Clashing Views, Testing Friendships [Surge]

[erika]

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[/style]Erika carefully held the watering canteen in her grasp, letting the liquid stream from the nozzle of it just over the flowers she was growing in the pokeball-designed flowerbed. The red and white tulips on either side of the dark purple ones seemed to lean towards the water she let fall upon them. The Grass-type specialist smiled some and placed the can on the ground. Hopefully Surge wakes up soon… she thought, glancing towards the back of her Gym where the rooms were situated. He was in guest room, perfect for occasions like the one that was suddenly upon her days ago when Surge stumbled in, injured and rained upon in need of somewhere to stay. To her, it was almost as though the hedges that blocked her view of his door weren’t even there.

He had been getting better since she’d started treating him, and she hoped he’d be well enough to spend more time out of his room today than he had been.

A small rattle made her look up. A nervous, untamed Seedot and Lotad had pushed their way out of the bushes. One of her trainers must have gotten back from an expedition to Hoenn and brought along some companions. ”Hello there…” she said quietly to them, extending a hand, stopping when they both appeared to jump. ”…I won’t hurt you, I promise…”

suddenly upon her,

❚ WORDS: 227
❚ TAGS: Spiral as Surge
❚ NOTES: I went with the idea you sent to me, "surge was very subtle about this but one day it explodes out of frustration and they battle over it". sort of as a continuation of our last thread, but long enough after he fled Vermillion to heal up enough to debate about Lux VS Nox with and battle Erika? c:
❚ CREDITS: Ambassador Tanz

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[surge]

How long had it been since Vermillion went down in flames? Surge couldn’t tell you. Time was lost on him and he couldn’t even point out what week it was. There wasn’t a need to count anymore-- his routine didn‘t require it. All he could muster was to wake up when he couldn’t sleep anymore, eat a small meal Erika had so gracious left at his bedside, examine himself and reopen his wounds while trying assess his strength, and silently resign to having someone patch himself back up. It was a vicious cycle of self pity and bitterness but it gave him life. He needed to be able to pick himself up, able to mold his future with his two bare hands. But he couldn’t. Not now, not how he was. So he’d push himself to become stronger and more capable. If only his body could keep up. Will power wouldn’t stop his cuts from bleeding or his infection from spreading. Only rest and patience would and Surge was anything but.

Today was different though. The large man had passed out long enough for a light, weary layer of skin to form. His scabs and muscles no longer stung from being stretched or pulled. He could actually exert himself. Maybe today he would leave the confines of her guestroom and actually accomplish something. Maybe…

If he was going to leave the first thing Surge would need would be his pokemon. He didn’t dare expose himself to the world without his trusted companions. It was more a matter of loyalty on his part than dependency on them. There was no way he could leave them confined to his pokeballs after all they had done for him. If they were going to be kept inside, he was going to be there to watch over them. The only problem was how to keep them on him. While Erika had done her best to provide him clothes, they proved too small and too tight for his larger frame. Even the grand department store in Celadon didn’t sell fitted clothing for him. Most of his stuff was made from custom tailors in Vermillion anyway. The only thing he still had was his torn vest, which he reluctantly slapped over his bare chest as he exited his room. Nothing but a military vest and boxer briefs-- This was Erika’s Gym. There was nothing to worry about, right? If there was, Surge didn’t give enough fucks to care about it. He had confined himself to solitude for long enough.

“Erika! What’s today?”

His booming voice echoed across the Gym as he fitted the last pokeball onto his vest strap. Whatever productivity he lost during his rest was going to be made up real soon.

[erika]

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[/style]The Seedot and Lotad had both crept closer in the silence she left between them. The nervous little pokemon were clearly only babies. Raising them in her Gym would be fun, as raising any pokemon or plant was. They had finally come close enough for Erika to lean forward and gently place her fingertips on each of them, one on the Seedot cap-head, and the other on the middle of the Lotad’s leaf. She moved her hands slowly and gently to pet them. ”See?” she murmured quietly, ”It’s alright.”

