[PRP] Three Years Later

[Suudonym]

Every now and then Luke would encounter a situation that would draw out nostalgia and direct his thoughts to a time three years prior, when he was still sheltered and ignorant. He still clearly remembered learning about the Pokemon League, discovering the challenge of a gym circuit, asking Alder what the term Champion meant... And now he was at the threshold of becoming an officer of the organization.

The decision had been somewhat of an impulse born from a desire to feel useful and capable after leaving the embassy, but it also served as a means to busy himself to escape the feelings that accompanied the season and the anniversary of such an immense amount of suffering. Combined with the near frenzy of preparing for a wedding - a sometimes dizzying thought in itself - he was somehow able to keep himself from drowning by throwing himself into the sea. One way or another, if he could stay on top of himself then he was happy, and all the better if he could make progress with various things while doing so.

For the time being, he returned home from from a fairly brief meeting at Camphoreon's League office during which they had discussed the application he had submitted, an officer's handbook in hand for him to review at his leisure while they evaluated his candidacy, although from the sound of it, they were so shorthanded that they weren't likely to reject anyone who met the minimums for eligibility. With that out of his hands for now, he closed the door behind him, setting the handbook on the nearest surface to free his hands to release his (house sized) pokemon - he didn't like leaving home without his team, but he didn't want to coop them up in their pokeballs when it was such a nice day either.  

[Blood_Goddess]

The sound of the door opening drew the attention of the residence that were already home.
The cry of a Raichu was the quickest to reply, as the pokemon leaped into Luke's path and up onto his shoulders, nuzzling a cheek against his in greeting, at the same time unintentionally causing a little static electricity to prickle his hair.
"Rai Raiii~"

"Welcome home." Rosie's voice said from the living room, the blond pushing herself to her feet from where she had obviously been sitting on the floor.
Along the floor with her were most of the other house friendly Pokemon, as well as her laptop and what looked like an arrangement of fabrics and sewing tools. Mostly in pastel pinks and blues, and what looked like the makings of accessories for the pokemon lingering around.

Pop looked like the victim this time, and boy did she look like she was miserable, while Rosie tried to make something for her that looked nice, and didn't piss the Lopunny off.
Northern was holding up a fold of pink fabric while Rosie pinned pieces of it closed along the Lopunny's shoulders. At this point it was uncertain what it was going to be, but either way, Pop didn't look amused.

Vahy'n seemed to be doing her own thing with Celtic, the two discussing something in a language only the pokemon could understand, Celtic seeming to take direction from Vahy'n as he helped pick out some of the flower accessories that were placed in bags.  

[Suudonym]

"Well hello to you too," Luke said in reply to the Raichu's enthusiastic greeting, raising a hand to rub her head and touching the other to the wall to discharge the static buildup before he wound up shocking someone.

Rosie's welcome received a smile and a "thanks" in response, though as the pokemon he had released fanned out, Mieu was first to her, nuzzling at her side in greeting - gently to avoid accidentally bumping her and disturbing her activity.

"Busy as ever, huh?" Luke commented, retrieving the manual he had set down and advancing into the room. He thought to make a remark on her work but decided against it; judging from Pop's demeanor, it didn't seem like she would appreciate commentary.  

[Blood_Goddess]

"Chuuu~" Kiss cooed happily at the attention quite content to remain on his shoulders for the time being.

As Mieu approached Rosie knelt back down, opening her arms to pull the Flareon into a big hug, cuddling into his fur.
As attention was brawn back to the project Rosie was working on, still holding the Flareon in her arms, and smiling as Northern helped Pop out of the pinned fabric.
"As usual~" blue eyes turned back to Luke "A friend of mine is going to help me with sewing to make everyone some nice accessories for the wedding, she just wants me to come up with some idea of what I want."
Perking up she bounced Mieu lightly in her lap "That reminds me, I'll need to get your team's measurements too."

Pop all but crumpled up what had been on her if Northern hadn't quickly gathered it up more neatly and removed it from the Lopunny's reach.  

[Suudonym]

Mieu enjoyed the attention with a swaying tail, tilting his head and swiveling his ears slightly at the statement that accompanied Rosie's explanation. He didn't know if he really liked the idea of dressing up, but it sounded like that sort of thing was to be expected for the occasion...

Luke's eyes trailed off in the direction Rem had wandered, speaking with a mild skepticism, "That can be done when they're asleep, right...?"  

