This Always Happens [OPEN]

[Aris]

Well, they had certainly never been to something as extravagant as this before, nor had they really been expecting Lux and Nox to refrain from killing one another. But, so far, it seemed that was happening, the two opposing factions were getting along quite well, from what the two of them could see in the stands. Of course, people were more interested in what was going down on the field rather than beating up opposing faction members, so that was obviously a factor.

Still, it showed there was hope that Nox and Lux might be able to settle the huge differences they had, somehow. These, however, were only the observations of one of the twins, Ada, while the other one sat glued in her seat, staring wide-eyed down on the field. She was, quite obviously, excited to see what might happen next, and Ada had to poke her quite a few times before she stopped blanking out and focused on her sister. "Huh?" Anima questioned, blinking a few times as if to confirm that yes, Ada was indeed right there. The more composed of the two tried to not sigh, and she actually managed to succeed at this, for once.

More often than not she ended up sighing at her sister, but nope, not this time, thankfully. "I need a restroom...and I dunno where one is. Do you think you could help me find one?" Ada pleaded. That was odd, to see her sister pleading, and it was enough to convince her that whatever was going down way on the ground could wait. "Heh, sure sis. Of course I will." Anima confirmed. It wasn't long before the two of them were going around everywhere, hand in hand as they tried to find the restrooms, but in the end, they just managed to get themselves lost.

[jovi]

Jovi dashed through the crowd, squirming and wriggling past people, heedless of the cries of annoyance that followed her.

The President of Lux was here. President Cromwell was here.

She had to find him. She had to track him down, somehow, barge her way in on him, scale the building to get into his hotel room--anything. She was so close to the information she needed that she could almost taste it. She could almost see her brother before her, again, his bright shock of red hair, his smiling face.

Jovi would find him. The President of Lux would tell her where he was. And then they would be together again. And then, everything would be okay. They'd get water for Orre, they'd get their mom. Home would be fixed. She had no doubt that it would be so.

Because Michael was a hero, and there was nothing a hero couldn't do.

That thought still arrowed through her head as she plowed into figures int he front of her. Conjoined people? No, just twins holding hands. Jovi fell backwards onto her butt with a cry of surprise.

[surge]

"good hustle out there," surge commended, turning off the faucet as his jolteon plodded out of the shower basin. "just be sure to keep steady with your footing. i think i saw you slip out there."

the jolteon let out a gloomy whine as his trainer draped him in a fresh towel. the canine pawed at the white fabric, burying it's face as if to hide from the minor critique. no matter how well he performed, surge always had something to say. it wasn't as if surge didn't chastise himself, but jolteon still wasn't used to it. bill had spoiled him too much, always calling him a good boy and forcing treats of every flavor down his throats.

"stop crying already. there's a reason why you're out there and the others aren't. don't forget that."

it took a moment for jolteon to realize this. another moment before his stubby tail began whipping to and fro as it shook off the towel and water. with a happy bounce added to each step, the pokemon followed behind the master.

"what do you want for lunch?", surge asked, opening the door to leave the participant's locker room. surge didn't expect a intelligible answer, but jolteon always did respond better when surge took the extra mile to be a bit more social.

the canine answered with a chirpy yip, slipping out as the door closed behind him. jolteon was more than happy to take the lead, breaking past his trainer's rather leisured steps.

"jolt!", the pokemon cried, trotting toward the group of children ahead of them. without warning, the pokemon pulled up beside them, sniffing three with an earnest interest. it had been so long since jolteon had seen such small humans.

"are you kids suppose to be here?" surge called out, still a bit farther but closing in with a raised eyebrow.

[Aris]

...This always happened.

Either they bumped into someone, or they somehow got lost. Or even on occasion, it was both of the two. In this case, it was the very least one, a combination of both. First, they had bumped into a girl about their age (at least she looked about their age), and all three of the girls had been sent sprawling to the ground. Certainly not a good sign at all, not in the slightest, but oh no, it did not end there at all, not even. Because they could never just be lucky and wander into the right area, a Jolteon came up and began to sniff them, all three of them. And...oh whoa, was that Lieutenant Surge that was talking to them? The twins knew he was in the competition, in the Pokeathlon, from what they remembered.

