[FIN] In Over Your Head

[Suudonym]

The humans' conversation seemed to be ending, and so with a momentary glance up to them, Mikleo shrugged lightly.

"Thanks! You too," Sorey replied. Before he spoke any further, however, something became apparent. He pointed in the direction the Rapidash had turned itself, "Oh, you were going this way?"

the Vaporeon commented.

Sorey offered a translation, for the sake of being polite if nothing else, "'What a coincidence,' he said. That's actually the direction we were headed as well."  

[Blood_Goddess]

Pastin was all geared up to take off down the road much like he had been for most of the trip, though as the other human and Pokemon seemed to be heading in the same direction, both Rapidash and human rider took on a surprised look, before Rosie laughed, and Pastin gave a snort of amusement, some flame shooing out of his nostrils.
"I guess we are."
Rosie said with a light giggle, reaching down to pat Pastin's shoulder, the trainer then pulled one leg over him, letting herself slide off onto her own feet so she would walk.
"Mind if we join you then? I always think its nicer to travel with others."  

[Suudonym]

Sorey shared in a laugh as well - really, what were the odds? - but the suggestion that followed came as something of a small surprise. "Really? I mean, sure, I'd love the company, but I'd hate to slow you down when you've got somewhere to be."  

[Blood_Goddess]

Rosie shrugged, sharing a glance with Pastin as he stride up next to her. "Whats the point of having super fast Pokemon if you can't have a little extra time to spare." The blond mused, the Rapidash snorting lightly.
"Do you have other pokemon on your team?" Rosie asked, smiling down at Mikleo  

[Suudonym]

"That's one way of looking at it. All right, then," Sorey said with a nod, "we'll gratefully accept your company."

Mikleo reminded.

"He says we won't inconvenience you for too long, since the water source we're going to is supposed to be pretty close," Sorey supplied. He looked to the Vaporeon as Rosie did, then returned his gaze to her to answer her question, "Nope, it's just Mikleo and me. Always has been - unless you count all the pokemon that lived with us back at the village. They were more like extended family than anything else, though."  

[Blood_Goddess]

She was glad for his company too, No matter what the reason, traveling on this road always worried her, and it wasn't without reason. The knot that she carried around inside of her always seemed to get a little tighter whenever she went out alone with her Pokemon.
The situation might not have been any safer then it had been an hour ago, but there was something comforting about being in company with other friendly individuals.

Being off of Pastin was a lot colder, so when Northern, who had a similar feeling drifted over to sink against Rosie's chest, the trainer put her arms around the smaller Pokemon for mutual warmth.
Though northern had her face turned away from the world, eyes closed as she buried her face into Rosie's shift, the Trainer looked from Mikleo, toward the human who translated his words.
"That's a little further off the road isn't it? I'll be heading past that direction myself." She explained
"You said you were from Kalos right?" she asked with a little more enthusiasm "Whats it like? Growing up in a place with so many pokemon? When its so normal too."  

[Suudonym]

That was good, then - they could enjoy one another's company for a while, but not so long as to make Rosie late to her destination. It was shaping up to be a day full of convenient coincidences.

Sorey gave his attention as she spoke, and his gaze drifted aside thoughtfully in consideration of an answer. "I'm not sure how it would compare to growing up anywhere else," he said, "but it was a lot of fun! Everyone was always eager to play or teach me things, like hunting or swimming or climbing trees."

Mikleo interjected.

"Mm. Well, yeah, not everyone, I guess." He shrugged his shoulders lightly, "Pokemon Village is sort of a hideaway, and a lot of pokemon that were mistreated by their trainers wound up there for refuge since humans almost never come by. There was a Zoroark who kind of hated me just on principle, but as long as we didn't bother each other there weren't any problems."

Curiosity brightened his features, "What was it like for you, growing up in a city? I always wondered what kind of lives other children had."  

[Blood_Goddess]

"Pokemon Village?" Rosie repeated, her eyebrows arching with interest. She had never heard of a place like that before. Having never been to Kalos, it occurred to her how little she actually knew about it. As far as the other regions went she knew much more about Hoenn then any of the others.
"I guess that was a pretty silly question, Growing up with Pokemon would be pretty normal." She agreed "It sounds like it was really cool though, and its nice to think that there is a safe place for Pokemon to go... Do a lot of people live there too? You make it sound like its just Pokemon though, did you live in a town close by?"

