The walk to the Pokemon Center was relatively peaceful... well, as peaceful as one in the city could be with the cacophony of laughter and talking. While he did wish to speak with the duo every so often and ask them a couple of questions, such as what Remi meant by administrative pressure for getting started so early or why Remi was glaring at him every so often, though the latter could probably be explained by the outcome of the battle.
Guess the compliment wasn't enough to assuage the soreness of the loss. C'est la vie he supposed.
Regardless, until he the group had made it to the Pokemon Center, Yuu was busy making sure Jojo didn't fall off his shoulder all while he was taking pictures with Vivi. It brought a small smile to his face to watch his partner tap at the phone whenever Vivi buzzed for a picture. Still didn't fix the fact that Yuu looked like he had a resting bitch face in spite of his smile. Upon their arrival at the Pokemon Center, Yuu didn't bother getting his own partner healed up first, primarily since Remi and Nevine's own partners were fainted. Yuu would linger a bit back behind them to ensure they would be first, followed by giving a small wave to Jojo, followed by the latter giving a smile high-five to Yuu in the midst of said wave before being tapped on the head by a Pokeball.
Fast forward five minutes or so and Yuu was sitting across from the slumbering Nevine and Slakoth with Jojo on his lap, continuing his silent vigil as Jojo and Vivi began to chat about. The Rotom phone would buzz every so often with Jojo responding in kind with his own quaint growls and jovial cheers. Yuu, however would some times chime in to remind that Nevine and Slakoth were resting and would urge the two to be a little more quiet for their sakes.
"Hmm?" The violet-haired boy glanced up at Remi, confirming the young mans question with a bob of his head, "Of course, got my reasons for being there after all..." As he proclaimed this, he leaned back slightly and placed his hand on Jojo's head, giving his partner a nice gentle pet, to which the Riolu clearly reciprocated via holding onto Yuu's hand and keeping it firmly placed on his head.
Still his comment about Nevine holding him back caused Yuu to give the sleeping beauty a side-eye, staring listlessly at her as Remi drank the coffee. He slightly frowned and felt a twinge of annoyance.
However, what caught his attention was the mention about a local rumor that Remi had caught wind of; caused Yuu to perk up and immediately focus on the effeminate young man. Jojo and Vivi seemed to catch wind of this as well and stopped to listen too.
"While it doooes sound ridiculous, I guess you've... given me another reason to go there... sort of," the tall young man, while curious, sounded slightly apprehensive at this new information coming to light, causing him to ruminate on this and even stop the rotation of his pats.
"Rio," Jojo chimed in, turning around in his seat and moved Yuu's hand out of the way, staring up at the trainer with his big crimson eyes, "Ri, Riolu?" That seemed to jolt Yuu back to reality as he looked at his partner and awkwardly laughed, "Ah, sorry about that, got a bit lost in thought about the location."
Yuu would then go back to smiling at Jojo and ruffle his head which was more than enough to placate his partner for a bit. Still it did make him wonder. "Remi does have a point about it potentially being a Pokemon... maybe its a Gothitelle and the stars align by that manor in a particular way? Then again, no they are known for their knowledge of the future... Xatu? I mean, that Pokemon is known to see the past and future, though I'd expect them to be in a more sunny place or cliffside... maybe it's an Alakazam? They do possess psychic powers and could potentially utilize them to lead people who come into their territory astray with illusions? No, no, that can't be it... maybe it's a ghost Pokemon, such as..."
As Yuu went into deep thought, he began to nibble the tip of his free hand thumb, whispering under his breath about a potential combination of Pokemon that could caused people to see things from their past. Of course this obviously caught the attention of Jojo and Vivi, both of which were just... staring at him now, Vivi making a static noise as a substitute for a sigh.
"Rio?" Jojo gently moved Yuu's hand over to the side and was now push against his chest, attempting to shake him out of his focus. Vivi in turn began to float over to his head and bump straight into the side of his temple.
"Uh, hmm?" That seemed to break Yuu out of his trance as he looked over to Vivi who was wearily smiling at him before shifting his gaze and meeting with Jojo's own. He blinked. Jojo blinked. Vivi blinked.
"Ah, a-ah oh... sorry about that, got a bit lost in thought for a moment," Yuu stared down over at Slakoth, clearly doing his best to keep his cool or at the very least regain some of his composure. "A-anyways, I appreciate the information Remi, I'll take that into consideration... however, there is one thing I'm interested myself about. You mentioned some administrative pressure about getting started early; what's that all about?"
Bjyerlfal City || Outside Camphor's Lab || Morning
Yuu crossed his arms, tilting his head as he raised an eyebrow at Remi's comment, only to relax a little when Nevine abruptly cut him off as she questioned his own actions and mentioned Professor Camphor. He shallowly nodded at the observation as he felt Jojo twist his hips and swung his legs behind him to look at Jill and Aster. Yuu merely stood silent, listening to the short dialogue between the duo before they gave their response.
"I see," Yuu mused wistfully, closing his eyes in contemplative silence, nodding his head, "I understand; we all have different sorts of business to attend to... a shame though" Yuu murmured the last part, sounding slightly disappointed at that fact. However unlike the them, the girl who joined him in the fight had a different response as she piped up.
The tall young man slightly craned his neck back, giving a glancing acknowledgement to the girl though he was a little curious about the condition of Aster as he noticed the purple monkey looked a little bit more despondent as opposed to how fired up and frustrated she seemed during the fight. Yuu couldn't help but ponder on her state before going back to the battle and grimacing.
Right... she began to sulk near the end of the battle and started doing it after Jojo knocked out the Slakoth. Despite looking relatively unfazed, he seemed to wince a little at the thought and felt a little conflicted over this whole situation. "Riolu," Jojo suddenly piped up, waving wildly to the purple monkey before standing up on Yuu's shoulder and hopping off, though the landing wasn't as graceful as he'd like.
"Ri?!" As the Riolu stumbled a bit on the ground, nearly face-planting in the process Yuu quickly swooped in to catch his partner, visibly wincing, "Hey, hey, easy there, you're still a bit hurt from the fight... and I'm certain you have some things to say to Aster, but for now we have to get you healed up, a'ight?"
Yuu let his partner stabilize for a moment before letting him go and giving him a small pat, all before glancing back up at the ninja girl, "As much as I would be willing to wait, three out of our four partners are either knocked out or on the verge of being knocked out..." Yuu sighed, ruffling his hair before rummaging through his bag and popping out the miniature Pokedex before flicking through it and toying around with it a bit further before grumbling in defeat.
"Maybe we could meet up at the Pokemon Center instead while keeping in contact? Professor Camphor did state these functioned as phones after all," Yuu flicked through the phone, displaying the contact information of all of the trainers in possession of a Pokedex, scrolling down to point at Jill's name.
"I won't leave the city without you, promise," as much as he was irked by the girl during the battle, he was going to at least try to uphold his promise. Plus a part of him did note of another girl entering the lab and had a slight feeling she might ended up getting caught on the tail end of an interaction with another arrival who was late.
