generalflirt | Appointments Post ( II )

[ Masaomi isn't talking about Chien. Ikki doesn't really get what he's talking about; she does notice he's addressing Soren more than he is her, and she's watching with a confused, concerned sort of expression. She's spent very little time talking to anyone from Soren's world - or the world his parents came from - and she doesn't totally understand the Pokemon and human partner connection. She'd always assumed Chien and Soren were best friends, although a lot of what Masaomi had told her before sort of shifted that into best friends who battle together because of romance(?) and passion(?????). It hadn't had anything to do with how she treated either of them.

Soren is a lot less confused than the little girl sitting behind him, though. He seems to be considering Masaomi more than the question he's not asking, but then he hops backwards just once, pressed up against one of Ikki's knees where it comes off the bench. There's a decidedly defensive look to his stance, which Ikki doesn't notice, just reaching down absently and hugging Soren because he'd lost someone else, too, and she's sad for him.

Her voice is fairly firm, and she answers what she thought she heard rather than whatever is actually going on. ] I said they could come to me if they needed. It was a promise!

[ Soren chirps, looking at Masaomi rather than the seven year old child clinging to him, because Ikki's definitely not in this loop. ]

[...Ah, Soren, so that's your choice. Maaomi nods, solemnly, at the bird. He then crouches down to face Ikki more directly. He's not trying to freak her out or anything, but what comes next is gravely important. It's not something super serious, per se, but it is something that she ought to understand]

Ikki-chan, Soren came to you for a reason, I'm now certain. And I'm sure he has something to ask of you - something deeply instinctual to him, a question ["will you be my Partner?"] that he knew he might one day ask of a human since the moment he was born. However... like me, you're not from the world of his ancestors. Like me, you don't instinctually understand the question he's asking. I learned it by trial and error, but as humans are creatures of words, I'd like to try to explain it to you with words first. Would you like to hear me out?

[ Ikki blinks at Masaomi for a second, but nods. ] Of course!

[ She came to him for help with what they were supposed to be doing, and this sounds like the part where he does that. Although he's already been helping since he got there, and she's still got the pokeball in her lap, and she never knew it was as important as it is. ]

Alright.

[Inhale, exhale and...] Pokemon are creatures of battle. They fight, all the time, gaining in power and strength. But these fights aren't for the reasons humans attribute to fighting. The goal isn't to cause violence, and it isn't to conquest territory or even to dominate other people. Sure, in the wild, all animals fight for their survival, but - and here's the thing that took me so long to get - pokemon fight for far more than that. To survive is simply to eat, but to battle is to put your honor at stake, and advance to the next level. To grow stronger all the time, and to achieve your greatest potential.

On some level, all Pokemon want this. They want to grow, to learn new attacks and to strengthen their existing ones. They want to defeat strong opponents, and they want to evolve as well. [Does she know about evolution? there's a two second pause, but he can't let up in his speech] But there's another secret to this... pokemon can't reach this potential alone. Pokemon choose humans, trainers to help them in their quest for honor and strength. They choose partners, a deeply instinctual bond for them, in which they choose someone to live and fight beside them. To push them to their limits, and to run, or in this case fly, right along with them are they strive to be the best they can be.

And Ikki-chan, Soren has chosen you to be his new trainer.

[ Creatures of battle, huh? Pretty much the opposite of everything she's ever learned in airbending training, in history lessons about their culture, in all the things she'd done since she was a child, day in and day out. The goal isn't to cause violence eases the idea, and she'd had the notion for some time that Pokemon were something like probenders. The phrases honor at stake and advance to the next level only emphasize that idea, and Ikki thinks for a second that Korra would probably love this.

She's suddenly a little worried. She trains daily, but she's not certain she's the best choice for a partner in battle when there's always at least one voice in the back of her head telling her to find a different path. Then again, she's fought before, or at least has defended her home, for what little good that did.

I know how to airbend, though. Like Soren did(n't). And she knew a few things more than that, since coming here, and Soren was kind of looking at her now like Masaomi was, and, well, she could always at least learn. That was always an option. And he was one of her best friends. And she didn't want to say no. She'd always done everything she could to help the people she cared about before, and even if this seems so much heavier than anything else, she nods, slowly, trying to remember everything anyone has ever said to her about pokemon, and trying to think about Chien and Soren and what she's seen of Masaomi and Linda, and even if she's nervous about somehow doing something wrong, she thinks she does understand it.

Ikki has a million and one questions about all of this, but somehow she feels like Masaomi's saying something too serious and important to disrupt it. It's a new feeling. ]

...I'll work really, really hard to learn whatever I need to learn, if you'll both help teach me, then. Um. That is, if you'll help?

Ikki-chan-

[...No. It's polite, but then he remembers Katara's assertion about -chan, ages ago. "If it doesn't make you feel too uncomfortable, then I'd really rather you just call me Katara." He wonders if Ikki feels the same way... either way,]

Or rather, Ikki. It would be my honor to start you off on the path, and to tutor you with what Linda and I have learned. Naturally, only you can walk it, but I'm sure you know that.

