2024-01-02: With My Friends
- Log: With My Friends
- Cast: Damian Tamaoka, Arisugawa Joy, Peace Kishinami
- Where: Viridian City - Emerald Way
- Date: January 02, 2024
- Summary: Damian finds out that the two friends he's been trying to find are with Team Rocket. He texts them to ask to talk, and the three friends reunite.
=======================<* Viridian City - Emerald Way *>======================== Viridian City is a city of many importances; it is the major commerce and logistics hub within the Emerald Cape province, providing primary access to the western reaches of the Kanto region. It's of no surprise, then, that it sports an expansive and well-developed commercial district, with Market Way providing a wide variety of shops and goods for all walks of life. Lush and adorned with nature, Viridian's residents enjoy a spacious and relaxed environment, with most living in medium-density apartment blocks three to four stories high. The market is most recently memorably featured in the hit single by sensational Nedean-pop band 2BA, "I'm on the Road to Viridian City." BGM: Pokemon: Let's Go, Eevee & Pikachu! - Pewter City - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGrGjO5F6ZM
<Pose Tracker> Damian Tamaoka has posed.
EARLIER
Damian sighed as he sat in a corner booth in the dining area of a local Pokemon Center, somewhat curled up in a corner booth with a laptop in his lap. Purrloin was there, too, draped across the top of the booth seat, one paw dangling down and her tail draped gently around Damian's shoulders. The droning of a news reporter from a TV mounted on the wall provided a backdrop to the quiet conversations happening nearby.
He wasn't really doing anything, though. He'd come in for a drink and had been nursing the same soda for... quite a while now. This was just a place to be for a while while he tried to figure out what what he wanted to do.
He wasn't making much progress on that front.
Still, he was drifting from website to website, hoping vainly something would catch his attention when Purrloin suddenly let out an insistent mew. That tail around his shoulders tightened subtly, and Damian looked up to his pokemon with a blink. "What is it, Purrloin?"
The feline pokemon was staring at the TV.
... was sighted this morning attacking Professor Oak's lab, though no serious injuries were reported...
It was a blurry shot--security footage, perhaps, or someone's cell phone, maybe? But two of the faces in the photo were unmistakable.
Damian stared at the faces of the two people he had been trying to find for the last month, who he'd been avoiding him for months, now.
"No way..."
It took him a while to convince himself of what he was seeing, and then to finally work on composing a text. Purrloin was in his lap now, nuzzling at his stomach as he worked with his phone, hands shaking lightly. He had been rewriting and rewriting the message again and again, trying to lie to himself that it had to be perfect to convince them to see him again after so long.
He was stalling, and he knew it.
Miaw509: Look, you don't have to hide anything from me anymore. I saw the news. I'm not mad or anything.
Miaw509: Just...
Miaw509: Can we talk?
Miaw509: Please?
NOW
The meeting had been arranged for a cafe--a proper cafe, not one part of a Pokemon Center. He had taken up a corner booth again, and was petting Purrloin with one hand while nervously checking his phone with the other. Checking for the thousandth time in case they texted or something happend.
Just in case.
<Pose Tracker> Arisugawa Joy has posed.
THEN
A text comes five minutes later:
@alice_in_wonderland443:
I understand. I'll be there.
NOW
Joy enters the cafe, looking not all that much worse for the wear, thanks to Miss Anne's Symbological healing. There are still some bandages and patches over her, but nothing dramatic and significant. She's dressed in that white coat with the R on its back, her turtleneck sweater and jeans, and her baker boy hat.
"Mia."
(Will he be upset at me...?)
She steps quietly towards his table, and sits down opposite.
"It's been a while."
Despite her face not changing one bit, something in her body does:
GRRRRRRRRR
"... ... I haven't eaten today."
<Pose Tracker> Peace Kishinami has posed.