Which really did not fit the macho man at all, but hey, it wasn't their place to tell him that a Pokeathlon didn't seem to fit him at all. Instead, they would have to answer him eventually, but first, they had to stand up, which of course, they did. Ada decided to handle Surge, because, based on his name, he was likely to be lively, and he did NOT need to start talking to Anima. "We kind of got...lost. Me and my sister, that is. We don't know the other girl. Based on where you just came out of...we are VERY lost, aren't we? We were looking for the restrooms." the girl explained to him, staring up at him with admiration.

Sure, he wasn't a gym leader in Johto, but he still was a gym leader, and he definitely deserved some total respect for that, at the very least. "Are you okay?" meanwhile, Anima offered a hand to Jovi, to help her up. Because they were the best people to talk to each other rather than Surge and Anima were, but hey, Ada had no idea who Jovi was. One could hardly blame her for making some kind of decision.

[jovi]

Jovi glared at the man from her place on the ground, mouth twitching. She'd been slowed down in her quest, and now he had the nerve to accost her? ]No one was going to keep her from her brother, and anyone who tried would--would--

She'd do something terrible to them!

Still, when Anima offered her her hand, Jovi sighed and took it, allowing herself to be pulled up.

"I'm fine," she answered, "Didn't get hurt. How are you? I'm sorry I ran into you, I should have been looking where I was going. I just got...excited by the event, I guess. My name is Jovi, nice to meet you!"

First person pronouns still felt awkward on her tongue, but Jovi had learned from her time in this new region that people didn't appreciate her referring to herself in the third person. She'd had stuff thrown at her, men and women calling her a crazy no good street-rat as they ran her off, shady side-eye looks--it just wasn't worth it. Nothing was like home. She supposed she couldn't be like the Jovi from home either, then.

[surge]

"i see...," he trailed off, glancing over at the other two. "and you'd be correct with that observation. good catch, kiddo."

it was an acceptable answer. surge didn't believe them but he had no reason to doubt their words. if anything, they were probably just some kid who wanted to explore just a tad too deep into the stadium grounds. he wasn't too concerned about that. after all, kids will be kids. it was his jolteon that was of more concern.

"joh, joh!"

the pokemon circled the children, ignoring their personal space and continuing to get a good whiff of their scent. with a soft purr, the canine slipped between jovi and anima, rubbing it's otherwise dull and flaccid fur against their legs.

all surge could do was frown at his jolteon's behavior. he wasn't too fond of fact that his pokemon got so comfty with strangers, neglecting their own feelings about the invasive pokemon.

"well the bathroom shouldn't be too far from here," he suggested, pointing in the direction the twins were heading earlier. "although now i'm obligated to escort you kids. i'll have to make sure you make it back to your parents without getting lost again."

[candice]

[rs=2][atrb=vAlign,top][atrb=width,55][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=style,border-bottom: 1.5px #FF0066 solid;][style=font-family: times new roman; font-size: 100px; font-weight: bold; text-align: center; margin-bottom: 10px; color: #00B2EE; margin-top: 12px;]*[/style]	[atrb=vAlign,top][atrb=width,135][style=font-family: arial; text-align: justify; margin-top: 10px;][style=font-size: 12px; text-transform: lowercase; letter-spacing: 2px; margin-left: 10px;][/style][style=font-size: 9px; letter-spacing: 0.5px;][/style] [style=font-family: tahoma; font-size: 8px; text-align:right; margin-top: -24px; margin-right:-8px] ✲ AMB Tanz[/style][/style]	[rs=2][atrb=vAlign,bottom][atrb=width,140][atrb=style,border-bottom: 1.5px #FF0066 solid;][style=font-family: arial; font-size: 9px; text-align: center; letter-spacing: 0.5px; margin-bottom: 5px; padding-right: 5px;] This post has 316 words and is tagged for Anima, Ada, Lt. Surge, and Jovi.[/style]
[atrb=vAlign,bottom][atrb=width,135][style=font-family: arial narrow; font-size: 20px; text-align: center; text-transform: lowercase; letter-spacing: 8px; color: #00B2EE; margin-bottom: -10px;]ice princess[/style]
[cs=3][atrb=vAlign,top][atrb=style,border-right: 1.5px #FF0066 solid; border-bottom: 1.5px #FF0066 solid; border-left: 1.5px #FF0066 solid; ][style=font-family: arial; font-size: 10.5px; text-align: justify; letter-spacing: 0.5px; padding: 10px; width: 320px;]Candice wasn't competing in the events, she really didn't have a specialty in any of them and therefore she was just here as a spectator. Being a gym leader she got all sorts of passes, though and was making her way to one of the special lounges for a quick lunch before going back to watch another round of the Contest. Looking ahead she noticed three little girls fall, quickly she approached them, but sadly Lt. Surge got to them first. She knew him, he was a fellow gym leader from Vermillion City. Candice didn't really have a fondness for him as he was Nox and well some of the gym leaders were just corrupt. When he started questioning the kids she immediately stepped in. She wouldn't stand for him to act like a jerk towards them. Instead she acted frantic to make a scene. Even if she actually didn't know their names she would act like they belonged to her. "Oh honey-boos, there you two are. Oh I see you met a friend, hi there sweety, I'm Candice!" The ice-type gym leader said in her chirpy voice. She then stood up and looked at Lt. Surge, giving him a glare. "Surge, I can take them from here. You have no need to worry, these two are my nieces and therefore I'm obligated to take care of them." The contests would be starting up again soon and in all honesty she just didn't want these kids to be bothered by Lt. Surge. Candice grinned at the girls, hoping they would play along otherwise they'd probably be taken away and no longer be able to have fun. that upset her as girls deserved to have fun. "So did you two find that restroom?" She asked having heard them say they were lost and looking for the restroom. [/style]