They visibly relaxed and appeared to enter a near trance-like state before the calm silence was interrupted by a booming voice from the back of the Gym. The trio all jumped, and Erika couldn’t help but smile slightly, glancing back in the direction of the sound. Surge…he sounds better today. Maybe her poultice remedies were finally paying off. They worked slow, but when they finally took hold, it was a successful treatment.

The Grass-type specialist looked back down at the two pokemon, who were now clearly frightened again. ”It’s alright to be skittish…you’ll get better.” A rustle of the bushes revealed an Exeggcute and Bellsprout seemingly playing a small ways off. ”Go play with them.” She pointed at the two pokemon, and the young ones looked between Erika and the others before nodding and running to follow.

”I don’t know, Surge…” she called loud enough to be heard, though still gently. She turned and stood with a small smile. ”…the day you’re finally feeling better?”

suddenly upon her,

❚ WORDS: 254
❚ TAGS: Spiral as Surge
❚ NOTES: --
❚ CREDITS: Ambassador Tanz

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[surge]

Well that wasn’t quite the answer he was looking for. If it had came from anyone else, namely one of his crewmates, they‘d be personally thrown overboard. But it came from Erika and was void of any sarcastic sense of humor. He could tolerate that. Didn‘t mean he was any more pleased. Surge already knew his face would contort into his typical scowl as he waited for a more definite answer.

It didn’t.

His facial muscles wouldn’t listen to him as he tried his best to snuff out the small smile off his face. “I guess you’re right,” Surge murmured. Still somewhat drowsy, Surge did his best to stretch and loosen himself out as he made his way over to the other Gym Leader.

“So what happened while I was out?”

Surge went straight to business. As far as he knew, he had been out for at least two weeks. Far too long with the approaching institutionalization of the Lux regiment. His uttermost priority was catching up.

He needed to catch up fast.

[erika]

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[/style]Erika folded her hands in front of herself, resting them against the silk of her kimono lightly. Right to business, as she should have expected. The Grass-type specialist sighed slightly, the smile dropping to a more neutral expression, only twitching in the direction of a frown that she felt behind her eyes. Oh Surge... she thought, tearing her eyes from where they’d fallen to the grassy ground beneath their feet to look back up at the man that towered over her.

”While you were out...’ she began quietly, not wanting to admit what she’d read in the papers. ”...Lux made a powerful move. Probably using the incident in Vermillion - ” she almost flinched slightly, as though she was afraid the mention of it would upset him, ” – as a stepping stone. Pallet Town and Lavender Town practically jumped at the chance to be taken under Lux’s wing. Fuschia and Viridian are now under the Lux flag as well...I’ve heard that Lux has plans for what will become of those two cities...something like a military academy in Viridian, and another specialized training facility will be based in Fuschia.” She frowned slightly, knowing it was only a matter of time befor the large twin cities – Saffron and Celadon – would be sought after.

”Currently they’re waging their ballots in Pewter as well. I haven’t heard from Brock but...I imagine he’s resisting them. I hope he’s alright...” The Gym Leader raised a curled-over hand to her lips, clutching one of her sleeves beneath her fingers as though the silk touching her lips would keep her calm.

”Celadon, Saffron, Cinnabar, the Seafoam Islands, and Cerulean City have yet to encounter any Lux to come our way...”

suddenly upon her,

❚ WORDS: 282
❚ TAGS: Spiral as Surge
❚ NOTES: --
❚ CREDITS: Ambassador Tanz

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[surge]

Surge wasn’t sure what bothered him more; the fact that he had the foresight to see this coming or the fact that everyone had flatly ignored him. Regardless, groaning about it wouldn’t make much difference now. Nothing really would. He would have to bite down on his tongue and swallow the reality that Lux was in power now. All he could do is sit around as a helpless spectator as events transpired. He would grow to loath every second of it.

“Pallet Town and Lavender lack any real power so joining would bring them up to par,“ Surge stated indifferently. It was obvious from the League sponsored meeting who was readily willing to endorse Lux. Admittedly, the news about Fuschia surprised him. Then again, Surge never truly knew Koga too well. That man was something else entirely-- Sabrina level of different.

