Saint
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Weekend Warrior
Round 2
Posts: 386
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Angelo Alvarez
OOC Username: Sleepy
Arena Points: 10
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Post by Saint on Jun 10, 2023 2:02:32 GMT 9
After some more struggling, Gumball comes popping out of the water, beaming with pride. The Magikarp is in his mouth. Its eyes are little ‘x’ marks of defeat.
Saint blinks. “Well done.” His starter has gotten the hang of this quite fast.
And then he realizes his hands have stopped moving. He looks down, finding the Mantyke who’d been struggling for freedom now extremely still. The magikarp in the pond has also taken on a concerning shade as it watches Gumball waddle over to hand in his catch.
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Saint
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Weekend Warrior
Round 2
Posts: 386
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Angelo Alvarez
OOC Username: Sleepy
Arena Points: 10
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Post by Saint on Jun 10, 2023 1:58:30 GMT 9
"What is going on back there?” Saint finally turns, his arms still full of flailing Mantyke, only to see a splash fest.
Gumball breaches the surface of the water like a whale, flipping backwards in slow motion, the water droplets around him glistening like gems under the bright sun, and in his mouth is a magikarp with eyes full of fear.
Time restarts. The popplio crashes back under the water, resuming the battle as his prey continues making a valiant effort to escape.
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Saint
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Weekend Warrior
Round 2
Posts: 386
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Angelo Alvarez
OOC Username: Sleepy
Arena Points: 10
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Post by Saint on Jun 10, 2023 1:55:03 GMT 9
As Saint continues to struggle with his new fish kids, Gumball takes notice of another audience. The magikarp tries to be stealthy by bobbing in the water under the shade of some cattails, but there’s no mistaking those classic red scales.
Wanting to show off his own stealth, Gumball ducks under the water, quietly swimming up behind the Magikarp, who turns out to be chasing a little berry. The small Oran bobs forward, taking the Magikarp with it, and as the fish opens its mouth to swallow its prey whole, Gumball pounces.
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Saint
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Weekend Warrior
Round 2
Posts: 386
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Angelo Alvarez
OOC Username: Sleepy
Arena Points: 10
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Post by Saint on Jun 10, 2023 1:51:06 GMT 9
“Can you just—”
SLAP SLAP SLAP!
“Can you please just settle down—”
SLAP SLAP SLAP!
Gumball cackles silently, watching by the edge of the lake, his flippers folded over the dirt as he observes his trainer struggle to put the newest catch into the Magikarp Pond—name pending, because now they’ve got a mantyke added.
The Mantyke puts up a struggle, being a lot flightier than a magikarp. Every time it slips from Saint’s hands, it goes sailing in the air like a bar of soap, only for Gumball to slap it back to the pond with his tail.
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Saint
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Weekend Warrior
Round 2
Posts: 386
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Angelo Alvarez
OOC Username: Sleepy
Arena Points: 10
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Post by Saint on Jun 9, 2023 5:46:09 GMT 9
He hates this place. It’s foreboding in every sense of word, from the looming gothic architecture and the physics-defying rain. The lighting leaves much to be desired, leaving plentiful dark nooks and crannies where God knows what lurks in. He’s already tailing strange, robed figures. There could be ghosts. Or zombies. Or vampires—
“YIEEEK!”
The single most undignified noise goes bouncing down the halls, Saint sinking fully into his collar and assuming turtle defense position. His eyes squeeze shut as he waits to be devoured.
It takes a good minute before he realizes he’s not being eaten, and when he opens his eyes, he’s greeted not by a ghost or a zombie. Maybe a vampire. Kallisto has the look for it, but he’s not trying to kill him, so the vampirism is up for debate.
Regardless, Saint is outraged. “Don’t sneak up on people!” he says, indignant despite being thoroughly embarrassed, or maybe precisely because of it.
Whatever other protests and nagging he prepares is interrupted by the entrance of a third party. The newcomer, Lord Darien Blackthorne, walks towards them elegantly, blending naturally with the unnatural environment. Saint squints his eyes at the greeting. “A wondrous downpour…?” It harks back to the name of the church: so distinctly, disturbingly cultish.
Then the rain curtains draw to introduce one of the robed figures. They step forwards to address them. Saint’s panic returns, not knowing what the tall stranger will do, but also—finding something incredibly familiar with that voice. He just can’t make out the face, and it’s hard to pinpoint the cadence when his ears are half-filled by the sound of rain.
