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Post by subtleAssiduities on Oct 26, 2013 23:55:45 GMT -5
The Lake of Rage was relatively cool compared to the warmth of where they had just come from. As they arrived at the lake Note looked around, taking it all in. Given his habitual routine of steering clear of water, he had never gotten to appreciate the Lake of Rage the few brief times he had been here. But in the last couple years he had been working on his qualms with bodies of water: he had put some effort into learning to swim, with close to no results. But he had been spending more time there, if only to assuage Vivian, who was always in a better mood after a nice long swim.
She was, of course, the first to be out of her Pokéball. After surveying her surroundings to assure that they were where he promised they would be, her tail went up and she headed for the dock.
Note took to pulling out his other Pokémon, whose cooperation he feared would be a little more difficult. It wasn't often that he made any of his Pokémon take a bath, but this wasn't the kind of filth you could just brush out of a Pokémon's fur.
Donetelllo grimaced at the sight of the lake, but Chance wasn't so offput by it. Water wasn't his most favorite thing in the world, but he had no such aversion to it as did Note's fire types. He could swim, though not well, and he didn't even mind baths all that much. As long as he could get dry quickly, he was fine. He just didn't like being wet; the feeling of his fur and whiskers sticking to his skin was far from pleasant.
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Post by Atticus on Nov 3, 2013 0:20:50 GMT -5
Ellie walked beside her man with a little bit of a drowsy wobble. It wasn't that early in the morning, but be it 6 am or 12 pm, Elle was just never ready to roll out of bed, and she made it pretty obvious.
The blonde released all of her Pokémon through jolts of red light and dropped the capsules back into her pouch. With a yawn, she leaned against Note, slipping her arm around his and nestling her head against his shoulder, closing her eyes.
"Why are Pokémon so smelly," she mumbled, nuzzling his collar. Hopefully she would let him go back to bed after their Pokémon were finished being dumb and gross.
Angelo flopped into the grass upon being let out of his Pokéball, dreading what was to come. He could easily put up a fight until his trainer gave up and let the stink just gradually wear out like he might have when he was younger, but he was too tired to bother. He got to his paws and sighed, trotting slowly towards the waters edge and staring down at his shadowy reflection.
Chris, for a fire type, did not have such a strong hatred of water. She liked anything that tested her ability - she didn't want to be adequate at anything.
The mutant stretched, arching her back. At least the sun felt warm, and for once, she felt like napping rather than romping around like the strong-headed pup that she was. But it occurred to her that water was like nature's mirror, and Chris was eager to see what she had become. She sprang towards the water, a few feet away from Ang, leaning over and looking in, ears perking. Whoa...
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Post by subtleAssiduities on Nov 3, 2013 0:54:59 GMT -5
"Tell you what," Note said, looking down at her. "You camp out under a tree or something, and nap until you can be useful, and I'll try not to drown while I make the Pokémon not smelly."
Vivian looked back, realizing, with a bit of chagrin, that absolutely no one was going to swim with her. Well, that wasn't awful. No one had ever wanted to swim with her before, it wasn't a change. She'd get Note to give her something to do in the water other than bathe. That was the blandest shit to do in water ever. But she could tell that he wasn't going to jump to her aid. She'd have to get started by herself. She backed up, planting herself on the edge of the dock, and with a running leap launched into the lake; a well-practiced maneuver.
Chance's ear flicked at the sound, and he looked up in time to see the splash, but his gaze was immediately pulled to the unfamiliar form standing by Angelo at the edge of the lake. His eyes narrowed and then widened as a wave of confusion slowly changed into stunned realization that that was Chris. His fur bristled, and his tail shot straight out. Wow. That was. Wow. Did he really not notice that last night?
Donetello, noting the change in demeanor of the dirty Espeon beside him, glanced sideways, and when he saw Chance's posture, he followed his gaze. His fixation on his daughter was not something he was so inclined to ignore. He cleared his throat, a sound mimicking a growl more than anything else, and gave the Espeon a hard look. Chance blinked and looked at him, and, realizing his blunder, lowered his head and slunk away, into the grass where he plopped down and tried not to think about Chris' new look. He had very little luck.
