Victory Road Contact

[whatsacactus]

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[whatsacactus]

not busy whats up

[spacebaloney]

could you show me how you make money off the trainers?

[whatsacactus]

[w...hat.... Sorry he's gonna stare at his phone for a second before he responds.] you mean battling them ? sure just let me know when pretty sure mine are itching to battle [They've all been cooped up while he had that week long sleep and while Keith got readjusted when he woke up.]

[spacebaloney]

[No, don't take so long to respond, Keith. Lance is putting himself out on a limb here and his stomach is already flipping with nerves that you'll say no.]

yeah and doing it so i get paid
what about now?
also mine are still low level so could you kind of hold back a little?

[whatsacactus]

sure ive got a few that can help [Yeah he's already heading outside, Torracat at his heels ready to go.]

[spacebaloney]

[Lance is already outside, sitting on the porch steps, booping the snoot of a little Totodile with one hand while his gear is still in the other. Beside him is a freshly hatched Rockruff and a little farther out into the water is Bruce.

He looks up at Keith, a little surprise written on his face.]

Oh, that was quick.

[whatsacactus]

[Keith comes out, looking at a few of his pokeballs in his bag.] Told you I wasn't busy. [And then sees the Rockruff. And he can't help but think of Hunk's Rockruff that was left with him. He wonders if he should tr to fight with it... No, he'll probably stick to the two he hasn't worked with much. He looks at Totodile and kneels down.] I haven't seen this one before. What is it?

[spacebaloney]

[The Totodile turns from Lance to Keith, peering up at this new stranger and his cat.]

A Totodile. I got him from a guy who was selling eggs at the contest. Him, the Rockruff and a Charmander.

[The third one is still in its ball taking a little snooze, but Lance can call it out to show Keith if he needs to.]

[whatsacactus]

[Torracat leans in to sniff at Totodile, then slowly lifts one paw, not making any other move yet.] Hm. What's his type? [He knows Rockruff, and he's read about Charmander. He's aware of them, but he wants to know what Lance is working with.]

[spacebaloney]

Water.

[Which means he has a type advantage over Torracat, but the fire cat can take it down through sheer strength alone.

Lance digs into his pocket and pulls out another pokeball with a look of apology on his face.]

Oh, wait. I also have a Sandalit. She's poison and fire. Sorry, I forgot about her. All of them hatched around the same time and I haven't had time to really bond with them yet.

[Or name them something cool.]

[whatsacactus]

[Keith watches Totodile carefully. He hasn't worked with a lot of water pokemon, but he knows there are viable strategies for them. Armin makes them work for him, so he trusts that. He pets along Torracat's head so she doesn't bat at Totodile, sort of scooting her away.] You've got variety. Good to have. Was there one you wanted to work with alone or all of them?

[spacebaloney]

[Totodile opens its gaping maw and... starts bouncing. It's clearly a happy little guy and means no harm towards Torracat or her trainer. He just wants to play! By battling, of course.]

All of them. [Lance hesitates and then sighs, rubbing the back of his neck. No sense in keeping his near future plans a secret.] Because I don't want to depend on Kaltenecker when I don't trust her and I'm going to need more than Bruce with me when I go on the road.

[What he is keeping secret, though, is the fact that he's become afraid of the Miltank. He still has four more weeks to go with this smashed schnoz and that's still a fresh reminder every time he looks in the mirror.]

[whatsacactus]

Really?

[That is kind of odd to be afraid of your starter, he thinks. But maybe something happened he doesn't know about. Let's... start with which are you worried about getting stronger the most. I'll start there, see what we can do.

[To anyone on the outside, this really looks and feels like a stark difference from the Keith before. A few years alone, of growing and learning on his own with some support and he's trying his best.]

[spacebaloney]

[Odd, yes, but if someone keeps getting beat up by their own Pokemon long enough, things start happening and in Lance's case, he wonders if next time, it'll be worse than a broken nose.]

Really. I... have my reasons.

[To Lance it is a stark difference from the scarless younger Keith he's still more familiar with that either one of the Keiths he's met here. He's a little unsure of how to interact with Keith still, but knowing they aren't about to break into some headbutting arguments eases the need for Lance to act out. It also makes it easier for him to ask Keith for help.

Lance points down to the Rockruff currently lying stomach up and wiggling his paws in the air.]

Probably this little guy here.

[whatsacactus]

[Okay. Okay, that's cute. Keith smile and kneels down, not even having a second thought to reaching out and petting the pup's little belly.] I haven't worked with Rockruff much [at all], but they seem pretty easy to handle. I've got one I should probably train a little too.

[spacebaloney]

[The paws wiggle faster, especially that back left one that zoomes full speed ahead as Keith gives the Rockruff a glorious belly rub. That, Pokemon friends, is what life is all about.]

Think Torracat can hold back for him a little? What else do you have on you right now?

[whatsacactus]

[OH NO. He smiles some more, giving that belly a good rub.] I've got a few others, Torracat's a little too much for these guys. I've got... [He thinks over his team again.] I've got vulpix, ralts, a...furret? I think? And a rockruff. I only ever really let Torracat and Honedge fight, but the rest could use the training.