i'm through accepting limits;

[wing_attack]

Who: Tobias and open!
Where: Violet City
When: Sunday September 14th, Monday September 15th, and Tuesday September 16th (aka Day of Smelly Birds)
Summary: Tobias is wandering around, taking in the bird atmosphere. Clearly this means he needs to be bothered.
Rating: PG-13 only because Animorphs is a depressing canon and things come up.
Log:

Really, Tobias should have stayed in the area, but training took priority over interest. Regal and Volts needed stronger enemies to fight, and the wild Pokemon around here just weren't cutting it. It had taken a while to get through the forest again, but he didn't mind. His Pokemon didn't seem to mind either, and so when they packed up the camp site they headed in to town.

They mostly spent their days wandering around, Regal perched on Tobias' shoulder and Rachel toddling along next to them. Sunday afternoon and Monday mid-day found them sitting and watching the aerial shows. It made him smile, but he couldn't help but miss the feeling of flying himself. During the most of the rest of Sunday and Monday, the group was around Sprout Tower, both lending a hand and exploring the tower itself.

Of course, Tuesday found the group with a small flock of pink and white birds. Tobias tried to entertain them, but apparently they decided that perching on him was more entertaining. He might need some help.

Comments

[sincereheart]

[ Well, she can't say she's not disappointed that he doesn't know what natto is, but... ]

Oh, you've got to try natto if you get a chance! It's my favorite food in the world! It goes with everything, too! I like to put it on eggs, myself! [ Spoiler alert: no one else in their right mind would do this. ]

But I'm glad Americans like Japanese food so much! Oh, I'd love to go to America and see all the different kinds of food they have there! Are your other Pokémon named after foods, too?

[wing_attack]

No, most are just names I thought fit them. Like Bruce, one of those little bats - I named him because of Batman.

[He has yet to find a spider Pokemon to name Peter, but it will happen.]

My Blitzle is name Volts because of electricity. I'm... not very good at naming things. What about yours?

[sincereheart]

You named a Pokémon after Batman? That's adorable! [ She sings under her breath. ] Na na na na na na na na... Batman! [ Yes, the classic Batman opening has charmed even Japanese children. BATMAAAN ]

Oh, my Pokémon just have names that I thought would be cute! Like my Skiploom, Hanemaru - he jumps and he's round, and in Japanese "jump" is haneru and "round" is maru, so I just put them together! And like I said, a couple of them remind me of my friends - Piyoko here [ she indicates the scentbird riding on her hat ] is named after Piyomon, because they're both pink birds! The rest of my birds are named after smell words!

[ Don't worry, Tobias. Mimi is not at all a better namer than you are. ]

[wing_attack]

... Oh, okay.

[He has no room to judge pink birds, he's seen dinosaurs and lava man aliens and deep sea fish.]

Yeah, I... keep thinking maybe I should get a cat Pokemon, since I used to have a cat when I was younger, but I haven't found any that remind me enough of Dude.

[sincereheart]

I can understand that! Like I said, I'm waiting for the right Pokémon to come along that I can name after my friends, so we're in sort of the same boat! You don't need to worry, Tobias-san!

...You named your cat Dude?

[wing_attack]

... Yeah. To be fair, I was like eight when I did. I thought it was cool.

[It was never cool and will never be cool.]

[sincereheart]

Oh, it's okay, Tobias-san! We've all done silly things when we were eight! I mean, I don't think I did anything quite like naming a cat Dude, but still. Eight is a silly age!

[ Mimi you're only ten yourself...... ]

[wing_attack]

[He does manage to laugh a little at that.]

I'm only fifteen, I'll probably still do a lot of weird stuff. And you're younger than me, right? So you've got even more of a chance to do things like that. But that's okay. That's how we learn, right?

[sincereheart]

That's right! You can't really learn from something unless you make a mistake, right?

...Not that I'm saying the way you named your cat was a mistake! [ Uh-oh. Time to backtrack. ] I'm sure he really enjoyed being named Dude!

[wing_attack]

No, no, it's okay. I'm sure he didn't really mind whatever name I gave him. He was pretty calm, for a cat. He would flop on me whenever I was doing homework until I scratched his belly, but then he'd sit next to me until I was done.