She tilted her head when a similar question was posed to her. "I hate to say it was just normal, for me it was. But hmm..." She considered it in a way that might not be as obvious to someone who didn't grow up like she did. "I really liked it! Always really busy, quick paced and scheduled carefully. You go to school, do homework. I had dance lessons, and music lessons and singing lessons, lots of friends in school. Back then Pokemon weren't really a normal thing, a lot of my friends thought it was weird that we had a Vaporeon in our family, it was so rare to see other pokemon in the cities for the longest time, just people."
She grinned brightly "That's changed a lot though, as you can probably tell."  

[Suudonym]

"Yeah, it was almost entirely pokemon," Sorey nodded. "I lived there alongside everyone. Now that I'm traveling, my Gramps is the only human living there - and it seems like he was there alone for a long time before I came along, though I don't really know how long exactly. The gym leader from the closest town, Snowbelle City, also visits fairly regularly, so he and Gramps were they only humans I knew until I was..." he pursed his lips in recollection, "...seven or eight, I think."

The childhood that Rosie described was a stark contrast that sounded almost fanciful to Sorey. It was sort of amazing how something could be 'normal' to one person and utterly outlandish to another. (Granted, however, Sorey didn't need an outside perspective to figure out that his youth hadn't been exactly 'normal' by most standards.)

"'Busy' is right," he said. "I can't imagine having that much to do! Like, all in a day? Even all in a week would be pretty intense..." And to think, not even a pokemon companion to help make things go faster! The idea of living without pokemon beside him was truly beyond his comprehension. One thought led to another, and a puzzled expression overcame Sorey's features. "But wait, didn't early Kodoans have a close relationship with pokemon? I wonder why they went from being close to distant... Do you know why pokemon companionship has become normal again?"  

[Blood_Goddess]

"Only two people?" Rosie said with an amazed gasp. "That's pretty amazing! I bet you understand Pokemon really well having lived with so many for so long." She leaned forward a little. "Did you ever get lonely though? Not having other people or other kids to talk to or play with?"

Strengthening up Rosie let out a soft laugh, shaking her head lightly, lifting one hand to shake it a little, returning back around Northern as she continued to talk.
"I don't really think I had what would be considered a normal childhood though, Compared to a lot of my friends in school my sister and I were kept very busy, but it was always with things that we enjoyed, so it wasn't like we couldn't handle it. Being able to work hard and keep busy has helped me a lot with my life of Pokemon training too, So it was useful."

Rosie let off a soft hum, glancing over to Pastin who blinked back at her. "Yeah I wonder that myself sometimes." she replied, "I don't know a whole lot about early Kodoans, or what might have happened to them, but from what I understand as Camphoreon and Sandalwood were growing there wasn't really much of a Pokemon population with the humans. There has always been a wild Pokemon population on the island."
Looking back over at Sorey a more quiet look on her features "As much as I don't like to admit it, there is a lot of talk that the Pokemon's increased population and spread into human society might have been in part becasue of the presence of Team Rocket forming on the island." Her arms tightened around the Jirachi in her arms, her gaze falling to the jeweled head of the tiny Legendary.
"A lot of us took up more serious Pokemon training out of necessity... The only reason The League even has a small presence here is out of necessity." She tried to put on a brighter smile "Though I would like to think that we would have gotten to where we are with Pokemon on our own anyway."  

[Suudonym]

"Pretty well, yeah! Although it can take a little while to figure out the unique patterns in the way a pokemon communicates," he replied. In response to the posed question, he folded his arms and thought back, and ultimately he shook his head, "It was so normal for me that I didn't even really think about it. And since pokemon species all look really different from one another, I think I just wound up thinking of myself as another kind of pokemon." He laughed at the memory, though if he considered it, the other pokemon probably felt much the same of him.

Mikleo said.

