route_1065 | ✘ and I'll try~ oh lord, I'll try~ to CAAAAAAARRY onnnn! xO

✘ and I'll try~ oh lord, I'll try~ to CAAAAAAARRY onnnn! xO

Who: Zack Fair; OPEN. Separate threads, one thread, I'm up for whatever.
Where: Cherrygrove outskirts.
When: Around 9 PM.
Summary: Zack has one last wild encounter before finally dragging his sorry ass into Cherrygrove City, where he will probably crash and burn at the first available opportunity.
Rating: PG, probably. Subject to change.

"Man, I'm beat..."

"...tiiini!"

"Heh. Yeah, no kidding."

The conversation between man and dragon was beginning to thin out. It had been a long, taxing week and a half -- and not just for the SOLDIER, who was still struggling to cope with the sudden and disheartening disappearance of his inhuman strength. Angela, the infallible little dragon, had been putting every ounce of her excess energy to good use. The duo had taken out what had seemed like an alarmingly sizable chunk of the local bird and raccoon population... but the creatures always came back, incessantly and, in some cases, aggressive.

The 7-foot long blue beast weaved through his legs from time to time as they made their way through the homestretch to Cherrygrove, chirping and whirring from time to time. The momentum of battle and the delirium of exhaustion had drawn out a bizarre mood from the both of them... and he found himself stopping in the middle of the sigh, interrupted by the shrill squeal of his pokemon.

The dark-haired man flinched reflexively with a shout, thinking he had stepped on Angela's tail. But the dragon's attention was not on her trainer -- it was on a small, brown, spherical bird that was staring rather intently back at the two of them.

Puuffing out his chest and giving it a wily grin, that second wind swept through him as he dug around in his backpack, fishing out one of the Pokeballs, which had been untouched prior.

The process had gone by surprisingly quickly. A couple of minutes in a dragon's stranglehold was more than enough to whittle down the unsuspecting owl's defenses. The animal was caught with relative ease, though Angela had taken a nasty blow to the snout in the process.

Putting the occupied Pokeball away, he contended that he would give the Hoothoot a more thorough examination after everybody had gotten some rest. For now, however, the town was in sight and the Dratini was reminding him of it with a loud whine.

"Alright, kiddo, alright..."

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Nodding in determination, he turned his attention down to the situation at hand. He actually had some semblance of a plan -- which was downright unnatural for a man as reckless as he. But this wasn't his own strength that would be working against an enemy. This was his Angela doing a favor for a pretty girl. Getting an item back from a puppy.

Perhaps a stern look from a dragon would strike a more serious chord in the ill-behaved puppy.

"Give 'im a stern look, Angela."

The Dratini coiled its body into a tight, aggressive 'S'. And, surprisingly, those large, violet doe-eyes narrowed into very convincing malicious stare, which she held whilst keeping that pose perfectly still.

"With canines, it's all about the body language, see? I'm not haunched over. I'm standing up straight. Making eye contact. Dogs are all about body language."

It never occurred to Zack that Angeal had probably followed these steps in dealing with him when he was a younger militant.

If she'd known he thought she was 'pretty', she just might have gone ahead and tried to reaffirm her nongirliness by tromping off to get the locket herself. But she'd be flattered, too. And a little surprised. Taking an epic nosedive in front of some random dude wasn't usually a good way of impressing anybody.

Heather folded her arms and stepped back, watching a little dubiously. She did nod, though. "Yeah, I uh... I'm not really used to getting dogs to listen to me."

What she was used to was beating their heads in with a steel pipe to stop them from gnawing her face off. But thankfully, she wouldn't be running into any Doubleheads here in the Pokemon world. Still, a semi-phobia of dogs was a hard one to break, and it certainly explained why Heather sucked so bad at getting this thing to pay attention to her.

When Angela approached, the Growlithe's first reaction was to perk right up and start play-bowing again. OH BOY! OH BOY! NEW PLAYMATE ALKGHJSLG;SHDGF;DHFGHDH;D!!!

But then he noticed that his new playmate... was not so playful. His ears and tail drooped, and his expression took on an uncertain look. Whinewhinewhiiiine.

"Okay, boy. Playtime's over."

The man made a cautious approach, doing what he could to keep a stern countenance about him. Harder than he thought it would be. Following suit with his own pokemon, his words slowed to a serious, rhythmic monotone.

"Drop iiiit . . ."

And, of course, if the gentle but firm tactic didn't work, there was always Plan B.