Bjyerlfal City || Outside Camphor's Lab || Morning
As the battle came to a close, Jojo launched the final Bullet Punch from his barrage, smashing the Cottonee into the ground with one more decisive hit. The Riolu took a moment to catch his breath, crimson eyes still burning with determination as he wearily trembled a little as he looked down at his defeated opponent. As he saw this, he raised the fist he used to strike down Remi's pokemon into the air, paw shaking as he just left it there and peered back to Yuu.
Yuu merely crossed his arms, chuckling at the celebratory stance one of his partners was taking. He saw the gleam in Jojo's eyes, yet there was a paradoxical bit of doubt nestled there as well, as if asking him if it was over. Yuu rolled out a thumbs up and a smirk to Jojo, "Celebrate all you want Jojo, we won and it's all thanks to you and Aster." Vivi buzzed up, whirring in agreement as it did a little twirl in the air, performing a merry little jig.
"Rio!" In an instant, what little remained of Jojo's doubt vanished in an instant as his eyes twinkled in delight as he began jumping up and down, shooting his arms up and down in succession for a couple of seconds. Once that was done he then turned around and ran towards Yuu, but not before stumbling forward and losing a bit of his footing.
In one deft motion, Yuu knelt down to catch the tumbling Riolu who ended up falling and resting upon one of his arms, "Hey, hey, no need to rush, you're still a little injured after that whole ordeal." And whose fault was it?
Despite the gentle look he was giving Jojo, Yuu had his own reservations about doing his best as he looked over his partner before giving him a small ruffled on the head. Obviously Jojo could see what Yuu was feeling, prompting the pokemon to raise a paw to Yuu's forehead and give him a pat all while giving the young man the widest smile he could.
Yuu let out a soft sigh, picking up the Riolu and letting him rest on his shoulder, "If you start losing balance just hold onto my hair. Don't worry, I'll be fine." Jojo chirped out a response, bobbing his head as he sat beside his partner.
Grunting, Yuu glanced over at Jill with all the warmth of a winter eve, "Your partner, Aster, did a good job during that battle. As for you... you've got waaaaaay more to learn about being a trainer considering your performance during this all, though I am loathe to admit that the water bucket usage was pretty OK."
Yuu didn't even bother to provide context for what he meant as he walked toward the defeated duo. Vivi on the other hand stayed behind to whir their own thank yous and made electronic sounds as if to reassure or smooth over what Yuu meant.
At the very least she didn't let Vivi down, though he wasn't going to admit that as he stood before the two, somewhat listening in on their little conversation as he shoved his hands into his pockets and stared at them. "Anything else, hmm," Yuu quizzically murmured with all the vibrancy of a Slakoth, "I was actually hoping to invite you two to join me; both of you both seem to be quite the competent duo and actually even managed to challenge me; don't recall the last time that happened if that makes you two feel any better... regardless, I wouldn't mind having you two along, however..."
Yuu paused for a brief moment, closing his eyes and sighing wistfully as he brushed his index finger against his chin, "It seems we both have different plans for where we want to go; my first destination was actually a manor in the Winding Woods as I have some business there, though I do need to make preparations for said journey." Yuu was extremely nonchalant about stating that he was heading to a destination that the duo probably were aware of... or not.
"I was planning on surveying the rest of the city, scouting out some of the routes and their Pokemon, planning to stop by the Contest Hall here for some business, make a couple of purchases at the PokeMart, and maybe even check out the gym here and try to get a feel for it," Yuu brought out his hand, thumbing along everything on his list as he felt a slight tug of his hair and deftly brought up a hand to catch his off-balanced partner.
"And also getting Jojo healed up... I wonder if Professor Camphor has a healing station in her lab," Yuu absentmindedly murmured this out loud to himself before clearing his throat.
So, uh anyways, you two interested? That also applies to you as well," Yuu whipped his head around and pointed directly at Jill, "Yeah, I'm also extending the same courtesy to you as well since you were my partner in the fight. Take it or leave it."
Bjyerlfal City || Outside Camphor's Lab || Morning
Yuu's eyes widened the moment he saw the grassy bomb explode into a volley of splintering seeds over the Slakoth-barricade he lead Jojo to try and set up. The moment Remi began to cackle Yuu was furrowing his brows, obviously frowning at the sight of it all. He had multitudes of things running through his mind, with one consultation being if he should of just pulled the trigger with Jojo's own egg move.
Beyond appearing slightly agitated Yuu remained composed despite the imminent threat of Jojo being knocked out. "I did not expect him to make an investment like this so early into the journey; wonder if he's still hiding his partners egg move... whether or not he is, that doesn't matter. I need to keep my mind clear for Jojo's sake." As Yuu mused over the fight, his eyes remained solely on his partner.
Jojo yelped in shock from the back attack, not being prepared to endure the surprise assault as it was flung forward by the attack and over the Slakoth, causing him to tumble into a roll. The Riolu kicked up dust and small amounts of debris in the attack, looking a bit beat up from all the attacks he was taking. Despite this, he persisted, gripping their paw into a fist as he pushed himself off the ground, wobbling a bit but no worse for wear as he grit its teeth and winked one of his red eyes in pain.
"You really are determined huh? I don't know whether that's poetic or ironic." There was a brief bit of melancholy on his mind as Jojo defiantly stood up in spite of the odds, fists up and glaring at the little fluff ball. Despite his wandering thoughts, there was a calm about him as his eyes sifted about the battlefield for the remaining trio.
"You're going to end it all, is that what you think," Yuu questioned, sounding strangely amused at the proclamation, snorting through his nose with a brief but coy smile before he started coldly frowning. He felt the trust in his Pokemon partner, primed and ready to be shot with Yuu as the trigger.
Yuu began to steady his aim.
"Jojo, Aster, myself, and her," Yuu nudged a head in the direction of Jill, still keeping his eye on the opponent and keeping in mind that another Seed Bomb was coming. Sighing, he took in a deep breath before staring down Remi with a piercing gaze, whipping his arm to point directly at Remi's heart.
"No! We decide when it ends," Yuu declared with thunderous aplomb as Jojo dug his feet back, ready to pounce forward at the slightest provocation, "Jojo!"
As Yuu called out his partners name, Jojo stared dead on at Cottonee who was priming her move all while his respective half continued to stare Remi down with a cold, piercing stare. His frown, however was replaced with a slight grin as they lined up the shot as Yuu finally pulled the trigger with a soothing yet dangerous tone of voice as he spoke the words: "Bullet Punch."
Jojo understood that there was no need for further words beyond that. He felt Yuu's aura burning brightly with confidence as he propelled himself forward towards the Cottonee, knowing full well that this was all or nothing... or rather maybe it was a calculated risk. Regardless, Jojo continued to rapidly fly forward as he began to clench his fists, his red eyes glowing with determination and a fierce desire as his own fists began to glow a steely-blue color in tandem. Closer and closer, seconds felt like minutes as he closed the distance on their opponent.
