victory_road | I Can't Believe It's Another Hisui Catchall

Current Mood: busy
Current Location: Hisui

Entry tags:

I Can't Believe It's Another Hisui Catchall

Who: Heather Mason and YOU!
Where: Hisui
When: July/throughout the event
Summary: A catch-all for Heather Mason, who can be encountered doing various things and saying various swearwords under the cut.
Rating: PG-13 at most
Log:

GENERAL INFO: During her time in Hisui, Heather will be a rather tatty bandit's outfit (she was late getting to the table with all the clothes), some cozy boots, and a blue cap. Heather's new starter is a Hisuian Growlithe who she has creatively named "Twojo" (her actual starter is a Growlithe named Cujo). Over the course of the event she will be catching a shiny Pikachu (!!) and a MYSTERY THIRD POKEMON I have not decided on yet.
She is very tired and not particularly happy about the possibility that she'll never get to see her other Pokemon ever again, but for the sake of other people who she's assuming probably feel the same way, she's at least trying not to be a complete vibe-ruiner over it.

PROMPT A: General Campground Presence

One of the few things that actually help get Heather's mind off of the less-than-ideal situation is keeping busy! When she's not actively exploring, she'll be fairly active around the campground, primarily in the form of keeping the firewood well-stocked and patrolling the camp's borders with Twojo (and a nice hefty stick, in case Twojo's barking doesn't do the trick) to keep high-leveled wild Pokemon from demolishing everything.

As a hot-water-enjoyer herself, she will also be readily volunteering Twojo's firey breath to help keep the showers nice and warm.

Maybe you're joining her on these ventures! Or maybe you desperately need to wash the stank off and there's nobody else around to heat the water for you. OR MAYBE you found her sacked out by the campfires after a long day of roughing it and are in the mood for some conversation.

PROMPT B: Training and Sparring

Being an otherworldly "old-timer" at this point, Heather is used to RARELY having to worry about encountering a problem that can't be at least adequately dealt with by whipping out a level 100 Pokemon.

Needless to say, suddenly being stuck in the untamed wilderness with NOTHING but a measley level-20 Pokemon? That's like... a baby. NAY, a zygote. And she doesn't like that, no SIR. By sunset on that very first day, Heather has thrown herself into vigorous training with Twojo, hoping to stack some levels onto this pup before they have the bad luck to encounter something they can't handle.

Which means she is looking for folks to engage in friendly training battles with! She can't be the only one who's in a hurry to toughen up their new friend in case things go awry.

On that note, she won't say no to friendly sparring, either. When they're all in one place like this, maybe it's a good opportunity to meet some other folks who are into that kind of thing. You never know when you might have to jump in and just punch a wild Pokemon in the face yourself.

PROMPT C: WILDCARD!

You got another idea? COOL, go for it! You can also ping me on Plurk for plotting if you'd like to brainstorm!

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[Mando is definitely not a Pokemon old-timer, but he's quickly learning how vital it is to have a strong team. Everyone gets so pissy when you jump in and punch something yourself! Like, why not cut out the middle man and do things on your own?]

[But whatever, training his new Spheal helps keep him from worrying about the rest of his team, wherever they might be. So when he sees someone working with a fire dog, he watches for a few minutes--sneakily, mind you, all sniper-y and assassin-like--before emerging from the bushes and approaching. It would be much more intimidating if he wasn't wearing a bright yellow Pikachu mask over his face.]

Hey.

[He gestures to his Spheal, Ball, who waves one cheerful flipper at Heather and Twojo.]

Any training tips? This one isn't much of a fighter.

[Lies! Lies and slander! Ball is very much... yeah, he's a lover and not a fighter. But he's also smart enough to recognise that his water would have an unfair advantage over Twojo, and he's no bully. Why can't he go frolic somewhere with Twojo and Mando and Heather can beat up on each other? This seems like a perfectly reasonable compromise to him!]

_{[He passes his stealth check by a wide margin-- Heather hadn't exactly been looking out for entire dudes lurking in the hedges (as least not as much as she was looking out for any more of those psychotic Paras that kept trying to conduct raids on the campground). Which means that, when she turns around to see who's talking, her reaction is a bit more dramatic than it might have been if she'd seen him coming.]}

JEEZUS-- _{[WAIT IT'S A MASK.]}

Holy shit.

