Stuck In The Wrong Place

[dammitmasa]

Same Old People, Wrong Destination

Today you get a message from the Malnosso. They’ve found a way to send you home. You’ll remember Luceti, but it’s a one way trip. You’ve said your tearful goodbyes and prepared yourself for the inevitable return home. One moment you’re in Luceti, the next you’re not.

But nobody ever said the Malnosso ever got everything right. Sure, you’re not in Luceti anymore. Yes, you’ve lost your wings and barcode. But this isn’t your world. It’s some other world and now that you’re cut off from the Malnosso, you have no hope of ever getting back home. Which means that wherever you’ve ended up, you’ll be spending the rest of your life there.

On the up-side, you’re not the only one stuck here. Someone else from Luceti, also alien to this world, is stuck with you. With the common bond of being strangers to this brave new world, it’s inevitable you’ll stick together. But for how long?

Considerations

1. You can go to any other world you want! It just can’t be one either of your characters are from. You can make up something like a fantasy world, something from a sci fi, or something just like the modern world. Or you can pick a canon neither of your characters belong to.
2. Ideally they should both be from different canons altogether. But this isn’t required!
3. There’s supposed to be no way back. Even genius characters ought to find it impossible. But does that mean all hope has to be lost? For those who have been gone from Luceti a long time, it might be fun if they were given a chance to go back to Luceti and be trapped again.
4. For an optional extra level of complexity, give consideration to your character’s appearance or to their abilities. Will they stand out in this new world? Will they have to hide what they can do? Or will they even be able to use their powers if the source of their powers is gone?


Prompts

1. Day One - You’ve both just arrived on this world and by chance, you run into each other. Two heads are better than one. Now you just have to figure out what to do next.

2. One Week Later - You’ve been in this world a week. Things are starting to sink in. So is the idea of being stuck here. It’s time to start thinking about the long term.

3. One Month Later - Now that you’ve both been here awhile, you’ve learned the ins and outs of your new home. You’re making a living and getting by, but you still think of home.

4. Six Months Later - It may not be home, but you’ve learned to be comfortable. By now, your relationship with your fellow Lucetian has certainly evolved as well.

5. One Year Later - It’s been long enough that you sometimes wonder if you ever did live in a place like Luceti. So what’s life for you like in this whole new world?

6. Other - Don’t be limited by the above. This could be two weeks later or twenty years later! Of course, you can always time skip once you’ve established what you want to do at one time period.

Comments

Ikki | Legend of Korra

[breezing]

[ Feel free to pick whatever or we can chat ]

Choose Your Own Adventure, Pokemon World

[generalflirt]

[Side A: 2 months later]
[Welp, this was long enough for him to conclude two things. The first is that this is in fact not a Shift after all, and the second is that he and the girl with him are alone in terms of people from Luceti. Which... he can't help but feel incredibly guilty about, but he's trying to keep upbeat enough for her sake. Mercifully, both do still have their pokemon, as if the system that sent them here realized they would need them.

...And boy do they, seeing as how they were dropped off two months ago in the middle of Hoenn, and though they found civilization some time ago, "civilization" is very relative out here.]

[Side B: 6 months later]
[Settling more, probably with more of a line up, today is the day they finally worked out the money for a plane ticket (seriously, who knew transport out of the region was so expensive in Hoenn, they must assume you've got pokemon using Fly, but Masaomi long since vetoed that, because they don't know the world well enough) out of Hoenn and to Johto. It's perhaps a little sentimental on his part, but Masaomi's actually looking forward to seeing Gold and Silver's stomping grounds. And who knows, maybe he'll meet them.

...Even if he doesn't expect them to remember.

Really though, he's just been giving them goal after goal in an effort to try to keep things directed and upbeat for Ikki, who he knows by now must miss her family and friends tremendously. He knows he does too, but doesn't have "family," so.]

[Side C: 1 year later]
[Confident that he's trained enough for it, it's now the night before Masaomi trying to get his forth badge in Johto. As long as they're stuck here and travelling to distance themselves from the whole "wow we're stuck here," he figured he might as well attempt. The Zephyr badge wasn't that hard, and the Hive Badge he didn't need to work too hard for. He was stuck for a month on the Plain Badge, and he honestly gave up and shelved going for Morty's Fog Badge. Instead, seeing Jasmine, he decided battling her would be more fun! And it was... both of the last two times he's lost.

