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Post by subtleAssiduities on Jul 18, 2012 15:40:31 GMT -5
Before Elliot had fully landed in the yard of the massive Ranch, EV had leaped off his back and started through the growing crowd. She clearly had her blinders on, and it was evident that anything that got in her way at this point was going to be destroyed.
Chance, more hesitant to take a flying leap off the fire lizard's back, waited until he was fully landed before he jumped off. He landed and stumbled, misjudging the height, and then he sprinted after her. "[Wait up, Viv!]" he barked, weaving through the crowd like a zigzaggon to catch up to her. Though he was still an Eevee, he had grown lean and lithe; his legs were long and narrow, and he could weave and turn on a dime as if he had a spine of rubber. His abnormally long tail only seemed to add to his snakelike agility, and as he caught up to Vivian, he lashed it in agitation. ""
"[Yes you could,]" she muttered without looking down at him, her eyes scanning the ranch for her son and mate.
At her retort Chance's ears lowered, and he frowned at her impatiently. His gaze followed hers, and he looked over the ranch pensively. He had been here twice: once when he was very young, and once more, some time later, when he had met Austin. His memory of the younger Eevee was pristine: he was kind of a wimp. But he was also a sheep, and would do anything that Chance told him. It was kind of cool. If Vivian wasn't weird around him, he might enjoy seeing him more often. But regardless, he was eager to see what the little runt was like now. He had been so tiny and young last time they had played; would he be bigger now? Would he still do anything Chance said?
As Note slid off Elliot's back he watched the two Eeveelutions dash of in amusement. Then he turned to help his sister down, and she followed his gaze. "Wont' see her for a while," Note muttered, a crooked smirk spreading across his face. Tunes smiled back at him in agreement.
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Post by Atticus on Jul 18, 2012 16:19:32 GMT -5
Eleanor zoomed through the sky in a whisk of silver beside her two brothers and her friends. Anastasia was rather large for her size, and her silver feathers weren't as uncomfortable as one would assume. With the ranch coming into view, the Skarmory let out a cry and suddenly dived from the sky downward toward the grassy plain. Elli, who was used to her Pokémon's daringness, only gripped onto the bird more firmly, completely expecting it when they got dangerously close to the ground and then swooped skyward again. The blonde smiled and reached forward to stroke her bird's cheek, whose adrenaline was pounding. "You can do more Arial stuff after you put me down," she grinned at Ana. "You cheeky thing, you."
The silver bird Pokémon began to flap her wings and curl in her legs to land. Milo and Torrence, his Noctowl, and Zane and his Honchkrow, Darius, were already slipping off their birds' backs by the time the Skarmory and teenage girl touched the ground. Throwing her legs over and sliding off, the girl gave Anastasia one last pat on the back, thanking her for the ride, before letting her take a break. They were at the ranch, after all.
Eleanor looked over where she caught a glimpse of Vivian, Note's hybrid Pokémon, bolting through the crowd with Chance at her heels -- or rather, wishing he was. The bleach blonde walked over to her friend, looking after the mutant until she could see her no longer. "Where's she in such a rush to?" she huffed lightheartedly.
---
Angelo yawned, curling his toes as he stretched. He glanced as the furry, dark bundle beside him. The Umbreon smiled with sleepy eyes and bent down, gently nosing his son's flank with his small, black nose. "[Austin,]" he murmured, lifting his head. "[I'm going to go grab us some food from the barn, what do you wa--]" The dark Pokémon was cut off as he looked off to the crowd of Pokémon, where he saw a bunch of his Team mates stepping aside and moving out of the way of a figure dashing his way. Who...? Could it be...
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Post by subtleAssiduities on Jul 18, 2012 16:39:14 GMT -5
"To find her boyfriend," Note replied with a smile. "And Austin." He couldn't get over how completely different Vivian acted when those two were around. Her façade came down considerably; he was not sure that others noticed it as much as he did, but even those who did not know Vivian well could see that she was not nearly as hard as she was when they were absent.
