neverstudied | Victory Road IC Inbox

[It doesn't take very long for Egon and the other Ghostbusters to settle back into their old routines once they've been reuinted. Even after the excitement following the events at Camp Alph and the appearance of the Ultra Beasts, Egon knows to keep routine with his Pokémon training. He excuses himself in the early morning to go off to the park and battle his team against the local wildlife to try and prepare them to what lies ahead.

Of course, not everyone on Egon's team is willing to cooperate. Sometime in the afternoon, while Venkman is in their hotel room, Egon will suddenly burst in through the door, his clothes slightly smoldering and his face covered in soot. His glasses are askew on his weary face as he marches towards Venkman.]

You have experience training bird-like Pokémon.

[Not a question.]

I need your help, please.

Edited 2019-07-24 03:26 (UTC)

[Venkman glances up, only slightly concerned by Egon's appearance.]

I am, yeah. Whaddya need?

Sriracha.

[As if that clears up the situation any more. Egon gestures towards the hallway, poking his head through the doorframe. In the hallway, a Combusken is busy scratching at the ground, occasionally letting out a harsh crow and a puff of flame from her beak.]

She hatched while Ray and I were away, and she's been unruly since the day she was born. I thought maybe evolving her would improve her demeanor, but....

[He winces, rubbing at his back. There's the charred imprint of a chicken claw on his suit.]

You really thought letting her evolve without trying to fix her issues was a good idea?

[Hypocritical of him to say, considering his Duosion, but in all fairness he didn't realize how close she was to evolving.

Venkman takes a few steps towards Egon, peering down the hall at the chicken.]

... Huh. Looks less like a bird and more like your idea of the missing link between God and man.

She used to look more like a chick until she evolved. But you aren't incorrect.

[Sriracha suddenly seems to notice Venkman in the doorway and lets out a sharp crow, charging straight for the both of them with her claws extended. Egon freezes up and immediately ducks out of the way, grabbing Venkman by the arm and trying to pull him out of reach.

Venkman might not be as lucky as to avoid Sriracha's flaming kicks.]

Kinda reminds me of Bond and The Critics' chicks, but with more kicking.

[Speaking of kicking...]

Ah Christ-!

[Venkman takes a step back as Egon pulls him along, before reaching out and trying to slam the door in Sriracha's face. Unfortunately, he's just a bit too slow, and takes a hard blow to the knee for his troubles. He yelps in pain, but redoubles his efforts to force the door closed.]

[Sriracha tries to stick her beak through the crack in the door like some weird version of the shining, but Egon pushes her back and immediately retracts his hand, slamming the door shut.

The hallway is quiet for a moment. There's the sound of scratching and chirping at the door. Egon lets out a sigh, rubbing his temples.]

I don't understand it. She doesn't seem to accept any sort of positive reinforcement beyond victory over her opponents. I assume she has somehow identified me as an opponent, or someone who she's supposed to fight.

[The scratching intensifies.]

... Damn, are we sure she's not one of my birds' babies?

[He shakes his head, before limping over to the nearest flat surface and sitting down. The kick wasn't bad enough to cause any real damage, but standing on that leg is gonna hurt like for a little while.]

I dunno what to tell ya. Sounds like she's acting the way Bond did when she was little, except Bond couldn't kick the shit out of me- and by the time she was strong enough to actually be dangerous, she'd chilled out a lot.

... I'd suggest maybe putting 'em together, seeing if my big firebird could teach the little firebird to calm down, but if that backfires, we're all screwed.

Positive.

[The scratching stops, thank God. Egon kneels down and listens at the door intently--she's backing away and continuing her patrol up and down the hallway. Probably looking for more people to fight.]

I wouldn't be opposed to it. She might need a more positive role model to train under, and, given that she's the only Fire type in my entire roster, she's already stronger than most of them.

[He frowns lightly. Maybe he should've invested more time into actually obtaining other types of Pokémon instead of hyperfocusing on plants and weird bugs...but, whatever.]

Do you want to release her from her containment unit right now, or are we going to have to be stuck in this room for the rest of the day?

Whether or not Bond is really a positive role model is up for a debate, but sure. Y'know, it's not like I mind spending the rest of the day in a bedroom with ya under other circumstances, but the patrolling chicken outside really kills the mood.

[Thanks, Venkman.

Luckily, today is one of the days Venkman happens to have Bond in his roster, and he clicks the Pokeball's release. The Talonflame takes form from the flash of red light, perched on a dresser, and she regards her trainer and his partner with mild dislike. She may have mellowed out a bit over the months, and she may have begrudgingly began to respect her trainer, but she's absolutely still not his biggest fan.

And like many of his Pokemon, she just flat out dislikes Egon.]

[Egon pulls a face at that comment, but his attention is quickly directed towards the Talonflame now sitting in the middle of the room. He puts his hands in his pockets, seemingly unsure how to proceed.]

Hello, Bond. There is a young Combusken currently wandering the halls. If possible, could you speak to her and try to calm her temper?

[He tries not to sound desperate as he says it. He's so, so tired of dealing with this angry chicken and not having any solutions has frustrated him to no end.

He can't believe he's talking to a bird.]

[She clucks quietly as she regards the request. Under other circumstances, she might be pissed at him daring to ask her a favor- and she sort of is- but Bond also recognizes an opportunity when she sees one. She taps her talons on the dresser and leans forward, tilting her head to eye Egon expectantly.]