By some miracle, they aren’t in fact being thrown into a cult dungeon, or fed to sea vampires. The mysterious figure instead procures some very strange but incredibly helpful information about the cult, though it remains to be seen what the ‘service’ actually is. Saint looks over to the procession occurring in the center of the downpour, eyes immediately zeroing in on a familiar bobbing blueberry face.
Gumball cheers wordlessly, already in the throes of celebration. The dance floor is the best he’s ever seen! And the music, by word—mesmerizing. He jumps and hops in a manner more appropriate for a polka, right flipper in, right flipper out, water gun finale before whipping around in search of a dance partner. His eyes land on the nearest pokemon: an adorable Piplup who he moves to grab and swing about.
Saint takes a shuddering breath, before moving to take a robe from the coat rack. He unzips his coat (releasing a flood of water that had built up in his bowl-like collar; the material remains dry thanks to his class) and puts on the robe, flipping the hood over his frightened eyes. He hurries to follow after their unnamed guide, stumbling to ask: “Is… Is this service ‘safe’ for the pokemon? I don’t mind letting Gumball dance, he deserves to have fun, but not if it puts him in… in any… danger…”
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Saint
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Weekend Warrior
Round 2
Posts: 386
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Angelo Alvarez
OOC Username: Sleepy
Arena Points: 10
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Post by Saint on Jun 9, 2023 4:19:20 GMT 9
Bullseye!
Saint blinks, watching as his starter basically torpedoes the poor Mantyke in his excitement to return. “Hey! Gumball, calm down!”
But Gumball has jumped out of the water, now clinging to both the Mantyke and the line that its hanging off of. He has his mouth clamped over its fin and is happily jiggling his body. It’s the same way he moves when he’s wrestling snacks out of Saint’s hand.
'Does he think it’s an actual pancake?' Saint thinks, alarmed as he tries to reel the Mantyke in before Gumball can turn it into breakfast.
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Saint
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Weekend Warrior
Round 2
Posts: 386
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Angelo Alvarez
OOC Username: Sleepy
Arena Points: 10
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Post by Saint on Jun 9, 2023 4:10:57 GMT 9
A bite catches and pulls the line taut. Saint tenses, grabbing the pole and moving to yank the end of the rod out of the water.
What splashes out of the lake turns out to be a familiar face. “Another Mantyke!” Saint turns to look over to where Gumball is practicing a very strange backstroke by the shore. “Gumball!”
Gumball stops, immediately diving underwater and executing a flip turn as he darts toward his next opponent.
The Mantyke on the other end of the line puts up a valiant struggle, flailing around like a rabid pancake. It makes Saint feel a little guilty—they’re cute pokemon! But if he wants to improve on fishing, he can’t go releasing every catch he finds.
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Saint
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Weekend Warrior
Round 2
Posts: 386
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Angelo Alvarez
OOC Username: Sleepy
Arena Points: 10
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Post by Saint on Jun 9, 2023 4:06:14 GMT 9
He spends an unusually long time just squatting there by the pond, hands together over his mouth as he contemplates the ethics of what he’s doing. Do they even have those? Trainer ethics? Fish ethics?
His spiraling is interrupted by a swift thwap against his arm. Gumball pouts as he points back to the lake, where the fishing pole has already been set up. Without waiting for his trainer, the popplio waddles back to his new extensive pool, eager to continue playing with the fish.
Saint sighs. Right, just—this is a game. He should remember that. He gets up and moves to continue fishing, but not without making one last cautionary glance at the Magikarp pond, where the current sole occupant stares at him from the water. Unblinkingly.
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Saint
•
Weekend Warrior
Round 2
Posts: 386
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Angelo Alvarez
OOC Username: Sleepy
Arena Points: 10
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Post by Saint on Jun 7, 2023 19:56:25 GMT 9
Saint’s fingers curl into the fabric of his coat. The soft material that would usually comfort him only seems to feed into his mounting dread, because being able to feel it at all means he still hasn’t found his popplio.
And now that he’s here, he realizes there’s only one place Gumball would go.
The sound of worship that streams out from the imposing church feels both all too familiar and entirely new. He does not recognize the lyrics, if they’re even words at all. It feels like he’s hearing them with his ears underwater. He’s bundled in layers and gets chilled anyways.
