(no subject)

[buson]

It's been two weeks since Attila's started living with Manzana and his wife. Four months and a half, more or less, since he'd arrived here and caged Electric types in large numbers using the Crystal System, even threatening a boy's Pikachu with death. For about as long, he'd been lying low, gathering intel (particularly on a researcher studying Mega Evolution, although he was tight-lipped about the details of his research...) that could benefit the organization, waiting for some order or communication from Team Rocket that never came.

He'd been posing as 'Akira' publicly, for a taste of normal civilian life... the kindness of the people here was undeniably moving, they accepted him as he was (even with his completely out of place disguise that felt more at home in Johto, particularly Ecruteak), but playing at being an ordinary, upstanding man felt dishonest, especially if he might have to return to his old home and old ways as suddenly as he'd been thrust here, and he didn't know how he would handle that or if he could go on, knowing he could happily live another way.

... well, it's not like him to dwell too much on the future! He'd better focus on the moment, that's more comfortable and natural for a guy like him, anyway.

A. Gilterrace Town

Buson had been helping with Manzana's herb garden in Gilterrace for these past two weeks, but he can also be found helping out around various the rice terraces, helping plant rice. The straw hat'll definitely come in handy, here!

B. Turnbloom City

Today will be the first time Attila wanders back out into the city without the straw hat, kimono, and geta sandals. In fact, he's not hiding his identity at all right now, although he isn't in Rocket uniform, he's still wearing his usual sunglasses. He's simply more comfortable wearing those all of the time. That said, he should still cut a very familiar silhouette for anyone who's crossed his path earlier unless, you're as face-blind as Ash Ketchum. He's a bit more tanned, but still as recognizable as ever, particularly in jeans and a tank top.

He expected the possibility of being recognized. He definitely didn't want to be chased by wild Electric types again (... they probably know him by scent, anyway), but if he had to face some retribution for his actions, so be it. He wanted, at least, to stop hiding from folks he did get along with here, so if the truth got out later on, he wouldn't be accused of deceiving anyone. It's better that he be the one to let them know, right?

There is a bit of the issue of possibly being a wanted man here, too, given that one officer called by that snake got a good look at him, but... at least he's only committed one crime here and hadn't actually gotten away with anything. It'd be a different story back home.

((4Kids wrangler Attila real, sorry, I mostly play based on the original's characterization, but for a repentant Attila, I felt like working on farms really would be putting his muslce to good use! A mechanic is also an option, of course. He'll probably be doing various odd jobs for an honest living. So, yes, a dairy farm also works, he could totally be a ranch hand, MooMooMilk has to come from somewhere, right?

Of course, that doesn't mean anyone has to believe he's sincere! Feel free to nurse a grudge or view him with suspicion. It comes with the territory!))

Comments

Turnbloom City

[red_berry]

Speaking of being a wanted man, there's a wanted poster (?) drawn in crayon on a wall. It doesn't say Attila's name, the drawing is basically unrecognizable, and the writing is barely legible, but it sure does seem to be looking for Attila.

Red's in the process of taking the poster down, and hasn't noticed Attila. Yet.

[PFFT, Red]

[buson]

That… sure is a childishly crude drawing of him.
His first instinct is to be offended he was drawn so poorly.
His second was mild fear. Alright, so maybe he wasn’t ready to be recognized by everyone he’d crossed paths with here…!

It’s that weird guy he’d dodged before! He definitely saw how the Electric types acted around him! Attila slowly stepped backwards, trying to edge out of the alley. If he was giving up looking for him, that’s a good thing, isn’t it…?

[red_berry]

Red senses movement out of the corner of his eye and turns to look. Oh, it's him. Looks like he's trying to leave. Rolling up the poster and tucking it under his arm, Red starts to speedwalk towards Attila. Finally, he can have a proper rematch with mystery trash-can-kicker-man who electric-types hate for some reason!

[buson]

Completely misinterpreting the situation, Attila raised both hands.