_{[She puffs a tuft of hair out of her face and puts a hand on her chest theatrically, regarding Mando and Ball with palpable relief.]}

Sorry, for a split second I thought this place had the most horrifying regional Pikachu variant imaginable.

_{[(She is going to lose her fucking mind when she sees a Sneasler.)]}

Tips... well, uh, starting small is always good. Before I tried doing any real battles I just had Twojo here practice her moves on like, shrubs...

_{[The little Growlithe, who normally has a pretty bubbly demeanor, is actually hanging back behind her trainer's legs, watching Ball uncertainly with a slow sway of her tail. Heather notices this after a second or two and leans down to give the pooch a reassuring pat.]}

Oh-- sorry, someone else's Spheal squirted her in the face a little while ago so I guess she's a bit gunshy. C'mon, girl, that was an accident.

_{[And Ball, frankly, looks smarter than the other one.]}

[Stealth check: passed. Still got it.]

No, not a Pokemon.

[Still salty about the stupid Pikachu mask, though.]

[Mando nods at Heather's advice--he's been doing some of that already, Ball has watered quite a few shrubs around the camp--but then he notices the Pokemon dog.]

It's okay, pup.

[He bends down and drops a hand to Ball's head.]

Ball won't squirt you. He'd probably rather be friends.

[Ball barks in agreement. Yes, friendship sounds much better, thank you.]

There, see?

This one has manners.

_{[JW and his poorly-socialized seal orb aren't around, so she can say it as pointedly as she likes.]

[Twojo licks her nose unsurely, glancing up at her trainer for encouragement before taking a cautious step towards Ball and sniffing warily.]

[With the pup no longer cowering behind her, Heather straightens back up and dusts her hands off on her raggedy shorts, turning her gaze back to Mando. There's a question burning in her throat, and maybe it would be rude, but... no. No, she has to ask.]}

So... what's with the Pika mask?

[With the Pokemon cautiously getting to know each other, Mando straightens up too. Then he gets hit with that question, and while he knew it had to be coming, it still makes him heave a great, world-weary sigh.]

They took my helmet when we all arrived here, and I needed something to keep my face covered. This was the best they had to offer.

[He holds up a hand.]

And before you ask: no, I don't have scars on my face. Wearing a helmet is part of my religion.

_{[She can absolutely tell by the sigh that she is not the first person to have asked him this question. Fortunately, her curiosity is sated-- so he won't have to endure any further questioning.]}

Gotcha, gotcha, say no more.

_{[At eighteen she might have curled her lip at the mention of any religion, but at this point... unless the religion involves sacrificing children to demons, who cares. Helmets? That's small potatoes. ... If a little weird.]}

If I happen to see a less... unnerving mask around, I'll let you know, uh...

_{[Oh yeah. No introductions had happened yet.]

[She holds out a hand.]}

Shoot, almost forgot.

Name's Heather.

[Bless you, Heather; Mando is much more inclined to talk about the Mandalorian creed when he, you know, isn't wearing a stupid Pikachu mask. And no, it involves no children sacrifices. In fact, being a Mandalorian involves taking in orphaned children and raising them in the ~~cult~~ group!]

I'd appreciate that.

[Mando is more than happy to shake hands with her.]

Nice to meet you, Heather. You can call me Mando. It's short for Mandalorian.

_{[The Mandalorians can have a little cult activity. As a treat.]

[She returns the shake with a firm, solid grip. As a kid she'd been a handcrusher, but thankfully had grown out of needing to prove that kind of point. This place was GOOD rehabilitation for cult escapees folks who'd been through stuff.]}

Mando, huh? Catchy!

_{[The full name... sounds sorta familiar for some reason.]

[But she can't place it.]

[Just wait till she sees his helmet.]}

So, need a training buddy? No battling necessary-- pays for Pokemon to start learning how to work together, too.

[Yeah, Pokemon world is good for ~~former/current cult members~~ people with a lot of stuff going on back home. Even without his helmet and armour, this place is still better than Tattooine. Significantly less sand.]

Yes. We'd like that.

[Ball glances up with enormous puppy eyes at the mention of training. Please, no! He just made friends! Don't ask him to squirt his new fire friend!]

It's okay, Ball; we're going to practice together on a bush.

[Mando glances over at Heather.]

Or a wild Pokemon if we can find one?

_{[She flashes a double thumbs-up.]}

Sounds good to me. Safety in numbers and all.