[sincereheart]

Oh! That sounds so sweet! I've never had a pet before [ curse you, tiny Japanese apartments! ], but I would have loved one that was as nice as Dude! Hmm, maybe when I get home I can ask my parents for a cat... if I get home.

[ Ohh. She made herself sad. ]

[wing_attack]

[... Oh. How does he cheer people up?]

You'll get home. Don't worry.

[That is possibly a total lie but you know what he doesn't... care that much.]

[sincereheart]

I hope so! I really miss my friends, and my mama and papa... [ She looks downcast, but she's not crying. That's good, right? ]

I'm sorry, Tobias-san. I didn't mean to get sad. I just... you have things you miss from back home, too, right? Everyone does!

[wing_attack]

It's okay. And... yeah, I do. I miss my friends. But I know they're waiting for me. It's... really important that I get back. We're...

[Is he going to admit this?]

Mimi, you can't tell anyone about this, okay? Promise me.

[sincereheart]

[ Ooh, a secret? Mimi is all ears! She nods vigorously. ]

I can keep a secret, Tobias-san! [ She scoots closer to him, the better to hear. ] I promise!

[wing_attack]

[Sliiightly too close Mimi, but he gets the picture. He looks around - good. No one who looks like they're listening.]

We're kind of... fighting to keep people safe. There's... where I'm from, there's aliens that are trying to take over the human race. It sounds really dumb and cliche but it's true.

[sincereheart]

[ What is personal space can you eat it.

But that's not important right now. Not after that bombshell. ] Aaahh! Tobias-san, that's so cool! [ A squeal-whisper is hard to pull off, but Mimi does it with aplomb. ] Fighting evil aliens? You're like a superhero! Do you and your friends have some kind of powers? Ooh, are you like a super sentai team?

[ Mimi, he's not from a TV show. That's your canon. ]

[wing_attack]

Y... yeah, we kind of do. We can turn into animals. I can't do it here, though.

[Uhhhhhhh.]

What's a... sen... tai?

[sincereheart]

You know, like a team of superheroes that all wear different colored outfits, and they fight aliens, and they have giant robots and stuff! [ Mimi clenches a fist to illustrate. ] I... guess you probably don't have that in America, huh.

But wow! Turning into animals sounds really cool! Can you turn into any animal? Could you turn into, like, an elephant or something? Oooh, could you turn into a dinosaur?

[wing_attack]

Oh! Like Power Rangers! I know that was popular a few years ago, but I don't know if it still is...

[Anyway.]

I've turned into a dinosaur before. And it's any animal we touch, yeah.

[sincereheart]

Power Rangers? [ That does sound like a sentai name. ] So you do have it in America! Oh, I knew it! America has everything! [ Except natto, possibly. That's a bummer. ]

That is the coolest thing! But wait... when did you touch a dinosaur? [ ARE YOU FROM THE JURASSIC PERIOD ]

[wing_attack]

It has a lot of things, yeah.

[... Oh boy this is gonna be hard to explain.]

Basically a bomb exploded when we were close in a way that made a rip in space and time and we ended up about sixty five million years ago. We got back, but because of the way that sort of thing works, we can't use those morphs anymore.

[sincereheart]

An explosion sent you back in time?

[ Sorry, Tobias, but that's awesome. ]

That is so cool! It sounds really dangerous, though! But I guess nothing's too dangerous when you can turn into a dinosaur! Oh man, I bet you really miss having those powers, huh!

[wing_attack]

We heal when we morph too, so it's really handy. And... yeah. I do. I um.

[As long as he's admitting things...]

I'm usually a hawk at home. There's a time limit to how long you can stay morphed and I... went over the time limit.

[sincereheart]

[ Well. That's not something she expected to hear. ]

That's kind of weird! But then again, some of my other friends here used to be a magical unicorn and a troll... so I guess a hawk's pretty normal after all!

[ Wait. Mimi's brain gears turn slowly, but they turn. ] You mean... you used to be a human, but now you're a hawk? You can never be a human again? [ She puts a hand to her mouth. ] Oh, Tobias-san! I'm so sorry!