And what happened when Jojo finally descended upon them? He had only this to say as he cocked his arm back: "Rio." The Riolu would then begin to rapid fire his punches, throwing blow after blow at the Cottonee like a wicked maelstrom, not letting up for a moment as he attempted to pummel the Pokemon into unconsciousness before he could be knocked out himself.
Bjyerlfal City || Outside Camphor's Lab || Morning
"A slight miscalculation on my part... as much as I loathe to admit it, that might be for the better," Yuu winced, slightly shaking his head back and forth the moment Jojo took the brunt of the assault, with Vivi letting out a loud electronic buzz of surprised as if to exclaim their worry for their new friend. As for Jojo...
"Rio?!" He couldn't help but wince in surprise as the Fairy Wind rushed through him, causing him to yelp in a mixture of pain and surprise as his body tensed up against the surge. The Riolu couldn't maintain balance as he tumbled off the top of the Slakoth and roll off to the side. Jojo found himself atop of Aster, still reeling from the pain as he closed one of his eyes and grit his teeth.
However before he could react he felt a jolt of electricity shooting up his spine, causing the Pokemon to shiver instantly. "Ruh-rreeeii?!" As a result of Jill's antics, Jojo found himself temporarily paralyzed from the fact that he was currently soaked from head to toe, before being incredulously shoved off to the side by Aster.
Jojo was none too happy about this as he felt the shock of bouncing on the ground a little, in no doubt as a result of the lingering pain and instantly jumped up. Furrowing his brows before pointing a paw at Aster, "Riri, rioooolu," calling her out for rudely shoving him off after he just saved her from taking a terrible hit... well, that's what he got from reading his human partner's aura and words.
Yuu on the other hand was completely at a loss of words, still reeling from the fact that his trainer partner just went into the lab and pulled out a friggin' bucket and tossed cold water onto Jojo and Aster. His mouth was going between agape and a small o, his neck craned at an odd 37.4 degree angle as one of his arms was outstretched outwardly and defensively from his chest.
He blinked, trying to comprehend the whole situation as he echoed Remi's disbelief, "Ah, aaauuhh... I... I-I'm pretty sure that... isn't? Yuu's voice cracked at the 'I'm' as he ruffled his hair before closing his eyes, sighing as he visibly deflated during her statement about having to return the bucket or something.
Seconds later he whipped his head back to glower at her briefly before straightening himself out, standing tall and unfettered, as if she didn't just dump water on his and her partners, before holding a fist up to his mouth and clearing his throat. Of course while he was doing this he heard something interesting leave the ninja girl's mouth for once.
"Screamy thing? Seriously?" Yuu couldn't help but squint in disbelief at how ignorant she sounded, but on the other hand that was a bit curious. From prior research he read up on, he took note about how certain Pokemon that crossbred were passing on less and less of certain moves to their offspring. From what he could determine, Aster seemed to be one of the few rare batch of Pokemon who learned Screech a bit earlier than her brethren.
But that was besides the point; he wasn't going to let this golden opportunity go, "Hm, whatever. Hey, Jojo!" Yuu had to shout over the Screeching little rascal to reach his partner who was backing up away from Aster, holding his own ears with his paws to cover up the sound of Aster's clamoring. However, his partner's voice reached Jojo as the Pokemon whipped his head to look at Yuu, slightly easing the pressure he was putting on his ears.
"Try using Quick Attack to hit Slakoth on the side so hard that you knock her onto her side," Yuu thunderously urged, all with Vivi doing a small jig in midair to cheer him on all accompanied with a twirl. Jojo nodded, wincing a little as he turn his sights on the Slakoth. He took note of Yuu pointing at a specific side of the Slakoth and took in a short breath as he braced himself and his ears against the noisy purple monkey.
His red eyes were directly focused on the indolent Slakoth's sides, deftly dashing around the opposing Pokemon as it eyed the place Yuu suggested attacking. The moment he locked eyes with the target Jojo's foot pivoted as he dove forward towards the Slakoth, letting out a flurry of punches at their side in some attempt to knock the Pokemon up onto its side... or the moment he realized it wasn't possible, focus on knocking them out.
Bjyerlfal City || Outside Camphor's Lab || Morning
Yuu's unblinkingly stared at Jill with a look that was no different than one of a disappointed parent, his shoulders drooping and his mouth twisting into a dissatisfied scowl. Yuu could read it all on her face: this girl had no idea how to battle at all. "And her partner, Yuu's eyes briefly drifted over to Aster, his frown still just as prominent as before yet it was a bit softer than before.
There was some pity in his eyes as he blew the air out from his nose before focusing back on the fight at hand, scrutinizing the Cottonee and Slakoth. Yuu clicked the roof of his mouth, "That Cottonee is surprisingly good at taking hits. Two adapted Quick Attacks and it doesn't look too worse for wear, but the Slakoth at the very least looks to be in some obvious pain, no doubt due to our combined attacks."
As Yuu mulled over the situation, his gaze now focus on the secretive duo. Their interaction was brief but it looks like Remi was planning something. Yuu ignored the panic on the ninja girl's face, unfazed by this event before she spoke up. "What do you mean one moment, you can just pause the b-"
Yuu instantly came to a full stop as he witnessed his trainer partner, Aster's partner, bolted towards the lab doors, "H-hey, what the hell are you doing?! You can't just turn tail and abandon your partner! Get back here and start acting like an actual... daaauggggghhhhh!" Yuu was gritting his teeth as his protests fell on deaf ears as she ran away into the lab, his cold blue eyes now smoldering as he whipped his head to look back on the battle.
"First she doesn't participate in the battle, now she runs away?! Why do I always get paired up with trainers that flail when the going gets tough," as Yuu stewed in his anger Vivi, shifted from cheering on the duo to looking over at the now infuriated boy, floating over to give him a small tug on the hair and buzzing with worry. The moment he felt that small pull he visibly deflated, "Right... thanks Vivi... I just, don't know whats going through her head and that's troublesome."
Whatever ridiculous reason she had to run into the lab, it was already done, but he wasn't just going to leave Aster out to dry like their partner just did. For now he had to do something about that impending Hammer Arm, otherwise that Aipom wasn't waking up at all. Yuu's eyes glanced back over to Jojo before looking back over at the snoring Aster, then back to the sluggish movements of the Slakoth, quietly analyzing the situation.
"Jojo, follow my lead and quickly pick up Aster," as Yuu exclaimed this the Riolu looked over the Slakoth who was beginning to wind up their attack. Utilizing his superior speed, Jojo darted around the slacker pokemon, keeping a close eye on their movements as he approached the slumbering monkey. Tugging at the handless limb, Jojo pulled one of Aster's arms over his shoulder whilst wrapping an arm around her torso and lifting her up.
Riolu peeked back, chirping in with a "Rio," as if to ask whats next. Yuu silently calculated their next move. While there was a slight delay in his guidance, Yuu deftly snapped his fingers and shouting at the top of his lungs, "Alright Jojo, give your legs everything they've got and hop forward as high as you can!"
