[ti]closed[/ti]Free to A Good Home

Orion wasn't sure if he envied Z4CH or not.  

Like on one hand, call the roofer cause we got a drip alert over here.  This kid had some fucking SICK taste, in that sort of unironic twelve year old who thought RGB lights made you computer faster sorta way.  It'd look cooler with a 'dana or two, but like, the headbands were an...adequate substitution.  But beyond the absolute patrician vibes he brought with the katana, he wore it all so effortlessly.  On anyone else this would be some post ironic meta joke on gamer culture, or some fucking fashion statement.

Z4CH didn't give a fuh-Ly-IIIIIIIIIIIIING FUUUUUUUUUUUCK.

He wore these things because he well and truly liked them, they spoke to him on a spiritual level and thus they didn't LOOK weird on him, and neither did his demeanor surprise Orion.

"Sup Z" Orion nodded, holding a hand out for a fistbump which was quickly [Tangent=It was codified in guild code that the fine for leaving a bro hanging was twenty pushups, three solids, and a keg of natty light.]reciprocated.[/tangent]  He watched how easily the two navigated eachother, Rick wasn't much a mon for words, and Z4CH was as subtle as a foghorn at 6AM.  He was sure the two of them would get along like a barn on fucking fire.

"You ever stop and think how blessed we are?"  Orion shot Bee a sideways glance as the two departed, Z4CH going over the various roles already filled in the party.  "That like, despite how really god damn big this world is, there's all these ways to shorten the distance between you and some schmuck on the otherside of the world.  Like, this game allows just about all of us to basically live kinda like we're neighbors...or I guess family since we share MOM, huh?  And there's no telling if that SCHMUCK is a piece of shit who's better off avoided or like, your newest friend ready to enradify your vibes?  Like, even the mon are all a gamble of wild and varied personalities..."  He paused and took another tepid sip of his drink, giving his whirring brain a chance to fucking breath. 


"Damn life is too beautiful for me to have to waste forty hours of it a week trying to pay bills..."    

"It sure is fucking wild,"  Orion mused, his thumbs drumming idly on the table.  It sure felt like he and Bee were incapable of having a normal conversation sometimes, never a "Boy howdy the sportsball team sure is popping off," or "Did you see the new deadpool movie?"  It was always these deep philosophical questions that left him hemming and hawing about his place in the world, about the nature of this world and his own.  On the flipside most text conversations they had were outlandishly whimsical and silly, filled with memes and jokes, and heaven forbid you search the word "jorts" in their history well...he supposed it helped balance them out to something akin of a conversationally neutral karma if such a thing could ever exist.

"To answer your question, I don't know if it's gravity, or destiny, or just sheer dumb fucking luck but..."  He'd follow Bee's gaze to the rest of the guild, a soft smile of his face as he nodded, almost in agreeance with the sentiment.  "They say birds of a feather flock together, pretty sure there's some like ironic spin that people dropped off the end because they didn't like the message it brought and frankly I'm with em on that one.  I don't think Humans ever really stopped forming tribes like back in the old days, I think the nature of our tribes just changed.  I think every interaction we have with people serves some sorta purpose, good or bad, synergistic or antagonistic.  And like, sometimes it's a really beautiful thing to watch, and sometimes it's a really fucking tragic thing.  That's just life, sometimes it's really fuckin sick and sometimes it's uh...really fuckin sick, ya know?"

The proverbial sidewalk for that train of thought ended, and Orion found himself musing on that sentiment and everything else Bee had brought before him.  It was moments like this that Orion truly found deep comfort in his comradery with the man next to him.  He was like a whetstone, keeping his mind and heart sharp.  A brother in arms, friendship forged in the heat of combat and hot tubs alike, hammered down by the pressure of bottomless bays and the weight of the world.  That real one in a million shit...shit if he and Abs got married he was definitely in the running for best man.   

After all, his work had brought them together, in fact, his work had brought him and all of his UNOVAN friends together.