The Growlithe looked just slightly heartbroken. As Zack started to approach, his tail picked up a slightly hopeful wag again, but that tone said that playtime was not going to continue.

He whined, loudly, and looked up at the much-calmer-than-Heather stranger with big pleading puppy-eyes.

But the calm, commanding tone worked, and the pup dropped the locket. It thumped to the ground with a glint and a light chinking of the fine chain it hung on. Then the offending Pokemon dropped to his stomach submissively and whined, tail still wagging back and forth in the hopes that maybe it was just a joke and playtime really wasn't over!

The whole time, Heather had been watching, semi-mystified. Like getting an animal to listen to you was some completely foreign concept (it wasn't, but getting a DOG to listen was!).

"... Dude. Are you magical?"

"... heh heh ... Not really."

With a huff, he dropped to his knees to gently scoop up the locket and reward the pup with a subdued bellyscratch. One really couldn't lecture a dog, but it would probably enjoy a little bit of reassurance that it wasn't in too much trouble. Not this time.

"That wasn't a toy, pal. We gotta find you a rubber ball or something, yeah?"
The bellyrub picked up the pace a bit and he waggled his eyebrows at the Growlithe playfully.
"--Yeah?! Who's a good boy for droppin' it? YOU're a good boy for droppin' it!! That's a GOOD boy!!"

... Meanwhile, Angela -- feeling rather forgotten and neglected -- dropped the Leer and flopped to the ground beside Heather, watching the other two interact with a measure of jealousy.

Talk about a mood-swing.

The dog Pokemon went from being miserable to instant, sugarhigh levels of pure happy as Zack started paying attention to him, which was really a lot more than Heather had done. Letting out excited whimpers, the shaggy pup immediately turned into a wriggling mass of happy. Turning in circles, trying to lick Zack's face, tail whipping back and forth. Eventually he just flopped on his back and squirmed around in the dirt, enjoying the attention for all it was worth.

Heather watched this whole display, blinking somewhat incredulously.

She looked over to the Dratini after a moment, before reaching out to give her a very tentative pat on the head.

"Yeah, I don't get it either."

"Hahahaha! Look at him! He's a mess."

Zack mimicked the puppy's excited wiggle, not minding at all that he was probably winding the Growlithe up all over again, and moved in to scratch that belly of his with both hands now.

Angela closed her eyes in contempt of her trainer as she was patted, the tip of her tail crackling harmlessly with the hints of an undischarged Thunder Wave.

"Man. I'd love to catch one of these guys to have around. You're lucky. -- Who's got a lucky trainer?!" Ahh. And enter the goo-goo voice.

"YOU've got a lucky trainer! YOU do!! ... Heh heh heh. ... Anyway, I, uh." The SOLDIER paused and cleared his throat when his voice cracked. Excuse him. He's a sucker for puppies.

Giving the Growlithe one last pat, he stood and dusted off the seat of his pants.

"... I got your necklace back."

You bet the pup was wound up again, but at least he'd forgotten about the necklace. Legs kicking, he just rolled around at Zack's feet, a big squirmy bundle of OMG. The cute talking-to-animals voice didn't exactly help him settle down, but hey, it was obvious Zack had just made a friend for life.

Heather, on the other hand, actually looked a little embarrassed. Seeing her Pokemon do THIS made her discomfort around dogs feel kind of... dumb. The spazz currently rolling around in the dirt like a furry hooligan was about as far from the dogs of her nightmares as it could get. Though she couldn't help it.

And even worse, that sudden crackle from the Dratini actually made her jump and jerk away. FFFF TONIGHT WAS THE BEST NIGHT EVER FOR GIVING OFF THE IMPRESSION THAT SHE WAS NOT A BITCHY WIMP.

"I uh... yeah, if I knew where to catch 'em, I'd... uh, tell you."

She walked over sheepishly and held out her hand for the necklace. Tried a sheepish grin to cover up the fact that he totally had her beat when it came to working with Pokemon.

"Sorry about snappin' at you earlier."

When prompted to do so, he handed the locket over -- which didn't seem any worse for wear. Except for a bit of puppy slobber.

"Eh, no worries, kiddo. Getting kidnapped will put anyone in a foul kinda mood. ... Here ya go. -- Oh! Did you give your Growlithe a name yet? I bet he'd respond really well if he had his very own name."

Angela followed Heather over to her trainer obediently, though wearing an expression that glaringly displayed her distaste for the lost opportunity to battle. Then she would have really gotten to show off.

"I'm sure I'll bump into someone who might want to make a trade. Lots of people were given Growlithes for their starter." And he wouldn't turn down any opportunity to get rid of that stupid Hoothoot he picked up earlier...