... ... well... depending on how you look at things, Peace Kishinami is either permanently evasive or completely incapable of being evasive. A little too fond of getting lost in her own projects and vanishing for a while, there's a definite chance that she simply never saw any of the messages from when Damian was trying to find their location, and even if she did she's not terrifically good at texting people or venturing personal information without being explicitly asked about something.
So if you allow for a long enough length of time for Joy to tell Peace to check her messages, you get:
@pcksnm123456:
oh
ok
eggggggr44i9999999999999999o
sry, sylveon
* * *
Peace is following a little behind Joy, already glancing at the menu as she walks inside. If she shares Joy's fears or worries about this meeting it doesn't really show on her face; she meets Damian's expression with the same rather muted expression as usual, though the corners of her mouth do curl up into a quiet sort of smile as she raises a hand in greeting.
She doesn't sport the Team Rocket insignia; apparently she's decided this occasion marks a day off from her duties, because she doesn't even have her labcoat with her. The only Eevee in sight is draped over one shoulder, dozing on her blouse.
"Hey," she simply notes as she sits down, and then wordlessly turns to stare at the sound of Joy's stomach.
** Arisugawa Joy is looking at you. **
<Pose Tracker> Damian Tamaoka has posed.
Damian is staring at his phone when Joy enters, and it takes Purrloin headbutting his stomach gently to get him to look up. He freezes in place as he sees her. There is a muted, stunned "Y-you..."
Purrloin hops off of his lap just as he scrambles to his feet, rushing forward to draw Alice into a tight hug--an almost desperately tight one, as if he's afraid she'll somehow vanish if he doesn't hold on tight enough.
"Alice, you had me so worried!"
(I was afraid you wouldn't actually come.)]
After a moment of that he lets her go, remembering how she doesn't care for them, but he looks her up and down, seeing the rocket outfit. "So it's true.."
Nami's arrival earns her another equally tight hug, though he's careful not to disturb the pokemon sleeping on her. "Nami! You both made it!"
He steps back after that. He's grown taller since they all last saw each other, but he barely looks like he's grown up much. Right now he's dressed rather casually in a zippered hoodie, baggy shorts, and sneakers. After the initial burst of excitement at seeing his friends and the hugs, his energy level seems to drop quite a bit, and he looks mostly tired as a result. "Um... I have a table..."
He leads them back and they all get seated, and then Joy's stomach rumbles. "Joy, you have to take better care of yourself..." It's an old, well-worn bit of worry.
He calls the waitress over to place orders, ordering a burger and fries for himself, and then when the waitress leaves he looks to his two friends. "... I have... a lot of questions."
<Pose Tracker> Arisugawa Joy has posed.
Joy flinches a little at Damian's hug, since her ribcage is still aching even after the healing; she raises her arm to his back, however, and properly returns the hug.
"My ribs are a bit bruised right now. It's okay, though. I'm sorry to worry you."
Joy speaks in quiet, curt sentences, without betraying her emotions much; a lot of people mistake this for coldness, but Damian and Peace have known her enough that this isn't the case.
When Damian chides her for her carelessness, she glances aside with a nod. "You're right," she says. She orders ketchup spaghetti, as she often does.
Damian has a lot of questions, and she glances over to Peace for a moment. "I understand. I also will understand if you're angry at me."
<Pose Tracker> Peace Kishinami has posed.
Peace takes the hug with remarkable aplomb; she doesn't exactly return it, but it's not awkward so much as she just defaults to patting Damian on the back in return, because the easiest way to navigate this situation is to pretend that he's a Pokemon for a moment.
"Mm," she confirms with a light nod and another lopsided smile when he excitedly says they made it, and then follows along behind the pair to the table. She makes it halfway before her Eevee wakes up, realizes there's food nearby, and excitedly hops off her shoulder to take up one of the chairs at the table, sitting to attention.
At least once she's sitting, she seems to be taking things more seriously; perhaps the mention of 'questions' is what makes her sit up properly in her seat, because whatever else you can say about Peace there is a part of her that will always be a Professor.
