Set in the original region of Arciel, Legends Rising is a route-inspired, but not strictly route-based, Pokemon roleplay. Pick a faction, pick a class, and strike out into the wild to take on the League, master Contest coordination, research the mysteries of Pokemon and Arciel, and much, much more. Will you be a classic trainer? A criminal? A farmer? Choose your destiny on Legends Rising.
…A friend, yeah. Gabe supposed, heh. Or just a fancy enough acquaintance who could offer up something here and there. Gabe wouldn’t think about it too much. Shea’s exclamation was much more humorous anyways. Gabe snickered. “The Impidimp line was here first,” he answered with a small quirk of lips. “Not it’s fault a band of idols doomed to burn out in the next few years decided to take its aesthetic.” Burn out, heh, yeah.
The mention of the Ralts line earned a hum in response. “Actually, I’m pretty sure I’ve seen something like a Ralts out on Route 4 between Plum City and Cherry Town,” he mused. “It was a little too far away and too quick to flee, but I’m pretty sure it was of the Ralts line…” A pause. “I’ll keep my eye out next time I’m over there.”
Gabe would indeed order another drink, this one a rum and soda. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he was reminded not to ‘change horses’ too much when it came to drinking. And ah what the hell he’d pay for both his and Shea’s drinks again. They’d settled into a rhythm, and he had more than enough money after a certain little excursion.
“So what pulled you into nursing— aside from wanting to help every Pokemon, I’d guess….” Gabe smiled a little wildly at that. There was an intrinsic obvious reason as to why that would be appealing, but everyone had their own smaller, unique reasons, usually.
[attr="class","shea"] Shea snorted. "You give them that long? More generous than me," they half teased. Granted, they weren't the best judge due to both personal bias against Ara and just not being that into pop-punk music, but still.
"Ooh, over on the island?" In the forest between the town and city huh? Yeah foresty aesthetics sounded right for such an elusive Pokemon. "Man I haven't been to Plum in ages. Maybe I should go with whenever you decide to go." Or maybe not, but it was worth thinking about.
"Thank ya much~" they'd chime when Gabe did indeed pay for their refill. "Ah and don't forget extra cream!" they called after the server. They could probably be happy just stealing a bottle of whipped cream and nixing the alcohol, but why not get drunk while they were at it? Ha! Already they were starting to feel a bit tipsy, and it was nice.
"Ooh, huh.." They thought about the question. "I mean that's mostly it, wanting to help Pokemon. But then, I guess ah... Hm, maybe the UB attacks kind of inspired me in a way? Not being able to do anything back then, for one. But also not long after I met my adoptive dad, who showed me what a person's generosity and kindness could do to change the life of others. I guess I kinda wanna be like him and touch lives, too, just in a different way." They flashed a silly grin. "I don't think I could handle five kids, let alone whatever crazy number he's taken in now, ha." Which was kind of slipping in that Shea had a big family without really sidetracking the convo.
Though actually yeah they were gonna sidetrack after all. "God speaking of all my siblings, you won't believe this shit, but one of my big brothers? Yeah, he dated Ara right after I did, and for like a fucking year or more. Knowing what kind of shit she pulled with me. Can you believe that?? Needless to say he's dead to me."
Ooh, heh. “Sounds nice,” Gabe answered. “It’s a bit of a trek, but I’ve got a few riding Pokemon if you like.” He’d flight trained so many and surf trained a few here and there. It made getting around relatively easy— so long as there were no snowstorms around.
…Shea was cute and wholesome, what the fuck. Well, Gabe guessed he’d probably be as such if Dad hadn’t been such a fuckup. Whatever. Didn’t need to drag that up. Gabe snickered softly at the mention of five kids, though. Arceus damn, he couldn’t even imagine one.
What came after, though, had Gabe deadpanning. “Are you kidding me?” he tried for a moment to imagine Rae or Michael dating Ara and was suddenly immediately grateful that he hadn’t heard anything like that. He wasn’t sure how he felt about either of them still (that was a lie), but if he had heard about that… Well. Someone would be dead, but it’d actually probably be Ara, lol. “That’s like sibling code 101….” he tisk’d a little at that and shook his head some.
[attr="class","shea"] Hm? "Ooh, nice! None of my Pokemon are big enough to ride, so I'd appreciate borrowing one." If they ever trained up Mama Bear enough, she'd certainly be big enough, but that was some way off if ever.
