[Fin] Parks and Recreation

[TawnyAngel]

Shopping was not exactly Aulus' favourite ever thing but it had needed doing, and was now over with. Obligations taken care of he had decided against heading back to base right away - he didn't need to be back until his class at seven - and so he'd opted to get some food and head into the park for lunch. It had been a long time since he'd been there, the last time he remembered clearly he'd been taking pictures of a blue eevee that had turned out to belong to 'Lucy' and didn't that just feel like a lifetime ago? He was pretty sure he'd been a bit of a tit back then but then most people in their early twenties were so it was to be expected he guessed.

It was a pleasantly sunny day so the park was pretty busy but he was still able to find a nice spot on the grass to settle down and let out the rest of his team, Tortie was already sitting beside him looking expectantly at the bag of food.

"Yeah yeah, hang on," Aulus muttered with a snort of amusement. Out of the other pokeballs he had with him came Char, Paul, Phaeth, Rose, and Artemis. "Picnic time!" he informed them once they'd all manifested. He then looked at Char and added; "You're off duty, try relaxing hu?"

<> Char assured him with a rumble and a nod of his head.

<> Rose passed on with a soft chuckle, sitting down and folding his legs into a lotus position. <>

<> Phaethon added hopefully, settling himself down on the ground behind Aulus and leaning his neck around with hopefully whiffing nostrils.

Aulus didn't need a translation for that one, he gave a snort of amusement and took an apple out of the bag before leaning back against the fire type's flank. "Yes, there are apples. Here." He then broke it in half by dint of squeezing into the top and bottom with his metal fingers and then twisting and held half out to the expectant Rapidash; it promptly vanished and there followed a satisfied crunching noise.  

[Gwennythe]

The sudden appearance of a Charizard, Rapidash, Sawk, and as she got closer she could spot the Eevee and Spinarak, alongside an Absol, was like a lightbulb to a moth for Henrietta.

With Gummy in her arms, and trailed by a Hawlucha and two Eevees, the girl came speeding across the grass, making a beeline for the gathering of pokémon and their scarred trainer.

Even Aulus' somewhat default intimidating appearance didn't seem to put her off, that or she hadn't noticed it.
"Oh woooooow! Awesome!"  

[TawnyAngel]

Aulus passed the other half of the apple to Rose and started to dig in the bag for food for the others when a nearby voice made him pause and looked up. A girl, dark skinned and purple haired with.... The hell was wrong with that Totodile? Eeegh. Aulus scowled. "Can I help you?" he said in tones that implied he wasn't interested in helping anyone with anything, save except perhaps the faint possibility of passing them a knuckle sandwich.

While he waited for a response he fetched out the cooked chicken he'd bought and ripped off the legs, which he passed to Artemis; one of the wings, which he set down on the grass for Paul; and with that done he offered the rest of the carcass to Tortie. All three pokemon tucked in with enthusiasm, though Paul dragged his wing close to Aulus' side in order to hide himself a bit from the stranger and her pokemon.

Phaethon meanwhile regarded the girl and her companions with interest, ears perked forward and nostrils flaring to catch her scent. <> he asked of the pokemon, his tones interested and friendly.  

[Gwennythe]

"Naah! Your pokemon are super awesome though! You gotta Absol! A Spinarak- I'VE GOT A SPINARAK TOO!- and a Rapidash! And an Eevee- I got two Eevees! And a Sawk! AND A CHARIZARD! Man, they're so cool! Did you get him from Kanto?! Aw, your Spinarak's adorable! What are their names?! Oh!" Her eyes bugged as she caught sight of just what his arm looked like, and her grin grew wider.
"AND YOU'VE GOT A METAL ARM! THAT'S SO AWESOME! Are you a superhero?! Your team looks super tough! Oh! I'm Henrietta, by the way!"
She then pointed at her pokémon in turn.
"This is Gummy! He's awesome! He could totally battle your Charizard! And these are Horizon and Fluffster! And this big guy is Juan! He could totally fight your Sawk!"

<< Apologies. She is exuberant. My name is Juan,>> He dipped his head slightly to the equine << as she has introduced. It is pleasant to meet you.>>

Fluffster yipped a happy greeting, followed by her sister Eevee just behind, before the pair of them tried to approach Artemis, intrigued.