--
Austin lifted his head and let out a loud obnoxious yawn before looking at his father groggily. "[What, Dad?]" he asked as he stopped. His brow furrowed at the look on his father's face, and then he slowly followed his gaze. His ears perked in surprise as he saw his mother and a tall lean Eevee that he did not completely recognize.
Vivian's ears perked as she caught sight of the two Umbreons in the distance. She smiled crookedly, an awkward smile somewhere between mischief and genuine warmness. Then she took off at a sprint towards Angelo.
Chance's eyes landed on the duo shortly after his companion's did. His ears perked, and his jaw dropped in shock. Austin had evolved. He hadn't counted on that.
When Vivian took off he watched her blankly for a minute. Suddenly his enthusiasm to meet his friend had wavered. But he started after her at a quick trot, his eyes on her so that he could avoid those of the Umbreons.
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Post by Atticus on Jul 18, 2012 17:22:36 GMT -5
"Ooh, right," the blonde nodded, blinking her slate blue eyes. "It's actually kind of adorable that she and Angelo have a thing," the trainer smiled, looking off in the distance that Vivian had run off in. "Ironically, I think her aggressiveness helped wash out Angy's."
---
Angelo subconsciously felt his tail begin to wave back and forth. A toothy grin grew on his usually solemn muzzle. He glanced back at his son, crimson eyes bright, before whirling around and beginning to run toward his mate. His paws pounded against the Earth, shouldering past any Pokémon in his way to get to the red 'Eon. How long had it been since he had last seen her? Several years, surely?
The space between the two Eevee evolutions was closing up quickly, to the point that Angelo could make out every detail in her red and yellow fur. At that point, he slowed down his pace to avoid collision, though he still wanted to reach her as fast as he could. He just didn't want to get a concussion as a result of his eagerness.
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Post by subtleAssiduities on Jul 18, 2012 17:37:46 GMT -5
Note laughed. "Really? That's a first."
"That's so sweet," Tunes said, smiling slightly as Vivian's maroon form glided over the landscape. She chuckled inwardly at Chance, trotting behind her.
Vivian, however, did not slow down. The mischievousness gleamed in her dark eyes as she threw herself at the slowing Umbreon. The two went head over heels, entangled, and they rolled several feet before landing on top of each other, her straddling him on his back. She picked herself up and stood over him, her eyes softening and her tail wagging low to the ground. "Hi, Angelo."
Austin had jumped to his feet and watched the scene from a distance in bemusement before snickering and trotting forward, his short dark tail wagging delightedly.
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Post by Atticus on Jul 18, 2012 18:12:45 GMT -5
Angelo had half-suspected being tackled/glomped by the hybrid, somersaulting backwards with the female through the grass. He chuckled breathlessly once they had stopped rolling, him being flat on his stomach with his mate on his back. The Umbreon exhaled an exhausted huff and looked over his shoulder to be greeted by soft maroon eyes. "[Hi, EV. Comfy?]" he smiled genuinely, pushing up on his front paws to daringly give her a small lick on the cheek.
"[Long time no see,]" he said somewhat sadly, adding on soon after, "[I've missed you. A lot. Austin missed you too.]" He looked over at the furry Umbreon, still close to where they had been napping. He wiggled his way out from under his mate and gave her a cheery smile, his shoulder and flank brushing against hers. "[He evolved while you were gone.]"
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Post by subtleAssiduities on Jul 18, 2012 18:29:12 GMT -5
"" EV replied, looking at her son with bright eyes. "[Hi, Austin.]"
"[Hi, Mom!]" he barked, bounding toward the mutant jubilantly and stopping in front of her. He shuffled on his paws excitedly, as if he could not bare to be still. "" He puffed his chest out proudly.
EV eyed him speculatively, but her eyes continued to shine. "[Yeah. I guess so.]" She limped up to him and put a paw on his neck affectionately. "[You look like him now.]" And she gestured with her tail to Angelo.
