006 | Violet City | Video / Action;

[nostabbing]

[Who in their right mind would be up at the crack of dawn on this delightful Thursday in July, traipsing down to the Pokemon Center to make a Very Important Withdrawl™ from her PC? Well, possibly nobody in their right mind, but it certainly is Parker. Bright and early (or possibly really, really, really late, depending on when you consider "bedtime" to be a thing), she can be spotted heading out of the Violet City Pokemon Center with a fluffy red and blue egg in tow — and, impressively enough, followed along behind by just about every member of her roster, save for the evil ones and the horses (but she repeats herself).

Coincidentally, shortly thereafter she can also be spotted, still rather impressively — this time, atop some random south-facing shop's structurally sound purple awning: ]



Recording courtesy of GummyCam™

[Whether or not one also hears a bout of muffled yet vaguely melodious chanting that may or may not sound conspicuously like NAAAAAAAAAAAANTS INGONYAMA BAGITHI BABAAAAAAAA as this is occurring is, of course, entirely a matter of speculation.

JESUS CHRIST IT'S A LION AN ARCHEN GET IN THE CAR]


[OOC: As a note, Parker is far enough off-camera here to conceal the fact that her face is still somewhat messed up from her encounter with Blake; if you'd rather avoid your character having to see/deal with that, feel free to use text or voice instead of video or action! Just leave me a quick OOC note and I'll make sure she doesn't utilize video or bring it up in conversation. o/]

Comments

[ardent]

Ah, really?

[...you keep derailing him with this twelve-year-old stupidcool and he's pretty sure that's cheating, you know.]

Well...well, surely it would be easier to meet her up close, wouldn't it?!

[nostabbing]

[BUT IT'S SO STUPIDCOOL THOUGH.]

Yeah! She was supposed to be green like her dad, but she came out blue and red, instead. Hang on, I'll come down.

[Thankfully, Ishimaru's curiosity has managed to defuse Parker's theatrics long enough to prevent her from MAJESTICALLY HURLING THE ARCHEN OFF THE ROOF so, uh. Toucan Sam is grateful again, bro.]

[ardent]

[Hey, he does what he can, brosis.

That said, however, he's going to be keeping an eye on Alice on the way down; since this is Alice and she seems to be at least part ninja, he doubts she's going to fall, but that's not going to stop him from fretting anyway because fretting is what he does.]

You don't do this for all of your Pokémon when they hatch, do you?

[nostabbing]

Uh-uh, but this one's special. Her species is extinct so it's a pretty big deal when one hatches at all.

[With Toucan Sam stuffed under one arm, she one-handed swings herself down from the awning, landing reasonably nimbly on her feet — and grinning despite the fading bruise on her face and the scabbed-over cut on her chin.]

You want to hold her?

[ardent]

[Ishimaru's never really been one for eye contact - he's usually looking somewhere over the person's shoulder, or otherwise keeping his gaze focused high. However, that bruising is hard to miss, and he finds himself staring at it a more too blatantly to be natural, his eyes widening a bit before he answers her question. Because right, there was a question in there.]

I don't see why not, if that's really all right!

[Well, there are probably plenty of reasons why not, not the least of which being that Ishimaru tends to not be great with terribly young things or animals - so handing him a terribly young animal can't possibly end badly at all.]

[nostabbing]

[Fun fact: Ishimaru is pretty much the only person currently in Johto (save maybe Ralph) who Parker would be letting hold her Archen at this point, because he is worthy of this distinct honor and will be as reverent and careful as the situation warrants. Unlike Bernie's trainer, for example, who can butt right out despite being, y'know. Bernie's trainer.

Thus, here comes twenty pounds of fossilchicken, RIGHT AT HIS HANDS.]

Sure, it's okay. She's really sweet. See? She likes you.

[ardent]

Well, I'm sure that's nice, but...!

[...ohhhh lord just

let him hold this thing and pray he doesn't drop it, okay

I mean it's a bird so hopefully it would be okay if he dropped it because birds fly, right, but just in case...

Once he's maneuvered said fossilchicken into a position that's generally manageable and won't lead to his arm just kind of falling asleep suddenly and therefore running the risk of that dropping problem again, though, there are thing to discuss.]

Ah...what happened to your face, Alice-san? Answer honestly, please.

[He knows what the results of fighting look like; he's just wanting to know why said results are on your face.]

1/2

[nostabbing]

[Possibly embarrassingly, at this majestic transfer, all of the assembled Pokemon (who by the way are still totally there, oh yes) begin applauding, stomping, and generally braying their approval of this.

...BECAUSE IT SURE IS STILL THE LION KING IN HERE, ALL RIGHT.]