... on the other hand, it might also be because the waitress is coming their way. Moments later, Peace has an order placed for an incredibly sweet-looking slice of cheesecake and a hot chocolate, and a saucer of milk for the Pokemon slowly going insane with little whines next to her.
She doesn't deflate again, but the self-satisfied smile at the prospect of sweets does filter away a little; as if remembering why they're here, she looks to Joy with a half-shrug of one shoulder. "It is what it is," she notes mostly to herself, then looks up. "We can't guarantee you'll like the answers."
<Pose Tracker> Damian Tamaoka has posed.
Damian looks appropriately horrified when Joy mentions she's injured, and quickly lets her go. "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry. How did--" Damian winces. "Right, the fight. I'm sorry, I should've thought of that."
He does appreciate Joy hugging him back, though, as he always does. And he's content enough with Peace patting him on the back, too. He might be the most huggy of the three, but he appreciates that his friends try for him.
He looks between both Joy and Peace. "Mad? I'm not mad I'm just..." He looks down to his lap, where Purrloin crawls back into it to accept more pettings from Damian. His voice grows quiet. "I was just... worried. I just... wanted to see you both again. It's been so long a-and..."
Purrloin meows softly and stands up in Damian's lap, and Damian wraps her up in a hug, where the feline pokemon rubs her cheek against his. "... I just missed you guys. Home's been awful without you two around."
There is a brief smile for the antics of Peace's Eevee, but then it fades a bit as Peace says he might not like their answers. Damian nods to that, sighing tiredly as he tries to get his thoughts in order.
"... I guess... How long?" He looks between both of them. "... and why?"
<Pose Tracker> Arisugawa Joy has posed.
Joy's eyes cross towards Peace's Eevee for a moment, then to the Purrloin that Damian has with him. "Purrloin seems to be doing well," she remarks, ever making time for Pokemon around them.
Peace advises that Damian might not like the answers, and that readies her for what's to come; but Damian says he's not mad, just worried. It's been too long.
(He's right. We haven't made time for each other for a while... I can't even excuse it all on school.)
Damian mentions home's been awful. "Are your parents being more strict than ever...?" Joy has some firsthand experience with them, no doubt -- and in a way, Damian's parents are part of the chain that made her own parents the way they are.
She sets a little berry for Eevee, then looks back to Damian as he asks why.
"About one month, and..." Her eyes narrow as she looks down at the table. "At first, I realised how empty I had become, only going through the motions at nursing school. I was inspired to change my life... but now..."
She laces her hands together as she leans forward gently.
"I also want to fight the Ten Wise Men. Those villains on the news, the ones we learnt about in history class. The adults around me all told me to just let the police handle it... but I can't just sit around and do nothing."
<Pose Tracker> Peace Kishinami has posed.
Something flickers across Peace's face for a moment and then comes to rest as a dissatisfied frown. It's nostalgia mixed in with something else, and it leaves her avoiding anyone's eyes as she lets out a faint breath. "I think home was pretty bad even before we left," she notes without too much bite to her voice.
She looks back up, listening as Joy details her reasons for being with Team Rocket. Her eyes close when Joy mentions feeling empty, but only for a brief instant, and then she's back to looking rather impassive. When it comes down to it, she doesn't really have anything that impressive. If you boil it down to the pure facts... "I think it's been about a year. The Pokemon League and I had differences we couldn't reconcile in our approaches. Not that I mind them, really, but..."
With a shrug, she trails off for a few seconds. "Team Rocket are funding my research. And allowing me to publish it for others. It's a good deal. As for the rest... I wanted to see what sort of team Alice would make."
She doesn't really mean to leave out so many details and gloss over so much, but that's just how Peace is when not in full-blown Professor mode. If anything, the most telling thing is that she's used Joy's nickname. There's a straightforward sincerity as she says it; whatever that sentence might mean exactly, it's something she seems to feel strongly about.
It's instantly ruined by stuffing a dessert fork in her mouth. "Mm," she hums as she starts to slouch in her chair.