Chance trotted toward the family, but he hung back several yards, watching the three with an unreadable expression. Though he still desired EV's attention whenever he could get it, he knew when to back off, and he wasn't about to push himself into this reconnection. The way that EV looked at Austin made something twist inside of him, though; she never looked at anyone but him like that. But that was alright; Austin was her son anyway, and he wasn't... He just had to be patient. EV would remember him eventually. She wouldn't forget about him...
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Post by Atticus on Jul 18, 2012 18:51:39 GMT -5
Angelo watched as mother and son spoke for the first time in a long time. It was sweet, seeing EV being so... well, so unlike the brute she always was with everyone else but him and her family. He wondered if it excited her, the prospect of having a family again. Angelo knew that when it'd come around that EV was pregnant, (when he was done being scared of how it would effect their relationship), he was excited off the walls. He didn't blame Eleanor for taking him from his family, nor Flora, who he had been terrified of since her beating and capturing him. Austin had been just the son he was hoping for to add up to all of that. He was friendly, kind, and innocent. Surely, he'd lose some degree of innocence when he was older, but it was nice seeing someone who was just so in peace with the world.
The same could not be said for Brooke and Donetello's daughter, Chris. The Houndyena was usually nothing but trouble, but not even in a mischievous way. She was trouble in the way that most Pokémon in the ranch felt like she was going to grow up and quite possibly be a serial killer. Along with that, she was Austin's best friend. Looking at the other Umbreon now, Angelo hoped that as the years went on, the hybrid wouldn't have a dark affect on his child, but rather, some of Austin's cheerfulness would rub off on her.
Lost in thought as his mate and son interacted, he caught a lean Eevee standing off to the side. The Umbreon furrowed his brow, his beaded collar swishing as a breeze picked up. That was when he recognized the scent. Moments later, he padded over to Eevee, flicking an ear in greetings. "[It seems Austin's not the only one who's gotten bigger. Hello, Chance.]"
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Post by subtleAssiduities on Jul 18, 2012 18:59:26 GMT -5
Chance turned shyly towards the Umbreon as he was greeted. "[Hello, Angelo,]" he said curtly, dipping his head in welcome. Though they had been off to a bad start- mostly due to Chance's pigheadedness -he did not at all have any qualms with the Umbreon now. It had long ago occurred to him that the less they got along, the more pissed off EV was at both of them, and since nobody wanted that, he had swallowed his pride and decided to act decently. That had led to him finding out that Angelo really wasn't so bad.
Still, that did not stop him from being somewhat reserved towards the male Umbreon. He simply did not know what to say to him. He had never been good with small talk, and when it came to Pokémon he did not know intimately, he preferred to just bite his tongue and answer questions.
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Post by Atticus on Jul 18, 2012 20:09:03 GMT -5
Angelo was pleasantly surprised when Chance behaved without a flaring temper, and was polite, even. "[How have you been? Its been a while. Last time I saw you was after that Team Rocket incident in Goldenrod City.]" Oh, how Angelo had hated those times. He had returned to his aggressive ways around those times, hunting and attacking anything that might serve as a source of food for him and Ellie. He's run a small way out of the city and into the woods, finding any Pokémon to hunt or any human to steal from. The Umbreon had hardly recognized Note's little sister and ended up attacking her at first before being knocked into his senses. Not only had they all been eating whatever scraps they could, but Eleanor had contracted a fever.
The final battle in Goldenrod City had left his Vivian wounded nonetheless. He hadn't looked for it when he ran to her, but he wondered how well her bullet wounds had healed since. Note had been hurt in that battle, too. He would never forget the look of pure horror on his trainer's face.
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Post by subtleAssiduities on Jul 18, 2012 20:28:45 GMT -5
Chance's ears lowered at the mention of Goldenrod City. His memory of the times were hazy; he had only been a baby. And half of that time, he had been tripping on medicine. But he had remembered seeing Vivian injured afterwards, and Note had never looked so close to death in his life. Tunes was shaken up about it for weeks afterwards. And Lemondrop had bragged about how she had saved Note's life every chance she got. The pieces had never fully come together for him, and he had not wanted them to. It was a time he would happily like to sweep under the rug.
