[FIN] Dinner and a Show

[BlackFireKitsune]

Another day had come and gone, and with it a dull morning of their trainer being miserable, which led into an afternoon full of training out in the fields with other trainers, and after that a quick trip to the pokemon center. Sera had then informed her more carnivorous pokemon that it was dinner time, and that they had an hour to find something, eat, and then return to the designated area on the outskirts of Camphoreon, as per usual, and then they would head home. With that, the two parties separated - Sera and her more tame pokemon to find a nice, inexpensive restaurant to eat at, and Isabella, Jacques, and Agatha to find a nice pokemon to hunt and eat.

A short trip outside of the city brought them to the wooded area along the mountains, and in no time at all they'd tracked a rather unintelligent Pidgeotto that unwittingly led them to its nest. A bit of strategy and teamwork brought it down, and though Isabella and Jacques had always managed just fine before just the two of them, they had to admit it was rather nice to have Agatha around at times - mostly because her claws were so wonderfully sharp and efficient. While the two larger dark-types enjoyed their feast on the forest floor, the Sneasel perched atop the nest, happily helping herself to the now parentless eggs.  

[TawnyAngel]

Over the last few weeks she had regained her strength, put weight back on. The large human had been as good as his word so far, leaving fresh food in the bag every other day. So far none of it had even been drugged. She was not foolish enough to count on things staying the same though, no, he would want something sooner or later and she had no intention of giving it to him- or of allowing him to take it by force.

So it was that she had begun to make excursions from her little patch of the forest, seeking new opportunities and new allies. Surely there were other pokemon who thought as she did, who sought safety from the humans. Overthrowing their rule of the world would be favourite but she was a practical creature and knew full well that such a coup would be doomed to fail. The best they could hope for was to find somewhere to live where humans didn't like to go, not ideal but better than captivity and that was all that would result from trying for more.


Today she had headed north, closer to the big city. There was more chance of running into humans here but having failed to find any allies closer to 'home' she had little choice but to risk running across a trainer.

It seemed however that fortune was on her side this evening... perhaps.

The behaviour she was witnessing had shocked her when she had first observed it but it seemed that this was how the free world worked. It was harsh, and only the fittest survived, but that was how things had to be. If given the choice between slavery and eating a - what was it? - a Pidgeotto she would choose the latter... though she would have cooked it first.

She knew enough to know that the feasting pair were dark types and thus that they were potentially very dangerous to her but given they were already eating she felt that the risk of approaching couldn't be so very great. Besides, a pre-made duo of allies was surely better than only one.

Lovelace allowed herself to come to rest on the ground, cleared her throat, and moved out from behind the large bush she had been concealed behind.

The Sneasel up in the tree completely escaped her notice.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

All three dark-types abruptly raised their heads, the jaws of the two on the ground dripping red with blood - which only added to the wide grin the Zoroark offered the Mewtwo, his keen eyes half-lidded. This one looked quite strange, indeed - had he ever seen one of its kind before? He couldn't recall.

Isabella eyed the newcomer with mild distaste - it had, after all, interrupted their dinner, and they only had a short period of time in which to dine - but shrugged it off. The stranger had no way of knowing their schedule. is your intent, then?> If not to interrupt the dinner of pokemon that were minding their own business.

Agatha remained silent for the time being, sitting in the vacated nest with one clawed paw stuck inside one of the eggs. That was... a rather large pokemon. What did it taste like...? It would probably be a little difficult to take down - moreso than the Pidgeotto had been, certainly - but it would be a nice challenge...  

[TawnyAngel]

Well this was a little... awkward. Just a tad. How did one approach this sort of thing? They hadn't run away, that was a good start, but on the other hand they didn't seem all that keen on her presence. Well she had interrupted their meal so she supposed she could understand them not being too thrilled.

Lovelace said after a short pause, taking a few steps closer but not getting too close in case they turned out to be hostile after all. They both certainly seemed completely at ease but that was no guarantee that they were locals; it could be that they were just passing through on their way to somewhere else, on their way to do.... Whatever free pokemon did. She still wasn't entirely clear on what that was, other than find food of course. There had to be more than that though; were there pokemon cities that her captor had stopped her from finding out about? That would be really ideal, proper buildings with comforts and entertainment but without the presence of humans.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Jacques replied cheerily, thrusting a clawed paw out for the other to shake, though the appendage dripped with blood. Either he didn't notice, or he didn't care, or he was just trying to see if she would try to shake his bloody paw.

Completely ignoring her incorrigible companion, Isabella turned a little to better address their company that didn't appear to be leaving anytime soon. Oh well, at least it wasn't too bad just yet - if it got worse, they'd just have to chase it off and finish their dinner before heading back to the city. she answered slowly, warily, a little suspicious of just why this strange pokemon wanted to know where they lived. Was it with Team Rocket?  

[TawnyAngel]

...

Well. Alriiiiiight? Was this a ritual? A test? Both? Lovelace studied the gory white paw for a few moments before deciding it didn't really matter; she padded over to the Zoroark so that she could reach out and shake it, it was only blood after all.

Warm, fresh, tacky blood.

Clearly some aspects of free life were a little rougher than slavery but she had already discovered that in her struggle to find enough to eat. It was something she would have to learn to embrace... perhaps she could fashion herself come cutlery, or find some that a human had discarded?

Bloody handshake aside at least the grinning Zoroark was being friendly, unlike his companion. she said to the Zoroark, trying not to think about the blood, before turning to the Absol. she replied politely, resisting the urge to wipe her hand off on something.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

His grin only widened when the pokemon approached and accepted the pawshake, and he tried his best not to crack up during the gesture - once it was finished, he allowed himself the luxury of doubling over in a fit of laughter.