As Yuu stated this, he hoped his booming advice would at least stir Aster a bit, but beyond that he also intentionally timed his instructions in a way to not only hopefully give Jojo enough time to make the jump, but also take advantage of how Nevine was acting. "While the timing will be tight, as long as Jojo avoids the attack she should find it difficult to adjust the way her Slakoth is swinging. After all, it seems Remi is the brains behind it all."
Jojo nodded back at Yuu with a quick "Riri," as it turned back to face his opponent. While the Aipom did weigh a bit he did have to move quick as that arm was coming in hot. Bending his knees and gritting his teeth Jojo put all of his strength into his legs to launch himself upward and forward.
If everything went as Yuu had planned, Jojo and by proxy Aster would find themselves not only avoiding the heavy, powered-up strike from the Slakoth but would be on a trajectory to land atop said Pokemon, stomping on the Slakoth in the process. Despite it happening in mere seconds Yuu could only hold his breath as he awaited the results of their maneuver.
Bjyerlfal City || Outside Camphor's Lab || Morning
"Hmm," Yuu clicked the roof of his mouth as he witnessed Remi instantly adapt to the situation, as well as watched as the Cottonee flew out of the path of their partners Yawn and landed directly behind Slakoth. However that wasn't the only thing he was taking note of as his gaze shifted over to his battle partner, squinting at her. While Vivi was loudly buzzing and whirring, cheering on both Jojo and Aster, Yuu was silently contemplating the lack of communication during battle.
Yuu quickly mused over this quickly, noting how detached from the battle she looked to him. He would of liked to chalk it up to the two being bonded with each other long enough for them to wordlessly communicate what they wanted, but she didn't even try anything, not even a single gesture. Rubbing the bottom of his lip, Yuu returned his sights to the fight, taking note of Aster's drowsy nature, as well as the positioning of Jojo on the battlefield when compared to their opponents.
"Not too shabby with your quick thinking there... but will it be quick enough," Yuu mused out loud, raising an eyebrow as he snapped his fingers and pointed to the battlefield and giving his partnered trainer a sidelong glance. "Have Aster follow my lead," Yuu hastily stated before going back to guiding Jojo, "Jojo, use Quick Attack to grab and smash Cottonee face-first into Slakoth!"
"Rio," Jojo cheerfully responded, nodding as it whipped its head to the side and stared down at the Cottonee. Narrowing its red eyes the Pokemon used its burst of speed to quickly dash around and dive towards their opponent. As it attempted to make this strike, the moment its paws were driven into the Cottonee, it would grip its fur and keep the momentum going, launching himself forward towards the Slakoth.
"Lets see if we can ram those two into each other and hopefully redirect the Absorb onto the Slakoth... if she even does anything," while it seemed Yuu's attention was completely on the fight, his eyes would sometimes drift over to the ninja girl. Every time it did, his gaze became a bit colder, calculating, and even piercing.
Beyond the plan going through his mind, there was another smaller thought nagging at him - What was she going to do next, if anything at all?
Bjyerlfal City || Outside Camphor's Lab || Morning
Yuu remained silent as his new partner voiced their response, with the girl eagerly jumping at the chance for a fight, as well as Aster who looked all too eager to duke it out. Jojo on the other hand was less judgemental of their new friends and merely trilled out a friendly "Riooooo," to Aster and Jill, wildly waving his arm up and down at the duo.
Yuu couldn't help but pause, glancing over to his partner who seemed all too happy about their new companions before looking back over to Vivi who seemed to jitter and whir with glee. He still could not wrap his head around what Vivi saw in them as he raised an eyebrow before glancing back at Jill before shrugging. Following that, the effeminate boy with the Cottonee pointed out that battling in a lab might not be the best of ideas.
"As if she needs a proper reason to toss us out anyways," Yuu couldn't help but bitterly reflect on being forcibly evicted by the Professor's own partner, grumbling under his breath about it. Still, didn't need to tempt fate or anything as he silently trudged towards the door, but not before arcing his head back to look at Aster and the girl.
"One more thing before we go out," Yuu's tone of voice became more matter of fact, as if it was a life or death situation despite them just going out for a quick match, "Vivi's putting their faith in you, so try not to let them down, got it?" The boy didn't even entertain an extra thought for his rhetorical statement as he turned back to follow the other two out the door, failing to pick up on the obvious disdain the chocolate girl with the Slakoth showed. As he marched to his side of the field, Yuu waited for Jill to take her spot alongside him as he silently studied the duo and their partners, mentally preparing himself as he made a small checklist of moves, abilities, and so on their opponents would possess. Once she took her spot, Yuu would give her a shallow nod, before glancing back to Jojo who was still standing on his shoulders.
"Alright Jojo, y'ready to go?"
"Riolu!" The Riolu snappily cried out with a determined grin as it nodded to Yuu, resulting in a smile and chuckle slipping from his lips. "Alright then partner, lets go," Yuu thrust his arm out, hand outstretched as Jojo ran across his arm before launching himself off his hand like a diving board and landing on the field and getting into a fighting stance similar to when he was sparring against Yuu.
It was obvious that his opponent would try to capitalize on Jojo's weakness, but the moment he heard the words 'Yawn' was the moment cogs started turning in his head. "Follow my lead, Jojo use Quick Attack to launch the Cottonee at Aster!"
"Rio," Jojo acknowledged Yuu as he focused his eyes on the fluffball in front of him, took one step forward before speedily dashing towards the intended target, closing the distance almost instantly as he attempted to get behind Cottonee and follow up with Yuu's initial plan.
"Oh shut up, it's not my fault she told a story that was in poor taste instead of answering the question," Yuu shot back at the effeminate boy, bemoaning the events that transpired as he rubbed the palm of his hand down the side of his face. He paused grimacing at the floor through his fingers with a sour frown, still grumbling about how unnecessary that was and how he would of been out of her hair much sooner, seemingly ignoring their offer to help him up.
That, however, wasn't the case as his only unobscured eye suddenly shifted as he glanced at the boy with a piercing, icy cold glare, his frown growing deeper from his offer. "And I don't need your help. I can stand up on my own just fine," Yuu coolly responded, brushing the boys hand away before deftly hopping up onto his own two feet before dusting his jacket and pants off.
"Rio?" Just as Yuu finished brushing away the nonexistent dirt he glanced down to his partner, seeing Jojo look up at him with those big red eyes and a worried frown. Vivi was much the same, though instead they were abuzz trying to assuage the Riolu and their own worries. Squatting down for a moment, Yuu gave his partner was small rub on the head, as if ruffling their nonexistent hair. Jojo seemed to enjoy it and proceeded to trill in delight as he held onto Yuu's hands all while Vivi was proudly puffing out their chest, as if expecting this outcome.
"It'll take more than getting tossed to hurt me; I'm made of sterner stuff y'know," despite how Yuu was acting earlier, he seemed a little more... neutral around the others as his lips curled into a subdued smile that would take a closer look to be noticed. Standing back up, he let his partner wriggle their legs in midair while swinging around a bit as Yuu turned to address his new coworker once more at the mention of a battle.
