[FIN] Talk to the Pokemon 'Cause the Trainer Ain't Listenin'

[lZAYA ORlHARA]

Returning from a trip to the city, Izaya decided he didn't want to go directly back to base just yet. Having been cooped up - no, imprisoned - there for so long had made him develop something of a repulsion for it. Though there were more people to observe inside than out, the man in the Trainee uniform decided he could do with a little alone time.

Well, maybe not completely alone. Taking out a pokeball, he released his Gardevoir. He didn't usually go anywhere in the base these days without Namie at his side, so he would have called her out anyway, but this time he thought it might be good to trainer her in the actual wilderness. So far he'd just been training with her in the training rooms at headquarters.

"We're going to train out here for a little while today," Izaya told the psychic-and-fairy type. Saying this, he gestured toward the forest at the edge of the lake under which the base was located. Namie looked from the lake to the forest doubtfully, but gave no other sign of protest. When her trainer walked into the thicket of trees, she followed obediently and silently after him.  

[insidiousEnigma]

"Zacharie, look at this."

Said Grunt looked up from his sketch of some sort of moss growing on the tree in front of him and turned his attention to his Espurr. The small, fuzzy pokemon held a dandelion in his hand and was currently holding it up for his trainer to see. "...That's a dandelion, Kuroko. Have you never seen one before?" Kuroko raised his wide, blue eyes towards the sky before leveling Zacharie with a look that clearly said, 'Duh'.

"I know." The pokemon said simply. At a loss for something to say in return, Zacharie just stared. Perhaps Kuroko would tell him if he waited long enough? Trainer and pokemon lasped into a silent staring contest, broken only by the sound of rustling leaves and the call of distant birds. Finally, without breaking eye contact, Kuroko brought the dandelion to up and bit off the yellow flower. He chewed twice, swallowed, and then tossed the stem over his small shoulder. "They're my favourite flower"  

[lZAYA ORlHARA]

Izaya heard Zacharie's voice before he saw the grunt. Raising a brow, he gestured to Namie to follow him as he turned toward the direction of the sounds. Peering through the trees, he caught sight of the purple-haired young man along with a strange blue pokemon close by.

While the grunt was familiar, the pokemon was not. Izaya concluded that Zacharie must have obtained it while he had been away. Was he...talking to it, though? Ugh. Must have picked up the habit from Jerome talking to Bro or something.

It had been quite some time since Izaya had last spoken to Zacharie and he hesitated in doing so now. He wasn't sure how the young Rocket would react to his sudden appearance. After a minute or two, though, the man in the Trainee uniform put on a small smile and rapped his knuckles against the closest tree as he stepped out from behind it.

"Knock knock," he greeted. "Figures you'd be out here. I'm surprised you've brought out a little monster that eats your precious plants while you're trying to sketch them, though," Izaya said, peering over Zacharie's shoulder at his sketch. Namie, meanwhile, stayed by the tree while regarding her trainer and then Kuroko with an unimpressed gaze.

she grumbled to herself. the Gardevoir asked, seemingly directing her subtle inquiry at the Espurr.  

[insidiousEnigma]

"Oh," Zacharie's gaze shifted from his pokemon up to the source of the new voice. He could honestly say he was surprised when he spotted Izaya stepping out from the surrounding trees and it probably showed in his expression. "Hello Izaya." He greeted with a small smile and a slight nod of his head, absently tucking a stray, chin-length strand of hair back behind his ear. "It's been a while." His smile faltered at the rude way the other man referred to his pokemon, but his pale eyes shifted over to were Kuroko...well, where he had been standing just a second ago. "Kuroko isn't doing any harm..." He shrugged lightly as he leaned back a bit so the dark-haired male could see the moss he had been drawing. "Dandelions are his favourite, apparently." He said, tone amused as he rose to his full height, now standing a good inch taller than the other male, and reached down to brush the dirt off of the knees of his jeans. Andre wouldn't be too pleased if he found out that he was staining the new clothing that he'd help him pick out. It'd been a pain to have to go out and get a whole new wardrobe after he'd started getting taller, subsequently giving way to a more toned physique than he ever thought he'd have.

The Espurr said blandly from where he'd gone off to tug another dandelion from beneath a shrub. Zacharie's lips twitched up in amusement as he watched the Gardevoir out of the corner of his eye. "Izaya and I...we're..." The grunt's eyebrows furrowed slightly before he gave another shrug. Honestly, he had no idea what his relationship with the information broker was. He considered Izaya a friend...of sorts. Certainly more than a mere acquaintance but not quite to the level that most people would consider a real friend. "How have you been, Izaya?" He asked instead, turning his full attention back to the other man.  