"[Yeah, uh... I've been good. Been training, mostly,]" he said, before a flicker of movement caught his eye and he turned towards Austin.
"[Hi, Chance!]" the giddy Umbreon said, coming to a stop next to his friend. "[It's been a while, huh? It's really nice to see you again. How have you been?]"
"[Good,]" Chance replied curtly, looking Austin up and down in a similar manner EV had just done. "[You evolved.]"
"[Yup,]" he said, smiling at his friend proudly.
"[You evolved, and you're younger than me.]"
"[Yeah,]" Austin said again. "" He looked at his parents, his tail wagging. "[Now we're all kind of the same, if you think about it. We're all Umbreons.]"
EV returned his smile with a slight dip of the head as she sat where she was. She had decided long ago not to try and explain her horrific past to her son. When he asked, she told him she was mostly an Umberon. That was easier than the full truth, and it wasn't a lie. And it completely satisfied him.
Chance, however, gave EV an incredulous look, as if he were staring at a Jolteon. But when EV turned to him with a silencing glare he quickly looked back at Chance and faked a smile. "[Pretty cool,]" he agreed. He got up and stood next to Austin, looking at the height difference. Despite the fact that the younger Eon was in his second evolution, he was not much bigger than Chance; Austin was a small Umberon, and Chance was a big Eevee. So when Chance smirked and shouldered him aside, Austin went toppling over. The Eevee snickered in amusement. "[Still a little fluffball though.]"
Austin rolled onto his stomach and stuck his tongue out at his old friend, and Chance smiled at him earnestly now. The fact that he still was so much more powerful than Austin made the knot in his chest loosen a little bit. At least he wasn't weaker than him.
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Post by Atticus on Jul 19, 2012 16:01:54 GMT -5
Angelo watched Chance and Austin interact. It was nice to see the two still got along. At his son's statement, declaring them a family of Umbreons, Ang only pushed a smile onto his face. He didn't dare glance at his mate, for he knew she was vigilant enough to catch any sort of gesture like that, along with the fact he guessed she was sort of suspecting it from him. Despite being together, Angelo didn't know EV's life story. He did know, however, that she was technically an Umbreon. It was just her "trainer" (if you could even call him one) lighting her on fire that had turned her into the red and yellow mutant she was.
As the Umbreon pondered over this, he locked himself out of the boys' conversation. That was, until, the husky Eevee knocked his kid off his paws. Though it was all in fun and games, Angelo still figured that pride was continuing to be a high priority to Chance, and just his way of putting his son back 'in his place' like when they were babies. The adult Pokémon did nothing but flick his ear in annoyance. As much as he loved his son's innocence, he'd have to learn how to stand up for himself one day. The friends that he currently had in his roster would be no help unfortunately.
"[Hey, Austin, who's your friend?]" the gruff, female voice came from behind. A Poochyena/Houndour mix stood proudly, noticeably larger than both Austin and Chance. Coming up behind her was a scruffy looking Growlithe, his light colored tail flicking back and forth. Alfonzo, the half-brother of Solitaire and Donetello (and half-cousin of Chris), had certainly changed since his puphood. Finding his name dorky and constantly being teased for how 'uncool' it was, he only responds to his new alias, Blitzkrieg, which was given to him when he ran off to the city as a pup. He and Chris were more like brother and sister than anything else by this point. The Growlithe furrowed his brow, looking at EV. He recognized her from somewhere, but it had to have been a while. This Eevee, though, he was sure he'd never seen before.
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Post by subtleAssiduities on Jul 19, 2012 16:31:31 GMT -5
Austin, Chance, and EV all looked up in unison as the Houndyena and Growlithe approached. Austin turned to face them with a dip of the head.
"[This is my old friend Chance,]" he told them, nodding to the tall Eevee, who turned to them and looked at them speculatively. "[We were friends when we were little.]"