All this Austin watched from a distance, still standing where he had been released. He didn't have any qualms with swimming-- because of his mother, he had gotten fairly good at it --but he also wasn't so keen on jumping in the water. He felt dirty, but it wasn't something he wanted to do at the moment. At a loss of where to be, he padded over to Chance.
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Post by Atticus on Jan 23, 2014 18:01:55 GMT -5
"I can be useful!" the girl protested, punching him steadily in the arm as she leaned against his chest. "Like I would let you drown for a few seconds of shut-eye. Who do you think I am?" She looked up at him with furrowed brows, countered by a playful smirk on her lips. "You're my baaaabby," she cooed, tugging gently at his earlobe.
Meanwhile, Chris was trying to get as much of a view of herself as she could. Had she simply evolved into a Houndoom or a Mightyena, she would have at least had a good guess of what she looked like. But by some mutation, she came out a halfbreed, and there was no telling what features she had attained. She hoped she still looked tough-- tougher, even.
Angelo flinched as a splash sounded and droplets began to scatter around a small radius. Moving his paw away from his beady, red eyes, he realised it was his mate, and felt more inclined to join her in the water. With a sharp intake of breath, the Umbreon eased himself into the water, doggy-paddling in the shallows.
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Post by subtleAssiduities on Jan 23, 2014 18:38:42 GMT -5
Note's head bowed under the tug on his ear, but he didn't pull away from her, too amused by her coddling to be annoyed. "My mistake," he said, suppressing a chuckle as he pulled her hands away and held them between his. "Okay! I'll get the shampoo and we'll get down to business."
Vivian resurfaced with her fringe covering her eyes. A splash-addled shake cleared her vision, and she was pleasantly surprised to see her mate paddling toward her in the water. She paddled to him, the slightest of smiles masked by her face being partially underwater. "How do you like the water?"
Even from a distance Chance was having a hard time doing anything but staring at Chris with a glazed-over look in his eyes. He hardly realized he was doing it; between trying to figure out how he had not picked up on her spectacular transformation the night before and wondering what she looked like from the front, he didn't even realize he was staring. Austin's approach went completely undetected, and when the younger Pokémon opened his mouth to speak it sent the Espeon jumping in surprise.
"[Chris looks really good, huh? You look like a dolt staring.]"
"[You sound like Vivian when you talk like that,]" Chance retorted, flustered and irritated as he turned his back on the Umbreon and curled into a ball. "[Don't bother me. I'm staying out of the way.]"
Austin chuckled, amused, but he kept his thoughts to himself. The tension between his two best friends had always made him a little uncomfortable, but this was just funny. He wondered if that tension would persist or if Chance wouldn't be able to muster it up anymore. Maybe he was just surprised. Or maybe he was a little more than surprised. Despite himself, the Umbreon was excited to find out.
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Post by Atticus on Jan 23, 2014 18:55:55 GMT -5
"Oookay!" the blonde smiled, pecking him on the cheek before shooing him to go retrieve the shampoo for their slimy little Pokémon. She sat down crisscross on the grass as she awaited his return, tempted to flop onto her side, but adamant to not fall asleep so that she could prove herself right. She could totally be useful.
Angelo stretched his toes under the water, momentarily enjoying the feeling of water whisking between his paws. "Cold, but not bad," the Umbreon said approvingly. "I'm not keen on smelling like a sewer Rattata, anyway."
Chris was ecstatic. She had horns! Real, curly horns like her father, and not the pathetic looking fawn nubs she had before. Her amber eyes flickered up to Vivian and Angelo in the water. She had never been on the best of terms with the two, if only because of her mother's poor relationship with the Flareon mutant. With that, the female turned away from the water, spotting Austin and Chance nearby. More confident with her new, taller form, she walked over to them and quickly scrunched up her nose. "No wonder they sent us out here, eugh."
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Post by subtleAssiduities on Jan 23, 2014 19:11:13 GMT -5
Note wasn't sure where Ellie kept her Pokémon shampoo, but he took a guess and figured that it was in her bag, so instead of rummaging through it he just brought the whole thing over and plopped it down next to her. He just brought his bottle of the other; long ago he had discovered that no matter how dirty they are, fire types don't take too kindly to being soaked to the skin and scrubbed with suds, so he had begun buying a waterless shampoo. So far it had always done the trick for his Pokémon, but they had never been quite this dirty. He didn't know if it'd get the smell out. Or any of the other disgusting grime they had accumulated. But he had it, just in case it did.