"Aight,"  He announced, breaking his silence, though the air had not been absent of the gentle revelry of their guildmates and their various games.  "I've got Applin, Snom, and a scatterbug to rehome."  He'd turn to Bee, "Honestly I was thinking about saving Snom for Kay, given her propensity for chill drinks and being a chill chick I think she'd be pretty sick with a Frosmoth, whatcha thinkin?  Maybe I pass him along to you and you can use that as an excuse to hit her up?"  A cheeky elbow found its way gently to the bro's flank, a brow waggled saucily.  

"So like, with the snom I was thinking something like Persephone, very beautiful and elegant name for a classy moth mon, though if they decide they wanna stay a snom well..." he shrugged.  "As for the applin, the last thing we were workshoppin was Johnny, like the classic americana hero Johnny Appleseed who went planting apple trees all over the place?  You familliar?  It doesn't quite fit in my traditional naming niche and he's..."

Leaning forward, Orion rested both of his knuckles upon the table and pressed his weight onto them until they cracked with a satisfying pop.  "He's a cool lil dude, chill and kinda mellow.  A little slow on the uptake sometimes, like if you've got some mad bants going they sorta sail right over his head nine times outta ten.  There's nothin wrong with him, and Im a lil bummed he doesn't wanna stay on the team, but I dunno man, most of my Mon all have this fire in em.  Even lil Arachnae can get worked up with the right amount of provocation and he's just got...well I don't wanna say he doesn't have any fire in em, because I'm sure he's passionate about SOMETHING, just not...whatever it is I've got going on?"  His brow furrowed, but he quickly banished any troubled look from his face and turned to face his friend.

"Persephone is chill, she's just kinda vibin most of the time.  Not super big on the brawlin, and at first I thought she might be a good support but she's just not into the whole thing.  The few times we hung out she was mostly more into the few times I did like...the crafting mini games.  I think she'd really dig Kay's kitchencore attitude, really hearthmaxing ya know?"  The assault of saucy eyebrow waggles continued onwards, like a barrage of fun-fire assaulting the shores of bore-mondy.  "I think Kay is the type of person who you'd love to come home to, ya know?  After maybe like a busy day of work you have someone there to be all like "welcome back, ya wanna talk about ongoing social progress" while you two sit down and eat a nice homemade meal?  Not like a traditional fifties housewife by all means, I think we're beyond that sort of thing but like..."  His smirk was beginning to resonate a palpable aura that filled the air between them.

"Such a caring and nurturing person might be perfect for someone who maybe works a little too hard and doesn't take enough care of themselves?"

Wait, weren't they supposed to be talking about pokemon?  "So like, I think her and Persephone have this kindred spirit in that regard?  Does that like make any sense?"

"You know the whole story about Hades stealing Persephone is like, propaganda yeah?  In a lot of early versions of myths he's actually a relatively chill if not slightly curmudgeony god, but when we were rediscovering a lot of lost greek myths it was through the lense of like...judeo christian scholars who spun Hades in a negative light because they wanted to draw an allegory to satan, after all he's lord of the underworld and all that.  So a lot of origins of his love with Kore, or Persephone, involve him either helping her run away from an overbearing mother, or Zeus helping her run away and hiding her with his bro."

At Bee's brotest at the waggling brow, Orion would relent with a roll of an eye.

"Hey man, Im just spittin here, ya know.  Anything implied or taken as an implication is more like...you projecting onto it.  My words are totally free from any nuendos, in or out.  My Entendres are strictly singletons, and there's no double speak going on, my speech is single as fuck.  It hates valentines day more than me, and I fucking HATE valentines day dog."

At the follow up question, he simply flicked his wrist and released the last of the leavers, a tiny little scatterbug who sat on the table trembling slightly as he looked up at the two.  "This is Tithonus, name's a lil on the nose cause it's just the greek god of bugs but he seems to be chill with it.'