But the third time's the charm, and after another month of dedicated training he does think he's got it. Maybe!]

[Side D: 3 years later]
[Three years since they arrived, the whole "Luceti" thing is very distant aside from his pangs of still missing his four closest friends, and home (home is so relatively) is even more distant, for Masaomi at least. But it's also Ikki's birthday, and despite him and her training before this, this actually marks the first day that she can legally have a trainer license and participate in gym battles or anything more official. It's a huge rite of passage, and even if neither is actually native to this culture, he figures he might as well make a show of it. So, with them and whatever friends they've made until now-- party time.]

[Side E: 10 years later]
[Masaomi, something of a guardian for Ikki by now, has to deal with the girl reaching maturity by anyone's standards, now. While when they were younger it was funny to joke about this, now that he's faced with the reality of her being this age, it's no longer amusing. Or well, no longer entirely amusing. Seriously, he's starting to feel old, being almost thirty, and now he has to deal with whatever significant other tomfoolery might be going on here!

At least he's settled down, by now. Or as much as anyone settles in the Pokemon world, and he has done so in Saffron, finding that it suits him to be here. It sort of sucks that he works in the food industry and not a gym or something, but such is life. He looks back fondly at the time he spent going around training and battling]

two months later.

[breezing]

[ While some had been rightfully skeptical about the Malnosso sending everyone home, Ikki had chosen not to be. She'd said her goodbyes - she'd clung to her grandfather and grandmother, she'd hugged all the friends she'd made, Masaomi included, and she'd waited to go and see her family again, finally. Her mother and father and sister and brothers. She'd clutched Soren's pokeball to her chest and waited.

They'd talked about it, before. Soren had a chance to go to the world he ought to have been born in - it would have just taken handing over the pokeball to Silver or Gold or Yellow or anyone from that place. But it wasn't Ikki's choice to make, and so she'd asked him what he wanted, and even though there weren't any of his kind in her home, she would be there, and the idea of losing another trainer...well.

And then instead of Air Temple Island she'd been catching her balance on Masaomi's arm - and where had he come from? - in another place entirely. Nearly three months of training with him kicked in, recognition of a flicker of something out of the corner of her eye, and yes, there had been pokemon.

It wasn't a training simulation, though.

For the first week or so it was easy enough to believe it was another Shift; Ikki had lived through enough of those to realize that nothing really lasted beyond a week or two, and it wasn't exactly unpleasant. Soren was enjoying himself, and they could do interesting training with an entire world to explore, and surely it wouldn't last that long. Except they hit the month mark without any change, and time just kept...passing.

Sticking to Masaomi like glue hadn't been a hard choice or one Ikki ever really made on a decisive level. He was her sifu, he was there, and she knew him and Linda. Staying with them was exactly what her grandparents would have wanted given the absence of anyone else and, well, what else was she going to do? At least both of them had arrived with fairly high-leveled pokemon in comparison to some of the casual trainers they ran across, although Masaomi tended to handle the battles. And battles had produced money. Even without the battles, Ikki could play street magician if worse came to worse, and Masaomi probably knew enough to do the same.

So two months into the new world? Ikki's ditched the air nomad robes, although she still has them, for more modern clothes. She still practices airbending, but only when they're alone, as they've been over the need not to talk about being from another world (twice over). And while she desperately misses home - and Luceti, even - Ikki's playing off of Masaomi's upbeat facade, and Soren's joy. And, well - there are always new friends to be made.

Capturing new pokemon is still a little weird (having more than Soren is weird) but that's what people do here, and Ikki has just successfully caught the first new addition to her team: a Swablu. It took her a while to decide on who she would want to be friends with most!

Either Masaomi was there for every step of it and will shortly be getting an excited hug, or he will shortly be getting an excited hug from an arriving little girl. Either way he's getting a hug. ]

Masaomi!