Chance dipped his head politely, but did not seem to want to speak to them. He looked at each of them in turn, and the expression on his face did not give away whether he thought himself superior to them or if he was just too shy to speak. It was always hard to tell whether Chance was being shy or rude, what with the expression that he naturally had. In reality, he simply did not like meeting new Pokémon. It wasn't because he didn't know how to have a conversation; it was more about the fact that he did not completely trust other Pokémon. His nature just did not allow it.
EV rose and limped to Angelo's side, her dark red eyes on Austin's friends. "[Is that Don's girl?]" she asked as she came to a stop next to him.
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Post by Atticus on Jul 19, 2012 16:45:20 GMT -5
Chris eyed the Eevee, only cocking a brow. "[Huh,]" she grunted lamely. Her focus on Chance was thin and short lived however; he looked boring and distasteful. If anything, she predicted he'd prove to be a sappy pushover or a wanna-be tyrant. That's how it usually went.
As EV inquired about her to the Umbreon, the female's yellow-and-red eyes narrowed slightly. Angelo's eyes, however, went straight to EV's limp. He flashed her brief sympathy in his light crimson eyes, but knew better than to baby her. At her question, his eyes flickered to the black-and-orange wolfdog, but before he got the chance to reply, Chris butted in.
"[Yes, I'm Don and Brook's daughter.]"
Blitz sat down next to his half-cousin, thick tail curling around his paws. "[Where is Don, anyway?]" the tabby canine asked. He had little interaction with the Houndoom, but he wanted to study him more. His dear mother, Molly, always seemed a little suspicious of Blitz' father, Desoto. Blitz knew that in his dad's youth, he'd been quite the ladies' man, and despite being of the same breed, the Growlithe could remember somethings about the two that reminded him of each other. He doubt either would know if they were related, given that his father was forgetful and probably wouldn't have even been around for Don's upbringing anyway.
Pushing the thoughts to the back of his head, the eldest of the four kids jumped down the small ledge that he and Chris had been situated on and circled around the uninterested Eevee. "[Hey, kid. Do you like to fight?]" Battling was a good 'get to know you' game.
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Post by subtleAssiduities on Jul 19, 2012 17:04:02 GMT -5
EV's gaze turned to the daughter of her friend as she spoke, but at Blitz's comment, she looked at him. He seemed vaguely familiar to her for some reason, but she could not say why. She pushed the feeling away; she had probably seen him at the ranch before. "[He's around here somewhere,]" she replied with a shrug. "[If Note hasn't let him out yet, he will soon.]"
"[So everybody's here,]" Austin muttered, mostly to himself. He took a look in the direction his mother and friend had come and could see Ellie's group dissipating in the distance. What he expected of them, he was not sure, but thing always got interesting when Ellie had company. And he had not seen his mother in so long; she always spiced things up: sometimes intentionally, and sometimes just because she was how she was. He could never say anything flat-out, but he was pretty intimidated of her, since he could not usually predict what she was going to do. Note's whole team was sort of like that from what he had gathered. They were all so spontaneous and high-strong that it was hard to figure out what they were doing. That was, except for the Charizard. He was so mellow and polite, Austin wasn't sure how he handled everyone else.
Chance eyed the Growlithe warily. He was slightly unsettled by the look that the strange crossbreed, and happy for the distraction from her. "[Yeah, I like to fight,]" he replied, lashing his long flexible tail. Fighting was one thing he didn't have to think twice about. And by the look of this scruffy character, he was in for a good one.
At the Eevee's comment, EV's head whipped around to face him, and her eyes narrowed hesitantly. But she stayed silent. Despite the fact that Chance was old enough to handle himself, she was still strangely protective of him. But generally, when he did stupid things that got him in trouble, she was quicker to blame him than the other Pokémon. It came as no surprise to her than Chance would want to spar a bit, but she thought he would have the sense to pick an opponent that didn't look like he'd fight dirty and easily kick his ass. She wasn't going to stop him, but she wasn't going to be pleased if he lost badly.
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