[lZAYA ORlHARA]

Thinking back to the plushie he'd been given by Zacharie the previous Christmas, the crimson-eyed man shrugged. "I suppose it has." It hadn't even occurred to him that what he said might have been rude to the Espurr. At the mention of dandelions being its favorite, he raised a brow at the unfamiliar species and remarked, "...Of course they are. Good thing those weren't what you were drawing, then."

Namie responded, looking from the other Psychic-type to his trainer. She paused, thoughtful.

Frowning at how much taller the purple-haired teen had gotten since he'd last laid eyes on him, Izaya crossed his arms over his chest. "Who are you talking to?" Following the grunt's gaze toward his Gardevoir, he groaned and slid his palm down his face. "Arceus, not you too..."

At Zacharie's question to him about how he'd been, he raised his head again with a much-too-cheerful smile on his face. "Oh, I've been just dandy, thanks! Look, I even got a new pokemon and came out here to train her. Or has she 'told' you that already?" He threw out his arms dramatically. "Lo and behold, I find you here! And...whatever that thing is."

If Zacharie couldn't tell something was up by the uniform he was wearing, Izaya wasn't going to bring it to his attention. There was an obvious irritation present beneath his sarcastically bright tones which colored his words a bit sour.

insidiousEnigma

 

[insidiousEnigma]

If Kuroko were the type to sigh in exasperation he would have. Instead he simply raised his eyes toward the sky before plucking a flower from the ground and making his way over to his trainer. Zacharie, for the most part, just looked a little confused. "Well..." His gaze flickered between the Gardevoir and her trainer before he reached up to rub the back of his neck. "I can understand physic types so..." He shrugged a bit as he packed away his sketchbook. "She says that you heard about the Egg of Arceus so your attitude on the subject confuses me."

Actually, Izaya's entire disposition confused him.

He'd heard about what had happened through the grapevine and he could understand the others unhappiness about the situation but in the end Izaya had gotten what was coming to him. He remembered quite vividly that Izaya had brought up the chain of command and what would happen if you broke it. Perhaps this outward aggression was meant to prevent internalization? Zacharie couldn't be sure, he was still no expert on emotions. "...Your sarcasm isn't warranted, Izaya." He muttered, giving the other a withering glare made all the more intimidating by he matured features. "Neither is your aggression, I haven't done anything to you." A faint tug on his pant leg had him adding, "And neither has Kuroko." Honestly, what was the point of coming over here if all he was going to do was be rude? "Despite that, I am glad to see you."  

[lZAYA ORlHARA]

"Sure you can," Izaya answered, his voice expressing his blatant incredulity through continued sarcasm. "But the conclusion that I heard about this so-called Egg could be deduced by what I'd said, even if you couldn't understand her, so forgive me if I don't believe you."

Namie commented, frowning at her trainer.

The crimson-eyed man smirked in response to the glare he received. Matured features or not, he'd gotten a lot scarier looks from people a great deal more threatening than he found Zacharie to be. It seemed to only humor him to watch the purple-haired youth attempt to portray his irritation. Or anger or whatever that was supposed to be.

"Since when have I bothered to wait until someone's done something to me to do something to them?" he inquired, laughing. "I don't know what aggression you're referring to. And anyway, you're wrong. You've done a great deal, though I doubt you're aware. But let's not get into that."

It left a bitter taste in his mouth to recall Jerome's anger towards him and his kindness toward Zacharie. As far as he was concerned, Zacharie had shoved Izaya out of whatever place he had held in Jerome's heart. Okay, so that wasn't entirely true...but it had seemed that he'd taken his place in any case.

Still pretending as if Kuroko didn't exist, Izaya went on. "You don't sound glad to see me, Zachie-chan. But I don't blame you. Why would you? You've probably made so many new friends while I was away and just strengthened your precious bond with Jerry-kun. And your beloved plants. And whatever pokemon you have now, it seems." He kept eye-contact with Zacharie, not looking back at the Espurr as if purposely averting his gaze from it.

insidiousEnigma

((Sorry for the delay!))

 

[insidiousEnigma]

lZAYA ORlHARA

]

Zacharie couldn't help but agree with Izaya's pokemon, "Good luck with that." He muttered before giving a faint shrug of his shoulders. If Izaya didn't want to believe what was being scientifically proven then that was his own problem.

The purple-haired boy stared at the other male for a moment, unblinking and intent, before he smiled indulgently. As if he were humouring the trainee. "Ah, I believe I understand now." He said with a slight nod before adjusting the bag on his shoulders. "Whether you choose to believe me or not is your own choice, but I am pleased to see you." He assured, though he didn't expect Izaya to accept it. The older man seemed to love playing the victim. "I've caught quite a few pokemon since we last spoke." The teen smiled lightly. "Though I fail to see why any of that has to do with it. I can have exciting things happen and still miss your presence."

