masanari | [Pokelandia] That one which isn't focused on Masanari

[Pokelandia] That one which isn't focused on Masanari

[ Rin has been on his Pokémon journey for the last five months. It's not exactly the longest journey ever, but for a teenager who didn't exactly have a plan when he set out other than wanting to catch up to his twin brother, with whom he's battled several times and still has a record that shows more losses than wins, it certainly feels like a long one. Certainly long enough for him to train up a reasonably strong team and to get used to things like sleeping outdoors when he's out of towns and cozying up in a Pokémon Center when he was in a town. The life of a trainer was being frugal, especially if you weren't a Pro.

Then again, there's still a lot you can do even without being a full Pro, which is shown by the fact that the teenager, through many hard battles, has probably seen a little more than half the country, hiked over a mountain, and earned three gym badges this far. In comparison to some legendary prodigies he's working at a moderate pace, but then he wasn't really aiming for the League Champion position and he wasn't really necessarily out to be the Best at first.

But he did want to be the Best in his family. But that's a whole other thing he's not really sure how to explain to anyone else. Rin's starter was a cute little Shinx who he began his journey with, and who in the aftermath of their climactic second gym battle actualized into a humanoid as a result of their celebratory bond. That was on of the proudest moments of his life. It's not necessarily rare for trainers to bond with a Pokémon to that extent, but it's also not necessarily common, and that gym leader had ruffled his hair and told him good job. Aside from here, he's caught maybe six or seven other Pokémon, of which three are in the care of the people running the academy he used to go to school in, his connected PC system. One of those Pokémon is Junko.

Junko is a beautiful and somewhat vain (or at least, he sees her as such) Sylveon who he caught after a fierce battle while hiking through a mountain range past a certain City. He wasn't able to fight the gym leader there who was supposedly away on business, but he did shake hands with the leader's son and promise to come battle them again some day. It's been about a month since then, and he's taken to sleeping against her as a pillow (at her suggestion) when they are camping outside, while many of his other pokemon prefer to rest in the comfort of their balls. ~~I leave you to decide how Audrey sleeps~~

And so... one morning, following such a rest-- ]

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[ Koji was strong. It's something he had always been aware of, from the moment he was born to when he was play-fighting with his sister in his youth, all the way up until he evolved in the mountains near the city where they grew up. It's the sort of strength that all - or well, a lot - of Pokémon aspire towards, to become more and more powerful and in so doing increase their quality of life. It had been a happy childhood, but he had also wanted to test himself. Causing blizzards and doing childish pranks...

Well, that wasn't to say he was above such things now, but he did have a purpose. The adopted purpose of seeing this girl who he'd teamed up with through to the end of things. When he was captured - fair and square - that's when he decided that she was a Trainer he could work with, one which would make him stronger and one he's become incredibly endeared to over time, opening himself up more than... well, more than most of his family would have thought possible. And it's probably because of that that then she reaches out to brush him, it's not the tight fur of his Glaseon form-

But something different. His eyes are a shade of blue. He's somewhat smaller than even her, and his similarly blue hair is patterned in such a way as to resemble his true form's hat-like dangles. He has a tail, and obviously inhuman ears, and his breath is letting off some mist. But he's also looking at her with a reverent, quiet sort of surprise.

Was he...? Did he...? ]

[That's skin, actual, normal skin and not the weird slickness of her slowpoke named Joe, nor her Vulpix.]

What?

[Her voice is groggy while she drags her eyes open, blinking the shape in front of her into something that can make sense to her still tired brain. That is not her Pokémon, not any of them, actually. There's a boy in her room and she ... She didn't ... What?? At first Veronica is visibly terrified and ready to scream for her life, but then, right as the sound is about to leave her throat, she sees the ears. And then the tail. They're in a snowy town but even so one just doesn't run into a Glaceon out of nowhere!]

You - Are you?

[She finally sits up, her big eyes made wide. He didn't - he transformed?! There's no way! And why?]

It's me,

[ He confirmed, trying to sound as nonplused as he totally and completely isn't. His blu yes rove the room, and then focus back on her, looking down at himself and moving around his fingers, this thumbs. That's just weird...

But all the same, he... transformed, because of her. For her. The affection he feels is Definitely real enough, and he knows he should probably say something- but opts not to, in favor of reaching out to brush back some of her stray hair ]

[It's him. It's him! IT'S HIM!!!!]

You're so cool looking!

[Though that might be a difficult opinion to swallow since she'd spent maybe forty-five seconds looking at the new human form before she was suddenly barreling forward, wrapping him in a hug that was too tight and was incredibly likely to push his entire face into her boobs. Veronica, always the affectionate and expressive on, didn't care. She squeezed him tight as if he might try to run away from her now that he had two legs instead of four.]

I can't believe this! This never happens it's not - I didn't even know!

