[FIN] Skip-To-My-Lu

[lZAYA ORlHARA]

It was fortunate that the suggested training area in the plains was outdoors, because Grunt Nakura was sick of being cooped up in the outpost. At first it had been interesting enough to explore, but as small as it was compared to the previous base, it didn't take long to learn the layout. Nakura quickly grew bored and restless though he knew he was in no position to go out and about - at least not among civilians, which kind of defeated the purpose for him. Still...fresh air was fresh air.

As there didn't seem to be a lack of space, the grunt brought all the pokemon he could carry. He hadn't seen any of them in months, but he doubted they missed him much. The ones with Faleen had likely at least had some time outside of their balls, but it wasn't so likely with the ones he'd been arrested with. The ones confiscated by the League were his pair of Purrloin, one of his newly-evolved Zoroark, his Absol, and his Chimecho.

Faleen had returned his other Zoroark and his Spiritomb in addition to giving him a brand new pokemon - a Porygon to dwell in the tablet she'd previously entrusted to him. He was still figuring out how to deal with the virtual pokemon, but for now his others were more than enough for him to handle. He released them all once they reached the plains, allowing them to roam a bit in the tall grass and warm up for training.  

[Venti Mico]

He was content to stay inside, do his cleaning duties, and stay out of trouble. Tea however, was not. Lu might not have been completely happy with that either... they were both restless, before joining Team Rocket they had been out an about frequently. Lu thought his arms were starting to feel a little squishier than usual too... so, training it was. Tea was enthusiastic about it, walking ahead of Lu as they went outside. He was relieved to have a good excuse to be wearing his normal clothes; a pair of worn jeans, tucked into his boots to hide the fact they weren't quite long enough for his legs, and a black hoodie over a plain t-shirt. He'd even gone an extra mile and braided his hair today- it stayed out of his face better that way.

Tea sensed someone was out there already before Lu did and slowed until she was walking closer to Lu; the person didn't seem familiar, she hadn't met him... and she wasn't sure if she liked him. She liked Zacharie, she also liked Tambrey, but whoever this was she was suspicious. She'd keep an eye on him.

Lu reached down to pat her head reassuringly- whoever it was, they must be a Rocket, right? And since he was also a Rocket, they probably wouldn't be too awful. No one had been particularly bad to him. So, after a quick mental shove, Lu tried to talk.

"Uh... hello," he said, looking at the man and then glancing over his pokemon. They didn't seem... aggressive..? But The Spiritomb kept Lu standing farther away than he would have otherwise. "I um, I'm... training." He said, nodding down at Tea.  

[lZAYA ORlHARA]

The grunt turned his head at the sound of approaching footsteps, his hands in his parka pockets. It was nice to be able to wear his parka again, too, but he would go right back into uniform once they were back at base. Had to show his partner he was serious, after all.

Compared to the 5'9" scrawny 27-year-old, Lu was quite the contrast with his muscular, athletic build and his daunting height of 6'5". However, the crimson-eyed man didn't seem intimidated; in fact, he smiled when he saw the other Rocket coming and pulled one hand out of a pocket to wave cheerfully at him.

"Hello, there!" he cried happily, sounding delighted to have someone join him. The Spiritomb paused in her wandering to hover by Nakura's side. What was her trainer doing now? Not terrorizing another human, she hoped. "What a coincidence! So am I," the man said. "Care to train together?"  

[Venti Mico]

Lu hadn't ever trained with anyone before, him and Tea had always done that alone. Maybe it would be a good idea... this person seemed confident, maybe he give Lu some tips on training. Tea still seemed hesitant about him and stayed by Lu, looking at the Spiritomb cautiously- but he gaze fell back on the black haired man. The Spiritomb didn't seem like she would attack them.

"Er, sure," Lu said, quietly with a glance at Tea. "I'm just, uh... I wanted to let her run around, stretch her legs and everything..." he explained. He wasn't sure what sort of training he could even do, Tea had never actually battled. "...Do you do battles..?" he asked, hands in his pockets. It was likely a skill he'd need to know sooner or later.  

[lZAYA ORlHARA]

Celty, noticing the apprehension of both the tall young man and his pokemon companion, crooned gently at them with a small smile. She knew that her species and types had somewhat frightening reputations, but she prided herself on being nothing like the majority of them.

Her human on the other hand... She would have to make sure he didn't try any tricks with these two. They already seemed cautious and guarded enough. How was she supposed to assure them she and her trainer were harmless if Nakura drove them away?