[Blood_Goddess]

Arching her eyebrows and following his gaze to where one of his pokemon had wandered off, Rosie grinned "We'll think of something." She concluded.
"Its just assessors, if nothing else we can stick a couple of ribbons in her ears." She teased, Though Celtic seemed to agree with that comment waving his own ribbons to the giggles that Rosie gave to him.

Placing Mieu back onto the carpet, Rosie pushed herself back to her feet, making her way over so that she could properly greet Luke.
"How was your day?"  

[Suudonym]

"It's getting your hands on her for long enough to attach the ribbons that I'm worried about," he said with a laugh. He certainly didn't regret training Rem for agility to refine her natural abilities, but it sure could be inconvenient from time to time when paired with her eccentric personality.

"All right," he replied with a shrug, glancing to the handbook in his grasp. "I went to the League building to talk with someone from Special Ops about my application. It sounds like they're probably not going to reject anyone who meets the requirements."  

[Blood_Goddess]

There was truth in what he said, and a small smile found her lips at the idea of having to try and find a way to get her to hold sill.
"We'll figure it out~"

Rosie visibly perked up at the news "So that means that they're accepting your application then?"
That's what it sounded like to her, It made her happy, after what Luke had to deal with in his last job, if he got into Special ops, he would be doing something she knew he would be good at and that he would probably like a whole lot better  

[Suudonym]

He nodded, responding to her enthusiasm with a smile, "Yeah, that's what it sounds like." A curious quality reached his features, though; he knew that she had readily volunteered to go into the desert and confront Team Rocket, and he knew that her dedication to training had come from a desire to stand up to Team Rocket, so it stood to reason... And yet she had never mentioned it... "Were you planning to apply at some point, or volunteer?"  

[Blood_Goddess]

"That's great! You're going to do really well there." She tilted her head when his expression changed, blinking at the question that followed.
It wasn't without a great deal of regret that she thought about it, even more so from that fact that she had yet to even bring it up with her team, who she knew would be disappointed.

"Oh- well, I did considered it, but I decided it was a better fit to just do volunteering."
The startled outbursts from a few of her pokemon drew Rosie's eyes down to the ground, really wishing she had talked to them about it before hand now. She had just been too ashamed to.

Kiss' eyes widened, and she hopped off of Luke's shoulder onto the back of the couch, her mouth opening as she stood high on both legs, looking confused.  

[Suudonym]

Luke's primary pursuit was Rosie's happiness, and so while he was ready to support any choice she made, he didn't want to stand back and quietly accept something that made her unhappy - and it was difficult to ignore the sense of regret she carried in her disposition and the apparent guilt with which she answered her pokemon's confusion. He weighed her response momentarily, his brow slightly creased, before giving his reply, "Is that what you really want to do?"  

[Blood_Goddess]

Rosie had been in the mindset to try and deal with her pokemon's confusion, she could tell, especially in Pop's case that she was probably more displeased then confused with the sudden confession that they would NOT be doing what she thought they had been working so hard to do.
Rosie didn't intent to have a question directed toward her about it, leaving a moment of surprise on the trainer's face as she looked back to Luke.
"Of course, I mean- if it helps out the League, then yes."  

[Suudonym]

He frowned faintly, thinking through his words. "It's just-- I mean, you've been working harder to be able to fight against Team Rocket than anyone else I know, so once Special Ops came and announced that they'd take new officers, I thought it seemed natural..." The words trailed off, his meaning clear enough without the rest of the sentence, and he shook his head lightly. "If that's what you really want to do and what will really make you happy, though, then of course, go for it. It's just... a little surprising to hear, I guess."  

[Blood_Goddess]

It wasn't fun to think about this again, it was just disappointment she didn't want to keep thinking about,
"I did too, its just that- the more I looked into it the more It didn't really seem like a good fit." She said with a soft smile, trying to brush it off despite the pink in her cheeks.  

[Suudonym]

He raised a hand to the back of his neck, wearing concern in green eyes that fell to the floor. It wasn't difficult to tell that the direction of conversation was causing her discomfort, but the fact that it was discomforting was all the more reason to discuss it in full. "Is this one of those things that you worried about on your own?" he concluded carefully. "Because if it is... I mean, it sounds like you already made a decision, but I still..." Wanted to help - but with something that she'd apparently already put behind her?