[nostabbing]

[As for the face, though...

Well, it's Ishimaru, so she's not going to lie or dodge the truth — he asked her to answer honestly, anyway — but she does kind of screw up her face at the memory.]

I was in the National Park last weekend. Some guy decked me.

[ardent]

[YOU GUYS... His grip tightens defensively against the Archen at that, though he loosens up a little once he realizes what's going on (and "what's going on" isn't "impending stampede").

However, that explanation from Alice gets a bit of an odd expression out of him; he's clearly bothered by what he's been told, but he's clearly trying not to flip out. At least not yet.]

And did this guy just deck you for no reason?

Don't get me wrong - there's nothing that would make that sort of response acceptable, provoked or not! But did he give you some sort of explanation for his actions?

[nostabbing]

[Now, see, the two things at play here are that 1) Ishimaru is really the first person who's actually inquired into the possible motivations behind what happened, as opposed to simply wanting to know the play-by-play, and 2) that this is Ishimaru, who is Parker's go-to for all things complicated and social.

Consequently, where other people have gotten the accurate but less specific description of the encounter, Ishimaru is about to get the infodump of what Parker actually recalls from it — a subtle but significant difference.]

I was checking out the park because of that Bug Catching contest they're having soon. You know, getting the lay of the land, spotting for hidden cameras or traps or ambush sites or...stuff. The guy ran up to me and started yelling something about wanting to know what I'd done to a little girl. He thought my hair ribbon was hers and that it meant I'd taken her or something, which is stupid because who would be that careless, right? So I said no and leave me alone and he called me a psycho and kept yelling about the girl.

So then I tried to leave and he grabbed me so I tried to pull him off and he grabbed me again so I kicked him and that's when he punched me. So then I got up a tree and some other people showed up and they held him off until the other cops showed up.

[ardent]

[Now, see, all of that...it complicates things.

It's always been easier for Ishimaru to process things like this from a distance, rather than when he's seeing it happen; at a reasonable distance, everything becomes facts in a particularly convoluted logic problem - a bit difficult to sort, maybe, but ones things start falling into place then it's not hard to see where all the other facts slot in. He lets her speak without trying to interject, but he's definitely processing everything she's telling him and he can't be sure what he thinks of it; he doesn't blame her for not giving him all of the details because it's entirely possible that she doesn't know, but there are things that are going to bother him. Like exactly who this little girl is - he doesn't think that punching Alice is acceptable, he'd said that from the start and he fully stands by that statement, but there's a difference in motivation if this is, for example, the man's daughter instead of just a random child.

And then she finishes and...well. That last statement likewise changes things, though not for the better.]

"Other cops"...? So this was a policeman, who did this?

[nostabbing]

[She nods, poking sort of absently at the scab on her chin.]

Where he comes from, I think, yeah. He said the stuff that made him sound like one — "my department", reading people their rights, questioning bad guys. All that stuff.

[ardent]

[...ohhhh boy.]

Do you remember who it was?

[nostabbing]

Uh-huh. Hang on.

[Fortunately, her backpack is nearby, so it's easy work to dig in there for her sketchbook and pencil out a brisk but surprisingly accurate drawing of Blake's attractive mug. Absurd talents save the day again!]

He looks like this.

[ardent]

[Ishimaru tenses abruptly at that, shifting back a little; the recognition in his gaze is unmistakable, though it's quickly replaced with a huge amount of agitation and when he speaks his words are quick, sharp.]

You're absolutely positive that's the man who hit you?! Completely honestly, without mistake - you're sure?!

[nostabbing]

[It's agitation that she misreads as disbelief and skepticism — two sentiments she's used to hearing, generally in conjunction with dismissal, and the fact that it rankles shows.]

I'm not lying! He was five inches from my face, yes, that's the guy.

[ardent]

[Oh for the love of - ]

I'm not saying you're lying, I was asking if you're sure! I know who this person is, and it's a serious accusation to throw at someone, that's all!

[nostabbing]

He punched me in the face.

[She says this in roughly the same tone as one might say, "I want to cut his arms off."]

[ardent]

Yes, I can see that!

[Said as though it's the most obvious thing in the world.

Technically, because it is. It's your face, it got punched, he's aware that it got punched, it's why he's annoyed, why are you getting snippy with him.]

[nostabbing]

So! Yes, I'm sure!

[She says, with a flat look.]

[ardent]

We've verified that!!

[WHAT EVEN.]

[nostabbing]

Oh.

[. . .]

Then why are we yelling?

[ardent]

...I'm actually not sure!

[...smooth, Ishimaru.]

[nostabbing]

Then stop!

[...She says, completely disregarding her own advice.]