"Oh, is that a challenge," in spite of Yuu's nearly monotone voice, there betrayed a hint of interested as he chuckled tauntingly at the young man. "Even with a type disadvantage, Jojo and I could easily do more than just take you on." A small unnoticeable smirk formed on the side of his face as Jojo took note of what was going on and clambered up the side of his arm, across Yuu's back, and stood proud on his new friend's shoulder. "W-"
Just before Yuu could speak up, Vivi suddenly flew up into his face, whirring and buzzing, catching the boy a little off guard as he let out a short, startled snort as he flinched. This caused Jojo to nearly lose balance as it tipped over just a bit, swinging his arms as if to keep himself from tumbling over only to be stabilized by Yuu's free hand. The Rotom-phone was whirring excitedly and making some electronic buzzing, capturing Yuu's attention.
"Vivi?! Uh, what's up," Yuu exclaimed with a little more vibrancy as the Rotom-phone turned and wiggled in the ninja girls direction. Vivi was buzzing and jingling in delight, as if trying to tell him to do a double battle with her. On one hand he had his own apprehensions about battling with a complete stranger and yet Vivi seemed joyful and extremely open to having them be his battle partner in a potential double.
Yuu couldn't help but sigh and relent, murmuring something about trusting Vivi's gut on the manner before glancing back to Remi, "Normally I'm more partial to singles than doubles... however..." Outstretching his limb upwards, Yuu then proceeded to roll the arm downwards as he curled his index finger out and directly pointed at Jill.
"Hey, you," Yuu directly called out to the much smaller girl in a matter of fact tone, "Dunno why, but it seems Vivi has taken a shine to you and Aster. Care to be my partner in a double battle against the Professor's Pet and his best friend?"
Bjyerlfal City || Camphor's Lab => Camphor's Lab: The Habitat || Morning
Yuu snorted as he gave the short guy with the Noibat a sidelong glance, crossing his arms shallowly nodding at the mutual assessment. Good, he was glad to see some semblance of rationality around here instead of the drivel that one imbecile managed to produce in less than thirty seconds and managed to break his intense focus on them as well.
"Hm? Ah, sorry 'bout that Vivi, just... n'yeah," Yuu awkwardly murmured, scratching the side of his face as he acknowledged the Rotom's efforts whose gaze seemed downcast as it whirred worriedly for Yuu. Of course the duo were instantly shocked out of it by another chorus echoing his and the other purple-haired boys sentiment, instead shifting their focus over to the girl with vibrant green hair and an aura of decadence.
As much as Yuu was an advocate for those with basic literacy working in this environment, he was involuntarily scowling over at the girl without even realizing it, his nose scrunching as his gaze darkened when falling upon her. Beneath his lips he was gritting his teeth the moment she disparaged the Aipom that her Sprigatito, named Verdue, was clearly trying to play with.
This girl somehow had the worst aspects of Hearthome and Kalos mashed into one. Of course it was one insufferable person after the other. Vivi on the other hand instantly saw what was happening and gave a firm tug of Yuu's hair, causing the boy to wince a little this time as he glanced over to the Rotom-phone who finally stopped upon meeting its eyes. "Thanks," Yuu muttered under his voice as Vivi gave a whir of approval and seemed to sigh in relief.
Yuu, however, couldn't help but groan, rolling his eyes as he buried his head into one of his hands and shook it. He was half-listening, half-ignoring the conversation between one of the trio who touted this environment as being a bit hostile, but considering the company, could she really blame Yuu?
Regardless, the peppy girl with the Cottonee would go on to introduce themselves, the haughty girl with Verdue, and the tolerable yet... possibly narcoleptic girl with a relaxed Slakoth dozing away on her head. Yuu couldn't help but empathize with the latters plight, though he did raise an eyebrow at the comment over administrative pressure portion.
Just as he was opening his mouth to press the Cottonee gal for more, the woman of the hour deigned to make her grand and unkempt appearance. Of course, the moment she opened her mouth was the moment she revealed her cantankerous yet to the point personality. At the very least her appearance was enough to make him temporarily forget about a handful of the hires, even managing to elicit a small chuckle out of Yuu through their exchange with the other assistant and the Impdimp known as Pix.
Beyond that, Professor Camphor thankfully cut right to why they were here and essentially told everyone that wasn't those other three to follow her. Yuu duly obliged, pushing his thoughts on the other trainers to the back of his mind as he jutted his chin out as a way to urge Vivi to follow him. The Rotom-phone whirred and did a twirl before floating over with a knowingly sly smirk and giving him a small pat on the side of the head as it followed closely behind.
As the duo congregated with the rest of the trainers Yuu's eyes couldn't help but drift to the giant red G that adorned the side of, as well as the signs signifying the other types of rooms. His eyes became affixed to myriads of signs, whether it was the Bio Labs or the Simulation Room, as he came to a short pause to stare. He couldn't help but ponder on what sorts of experiments occurred behind these closed doors and briefly remained glued to the spot as the multitudes of other trainers-to-be passed him by.
It was only when Vivi began buzzing and whirring that he was awakened from his transfixed state, murmuring a soft "Thank you" to the Rotom-phone as he speed-walked to catch up with the rest of the group. Once he was caught up, he mostly kept a respectable distance, though he continued to stare at the different parts of the lab they all passed on by.
Thankfully Vivi was there to continuously urge him onward and kept him from getting too distracted by the scenery. However the moment Professor Camphor spoke up, the gears in his head started turning as he felt his eyes almost shift to the back of his head, staring behind him. Where did that elevator they passed go? Did it lead to the simulation room or some other portion of that laboratory? What were the Habitats like, how many were there and what types of pokemon did they have? Did they uniquely change every so often to acclimate other types of pokemon? Did trainers who had special access to their place but also had to many pokemon spend time with the other pokemon? If they did did that impact research a bit and if so how? What was Eidda like, as well as-
Yuu's musings came to a pause as he glance to his side. It took every fiber of his body not to press his face against the glass as his eyes shifted over the landscape. This was the Habitat? He couldn't help but be stupefied by this place and was unable to really continue on his thoughts as he swiftly followed the group after into the elevator. The scale was quite impressive, though thinking that felt like an understatement... but at the very least the Professor managed to directly answer some of his lingering thoughts.
The elevator trip was relatively brief and the explanation that they were to catch their partners here was curious as he received a Pokeball from one of the assistants. As it was placed in his hand, Yuu couldn't help but squeeze the it for a moment as he felt his own heart pounding in his head. This was way different than battling with rental Pokemon at the school or even doing mock battles utilizing his Dad's partners.
Yuu sighed as he felt a peculiar sense of warmth washing over him as he looked back up to observe more of the Habitat. He did recall giving a rather lukewarm answer on the type of Pokemon he was interested in... did she potentially tweak the environments a little to suit what they answer in the questionnaire? Yuu shook his head, even giving himself a small bap. Gods, now he was the one making stupid assumptions like that one dunce.
With a sigh, Yuu whipped the Pokeball around in his hand, rolling it with enough speed to where it was spinning on the tip of his index finger. While his eyes lingered on the environment, his mind was elsewhere and was mentally pontificating what the Professor had said earlier. Yuu deftly popped the ball up with his finger and let it fall into the palm of his hand as he looked over to Professor Camphor, only to find one of the other trainers having the same idea.