"[It's not that cold,]" Vivian replied, playfully jeering. She let herself sink and shook herself as well as she could. When she opened her eyes she could actually see the grime coming loose from her fur. Lovely. She came up with her fringe in one eye and didn't try to clear it from the other. "How the hell did we even get this filthy, we weren't even rolling around in shit."
At the Houndyena's approach Austin perked up, and Chance's tail gave a nearly indiscernible twitch. "Yeah, we're pretty rank!" he said cheerfully. "You look so cool, Chris! Do you like it?"
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Post by Atticus on Jan 23, 2014 22:57:50 GMT -5
Ellie jolted up once Note set down her bag. "Ah, perfect," she said, patting the bag, though she wasn't entirely sure whether that was where her shampoo was or not. It was just best to pretend. Luckily, sifting through the bag long enough, her hand wrapped around the smooth bottle and she yanked it out.
The Umbreon rolled his eyes playfully, tail waving in the water and creating small ripples in all directions. He watched as she went under, eyes widening as he saw the mud and grime beginning to pool around them. When she emerged, Angelo had to do an entire 360 before muttering, ["I haven't the slightest clue... but let's not go there again to find out."]
For the briefest of moments, insecurity passed over the Houndyena's golden gaze. Quickly however, she masked it over with her regular, steely glare. Brook always encouraged her to embrace her individuality, but sometimes she wondered... It was being a halfbreed that made her try so hard all the time. Running, hunting, brawling... She blinked almost modestly at Austin, tail tip wagging. ["Do I?"] she asked, before clearing her throat and lifting her chin. ["I mean, of course! I couldn't see all of it from the water, but... check it out, I have horns!"] Chris lowered her head to give them a better look through her dusky fur.
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Post by subtleAssiduities on Mar 12, 2014 17:15:04 GMT -5
Note chuckled and looked around, taking note of where everyone was. He mused on where to start: Vivian might be the easiest, and he used 'might' pretty loosely. Getting her wet wasn't the problem, and neither was getting most of the gross stuff off. But when it came to massaging the shampoo into the mutant's fur... After being shot twice, and with all the other scars she had from before he found her, she was so tender that he was afraid that he might hurt her. After a little more thought he stood up, cracked his back with a hip twist, and called over Donetello. With a visible grimace that made the blond laugh the Houndoom came slinking to him.
Vivian took a deep breath and ducked underwater again, this time deciding to see what she could investigate. With a kick she propelled herself down and under Angelo, but giving up the chance to give his leg a playful tug. With a quick look over her shoulder she kept paddling, a trail of bubbles coming from her black nostrils as she inspected the lively bottom of the lake. It was deep but the water was clear, and while still remaining close enough to the surface to stay safe she could get a good look at the sea weed growing at the bottom and the Pokémon weaving their way through it. She was so absorbed in her exploration that she forgot that she needed to breathe at all, and she hurriedly headed from the surface. But as she turned to head up, something large and dark flashed past the corner of her eye.
She came up drifting into a tight circle, trying in vain to look over her shoulder to see what she had glimpsed. When she took a moment to look around she realized with a start that she was near the middle of the lake now, which was far further than she thought she could get on one breath of air.
The boys gazed admirably at the Houndyena's new headwear, but after a moment Chance looked away, feining disinterest. It was all he could do to keep as still as possible, though he feared that that would make him look mechanic and awkward. But he didn't want his tail to start twitching, or even a sliver of the awe for Chris's new body show. So it was going to have to come to avoidance until he could control his expressions better.
Austin, on the other hand, was all too happy to gawk. "[That's so cool, Chris,]" he praised, tail wagging lightly. "[You really do look great.]" Aside from his blatant praise-- which was sincere --Austin was just happy to see his friend so happy. She was always so obviously worried about her image, and careful to control it, that it was a relief to see her so comfortable with how she was. He was sure that this would lead to a little bragging, but, hell, looking like that, she deserved it.
