[Phoenix + Edgeworth] The Other Promise

[thirteenthace]

Set in (the now somewhat dead) pokeology_rp; Phoenix and Edgeworth meet for the first time ever since they were nine and Edgeworth is handed his first defeat as a Pokémon trainer.Veilstone City

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[itsacravat]

Considering how utterly exhausted he’d been, Edgeworth was surprised to find that, once they’d been walking for a few minutes, he’d begun to feel significantly better. Oh, he was still worn out, to be sure - but his mind was gradually stirring back into some semblance of alertness, and thinking back on his day’s findings didn’t have quite the same numbing effect it had had on him an hour earlier. (The hot tea probably helped with that a great deal.)

It was a nice night. His hectic day had him returning home somewhat later than usual, and by the time he and Gregory had emerged for their walk, a blanket of darkness was already beginning to swallow the city. While his eyes lingered on Gregory’s form waddling a few meters ahead of him, the fading twilight took his mind to places far away from the suburban lane along which they walked. The end of the day often brought a strong sense of nostalgia over him, though he could never put his finger on just what exactly there was for him to feel so nostalgic over. Perhaps it was simply the passage of time that made him so thoughtful; the end of a day provided a good time for reflection back on one’s accomplishments, as well as one’s plans for the following day, full of fresh potential.

It might also have been that fact that the end of the day reminded him - day after day, year after year - that he was still very much alone.

Edgworth had never minded being alone. In fact, he preferred it that way…or so he’d always told himself. It was simply one of those facts of life that he had simply accepted early on: he was one meant for solitude. Of course, there had been a time during his childhood when he’d thought he might be able to break out of his lonesome fate, but as it turned out the universe had only meant to provide him with a taste of what it was to have real friends before thrusting him into what would be the impersonal lifestyle he would maintain until present day. He supposed he might have been able to consider one of his sisters somewhat of a friend, and he and Professor von Karma got on all right, but he had never found that closeness in his foster family that he’d felt with his father, or with the two close friends he’d actually managed to make in his lifetime. He didn’t miss that closeness enough to make him honestly unhappy - not really anyway, as he didn’t remember it well enough for its absence to have that much of an effect on him. Still, it wasn’t an uncommon place for his thoughts to wander, either, especially on nights like these, when the stars had just begun to peek down over the city and the fragrance of the cool breeze held the promise of rain to come. If he had a friend or relative to walk with, he might have commented on the pleasant weather, but as it was, he could recognize that Gregory was already enjoying himself, and so he kept his thoughts to himself, as he always did.

Just then, the red roof of the Pokemon Center came into view, and he picked up his pace a bit so he could veer Gregory in the direction of the building. He hoped it wouldn’t be too crowded at this hour, being just late enough that most people ought to have headed home for the night after refreshing their pokemon, and early enough that the general populace of drifters hadn’t yet checked in.

[thirteenthace]

Jabberwocky was tricky little devil when he wanted to be, really - such as now, as the Sableye weaved through the crowds with expert ease due to his small size. Phoenix however wasn't as lucky as him and had to stumble a bit along with his team following him as they had to push and shove through the crowds, mumbles and shouts of apologies following along with his actions. The ghost/dark hybrid didn't turn back to look at him as he went around the crowd, much more focused in trying to go about the humans without getting stepped on - even if he was a ghost, getting stepped on was hardly the most happy experience to be.

Charley bounced in his arms, crying a little in surprise at the roughness and the shock as the human continued to push his way through the crowds with his team in tow behind him. At least the size of the travelling pack made moving around much more easier, even if it could get a bit annoying. Phoenix was hardly one to be fazed by such things though, and only continued on his way as Felix directed him from his viewing spot on his trainer's head. A nudge here, a shout there, a slight shock whenever he went in the wrong direction; it took a bit more, but Phoenix soon managed to weave himself around the crowds quickly enough and emerged out from the flow of human traffic and found himself much closer to the Pokémon centre.

It only took a moment for him as he glanced around and saw Jabberwocky scampering down further on the path, on one of the other paths down the place towards a nearby Empoleon and then just stopped in front of him. There was a pause there and then, and then the Sableye broke into one of those maniacal grins of his and stuck its tongue out to blow a raspberry at the other before turning off to scamper back towards Phoenix, wiggling his impudent backside all the way.