The young man silently shifted over listening in on the conversation as the young woman asked... a comparable question he had as well. Huh, guess a couple more had their heads screwed on straight... and that she might potentially have more questions.
Hmm.
Yuu strolled over to the group before pausing a couple of feet away, lingering nearby the trio as if he was some silent specter continuing their steadfast watch. He could spare a minute or two before heading out, his eyes flittering about as he noticed the Buneary began to plummet to the floor from their perch. While he was too far away to catch it, his body jolted on instinct as if to make the attempt anyways, only for such a gesture to be for naught.
There he bore witness to some purple energy enveloping the Buneary, suspending the Pokemon in place before it began to float back upwards and was gingerly placed back on the girls shoulders. Hmm. Yuu had heard about psychic trainers, but never really witnessed any of their powers in person until today. Looking at his outstretched hand, he couldn't help but clench it into a fist and rub his fingers together nervously whilst keeping his own stoic composure.
However what followed were a couple of answers that kept him firmly rooted in place and gave him a brief pause as his mind went on a rampage of ideas when told about the particulars, "I wonder... are there any abandoned places around the city? Perhaps a long deserted toy shop that could house a Mimikyu or Shuppet... maybe there are places Gastly congregate to hide out any rough winds and lure trainers in... perhaps there's an abandoned factory containing a Rotom?"
Yuu couldn't help but glance over to Vivi for a minute, who was eagerly bouncing around and taking in the environment before continuing his thoughts, "Ah, but bug and grass types, how could I forget. Maybe I could also encounter some wandering Budew or even a Scyther... but there is also the coast as well... Azurill, Finizen, or even a Magikarp, though I could just go back down to the coast to catch a Tent-"
And then the thoughts stopped. An old manor? Yuu couldn't help but feel his body tense up, his jaw clenching as he tightly squeezed the pokeball to the point where if he tried to squeeze even further he felt like he could accidentally break the thing with his vice grip. "An... old manor, in a place known as the Winding Woods." Those thoughts ran on repeat, like a broken record, and even the excitable Vivi ended up noticing Yuu's sudden shift and worriedly floated over to try and break him from that hyper-focused trance.
But once more it was for naught, but on the positive side it was unnecessary as Yuu broke out of it on his own, clearing his throat and murmuring an apology to Vivi for worrying them. "Alright then Vivi, enough of us gawking. Lets go find our new friend." There was a strange amount of vigor in his steps, a sense of renewed, yet empty determination resonated in his eyes as he marched forward into the Habitat with Vivi.
Yuu felt a change in the artificial air the instant he took a couple of steps into the temperate environment, as he looked around the small grassy plains, if it could even be called that. There were multitudes of Pokemon frolicking out in the open, either playing with others or scarfing down a meal. He couldn't help but take in the environment, observing each of the Pokemon and their daily actions, whether it was catching a couple of Combees out of the corner of his eyes darting between the foliage of the false forest, to a Teddiursa leading a pack of baby Pokemon into the forest, and even Slowpoke fishing all while a Shelder loomed nearby.
Yuu sighed. He really, really didn't want to disrupt the seemingly tranquil times these Pokemon were having, but on the other hand he did have to find a partner... wonder if there was a Cleffa or Abra nearby. He squinted back at the group, counting each of the head of the baby Pokemon the Teddiursa was leading... Igglybuff, Happiny, Togepi... no Cleffa though. Still, could always try to approach them, or maybe...
Aha! An Abra! Yuu whipped his head as he noticed a floating yellow Pokemon out of the corner of his eye. Maybe that could be his partner? The purple-haired boy slowly began to approach the Abra as Vivi floated nearby, watching in anticipation as Yuu waved to the creature with an awkward smile with a hand in his bag, "So uh-"
Before he could even finish saying anything, let alone pull out some food he had brought along to potentially feed his partners, the yellow Pokemon had warped away to some other part of the Habitat, deflating Yuu almost instantly with a solemn, "Oh." However that didn't deter Yuu too much as he gazed around for another Pokemon he could attempt to befriend. Taking a couple of steps towards the beach, the tall young man, continued to observe the vicinity as he glanced back over to the Slowpoke.
The creature, despite its rather oblivious nature, seemed to notice the young man approaching them... before deciding to go take a swim. Vivi couldn't help but whir in confusion at the way all these pokemon were acting towards Yuu, with the latter having a small sweat droplet as he took notice of how his own appearance had distorted the way myriads of pokemon around him were acting. "Please tell me I'm not intimidating the pokemon..."
He might of been a little. Yuu knew most pokemon could somewhat read people, but he didn't expect to trigger a visceral flight reaction from most of the ones around him, even watching as a Krabby and Corpish scuttle out of the path he was seemingly taken. He let out a stiff chuckle, "Hm... lets try up there Vivi," Yuu flicked a finger in the direction of the rocky alcove he saw earlier, a hill that was meant to simulate a mountain. Of course, while there was an easy path to get up there that he took note of...
"Hup!" Yuu opted to climb it instead. The side wasn't too steep and was relatively easy to traverse, though he could of just taken the path that lead from the forest instead. Grasping another rock, Yuu pulled himself up and over the ledge, steadying himself on the semi-uneven terrain as he stood back up and looked back down from where he came.
Though when he shifted his eyes back to the vicinity this place seemed even more sparsely populated. He would of expected to see a Geodude, Machop, or even a Skiddo from the forest, but no. It strangely seemed abandoned and yet when Yuu analyzed the place, he took note that most of the pokemon that left to plain area were back and even the sandy shores of the false beach seemed a little more lively. Yuu huffed. He didn't mean to scare them all away and yet...
"Vivi, lets... take a short break." The Rotom-phone whirred and buzzed, befuddled at Yuu's supposed need to rest; it knew the boy had more energy than this as he saw him lean up against a wall and began musing silently about their next move. He wasn't one to give up, but maybe he'd need a different approach, otherwise he'd be stuck here all day, unintentionally intimidating some of the Pokemon and disrupting the current order of the place.
Maybe he could head back to ask about any braver Pokemon lurking around the habitats from Professor Camphor, or maybe-
"Rio?"
Yuu nearly jumped out of his skin, with Vivi nearly jumping out of its phone as they both stared down at who made that noise: a lone Riolu. The pokemon looked up with a look of awe as it tugged on the side of Yuu's pants. Yuu cleared his throat, and awkwardly smiled at the little Pokemon before giving it a stiff wave, "Uh, hey there little guy, I'm Yuu."
The little Pokemon broke away from his pants. What was he-
"Rio! Riolululu! Riri!" The Riolu exploded in joy, bouncing around and waving at the not only Yuu, but Vivi as well, the latter of which giving a much less stiff, but equally friendly introduction. The Riolu couldn't help but get up on the tips of its toes as it looked at what Yuu presumed was the 'strange floating creature' that was his phone. Shifting through his bag, Yuu pulled out a couple of nuts and berries and outstretched his hand to the overly friendly Riolu.
