pokeboy | 03 video

[ video ]

[ Nothing interesting on the video feed here, just a black-haired boy with his pikachu's head poking from the bottom of the screen. ]

Hi, my name's Red. I've got a couple of questions... I wanted to ask about first aid and the battle dome, and also if there's anybody that knows about fixing things? [ He looks away ] I don't have anything broken, but I wanted to have something looked at.

[ Right, anyway. Back to the screen. ]

But with the first aid... I was wondering if anyone had the time to help me see if I know what I'm doing? I got taught how to put on bandages a long time ago, but I don't think I was doing it right the last time I did it.

[ Maybe it had been fine, but a refresher would be good either way. ]

Anyway, then the battle dome - I wanted to know about what fighters train against in there. [ This was going to be hard, but ] I know people here have different abilities, and what we can handle is different too. I've tried creatures not from my world, but I guess...

[ What does he guess? He thinks, pinching his bottom lip in. ]

...I guess I just want to know if there's something better me and my pokémon can do. Everything's still challenging in the battle dome, but I want -- more? [ Um.

That sounds... bad? He fidgets, then shrugs. ] I don't know. I thought it'd be interesting to know what else we could fight on there. That's about it really.

Well... that's it. Bye.

--

[ Private voice to Caius (

accepted) ]

Hey, Caius. [ He pauses, trying to think of how to continue... ] You fight with a sword, right? I want to practice with you sometime, if you've got the time.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Huh... what do you mean? Meditation? [ A heat tilt. ] Magic?

[ That's an odd thing to be proud of. Or not? Or -- it sounds a little odd, the way that she just said it. ]

No no, I'm talking about what you said about being patient! [She cracked a little grin. On second thought, maybe she was overselling it a bit by mentioning adults before, but the orphans at home definitely weren't that patient.

...Ah, she just killed her own good mood.]

Like you said, being patient is frustrating.

[ He frowns slightly at that. He's getting a feeling he's being Kid Talked here... ]

Well, I don't think it's anything to be proud about. [ Pause. Mentioning adults before... ] And there's lots of things kids can get that adults don't. Even if they should. That's just what people are like.

[You totally are Red, sorry.]

Just what people are like, huh...? What about the people who don't get it on purpose? [She was really pulling her punches there. Remarking on other people's dispositions was something that she was very opinionated about.]

Like what? [ But, even asking that, ] The people who I can think about who do that are selfish.

Well, they might be. It's hard to have an opinion on someone when I don't even know who you're talking about. [She paused for a second. It was hard to bring things like this up in a stealthy way.]

What I do know is that people act in really complicated ways!

[ He knows that. And even in the regards of people who do do things that they know are wrong, they do it for a reason. He had that discussion once not so long ago, but... ]

It doesn't matter anyway. They're not here. [ And that's the one positive thing to be taken about them -- except not really, since they still are elsewhere.

Red pauses for a moment himself, then shakes his head. Pikachu underneath him makes a noise, then decides to hop out of his lap. ] But not everyone who does bad things have an excuse for doing it. I can't believe that.

[She got the feeling that she was getting an answer like that because he wanted to be taken seriously... Which wasn't surprising at all when she gave it a moment of thought.

Hearing Pikachu did noticeably catch her off guard, though. She had almost forgotten the little guy was there.]

Alright then, I won't preach to you anymore. Even if I wanted to, it sounds like you've already made up your mind on that sort of thing!

[ It bothers him more with how she speaks, rubs him the wrong way with the thought that she's talking to him like just a kid. It really isn't something he wants to get into, but at the same time --

no, it's more worth doing. Let's just drop it. ]

Anyway, I have things I should go and do, so... thanks for talking to me. Or taking the time to.

You're welcome! [A small nod. The chances were pretty good that she didn't quite realize that the way she was talking was getting on his nerves. It wasn't out of malice or condescension, but it was a force of habit.]

Good luck with those first aid classes! [And off went the journal.]

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