Aside from a small sneer at the mention of a military academy, Surge wasn’t too surprised by the news. The only thing worth noting was Pewter’s hesitance. But in the end that’s all it was, hesitance.

“Brock is just a kid. With time, even he’ll buckle under them. Everyone will. They only reason they‘re waiting is because Cinnabar and Seafoam are useless. Once everyone else is Lux, Celadon and Saffron cannot refuse.”

That was the grave reality of the situation. Kanto was going to be a Lux nation whether he liked it or not. What hurt the most that there was nothing he could do about it. Things had gone too far, too quickly. With everything set in stone, the only question left was:

“So what now?”

[erika]

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[/style]Erika looked back up at Surge when he began speaking. It was as though he’d suddenly become a more accurate psychic than the vendors in the streets using their pokemon to scam ignorant customers into forseeing their futures. Surge, though, had seen the future of an entire region and it was so far right – not questionable like that of a person’s being predicted. I can’t believe Lux is doing this… Though Erika didn’t like it, she was always open to change, promising herself that everything would eventually have changed for the better and it would be shown one way or another.

”I just want Brock to be okay…” she murmured, blinking a bit sadly at the thought of their junior and what he was facing for putting up a resisting front. Then he mentioned Celadon and Saffron. Erika instantly thought of Sabrina, and she looked to the East worrying about how her friend would react to the Lux front swimming their way.

”How will I react?” she murmured to herself, looking back at Surge.

”I…” she was at a loss, she didn’t know what to do when there was so much water rushing past the way she was swimming. She figured she’d turn and swim with the current. ”…I don’t know…” she admitted, too timid to think of anything that could hurt Lux’s powerful battering ram of a force. ”What can we do?”

suddenly upon her,

❚ WORDS: 233
❚ TAGS: Spiral as Surge
❚ NOTES: omg if this doesnt make sense its 3AM on a monday morning why the hell am I awake im sorry ;;
❚ CREDITS: Ambassador Tanz

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[surge]

“Brock will be fine. They won’t rough him up too much-- he’s only a kid.”

There was very little for him to say about his junior gym leader. What little he could would be left to vague statements. Colder than what some of peers would’ve liked but there was no longer room to coddle the boy. If they could cast out Surge with such prejudice then it was safe to say that Brock’s hesitance wouldn’t be too welcomed. Either he’d have to grow up or leave the politics to the men. Men who had no idea what they were doing with a bureaucracy that was going to ruin their home.

“Nothing from the looks of it. Everyone already made up their mind and it won’t change. Not until they’ve gone too far to change things back to how it was.”

The sheer one-sidedness of the League meeting made it clear how everyone stood on the subject. Their Lux biasness would surpass that of even Redox, otherwise thought of as an impossible scenario. Now they would have to reap what they sowed. Weeks would pass before they realized it but the world would change. A room of Kanto’s most trusted had guaranteed that.

[erika]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true] [style=float: left; margin: 0 5 0 10;][style=background-color: #ebebeb; border: 10px #0de01f solid; padding: 2px; height: 80px; width: 80px;] [/style] Erika swallowed, nodding hesitantly as she tried to force her friend’s words to reassure her. ”I-I wish he would at least give word about how he is after everything settles…if he can.” She can’t shake the feeling that something bad will happen. Then again, with the state of things, worry seems to be a common mindset for her. The Grass specialist inhaled slightly, calming her easily-upset nerves. ”I just…” she swallowed uncomfortably, sensing the strong emotion that her friend seemed to be holding against Lux and the movement they made through their Kanto Region. ”…I just want what’s best for the region.” she admits quietly, ”I want everybody to be safe and happy…” The Grass type specialist reached into the long, draping sleeve portions of her kimono, into the pocket that practically formed from the way the fabric was cut. She grasped in her hand one of her pokeballs, raising it to her chin and gently resting her head on it. ”I wanted what was best for pokemon, too…” The young Gym Leader clutched the pokeball, ”I still have some faith that after this is done, there will be peace…like how it used to be.” It was true – though it was diminishing, the trust she had in the League had yet to fade. [style=color: #0de01f; font-family: arial narrow; letter-spacing: 1.5px; font-size: 30px; font-style: italic;]the beautiful flower wilts, ❚ WORDS: 213 ❚ TAGS: Spiral as Surge ❚ NOTES: ahh an Erika post feels good ❚ CREDITS: Ambassador Tanz [/style][/style][/style]

[surge]

“You’ll see it in the news.”