Kuroko, since he was being ignored anyway, shuffled over to Izaya's feet. He was used to going unnoticed and was, in fact, very good at sneaking around. While the red-eyed man was talking to his trainer, the Espurr took the opportunity to begin sticking various twigs, rocks, and leaves into his boots.  

[lZAYA ORlHARA]

insidiousEnigma

((Would you prefer that I quote you with each response?))

Izaya frowned, raising a brow. "Yes, you said that already," he remarked, referring to Zacharie's comment about being pleased to see the other whether or not said other believed him. "If you have others to keep you company, there should be no reason to miss those who might have done the same. Why would you miss me, anyway?"

Namie, still listening to the mens' conversation, watched Kuroko as he moved toward her trainer. She smirked a little, curious as to what he was doing but amused regardless that Izaya didn't seem to notice.  

[insidiousEnigma]

lZAYA ORlHARA

Yes please~ ;w;

"Everyone is different and therefor offers a different type of interaction." He cocked his head slightly, "We haven't had many interactions but I've always found you..." He paused for a moment as he thought over his word choice. The last time he had talked to Izaya had been nothing short of an emotional roller coaster and while at the time he had hated it, looking back he couldn't help but feel a sense of gratitude. "Interesting, to say the least." He said slowly, his brows furrowing slightly. "Even though I can never be fully certain of your motives, I have enjoyed the times we have talked." He spoke honestly, a hand coming up to rub the back of his neck awkwardly.

With Izaya's boots now full of debris, Kuroko found his work to be done and scurried back over to his trainer. He stuck his tongue out at the trainee before climbing Zacharie's left leg and nudging his pokeball until he disappeared within it.  

[lZAYA ORlHARA]

insidiousEnigma

((No problem. XD I'll start doing that in our other rps, too. But don't worry about quoting me, 'cause I check this forum pretty regularly and I know it's a pain to try to figure out which of my accounts to quote. wink ))

"You? Find me interesting?" The black-haired man laughed. "I guess that's a first. Not many people can talk with me and say they've enjoyed it. Perhaps we simply have yet to have enough talks for you to decide otherwise." Though he tried to maintain a consistant demeanor, the irritation from earlier was evidently soothed somewhat by Zacharie's surprising flattery.

"I always thought my motives were pretty clear. I love humans and watching them to see what they'll do. Isn't that explanation enough?" He snickered at the purple-haired Rocket's gesture of rubbing the back of his neck. "You're acting like someone who's nervous around a crush; you know that?"

Izaya stared, perplexed, as the Espurr stuck out his tongue at him before deliberately disappearing into his pokeball. "...Does it do that often?" he muttered, surprised at how human-like the behavior had seemed. Namie was turned away from Izaya, her hand hiding her face to conceal her laughter.

she told Zacharie. do you find this pitiful, walking, talking joke of a human to be interesting? You seem like an intelligent person. Why would you want anything to do with this scumbag?>  

[insidiousEnigma]

((-Salutes-))

"Why wouldn't I find you interesting? You seem like you've had an eventful life." He asked curiously, his head cocked slightly. "I'd like it if we could talk more..." He admitted sheepishly, shifting from one foot to the other. "If you wouldn't be opposed to it, of course." He added quickly. Being forced to be in someone's company when you would rather not talk to them was obnoxious for him, so he wouldn't want to push Izaya if he honestly wasn't interested in possibly becoming friends.

"Eh?" The teen blinked owlishly, lowering his hand from where he'd been absently tugging at his hair. "Am I?" He'd never experienced romantic attraction...or really any kind of attraction, so he didn't know the indicators. He'd read about them in books and in online articles but reading infinitely different than experiencing. "...I don't have any first hand knowledge about that sort of thing..." He said slowly, absently nibbling on his bottom lip.

Drawn from his thought, Zacharie glanced down at where Kuroko was clinging to his leg (when did he get there?), "Kuroko?" But the Espurr had already disappeared into his Pokeball. "...Yes, all of my pokemon have a bit of an attitude." He gave a soft huff of a laugh before looking down to Izaya's pokemon. "That's...not very kind to say." He frowned a bit. "Everyone has different experiences to make them who they are...I don't think he's a joke or a scumbag. A bit odd, yes, but I think you're being too harsh." How did Izaya treat his pokemon that they would think such negative things about him? "Everyone needs a friend..." He muttered under his breath.  

[lZAYA ORlHARA]

insidiousEnigma

(( heart ))

Crimson eyes studied Zacharie seriously for a moment as if trying to determine whether or not the younger man was making fun of him. Then he broke into a smile and said, "If talking is what you want to do, I've been told that's something I'm quite experienced in. I've even been told I like it too much. Why would I be opposed?"

Again he seemed to hesitate when the grunt seemed clueless as to his own actions, but then Izaya remembered Zacharie had been like that since he'd known him; oblivious to little behaviors like that and what they implied about the person exhibiting them. Especially when it came to social things like friendship or romance. He snorted. "I see some parts of you haven't changed," the informant added with amusement. "It's fine. I forgot how charmingly adorable your naivety in these matters was."