<Pose Tracker> Damian Tamaoka has posed.
Purrloin stops her nuzzling of Damian's cheek--really, she's trying to confort him, which is a full-time job--to turn her head back to Joy and mew softly. Her coat, as ever, looks nice and glossy. And it might even look like Damian's taking better care of Purrloin than himself, at the moment. His hair's getting a bit shaggy, like he's overdue for a haircut, but just hasn't bothered to take the time for one.
"Th-thanks... she's as dependable as ever..."
'Are your parents being more strict than ever...?' Damian closes his eyes and nods, voice dropping to an unsteady whisper. "Y-yeah..." And yet, he's here, in Viridian City, not in Lavender Town. He looks to Peace as she says home was pretty bad before they left. There's a soft nod, follows by, "... at least before I had you guys..."
Joy was just going through the motions at nursing school. Damian nods, "... yeah, that sucks, doesn't it?"
He looks startled as Joy makes that proclamation though, looking up to meet her gaze. "R-really?" He lets out a quiet, strained laugh. "W-wow... you always aim big, don't you...?"
(... At least you know what you want to do with yourself...)
He looks to Peace as she describes why she joined Team Rocket. She had a falling out with the Pokemon League, and Team Rocket is offering funding. The lack of details doesn't bother him. Though he does catch that usage of Joy's nickname. "W-well, I'm sure it's their loss..." And he means that. "I-I hope Team Rocket's taking good care of you..." That feels like a weird sentiment, but... he does just want his friends to be happy.
Oh that note...
Damian takes a fry and slowly chews on it as he thinks, but seems to mostly ignore the burger for the moment. Finally, he asks, "... are you both... happy, in Team Rocket?"
<Pose Tracker> Arisugawa Joy has posed.
Joy's expression very mildly softens -- it's the kind of thing someone who doesn't know her well might miss, but they wouldn't -- as she watches Purrloin's vigorous efforts to cheer Damian up.
Peace explains her own situation -- how she joined a year ago, because of differences between the Pokemon League and herself. And Rocket is funding her... so there's a matter of money as well. And...
"Me?" she sounds just a bit surprised. But she doesn't miss that she said Alice, either.
She glances to Damian again. "It's difficult to be apart. We can't support each other like we used to. SMS and social media isn't enough," she vocalises very directly, which isn't something she often does, but... clearly she feels strongly enough about that.
She aims big...?
"... if the Ten Wise Men are threatening the people I care about, then I will protect them," Joy explains. "That's just how I feel." If there's one thing that hasn't changed about Joy, whether or not she's more aloof than before or not, it's how sincere she tends to be.
Is she happy, though?
"It's too early. But I can say I wasn't happy where I was, so I decided to do something about it."
<Pose Tracker> Peace Kishinami has posed.
Peace finally gets the saucer of milk she asked for, which means that her Eevee can stop quietly going bonkers in the corner and hurl itself at the treat. The pokemon nearly manages to shove the plate across the table were it not for the practiced way in which she holds it in place.
Damian's awkward encouragement makes the scientist pause, and she frowns up towards the ceiling. "... rather than taking care of me... it's more like they're good at leaving me alone. Which is good. Whoever's in charge has a good grasp of how long research can take."
She meets Joy's confusion with a placid stare. "Mm-hm," she simply confirms, before silencing herself with another fork of cheesecake for good measure. It doesn't seem like she's trying to deliberately make Joy squirm for a more complete answer on purpose, but... maybe there's the slightest bit of amused teasing in there. "I'm in favour of shake-ups. New perspectives." It's still not very descriptive, but it seems well-meant.
Damian's question makes her pay attention, and some of the sleepiness drifts from her eyes once more. "... I won't deny that I have my issues with some of Team Rocket's practices," is how she chooses to lead her answer. She pats her Eevee, and scratches it behind one ear. It's already hoovered up the entire saucer's worth. "But I'm using them as much as they're using me. It's not a matter of 'happiness'."