A gruff guttural noise escaped his throat as Surge turned away, hacking a small cough, still afflicted from the cold that had been plaguing him among other things. Surge could muster a shrug at her statement, unsure of how to address her without upsetting her. “Everyone does.”

The flowers that made up the Gym gave it a serene feeling, relaxing and instilling a relative feeling of peacefulness. It was different, odd, the opposite of his own. The Vermillion Gym would always be crackling with the sound of electricity, armed with harmless booby traps to punish the dimwitted trainers that dared to challenge him. But their Gyms reflected who they really were. As friendly as they were, they were different, opposite sides of the same spectrum: Erika the optimistic, Surge the pessimist.

“No matter how much we disagree—and how stupid they are, they just want the best for Kanto.”

But sometimes it hurt to be too optimistic. Sometimes you had to be able to clarify the difference between being hopeful and delusional. Sometimes, no matter how polite Surge tried to be he couldn’t help but look like an ass.

Erika’s last statement forced him to chuckle, to laugh at the sheer grandeur of the statement. If only he could see it her way.

If only.

“For our sake, I hope you’re right.”

[erika]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true] [style=float: left; margin: 0 5 0 10;][style=background-color: #ebebeb; border: 10px #0de01f solid; padding: 2px; height: 80px; width: 80px;] [/style] She smiled a bit at his chuckle, and the Grass-type specialist was almost relieved to hear the sound come from her friend. At least he wasn’t too bent up by all the going-ons of Kanto to even make a small sound like that one. She glanced down at the Venusaur in the pokeball that she’d rested her chin on, the pokemon inside staring up at her through the transparent red material that clipped down into the white, opaque bottom half. It was almost as though the pokemon wanted to be there for its troubled trainer. It was then that a hopeful, admittedly naïve, thought came to the Gym Leader’s mind, and she quickly placed her small, pale hands on Surge’s much larger arm. ”Oh, Surge…when everything is settled, and Kanto is no longer having civil disputes like it is now, do you think then you’ll come back to us?” Her emerald eyes were large and hopeful, ”Back to the League you stood as a Gym Leader for? Back to me?” Although she still viewed him as the person she looked up to more than any other in the Indigo League, she had to admit that it hurt some when she reminded herself he didn’t share her ideas and hopes for Kanto. ”Then it can be like nothing ever happened…and everyone can be happy again.” It sounded wonderful to her hopeful, child-like mind. [style=color: #0de01f; font-family: arial narrow; letter-spacing: 1.5px; font-size: 30px; font-style: italic;]the beautiful flower wilts, ❚ WORDS: 232 ❚ TAGS: Spiral as Surge ❚ NOTES: finals are dooone <3 ❚ CREDITS: Ambassador Tanz [/style][/style][/style]

[surge]

“Of course.”

The answer comes out instantaneously, unfiltered; there’s no need for him to think about it. Even now, he’s unsure of the decision, unaware of how his home will change during his time gone. It’s a lie that’ll bite at him over the years but Surge doesn’t intend to carry it out as a lie. Circumstances change and with it does his current situation.

“And if it doesn’t, I’ll fix it.”

Years will pass but eventually, those words will come to fruition. Burdens will linger and Surge will reek of regret, but with his own two hands he’ll restore the crumbling empire of his home land. That he knows because he can’t let everyone down.

He can’t let Erika down.

“If anything, I’ll be here for you.”

There’s no romance behind those words, simply a promise of loyalty between two friends. Surge has no time for trivialities and he’s already had his trust crushed underneath the League’s foot. Instead, he does his best to console her, his frown a bit smaller and his expression less stern; it’s the best he can do.