[ti]spawn[/ti]fuoco di sant'elmo

He was working with a reduced field of vision, though—the bandages that he’d roughly wrapped around the cut on the right side of his forehead wasn’t exactly the best; since he had to put pressure on it and all that—plus the fact that it had the tendency to randomly bleed when agitated too much.

That was a definite cause for concern, really.

Hissing complaints as quietly as he could manage without spooking whatever the hell was watching him move around clumsily, he would wander over towards a rock not too far from a lava pool.

…no, Alkaid, swimming in lava is not possible, even for maxed-out Kindlers. That’s just absolutely insane. What the hell. Intrusive thoughts, go away!

He sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. Why was he being driven to this madness, really?

“Ugh…” he groaned a few moments later. “No, stupid brain, don’t even go there.”

here we go, again

Once the strange, rice cooker-looking Pokémon had left, he continued to look around the Crater. He idly wondered if dipping even a singular toe in lava was a—

No, Alkaid, that is actual lava. You are not fucking going to let the intrusive thoughts win!

There was an itch he wanted to scratch, but he had to quell these damned intrusive thoughts from bothering him because the fact of the matter is that diving into lava sounded like a really good idea right about now!

“You are not going to jump into the lava!” he hissed to himself, slapping his cheeks in the process as he shook his head. Go away, intrusive thoughts!

here we go, again

He would leave the hoppy little Torchic behind, hoping that they would indeed be waiting for his return. For now, though, he had to press onward in search of the one Fire-type that he knew was waiting here.

But what if he had to jump into the—

No, Alkaid, diving into lava is not going to do you any good! Why were the intrusive thoughts bothering him again?

“Ugh, ow,” he would hiss as he pressed the flat side of his palm to the bandage that rested over the fresh wound on his forehead. “Not now…”

Even if he was to ask someone, anyone to heal the wound, it would leave a permanent scar on his forehead—yet another change to his in-game appearance. But this one was not one of his own doing…

here we go, again

He was sorely tempted to scrape off the dried blood on his face, however fact of the matter was that the damned thing was bleeding again, so… wouldn’t that be an exercise in futility?

“Okay, calm down. Maybe if you had a companion to talk to while looking around here, it won’t be so lonely,” he mused to himself.

(Alright, talking to oneself was fine; but doing that in front of other people may get them thinking you’re not okay in the head! Calm down!)

For once, for bloody fucking once, he would actually go against his own personal establishment—which normally involved him in some kind of angry tirade; instead he would stand still and actually take a deep breath to calm himself down.

(In another universe, this would’ve been canonically impossible, since he was a hothead no matter where he ended up; but no matter.)

here we go, again

Was it some kind of déjà vu that was attacking him?

Déjà vu for memories that shouldn’t even exist? What’s going on? he thought with this confused air as he decided to move on from where he currently stood. Maybe he’d be able to find something new all the way out here.

Why was he remembering things that shouldn’t even be there in the first place? What even was happening?

“What was that about,” he mused quietly as he came to a stop after walking what felt like an indeterminate amount of time. Had he gotten lost in here?

Surely not?

here we go, again

Was he going to have to end this trip on a bust and make an unscheduled appearance at the Arena if things didn’t pan out the way they would?

(Certainly not. To be fair, he’d been in the market for a Charmander for some time too… was he going to try and get all the Fire-type starter Pokémon? Maybe? It really depended on circumstances. Then there was also the issue of box space. Then there was also the other issue of trying not to have too many companions since he didn’t want to overlap any ‘mons he’d used before in the European side with what he had planned on this side of the world, so…)

So many decisions to be made, honestly!

Okay. Or maybe he had to lower his expectations to the point that it was near impossible for him to get what he really wanted? He knew that there was some kind of ‘desire sensor’ when games were involved, especially like this one, so…

Who knew what would come smacking out of the lava next, anyway?

here we go, again

The urge to pinch the bridge of his nose was there, so he would indulge and just do it because—he knew he’d already talked with the Water-type about being too overeager and how it would get them into a lot of trouble, however they weren’t having any of that shit!

“…alright, but don’t say I didn’t warn you!” he grumbled as the Water-type picked themselves up before the surprise Flamethrower came from the Charmader and—

Well, fire was weak to water, right?

Another loud ‘QUACK!’ would come from the duck Pokémon, before a second slamming attempt at Liquidation was attempted—and this time, hopefully sending the Charmander flying his way!

“What the—hey! Warn me when you do that!” he yelped as he saw the incoming Fire-type that had been sent flying due to the force of the attack.

here we go, again