This is his fault. Gumball has always been attracted to music, but since they spent most of their time wandering quiet routes or sitting in quiet fishing spots, the popplio had little in way of music to enjoy. And now he had found it. In there.
Saint peeks through the open doors, hands clutching the hinges and body leaning as if a burglar peeking for guards. He had seen the ominous sign at the bottom of the hill. He can see a similar color forming an unfamiliar symbol on the retreating cloaks.
His heartbeat stops as he notices the little puddles of water trailing into the church, leading up to a tiny wiggling bulb draped by the train of a white robe.
Cursing under his breath, Saint moves to follow, trying to keep his steps silent.
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Saint
•
Weekend Warrior
Round 2
Posts: 386
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Angelo Alvarez
OOC Username: Sleepy
Arena Points: 10
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Post by Saint on Jun 7, 2023 19:26:21 GMT 9
The prospect of testing flight prototypes under dire weather conditions did not phase Saint. The prospect of crashing and coming out of this looking like a wet pool noodle did not strike fear in his heart. What came next did.
He fidgets, looking around the sea of faces for something to anchor to. Grouping up has always been the worst fucking time. He’s convinced any teacher who has assigned group work is some kind of sadist, and there has never been a worse feeling than watching a class disperse until you’re the last man standing.
He thinks he spots Killian and Silvermoon further back, but before he can move towards either of them, he’s called by an unfamiliar voice. He stares at her like a deer in headlights, both out of sheer terror and also because holy shit this woman is shiny. The tall catgirl is decked out in equipment from head to tow, and she’s even got one of the coolest machines on offer.
“I don’t…” He would prefer people he already knows. But Tuesday is clearly an experienced player, so logically, if he wants to succeed, he should go with her, right? “O- okay. I’ll join your group.” He tilts his head, as if in apology. “Uh. Saint, by the way, and you guys are—?"
But Starlitlover returns with his chosen invention—a very flashy pair of bat wings—and cuts through his question by asking for Tuesday’s opinion.
Ah, there it is. Saint shuts his mouth, disengaging from the conversation. He moves back to the table, deciding that it’s a good time to make his pick while his teammates are busy talking.
There are still quite a few left. If he was braver, he’d choose one of the hoverboards. He used to love surfing, but faced with a new environment and new people, he opts for a safer option. He returns to his teammates carrying one of the gliders, its design reminiscent of the pokemon, Masquerain.
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Saint
•
Weekend Warrior
Round 2
Posts: 386
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Angelo Alvarez
OOC Username: Sleepy
Arena Points: 10
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Post by Saint on Jun 6, 2023 18:29:38 GMT 9
After a little bit of struggling, he manages to pull the Magikarp out of the water. Said Magikarp is, of course, not best pleased.
“Sorry, sorry, let’s just put you over here…” Saint struggles to hold it as it thrashes about, tail fin making a valiant effort to slap him.
Gumball claps his flippers to signal his trainer that he's done. He’s dug a fairly deep little pond nearby, far enough from the lake that they don’t have to worry about the caught fish trying to somersault to freedom, but close enough that they can keep an eye on it.
Saint had opted not to immediately shove his catches into Pokeballs. It seemed a shame, considering these fish grew up (presumably) in such a nice home, and while he’d have to take them away, it's nice to let them spend as much time at home while he gathers up more fish.
He pauses as he places the Magikarp in the artificial pond, realizing that this could quite possibly be crueler than simply letting it live in ignorant bliss.
"... Oh God."
FISHING ROD SET!
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Saint
•
Weekend Warrior
Round 2
Posts: 386
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Angelo Alvarez
OOC Username: Sleepy
Arena Points: 10
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Post by Saint on Jun 6, 2023 18:14:43 GMT 9
Another day in UNOVR. Saint yawns, rubbing his eyes. He honestly should still be asleep by now, but cramming and dreading over work had kept his mind from relaxing. He’ll need to transfer soon, maybe. The bookstore just didn’t pay enough, but openings that didn’t damage his school schedule were thin. But if he didn’t find a better one soon, he’d have to take a chunk out of the monthly he sent back to his parents, or he’d have to ask Argent to cover his half of the bills, or—shit, how much food could he cut back? He really shouldn’t have paid those inflated prices for this game.
