can't find anything on it.]

#a crawl to god. #blastburned

[oukido]

"Never been here either." Seen a lot of photos and videos. Met a lot of people from here. Even battled Cynthia, which was a hell of a challenge. He won, but it was close. That Garchomp of hers was fucking vicious, and at the time he had no Fairy types to properly combat her Spiritomb.

Might be worth checking in with her, too, if she's around. Apparently she has the tendency to... wander.

"Yeah, you hear a lot about 'em, 'specially since they're all about the creation of..." Vague hand gestures. "Everything."

There is the sound of the doors to the lab opening and shutting, steady footsteps walking across the smooth floor to the little room. Green pushes himself back up into a sitting position because he knows damn well he needs to be showing his grandpa's colleague some—tch—respect.

Professor Rowan is a tall, stout man with a heavy brow. He's older than Ohkido, carries himself differently. Like Lucas said, he looks severe—there's no smile on his face, and he's got a wrinkle in his forehead. But he doesn't give off any sort of vibe that he's unfriendly.

The man places his briefcase down and sheds his coat, hanging it up, before he speaks to either of them. He addresses Lucas first with a nod and a 'good morning', and then turns his eyes to his guests.

"It's been some time since I've had a champion in my lab. Never have I had two at the same time, however." He's making his way to the small stove, retrieving a tea kettle. "I'm honored to have you both here. Of course, you did not travel all the way here just to speak to me."

"We've got a lot on our agenda," Green says. "Figured you could help us start, though. Gramps always talked you up."

"Hmm. How is your grandfather?"

"He's fine." Neurotic. Green quickly moves on, "Red, you wanna tell him everything?"

And of course the unspoken promise he'll be sure to translate.

Green passes out on his shoulder the minute they leave Kanto airspace, and he gets the aisle seat on every commercial flight they take to compensate for the fact he's been aching too badly to actually put pressure on his shoulder. The hours pass, and after hour one he's out like a light too.

Green's sick upon landing, and Red keeps him plastered to his side and carries most of the weight for both of them through the busiest day he's ever seen in any airport. They picked a busy travel day, the flights were expensive and an absolute necessity, and when they get there Green shakily lies down. Eventually, when he's finally satisfied with letting his guys out or popping them into the hotel healer dock, he crawls into bed beside him.

The scenery in the car is what really hits him- they're in Sinnoh, in a new place with different Pokémon in it, and not once in his traveling has he been to the place. The wanderlust wakes up in that moment: that siren call of "I want to see it all" and "I want to do it all". He wanted to meet the people, play with the Pokemon, see their lives.

The scenery is so completely different than home, and even the smell of the air is different.

Sandgem's familiar though. It's a little village by the coast, and when they walk into the lab, Kanto feels a hell of a lot smaller in comparasin.

He nodded an introduction to Lucas, and signed to Green what he wanted to communicate as usual- [I'm Red, it's nice to meet you] , and they both waited with politeness by the kotatsu.

Ever been to Sinnoh?

No.

He shook his head no.

[I had a job offer from Laurent. Didn't take it.]

Because you were in Kalos.

[Sinnoh legends are popular.]

#a crawl to god. #blastburned

[oukido]

"Guh."

Green really doesn't want to move. He's sore in all sorts of different ways, some of them more pleasant than others. His stomach also hurts a little bit, and his head is starting to throb.

The music doesn't help.

He slowly props himself up, one hand on Red's chest. Blinking blearily, he scowls down at him.

There's blacklight paint smeared on him now, too, Green notes. He doesn't really care, though. He wants to just flop back down, but this isn't the ideal place for a nap.

Ah, shit, and we have to make for Sinnoh in a few hours.

Awesome.

"Fine," he mutters. "Clothes."

Honestly how they managed to stop an emergency mental health crisis of a party attendee, Green gassing someone up and getting them home in a questionable state of dress, and get into this position without an ambulance showing up for the person going through hell...?

He has no idea. At least the empty couch frame is kind of comfortable.

He's actually sore. His arm hurts like hell.

I think we have a flight in five hours...

Red rubs at his eyes, half nodding off, and flinches as sounds keep... overriding the distant thump of the bass.

Fuck he still can't sleep. Neither can Green. He's grimacing.

We have to get out of here.

He whistles to him to wake him up.

[We should get going. Can't sleep.]

#saffronmidnightparade2023 #blastburned

[oukido]

woke up in a compromising position because he rolled a 20.

#save. #YEAH #blastburned

[oukido]

Green approached his double with a radiant smile. He extended his hand, hoping Green would shake it.

“Thanks for the amazing battle!” and with a wink, he added: “You’re pretty strong huh!”

Green reaches out and grasps his mirror by the forearm, giving it a firm shake. His skin still feels white-hot, his blood pumping.

"Hey, you, too. Figures, though, since we're the same guy, right? Hahaha!"

Alakazam, returned back to her normal appearance, teleports in next to them — uncomfortably close to the other Green, pressing one of her spoons to his cheek.

#greenxprof #ask.

[oukido]

He gives a cheek kiss for the Champ, all fired up and bouncing from foot to foot.

He makes a face and grins, broad, when he feels Red's lips squish up against his cheek. Green swings his arm around his middle and bonks their heads together, nose crinkling. He's practically vibrating out of his own skin.

"Feels great to fight with you again, champ."

#ask. #blastburned

[oukido]

It's been a while.

[Dance?]

"You know it."

His hand wraps around Red's wrist and he promptly drags him out onto the dancefloor. He'll... try to behave. Maybe.

#ask. #blastburned

[oukido]

[No you didn't cry.]

"Yeah, 'cus I know better than to cry over a guy."

#[EXTREMELY LOUD INCORRECT BUZZER] #<- LIARRRRRRRRR HES LYINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG BZZZZTTTTTTTT #blastburned

[oukido]

this is green

#this.