“Hey, hey, I’m not looking for a fight today! I’ll come clean, then, you can decide what you wanna do.”

He can take a beating just fine, he just would rather stay out of jail… but if it comes down to that, fine, he won’t run.

[Red's communication skills, everyone]

[red_berry]

No fight today? Oh. Red stops on the spot, staring at Attila in what might be an intimidating way. That's disappointing.

"...When?" Red asks. He ignores the second sentence since he doesn't know what it means so it's probably not important.

[Attila running with it without any understanding, go]

[buson]

“When…?”

Attila made a face, confused. Was Red giving him time to get his affairs in order out of generosity, or was he just letting him dangle to terrify him? That last possibility’s disturbing… he’d have made a great member of Team Rocket. Maybe the guy planned to beat him to death! That’d be a terrible, but fitting way for him to go…

(All of this unsubstantiated.)

“You wanna fight me that badly…? I guess I had it coming…” Attila sighed. “So, how about tomorrow, actually, maybe two days from now? I wanna thank the folks who’d taken me in and get some work done. I won’t run away. No weapons, right?”

He thought about releasing Skarmory and Muk or advising them to wait for Hun, if he should ever arrive after him… if they still wanted to work for Team Rocket, maybe… they trusted and obeyed Hun. Otherwise, they could be free…

[The misunderstandings may get even worse...]

[red_berry]

Red nods. Two days from now... Wait. Something about what Attila says seems wrong.

"No weapons...?" he repeats, confused. Some Pokemon do fight with weapons, like Farfetch'd and Marowak, but banning those from the match doesn't sound like what Attila's talking about. ...He should really ask for clarification.

"What... are you talking about?" Red asks, staring down at Attila, eyes narrowed as he's trying to puzzle this out.

Gilterrace Town

[gold_drum]

After his part-time job at the cafe ended, Gold's been thinking about trying out working at a farm. After all, his dad's a farmer, so it should be in his blood or something, right? So he goes to Gilterrace Town to get a feel for the various farms around there.

...And that's a familiar straw hat right there.

"Hey man," he calls out casually with a wave. "Cool place, is this where you work?"

[the slow realization I’ve been misreading the town’s name… I get the pun now]

[buson]

That brat again?!

Attila froze and nearly dropped his rake, but quickly recovered it.

He craned his neck and blinked past the shade of his hat at the boy who looked like Jimmy.

“… yeah, one of ‘em… are you sightseein’ or are you the new stable boy?” Attila asked, half-joking.

[wait, there's a pun??]

[gold_drum]

Gold does not miss that reaction, even if he acts like he didn't notice. Spreading fear in the hearts of grown men never gets old!

"Thanks for asking! I'm actually looking for a new part-time job, and this place looks pretty cool! How about it, wanna be co-workers?" he says cheerfully.

[they use rice terraces, so the rainwater will trickle down inclines and water the crops!]

[buson]

“Ugh… fine, you can ask the boss, he’s out back,” Attila said, gesturing with a shrug to the owner of the farm. “… I wasn’t kiddin’, though, the barn needs mucking out and he’s looking for help with it. Hope you don’t mind the smell. You get used to it.”

A brief, uneasy pause, before Attila said, “And try not to talk to me too much, your scary… friend, relative? I’unno, tall dark-haired guy who talks in a monotonous voice and doesn’t emote much… anyway, he might get mad at me.”

[i see! learned a new meaning of the word terrace today!]

[gold_drum]

"Alright! I'm gonna get used to it!" Gold says, determined. Once he gets back home, his dad's going to be so impressed that he learned how to work on a farm!

"Huh?" Gold asks blankly. He takes a few too many seconds to figure out who Attila's talking about. "Oh! That guy. Sure, I'll try."

He doesn't know why that one random customer from back then has been intimidating Attila for him, but he's not going to look a gift Rapidash in the mouth. Thanks, Red!

[^^]

[buson]

“… weird kid,” Attila said, sounding slightly amused.