"Feel free~ There's a whole field for that," the grunt offered, extending an arm out toward the plains where his own pokemon were running rampant and frolicking. Mairu and Kururi were rolling about in a tangle with each other, happily enjoying themselves, while Riviere kept leaping around in the tall grass. Delic the Chimecho was left in his Love Ball back at the outpost because of his highly affectionate nature and badly recognizable markings. It didn't help that Kid the Absol hated his asymmetrical guts.

Which reminded Nakura. "Oops...better call back my own Absol if you've got yours out," he remarked with a short laugh as he brought out Kid's Ultra Ball. Just in time, too. Kid had been crouching in the tall grass right near the tall human and his pokemon. He sprang with his claws extended just as his trainer withdrew him back into his ball with a bright beam of light. It was hard to say whether Nakura had known he'd been there the whole time or had simply noticed the instant Kid had showed himself.

"Sorry about that," the the older trainer apologized gleefully. "Kid has this OCD issue. If he sees something asymmetrical, he freaks out until it's corrected. That would include the sight of other Absol as well as minor details like your mole." The corner of his mouth twitched. "He's ridiculously detail-oriented for a pokemon."

Returning the shrunk ball back to his pocket, he considered the question previously asked of him. "Battles? When I have to," he answered with an incline of his head. "Not terribly fond of them or even pokemon in general, but they keep me alive, so I'm not going to complain. Why?" he asked, crimson eyes meeting deep blue ones. "Feel like battling me?"  

[Venti Mico]

Ghost types were less scary in daylight, but still enough to put Lu on edge. He remembered the stories his sister had told him when he was younger- sure, they weren't all true, but... still. The Spiritomb seemed calm though, she wasn't even getting too close, thank goodness-

Lu nearly squealed when he spotted the other Absol at the last second(luckily only a startled grunt passed his lips) and he ducked down to pick up Tea even after the other had been recalled to its pokeball. Tea growled and struggled a little bit, but didn't bite- no, Lu would put her down in a moment. And he did, but only after staring wide eyed at the black haired grunt. Lu hadn't seen the other Absol come up, and Tea hadn't seemed to, she'd been focused on the other Rocket and- Lu felt like he was getting a headache. Going outside was an obvious mistake. His heart felt like it was going to jump out of his chest.

Finally setting Tea down(who shook and paced around Lu a few times, obviously more on edge now), he his head. "N-no, I uh- um... it's okay-" He stuttered out warily, running a hand over the mole over his eyebrow. "No! No, no, I don't want to battle, I- I was wondering if maybe you could, e-erm... I... tell me how it's done? I've never battled, really..." He wasn't sure why somebody that didn't like pokemon would keep them, surely there were other ways to stay safe(like not leaving your room, for instance).  

[lZAYA ORlHARA]

Nakura grinned at the man's reaction. "Nice reflexes," he remarked, astonished at the fact that the man had actually picked up his pokemon. Not only was it a demonstration of the fellow's strength, but it proved he cared a great deal about his Absol. That and either he trusted it not to hurt him, even with such a sudden action, or he simply hadn't cared as much for his own saftey. Had Nakura tried that with Kid, he would likely have scratched him up if the skinny grunt didn't drop him first.

Oh, but the tall, dark, and handsome figure seemed to be regarding the shorter man just as closely as Nakura was regarding him. The grunt giggled at the wide-eyed stare he got and coyly behaved as if he were a young girl embarrassed to be gazed upon.

"Ehh? Never battled before?" he cried, putting a palm to his cheek in a shocked gesture. "You certainly seem familiar enough with your pokemon. How did you two get so close if you've never battled?" He reached out a finger to poke at the Absol. "It seemed pretty well-trained to me."

Celty rolled her eyes and hovered nearer to her trainer. If he wasn't more careful, he was going to get his finger bitten off. Why did he have to be so purposefully obnoxious?  

[Venti Mico]

"I guess..." Lu mumbled, though getting Tea out of the way of a vicious Absol attack didn't seem like good reflexes to him. More... 'avoiding losing his only pokemon and best friend'. But hey, different views.

Lu rose a brow at the grunt giggling at him- had he said something funny? Was something on his face? It was odd and made Lu feel... odd. Wiping his cheek nervously, hoping he'd gotten whatever was on his face, Lu looked down at his feet and watched Tea. Battling with her seemed like... rude. Tea did most everything with him, always went with him places whenever she could. Maybe she'd like to battle, but Lu didn't want to, and so he never had.

"We uh, she's been with me for a long time... um, since I was a kid, so..." He mumbled, "I never had to battle, I think, so, uh... I mean, she's well behaved. Not trained... she lived in the house, so I guess my mom trained her to not, um... misbehave? I don't really know..."  