<3

[generalflirt]

[He wasn't fond of going home, or the idea of it. He didn't want to be apart from Katara and Shikamaru and Gold and Silver. He didn't want to go home to where he knew he was facing betrayal he couldn't prevent - or rather, if he did, he would be breaking friendships all over again. If he went home to that, he wanted to go home ignorant of it. Still, he knew Shikamaru desperately wanted back to Konoha and Katara, of all people, deserved to go home. Others did too. So he hugged and kissed, and resolved himself. He could only hope Linda would be with him too. He pet her as the deadline came closer, and then put her in the ball at the end.

Aaand, then they were here.

Oh, he's been there the whole time. He's been beside her non-stop since they arrived, because as far as he's concerned, he simply owes that much to her, to Katara, and to himself. He doesn't go to think about how much he needs her too (the only memento he has, other than Linda, about his time in Luceti) but. That's beside the point. Right now, he's scooping her up in his arms, elated right with her.]

You did it! You did it, Ikki! That was fantastic! [He's even spinning her in the air in this hug, dramatically.

As for his pokemon: Still Linda, of course, but she's been joined by two more. His first was a zangoose. Not just any Zangoose though, he got the happiest zangoose ever, who has been trying to befriend Linda the whole time to mixed success, as Linda feels like a pokemon as tough as he was should act more tough. The other is a skitty. A female Skitty who gets along okay with the Zangoose, but who creeps Linda out for a reason Masaomi has yet to realize. She didn't even put up much fight, just was caught easily]

[breezing]

[ It feels like a pretty big step, even if Ikki can't put into words why. She just laughs when she's spun around, used to the dramatics by this point and always willing to enjoy them. She's been trying to befriend the Zangoose and Skitty just as much as the Zangoose has been trying to befriend Linda, on the grounds that they're all family and friends (or ought to be, anyway).

Soren was a little less willing at first, but he's never been as standoffish as Linda, especially with Ikki's influence, so he's been trying to get along. He's preening right now, pleased at how the capture went down. That's right, kiddo, he totally got that thing in the bag, everyone can praise him now. ]

I did it all by myself!!! ...Oh, I have to name her. And we have to make her better! And - [ And she's just so excited, and this is the happiest she's ever been since they got here, she's pretty sure. Although she's admittedly been pretty upbeat about seeing all these new things and meeting all these new people and pokemon. ]

2 months (<-- to make it more obvious in my inbox)

[generalflirt]

[Twain and Lavender are in their balls right now. But for Linda's part, she hops over to Soren to give him a little pat on the head, floating in a Magnet Rise. Yeah, that's great. Good job, bro.

She did a better job when Masaomi caught Twain.

As for Masaomi, he releases her from the hug, crouching and grinning still. He'll let her keep ranting. He's actually excited to see her this upbeat. It's clearly the most excited she's been since arriving in this world, though he can think of some close-ish seconds]

2 months

[breezing]

[ Soren was about to be suspicious about the head pat, but then there's the part about Twain and as if Linda, that was some quality catching he did right there!

Ikki's way too used to their byplay to pause and pay attention, although she's already praised Soren. She finishes off with: ] - and we have to introduce her to everyone!!! She looks like a cloud, isn't that great? I wonder if Swablu live up in the clouds, like if they make nests there?

six months later.

[breezing]

[ Five months. That was how long Ikki had been in Luceti, all told. Luceti? That's something she barely ever mentions. Sometimes she'll start off something like "Grandpa said - " or "Katara would like" or "Uncle Sokka once told me", but those things happen less and less because she's a little afraid of running out of stories and whatever hope there was of going home four months ago is low and hidden.

Six months. That was how long Ikki had been in Hoenn.

In addition to the Swablu (Ema) she'd caught four months ago, Ikki had by six months caught three more pokemon during their stay. Natu (Yeshi), Tropius (Rinchen), and Skarmory (Dachen). To the surprise of absolutely no one she identified the best with flying types. Or maybe it was the other way around - bird and flying types flocked to Ikki, particularly during morning airbending practice on the road. She gave them all names that had belonged to airbenders once upon a time, consciously avoiding those she had known on a more personal level: Tenzin, Pema, Jinora, Meelo, Rohan, Aang.