[Aris]

Anima managed to catch the sigh that had been given out by the other girl, and she had to wonder, for what purpose had she sighed? It wasn't as if she had done anything wrong, right...? Unless she was still irritated over being knocked over, but she had apologized for it! So there was no problem at all. At least, that was the way she thought. She was probably very, very wrong. But she was just a young, still somewhat idealistic young girl. Thankfully, Ada was always there to bring her back down to Earth in case her ideas and such went too high.

Either way though, it seemed that Anima was willing to be friendly to Jovi. "It was both of our faults actually. We both really weren't paying attention, were we?" Anima said with a smile. Well, technically it was Ada's fault too, but hey, Anima had been the one leading them, so it was her fault mostly for running smack dab into Jovi. "Good to meet you too, by the way! I'm Anima, and the girl talking with Surge is my sister. In case you couldn't tell by the family resemblance." Anima said, half-joking. There was no need to guess based on family resemblance that they were sisters; one could tell that much just by looking at the two of them.

They looked pretty much alike, though Anima had a more chipper look on her face than Ada did, that much was for sure. It was about that time that the Jolteon inserted itself into the conversation. Anima examined it for a few moments before giving an experimental pat on the head. "Thank you for the offer, but..." Ada trailed off, unsure how to explain to Surge they were there alone. Thankfully, a woman came up, and...claimed they were her nieces? Hrm...this woman was family. Wasn't she...Ada stopped herself from greeting the gym leader as if she was someone they didn't know. "Huh? Bu-" Anima began to say, before Ada quickly rushed over and clapsed a hand over her mouth.

Nothing suspicious about THAT at all. "Ahem. No, we didn't really find it. He offered to help though." Ada said to Candice, letting a rare smile grace her features. Might as well put up the best illusion she could, right?

[jovi]

The Jolteon that twined around her legs wasn't her brother's Jolteon. Jovi knew that. She knew it in her bones, and the knowledge was a knife in her heart--no, it was worse. She would have preferred a knife to the heart than this sight, this strange and foreign Jolteon twining around her legs as if it belonged there, as if she were home again, and safe, as if she could look up and Michael would be standing before her instead of these strange people in this strange city.

She couldn't do it. She couldn't break the spell. Dropping to a crouch, Jovi kept her gaze fixed on the Jolteon, offering it her fist to sniff briefly before scratching vigorously behind its ears, the same place where Michael's had liked, ever since she was an Eeevee. If she didn't look up, none of this was real. If she didn't look up, she was in Orre. It was that easy, right?

She was so intent, that she missed Candice's self-introduction, her claiming of Anima & Ada as her nieces. Jovi looked up, face blank as she realized what she had missed. There was no way she was ever going to pass for related to them anyway, right? Not with her bright blue hair.

Jovi looked at Surge, mouth dry. Still, she was learning to lie on her feet. "I'm here with my brother, actually. He's in an event right now, but I can just get back to the stadium." Her hand didn't leave the Jolteon's fur.

[surge]

how... pecular.

that was one way of putting it. it was as plain as day to him that something odd was at hand. perhaps it was the glare and sense of hosility candice radiated? or maybe it was the fact that ada was quick to quiet anima? regardless of the reason, surge kenw something was afoot.