Think she wants to know what's in it for her.

[Sure, Venkman could try to convince Bond to help, but he also knows an opportunity when he sees one. So he's certainly not gonna stop his partner begging his bird for help.

Because it's hilarious.]

Edited 2019-07-28 21:37 (UTC)

[Egon gives a bewildered look towards Venkman. He doesn't know what his bird likes besides beating other Pokémon (and people) up. What the hell is he supposed to do in this situation? After a brief pause, he clears his throat and adjusts his glasses.]

Would you do it for a PokéPufF?

[Bond's feathers ruffle slightly while she gives Egon a withering glance.]

She's not a talking dog, Egon.

[The Talonflame does seem to consider the offer, though, and after a moment seems to sigh. Resigned to her fate. She lifts one foot and holds up one talon- then forms an "o" with her toes. 1-0. 10 Pokepuffs. That's her minimum rate for this.]

I don't know what you mean.

[He doesn't seem to be joking...but, then again, it's hard to tell with that deadpan.]

But, fine. Ten PokéPuffs. Don't make yourself ill by eating all of them at once. Now will you go?

[A disdainful look. She's not a talking dog, and she's not a child, either. She knows how to eat in moderation, unlike a certain idiot scientist in the room.

Bond would draw this out longer- really make him grovel for help, make him say please- but she's fairly certain it's not worth the effort of trying to drive what she's asking into his thick skull. With a flutter of her wings, she hops from the dresser to the floor, and begins to walk towards the door.]

[Egon watches silently as she hops over to the door, then silently opens it a smidge for Bond to creep through.]

Good luck.

[Once Bond is through, Egon will close the door until he can see through a small crack. Just in case something happens and he has to open the door for Bond to run back inside.

From the outside, Sriracha has already done a lot of damage to the door just by using her claws. Egon can probably expect a property damage bill sometime in his future. She notices Bond hopping out of the room and she lets out a series of clucks, scraping her claws against the ground. So! She's come to fight her, huh?!

She doesn't seem put off by the fact that Bond is literally five times her level--she wants to fight.]

[Please- as if she'd need to run back in. She steps outside with dignity and grace, and stares down the unruly chicken. Bond clucks softly, mostly to herself- this girl has a lot of spirit to her. She remembers when she was like this. She still sort of is. But now, she has the firepower to back it up. This is just random- disorganized chaos, striking blows at everything that can move without proper planning. This little bird needs to learn how to hone her attacks if she wants to intimidate anything more than a human.

You want to fight her, child? Go right ahead. You can even have the first blow. Bond outstretches her wings and straightens up a bit, giving the Combusken plenty of openings.]

[Sriracha hesitates for a moment. This is unusual. Most Pokémon she challenges cower and try to flee before she ultimately charges and pecks at them until they fall. She only falters for a moment, however, before she puffs out her chest and she sprints towards Bond, her claws positioned like a boxer at the ready. The Combusken then outstretches her legs, jumping up and trying to kick Bond right in her left wing.]

[Bond watches. She waits. And, right before the foot collides with her wing, she lunges, snapping her beak down hard on Sriracha's ankle. She proceeds to try to yank the smaller bird and fling her aside, like she's swinging a ragdoll by the leg.

Just because Bond let Sriracha attack first doesn't mean she was going to let the first blow actually collide. Or that she'd let the chicken have any dignity in this fight.]

[Sriracha lets out a startled squawk as she gets picked up by Bond and flung off to the side, hitting the wall with a dull THUD. Tiny feathers go everywhere, and Sriracha glares at Bond, jumping up onto her feet. She fluffs up, clearly annoyed. She said she could have the first hit! That wasn't fair!]

[That was your first hit, and it was a failure. Try again.

Once again, Bond stretches out her wings and leaves herself open for attack. But Sriracha can tell, now- her eyes are watching every little move the Combusken makes, and her muscles are tense. Ready to strike again at any second.]

[She lets out a frustrated noise, backing up a few feet to study Bond. After a few moments, she tries again, charging recklessly at Bond in almost the exact same manner as she did before. Sriracha lets out a loud crow as flames erupt around her and she tries to hit Bond with a Flame Charge.]

[This is just a sad display, kid.

The Talonflame doesn't even bother to use her beak this time- she holds up one taloned foot and grabs the Combusken mid-charge, forcibly holding her in place by whatever part of her body she was gonna try to attack with (presumably her kicking foot). The flames clearly don't bother her- she doesn't even flinch.

Instead of flinging Sriracha aside this time, she just stares her down. Disappointed. Is this really the best you can do? Her grip tightens.]

[Well, that knocks her off balance. She keeps squawking over and over again for Bond to let her go, that this isn't fair, and getting more and more pissed as she flails uselessly against the older Pokémon's grip.

Eventually, she lets out a frustrated series of clucks. She gives up, okay?! That's what she wants, right?! Ugh! You've proven your point!]

Edited 2019-08-04 03:30 (UTC)

Victory Road IC Inbox

post camp alpha, july 25?

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

the dw tools extension doesnt work. press f

no subject

no subject

no subject

tfw theres plenty of torchic and blaziken icons but only like 3 for combusken

mood im too lazy to get more rn

no subject

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)