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Post by Atticus on Mar 12, 2014 21:08:26 GMT -5
"Aww, Donnie," Ellie cooed as the Houndoom dragged himself over, looking entirely like it was the last thing he wanted to do. She reached over and gently brushed her hands against the canine's cheeks, moving them behind his horns, trying not to scrunch up her nose too much at the putrid smell emitting from his grimy fur.
Angelo didn't understand how a Fire Type Pokémon could swim as well as his mate could. He'd seen her tread before, but he was always left in awe as she muscled through the water, and reached depths that Pokémon with a better type advantage couldn't touch upon. She'd been down for longer than he'd anticipated, and though history with her should have taught him better, he started to worry. Thankfully, only moments later, Vivian surfaced, but further away than he expected. ["Viv?"] he called out, beginning to doggy-paddle towards her.
Chris lifted her snout only to see Chance looking away, and she furrowed her brows. She was distracted from her pout when Austin mentioned that she looked cool, and her tail tip began to twitch. ["Thanks, Austin."] She looked over to Note and her trainer as they began to wash her father. Her ears fell back quickly and she slapped her tail against the ground. ["Bleh..."]
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Post by subtleAssiduities on Mar 15, 2014 11:26:11 GMT -5
Despite his obvious apprehension, the Houndoom couldn't help but lean into the platinum blonde's hand. His long barbed tail wagged slowly, and despite himself his eyes narrowed to satisfied slits. Note, smirking, looked at the dry shampoo in his hand, and with a shrug covered the canine's back in it. As he started rubbing it in his suspicions were confirmed: the powder wasn't doing shit. He glanced at Ellie and gave a helpless shrug before tossing the bottle back toward his backpack. At the sound of the bottle hitting the ground Donetello gave a start and looked toward it. He let out a groan and visibly grimaced.
"[Don't.... Don't come out here,]" Vivian called, peering through the water curiously. Her attention was caught by whatever had skimmed her line of sight; she wanted to know what it was. But as she looked something else caught her attention, and she turned and narrowed her eyes at it. Deep in the water, something was shimmering. It was pretty deep- deep enough that anything surrounding it was shrouded in darkness -but she thought that if she hurried she could get it. With a deep breath she dove in, her body disappearing underwater with a back kick that breached the surface.
As she dove she quickly realized that the object was much deeper than she had initially thought. The water's temperature was lowering, and she was starting to feel it in her aching shoulder and her slowing movements. Just when she was convinced she could go no farther she was able to nose through the seaweed and clasp her jaws around the shining item. Satisfied, she turned and kicked off toward the surface, but was yanked back by something holding her foot. With a start she looked back and saw that her hind legs were tangled in the seaweed. Her air supply was running low and she didn't have a lot of time to spare. As panic set in her calculated attempts to get the seaweed off turned into violent thrashing. Vivian started to feel dizzy as she completely ran out of air.What a shitty way to die, Vivian thought to herself as her vision started to blur. Her insides started to burn as her lungs filed with water. She felt herself sinking farther into the seaweed as the last of her strength dwindled, and she was on the edge of consciousness.
Through her blurry vision something appeared in front of her. A dark blue shape floated before her for a moment before gliding past her; Too weak to respond, Vivian could only cling to the edge of consciousness as the creature swam around her tangled hind legs, and as she finally blacked out.
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Post by Atticus on Mar 17, 2014 18:21:32 GMT -5
Ellie blinked as Note tossed the shampoo back to his backpack, and she sighed. The Houndoom's satisfied expression contorted into one close to horror when he noticed the shampoo. "Oh, well." She pursed her lips before turning back to Donatello and patting his cheek. "You're a good boy, Don." As she stroked his jaw, she turned to look at the lake, then back to the canine with a pleading smile. "You'll smell reeaally good," she tried lamely. There were a lot of smelly Pokémon to get through, it would be super helpful if they all just cooperated.
Angelo flicked an ear when she told him to stop, slowly drawing to a halt. Why? What was she on about? He watched with intent red eyes as she plunged back under the water, her red-and-yellow form fading out of sight. Now he was just half-way to the middle of the lake, treading unessentially. All he had to do was wait for Ellie to come shampoo him, but that could be for another while, considering all the other who had to be cleaned. He began to slowly paddle back to shore, but Vivian wasn't resurfacing. The Umbreon turned around, looking back at the spot that she had gone down. Again, he knew better than to worry, but... The Dark Type turned around began to start back towards the middle of the lake, hoping to see her resurface soon.