"I was interested in cities, he said," Sorey supplied. "And once I got a taste of the world outside the village, I didn't stay long anytime I returned. I never really thought about it, but I guess it's true. The human world - or even just the world beyond the forest - was like this..." he extended his arms to either side to demonstrate expansiveness, "gigantic playground, full to bursting with tons of awesome stuff I'd never seen before! It was kind of hard to stick with the familiar for very long once I knew how much there was out there."

He tried to imagine the sort of everyday Rosie described - always something to do, something to learn. He couldn't say that he wasn't just a little bit envious, although he wouldn't want to trade his own childhood for any other kind. "It sounds like it was a lot of fun!" he remarked. "Even if busy. And even better if it's all still useful to you today, for one reason or another!"

So it seemed that Team Rocket was indeed active in this region after all - not that he had doubted the words of the person he'd met by the trainer center, but it was nonetheless meaningful to have confirmation from multiple parties. "Cultures sure do change for a lot of different reasons," he mused. "Even if it was because of something unpleasant like Team Rocket, I'm glad Kodo's reestablishing its bond with pokemon." He paused, dipping his head in embarrassment, "Uh, I guess that's kind of a pretentious thing to say for someone who's not even from here. It's just that pokemon have always been really important in my life, so it's great to know that they're becoming more important in a lot of other people's lives, whatever the reason. Although, I think you're probably right." He gestured lightly with his hand, "The importance of pokemon in early Kodoan society, the fact that modern Kodoans have an ability to understand certain types of pokemon... It sort of feels like this region was destined to reforge its link one way or another. I bet that connection will only get stronger and more significant as the years pass!"  

[Suudonym]

Blood_Goddess

“It takes a while for form that kind of bond.” Rosie agreed, The Rapidash next to her letting off an amused nicker. Rosie smiled at him “It took Pastin and me several years to get where we are. I can’t imagine a whole village of Pokémon- though if you grew up with them it would probably be a lot easier.”
Rocking her head from side to side she continued “It really goes to show the two different life styles, doesn’t it.”

Forming bonds with your team was essential for any trainer, and anyone could tell you. Rosie might have been lucky enough to have grown up being practically raised by a Pokémon, but she couldn’t even pretend to be able to use that as a lifelong skill of knowing Pokémon. Not like Sorey or Ray or any of her trainer friends from League regions had.
She had to be thankful she at least knew her own team, even if they had their own set of issues.

While the train continued on, and would until it spit them out on the rout to Makko Town, Rosie’s gear was already alerting her to leave the path and enter the forest.
Here she paused, just stepping into the leaves and turning to face the Rapidash who walked up to her.
Reaching out to remove the strap he had draped around his neck, she patted him over his long face a couple of times before recalling him into his ball.
The forest was thick, and would take more energy to maneuver around the foliage. And it seemed a bit early to call Grealhorn out, since she still planned on walking with Sorey till they arrived at the pond.

“What kind of Pokémon did you grow up with; I’m guessing that’s where you met Mikleo too? I don’t know a whole lot about the Kalos wild.” She asked, ducking under the branches of a low hanging pine.
She emerged from it with a delighted smile on his face when he went on about how he felt about the cities and exploring beyond the village he grew up in.
“Is that where you’re interest in history came from too?”

It wasn’t hard to see that he had a thirst for knowledge, for whatever reason, learning about people and places. It was nice to hear him talk about his belief that based on Kodo’s history that it may have always been destined to regain its closeness with Pokémon.
“That’s a comforting thought.” Rosie admitted with genuine relief “And a good point.”
She glanced off toward the mountains, unable to see them beyond the trees, or the egg that she knew settled over the oceans by Camphoreon.
“It’s been really nice since we got the gift Arceus gave Kodo. I think it’s opened everyone’s eyes that human and Pokémon are meant to be together. Its lucky that you got your ability to talk to water types, almost like it was meant to be, right?”

 

[Suudonym]

"Wow, several years, huh? I'm pretty good at understanding the pokemon back home, but I bet you and Pastin can feel each other out even better than that." He smiled, "There's not much that can beat the bond between a human and pokemon who work together day after day, especially if you keep it up for that long."