"is that right?" he addressed candice, unsure of who she really was. sure, the sinnoh gym leader knew him, but who didn't? lux had done a good job of defaming him after vermillion was seiged. as for him, he didn't particularly care about foreign leaders. there was his neighbors to the west in johto, and the various other electric specialist dotted in different regions. if the war had waited a few years, he might've taken a trip to snowpoint to establish a naval trade route but bloodshed waited for no man.

the pooch relished in being acknowledged by the two girls, snuggling up against each touch. jovi however, decided to go all out and pamper him with pats and rubs. the eccentric canine let out a loud, crackling purr as it rubbed against her. oh, how long it had been since someone other than surge had graced him with some much needed scratching.

"jooooollllll~"

"it's fine," surge reassured jovi, "it's not too hard to get lost in a place like this. surprised they don't have any maps pasted on the walls."

"jolty's seems to have taken a liking to you too," he noticed, unsure what to make of his pokemon feverishly licking jovi in a bout of affection. "and if you're brothers still competing, it'd be nice to see the competition. he up for battling or pokeathlon?"

"as for you three... why don't we all just go together? been needing a break since my event ended anyway."

of course, that was just a lie to keep an eye on them. if anything, they were one too many types of suspicious.

[candice]

[rs=2][atrb=vAlign,top][atrb=width,55][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=style,border-bottom: 1.5px #FF0066 solid;][style=font-family: times new roman; font-size: 100px; font-weight: bold; text-align: center; margin-bottom: 10px; color: #00B2EE; margin-top: 12px;]*[/style]	[atrb=vAlign,top][atrb=width,135][style=font-family: arial; text-align: justify; margin-top: 10px;][style=font-size: 12px; text-transform: lowercase; letter-spacing: 2px; margin-left: 10px;][/style][style=font-size: 9px; letter-spacing: 0.5px;][/style] [style=font-family: tahoma; font-size: 8px; text-align:right; margin-top: -24px; margin-right:-8px] ✲ AMB Tanz[/style][/style]	[rs=2][atrb=vAlign,bottom][atrb=width,140][atrb=style,border-bottom: 1.5px #FF0066 solid;][style=font-family: arial; font-size: 9px; text-align: center; letter-spacing: 0.5px; margin-bottom: 5px; padding-right: 5px;] This post has 355 words and is tagged for Anima, Ada, Lt. Surge, and Jovi.[/style]
[atrb=vAlign,bottom][atrb=width,135][style=font-family: arial narrow; font-size: 20px; text-align: center; text-transform: lowercase; letter-spacing: 8px; color: #00B2EE; margin-bottom: -10px;]ice princess[/style]
[cs=3][atrb=vAlign,top][atrb=style,border-right: 1.5px #FF0066 solid; border-bottom: 1.5px #FF0066 solid; border-left: 1.5px #FF0066 solid; ][style=font-family: arial; font-size: 10.5px; text-align: justify; letter-spacing: 0.5px; padding: 10px; width: 320px;]All she knew that she wasn't going to let any of these girls run off alone with just anyone, especially Surge. He'd probably try to brain wash them and convince them to change to Nox's ways, which she would not stand for. Candice smiled at all three girls; Anima, Ada, and Jovi trying to reassure them that she was on their side. She couldn't stand the facade that Surge was putting up trying to be all friendly with these kids. It made her happy to see that at least one of the girls was able to go along with the charades. Candice would be going to save them as no one deserved to have to sit through anything with Surge. "Awe, that's too bad. I'll go looking with you." She told them knowing if she left them alone Surge would just get up to his naughty ways and try and give them some dumb Nox slander. Therefore she was going to be their aunt no matter what it took. And even with this other girl entranced in the Jolteon, she wouldn't let her go anywhere alone with Surge, either. "Who's your brother, sweety? I might know him." Candice said to Jovi trying to find any way for them to get away from Surge as she did not trust him one bit. Now he was offering to take them away. She would not have for that as he would do such bad things to them and well it was Lux's job to keep people safe. That meant she was required to protect these little girls from a scary man like Surge. "I'll take my nieces from here, and sweety you can come, too. Then maybe I can talk to some of my friends competing to get us to go backstage and see him after he wins his competition!" Candice said, even though she knew that that probably wouldn't happen, but at least it sounded plausible. Besides she had to make herself look better than going with Surge. "For now we have to find the bathroom, though."[/style]

[Aris]

Surge struck Ada as overly suspicious. Really, they were just three little girls...it wasn't as if they could really do much even if his suspicions were well-founded. Which they weren't, really, considering they really had been trying to get to the bathroom. Ada was even wondering if this man was a gym leader; he wasn't too smart, in her opinion. But she would just let Candice deal with him; let adults deal with other adults, after all. And besides, Candice seemed to be willing to help them, so why ruin anything she had planned? "So...ahem, Surge, was it? You just want to help a woman take her two nieces to the bathroom? Do you realize how odd that sounds?" was what Ada DID decide to point out, however.