She doesn't talk about air nomads as much as she did in Luceti, if at all; that's another world in this place, and no one would think anything more of it than stories from a small child. When she does talk about her people, it's with her pokemon. When they're on the road, camping, when they're confident no one else is around and she can bend without worrying too much. Sometimes she'll talk about things, then. But she tries not to mention it, because after five months in Luceti Ikki learned to live without her parents and siblings by latching onto the family she'd never had a chance to know.

It's been harder to learn how to get by without any of her family, but crying wouldn't do anyone any good, so she...doesn't. Maybe sometimes when it's really late and she wakes up thinking for a few moments that she's in house fifty-six at Luceti, or in her own bed at Air Temple Island, but...mostly she doesn't. Mostly it's easy to get lost in constantly moving and seeing new things and new people, more than she'd ever done in either Luceti or home. There's always training to do, or a new place to explore, or a new goal to meet. There's not a lot of time to be sick for home and family.

She's never once taken off the prayer beads looped around her right wrist, though.

Ikki's always made friends easily, and that hasn't changed in Hoenn. Regardless of where they go, she tends to find children to run around with almost as soon as they're in a town. Youngsters with one or two pokemon who like to play-battle with her and others, who'll play tag or swap stories. They're always impressed that she's travelling around at her age, which makes it even easier to fit in, seamless. They'll ask about Masaomi, why she's with him - and after endless assumptions and confused questions, Ikki's just settled on saying he's her brother when her friends ask, and says her parents aren't around.

It squashes any other questions people might ask.

Today they've got a way to leave again, and Ikki's excited about the idea of a plane, even if she still thinks using flying pokemon to get around wouldn't be all that bad (though she doesn't argue about it). She's bouncing in place, Ema settled on her head like a strange blue and white hat, Soren nearby as ever. ]

Where will we land? When are we going? Johto's where Silver and Gold were from, right? Do you think - [ That was going to end with "we'll see them there?", but Ikki cuts herself off, because that leads to questions like "or did they end up somewhere else like us?" that are best left unasked. So she veers elsewhere. ] - there'll be contests or something there? I heard about those once. They sound fun!

6 months

[generalflirt]

[Masaomi, for his part, knows where that question was going to go. Asking if they'll see Gold and Silver there. And merciful everything, he hopes not. Sure, maybe if they've been displaced from Luceti and into this world, but he doubts it. He's come across a handful of pokedexes in their time in Hoenn, and he knows in their world, they've significantly more rare, significantly more important. Though the 'dexes that him and Ikki have are dated by that world's standards... in this world, they're a cut ahead of even the latest models. So if they were here, it would not be their world, but some close parallel. A mockery. And Silver, in particular, would be miserable. And if he ran into a version of them from this world... Well, then he frankly doesn't even know what he would do.

So, to hide his discomfort with that slip up there, he focuses on the contest comment, while going to make sure her seat belt is buckled, now that his is. The plane they're on isn't small, but it sure isn't the jumbo jet liners from Earth, with all their clear safety precautions and hot stewardesses in miniskirts. Best just make sure she's okay.]

Contests, huh... You know, I'm not sure. [He'd heard about them too. In their six months here they had, amazingly, not actually gone to one, but there was a lot of need to get their bearings, a lot of need to get used to the terrain an the world, a lot of need to save money, and indeed... a lot of need to make goals to distance themselves from reality.

Or at least, that had been how Masaomi had seen it. He too, had caught pokemon. In addition to the skitty (Lavender) and zangoose (Twain) he caught close to the onset, he captured a mawile he'd named Ruri three months ago. Ruri'd become fast friends with Linda, and behind the mouse in question, had rapidly become one of his head battlers. She was not as fierce as Linda (ironic, given how unnerving that mouth was even to him), but she was resolute and strong. And finally, the most recent addition to his lineup, who now rested in his lap... was Taro. He'd only caught Taro about a week before this, having found the little guy digging through their rations one day. He was a frightful little animal, but being offcolor and therefore, he assumed, rarer, he couldn't help but want to at least see what came of him. So he just threw a pokeball at him and he went right in.]

6 months

[breezing]

[ Her seat belt was already buckled, but Ikki puts up with the fussing without comment, simply holding still while it happens. ]

We should see! Maybe they won't have an age limit like gym battles and stuff. [ Ikki can fully roll with her chosen other topic. Maybe she could go and see a contest, or something. At least when it came to saving money Ikki was pretty useful; she didn't often ask for anything extra, if at all, and she'd grown up in a temple. Outside of never eating meat, she wasn't too picky about what they did in general.