When Gabe vindicated Shea's feelings about Koray, they blurted out, "Right?! Like, who does that?" A moment later, it occurred to them who they were talking to exactly and they laughed awkwardly. "I mean..." They hesitated, but ultimately decided they may as well be straightforward with their intentions, especially before they got any more buzzed. "I wouldn't exactly mind... getting lucky tonight, depending how we're feeling later," they admitted, violet eyes averting a bit as a blush crossed their cheeks. "But like, Rae and I didn't exactly 'date'-date, and we're pretty chill as far as I know? Plus it's been years. So like, that'd be way different than dating a sib's bad ex right after the sib broke up with them, ya know?" Man, they really hoped Gabe agreed with that assessment. And like, wasn't generally offput by Shea admitting interest? Just... Yeah, heh.
Gabe huffed a little on Shea’s behalf. “Someone who doesn’t know sibling code,” he answered—
Only to suddenly find himself drenched in ice cold mental water. Oh. Oh that was— That was actually— Yeah they’d been with Rae and Ara, and the level of no achieved just then could not have been accurately scaled right then. His lips pulled into a hard line, and he glanced out the window instead. But on the other hand the chance to annoy Rae with it…. Huh, would she be, though? And was he just spiteful enough to try it? Honestly yeah… but also no.
A half-laugh escaped from Gabe after a moment. “We’ll see how it goes,” he decided on taking a drink right after. “You are very cute.” It wouldn’t be the worst or strangest he’d ever done, so whatever, yeah? Yeah.
[attr="class","shea"] Shea would take that answer, and smiled brightly. "Sure~" They giggled. You are very cute. Shea blepped a bit, making every effort to look smaller and cuter. "Why thank you~" Their refills came out, and Shea perked up all the more as they made grabby hands at theirs before pulling it in and taking a deep drink.
Sighing contently afterward, they looked over Gabe again, taking in his features and, a bit unintentionally, mentally comparing them to what they remembered of Rae. "I think you're prettier than me, though~" Actually, they thought it was a pretty close contest, but that didn't make nearly as good a compliment, and Shea was not beyond embellishing the truth. "I think you wear a more natural look than Rae does, yeah?" The girl had always been decked out in makeup, after all, whereas Gabe-- well, for all Shea knew he could've been wearing some, too, but if so it was subtle rather than flashy. Not to mention Rae had dyed her hair, while Gabe wore their natural color. "It really suits you! I don't remember Michael, really--" when they thought about it, they were sure they'd briefly crossed paths with a brother of Rae's with shorter hair, but they had no memory of any specific conversation or anything "--but I'd be willing to bet you're the prettiest sibling even still~"
Hmmmm... What to fill the night with until midnight or later, though? "Oh! But do you have any New Year's resolutions?" they asked. "If not that's cool. Mine are just to keep doing good in school and try to start that Proper Journey eventually. But I figured I'd ask in case you've got anything cool~"
Gabe snickered softly. He kind of wanted to reach over the table and squish their face between his hands but managed to refrain— for now. The compliments back, though, had his eyes relaxing and a small smile settling on his lips. Prettier than Shea, more natural than Rae, no comparison with Michael but that was fair. But the prettiest sibling all the same… Somehow that grounded the whole thing, and he appreciated that. “Why thank you.” Was there maybe a hit of color on his cheeks? Nah that was just the alcohol warming him up finally.
Hmmm?? New Year’s resolutions…. “I hadn’t really thought of any,” Gabe realized after the fact. Shea’s sounded pretty straightforward, heh, but it was still something by comparison. Hmmm, had he done one last year? Or even the year before that? “I guess I kind of want to challenge more gyms…” he thought aloud and then immediately shrugged his shoulders. “I had a lot of fun the first time.”
[attr="class","shea"] Shea beamed brightly as Gabe took the compliment. "You're very welcome, but just being honest~" they chimed. Or trying to butter him up. Tomato, Tamato... Nevermind that those were two very different berries, eheh.
