November Catch-all

[bluecastleace]

Who: Hajime Iwaizumi + YOU!
What: November catch-all log
Where: Various locations
When: The month of November
Content Warnings: None thus far; will add as needed

((ooc:This catch-all will also serve as Iwaizumi’s introductory post! Please feel free to hit up any of the open TLs found below. I will likely be adding them as the month goes on! Please feel free to add me on plurk @ pantheraliam for plotting/updates on TLs being added!))

Comments

[bluecastleace]

NO WAY!!! [He’s shouting again - he does that. RIP Pidgey-chimera, because he doesn’t even notice that it’s run off. He scrambles a little to sit back up on his knees, eager to get closer to the dragon-like creature, but reasonably cautious about doing so.]

So it’s like a dragon then. But how the hell is it supposed to fit into that thing? [Under his breath now:] That’s so cool, what he fuck!

Referring to Dragonite as a "they" just so I don't have to choose a gender btw

[symbolofstrength]

"Dragonite is a dragon-type, yes." 'Dragon-types' are kind of the closest thing Sam's world has to dragons -- after all, when dragons are real, you don't have much need of mythological ones, do you?

"Here, let me show you." Sam taps the button on the ball, expanding it to the size of an orange and pointing it at Dragonite. "Dragonite, return!" A red beam of light shoots out from the button, hitting Dragonite and engulfing it, then retracting back into the ball; when the light fades away, so does Dragonite.

"It doesn't hurt them. And they're still fully aware of what's going on outside the ball." He crouches down, holding out the ball. "Do you want to try giving it a toss? That will let them back out again." He's sure the boy won't run off with his friend -- after all, as he just said, Dragonite is aware of everything that's going on, so they'll have something to say about it if he tries that.

Gotcha!

[bluecastleace]

[Iwaizumi’s eyes widen even further as he watches the red beam of light engulf the large dragon creature and swallow it up inside of the Pokéball. Scarcely does he have time to process the sight before Sam is crouching next to him and offering forth the strange capsule.]

Huh? [He looks a little dumb, blinking in bewilderment as his eyes go between the ball and the man holding it. Eventually though, he holds out his hand to accept the capsule with a wide, awe-stricken smile forming on his lips.] Yeah? Hell yeah! So what, you just...throw it? How far?

[symbolofstrength]

"Not too far, not more than a few feet or so. The ball will try to return to your hand after you throw it, and it can't do that if it's too far away." Sam stands up and takes a few steps back, gesturing at the open space in front of them.

[bluecastleace]

Yeah, okay.

[Iwaizumi gives a nod, snatches up the ball with newfound confidence, and stands up from the ground. He holds the thing in his hands for a few minutes, tries to get a feel for its weight - it’s a lot lighter than he expected, actually, but not too different from a baseball. He shifts a little where he stands, then takes on a readied stance, planting his feet firmly against the ground with his knees bent - nothing if not an athlete, this one, and perhaps taking this a bit too seriously. Only a few feet Sam said though, so he can’t go giving this a full-on pitch. He does as he’s told, gives it a healthy toss forward only two and a half, maybe three feet, then waits eagerly to see what happens next.]

[symbolofstrength]

At the peak of the throw, the ball erupts open, splitting into its red and white halves, with a white burst of light escaping from the gap, heading toward the ground, and coalescing back into Dragonite. Then the ball closes again and, against all momentum, flies back toward the spot where it left his hand.

"See?" Sam comments with a smile, stepping past him toward Dragonite to pat its shoulder. "You can come pet Dragonite if you like, just be gentle." He also holds his hand out expectantly; give Pokeball back now please.

[bluecastleace]

No way...[Iwaizumi stares first at where Dragonite has just appeared, then back at his hand where the Pokéball now rests again. It really had jumped back, just like this old man said (what does it say about Iwaizumi that he’s almost more excited about that than he is the giant dragon in front of him - almost).

[He hesitates before handing the ball back, eyes glued to Dragonite again as he does so.] You sure? He won’t go biting me or setting my hair on fire or nothing, will he?

[There he goes assuming things. Clearly all dragons must be boys, right?]

[symbolofstrength]

Sam gently shakes his head, tapping the button on the Pokeball to shrink it down again and put it back in his pocket.

"It takes them a while to warm up toward strangers, but they won't hurt you if I don't tell them to. Just don't make any sudden moves, especially toward me. Dragonite is pretty protective."

Dragonite lets out a burst of air from its nose at that, doing its best to look intimidating (yes, it's a huge dragon, but it's also cartoonishly cute with those big eyes and that Barney-like face, so it all evens out in the end?); darn straight, no one hurts its master while it's around.

[bluecastleace]

Right...

[He says as if any of this is even starting to make sense. Iwaizumi hasn’t been here long enough to rule out the possibility that this entire experience is just some sort of weirdly intense fever dream, so he tries not to question anything too deeply (lest his brain should explode under the strain). At any rate, this is definitely the coolest thing that’s happened to him thus far, so he’s not about to start ruining it with attempts at logic now.

[Barney-looking face or no, the dragon certainly is intimidating as it lets the burst of air out through its nose. How cool must this guy be to have tamed such a beast? Iwaizumi moves with uncharacteristic caution as he approaches the creature, very slowly extending his hand until it hovers only a foot or so away from its nose. Maybe he should let the Dragonite make the first move? You see what happened earlier with the Pidgey chimera...]