Gummy stared at Aulus' chin.  

[TawnyAngel]

"Ten out of ten for observation," Aulus said dryly, fetching out the egg and cress sandwiches he'd got for himself and taking a bite before passing the bag to Rose so he could investigate the rest of the contents. "And yes I'm sure your Totodile could battle Char but I wouldn't advise it if you like him the shape he is at present rather than some variation in the key of A Flat Totodile." Haha, music joke. Aulus did not smile. "But seen as you ask they're Char, Tortoiseshell, Rose, Paul, Phaethon, and Artemis." Aulus indicated each one in turn with staccato jerks of his metal forefinger. "And yes, it's quite a piece of technology."

<> Phaethon replied with a swish of is fiery tail. <>

<> Rose said with a nod around a mouthful of apple. <> he added as he found a big bag of salt and vinegar crisps.

<> Char rumbled, his eyes slightly narrowed; Aulus did not approve of this girl and so he was waiting for a potential order to see the ruffian off. The Hawlucha was polite however and earned a stiff nod of acknowledgement.

<> Artemis chirped happily to the other eevees and got down in a mock predatory crouch. <>

Paul tried to tuck himself further out of sight beside Aulus' leg.  

[Gwennythe]

"Yay! Ten! Nah! Gummy'd totally win! Those are super cool names though! ...Hey! Thanks!" She responded to Phaethon, suddenly, and then grinned at Aulus. "Kurt's a totally cool name! But you really oughta get a codename if you're a superhero!"

Gummy gave a slow, lazy, blink; one eyelid opened and closed slightly ahead of the other.

<< Ah, yes. She can talk to Fire types.>> Juan responded, momentarily surprised himself as he'd forgotten. << Kurt is aptly named? Oh! Curt! I see. That is very funny.>>

<> Fluffster responded, delighted, mirroring Artemis' crouch.

Horizon was less vocal but hopped sideways and wagged her tail to show she was up for play too.  

[TawnyAngel]

Aulus gave a brief snort of derisive amusement and had been about to respond when confusion interrupted him and brought a frown to his face. A moment later however said confusion was cleared up by the Hawlucha; fire types hu? Well, no need to show his own hand - ha - to a stranger. Instead of acknowledging the part fighting type therefore he kept his gaze on the girl. "What the hell are you blathering about? Do I look like a superhero to you?" he asked, frown deepening to a scowl. "And if you want a battle then I'm sure we can arrange that, there's plenty of space here after all."

<> Phaethon replied, turning briefly to see if his trainer would respond too. No? Okay, so they weren't mentioning that then. There was a lot of stuff they couldn't mention to strangers anymore but it was a small price to pay for being back with his friend. <>

Tortie gulped down a mouthful of chicken and licked her maw, a sharp grin spreading across her face. <>

<> Artemis laughed happily, abandoning her lunch in order to pounce playfully at Fluffster.  

[Gwennythe]

"Yeah! Totally!" Henrietta responded earnestly. "You've got a super awesome scar! And you've got a totally awesome robot arm! But you're totally not a super -villian- cuz supervillain's don't have super nice picnics with their pokémon! And your Rapidash is talking really nicely! So he clearly likes you! So you gotta be a superhero then instead, see?!"

She grinned and practically bounced then.
"Yeah! Yeah a battle would be super awesome!"

<< It is fairly often, I think. This park is one I have seen more than a few times. Almost as commonly as I have seen the beach here.>> He glanced toward Tortie with some confusion << Jeeves? I did not hear that name among you.>>

Fluffster rolled with the pounce, and found herself on her back... as Horizon decided to give a happy little 'Veee!' and tried to pounce at both of the other Eevees.  

[TawnyAngel]

<> Char said with a rumble. <> He didn't object to the description; while Tortie didn't like him as such he was aware that she did respect him and, while she was crude and sometimes insubordinate, he respected her in turn for her drive to protect their little clan.

<> Tortie grinned. <>

"Right, sure," Aulus replied dryly, "Just call me Cyborg then, because I'm original like that. Anyway, what sort of battle? One on one? Double battle?" Out in the nice friendly civilian world there were notions such as 'fair play', setting down the rules before you ripped into one another and all that.