Oh, gyms? The first time, huh? "Ooh! I've never done a Gym challenge before. You say they're fun?" They leaned in, elbows on the table propping their chin on folded hands, displaying their interest. "They always sounded difficult to me. So you must be a pretty serious trainer, then, huh? I mean, I guess you'd need some strong stuff for Pokemon hunting, too, but still!" Gyms needed not just raw strength but also strategy. "Why don't you tell me about some of your favorite or strongest Pokemon?" Shea suggested. Perhaps they should have been asking how Gabe's battle actually went, but lowkey they just kind of assumed he must've won to bring it up, so it didn't occur to them to do so.
“Very,” Gabe chuckle-chimed in. It had been the most fun he’d had in a while, if he was being honest. There was something about the whole challenge that had been thrilling. At the follow up assessment, he hummed a little and took a drink. He was a very serious trainer, but perhaps not for the reasons stated, heh.
Some of your favorite or strongest Pokemon? A spark of something lit in Gabe’s eyes. “Lizbeth, my Charmeleon, is my strongest,” he answered quickly, a wild yet warm-hearted grin flashed across his features. “She’s been with me for years now and has quite a few powerful moves under her belt including Thunder Punch for those nasty Water Type Pokemon.” Was he talking fast? Might have been the alcohol. Might have been him fanning over his own Pokemon. “She’s stubborn and she’s gotten sort of a temper since evolving, but we work well together. She’s also huge and I can’t wait to fly with her when she does evolve….” He laughed a little at that.
“I’ve actually got a Charizard too named Rep, but I caught him fully evolved out on a Route one time. He was not happy about that initially! You should have seen his face the first time I let him out after catching him.” Ah who else, what else. “I have a Litleo and a burning Marowak— and ah two of the Vulpix line, one a Ninetales. I’ve recently hatched a Growlithe and taken in a Litten and happened to come across a Delphox if you can believe it.”
[attr="class","shea"] Oh! Her name was Lizbeth? That was cute! "Earlier I thought you said Lizard?" Shea briefly questioned, but let Gabe go on. Thunder Punch, huh? "That's pretty smart!" And awww! It sounded like he and Lizbeth were really close, and that he knew her really well! Shea was a little envious, but knew that kind of understanding came with time and experience. They'd just have to spend more time with Prince and the others! Gabe was inspiring them, haha!
Shea's eyes went wider and they sat up a little straighter when Gabe said he'd caught a fully evolved Charizard. "Oh wow! I'd run for the hills if I saw one! You must be hella powerful!" they exclaimed. Gabe seemed... so chill, but so passionate, and brave??? Oh no, what started as 'he's pretty hot and weirdly relatable' might have slowly been turning into a bit of honest infatuation, too?? Over fanboying over his Pokemon of all things, ha. A tiny tinge of color rose to Shea's cheeks at the realization, but they mostly brushed it aside for now.
He went on, and... "Oh. Oh!" It clicked as Gabe rambled off those last few. "You're a fire specialist! That's so cool!!" they exclaimed. "I'd love to have that many fairies one day! I just have my Spritzee and a cool brindle-patterned Snubbull right now though. At least as far as the fairies go." Ooh, but wait. "Wait. You're from Bass, you said? Did you take on the Water Gym then, or did you go somewhere else?"
“Lizard, Lizzy, Lizbeth, it’s all short for Lizard Breath but she doesn’t like that too much! So I started calling her Lizard Beth and then Lizbeth and she likes Lizbeth the most but I can get away with Lizard.” Gabe giggled and flashed a devious smile right after. He dissolved into snickers as they went on, though. “Heck yeah! There wasn’t any way I wasn’t gonna fight a Charizard— especially since I had Liz with me! Had to make sure she measured up.” And of course she did in more ways than one.
At Shea’s realization, Gabe grinned. “Yeah! I mean I do train other Pokemon. It helps having some balance sometimes, but Fire is my passion.” He grinned. His hands had balled into fists and were jittering the table with his own excitement, and even the mention of Bass’s Gym only earned a laugh. “I went to Plum actually! Going to tackle Bass eventually, but not till Liz’s got some air above the water.” The last thing he needed was for her to slip in the pool and have no way to fly herself out (among other things). “I wouldn’t do it without her.”
[attr="class","shea"] Shea laughed as Gabe did, both at the explanation and just finding his laughter delightfully infectious. What a cute giggle!