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Post by subtleAssiduities on Mar 17, 2014 18:40:13 GMT -5
Vivian didn't know how long she was out, but when she came too, she was gagging on a body full of water. A violent, painful cough shook her body, and the object that had led her to early drowning shot out of her mouth and tumbled across the grass. Her ragged breathing was fragmented by deep, painful coughs that left her spitting out water and gasping for breath. She shook her head weakly to clear her vision and looked around. Somehow, she was halfway around the lake, lying on the shore. Exhausted, weakened, and confused, she looked around for something that would tell her why she wasn't a waterlogged corpse, but she seemed to be by herself.
That was when a splash made her look back, and her eyes widened as she noticed the high-rising spines and fins of a vaporeon. The young Pokémon was peering at her from the water, only her nose and up visible, and after flashing her a pair of smiling eyes she materialized into the water.
Vivian stared at the spot where the Pokémon had had been in shocked disbelief. Her breathing was more regular now, and she found the strength to stagger to her paws, and she stumbled to the object that she had coughed away from herself. With one paw she cleared the grass away from the object to reveal... a water stone.
"[Are you fucking kidding me!?]"
Don could only curl his lip in disgust at Ellie's attempt at encouragement. He looked around helplessly, looking for anything that could be a way out. And that was when Vivian's vociferation boomed loud enough for all of them to hear. Wary that she might be in danger-- and hoping that, if she wasn't, this was at least a viable escape --he turned and darted toward her.
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Post by Atticus on Mar 17, 2014 19:54:22 GMT -5
"Don!" she cried after the Pokémon, tightening her lips into a line when the Houndoom paid her no mind. She stood up and straightened herself out, brushing a few loose strands of blonde hair from her face. "Where's he going?" He seemed to have a pretty specific destination in mind for someone just running away from a bath.
Angelo dragged himself out of the water, the entirety of his dark frame dripping wet. He'd gone under several times looking for Vivian to no avail. When he'd popped out of the water after maybe the fifth try, he heard a disgruntled growl, which could only be from his mate. Now, he was running through the grass, the weight of the water only slowing him down by an iota. ["Viv!"] He joined her by her side and nuzzled her cheek quickly before stepping back and giving her some room. ["What happened?"]
Chris lifted her head, watching the shadowy Pokémon run along the grass towards a fuzzy shape in the distance. She looked at Austin quizzically, tail slapping against the ground and, without her knowledge (even if she did, she wouldn't care) brushing her tail-tip against Chance's nose.
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Post by subtleAssiduities on Mar 17, 2014 20:18:47 GMT -5
The shout had thrown the mutant into another bout of coughing, and though she was not displeased to see her mate she turned away from him as to not cough in his face. Her legs shook under the strain of a cough; nearly drowning was enough, but she was reminded rather painfully that she was, after all, a fire type, and she had pushed herself way too far. "[A... A water stone,]" she gasped, leaning against her mate slightly as she felt the shaking in her legs worsen. "[I nearly drowned for a water stone.]" She couldn't keep the bitterness out of her voice. It all just seemed like a horrible ironic twist, and she felt like fate was laughing at her.
Donetello stood a few paces back, watching the two with a puzzled frown. His gaze shifted to the ground, and after a moment he was able to locate the water stone that Vivian had been talking about. His gaze shifted from the stone to his soaked teammate. The lake was deep, but... she had nearly drowned? What happened?
"[What's going on?]" Austin asked, his ears perking as he watched his father hurry by. He hopped to his paws, glancing at Chris quizzically before hurrying after him. When he saw his mother, shaking, soaked and coughing next to his father, his eyes grew wide. "[Mom!]" he gasped, hurrying up to her. "[Ma, are you okay?]"
Chance would have hopped right up after Austin if Chris' tail brushing across his nose hadn't made him freeze in his face. He drew his head back, staring ahead blankly for fear that it would happen again. This was too much for him. He couldn't deal with Chris being so...
Awkwardly avoiding her gaze, he stumbled to his feet and trotted after his adopted brother. Arriving at Austin ran up to Vivian, Chance stopped next to Donetello and looked on with a worried frown.
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