Soren was too big to be out in the plane, unfortunately - Yeshi wasn't, though, so the psychic bird pokemon was nestled in Ikki's lap, dozing. ] Taro, you'd do great in one of those, I bet - you're so pretty!

6 months

[generalflirt]

Yeah, that would be nice... [With a little chuckle. He doubts it, but he doesn't express that. If anything, he bets Hoenn is less civilized than Johto. It certainly feels like a frontier to him. Not even rural, it feel wild in many of the places they've been. Like it's a place where humans don't belong, but they've tried to carve out an existence anyway.

As for Taro, he squirms a bit in Masaomi's lap and pulls his tail up to cover his eyes, embarrassed about being called pretty. S-seriously, is he really that... pretty...] And wouldn't he just?! I have to say, with exception perhaps to Lavender [he is Obligated to say this, the skitty is obsessed with her own beauty and gets passive aggressive to a scary extent when it's questioned. In the last few months it's become a Rule to praise her, at least with Masaomi and his pokemon, even including Linda] Taro might be the prettiest of our bunch.

one year later.

[breezing]

[ They've spent over twice as long in this world than Ikki did in Luceti, and the memories are fading. Some more than others - conversations she'd have remembered a year ago are harder to remember when she hasn't spoken to anyone in a year. Training with Masaomi from that time is crystal clear, because there's so much to remind her, and he's always there. But conversations with her uncle, her aunt, her grandparents; some of those things are fading, even when she clutches tight.

But that's not really why Ikki's in a mood today. It's been a year and a half since she was home. A year and a half since she last saw most of her family.

A year and a half since she last saw her youngest brother, whom she'd only known for two weeks. And a year and a half after those two weeks she can't remember the colour of his eyes. Or the shape of his face. It's faded, and she never realized it until today, when Masaomi's at Jasmine's gym for the third time.

So while she's smiling and cheering on the sidelines, it's a little less forceful and carefree than usual, and sometimes she's a beat too late. There are six pokeballs on her belt, although Soren's not in his. Ema the Swablu; Yeshi the Natu; Rinchen the Tropius; Dachen the Skarmory; Thubten the Murkrow. There's even a pokemon in the PC system belonging to her; a Magikarp known as Chodak who was caught during a fishing trip with some of the friends she'd made in this town, just last week. It...doesn't do much, but Ikki felt bad for it and so somehow that'd become a thing.

Her family, if you include the boy and pokemon she's cheering for. Win or lose, she'll do her best to smile when things are done with Jasmine. ]

1 year

[generalflirt]

[Struggle through. That's how Masaomi had always run his life. It didn't always work too well, but it is something he tried to stick to, and had been holding harder and harder to in this world, for numerous reasons.

He'd been counting the days, for various reasons. Katara's birthday (or at least her Luceti one? He was unclear on that) had come and gone a month or two ago. Shikamaru's was coming up. Gold's and Silver's and other people's had all past or were coming up too. Life was moving on, without those friends he'd made in Luceti. And really... he thought about home, too. It had now been years since he saw Mikado. Almost as long since Anri. Longer since Saki. And his mother... it's not necessarily he wanted to see all those people. In many ways, he actually likes this world more than home (even if he misses the tactile thump of the city. Even Goldenrod had a different mood than Tokyo) more than ever now. It's somehow different than in Luceti, because here there's only him, Ikki, Linda, and the friends they make on the way.

Honestly, Jasmine was becoming a friend too. Even if he kept losing to her. It's perhaps because of that instead of being shy, she actually laughs a little when she sees him challenge her. He accepts it, it's fair, he's lost to her twice in the last month and a half and he's here now with only one new secret weapon he's hoping will pay off: Dazai, formerly a magby, has evolved.