Hey, man...[Is it smart? Can it understand him when he speaks?] Can I, uh...Can I touch you?

[symbolofstrength]

Sam did notice that he hasn't seen this young man's face before, but he hasn't gone asking questions about the world yet, so he'll let that slide unless the boy brings it up.

"Go on, Dragonite. It's okay." At its human's word, Dragonite begrudgingly brings its nose down to rest against the boy's hand. It's warm, smooth, and scaly, with hints of the sheer power of the beast beneath. (A beast that was actually pretty easy to tame, since Sam raised it from an egg.)

[bluecastleace]

Holy shit...[Iwaizumi breathes the words as he lays his palm flat against the dragon’s nose, bewildered smile quickly returning.] This is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen! Is it from here?

[He pauses, smile fading a bit. His eyes go back to Oak.] Are you from here?

[symbolofstrength]

"Dragonite? No, it came with me. I'm not native to this place either, I just... woke up here one day and I don't know how to get home." Sam pets Dragonite's back as he speaks, right between the wings, soothing it.

"The same thing happened to you, right? You just woke up here and don't know how you got here?"

[bluecastleace]

Yeah. [There’s no hiding the bitter tone in Iwa’s voice as he pulls his hand away from Dragonite, stuffs it into his pockets along with the other one.] Or maybe it’s just that I haven’t woken up yet.

[A dream - it has to be, right?]

[symbolofstrength]

"I'm sorry. I hope you didn't have anything pressing to attend to." He lowers his own hands as well, and Dragonite steps back to its place at his side.

"I don't think this is a dream. It's gone on for far too long, and just recently we all fell asleep for a while."

[bluecastleace]

[Iwaizumi lets out a short, utterly humorless laugh at the mention of “anything pressing”. Nope, he thinks, and his jaw clenches a little as he does so, his fists balling up inside his pockets.]

I don’t need something pressing to not want to be here. [Hopefully Sam can forgive the sudden bite in his voice. He’s young, scared, and hurt right now, and he just wants to go home.] What do you mean you all went to sleep?

[symbolofstrength]

"I understand." His voice is soft as he tries to comfort the boy.

"Well, you and I aren't the only ones here. There are a few others as well." Is that what he meant by 'all'? Unless....

"Before that, we didn't sleep at all here. There was even a period of time where we didn't need to eat." Could that be what he's commenting on, the oddity that they all fell asleep at the same time?

[bluecastleace]

[Iwaizumi’s brow furrows at the revelation, and while his look of irritation weakly endures, the look in his eyes beyond that is something closer to anxiety. This world is strange no doubt. Scarcely anything here makes sense, and yet, to think that before recently they didn’t even have the creature comfort of sleep is...disturbing. Iwaizumi is suddenly painfully aware that no, he doesn’t want to be here - not at all.]

And there’s no way out, right? Right...[He looks stubbornly away, if only to hide the vulnerability that he figures must be leaking into his expression right now. He glances sideways at Dragonite - just focus on the cool dragon, focus on the cool dragon.

[He shrugs, shakes his shoulders out a little as he does so.] No use bitching about it then, huh? You got more like this guy where you come from?

[He nods back toward Dragonite. Cool dragon, cool dragon...]

[symbolofstrength]

"Not that we've found, no." He tries to let the boy down gently. Dragonite, too, is beginning to relax a bit; perhaps picking up on Sam's empathetic mood, perhaps letting its guard down a little since the boy hasn't tried to hurt them, perhaps a bit of both.

"I won't say that venting is completely useless. But yes, it would be a good idea to try and have a good attitude about our situation." But if he wants a distraction in the form of information about Dragonite, Sam's happy to oblige there, too.

"Dragonite isn't one of a kind, no, but they are fairly rare. They start their lives as Dratini, then turn into Dragonair and finally Dragonite." Will he have any idea what Sam means by that, does evolution exist in other worlds?

[bluecastleace]

[Is the distraction welcome? Yes. Does he have any idea what Sam is talking about? No.]

I...might need you to go over those a second time.

What do you mean they start out that way?

[symbolofstrength]

"Dratini and Dragonair," he repeats. "You could say that Dratini is like a baby Dragonite. Understand?" Growing up isn't a perfect comparison for evolution, but clearly evolution is something all worlds have even if they don't have Pokemon, right? Right. The idea that the wildlife of a world might not undergo dramatic transformations as part of their natural lifecycle hasn't occurred to him.

[bluecastleace]

[Why not just called it a baby Dragonite then? Kind of like how a baby dog is called a puppy or something? Or maybe more like—]

Like...a tadpole to a frog? Do they look different?

[symbolofstrength]

"I'm not familiar with either of those things, but yes, they look different. Dratini and Dragonair are blue, and they don't have arms or legs like Dragonite does." Tadpole? Frog? What kind of Pokemon are those???

[bluecastleace]

What, so you don’t have animals where you come from?

[symbolofstrength]

"We have some, bugs and little fish and things, but our wildlife is mainly Pokemon." In other words, pretty much only the lowest couple of rungs in the food chain are considered 'animals' instead of 'Pokemon'.

[bluecastleace]

[Fish and bugs only huh? Iwa’s two favorite kinds of animals probably, but still...bizarre.

[Speaking of which though, he wonders...]

So...would that mean there aren’t bug or fish...Pokémon then?

[Bug monsters? Are there bug monsters?]