_{[She's been wary of wandering too far from the camp without any other humans-- it's been such a long time since she's ever had to worry about being out in the middle of nowhere with just one very under-leveled Pokemon, and that just seems like tempting fate.]

[But two trainers and two Pokemon can probably handle the wildlife in the immediate vicinity.]}

Twooj, why don't you find a good shrub to toast and then Ball can practice putting the fire out? ... Nothing too close to the trees, though.

Last thing we need is to accidentally start a forest fire.

_{[The Growlithe yaps happily, tail wagging. YES OH BOY OH BOY! She smiles a big puppy smile at Ball, apparently having overcome her initial wariness, before taking off find an adequate target. LET'S GO LET'S GO!]}

[Ball LOVES this idea! He rolls after Twojo, adding to her yapping with his own barking chorus. This is how fire and water Pokemon should get along!]

[Mando watches them go, then sighs and shakes his head.]

Looks like they worked out their differences.

[He glances back at Heather.]

Ball likes putting out fires. He's going to be harassing your dog to make fires for him to put out now.

Heh, well, if she's anything like my Growlithe back home in Johto, she will retain the exact same level of enthusiasm no matter how many times she's done something before.

_{[... And the little red-orange blob on the far side of the field now is quite obviously VERY enthusiastic as she spits embers onto a dead-looking thorn-bush for Ball to douse.]}

... So.

Met any of the wild ones here yet?

_{[Because they are, uh, INTENSE.]}

[The poor bushes of Hisui quiver in fear of this dynamic duo. Look out, world, they're coming for you.]

Not really. Ball isn't much of a battler.

[You see, Heather, Mando only uses water Pokemon when they can do other types of moves and be cheap as shit. Admiral Ackbar back home? Water and Ground. Super cheap.]

I don't battle with them much. Do you?

_{[FIRST THEY COME FOR THE SHRUBS... AND THEN? THE WHOLE FOREST.]}

Me?

Well, here, no. Not yet. Twooj is too little, she needs some serious experience before I want her to wind up doing the real thing.

_{[And the wildlife here is way more brutal than the stuff she and Cujo had battled, back when he'd been as bitty as Twojo was, level-wise.]}

But back h-- ... home, _{[Because... it is home, and this isn't. Even if it's still in the same world.]} I do a lot more. Kind of made it my job.

So, not that I can't hack things by myself, but I have gotten pretty used to having my gang around to back me up.

What ones do you have back home?

[Mando knows that some people have been in this Pokemon world for a long time, and that it's become their home. He doesn't share that sentiment--his kid is still somewhere else, and Pokemon world will never be home until he knows Grogu is okay--but he's been surprised at how much he misses his team, being here in Hisui. Ball is great and everything, but they haven't known each other that long, and they haven't bonded in the same way.]

I haven't been here long, and my team is small. Always up for getting pointers on which Pokemon to look out for.

[Both to avoid battling and to consider catching.]

Oh, jeez... _{[A laugh.]} Too many.

My original starter was also a Growlithe-- you know, the kind you can find in Johto.

Over the years I've wound up with a pretty motley crew... some who like battling, some who are basically happy to be pets.

The strongest ones... mm, Rapidash, Feraligatr, Absol, Togekiss, Lucario, Talonflame... If you specifically want protection, for you OR your more vulnerable team members, Absol is a good choice. They can sense danger better than any other Pokemon, and with training, they can get really powerful.

Alessa-- that's mine-- is half the size of my Growlithe but an infinitely better guard dog, heh.

An Absol, huh...

[Since that's the one she mentioned more than once, Mando focuses in on that.]

It's a type of dog?

[He'd look it up if he could, he swears!]

Are there any you've found that are surprising? Either in how they start or how they evolve?

[Please tell him about the glory that is a Magikarp, Heather.]

I guess? Sorta... like, I definitely have... doggier Pokemon. But I've always assumed she was canine.

_{[AS FOR EVOLUTION, THOUGH.]}

Holy shit.

So.

_{[SHE'S GONNA TELL HIM ABOUT MAGIKARP.]}

Have you seen those orange fish yet? They're in, like, MOST bodies of water. They splash around a lot and look like they have one brain cell.

[HELL YES HE'S GONNA LEARN ABOUT MAGIKARP]

Yes.

[Mando's tone implies that he doesn't think much of them.]

We thought they were food at first.

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I Can't Believe It's Another Hisui Catchall

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