"And, hey! Who knows?" The Dratini coiled around his leg and gave Growlithe the stink eye. "Maybe I'll find a whole mess of 'em running around wild soon."

Aside from drool and dirt, that necklace was more or less in the same state as before it had been stolen. It was a hardy little thing-- if an article of jewelry could survive Silent Hill, it could pretty much survive anything. Still, Heather wrinkled her nose slightly and wiped it off on her vest before she put it on.

"I guess that's true--" The Growlithe, now having forgotten that he had ever had a less-than-happy moment, had trundled on over and was headbutting Heather's knees as dogs tend to do, panting happily. As usual, he seemed more or less oblivious to Heather's bad moods. Which was kind of lucky, because she had not been very patient with him.

Shuffling backwards slightly, Heather placed both hands on the dog's head as she spoke, attempting to redirect his headbutting attention to somewhere else-- like, the air, or something-- speaking as she did so.

"I... uh, no..." That? Was a lie. She'd been calling him 'Cujo'. Which was not the most flattering name ever, even if most people here hadn't heard of Stephen King. "I'm not good with dogs..."

Someone had actually offered her a trade earlier, seeing how phenomenally terrible she was at being happy about her starter, but she had declined for some reason that she wasn't even sure she really understood.

But she'd had enough of being all... like, uncertain, and cautious and stuff for the moment. Pffft. Heather Mason wasn't cautious and uncertain. So she straightened up and offered Zack a hand. One that was slightly dirty from crawling around in the brush after the necklace-thief. "Allow me to remake that kinda lousy first impression. Howdy, I'm Heather. And I totally didn't faceplant on your feet a few minutes ago."

"Totally!" If there was one guy who had no trouble at all writing off bad first impressions, this? This was the guy. And anyway, he hadn't really thought that much less of her for faceplanting into his feet in the first place. Jewelry was important to women. He got that.

Zack extended a gloved hand of his own to gently grip and reciprocate a warm handshake, still just as oblivious as he ever was to Angela's haughty squeaks for his attention. He'd kind of figured that Heather wasn't a dog person, so to speak ... and he wasn't entirely sure that a cat would respond that much better, either. Maybe it was just an animal thing in general.

"Howdy, Heather. I'm Zack."

He was most certainly right about that! ... Well, mostly, anyway. Heather liked jewelry just as much as most girls would, but this was about the only piece that had any real meaning to her. It looked like a plain, pearly-white little ball with a gold latch. She tucked it away under her vest before taking Zack's hand.

Her own grip was... actually one of those infamous teenager grips that's trying to prove a point. If, you know, points could just be prove by squeezing stupidly tight. But chances of that actually being painful through those gloves were slim.

"Zack. That's gotta be one of the first normal names I've heard here." The rest were all weird, like 'Roxas' or 'Kazooie'... "Did you get here about a week ago too?"

One of those dark eyebrows raised and he made a peculiar face at an unexpectedly strong grip -- yes, a strong grip for a girl -- but he did what he could to maintain eye contact. Which probably only made him look even stranger.

"Thanks, I think. Almost two weeks, seems like. About ten or eleven days, I guess."

He shrugged in place of what would have been a very inappropriate 'whatever', shuffling his feet nervously.

IN SOVIET RUSSIA, GIRL CRUSHES YOUR HAND.

She didn't actually mean much of anything by it-- it was just a habit from growing up tomboy. But that sort of nervous shuffle actually made her chuckle sympathetically. OOPS HEATHER STOP MAKING PEOPLE UNCOMFORTABLE.

"Sorry-- I don't bite, I promise."

Well, this was awkward. Heather decided maybe a change of topic was needed, so she possibly earned a few points in Angela's eyes by looking down at her and sort of nodding.

"I sure haven't seen one of those before. It's really pretty, is that the one you... uh, started with?"

"Eheh... Thanks! ... Uh, yeah. Angela here is a Dratini. Kind of a baby dragon, apparently."

A hand finally dropped to give the Dratini a concerned nudge, but he got snubbed. The dragon immediately turned her back on him with a jealous shout, globular white muzzle in the air. Zack's expression contorted in puzzlement and confusion. Evidently, the initial hostility she'd shown toward her trainer's new friend had congealed and was redirected solely toward him.

"... aww... What now?"

"A baby dragon?"

Why couldn't SHE have gotten a baby dragon?