He watched Gold to see if he’d talk to the owner of the farm, but then focused on turning the soil.


The owner of the farm is rather old, with a bad back, and in need of help, so he’d be happy to give Gold the job. It was otherwise going to be another task Attila’d help with.

The Miltank’s sheds need to cleaned of dirty hay and… well, manure.

It’s great for the soil, but not for the sheds!

Turnbloom City

[radleyslittleevie]

Evie definitely recognizes him and her fur fluffs out in her worry and fear.

"You're that mean guy!" she exclaims.

[buson]

What? Oh, great, more Pokemon...

It's the talking Eevee this time. Attila braced himself, preparing to escape again, but... tried to stand firm, instead, raising his hands, palms up.

"Hey, easy... yeah, you got me. I am that guy. I'm not doing anything wrong now, though."

Talking to a Pokemon and trying to explain himself to her like this felt completely ridiculous, but hey, at least he can understand this one just fine.

[radleyslittleevie]

"You're probably going to, though," Evie says. "Or thinking about what you can do...."

She knows how Team Rocket members tend to be, after being prisoner so long.

[buson]

He sighed.

“It makes sense to think that, yeah… you know my boss ain’t here? Team Rocket as an organization doesn’t really exist here. I don’t answer to anyone, anymore. It’s been months. I’m calling it quits. I’ll spare you all the details, but I’m not going to do anything bad anymore.”

[radleyslittleevie]

"Really?" Evie looked doubtful. "What if you go back home where Team Rocket is?"

[ouch, Evie...]

[buson]

At Evie's question, Attila looked pained, as if suddenly burned. He sighed heavily and knelt down beside her.

"... you really know how to ask the tough questions, don't you? You're smart... for a Pokemon."

"How about I ask you a question? It's related to my answer, I swear. Well, my answer in as much as one exists, right now..."

Gilterrace Town, naturally!

[ulternnpc]

[Over in the herb garden, Manzana seemed lost in thought. He's idly holding a Sprinklotad watering can in hand before a sigh left him. He'll turn to the basil about to water it before realizing it's been watered already. Another sigh, as he's kneeling down, idly poking at the basil.]

Attila...I don't know what to do...

[He sighed.]

I've tried everything I could think of, too...

[graceless, but the concern's genuine!]

[buson]

Hm?

[Manazana seemed awfully down, briefly wondering if he had overwatered the basil, but that didn't really explain Manzana's dour mood very well.]

What's eatin' you?

a beautiful friendship(??!?!)

[ulternnpc]

It's...

[Another drawn out sigh. His head is hanging.]

Dunsparce. She's with Anemone more than me...! Does she hate me!? Is that it?

[-facepalm-]

[buson]

[He blinked, not expecting that.

A long, long silence, before Attila burst into laughter.]

Sorry, sorry, you just looked so serious...!

local Paldean man distraught over a land pancake

[ulternnpc]

[If there was a hole he could hide into right about now--. Instead there's another deep sigh from Manzana.]

I am absolutely serious! I wish I could hold Dunsparce like Anemone does but she always runs away.... and on top of that Dunsparce shows absolutely zero signs of wanting to evolve! Am I doing something wrong as a trainer?

[He's immediately raising his head up to look at Attila.]

What do you think I should do, to get Dunsparce closer to me?

[slash fat-snake youkai--wait, this gives me another ridiculous idea...]

[buson]

Well, for starters, I think you're looking at this all wrong. Unless she's apitting at you and hissing and trying to attack you, she probably doesn't hate you. Can Dunsparce even hate?

[What a weird conversation, but hey, he'll take a seat next to Manzana to discuss it.]

Well, what's the missus do? Maybe she's gentler with it. See if you can watch what she does and pick up some tips.

... also, Pokemon tend to grow to resemble their trainers, right? So maybe you're just so head-over-heels for your woman, you somehow imparted that onto your Pokemon too, and she won't like anyone else as much.

[... a little out there, but it's also in the realms of possibility!]