"An attitude?" he repeated. "And where might they have gotten that from? From you, perhaps? Or is a result of you not training them well enough?" He blinked when Namie was turned to and addressed. This was like what had happened with KO all over again. If those two supposedly could understand the Gardevoir, then she must have had a lot to say. A moment of panic struck the man before quickly subsiding. No...it's not as if they can actually understand her, so there's nothing to worry about. Still, he studied the pair with some apprehension, trying to listen to Zacharie's hushed words.

Namie wanted to know. She gestured toward Izaya.

She put up both her arms in exasperation. pity him.>

Izaya raised a brow at Namie's gestures. They seemed very human; very characteristic of someone's gestures during a conversation. Was this part of their little act? "So if you and KO both claim to understand my Gardevoir," he spoke up, "then supposedly you would both have the ability to communicate with the same type of pokemon, correct? But according to him, each person has a different type they can converse with, so what are the chances that out of all of them, you two ended up with the same one?" There! He'd called them out on it. Maybe now they could stop pretending and end this whole annoying charade. It was starting to unnerve him more than he cared to admit.  

[insidiousEnigma]

Zacharie returned the smile sent his way with a shy one of his own, "Just because you like to talk does not automatically mean that you would like to talk to me." He said with a shrug, "I wouldn't want to force you to do something you wouldn't want to do." He figured that Izaya had enough people telling him what he could or could not do and he didn't want to be one of them.

He tried to fight the blush that rose to his cheeks at the others amused tone but it when it seemed helpless he simply ducked his head instead, his hair somewhat shielding his face from view. "Well..." He muttered, shrugging once again but more in an awkward 'what can you do?' sort of way. "C-Charmingly-?!" His head snapped up to regard Izaya incredulously, "No...n-no...not at all." He brought his hands up to frantically wave off the statement. Jeez, why did he have to say something so embarrassing?

It was time for a subject change.
Even if the subject wasn't particularly nice.

The teen turned his full attention to Izaya's pokemon, his expression slowly becoming more serious as she went on. "Not everyone's first priority is to be cruel." Zacharie said quietly. He thought of Jerome, of Faleen, of Tambrey, and Lu...people that had always been very kind in his eyes. That were brought here by different circumstances but tried to make the best of the life they now led. He thought of Izaya and the predicament he was now in. He didn't often think of these things, it was useless to dwell on things he couldn't change, but it never failed to leave him with a pit in the bottom of his stomach. "...I sort of figured it had something to do with that. I may not be an expert on reading people but it's pretty obvious..." It still made him feel a bit...

Zacharie glanced back up at Izaya with a solemn expression, regarding him as he took in everything that the Gardevoir had told him. "Most pokemon have two types..." He said slowly before shaking his head as if that would clear his thoughts. "Perhaps KO understands one while I understand the other. There's also a limited amount of types in pokemon, statistically it's not impossible for people to be able to talk to the same type." He cocked his head thoughtfully and absently played with the fraying edges of his bag. "It could also have something to do with the particular way that people think..." He seemed to be getting more excited by the second. "KO and I could share similar personality traits and brainwaves...I wonder if he'd be willing to come in to the labs..."  

[lZAYA ORlHARA]

insidiousEnigma

"No one can force anyone else to do something they don't want to do," Izaya answered calmly. "To say otherwise is just an excuse." He studied Zacharie up and down critically as he continued. "If you would like us to talk more like you say, you must have something in mind to talk about, ne? What sort of things might those be?"

He chuckled when the purple-haired grunt ducked his head. "What's the use of having cut your bangs if you're just going to hide your face again?" Now curious, the black-haired man walked up to Zacharie with a suave smile. "Why all the stammering, then? -! Kuso!" He cursed, tripping and falling on his side as the twigs and sticks that the Espurr had put into his boots stabbed his feet.

Zacharie, however, seemed to be distracted with Namie again. Izaya stayed on the ground to take off his boots and dump them out, pretending not to strain his ears to listen as he tried to catch what Zacharie was saying. In a minute, though, the young Rocket was facing him again and Izaya blinked, not having expected the other's attention back on him so quickly.

"...Ah." He seemed disappointed at the perfectly reasonable explanation. Looked liked Zacharie wasn't as easily caught off-guard or flustered about pokemon questions as he was about compliments, teasing, or flirting. Izaya suddenly got annoyed again. "I think he's already been through enough in the labs," he stated, making sure the last of the junk in his boots were emptied. "Didn't you hear about what happened to him? If I were you, I'd be less interested in studying his brain and more interested in his body."

Namie answered Zacharie while entertaining herself watching Izaya on the ground.