She doesn't seem totally pleased with her answer, and it's obvious she's searching for something to add to it. "Happiness isn't where I am. It's what I'm doing with myself."
<Pose Tracker> Damian Tamaoka has posed.
Purrloin works very hard to try and help Damian... and Damian takes very good care of her, in return.
Damian blinks a little at how direct Joy is, but nods quietly in agreement. It definitely isn't enough. Not by a long shot. "... it isn't." he's still hugging Purrloin, scritching gently at her neck as he leans into those cheek rubs. "Can... can we see each other more often? I don't... It's okay if you're in Team Rocket. I won't tell anybody." (Joy is wearing her Team Rocket uniform right now, but Damian is choosing to overlook that.)
Joy explains further, and Damian nods to that. "If anyone can do it, you can, Alice."
He looks t Peace as she clarifies, too. "W-well, then you have a good working relationship, at least... That's good, right...?"
Shake-ups and new perspectives...
Joy wasn't happy, and might not be happy now, but decided to do something about it. Damian can accept that answer. Peace comments that happiness is what she's doing, not where she is. But does that mean she's happy with what she's doing with herself?
But Damian just nods to both of those responses. At least his friends are doing something with themselves. He reaches out to take another fry from his plate, munching on it as he seems lost in thought.
<Pose Tracker> Arisugawa Joy has posed.
Joy's spaghetti arrives as well. She stares towards it, and begins eating, making surprisingly big whirlies of spaghetti with her fork and popping it into her mouth. She doesn't stop until she's had two big mouthfuls.
"I have a different perspective than Peace. I didn't tell you five years ago, but I met the leader of Team Rocket during my journey. They taught me something very important, something I didn't understand in how I was raising my Pokemon."
Joy speaks these dramatic words while she has ketchup on her mouth. She hasn't noticed.
A shake-up... a new perspective. Does she have that? It's easy to say Tandem Style is such a thing, but...
"Of course. Since we're already here, let's spend the rest of the day together, at least. Since you came all the way out here."
But Joy does notice how distracted Damian seems; how many thoughts linger through his head. Since he's urged her before, she opens her heart a little, tapping into Damien's own to listen in.
<Pose Tracker> Peace Kishinami has posed.
Peace blinks slowly at Damian's first question, as if the idea of being in Team Rocket being a barrier to communication was something she'd just never considered until now. "I don't mind. ... I guess you need to know where my lab is, though," she realizes for the first time, and looks towards Joy as if to ask for the okay - it's technically her base, after all.
She trails off there, because the usual way in which Joy meets someone who is lost in thought is to also get lost in thought while she waits for them. She also takes the opportunity to demolish her own dessert, only slightly slower than her Eevee. "... mm," she muses after a moment, lending an ear towards Joy's story; she frowns a little as she thinks back. "I don't remember you significantly changing your raising style."
That might just be Peace's rather sporadic observation skills, uh, not being at work. "Joy," she adds, apparently attempting to condense the entirety of 'you are getting food over yourself' into a single name, and then adding: "I don't mind spending some time out," she confirms for good measure afterwards. "I got a sitter in." Some poor Team Rocket member is getting bullied by Sylveon right this moment while Umbreon forcibly insists on more pats.
Her own methods differ to Joy's, because she can only listen to people's words and not their hearts. But as much as she can be up and down on that front, she does try; from behind her fringe of hair, her eyes are studying Damian's uncertainty and the way he fidgets - and his Purrloin fussing over him. "... if you need any advice, I am still a Professor," she notes quietly.
This is technically a lie. She was never a Professor, only an assistant. But the title still stuck.
<Pose Tracker> Damian Tamaoka has posed.
Damian blinks as Joy mentions she met Team Rocket's leader a whole five years ago. And not only that, he taught her an important lesson about raising her Pokemon. "Really...? Was... was that before or after...?"
Before or after she won the championship. He doesn't like to reference it directly, often, because of what happened the day after, but it seems important, somehow, to know. Maybe a little bit of context.