[And then he nods in Soren's direction. Go on, confirm it to him]

[ Ikki has more or less gotten used to the "-chan" some people add to the end of her name. She classifies it as "weird Earth custom" but has never actually given it more thought than that. It's more a nickname in her mind than anything else, and she actually gives Masaomi a startled look when he drops the "-chan", because that just hasn't happened before. ]

I do! But if you can teach me the things I need to know 'bout, like...the things like the pokeball and what it does. [ About the world, and wow, she's going to have to start talking to all the people from that world a lot more to see what they can tell her. ] ...I'd like to learn!

[ The nod to Soren reminds her that she hadn't said yes or no, just asked immediately to be taught, because she's probably in over her head. Ikki giggles at the almost affronted look she's getting from Soren - she'd talked to Masaomi first - and slips off the bench to crouch on the ground looking Soren in the eye like she'd done many weeks ago when they'd first met. ] Sorry, sorry! I just need to know a lot, lot more than I do right now if I'm gonna do any of what Masaomi just said. [ I don't want to disappoint you. ]

I'll definitely absolutely be your partner, silly. You're already one of my best friends. So, we'll figure out the rest of it, too. [ She's not certain if that works for a yes or not - seriously, she'd be better equipped to deal with a suddenly piratical situation than a suddenly pokemon one - but Ikki hugs Soren anyway, knowing that if she lavishes enough attention on him she'll probably eventually be able to make him stop sulking about replying to Masaomi before Soren himself.

Compliments to his "airbending" and talking about how much she adores him had yet to fail in their history together. ]

Mmmmhm. Glad to hear it. [This is with a smile at the first part, and the then stands from his crouch to go collect Chien's pokedex while her and Soren hash out their first moments as partners. He flips through a few things... Chien had made a few notes, and it's a shame he'll need to delete this in order to reset the data to make the pokedex Ikki's. He actually found the number chain on accident though Mirphy's Law in his first week of ownership. He doesn't bother to question Ikki if she agrees to him deleting Chien's data though. He doesn't want to have the undo complication.

But he's fiddling with it and hitting the button sequence. It starts to beep now, having confirmed the reformatting command]

[ Ikki only starts paying attention to Masaomi again at the beeping. Ah, it is the square beep-y thing-y whose purpose she...still isn't clear on. Soren's obviously less interested in the pokedex, nudging her shoulder again, and she giggles, but has to ask. ] What's it doing that for?

I'm getting it set up so you can register your name in it to claim it as yours. Once you do, you'll be able to add your own notes, use it as a diary, or other things like that.

[ Huh. So it does things other than

no okay she's never had the slightest idea what it did. ]

...But we have journals!

But these are private notes.

[Still reformatting... By the way because it's a Gen 3 Dex it looks like this and may or may not be a stylus and/or touch screen I forget which I decided]

[ what is private. ]

Like those filtered things? [ She's just gonna go hang out at his elbow and look on in baffled awe. Computers, man. ]

No, no, like ... notes only for you that other people don't see unless you show them? Things you noticed about Soren? Or other pokemon? No one's memory is perfect, so these can help with that.

[right now it's just a progress bar on the reformatting on the screen]

[ protip if people ask about her notes she would show them if she hadn't already rambled on about it first she's got to work on that ]

Oooooooooh. Oh...kay. [ This progress bar is still pretty interesting. ] ...It looks really complex.

It's a little complicated, yeah! ...Do you know what an encyclopedia is?

Something you don't call a dictionary if you don't want Jinora to glare at you?

[...Touche] Dictionaries are books where you can look up the meaning of words. Encyclopedias are books where you can look up information on things. And this pokedex here, is an encyclopedia on pokemon.

...So it has all the stuff I have to learn in it?

No....ot really! But it will have information on any species of Pokemon known to my comrades from the time they're from. It also can get information on specific pokemon when you point it at them, detailing their strengths and weaknesses and their attacks and abilities all sorts of things. You can also use it in a lot of other ways I haven't even figured out-

Oh, here we go.

[Reformatting done, he passes it to Ikki]

Now you need to type in your name and if you're a boy or a girl.

[ She was staring blankly at Masaomi for most of that - okay, she understood it, but huh - but the stare gets well and truly blank at the last bit. ]

Why does it care if I'm a boy or a girl? [ does it change colours or something. But she's obediently tapping in her name, carefully and slowly, not at all used to this thing. ]

You know... I'm really not sure. But it does. I think it sometimes uses female pronouns, maybe?

So if you say you're the other thing it just calls you a boy sometimes? [ She's tapping girl, though. If you insist, magical encyclopedia diary! ]

Pretty much! And that might be weird. [And once she confirms both things there's a welcome message, and then it goes to the main screen for the base data... which is nothing. But then it starts Beeping! And notes that it's downloading/copying all the Data Masaomi has on Pokemon he's seen or caught (which he in turn got from Gold who got it from Crys)

Sync Up]

[ what the hell is this thing doing.

Ikki just stares at it in the same befuddled awe she'd been using to start with, watching as it does...all that it is doing. Sync Up what pray tell strange contraption? What are all these entries. ]

...It says it's syncing?

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