As they ducked into the forest, Sorey took his map and compass from one of the pouches on his belt to check their bearings and refresh his memory of the direction he and Mikleo intended to take, then, once satisfied, he tucked them back away. "There were a lot of pokemon," he answered, "but the species were, let's see... There were Jigglypuff, Ditto, Noctowl, Gothorita, Foongus and Amoongus, Poliwag and Poliwhirl, Lombre, Basculin, Zoroark, Garbodour, and Banette. Sometimes Trevenant and Sudowoodo would wander in from the nearby forest too, but the forest pokemon were more likely to keep to themselves. There was a cave too - where Mewtwo lived. But he kept to himself even more than the forest pokemon did; it was years before Mikleo and I were even able to meet him."

He glanced down at the Vaporeon who in turn glanced up at him. "Mikleo's different. As the story goes, he and I were both abandoned in the forest when we were babies, so we're not really sure where he's from originally... or me, for that matter." Sorey gave the explanation with a levity that suggested the matter wasn't one that discomforted him in the slightest, and truly so. He had been rather curious about it when he was younger, but he was content with his life enough that it didn't really bother him.

"Yeah," he confirmed with a nod, "I always heard stories about the past from Gramps, Mewtwo, and Wulfric - the person who occasionally visited the village. It was so exciting; it was like a whole other world, one even more distant than the world past the forest, and the only way to get there was to learn about it." And still he felt the same. The desire to reach out for that faraway place thrummed in his veins. Through the past, the world was truly infinite, and nothing excited him more than that notion.

"Oh," he plucked sheepishly at the hair on the base of his neck, "someone else said the same thing, but I actually haven't experienced this 'egg' thing yet. I just know Mikleo really well."  

[Blood_Goddess]

Rosie gave him a kind smile at his words, feeling a little more confident about all the hard work they've put in over the years together.

Her eyebrows arched lightly when he pulled out his map and compass. He didn't even seem to have anything more high tech then that. Remembering his comment about his knives being his livelihood, He really did live off the land, didn't he.
She was already fascinated with how many different Pokemon he was listing off, but it was the last one that drew a somewhat taken aback response.
"Mewtwo? In Kalos?"

Suprred on by Rosie's surprise, knowing from the feeling of her response that that was unusual. she knew that Legendary like her were in Kodo, that no real Legendary came from Kodo, real Legendary came from other places!
The Jirachi was suddenly pulling away from Rosie, her tags tossing around her head as she floated quickly over to Sorey "A real one? The real Legendary Mewtwo?" She asked almost urgently.

Rosie wasn't surprised by the Jirachi's reaction, it seemed the longer she went without answers to her existent the more obsessive she got at the idea of real Legendary. Rosie knew that she had regretted not being able to speak to Groudon more then just translating. The creatures presence and size must have intimidated her greatly, and she hasn't had a chance since, and it had been weighing on her.

That pared with the slight horror at the idea that a couple of babies had been abandoned in the woods caused Rosie to stop walking completely, unsure of what to say to that news, but finding that Sorey didn't seen bothered by it at all.
He must have had a good life continuing that, the idea that someone had tried to throw him away being completely overshadowed by the love he had been shown in his life.
She smiled at that idea, Happy that it wasn't something that would haunt him in his life.

"... I I would have sworn you were a water type." Rosie said with complete surprise "The way you talk to him its like you're holding a conversation or something. even back in the city..."  

[Suudonym]

Although the sounds the Jirachi made echoed straight into Sorey's head and thus made no audible sound to draw his attention, her almost frantic movements easily served that purpose instead, and by the time she was in front of him, Sorey's eyes had settled upon her with a mild surprise. "Uhh, probably?" he replied lamely. "I mean, I don't really know how you'd tell the difference, so I can only guess that he's 'real' based on the fact that he never said anything to the contrary." Seemed like something that would have come back somewhere in the stories about Team Rocket, considering Team Rocket was apparently responsible for this cloning business.

"Oh, well, we were, actually," Sorey said, just marginally flustered. "It's sort of complicated, but basically I can pretty much understand the things he says. Usually within a small margin of error, if we're believing him."

is a good listener,> Mikleo added.

"Okay, that first part was unnecessary, but thanks."