[lZAYA ORlHARA]

The grunt crossed his arms over his chest and regarded the Absol with a long, hard look. "Well, if she's the one you want to train to battle, you have to know if she'll fight for you, first." In a flash, the man had a flickblade out and in his hand. "If she's even inclined to fight at all." He smiled brightly at the dark-type - a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. Celty, already unhappy enough with the situation as it was, decided to float back a little and watch from the sidelines. She hoped the crimson-eyed man knew what he was doing.  

[Venti Mico]

Tea met Izaya's gaze steadily and stood, refusing to sit and relax. She didn't like him one bit. At least the pokemon floating behind him didn't seem threatening. The grunt himself had Tea's full attention. Lu furrowed his brow when he saw the blade, taking a step back and watching the grunt's hands.

"U-um, that's... is that necessary?" Lu asked, watching the flickblade carefully. "I-I uh, I think I can come train later, when you're not...here." Learning to battle didn't seem like something he wanted to do anymore.  

[lZAYA ORlHARA]

"Eh? Are you...afraid of little ol' me?" Nakura asked, casting the long-haired brunet an incredulous smile. "I thought you wanted my help. I'm just doing as asked. How rude, saying you don't want me here! I'm hurt." He pouted, walking up to Lu as he spoke, blade still out and in his hand. "You never even told me your name."  

[Venti Mico]

Lu shuffled around, trying to get Tea to stand behind him, but she kept her ground and eyed the grunt menacingly. Lu let out a low whine, glancing from the blade down to Tea. "I-I didn't say that...I didn't-" Lu tapped his fingers on the side of his leg anxiously, "I'm Lu..?" He said unsurely, not giving out his last name in hopes this guy would forget him sooner.  

[lZAYA ORlHARA]

The corner of his cheery smile gradually rose, transforming it into an intrigued smirk. The pokemon and trainer couldn't seem to agree on who wanted to protect the other more. Clearly the man was afraid, and though Nakura wasn't sure why given their compared statures, the grunt found it intensely interesting that he was still trying to keep his pokemon behind him as if to protect it. It was a commonly-held view that pokemon protected their trainers and not the other way around. The creatures were far more equipped to defend themselves and their humans, after all. So why was this young man acting so differently? The informant had to know.

Whining, tapping, stammering incomplete sentences...signs of fright that, in Nakura's opinion, didn't seem proportional to the limited possibility of current danger. Most people - at least males - would have reacted with raised voices and angry questions at the sight of the blade. This 'Lu' wasn't even curious - he just wanted to leave. The grunt flicked the blade closed and pocketed it. No point in scaring him off this early, especially when he had so piqued Nakura's interest.

"Lu? Is that your whole name?" he asked, sounding surprised. Perhaps Lu had stopped mid-name just like he'd stopped mid-sentence, but it didn't matter much to Nakura. "How cute~! Lu-lu-puu...are you a Rocket?" It was a safe-enough question. If he wasn't, the question would have seemed innocent enough. If he was, at least they'd have found some common ground.  

[Venti Mico]

Lu might have relaxed more when the knife was away if they hadn't already been nearly attacked by another Absol. He wasn't very fond of this guy after all. Zacharie seemed like a cupcake at this point; he didn't pull knives on strangers! ...Well, not to Lu's knowledge.

"It's..what I go by..." Lu mumbled, still not wanting to look Izaya in the eye. He did glance up at the rather bizarre nickname the man gave him. And the question. Lu had assumed this guy was a Rocket, but what if he wasn't? He'd certainly be in trouble if he just told a random person he was a Rocket. "I'm... are you?" He asked quickly, unsure which would be a better answer. Maybe this guy was just a knife-happy civilian. Or, he was a knife-happy member of Team Rocket, and that seemed more dangerous, but perhaps he'd leave Lu alone if they were both Rockets.  

[lZAYA ORlHARA]

Laughing at the question, the grunt raised his hands in a communicative gesture. "Normally I wouldn't give away information so easily, particularly about myself, not to mention about a topic as sensitive as that. But given the circumstances, I think I can afford you a little confidentiality. Especially since if the answer to my question was 'no', you'd probably be halfway across the plains by now. Or at least have called the police." Glancing across said plains toward the dilapidated old town nearest to them, the grunt's smile faded. "That, and pretty much everyone on the lookout for Rockets already knows my name..."

Turning back to Lu, though, the black-haired man seemed just as jolly as before. "Grunt Nakura. A joy and pleasure to meet you, Lu-lu-puu," he said, holding out a hand.