[They really had been through so much together but she had never assumed that her usually reserved Pokémon could care for her just as much as she did for him!]

[ Whoa girl he might be a cool badass (hah, get it?) but he wasn't used to this human body. He's surprised at how he's able to be jerked into her like that, how it feels like his muscles are weaker like this - or at least different. He would never freeze her, so he doesn't even think to do that, but she feels so warm as he's pulled into her and suffocated a little bit.

He waves his arms as if to imply that fact to her. But...

If he's honest, her joy is felt by him too. ]

[Well, to be fair! It's a little hard to miss someone moving their arms in a way that doesn't end with a hug! So Veronica at least has the sense to back off, leaving him free to take in air again.]

I'm sorry! [For almost suffocating him, not for being happy.] Are you ... Okay? Do you need anything?

[This is probably incredibly weird for him, right? After all, some amount of time ago he had fur and felt like a smooth sheet of ice!] Clothes. You might kind of need clothes.

[Although he was an Ice type so did he even feel cold?]

[ For a long moment, Koji considers it - how to speak, how he should move... honestly, how to be human at all. He moves his fingers, and holds thumbs up in the air for a long moment as he wiggles them. This sort of naked wonderment probably isn't suited for his normal personality, but these are explorations he can't help but make. The young man shifts his head, making the little "ear" patches of hair sway too. She didn't need to apologize, but he also didn't say that. ]

I need clothes? [ . . . ] Guess I would.

[ Did he need anything...? ]

I thought you might be cold but I guess that wouldn't be the biggest concern for you, either.

[Considering that she's not rude or ill-mannered it's not as if she's going to look down and stare at his body! So the clothes are pretty much up to him! She has some of her brother's old clothes in her bag and while they'd be big on Koji (as they are on her) it would be better than nothing if it helped him feel more comfortable.

The words die out for a little while, mostly veronica just watches him watching parts of himself.]

Hey. What's your name?

[ His name...

All this time, she's probably had a name she called him right? Koji considers for a moment, weighing the importance of her as a Trainer versus the name his mother gave him. Ultimately, he concludes... ]

Does it matter? The name you've called me is fine.

[ Unless she insists that it isn't, of course. But as he says this, he's sitting back away from her in the bed, so that he can see his legs, his toes - he wiggles his toes. And he also looks down between his legs, and hums a little. Was he cold? ... No, not really. He was always a little cold, and even now he was running at a lower than human body temperature ]

Of course it does. Your name is part of a lot of different things that made you into the Pokémon that is my best friend.

[That and did he really want to keep being called 'Glaceon'? Veronica's one of those types that doesn't actually name-name her companions because that's ... A lot of work when you consider how dedicated she is to catching every single Pokémon in every new area she reaches. But as he pulls away she sits up properly, relaxing back onto her side.

Uh, maybe it'd be best to get him some pants just for modesty's sake? Because now she does kind of look where she shouldn't. But just for a second.]

[ Hey, she said it so lovingly though. But given she insists... and she said it like that... he nods and says, ]

Koji.

[ It's a bit of a strange name for a Glaceon. Probably? He's not really met any other ones, if he's honest. He knows that most Snovers don't have names like that though. Huh... his penis is a little bigger in this form? Maybe? Or at least shaped differently. ]

[There's a Pokémon out there named Toaster. 'Koji' is just fine.]

It suits you.

[And she's glad to know it in more ways than Veronica could really hope to tell him. He'd never seemed like the type who didn't have a family or something, he enough of a personality that she'd just always figured he had a name and she couldn't hope to know what it was until new.]

Thank you, Koji.

[She leans over to kiss his cheek and, yeah, he's cold, but that probably means that Veronica is incredibly warm by comparison, right?]

[ Incredibly warm - she might as well be the sun, and he felt that warmth spread throughout his body. But it wasn't unpleasant, the way his mother's heat sometimes was. No, it was... stirring? No, that was a lame word he'd never commit to it. But it makes him cross his legs and flop his tail behind him, not quite curling it, but moving it so he might sit in a different position. His cheeks color, and he looks hard at her with his light blue eyes.

It's a look he gave a lot as a Glaceon, as if he was trying to judge something in her, or perhaps himself in judging her.

It suited him? ]

You're welcome.

[ After all, he did win the day. ]

[Veronica just grins.]

You're always so serious!

[It's such a dramatic contrast to Veronica's more optimistic take. She's far from ditzy, it may be more accurate to say that she rarely let anything get to her. Case in point, she isn't at all concerned with the fact that there's a newly minted, naked Gijinka sitting across from her on her hotel bed. Of course she's incredibly honored but he'd probably get irritated if she made too big a deal out of it!]

Come on, we should celebrate before we really have to grind for Victory Road!

[... She wasn't even going to think about the Elite Four just yet, but it was safe to say that the final leg of her goal was beginning and she wasn't ready to be all grimdark about it yet.]