There is a shy, timid smile as Joy says they should spend the rest of the day together. The briefest little spark of energy in his eyes. "You mean that? That'd be nice..." And a more grateful smiel to Peace as she says she wouldn't mind. "Thanks, Nami..."
But that momentary burst of energy is quickly dragged down again as Damian munches quietly on a few more fries. Then...
Joy opens her own heart to Damian's.
It's... kind of a mess.
Damian's parents have been far more insistent about working with ghosts more in his medium studies. he's been doing his best to put on a mask, to pretend to go along, but there are some deep cracks in this facade that are only getting worse.
This entire Pokemon Journey Damian is on is a lie. A pretense. If they hadn't agreed to it...
Damian would be a runaway right now.
He has no idea where he to go or what to do next. Only that he doesn't want to go home.
He's trying to hold it together for his friends, to make this reunion a happy one, but... he can ffeel Joy reaching out, knows she can sense all the turmoil, and slowly he looks up to meet her gaze, to look to Peace as she offers advise.
And now Damian is rubbing at his eye as something wet wells within it. "I..." His voice cracks a little and he swallows hard. "I don't know what to do now that I've found you both. S-sorry, I just... wanted to be happy to see you but..."
<Pose Tracker> Arisugawa Joy has posed.
Joy looks to Peace and has a quiet nod. She might not think of it as her base in turn, but... for Damian, there's not a problem here. But Damian asks when that was -- and Peace mentions she doesn't remember her changing her style considerably.
"It was before the championship," Joy answers, picking up Peace's gesture that she should wipe her mouth. "If I didn't receive that lesson, I probably would not have become Top Champion that year."
Peace doesn't mind some time out; and she looks back towards Damian as she connects with what's been happening. The Journey... and how it's a lie. His parents don't know that yet, and he's on borrowed time.
She quietly reaches out with her hand, and places it on Damian's shoulder. "It's okay to feel how you feel. I know that it's always been tough with them..."
A longer pause.
"I'm sure it's okay if you spend the next couple of days at our base. Isn't that right, Peace? We'll work things out from there."
<Pose Tracker> Peace Kishinami has posed.
Settling back in her chair, Peace frowns as she casts her mind back. "... that would have been when I started getting more involved in the Pokemon League. Maybe I just missed it," is her rather practical answer. "But I can't argue with getting advice from any and all directions, especially if it ended up in you becoming Champion."
She only has time to nod her acceptance of Damian's thanks before something passes between him and Joy on a level she can't perceive. What she can see is the way that both of them seem to pause, lost in their own world - but she's not in a hurry, and perfectly content to wait for them to come out of it as she always has at times like this.
When they return to themselves, the most important part for the Professor is that it results in Joy resting a hand on Damian's shoulder. The rarity of the gesture is significant, as is the fact that Joy is offering more than clipped sentences in reply. Peace is fully aware how bad she can be when it comes to socializing or picking up on other people's cues, but it's not like she's unable to figure them out once she spots them. She could hardly call herself a Professor otherwise.
Where she does fail is the motive behind it, partially because she can't read minds and partially because of her own perspective when it comes to the Journey and the importance that often gets heaped upon it. It wouldn't be her first time seeing a teenager lost and confused at the idea of leaving their home to go solo on a wide-ranging journey. She's quite sure, what with the formation of the Rocket Youths, that it won't be the last.
That leaves her folding her arms. "Of course. It'll be cramped, though." This isn't a gripe, just a pure statement of fact.
<Pose Tracker> Damian Tamaoka has posed.
She wouldn't have won the championship otherwise... "That must have been some really good advice," he says, quietly.
The touch on his shoulder is rare enough that it stops him from spiraling harder then he might otherwise. He looks to Joy with some small amount of wonder. But it's okay to feel the way he does... There is a very quiet, but very grateful and heartfelt, "Thanks" in reply.