The pokemon instantly noticed the food, shifting its attention to Yuu's hand as it began snarfing down the mixed assortment of fruit and nuts to its delight. The young man couldn't help but take a short breath in as he reached a hand out towards Riolu to pet him, only for the pokemon to push its own hand out, surprising Yuu.
Much more surprising was that it was sharing some of the berries and nuts Yuu had brought along as well, looking up at him with stuffed cheeks, "Ri ri!" The Riolu insisted Yuu take some and attempted to share it with the young man. He couldn't help but stay still for a moment, basking in the adorable friendliness of the Riolu as he murmured "Th-thank you" to the pokemon, taking a handful of his own berries and nuts and eating some. Bitter, yet sweet.
The Riolu attempted to do the same thing with Vivi, insisting it take some of the food, only for Yuu to wave them off, "Err, Vivi isn't exactly able to eat solids like that... well, most Rotom aren't able to anyways I believe." The Rotom-phone nodded in agreement, shaking his head before pointing its antenna over to Yuu.
The Riolu's eyes glittered in wonderment with its mouth slightly agape, nodding at such a thing before swapping back over to sharing the remaining food with Yuu once again. Yuu chuckled, instead reaching a hand over to pet and scritch the Riolu's head a bit before taking the food. "Thank you," Yuu's gaze softened a little as he felt his body begin to relax as he gently smiled back at the Riolu who seemed to reciprocate with a huge toothy smile of his own.
This was... nice, though he wasn't sure if he really deserved something like this, or potentially even a partner like this, if the Riolu wanted to even be his partner. Speaking of, Yuu began to rise up from his seating, on the rocky road, stretching both his arms as he slip his relatively large satchel off to the side with a soft 'plumpf.'
The Riolu couldn't help but wonder what was going on as he nibbled on the rest of his snack, watching as Yuu took off his stylistically-worn jacket and folded it up as delicately as he could before placing it down on top of his back. Then he shined a smile at the Riolu and gestured for the small Pokemon to follow after him, which they decided to oblige with a bright yet loud "Riolu," standing up and traipsing over with a little hop in their step.
"I'm sure you've had a couple of fun little sparring matches with other fighting types around her, am I wrong?" The Riolu paused, hopping down in place as it pondered for a moment before performing a few little punches, as well as a couple of kicks and quick dashes and hops before back flipping and landing on its two front teeth with a gleeful look on his face and both of its arms stretched upwards, as if to say 'tada,' or rather "Ri riiiiiii!"
Yuu couldn't help but giggle at such actions before he flashed his canines at the Riolu, smiling back at him before punching his fist against the palm of his hand, "So you have, well if that's the case..." Yuu took up a fighting stance, planting his feet firmly on the ground and raised up his arms, "Care to indulge me in a little play fight?"
Yuu studied the small Pokemon as it took its own fighting stance as well, noticing the small jitters and slight bounce in his step, with his ears flopping to the rhythm of said bounces. He was excited. With a wry smirk, Yuu urged his smaller opponent to come hither and make the first strike to which the Riolu obliged.
The purple haired boy kept his eye on the Riolu as he began bouncing, hopping and dashing around to close the distance before getting close enough before unleashing a blinding burst of speed. Yuu barely had enough time to react to the kick the Riolu was throwing as he quickly put an arm up to block the attack. He felt a small sting against his forearm as he protected himself from assault, smiling to himself, "Quick Attack."
Rapidly flicking his arm out, he launched the small Pokemon back, who began to skid against the ground, slowing its push back before looking back up to Yuu. Yuu saw the way its eyes shifted, studying and scrutinizing him... that... did the Pokemon read his aura, his emotions when approaching him? Yuu had little time to muse on this as the Riolu continued the offensive, launching himself back at Yuu. Yuu then proceeded to deftly swinging his leg out, going full throttle at the approaching Pokemon.
Just as he predicted the Riolu wasn't able to dodge the sweep, causing him to topple and roll towards Yuu as he continued to pivot around. However, just as Yuu was nearing a full rotation he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. Riolu was already hopping up towards him, as if they had recovered from the leg sweep. His eyes widened. Yuu had no time to block as he awkwardly leaned to the side and held an arm up, just barely dodging their attack but stumbling a little from the awkward stance he was in. "He used Feint whilst in my blind spot to make up for me tripping him... clever!"
While the attack had missed, Riolu landed on the ground and quickly pivoted around to face Yuu. While he was quickly trying to regain his balance, the Pokemon was staring at him with a determined, toothy smile as their fists began to glow a bright, silvery-blue hue. Yuu had little time to react as the Pokemon shot forward like a speeding bullet towards him, and could only really raise his hand up to catch the fist as he felt the back of his hand thump against his chest.
"So you know an egg move, huh? I... see." Yuu lightly chuckled to himself, closing his eyes as he gripped the Riolu's paw, locking the Pokemon in place as he dug his heels as best he could and endured the Bullet Punch. Before the Riolu could even react, Yuu wrapped his other arm around the Pokemon and brought him into a tight hug as he let go of the paw he was holding onto and proceeded to then wrap his other arm around the Pokemon. "Rio?!"
Riolu couldn't help but yelp out in confusion at what was going on and took them a second to realize that the fight was essentially over. "Sorry for going a little hard on you buddy, but... you had a little bit of fun, right?" Yuu glanced over to the Pokemon who looked to still be processing what was going on before screeching a cheerful "Rio rio, riolu" into his ear before doing their best to wrap their little paws around Yuu's chest.
Yuu fell to the ground, sitting there whilst still hugging the little Pokemon. There were myriads of emotions welling up in this moment as he involuntarily began to smile. Joy, guilt, happiness, doubt. There was a warm, yet pained feeling in his chest as he closed his eyes and basked in the moment. As much as he relished this memory, at the same time he couldn't completely enjoy it. Did he even deserve something like this? His mind wondered, yet his body told another story.
He was happy; a bittersweet happiness, but nonetheless, happy. In the midst of their embrace, Vivi was flittering about the vicinity, buzzing worriedly as it hurried to find someone, anyone to capture this moment. It had managed to go into camera mode via bumping into Yuu while he wasn't aware to activate it, but was unable to take the photograph itself. The Rotom-phone seemed to have some regret of being unable to capture a bit of Yuu and the Riolu's epic clash, or at the very least epic to it, but it could try to capture the tender moment.
It felt Yuu would appreciate it, yet it was on a short amount of time as in panickedly looked around, whirring, buzzing, calling out to anyone or anything to simply hit the button to take a picture of this moment with their new friend. They would probably float to the first recognizable person or even Pokemon and lead them to the scene before urging them to take a photo.
From her perch up in the treetops, Aster had been observing all the various Pokemon in the area, with particular interest in those who were meeting up with their human partners for the first time. She had been eying up the snivy down below when Jill eventually caught up to her.