It's amazing, really, that he's come this far on only the determination to not face his situation and to give himself (and Ikki) something to focus on other than the nostalgia which he knows, if it's touching him, is likely crushing her. He was glad to have gotten his trainer's license and the starter Chikorita (whom he'd named Maria) from Elm. Elm had been a bit scatterbrained, but it's okay- it allowed him to make the goal of badge-hunting. Zephyr had been easy: Linda tore through them like butter. Hive had been somewhat harder, but the real star of that show had been a pidgey he caught shortly before attempting it... though Horatio now looked much different. He was no longer on his main line up, for obvious reasons. Before fighting for the Plain badge, he'd caught Dazai and Taro had finally evolved. He'd had to fight at that gym for some time, being defeated by Whitney's Milktank once, soundly, and pushed into a draw by her underlings once when he wanted a rematch. Finally, Maria's evolution had tipped the balance.

Oh, and he'd also caught a spinarak he named Cassie. No big deal there.

As for Jasmine... in the first battle, he's struggled to defeat her magnemites, but had eventually done so with Linda and Maria alternating. But then her steelix had utterly overwhelmed him. He'd done better the second time, but something unexpected happened in that her magnemites had evolved into a magneton mid-battle, causing them to demolish Dazai. Taro had tried to best steelix, but he alone was not sufficient, then.

This time, he can only hope, will be much different. Already, it's looking more promising. Linda and the magneton are in a battle of magnetics. It's a bold move, but after not doing as well the last two times, Linda has insisted. There's little in the way of electricity flying, but rather a lot of floating and opposing fields hitting each other, making your hairs stand on end]

1 year

[breezing]

[ On the sidelines, Soren bumps his shoulder into Ikki's waist. It pulls her out of her own thoughts, at least, and she offers him a smile; she can read him as well as he can read her, these days, and while she knows he's worried, she shakes her head for the moment.

There's something more important happening right now. As long as she thinks that, she can put it off a bit longer. ] Go Linda!!

1 year

[generalflirt]

[fitting background music btw. Masaomi, for all his misgivings about having Linda do this battle again, is amazed. He's trained with her, of course, but what's going on here... her tendency to hold grudges is clearly working in this favor. She might as well be flying, with how fast and proficiently she's floating, dodging and weaving circles around Magneton, while shooting bursts from ehr own magnetic field and avoiding the pulses out of the three eyed thing. As well as Magnet Bombs.

...They can win this.

Masaomi Kida is a fighter. He always has been and (right now) the almost-20 year old suspects he always will be. And right now, the smirk which is coming up on his lips is a feral one. It's the predator who's found the weak point in his prey. It's not one he's ever used on Jasmine yet, but if Ikki can see it -- it's clearly a familiar one.]

Linda, pull up!

[She makes a "pika!" of compliance and shoots up like a magnetic rocket. The Magneton looks confused a moment before Jasmine looks comprehending, but hesitant. She could order Magnet Bombs to be lobbed up... but if they miss, they would hit the spectating area. What a nasty but brilliant strategy. She can't use anything inaccurate, but she isn't going to fall for it and follow. In open air, as long as Linda can remain airborne, she's faster. So---

Lock On. Magneton's magenets all shift to focus right on Linda. It'll take a while, but...]

three years later.

[breezing]

[ 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?

3 years

[generalflirt]

[Three years is a long, long time. Both of them had made friends, both of them had caught many more pokemon (though of Masaomi's only Linda - at his heels - and Tenten - quietly helping bus food - are out) and in Masaomi's case, he now holds thirteen badges and has one rather botched attempt at pokemon league (after getting all eight in Johto) under his belt. The other three were from Hoenn, but he hadn't tried overly hard at that League. Really, he'd just wanted to get stronger and see the world again by then and for Kanto, a part of him had wanted to wait for it to be Ikki's experience, unique from him.

Because he'd started planning ahead, things to give to his "sister" (and over time, that'd become far and far less quotations-worthy) to make her life better and happier. He'd started to think in long term, because against all odds, this place was home. While it's true most of this part is Ikki's friends or their mutual friends, there's a few of his buddies here too. Jasmine's even here, much to his amusement and teasing her. (she's one of only two leader here - the other here (Janine) he almost considered a given, because he had trained under her at her gym for several months earlier this year).

But as to Ikki - He's proud of her. He's so proud of her]

Eeeeh, whatever could you mean?