They blink softly at the offer. "... Is that really okay...?" Another grateful smile for Peace, as she agrees to it. "Cramped is okay. I promise not to take up a lot of space. A-all I have is me, Purrlon, and my backpack."
Damian's eyes are still watering up, but it doesn't look like he's headed for a full-blwon cry anymore. It's still taking him some time to collect his thoughts.
He knows Joy knows a lot of this, now, but for Peace's benefit he explains the highlights. "I liked to my parents about why I wanted to go on a Journey. The truth is... I just..." Deep, steadying breath. "... I just wanted to find you two again. I haven't really been trying to catch a lot of pokemon, I just have two, besides Purrloin... well, and an egg I found, I guess."
"I can't go back. I just... I can't. This was... basically my chance to get away, without them coming looking for me."
<Pose Tracker> Arisugawa Joy has posed.
"It was important advice," Joy remarks, without explaining what it is. Perhaps one day, but...
Well, it's not like Joy can't communicate with Peace, either, but does she really like the Psychic communication? Joy's told her that she doesn't like to probe into people's hearts, but she's made an exception for Damian.
"We'll make space. I'll help you get comfortable," comes the paradoxically emotionlessly-toned response, because Joy doesn't really wear how she feels on her sleeves.
There's a deeper breath along with Damian's, and she looks to Peace, then back in turn. "Okay. I won't tell them. If they ask, I'll tell them you're doing well on your journey." There's a very direct connection here, of wanting to get away from it all, to find a place where one can find a measure of... peace.
And Peace, too.
"I have some things to do in the next few days around those offworlders, but I promise I'll be here today."
<Pose Tracker> Peace Kishinami has posed.
"We have a lot of freedom in how we act," is what Peace replies with. "It's fine."
She starts to say more, but she's cut off as the latter works through the rest of his thoughts, and that in turn involves Peace having to reexamine her thoughts on the matter. Another frown flits across her expression, and there's just a brief instant where she fiddles absently with her fork rather than meet anyone's eyes. "... sorry. I'm not the best at keeping in contact," she admits without a shred of shame, just a good deal of self-awareness.
Peace cannot really take issue at Damian's plan. Her own Pokemon journey was taken on a whim, but part of that whim was being dissatisfied with her future plans as they stood. When it comes down to it, they're not all that different.
"We'll figure it out," she agrees with Joy. "There's no formal process."
Besides, Peace wouldn't take issue with it anyway. This is how she is, particularly around the two of them - quietly patient, quietly accepting of how they feel, not pushing or pulling them in a direction or judging them. It's her own sort of consideration, she supposes, but it's also nothing she's really felt the need to examine that closely.
...
...
...
"There's no recruitment bonus, though," she quietly mourns.
<Pose Tracker> Damian Tamaoka has posed.
Damian might ask more about that advise sometime. But right now there's already a bit much to focus on, trying to keep his feelings.. if not in check, at least stable.
He encouraged that exception... they both had their own talents, but their was no good reason that both of them needed to suffer from them or be ashamed of them. They didn't choose to be born the way they were.
But they'll make space. Damian nods. He doesn't mind the lack of emotionality. That's just how Joy is... and he takes her willingness to help him settle in as confirmation that she wants to lend her support regardless. And Joy promises not to tell. He wasn't worried about that, but... it's a relief, all the same. "Thanks."
But offworlders... Damian blinks a little. "I heard there were offworlders in that fight... I, um... met one, the other day, too..."
Damian sometimes feels a little bit like the odd one out, being more emotive than Peace or Joy. But they're the ones who've stuck by him, been willing to be his friends, so... he doesn't worry about it too much. He's patient, as Peace works through her thoughts.
There's an apology for not keeping in touch more. "It's okay. I know how much you get into your work. I, um... tried reading some of what you wrote. Most of it is kinda over my head, but it was nice to see what you were thinking of."
Then Damian blinks. "... r-recruitment bonus...?"
<Pose Tracker> Arisugawa Joy has posed.