Growlithe proceeded to shove his head under her hand. She looked down and very awkwardly patted him on the scruff of creamy fur between his ears. Watching him play with Zack had been a bit of an eye-opener and she honestly was not sure how she felt about the pup now...

"That's... damn, that's cool." And she meant it! She'd just noticed how pissed the little thing looked, though...

"Definitely makes things interesting, I'll say that much..."

It was truly and honestly beyond his mental capacity to figure out why the pokemon was so cross with him. Had he nudged her too hard or something? Maybe she was just getting tired. Yeah, that had to be it.

"... Looks like she's gettin' grouchy ... They've got an Inn that'll accomodate us in Cherrygrove, right?"

"Oh! Yeah, uh--" She turned around slightly, gesturing back through the trees. There was a faint glow there-- the town was small but lit nicely at night. They weren't too far into the outskirts.

"The Pokemon Center is more or less where everybody crashes-- the couches and cots are kinda uncomfortable, but it sure beats sleepin' on dirt." She looked back with a grin. "I got real sick of that, lemme tell you. So yeah, even if it's crowded, they always find room for more people."

The truth was, given the number of trainers flowing through the town on any given day, a hotel of some sort would probably be more practical.

But this was the Pokemon world.

Screw practicality, we have magical brightly-colored animals!

For real. A hotel chain would make a killing in the world of pokemon, wouldn't it?

"That'll do for us, then." Dirt was all well and good for a while, but damn. A pillow? Sheets? He could handle a squeaky cot. And frankly, he pitied the foo' who tried to steal anything from a grouchy, sleep deprived Dratini.

"I guess I'll see you 'round, then? I've got a few personal matters to wrap up there in Cherrygrove before I head out, so I'll be close by for a while."

The SOLDIER dug in his pocket for an empty pokeball... Just in case Angela's continued tantrum took an 'I'M NOT MOVING AND YOU CAN'T MAKE ME' turn.

"Yeah, that's where I'm staying too. I was just... y'know, exploring."

And getting her important accessories stolen by her own Pokemon. Heather was gonna be the greatest master of them all.

"I'm sure I'll run into you at some point."

And... hopefully her wounded pride would recover. Zack had proven nice and derpy and forgiving but Heather had a hard time dealing with epic failure. Like dumping herself on her face.

Growlithe, on the other hand, let out a whimper and tried to shove his nose under Zack's hand. ;____; NOOOO NEW BEST FRIEND GOING AWAY?

"... Aw, kiddo."

TIME FOR MORE PUPPY LOEV. Much to Angela's rage, he obliged Growlithe with a new barrage of cooing and ear-scratching and all-'round attention-giving.

"You gotta be good for Miss Heather, understand? If you're good, then you get to play. Trainer comes first, understand?"

"Heh..." Heather watched her Pokemon soak up the attention. You bet she was feeling kind of bad for being a classic bad trainer up till now. "I'll try and get better."

Poor Angela-- that Growlithe was definitely an attention whore. But not deliberately-- it was just in the nature of dogs.

Inhaling sharply with a stretch, he finally got back to his feet.

"Well... We better get going. Angela looks about ready to snap my neck for keeping her awake this long."

-- To which the dragon growled. Why'd her trainer have to be such a clueless derp? Seriously.

"I'll drop you a line after we've had some rest. It was really great to meet you guys."

"Yeah, uh, sounds good!" She tugged the Pokegear out of her pocket. "I usually check this baby every time I get bored, which is... to be honest, a lot in this place." Sheepish grin. "I'm sorta working a little job... ish... at the Center so I'm sure we'll run into each other.

The Growlithe seemed a little resigned, but he plopped down next to his trainer's legs, panting. At least the belly rubs had made up for the abrupt ending of playtime.

Overall, from the pup's point of view, he'd gotten to play, AND made a new friend. So really, it wasn't all that bad.

Dogs are optimists.

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✘ and I'll try~ oh lord, I'll try~ to CAAAAAAARRY onnnn! xO

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ROFL GROWLITHE OMG. so cute.

HEATHER IS KIND OF MEAN FOR NOT LOVING HER PUPPY. Zack is doin it rite.

LOOOL heather cracks me up. SERIOUSLY.

FFFF THANK YOU she is fun. And Zack is ADORABLE. I've never even played FF but fff awwwww

he is a gigantic dork. x|

I can't even handle this it is too cute ffffff

it is PUPPY LOEV. xB

MAN'S BEST FRAYUND

;BBBBBBB

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FFFFF I can't even take this, Zack and Angela are so cute ;-;

HE SECRETLY ENVIES YOUR DERP GROWLITHE ;-;!!

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