3 years

[breezing]

[ There's an instant pout, although it's more playful than really upset. There have been two other birthdays, and holidays she'd never heard of until Luceti or this place, and Ikki's learned that Masaomi is prone to teasing, especially when it comes to presents that she wants to open or see. It's almost requisite. ]

Masaomi! [ HONESTLY. ] I'm ten! It's my birthday! That's why there's all these people and all of those streamers and that cake.

3 years

[generalflirt]

That's true! There was also that rather impressive show you made against the leader! [we should decide who that was whoops He rocks on his feet, keeping an airy expression on his face. Years ago, it would have looked more childish than it does, on a 22 year old it almost looks silly. Okay no, it looks completely silly and Linda rolls her eyes from his heels at it] I have to say, I think Rinchen stole the show this time, no offense to Soren meant.

3 years

[breezing]

Soren'll get a chance later! Everyone worked really well together, but you're right, Rinchen did super well against the types he was up against! [ Blue? Ikki catches the eye roll and giggles, but doesn't point it out to Masaomi. He's probably aware. He's eye roll worthy a lot of the time.

Soren supposes Rinchen did really well, especially since no offense was meant, but dude. ] ...And you're changing the subject!

ten years later.

[airbended]

[ For the four years after Ikki turned ten, they traveled. Kanto, Johto, Hoenn - the reverse order of how they'd started. And then back again, all the way to Kanto. Saffron City is busy and bustling, and for three years Ikki's called it home. She's lived in this world longer than she has anywhere else. While she remembers her world, the world she was born in, it sometimes feels like a dream. It's best remembered when she bends the air - sometimes she'll do little tasks at home with bending, because she can and she likes to remember that - or by the prayer beads on her wrist, although those prayer beads have changed over the years. Some of the beads have been replaced by badges - badges enough for three regions. There are charms, too, that weren't there before - gifts from friends or trinkets she got herself. There's a quiet jingle when Ikki gestures emphatically, but she can mostly move silent despite the charms and badges, because no matter how much she forgets she's never forgotten how to move like a bender.

Today was a Saturday, and Ikki spent it out training. She only took Soren, but he was really all she needed. They did airbending today, moving together like they'd only dreamt of ten years ago. Masaomi always has an open invitation to these sessions, but today Ikki went with Soren only, and she returns the same way, unceremoniously swinging their door wide open and kicking off her shoes. ]

Tadaimaaaaaaaaaaaa! [ That's pretty much shouted into the house as Ikki shuts the door behind her. She uses words and phrases from Masaomi's world sometimes, habits picked up from years and years in his company. Ikki's more prone to banter than she might otherwise be, too, and she actually gets some of his terrible jokes. It only took ten years. A quick glance around shows only one occupant in the front room; Karma the Jolteon was waiting in the entryway, and she nudges Ikki's legs until the girl bends down to pet her partner.

Soren's already inside and off looking for Ema, so Ikki trails further inside, Karma trailing right along after her. ] Masaomi? Where are you?

[ She'll check the kitchen first. ]

Lucy I love you

[stillflirts]

[He's pushing thirty. Pushing thirty. Pushing thirty with twenty-four (all eight from the three regions they spent most of their time in) badges to show for it... but no league wins. He made a few attempts, but never was Masaomi Kida a champion. This frustrated him a lot at the time, but by the time he was making his attempts, the young girl who was always with him was becoming strong in her own right. So he contented himself with the knowledge that his time was far from a waste. He'd accomplished more than most trainers, and more importantly, he had her. Well, her and his pokemon too, of course.

He still wonders, sometimes, if he did as good of job as Katara would have (he still misses her) let alone what her father and mother might have done. Because, with her being seventeen (seriously, seventeen?) he has to admit it by now: he didn't have her early, formative years, but he did raise her. Though he would never use the word and he suspects she would never accept the word (though he's never asked), some part of him knows that the little sister thing which was official for them along the line was no longer quite true. She blurred the line into daughter, sometimes, to him.

...and he was almost thirty. At least he was in a manager position at the cafe he worked at, or he'd feel totally useless.]

You're old too, aren't you girl?