Oh, ooohhh. "Ah yeah, I can imagine her wanting to prove herself against her evolution! Ah, especially if she's your strongest and still not evolved! Is there any particular reason she hasn't yet or do you know?" Maybe she didn't wanna be a Charizard, or maybe she and Gabe had agreed to wait until some sort of milestone or something? But it did sound like Gabe was eager for her to evolve, so hm.
The way he said 'passion', the ferocity behind that grin, the way he seemed to barely contain his excitement were all so... endearing wasn't quite the right word. Arousing almost, but that didn't seem quite right either? Well whatever the case, they liked it.
"Ooh, Plum is uh..." Their brow furrowed a moment as they tried to remembered. "Dark right?" They perked back up as it came to them. "But that's really sweet of you, wanting to make sure to include your partner! I'm sure she'll be totally awesome!"
“I… don’t know,” Gabe answered in a strange almost hesitant way. He had… an inkling of the reason but his chest hurt, so nope he wasn’t going to bother with that now. “But when she does, we’ll be ready.” He might have taken a deeper gulp of his drink then than necessary.
Right, back on the excitement train. “Dark, yeah, it’s gimmick is it’s almost completely in the dark, and you get riddles that’ll light up parts of the arena if you answer them right.” Gabe was pretty sure he hadn’t been asked to keep that confidential, but he was also a little buzzed now and excited still, and thinking was for someone else, not him. “But yeah I want her in every battle no matter what….may go to Ash City first and challenge the Fire Gym leader there before looping back around or doing that whole ‘home last’ thing ya see on TV….”
[attr="class","shea"] Oh? Oh no, did they touch a nerve? They hoped it wasn't a sore subject. Was... there some chance she was sick or something? They wouldn't voice that thought aloud though, figuring such negative thinking would do nothing but make it worse. Instead, they put on a brighter smile when he said, 'when she does'. "Yeah! I'm sure you will."
Riddles, huh? And fighting in the dark? :o "That sounds really interesting! I wish I could've watched." Ooh, and the idea of Gabe fighting the Fire Gym? "That'd be really cool! Fight fire with fire, literally. Prove your flame burns brightest!" They flashed an excited smile, then got an idea. "Ooh, or maybe if we start training together some time, I could follow you to your next Gym Challenge and cheer you and Lizbeth on!"
“Yeesssssssss…” Gabe grinned, the fire in his eyes practically burning along with his words. “Turn the gym into the surface of the sunnnnnn—“ He… he probably shouldn’t have been that enthralled to potentially burn down a gym, but perhaps it could be excused in this case considering the typing.
At the idea, a surprised look came to Gabe’s features. “Would you really?” he asked before grinning. “Having a crowd would be very nice—“ Not that Shea was really a crowd of one person, but still. Oh hah— “… You’d technically be an on-site nurse actually, yeah?” he realized after the fact and laughed a little. “Not that you’d have to be.”
[attr="class","shea"] Shea laughed brightly, feeling a little more warmth touch their features at the way that fire in Gabe's eyes burned. "Why settle for the surface? Set fire to the sun!!" they exclaimed. They didn't even watch that show but the reference was still good okay? The idea that Gabe might have been literally thinking of burning it down didn't occur to them; this was just fun hyperbole right?
Shea smiled sweetly as Gabe took so well to the suggestion. "Sure~! I can let my Pokemon out to help cheer too, so we can make at least a little crowd." They laughed softly, then a moment later a little harder at the idea of being his on-site nurse. "Sure! It'll be my first internship, honest. Who's acting without a valid medical license? Not me, no sir!" They giggled a bit manically, maybe more than a little tipsy at this point so everything was a little funnier, but ya know.
A distant sound caught Shea's ears, and they sat up a bit straighter and looked around for the source before lighting up as they looked out the window. "Oh! Fireworks are starting!" They were pretty small and quickly faded, but would surely start getting more frequent now. "What time is it?" They pulled out their phone to check. "Ooh, 11:30 already. Gettin' close!" They slipped it back in their pocket and grinned over at Gabe. "Wha'd'you think, one more round of drinks~?"
Set fire to the sun! “YES!” Gabe would have if he could, right then. He would have tried if the sun had even been out, actually. That or maybe he would have thrown some alcohol up into the air to praise the sun for always burning. One or the other. Or both. Oh! Yes! A little crowd was great! Gabe snickered at the suggestion of Shea acting without a medical license. Hahahah who cared? Well someone did but not him right then.