Joy and Peace are less emotive than Damian, that's a fact. And where Damian feels sometimes like the odd one out, Joy, too, sometimes thinks that she could associate with more people if she were more emotive, but...
The fact is that they've all become the closest of friends, perhaps because of their differences. The way Peace doesn't let much bother her and just keeps her stride with her work, no matter what. The way Damian is attuned to so much of the world that it's become a bother, one way or another, and her...
"They're... pretty scary," Joy admits to Damian. "Two of them fought me in combat, and if it weren't for my Pokemon, I might have been seriously injured."
So why doesn't she sound scared when she explains that? There's almost a glow to the way she says it, like her resolve is stirring her into action.
"You met one too...? I hope they didn't hurt you." Joy's opinion of them might be a bit wary, still. "I did confirm they weren't allies of the Ten Wise Men. But I don't think they're of one organisation, so there's going to be a lot of different opinions."
Peace's work...
"... I gave up in the preface," she admits, then rises after she's finished her spaghetti.
"... should we get some fresh air?"
<Pose Tracker> Peace Kishinami has posed.
"They thought we were with the Ten Wise Men," she adds to Joy's explanation. "It's going to be confusing."
Peace looks down at the table at the thought of the offworlders. "... their abilities were all very different. Some of it was recognizable as Symbology. Some of them were just tough," she recounts. She doesn't sound... upset either. If anything, there's a glint in her eye like she has some ideas that she can apply to her research. "Some of them wanted to learn, though."
Part of her is still riding pridefully high on getting to out-Professor Oak.
Speaking of her research, this time she distinctly frowns, first at Damian's comment and then at Joy's sulk, which she meets with one of her own. "It's all thoroughly laid out. There's still a lot that we don't know about the process of evolution - many aspects of it can seem arbitrary. Which in turn makes it hard for anyone to learn. The more we can codify of the process, the better. After that I can start doing real work."
This is more words than she's strung together in a while, but the truth is that Peace does actually make fairly readable research papers when she actually sits down to write them out properly - though the same can't be said about her notes. Most of her recent publications have been around looking into how different locations and climates can effect evolutions, together with a possible series of experiments to allow Pokemon to learn moves they normally shouldn't be able to.
Her Eevee jumps back up onto her shoulder with a gesture of her hand, disappearing behind her hair for a moment before popping out onto the opposite side. There's a pause, as she considers Damian's final question. "... never mind. Welcome to the world of--" wait, he's already on a Journey, technically. But also not. "--welcome to our world," she amends.
<Pose Tracker> Damian Tamaoka has posed.
"S-sorry, Nami... My parents don't have me focus on studying that kind of thing, so it takes me longer to work my way through a paper..."
Might have been seriously injured. "... your ribcage is still bruised," he points out quietly. Joy doesn't seem afraid... and that gits with what Damian knows about her. She did turn into the brave, courageous one of the three, didn't she? Though it seems like Peace seems to be inspired in some way by it, too...
Just what were these offworlders like, then?!
Damian shivers as Joy asks about his own encounter. "N-n-no, b-but..." He shivers, and Purrloin purrs louder to help reassure him. Damian takes a deep breath and then continues. "I th-thought he was a ghost, b-but he said he was still alive... so I g-guess he was more like a spirit...?"
Damian might be a little worked up just thinking about it, and pets Purrloin more to regain his nerves. He doesn't bother explaining about Resonance. That... can come later, after he's had more time to digest that idea.
But he listens with interest as Peace explains some more of her work in more detail than she normally uses to communicate... it's nice, seeing her like this. Even if she's normally quiet, there's still things that she can get passionate about.
Damian uses the time to actually finishing his own burger instead of just picking at the fries endlessly. Once he's done Purrloin hops up to his shoulder as he stands up and shrugs on his backpack.
"S-some fresh air would be nice," he agrees. He looks to Peace, curiously, but slowly nods. "O-okay."
"As long as I get to be with my friends again."