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[lovelycharming]

Everybody enjoying another peaceful, carefree day in Ultern? Good, because there's a sparkle in the sky other than Ulternian sunshine and look, it's a bird! No, it's a plane! No, it's...

"TEAM ROCKET'S BLASTING OFF AGAAAAA—huh? Hey, wait a minute...! Jessie? Meowth?! Where is everybody?!"

Before James can get an answer, he'll be crash-landing in Ohritori! Face full of sand on Stardust Beach? Embarrassingly suspended from a palm tree or even an Exeggutor? Or taking a miserably full-clothed dip in the sea? (Brrr!)

((Is this going to be a repeat of Mairin landing on various ships and needing to be rescued multiple times—perhaps, fortunately, both Mairin and James have terrible luck and certainly can wind up in fixes more times than they can count... maybe he's under the impression he can just launch himself back into the sky and find his friends, who knows?! But he just keeps landing here... oof.))

Comments

[‹- guy who definitely knew exactly what he was doing ._.*]

[red_berry]

"Skills," Red says with a proud expression. Which is to say, his usual face but with a single sparkle.

[VS beauty before duty James]

[lovelycharming]

"Well, then, you simply must teach me your skills, o wise master!!"

Evidently, James was very easily distracted from his predicament by the ever important goal of looking good.

[red_berry]

Well then! Red will show James how the app he's using works with no explanations, just examples! Unfortunately the mun knows nothing about this so this will have to be handwaved ^^;

Pika watches from the sidelines, wondering how they keep meeting weird people like this.

[lovelycharming]

He's a little quiet, but James likes Red very much!

James would like to insist he's not weird, he's just a free spirit with a great sense of style!

"Thank you, this is amazing! It's not hard to get a hang of, either... I should look into this more, I wonder how all of this works..."

(Someday, James will be quite good at hacking, but for now... he's just curious about technology!)

[red_berry]

Red's happy to help! Oh, and now that he's got his phone out, he might as well communicate using it. He types his response and shows it to James.

"u shud get a phone 2!! then u can do that urself ^o^ whats ur name btw???"

[lovelycharming]

Oh! James wasn't expecting chatspeak.... or bubbly kaomoji!

"It's James! My name is James. It's nice to meet you, Red! I'm sorry I didn't properly introduce myself earlier..."

James scratched the back of his neck shyly, blushing a bit in embarrassment.

[Red's mind goes places... XD]

[red_berry]

"nice 2 meet u 2 james!! its ok, u were busy eating sand XDD"

Red notes the blushing. Hm, hold on, isn't this almost like a meet cute straight out of a romantic movie? After Red prayed for a boyfriend on palentine's day, a guy wearing all white like a prince falls out of the sky right in front of him, and they get along well, and James doesn't seem turned off by Red's lack of speaking...

It's a shame James isn't really Red's type. Oh well! Maybe next time a hot guy will fall out of the sky.

"do u think anybody else will fall from the sky??? *_*"

[James is fortunately oblivious...]

[lovelycharming]

"Please don't remind me!" James said with a pout.

That's fair, Red isn't really James' type either! If he compared him to a prince outloud, he might not take it well, like the time a young girl thought he was her knight in shining armor... but as it stands, Red hasn't mentioned anything about marriage (he's gamophobic!) or dropped the dreaded "f" word (fiance!) that would trigger flashbacks, so James is happily oblivious.

"Ah, I hope it'll be Jessie or Meowth... or even Wobbuffet! Not that I'm hoping they'll fall like I did, it's just that we usually fall together."

[red_berry]

Red huffs out a small laugh.

He has no reason to talk about weddings or princes to James right now, so we're safe!

"r those ur friends? sux if u got separated!! esp if theyre not in ultern... :// but anyway tell me about them!!!"

Red doesn't remember Jesse or Meowth, but he's interested in hearing more about James' Pokemon friends! And since "Jesse" can be a male name, he's holding onto hope...

(Pika, meanwhile, does remember a talking Meowth! That guy sure wanted to impress Giovanni... It's good to hear at least another world's versions of them seem to be doing all right.)

[lovelycharming]

Nope, this Jessie's short for Jessica, so not a Jesse, Red!

"Yes..." James sighed a bit sadly, but carried on bravely! "Jessie is my partner! She has very long red hair... blue eyes, her uniform is white like mine. She has a short temper and can be bossy, but she's also strong, determined, and reliable. Meowth is also our team mate, he's very clever and taught himself to walk on two legs and speak human language! He can think a bit highly of himself and often forgets he's a Pokemon, but he designs excellent machines!"

