[ Three years since Luceti, and more than that since Ikki had seen home. The pangs of homesickness occur only rarely. They've been all over Johto and Hoenn by this point, and after a fairly uneventful cruise just over a year ago, they've finally hit Kanto. And they've been all over that, too.
Now they're back in Viridian, though, because that's where the first gym of this region is, and the first thing Ikki did this morning after getting her trainer's license (Ikki Kida, her picture, a number she's already memorized, and the home town they picked back when Masaomi had to get his own license) was get her first badge. The Earth Badge has since been tied onto the prayer beads at her wrist, and after years of watching Masaomi collect badges, this has been a long time coming.
The party is fairly crowded; Ikki's pokegear - because they got those, too, eventually - is filled with numbers of friends from different regions, and she's gotten a variety of presents at the gathering already, up to and including a pokemon from Professor Oak. They'd met him last year, and while Ikki's had a variety of pokemon since she was seven years old, she received the traditional starter today - a Charmander, dubbed Tseten. He's in one of the balls at her waist; the only two pokemon out and about are Soren (always, forever) and Karma, a newly-evolved Jolteon (thunderstone? Birthday present).
She's caught other pokemon over the last three years, of course. Not many, because there's responsibility for each of them, and training, and that's hard work and has to be carefully considered - but a few. Tara the Dratini, Yama the Slowpoke (pink), Zenji the Clefairy (pink), and Daivika the Jigglypuff (guess why she caught this hint it's pink too). Others have evolved. Yeshi is now a Xatu and Ema is now and Altaria. And Chodak, after two and a half years of training? He's now a Gyrados. He does more now.
While Ikki's spent a lot of the party mingling and opening gifts, she waits to open Masaomi's gift last, when they have a moment on the sidelines, because out of everyone in this world, he's the one who knows her best and the only human she could call family, here.
She's counting on it being good, too. He's always been good at gifts. ]
Masaomi! Hey, Linda. [ "Sifu" is still used, sometimes, but less often. It's not a lack of teaching, but more the way it'd felt weird to call Aang Sifu, once upon a time. ] Ready?
three years later.
Now they're back in Viridian, though, because that's where the first gym of this region is, and the first thing Ikki did this morning after getting her trainer's license (Ikki Kida, her picture, a number she's already memorized, and the home town they picked back when Masaomi had to get his own license) was get her first badge. The Earth Badge has since been tied onto the prayer beads at her wrist, and after years of watching Masaomi collect badges, this has been a long time coming.
The party is fairly crowded; Ikki's pokegear - because they got those, too, eventually - is filled with numbers of friends from different regions, and she's gotten a variety of presents at the gathering already, up to and including a pokemon from Professor Oak. They'd met him last year, and while Ikki's had a variety of pokemon since she was seven years old, she received the traditional starter today - a Charmander, dubbed Tseten. He's in one of the balls at her waist; the only two pokemon out and about are Soren (always, forever) and Karma, a newly-evolved Jolteon (thunderstone? Birthday present).
She's caught other pokemon over the last three years, of course. Not many, because there's responsibility for each of them, and training, and that's hard work and has to be carefully considered - but a few. Tara the Dratini, Yama the Slowpoke (pink), Zenji the Clefairy (pink), and Daivika the Jigglypuff (guess why she caught this hint it's pink too). Others have evolved. Yeshi is now a Xatu and Ema is now and Altaria. And Chodak, after two and a half years of training? He's now a Gyrados. He does more now.
While Ikki's spent a lot of the party mingling and opening gifts, she waits to open Masaomi's gift last, when they have a moment on the sidelines, because out of everyone in this world, he's the one who knows her best and the only human she could call family, here.
She's counting on it being good, too. He's always been good at gifts. ]
Masaomi! Hey, Linda. [ "Sifu" is still used, sometimes, but less often. It's not a lack of teaching, but more the way it'd felt weird to call Aang Sifu, once upon a time. ] Ready?