<> Phaethon replied with a nod, nosing hopefully towards the bag. <>

<> Rose affirmed, tossing one over onto the ground for the Rapidash to get his teeth into.

Artemis squeaked when Horizon jumped on top of the pile and squirmed around to give play-pats and nips to whatever portions of the others she could reach. <>  

[Gwennythe]

"You got a Charizard butler?! Man! You really are a superhero! Cyborg?! Okay!" She... totally -was- going to call him Cyborg now...

"Ooh! Man! We should totally do a double battle! Those are so awesome! OOH! You take pictures?! You should totally take pictures of our battle!"

<< The beach makes for a soft landing in a spar.>> Juan stated fondly, then flicked his eyes toward Aulus and then Henrietta << Though a battle on grass can be just as good.>>

Horizon yipped and tried to get Artemis back, when suddenly Fluffster piped up:
<>
<>  

[TawnyAngel]

"Alright, double battle," Aulus agreed with a shrug. "I'll field Char there and... you can pick whoever else you want from my team. I'll take on whichever two of yours you want." Aulus looked from Henrietta, to Phaethon, to Char, and back to the girl again. "So do you speak to fire types or what? And I don't have a camera on me, I left it at the motel, and I don't have one on my arm yet." Ooooh, he should totally get one! Like, a mobile camera with a shutter over the lens. But where? He supposed it could pop up or something.... He wanted too much stuff in his arm.

<> Phaethon crunched his apple. <eating grass! Fighting on it is fine too though.>>

<> Artemis agreed. <>  

[Gwennythe]

"I'm totally going with Gummy! And, uh... " She looked back toward Juan, to see if he wanted to battle and was rewarded with a nod and some posing from the fighting bird, which made her grin.
"Gummy and Juan! Man! Against Char! This'll be awesome! Uh! How about your Sawk?! Rose?" She ventured, remembering the name. "Unless your Rapidash wants to battle? He said fighting on grass was fine but he likes to eat it!" She giggled and then nodded.
"Yeah! I talk to fire types! Do you talk to a type? Ooh! Is it Steel?! That'd be awesome! Shame about your camera! Hey, maybe my dex has a camera?! I dunno... Maybe not!"

<< Oh! That's a cool name! Mine's cuz I'm fluffy.>>  

[TawnyAngel]

Aulus shrugged indifferently. "Not that I know of, no. Maybe it'll come on one day. Alright, Rose you're up; Char, direct the battle."

<> Rose put down the bag of crisps, hopped to his feet and stretched. <>

Char gave another deep rumble and moved away from the picnic into a clear area. <> he said with a nod to the opposing pair of pokemon.

<> Artemis plopped down to watch. <> she nodded to the self-professed fluffy eevee.  

[Gwennythe]

Henrietta placed Gummy down next to Juan... who reached over and proceeded to turn Gummy to face the right way.

"Yeah! I bet it'll totally come and it'll be something really cool! Maybe you'll get fire like me?! That'd be so awesome! You could talk with your Rapidash and Charizard! Or maybe you'll get fighting! You could totally talk to your Sawk then! That'd be awesome too!"

Ooh! It was time to battle.
"Gummy! Start with Water Gun on Char! Juan! Try to Wing Attack Rose!"

Amazingly, the rather dopey looking Totodile used the attack without hesitation, and aiming at the target he was told, to.

<< I'm happy with it!>> Fluffster agreed, sitting down next to Artemis << Yours is cool though, and so is Horizons! That's where the sky meets the sea, and she's all watery and blue, see?>>

<< It's a poetic name.>> Horizon declared, a little proudly.  

[TawnyAngel]

Aulus shifted into a slightly more comfortable position against Phaethon's flank and smirked. "We'll see I suppose."

Char growled as the two attacks struck, the first on him and the second on his partner. <>

<> The Sawk stumbled to recover from the super effective strike, placed his palms together and then drew them apart to reveal a blue ball of energy. The sphere hung there for less than a heartbeat before shooting forward to strike Char, powering him up with Helping Hand.

Char gave a nod of satisfaction and turned to blast Heat Wave at his enemies, aiming primarily at Juan as he knew Rose was less able to take punishment than he was himself.

<> Artemis agreed with a nod before turning to focus on the battle and wriggling her rump. <> One day she'd fight in battles like that, one day soon she hoped!