[red_berry]

Well, Red won't dwell on that disappointment even for a second! More importantly, James' friends sound cool.

"a talking meowth that designs machines??? that's so cooool *_* what kinds of machines??"

Jesse would probably be mad if she knew, but Red's attention has been totally overtaken by Meowth!

[cue drama...]

[lovelycharming]

"Why, they're machines to—"

James was about to brag about trapping Pokemon en masse before realizing he was speaking to a Pokemon trainer who would not look favourably on that.

Immediately, James played sick. He held his head and wilted, quite dramatically, to the ground. "Oooh, my head! I... I can't remember! Everything's a blur!"

[Red is very understanding ^^;;]

[red_berry]

Red blinks in surprise. A sudden case of memory loss mid-sentence? James must be repressing something traumatic then. Though James' case is a lot more dramatic than the amnesiac person Red knows, which does throw him off a little.

He'll deal with this the way he's used to, and waits quietly for James to go back to normal. Hopefully that's enough, he doesn't know what to do otherwise. Maybe he'll have to call a doctor, since James looks like he's in pain...

And so, for now, Red just stands there and watches James' theatrics with barely any visible reaction.

[........... increasing levels of drama]

[lovelycharming]

James, unable to interpret how Red is reacting to him, assumes he's made a fool of himself.

He's not getting his way, like the pampered child he had been, and he wasn't receiving any pity! Did he see right through him?! Should be play it up more?!

He pretended to faint. He may have scattered some rose petals from the single rose he kept in his pocket.

[increasing levels of concern!]

[red_berry]

Oh no, it wasn't okay to leave him be after all! Now he's fainted, and there's something red scattered around him! What was the number for calling the hospital again? Wait, maybe Red should carry him to the Pokemon Center instead?

As Red is silently fretting over that, Pika walks over to James and pokes him on the cheek. He saw him drop those rose petals and he's not impressed.

("Seriously?") Pika says with an exasperated sigh. ("Get up, you're scaring him.") Not that James can understand him...

[lovelycharming]

James opens an eye, the one closer to the ground, fluttering his eyelashes, before squinting at Pikachu.

"... not buying it, huh?" he asked softly, before sighing and sitting up.

He gloomily hugged his knees, pulling his legs closer to himself.

[red_berry]

Oh. Oh, he was okay, then? That's good. Or... Maybe not that okay, after all. Red crouches down next to James, worried.

"...You okay?" he asks.

Pika, meanwhile, isn't too ready to give James any sympathy after that show. He crosses his arms and keeps an eye on him. Not that he's worried James is dangerous, but he doesn't trust him anyway.

[lovelycharming]

Oh, he's getting sympathy now? He was no longer expecting it and genuinely looks surprised when he lifts his gaze. "Oh! ... um, I suppose... as okay as I can be right now. I just really, really don't like to be alone. I miss my friends. I don't spend a day without them!"

He's not. Exaggerating. At all.

[this misunderstanding continues XD]

[red_berry]

Hmm, so James forgot Red asked him about the machines... He must have really traumatic memories about those that he's repressing. Amnesia sure is awful. Red won't ask about it again, he doesn't want to cause James any more distress.

He feels bad for James, though. Red's the type who can easily spend months without talking to another human, so he can't say he knows how it feels, but he doesn't need to. He knows everyone needs different things in their life.

"can't relate but that sux ;-;", he types, but kind of hesitates. Is that a good enough message for someone he's only just met? Does it show what he's feeling? Does it feel sincere? "i hope u don't have 2 be alone!!!" he adds, and then, despite being not totally happy with it, he shows it to James.

[oh, well... all's well that ends well!]

[lovelycharming]

James felt a bit more reassured.

"Thank you... you're a kind young man, you know that?" he said, voice cracking a little from emotion, which seemed genuine.

"I really... really hope I can find them."

He got back up, dusting off his clothes, and then stared off into the distance. He should keep moving.

[red_berry]

Thank goodness, he got his feelings delivered. Red pats James on the shoulder and stands up with him.

But... young man? Red thought James was around his age, in his twenties, but is he actually that much older? It's bothering him now, but the mood of a man staring off into the distance with determination is too dramatic and cool, Red can't just break it like that.

"Mm," Red agrees instead with a nod. "Good luck." It feels like the sun should really be setting dramatically to color the scenery in twilight hues, but it's still midday and the sun is shining brightly in the blue sky.