route_1065 | THIS IS NOT THE SAME AS TRAINING DEMONS

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THIS IS NOT THE SAME AS TRAINING DEMONS

Who: Naoya and Atsuro
Where: Cherrygrove City!
When: 1/20
Summary: The student has become the teacher. Kind of.
Rating: PG? Possibly higher later...

Naoya had done fairly well with keeping his Spiritomb well-fed and in shape. The creature had started to win more and more fights, and Naoya had grown more and more confident with it. He hadn't seen any Pokemon worth adding to his collection yet, but the two of them seemed more than capable of taking on whatever faced them. And it wasn't as if camping was something he hadn't done before, even in the snow, though he'd taken to wearing his extra set of clothing on top of his normal clothes, adding the haori afterwards.

But now Naoya sat in the Cherrygrove Pokemon Center, waiting for Atsuro. He'd told his student he was here, his Spiritomb out to watch the people. Or was it 'former student' now? The boy certainly had grown, and he was sure that he'd find out just how much soon.

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It took a while, but Atsuro have finally arrived in Goldenrod. After he get himself mentally ready and rested from the train ride, he left the city on his Dragonite. The flight itself felt very long to him, despite being only a few hours long.

After a few years, he can see his teacher again. Well, less so if he counted the time he saw Naoya before he woke up with new memories. But it'll be a few years in this world. He don't know how to feel about it.

Will Naoya be proud of him? Disappointed? And not only that but...what kind of world did Naoya come from? There's a chance Naoya came from a world where Kazuya chose a different path from his own. Like being the overlord as Naoya wanted, or the Messiah with the angels' support...

He tightened his grip on Makara, feeling more and more anxious to see Naoya. He don't know how Naoya will react, but he'll take it as it happen. For all of his praises, Atsuro knew he only understand a small part of his teacher. Especially when it feel like there's a lot Naoya was hiding from their group, back home.

Makara started her descent down as they draw nearer to Cherrygrove. Down, down they go until she slowed down and reared back to land in front of the Pokemon Centre. Atsuro quickly get off her back, patting her and thanking Makara for her flight.

"You did great, girl."

She gave a happy noise to him and eagerly returned to her outstretched Pokeball, just to rest up from flying without rest. Atsuro put her Pokeball back to his belt and put on his hat again.

With a deep breath, he entered the Pokemon Centre and glanced around for Naoya.

Naoya waved to Atsuro as he came in, smiling and trying to look casual. Internally, though, his thoughts were stormy, rolling over everything Atsuro had said and done during that week and since his arrival here. He'd not given any indication that he was angry at Naoya, nor any real reference to that week at all.

It was almost maddening. How could he not say anything - unless, of course, the channels weren't safe, which brought up other problems. He'd just have to wait and see what the teen - no, man now - had to say.

"It's good to see you."

Atsuro doesn't truly trust in the PokeGear's privacy filters. While he do use it as necessary, he would rather talk about certain topics in person. There's a chance that someone, out there, will be a better hacker than himself and cracked through his conversations. So any conversations he have over the network were "safer" to talk about, while others he moved offline.

And some part of him feared, if he misspoke, Team Rocket might find out about his plan for demon control.

It's probably why he opted to ask Naoya about the lockdown situation for this meeting.

Atsuro smiled and waved back at Naoya, as he walked quickly over towards him. While it's the two of them, he's aware that there's other people inside the Pokemon Centre. Best to stay casual and act like this was a typical reunion.

"Naoya, it's great to see you again, too! It's been a while since we meet, huh?"

Face to face, not over a handheld communicative device.

It didn't ease his anxiety much, but he'd been forever the actor. Forever pretending. Ah, well. He could keep playing.

"It has been. I imagine it's been longer for you, since I saw you a few weeks ago..."

Small talk. That's all it was, really. The Pokemon at his side eyed Atsuro carefully, before grinning.

"Play nice, Legion." The spirit cackled a little, before shrinking down slightly into his keystone.

"Let's find somewhere to go catch up. I imagine you have a lot to tell me."

Atsuro did glanced at Legion almost warily, before turning his attention back to Naoya. Ghost types were generally pranksters, but he seemed like he listened to Naoya.

"And yep, I do! We can walk around and catch up, maybe head to the beach later."

Which Naoya may have already seen. Atsuro suggested it as a possible private spot to discuss the lockdown at. If they don't go there, there's always the local inn.

"That sounds good." He recalled Legion to his Pokeball, slipping it in his pocket, before turning his attention to Atsuro. "Let's go."

He headed towards the door, making sure to keep his pace even with Atsuro. "We should probably take our walk before it gets dark. I've noticed how cold it can get here."