He shakes his head. He can stress over all that later. Right now, he’s wandering the tutorial area with his popplio cradled in his arms. Right now, he’s not Angelo, but Saint, and in the corner of his UI lists a few quests that require attention.
He can see someone out in a patch of tall grass, the impatience clear in their face. Maybe they were doing a tutorial? The catching tutorial, by the looks of it. Saint’s mouth curls as he debates on jumping in; weren’t these supposed to be done in pairs at least?
But he didn’t want to intrude. He pivots, deciding to try asking someone who didn’t seem busy, only for his ear to pick up a faint string of words that might as well have been the sounds of heaven’s call.
[tangent=YOU!]“IKAW!”[/tangent] The word explodes out of him, as if having built up in his throat. With quick steps, he enters the tall grass, Gumball hugged tight to his chest.
Mom delights, hands clapping together. “Oh, wonderful! Now we can continue with our little demonstration. Let’s move on to the basics: The application of Quantum Poke-Molecular Theory!”
But Saint doesn’t hear her, skidding to a stop in front of the other player—Killian, by the name that hovers over the stranger’s head. His cone-like collar obscures his mouth, but his delight is clear from the shine in his eyes. [tangent=You can speak Tagalog? Are you Filipino?]“Nagsasalita ka ng Tagalog? Pinoy ka ba?”[/tangent] He can barely contain his excitement. It feels like ages since he’s been able to speak with someone other than his family in anything other than English.
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Saint
•
Weekend Warrior
Round 2
Posts: 386
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Angelo Alvarez
OOC Username: Sleepy
Arena Points: 10
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Post by Saint on Jun 6, 2023 17:50:53 GMT 9
Saint is rendered speechless as his roommate comes strolling up to him, flinching when the man snatches the box out of his hands. Despite the dread that flashes clear on his face, the Professor sends them off on their journey.
Again, Saint is struck dumb by his argent's machinations. He’s lost in his own thoughts as they both walk out together, wondering why this is happening, wondering what divine being he had enraged to lead up to this—and then he hears the box being shook.
“I don’t—Finn that’s none of our business, stop shaking it!” Did he just hear a squeak? Is the content of the package alive?
But the man only laughs in his face, in the same manner he does whenever Saint tells him to pick up his shit or to stop pestering him in the middle of his studies. The mention of his prior offenses causes heat to burn painfully over his cheeks, his lip trembling as he says: “How is it breaking and entering if we already live together? And I paid you back for what I took.”
He sneers and moves to swipe the box out of Argent’s hands. “Now give me that!”
It’s a beautiful day outside. Or at least, beautiful by Route 3’s definition. The sky hasn’t drenched them yet, and the path is clear, easy as a tutorial—if they’d just stop squabbling.
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Saint
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Weekend Warrior
Round 2
Posts: 386
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Angelo Alvarez
OOC Username: Sleepy
Arena Points: 10
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Post by Saint on Jun 5, 2023 11:01:45 GMT 9
The first bite. Time to test how this mechanic works.
Saint yanks the line. The still water is disrupted with a burst of water, a magikarp breaching the surface, the bright sun bouncing off its strangely brown, striped scales. “We’ve got a live one!” Still seated, Saint throws his weight back, trying to pull the resisting fish out of the water and into the little bucket he’s set up beside him.
The little cattail sticking out of the water jumps to attention, before zooting its way back over, Gumball preparing to aid in the fishing efforts via his own refined technique: slapping the heck out of it.
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Saint
•
Weekend Warrior
Round 2
Posts: 386
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Angelo Alvarez
OOC Username: Sleepy
Arena Points: 10
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Post by Saint on Jun 5, 2023 10:58:42 GMT 9
He doesn’t recall the last time he’s felt so at peace. His worries are an entire reality away, his virtual lungs free of polluted air, his eyes preoccupied only with nature. There is no one around to pick on him or remind him of his inadequacies. The sun is gentle on his back, and he’s kept cool by the water that ripples gently around his legs.
Gumball pops his head out at random intervals. The popplio has fashioned a snorkel out of a cattail, pretending to be a scuba diver, or perhaps a submarine. Whenever he gets close enough, he spits some water in Saint’s direction, his trainer laughing as he attempts (and more often than not fails) to dodge.
He almost wishes the bite wouldn’t come. He wants this moment to last—or better yet, to be real.
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