Huh?? Gabe’s eyes flashed out the window as sure enough, the fireworks were indeed starting. He shifted around in his seat trying to see them better and squinting all the while. “YOU GO FIRE WORKS! SET FIRE TO THE SKY!” he shouted suddenly before breaking into a sharp laugh and shaking his head. If it wasn’t so damn cold outside, he would have been trying to climb out the window or something.
Eleven thirty…. So the big ones were coming— Looking back at Shea, Gabe grinned. “At least one more,” he insisted back. “I wish there was one of those burning cakes! You know it was my birthday on the fourteenth!” As if he hadn’t already mentioned he’d turned twenty recently.
[attr="class","shea"] YOU GO FIREWORKS! A hand shot up to cover Shea's mouth, and consequently got drenched as they spit the last of their current drink laughing. At least it hadn't come out their nose, or gotten on Gabe, but holy shit hahahahaha. They had not been expecting that yell. And seeing a few people around them turning to stare awkwardly only made the situation funnier. God they couldn't stop giggling??
Only halfway under control, they did manage to grab a napkin and clean up. It was so fucking cute how excited he was about it, like a kid who'd never seen fireworks before. It was a good spot to watch them as far as the bar was concerned, but Shea kind of wished they could get an even better view.
Oh? "Oh yeah, you mentioned it was a few weeks ago," Shea recalled with a nod. "Happy late birthday though~" Hmmmm...
They shot upright as they got an idea. "Oh! Hey, let's buy a bottle instead of open drinks this time. You've got Lizbeth with you right?" The way he talked about her they imagined he didn't leave home without her. "What if you got her to fly us up to one of the rooftops? And she could stay out to watch with us and use her tail to help keep us warm!" They grinned. "And if the tail's not quite enough, well..." They blepped. "We could always cuddle up some too~"
Oooh a bottle??? Ooooh but Liz couldn’t fly— BUT REP COULD AND HE HAD HIM YEP! That sounded like a fantastic idea! “I have both Liz ‘n Rep!” Gabe exclaimed back. “Lessgo!” He stumbled up and then immediately sat down remembering again that he was in a booth and needed to shimmy out first— and probably actually order a bottle from the wait staff rather than stumble over to the bartender since the bar was completely full now.
Gabe reached out and immediately hooked arms with a waiter. “Hey… bring us a bottle of the good stuff mmmmkay??” he ordered fishing out a strangely large wad of cash from a different pocket than before and putting it in the waiter’s hand. The latter just sort of brightened and immediately walked off to fulfill that order and keep that entirely too large tip right then. It was New Years.
When the waiter returned, Gabe grinned sideways at Shea and immediately started sliding out of the booth and standing a bit straighter now. Grabbing the bottle neck in one hand, he reached to clasp Shea’s and in the other before immediately starting towards an exit. “Bet this isn’t the highest roof!”
[attr="class","shea"] Rep? OH. OH RIGHT. Shea's face flushed darker than their hair. "R-right, sorry! I.. I somehow forgot Liz couldn't fly yet I guess?" They laughed awkwardly. Probably got so wrapped up in thinking about Gabe's aspirations for when she could or-- just.. "I'm a little drunk, ha." Yeah that was probably a fair bit of it. And a less embarrassing excuse than just being dumb anyway.
Gabe trying to get up the wrong way helped them feel better though. Seemed they were both having little brain lapses right now. That could be fun as long as it didn't get too bad and was enjoyed together though~
Their eyes went a bit wider at the cash wad Gabe produced. Damn, Pokemon hunting must really pay?? Or maybe it was just a bunch of smaller bills and he was one of those people who didn't trust bank cards. Prolly something like that heh. So no sense worrying about it~ They grinned and flushed a little again as Gabe took their hand. "Yeah, let's get really high up!" they agreed. "Just not too close to where they're setting them off. I still wanna be able to hear in the morning." They laughed lightly. Even a few blocks away ought to be fine. They just didn't wanna have the fireworks right up in their faces. Hopefully most of them would be set off over the water though so they should have plenty of space by default.
Once outside, they waited for the Charizard to be produced and got a bit of help climbing aboard behind Gabe. This gave them the excuse to wrap their arms around his middle-- you know, for safety, hehe. They probably didn't need to lean in and rest their chin on his shoulder, but they did wanna see where they were going, after all~
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