Again, nothing he couldn't deal with, but he'd prefer not to if he can help it.

"Yeah, I don't mind that. Beside, it's been ages since I walk around Cherrygrove."

He stepped outside with Naoya and glanced around. It's been a while, but he vaguely recognise the area.

"There's not a lot of stuff here compared to the bigger cities, but I think Cherrygrove have a pretty good massage service."

Walking with Naoya feel almost nice, in a way, and weird. Maybe because Atsuro himself was taller and older. His teacher was still taler than himself, but their height difference wasn't as obvious as before.

"Interesting. I might have to look into it."

He fell silent for a while as they walked, listening to the sound of their steps and the sight of such a quiet town. "It's a little strange to not be in a bustling city for once. It's been some time since I've been outside of Tokyo."

"Right. The biggest city in Johto is Goldenrod in terms of size and economy. The other cities have their own stuff, but they don't compare to Goldenrod."

Atsuro glanced around at the scenery, quiet for a moment.

"So it's not that hard to fit in, as long you can go along with how focused they are on Pokemon. Honestly, after being here for so long, I've been thinking how our world can compare and improve."

"Have you? Interesting, considering the state it was in when I left."

Unless humanity turned on the angels, it wasn't likely to end well, and even if they did, it still had a high chance of ending poorly.

"Though I suppose you've had time to think over what you and Yuzu and my cousin did."

Edited 2015-01-27 22:28 (UTC)

"What we did?"

Atsuro resisted the urge to pause and keep on walking. But he did glance over at Naoya.

"That depends on what we did. But just to be sure...what was his decision?"

Considering how the options Kazuya was facing, Atsuro would count himself lucky if he ever get anyone from his timeline.

Naoya narrowed his eyes. What was he talking about? Of course he knew.

"... What, you want me to spell it out to you? Going to His side and damning humankind to an eternity spent trying to become His perfect little slaves, of course. If humanity fails in that, you do realize that He'll take away free will, correct?"

Unless... of course. Alternative timelines. "... Unless you remember something different."

Atsuro stopped walking and turned around to face Naoya,a bit quicker than he intended.

"That's right. While he did talk to and hear out Remiel, Kazuya never went with becoming the Messiah." Atsuro initially have his misgivings over that idea. Other than the unfortunate association with the angels, who never gave him a very good impression in the first place, it means Kazuya will have to change. "...In my timeline, he went along with my plan."

The plan to control the demons for humanity's use.

He let out a short breath as he stopped, almost amused. So things were different... that did explain some things.

"Unfortunately, things didn't go as well in mine. Yours we could work with. Following Him... no. That's a disaster."

He shook his head a bit, before starting to walk again. "I suppose that makes things more complicated... ah, well."

Atsuro slowly walked after Naoya, before he quickened his pace to catch up.

"Yeah, I can imagine. I know what kind of risks my plan will bring and talked about it back home, but for the whole Messiah thing... It'd last as long as he lives, right?"

If the Messiah died, Atsuro can only imagine how the power structure will end up. With human control, it's easy for him to imagine human folly and temptation. But with the angels and God, it's a bit much for him to handle.

"But yeah. Whenever the others were here back then, all of us were from different timelines. I know at least three different timelines based on his decision. The rest were from before he make his choice."

"It's unclear as to if he can die... though I imagine he could. It's not exactly like anyone's going to let me near him to run tests."

He let out a long sigh, tilting his head towards Atsuro to watch him. He'd grown. And the 'others'... he'd seen people come and go here. People who forgot him, and he had to start again. Not in the same way... but... well.

"Interesting. Well, I suppose a moment like that would have so many possibilities that finding someone from the same timeline might not be as easy as you would think. Though I... have to ask... what exactly happened in your version of events? Did you learn anything particularly notable?"

"I can imagine. Other than whatever powers he get from being the Messiah, I doubt the angels would just let him die."

Given what Atsuro heard and inferred from, Kazuya's a special case to be a Messiah. He turned his gaze forward, watching where they're walking. It felt almost...a relief, being able to talk about this topic and anything related to it with Naoya. There's really no one else in this world who can understand the context, even if he told them.

"I'd count myself lucky if someone did show up from my timeline, hahah..." Atsuro paused for a moment, as he think back. "Did I learn anything? Well... After he decided to go with my plan and told Remiel, he'd reveal Babel's location to us if there's a guarantee for my plan's success within the time limit. While I'd love to do it myself, I knew I wasn't good enough at the time to handle it fast enough. So we gotta secure your help. I knew that you'd come to us to try and convince Kazuya to come over, so we meet and we overcome your challenge."

There's a pause at that. While that was rather annoying, something seemed to come up in his mind.

"...I don't quite know what it means, but after we beat your challenge and get you to agree to help us, you did say something weird."