[He says this to Linda, who is curled up in a ball on the counter in the kitchen. She perks her ears up at that and sends an idle charge of electricity into him, which makes him start, but laugh. And then, he hears her call--

On habit, and grinning ear to ear, from the kitchen he makes a flourishing spin towards her and replies, much quieter than her shout]

Welcome home.

ten years later. <3

[airbended]

[ There's a quick grin in return, as much a reflexive response to Masaomi's own smile as it is a little victorious I knew it at having guessed right where to check first.

She's seventeen, but Ikki still skips inside the kitchen and boosts herself up on a clear space of counter, kicking her feet idly as Karma trots over to sit on the floot beneath her. ] Whatcha making?

[ Ikki herself had never attempted a league win. She'd tried some of those contests, and those were still fun to do, of course, but after thinking about it she wasn't sure a professional training spot was what she wanted. She'd always battle on the side, yes, but last year she'd finally made up her mind and asked Masaomi about signing up for pokemon nurse training.

It was something she could do anywhere, it was useful, and she got to talk to almost everyone who came into town (because everyone went to the pokecenter, sooner or later - it was a central point of life). She'd picked up a part-time job filing papers at the pokecenter, on the basis that would help her get placement when she graduated - up until that point she'd worked at a variety of places part-time, everything from waitressing to ticket-taking for the Magnet Train. While once upon a time Ikki had mentioned she'd wanted to travel the world when she was older, she'd already done that, here. And she didn't much like the idea of going without Masaomi, because even ten years after the fact she couldn't be certain that one or the other of them wouldn't up and disappear tomorrow.

Besides, it was interesting. ]

10 years

[stillflirts]

Something we've been considering putting on the menu. I'm not a chef, but with the variety of psychics in this city, you know that everyone likes colbur berries, but they're naturally too sour to really use in tarts. Soooo I've been trying to cut it with some other berries to make something likea lemon square...

[He's rambling. But basically, not anything which would be daily food. He tried custaps, but their sweetness totally overwhelmed the sour and while it didn't taste bad, you also didn't taste the colbur. Liechi (a suggestion from Ikki, if he recalls right) just tasted weird, like a flavor mashup. Right now, he's trying a batch using wacan, but they are nearly done. He's hoping the more subtle flavor will help it out... That said, Linda hates Wacan berries, so she's looking a bit put out at this batch, instead just sitting here for moral support. Or something.

As for Ikki's career, Masaomi had of course supported it, and frankly, was glad to have seen her found something like that. He was a fighter born, and he knew it. He'd always feared - particularly during that four year trip after she was ten - he'd inadvertently pidgey-holed her to follow in his footsteps as a battler. And while she did excel at that - she was phenomenal, actually, if you asked him - it wasn't her calling. It became clearer every year, though in retrospect he should have known that when she was seven. Because before all the accomplishments she'd made in this world, and all her connections with him, she was an airbender.

He'd never forgotten what being a bender meant to Katara and to Aang, and what he thought it meant to Toph or Zuko, and had worked to foster Ikki as best he knew how not only in her actual bending, but in philosophy to go with it. He wasn't suited, of course, but encouragement from him he hoped had helped her confidence. After all, one of the reasons they were in Saffron was the amount of psychics. Sure it wasn't a spiritual hub such as what you found in Northern Johto, but with a psychic gym which doubled not only a pokemon gym but a training center of sorts for humans with ESP (and it's close proximity to a mecca for ghosts), airbending could be considered, if not normal, not entirely abnormal.]

10 years

[airbended]

Oh, you're still experimenting? [ She's probably gotten to taste-test one or two of those end products, leading to the Liechi suggestion. That berry has always reminded her of Leechi nuts, just because of the similar name. ] I picked a good time to come home, then.

[ When they'd first settled into Saffron, Ikki probably hadn't realized the thought that had gone into picking the city; a place that had certain comforts for each of them, while never being quite what their original homes were, because such things didn't exist in any of the regions so far as Ikki had seen. One of the bigger cities - and Masaomi always had preferred those, hadn't he? Ikki herself enjoyed the busy nature of Saffron - and yet there was a sort of spiritual feel to the gym and the psychics around the place.

She'd realized it later, though.

For the moment, Ikki bites her lip and gets a certain look on her face; the exact determined/anxious blend she'd gotten before bringing up nurse training last year. ] Do you have a second before they're done? I wanted to talk to you about something.