"There you are!" the girl said, climbing up so she was now side-by-side with the Aipom. "You really need to stop running off like that." When the Aipom didn't make a response, Jill gave a loud sigh and instead tried to hone in on what she was looking at. However, something else ended up catching her eye, as she caught a glimpse of one of the trainers embracing a Riolu. Her expression immediately softened from exasperated to adoration and she let out a small "Awww", which then got Aster's attention. However, as the Aipom followed her gaze, she noticed something other than the trainer and his Pokemon: a little Rotom-phone floating awkwardly in the air.
Aster immediately jumped down from the tree and started making her way towards the phone, causing Jill to give an alarmed shout. "Aster, wait a sec!" she called, jumping down after her. Aster didn't even glance round, running on all fours towards Vivi and attempted to snatch her out of the air with her tail-hand.
The Rotom-phone was abuzz with excitement the moment it spotted a small purple monkey running towards them. Vivi began to float towards the phone, attempting to communicate with the Pokemon as it floated downwards and closer to its grip to explain the situation as it heard someone else call out to the Aipom as it clambered up the rocky road at breakneck speed. The moment it hopped up and attempted to grasp them was when Vivi realized too late that they weren't going to listen.
The phone whirred in surprise as it was plucked out of the sky by their tail hand and was now gritting its electronic teeth as it began angrily whirring and buzzing with irritation as it was smothered between its paws, going between demanding and asking the purple monkey to let it go and listen to them for a second.
Aster didn't seem all that bothered by Vivi's whirring and started turning the phone over in his paws, accidentally clicking on the camera button and taking a few random - likely blurry - pictures in the process.
Vivi was squirming to get out of the little monkey's singular hand, chirping and buzzing for it to stop and listen to them as it continued taking random photos of the Habitat and not photos of what really mattered. While it did feel like it was getting a little loose, the Aipom's vice grip was enough to the point where it wished it could utilize a Thunder Shock like it was normally able to before it became Yuu's phone.
Alas the only thing it could really do was buzz out expletives and whir in a desperate attempt to get the Aipom's attention. While it did seem for naught, it caught wind of someone else approaching. While they were unable to discern the more intricate details, they saw they were short, a girl, and had a whole lot of green, though the latter could just be attributed to the treeline from how much they were spinning. Vivi was abuzz as it whirred loudly, calling out to the approaching person to save them from this mischievous little monkey.
While Aster was distracted, Jill was very easily able to sneak up behind her and scoop up the troublesome Pokemon. "Gotcha!" she said, grasping the Aipom against her chest in something between a grapple and a hug. It took her a moment to realize that the Pokemon was holding something and, while holding Aster against her chest with one arm, she used her free hand to yoink the Rotom-phone out of her grasp. "What's this?" she said, holding it up to her face and squinting at it. Her grandparents had never trusted her with a phone of her own, so this technology was somewhat alien to her.
The muffled Rotom-phone let out a cry of relief as it was released from its captor, only to find itself within the clutches of another once again, this time it was that one girl they saw sprinting towards the Aipom. Vivi had to collect themselves after being rolled around and around in the monkey's paw, its eyes swirling for a little bit before it began to strangely budge a little in Jill's hand, as if shaking its head.
Whirring once more, the Rotom-phone buzzed and chirped in a more blithe manner now that it wasn't being poke-handled by a mischievous monkey. While Vivi did make an attempt to communicate with the human to let it go through strange sounds and electronic noise, they were also attempting to wriggle out of Jill’s hands, rushing even.
Jill blinked in surprise as she sensed the strange device in her hand making sounds and trying to wriggle free of her grasp. "Oh sorry!" she said and immediately released the phone.
As Jill released Vivi, the Rotom-phone flew up a couple of feet as if popping out of her hands from being squeezed too hard. Floating high above the duo, Vivi blinked for a minute as it shook itself off and sighed in relief as it began gliding downwards. Turning back around to face the young lady so she just wasn't staring at a camera screen, the Rotom-phone displayed its face and smiled widely at her, electronically sounding off a thank you for letting them go before bouncing and basically doing its best to emulate a wave.
Of course, they briefly turned around to glance at Yuu and the Riolu before twirling back around and forming and o with their mouth and combined the static and whirring sounds to make a rather scuffed ssshhhh sound, hopefully indicating what it wanted. Following that it bobbed its head in the direction of Yuu and the Riolu, doing its best to try and indicate that they wanted Jill to follow them.
Jill blinked in surprise as the phone floated out of her hand and revealed itself to have a face. She didn't seem to be too startled or afraid, just... bemused almost. It was at this point Aster was starting to get tired of being held and started struggling in her grip, so Jill let go, allowing the Aipom to land on the ground on all fours and start dusting herself off. Jill didn't pay her any heed and instead started making her way after the Rotom-phone. Suddenly the Rotom-phone came to a stop, buzzing silently as it did a twirl around to look back over to Jill as it did so. Vivi then proceeded to then make a small gesture over to Yuu and the Riolu, pointing its antenna directly at the duo as it proceeded to flip itself back around and onto its side, exposing its screen. However, instead of rolling through the Aipom's tail and capturing pictures of its singular hand now it could do what it actually wanted.
On the screen it displayed the duo still locked in their hug, but at a much closer range than normal, no doubt as a result of Aster rolling Vivi through their hand, making it an unknown but potentially happy little accident to the trio whenever Yuu learned of the photo. Beyond that there was also a small button on the screen as well which seemed ripe for the pressing.
Vivi did its best to explain what to do from this distance through its buzzes and whirs, doing its best to try and ask Jill to press the button; they even went as far as to angle their phone-body in a certain way to draw her eye to it before pulling itself back up.
Jill looked blankly from the phone to the boy hugging the Riolu, and then back again. Anyone watching could almost imagine the cogs turning in her head as she tried to figure out what Vivi wanted from her, and when it seemed to finally dawned on her, it was like a little light bulb going off in her brain. With a smile, she pressed the button to take the picture.
The moment Vivi felt the young lady's finger press against their screen made its circuits relax, as well as nearly made it ring, struggling to contain its excitement. While Jill couldn't see it it was widely smiling from its front as it floated a couple of inches away before rapidly twirling around in the air before stopping at staring at the girl.
Readjusting itself, the phone floated back upright, making its joy even more evident as it did a small, levitating jig as it hopped to one side and to the other before doing a soft enough jingle with the sound system that more than likely wouldn't disrupt Yuu or ruin the moment with their presence. Regardless, Vivi kept smiling at Jill as it gently buzzed and nodded, as if thanking the girl before waving its body like a hand before floating back over to the vicinity of Yuu and the Riolu.
[center]Got nothing to say here, sooooo yeah.
I'm a bookworm, gamer, and obviously roleplayer since I'm on this site :P
Anyways, those are a few things that I'll say about myself... for now. Maybe I'll update this a little more in the future.
Ciao![/center]
<div style="white-space:pre-wrap;"><div class="bb-center">Got nothing to say here, sooooo yeah.<br><br>I'm a bookworm, gamer, and obviously roleplayer since I'm on this site :P<br><br>Anyways, those are a few things that I'll say about myself... for now. Maybe I'll update this a little more in the future.<br><br>Ciao!</div></div>