"Interesting... well, the three of you did seem to pick up battling quite quickly. I suppose showing up here was somewhat of a natural fit, if you could overcome a challenge I set for you."

In that situation, a simple challenge like they'd done before wouldn't do. It would have been a more complicated one... but what Atsuro says after that intrigues him.

"Oh? What was it?"

Atsuro was quiet for a moment, before he looked over his shoulder at Naoya.

"You said...with the angels on our side, you can't escape, and that you'll get another chance if you wait about 1,000 years."

The numbers just seemed odd, and almost generous in the context of humanity having control over demons. It stood out in Atsuro's mind, because no matter how he look at it, no human can possibly live that long. Not unless they're immortal or special in some way, like being the Messiah.

"In fact... I kind of remember you saying something about watching mankind for ages before we take on your challenge."

Atsuro stopped and turned around to fully face Naoya. It felt like he have the pieces of a puzzle, but he's not getting the full picture.

"What's with that? I can get the angels, since you're upholding your end of the deal, but I feel like...I'm still missing the full story behind your words."

So that was how things were. The boy in front of Naoya wasn't a boy anymore, and the years since he'd been here... he'd had enough time to think on it. It wasn't like he disliked being honest, but... well. Most people couldn't handle the truth. But with all he'd seen, and all he'd experienced... at this point Atsuro had won the right to it. Naoya stopped, his expression grave.

"What I'm going to tell you stays between us, do you understand? If I find out that you've told someone else before I've told them, I'll ensure your silence. Permanently. This isn't a joke, it's not a puzzle, and it's not a trick. This is something that others haven't been able to handle, but... well. You're my most promising student in a very long time. But don't think that I won't keep secret the things that I need to keep secret by whatever means I need to use."

Atsuro almost froze at the threat. Something like that would be impossible, because he knew that death was not permanent for people like them. But on the other hand, if it's Naoya, he would just think of another method or find a loophole to secure his silence.

Even when Atsuro wasn't the type of person to spill his words. But his heart felt like it lightened up at Naoya's praise. His most promising student. He always brag about being the best to people, but to hear it from Naoya himself...

It means a lot to him.

"...Yeah, I understand. I promise I won't tell anyone unless you're okay with it."

He gave his word and now Atsuro knew, he personally sealed it. The one person who might get around it wasn't even here.

If there was one thing about Atsuro that Naoya knew, it was that the boy was honest and loyal to a fault. He wasn't the type to break his promises or turn his back on those who he cared about.

... Something he thought he could expect from his cousin, but apparently not. Still, he let out a deep breath, trying to figure out how to frame this the best possible way.

"I'm... old. Very, very old. Physically, no - but I remember my reincarnations, unlike everyone else in the world. My memory goes back to the beginning of things for humankind. There's a reason my cousin is His favored child at the moment - he has a shard of His original favored child."

It was hard, so hard, to keep his expression neutral. The corner of his mouth twitched slightly, but he pressed on.

"And I recognize it, because I was the one who shattered that soul originally. The first murderer. You know who that is, correct?"

Atsuro's silent for a while as he listened carefully to Naoya's words. And it was almost unreal, but after everything he experienced, what wasn't?

"The beginning of mankind and reincarnations..." It felt like there's something familiar about it. "As in...the farmer and the shepherd, out in the field? With the blood?"

He frowned as he try to remember. It's been years, but he knew he saw something similiar to that. A scene of a bloodstained field with Naoya...

"So you're..." He didn't really read up on religion that much, and his parents weren't religious at all, but he might've read this somewhere before. "...that farmer? You're that farmer who killed him and remembered everything?"

It's frustrating, really. The last time Naoya was truly here was years ago, and they never have that talk after that incident. His memories of that time was mostly faded away like a dream.

"Cain and Abel, yes. I'm Cain. Kazuya... has a fragment of Abel. The Bel of the human world."

And a horrible, horrible pun. He'd suspect God of having a sense of humor if everything else He did wasn't so terrible.

"... In addition to that, and more relevant for here, I suspect that Grass types won't work well for me. I was additionally cursed to never have the earth bear fruit for me again."

That part he could deal with. It was more of a shock initially, but he'd figured out ways to cope with it.

He almost groaned at the pun. Like sure, his English was rather bad back home but really, he knew enough to spotted that pun.

"It does fit the naming scheme..." Beldr, Belial, Jezebel, Belzaboul, Belberith and now Abel. Really, what's next?

"I guess when it comes to making your team, I'll keep that in mind. Just grass types, or does that include Pokemon that look like grass types, but they're not?"

Atsuro didn't have a Sudowoodo, but he do have a Flabebe in his care.

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