"Salutations." Tithonus chirped.  "What sort of chicanery is afoot today?  What sort of japes or other jests will we be partaking in?"

"Oh I love the lil shit."  Orion's brow furrowed as his friend took him aside, digging into a rather unpleasant bruise to his trainer ego.  "He is a downright treat, great banter, lil high brow at times but the wit's there.  He's quick, polite, and sharp as a tack.  The issue is..."  Orion glanced over his shoulder to the bug and then back to Bee.  "He uh...thinks I am what's the word...a scoundrel.  He's also got like...a weird thing about Italians.  He looks at me like I'm Al Capone or some shit."

The bug, indignant at being snubbed, reared up on his hind...wormy bits to make himself tired.  

"I dare declare," Thithonus chided.  "That you're uncooth snubbing of my declarations is rather becoming a man of your class Mr Cayge, and your comrade must be of similar ilk should you be ignoring my inquiries into what sort of shenanigans are afoot!  I dare say there might not be any japes or tomfoolery, but rather dastardly plots at the expense of your fellow man!"  His insectoid eyes squinted at the two suspiciously as his beady eyes bore into them.

"Tell me Mr Bandanna Man, are you of a similar disposition to that rascal you have your arm around?  Are you two a roustabout of ill repute?  Do you ALSO forget to slap someone with your glove before you sock them in the jaw?"

Orion shot Bee a sideways glance.  "Dude he is so fuckin cute when he's mad."

There's a magical turn of phrase that a lot of the youth tend you use nowadays, "On sight" they call it, or is it "On site?" Either way, when Orion's eyes met the redheaded woman's his jaw set and his pulse began to run just a little hotter.  He'd never seen this woman before, but he'd definitely seen her constituent parts before.  She had a body like some asshole had frankenstined all of the best parts of his exes together into one super hottie.  Her hair was the same shade of red that Rin used to dye it when they were fighting.  Her face and eyes carried the same cold and calculating look of his grandfather's executive assistant, and her strut exuded the same sense of ruthless drive and determination.  

He'd never really believed in trainers having to fight the moment they'd locked eyes, but in this case?  Well, it was as the kids say.

Fuck that bitch.

The prompt popped up, and if he'd hit the accept button any harder it'd be considered a hate crime.

"Look, if you wanna catch these hands that's on you Chika."  Orion scowled.  "What're we doin?  Doubles or singles?  And what's our roster lookin like?  Full teams of six?"  His brow raised as he looked her up and down.  "And do you know what you're getting yourself into?"

He'd never messed with this mechanic, so it was likely that he was about to clown on some tier one starter rival, but he could never know for certain, UNOVR had a way of surprising you.  

"Fresh out the lab?"  Orion raised an eyebrow, equal parts annoyance and amusement dancing across his lips.  "Hun, you're like, three years late for that."  With a flourish he would produce his own pokeball, twirling it on his finger.  "But I suppose better late than never, yeah?"  He asked shooting Tithonus a sideways glance.  He wasn't sure why exactly the little man was agreeing to be a consolation prize of all things.  He was also suddenly very well aware that he was literally about to call upon the power of a mon based on literally being a heel.

You know, the wrestling bad guys?  

Any and all image the bug had of him as any sort of noble fighter was about to vanish in an instant.  A flash of red Achilles appeared, stretching out like a mighty lion man.  Amber eyes would peer down to the Poplio, then back to Orion with a raised brow.

"Really?"  Achilles asked, eyes dancing from the seal, to the diva before him, then back to his master.  "Is this..."

"She's our rival bud."  Orion muttered with a shrug, his own gaze looking to Bee and shooting him a message.

Orion Cayge: What in the latency is going on lmao?
Orion Cayge: I know I sequence broke a bit because of the event but like
Orion Cayge: This feels like a warcrime.

Achilles wasted no time, dropping into a Darkest Lariat and slamming into the seal with extreme zeal.

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