The Absol gave her companion a rather vexed look before peering up suspiciously at the intruder again. Well, that was all right, she supposed... she pointed out. Maybe it just didn't know that Mewtwo weren't common or something?  

[TawnyAngel]

What? Why was he laughing? Lovelace looked bemused. Had it been a trick then, a joke? Obviously she had a lot to learn.... She did not like being laughed at, not at all, but these were the first two she had managed to persuade to speak to her so for now-

Humans.

Lovelace clenched her fists and the confusion faded from her face, cold hatred taking its place. <Humans?> she hissed. It was a small miracle they had escaped that fate so far if they were so cocky about the vile creatures.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Jacques ceased his laughter for a moment, and Isabella looked confused at the sudden change in her countenance, before the Zoroark fell to his side laughing even more. Isabella, however, remained confused and still suspicious. She asked slowly, withholding for the time being that they did, indeed, have a trainer. Enslaved indeed.  

[TawnyAngel]

What, it needed explaining? Where they simple? And the white one was still laughing! Lovelace snarled, her hands now clenching and unclenching with flickers of pale green energy jumping and discharging from them. own pokemon, think they own the whole world, that everything has been laid out merely for their own shallow amusement! If you have never encountered them count yourselves lucky, they are not a threat that should be taken lightly!> Fortunate for these two that she had met them, she only hoped they would take her warnings to heart and keep themselves out of the way of mankind.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Jacques continued to roll on the ground, laughing - at her words, how she obviously felt about humans, and at the irony that she was lecturing half the team of one such human - even after Isabella aimed a sharp kick at his side, but it halted his laughter only briefly.

she snapped to the pale dark-type at her side, her bloody fangs bared down at him as her hackles raised. Though he chuckled and waved a paw at her dismissively, he did manage to finally calm down. With that taken care of, she snorted her distaste at him before looking back up at the rather angry Mewtwo. If it became aggressive, they would have to take it down - or chase it off, either one. all humans are like that?>  

[TawnyAngel]

Well that was... that was a question that, surprisingly, caught her by surprise. she replied with barely a pause, completely convinced that this was the case; the big one that was feeding her, the rest of ones from the cave, her old jailer; one way or another they had used her or wanted to use her. better than us.> Such soft, weak creatures; no wonder they felt the need to control pokemon! Alone, without their technology, they were helpless as a leaf in a hurricane.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

The Zoroark rolled onto his belly and rested his chin on his bloody paw, looking between the two with a great deal of interest, while he kicked his hind paws to and fro behind him. Ohh, this was rich.

Isabella began, golden eyes narrowing a little, all humans everywhere, on the limited experiences you've had with just a few humans. You're trying to tell us that all humans are terrible, loathsome beings that don't care about anything besides themselves, that all humans just want to rule everything, and that all humans want to use pokemon for their own selfish purposes, if I understood that right.> The dark-type paused for a few moments, mostly to make sure she'd heard all of that right - she had, she was sure - before snorting derisively at the larger pokemon. It was true that their trainer used to be selfish and controlling, and had fully expected and commanded obedience, but over time that had changed. Yes, she fully believed some humans could be bad, horrible things, but it was painfully obvious that not all of them were.

came a third voice from the trees, just as a large piece of eggshell was flicked in their general direction, and the casual, indifferent words were followed swiftly by a Sneasel, as Agatha hopped down to the ground with half of an egg held in her grip. Once she'd landed, she straightened up again and shoved her paw into her meal, her beady eyes watching the large pokemon the entire time. What was that thing coming out of its head and back? Would it die if that was severed, or would it take more to bring it down...? It would make a rather pretty feast.  

[TawnyAngel]

For a moment, just a moment, Lovelace looked uncertain. Could it be that she was wrong?... No, no that couldn't be she knew what was going on here! These two had a master, had been brainwashed, it was -

The third voice made her jump, quite literally take a jump backwards throwing up a Barrier before she realised what she was doing. she asked, dropping the shield again and trying to recover her composure. swap us as though we are some kind of collectable? Are you trying to tell me that it's acceptable for them to do that?>

What about humans that didn't own pokemon though? She knew they existed. Her reasoning for hating humans didn't hold up against those who didn't enslave pokemon so- No! No, it did because those humans still accepted the behaviour of those who did keep pokemon. She was still right.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

The Zoroark couldn't help but laugh again at how the stranger jumped - ohh it would be too easy, simply too easy, and yet he wanted so badly, so very, very badly, to give her a real (fake) reason to jump.

Agatha replied curtly, before raising a paw to her mouth to lick off the contents of the egg in her grasp. She didn't feel the need to say anything further. Words were annoying, anyway.

Ugh, was this creature just plain stupid, or had something really awful happened? Maybe she had mostly run into Team Rocket or something.. she replied carefully, While she had liked the awkward little Zubat named Tact, he really hadn't been too happy cooped up with them, and he wasn't really the type of pokemon Sera was comfortable handling and working with - it really had been better for both for him to return to the wild where he'd come from. Hopefully he wasn't too bad off now. your human put you in storage for months or years, or swapped you back out for whatever else, or acted all high and mighty, then that sucks for you - some humans are like that. I'm not gonna stand here and let you try to tell me that they're all like that when they're obviously not, and you obviously don't know much of anything about them. You can try to spew your skewed opinion as fact as much as you want, just don't expect me to believe you.> Arceus, this sure was kind of a dumb specimen of a psychic-type that was supposed to be really intelligent. Maybe it was just really young, or had only had very limited experiences... Maybe just experiences with Team Rocket.