In conjunction to what Candice had said, of course. Honestly though, that did strike her as kind of...not right, but that was all she was going to say on the matter. Plus, why wouldn't the aunt be able to take care of her two nieces? Surge had no reason to doubt they were Candice's nieces, aside from the orange hair. But hey, families didn't always look exactly like one another.

"Your Jolteon sure is energetic." Anima chimed in at that time to Surge, seeing as how she had been watching, jealousy building in her, as the Jolteon showered Jovi in affection.

Well, she didn't need that affection, not if it was coming from the pokemon of a guy so suspicious! But...the Jolteon WAS adorable. It wasn't it's fault it's trainer was so suspicious. With that thought in mind, the child began to compete with Jovi for the affection of the Jolteon; now she too was petting it as much as she could. She was going to give it more affection than it could possible handle, and then some!

[jovi]

Jovi squealed under the Jolteon's affection, barely paying attention to the conversation that was happening above her head, though bits and pieces filtered through.

"M-my brother's not in either," she stammered out in answer to Surge, trying to rub the Jolteon's belly and answer coherently at the same time. "He's in the contest! He has a Jolteon just like you! They've been training for ages." Her lie was so pleasant to believe--she almost enjoyed getting caught up in it. The idea of seeing Michael again, larger than life and surrounded by cheering fans, fighting through the crowd to his side; and he would pick her up and swing her around and everything would be okay again, it would all be okay.

"I don't want to go with you," she pouted at Candice. "I want to stay with Jolteon and Surge and see my brother!"

[surge]

all he knew was that he wasn't going to let any of these girls run off alone, especially with someone so suspicious as candice. whatever suspicions he had on the snowpoint gym leader came to fruition when she began to brag about her connections. it had been clearly presented to all participants that no one other than staff was allowed past tourist points. sneaking anyone in would result in disqualification and immediate eviction from the events. allowing both lux and nox into one area was already a risky move, which is exactly why the officials were so anal about safety hazzards. this would be their only chance to showcase how peaceful unova could be. they wouldn't let anything muck it up.

but, surge kept this to himself. there was no reason to vocally oust out candice's own lie. he was sure the children wouldn't understand or perhaps, there was the off chance she really was their aunt. maybe she was just disillusioned or misguaged the power of her connections. either way, surge would let her continue this little front. it didn't matter anymore, he knew she was lying. his instincts were rarely wrong.

"help?" surge questioned, assessing ada's choice of connotation. "that's not the word i'd use but sure, you can go with that." perhaps she really was their aunt? there was a lingering moment of doubt before jovi spoke out, reassuring his earlier judgements.

fortunately, jolteon was oblivious to his trainer's plight. he was too busy induldging on the delicious love both anima and jovi was drowning in. soon enough it became a contest of who could please jolteon the most. anima had redoubled her efforts causing jolteon to happily apply a slather of licks and purrs as her reward but jovi was the girl to beat. soon enough the canine couldn't administer his praise for the two of them adequently. there was only one clear cut solution. bask in their love. so. much. love.

"jolteon~"

with another sharp cry of bliss, the jolteon rolled over, with his legs upright, jolty whimpered, waiting for the girls to tend to him as his tail furiously batted against the tile flooring.

"either way, i got to go to the bathroom. excuse me," surge finished, unwilling to push against candice anymore. if anima and ada wanted to stick with their "aunt" who was he to deny them. it wasn't really his problem so his will began to drop. his jolteon was enough, and jovi was almost sure to follow.

and with that, surge began to leave, taking the route he had pointed out for the children earlier. he paused for a moment, letting out a sharp whistle. on instinct, jolteon came to it's feet, ready to answer surge's beck and call. with soft bark and kiss for ada and jovi, the faithful pokemon began to trot after it's master.

"a jolteon you say? interesting. i'm sure he'll do great in the contest," he spoke, a silent beckon for jovi as he petted the pursuing jolteon. "never been too into contest but i can make an exception."