I'm not that serious.

[ He was a dick sometimes too! ... But no, he could get how she might have that impression. Koji tried to be cool (hah), capable, and the best for her, because... well. Veornica's ambition might be said to outstrip her talents, but he didn't believe that. Rather, he suspected that her talent was simply not able to be matched by many of the other Pokémon they had used on the journey. As a result, he could be seen as stand-offish from many, even if he did have a handful of friends.

After all, there were a lot to choose from. And she was known to rotate them from time to time.

But... celebrate...? ]

How are we going to do that?

[ It might seem like another flat statement, but it's said with a smirk and his tail curling around front ]

Okay, okay, intense might be a better word.

[She waves a hand as if that might dismiss the prior terminology, and then leans over to the bedside table to get the dine-in menu.]

Well, to be honest I don't really feel like going out. But, oh, we could order whatever we want and there's movies and whole series to watch, too! Oh, I wonder if this is one of those rooms with a video game system attached ...

[Except.] All of that might be kind of boring, is there anything you want to try?

[They've been on the road consistently, this is the first time in nearly eight months Veronica's been in an actual room without catching and taking care of Pokemon on her mind, so all those indoor activities seem fun to her! But Koji's got gijinka form and everything, so he might actually want to go out or something?]

Just us, or are you going to let any of the others join?

[ Might as well confirm that before he answers? That said, he looks around the room, to the TV and then back at her. He considers the phone and the menu. ... Wait, he couldn't read. He never needed to learn how to read. He looks away from it, and then focuses back on her face.

She was so warm.

He flexes his fingers again, and then reaches out to touch her cheek. It feels different than it did with a paw ]

Just us. Lucario was really worn out, and Skarmory is just too big.

[Not to mention a little hazardous for the size of the room. But even though he can't read Veronica could just tell him what everything is! Despite her answer it's basically impossible to ignore how often he keeps looking back at her, and before she could ask him if anything was wrong he was touching her face.

She reaches up to put her hand over his. He's so cold that if she didn't know what he was it'd be really concerning!]

[ He liked Skarmory, mostly, so he's actually a little bit sad about that even if he did want to be alone with her. Because... well, how could he not want to be alone with her? After all, he really did like her. There's no way that he couldn't like her, after all he had become a gijinka in her service, just like his mother and father.

...Huh.

He shakes his head, and brushes his hand against her cheek under her own. It's so warm, it's so warm and... And... ]

Let's stay in, sure.

Okay!

[She's secretly grateful that he doesn't want to run around the city, which is already freezing on a normal day but might be particularly blistering tonight with all the snowfall. Great for Koji, probably, but bad for Veronica who was too thin to keep from chilling to her bones in such weather.]

I wonder if they'll let me order champagne.

[They should! She was old enough to be out on her own, and she was seventeen! That's old enough!!!] Do you want to try eating something? The food will be different for you, but it looks like they have easy stuff like burgers and fries, and there's soup, too.

[She's looking at the menu now, still leaning into his touch, with it set off to the side where she can read it well enough.]

[ He's...

Hmmm. ]

I've never really tried any of it before. [ Or hell, he's also never really eaten miltanks or whatever they make the burgers out of. For the most part, he subsisted on plants and fungi, as well as whatever specialized food she got him. Or really, he never drank either. So...

He's at a loss in more ways than one. He looks at the menu, narrows his eyes, and then shakes his head ]

Read it for me? [ A beat ] I'd like to try things.

Alright, well, they have normal drinks: Water, hot and cold teas, sodas, milk. For the alochol there's just moscato and I think that assortment of words is just a wine.

[It's a shame he has no other menu-reader options.] There's a vegetable soup, a mushroom one, chicken and gnocchi - which is really good but usually really heavy, for the record - and minestrone. The entrees are ... Salmon, a bacon cheeseburger, grilled cheese, steak, a quesadilla. Oh! There's a fruit tart on the dessert menu! And cheesecake!

[She is so excited! And also distracted from her original task!]

[ Gurl. Gurl..

His hand lowers form her face, and he moves his finger down to to point at the biggest section on the menu. Which he assumes must be entrees and thus remind her to go to it. That said, it might be something else entirely for all he knows. But seriously, don't ... get off topic ]

[She pouts at him, because now her face feels lonely, but okay, okay, point taken!]

Entree-wise, there are also fish tacos, lasagna, and chicken alfredo. [See there wasn't even that much left on the entree part!] Oh, ribs! I missed the ribs!

[She pauses and then looks at him.] Koji, if I get them you can't judge me.

[Because tiny Veronica will rip into them like a starved animal and it will be vicious, intense, and messy.]

Depends what sort of ribs.

[ Because if it's something stupidly big like... Torpius ribs? He's going to judge her. Was he joking though, or was he serious?! Who even knows, he's not used to talking yet, but he licks his lips, surprised at-

Huh... ]

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