[itsacravat]

Once his thoughts had taken a turn towards the melancholy - an utterly useless and disruptive emotion that he rarely allowed himself to entertain more than momentarily - Edgeworth consciously geared his mind back onto more practical focuses, such as running down the list of items he intended to procure from the rapidly approaching Pokemon Center. His time was far better spent going over productive matters than brooding over the past, anyway. He had already wasted far too much time contemplating simple facets of life that were impossible to change, such as lack of camaraderie or any sort of close familial relationship.

At any rate, he fully planned on using their outing to his advantage (besides the obvious exercise the walk provided them with). He was due to restock on the basics: simple healing items for everyday usage. True, he rarely battled with his pokemon these days, but that didn’t mean that Pess didn’t accidentally catch one of Worthington’s antennae with her tail as she passed by every now and then, or that Gregory didn’t inadvertently disrupt a hive of beedrills or dozing butterfrees as they wandered through the woodsier areas of the local park. He had always made sure to keep an ample supply of Antidotes, Burn Heals, and Potions on hand, in addition to several other remedies that he didn’t necessarily have a need for but preferred to keep around, just to be on the safe side. If nothing else, Edgeworth cared deeply for the health and well-being of his team.

There were several other items he wouldn’t have minded picking up in addition to the essential household medications, such as some Ether for those rare occasions he did enter into battle, a supply of Max Potions, and a few Full Heals, but those sorts of top-of-the-line products were far more expensive and far too little in demand to be carried at places such as Pokemon Centers. No, for those items he would have to tackle the Veilstone Department Store, and as much as he would have liked to take care of all his shopping in one go, he was fairly certain he currently didn’t have the energy that would be required for him to brave the masses that would inevitably still be crowding the shopping center, despite the late hour.

Just as he was beginning to mull over the dilemma of productivity versus fatigue, Gregory stopped short in his tracks several meters in front of him, and the strangest of sounds reached Edgeworth’s ears. Brow creasing, he closed the distance between himself and the empoleon, curiously peering past him in attempts to figure out just what it was he’d heard.

There, in the middle of the sidewalk, acting completely unaware of the passing foot traffic, was a lone pokemon Edgeworth immediately recognized as a sableye: one of the more aggravating dark/ghost-type pokemon due to its tendency to play tricks on unassuming people and pokemon alike, regardless of whether or not a battle was in progress. The short, purple creature appeared to be childishly blowing a raspberry at Gregory - accounting for the odd sound he had heard - thereafter immediately turning tail (which it wagged rather lewdly as it retreated, he noted) and running away. Gregory, being the refined pokemon he was, simply stared after the sableye, his vacant and slightly perplexed expression mirroring the expression on Edgeworth’s own face almost comically. The two of them stared for several long, confused moments at the path between pedestrians the pokemon had left in its wake before Edgeworth finally shook his head, bringing a hand to rest on what would have been the empoleon’s shoulder and muttering a quick, “Nevermind him, Gregory. He’s merely trying to provoke us.”

[thirteenthace]

Phoenix did his best to suppress an audible sigh as Jabberwocky came back quite to him with that happy looking grin on his face that clearly said he was pleased with what he had done. The man was sort of tempted to chide the Sableye for it... but he supposed there was no harm done in the end, so the lecture could be saved for another time. Besides, he did know the dark/ghost hybrid quite well; Jabberwocky (or Jabber, as Phoenix called him at times) had been his partner ever since back when he had been starting out as a trainer. If anything, the Sableye was much much more than a mere partner or a friend or one of his team - he was a companion, his comrade; their bone one forged by friendship and trust and would never ever break no matter what tests they would have to go through.

The Sableye only crooned happily as the man picked him up with a bit of difficulty (he did have an Oddish in his arms and a Pikachu on his head after all) and gave his partner a sigh while raising an eyebrow and giving him a look. "You know, you should be glad that nothing happened - the last thing I need is to battle or anything like that." Surprisingly though, rather than make a noise of approval, Jabberwocky glanced around back again and Phoenix frowned just a little as he saw the usual smile on the Pokémon's face abruptly turning upside down. Now that was a first.

"Jabber, what's up with you--" he started in concern, only to find himself silenced quickly when the Sableye did something he had quite not expected the hybrid to do - Jabberwocky bit right down onto his hand with just enough force to loosen his grip, where then it had subsequently wriggled out of his trainer's hold and scrabbled onto the top of his head (and knocking off a somewhat distressed Felix in the process) before making a biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig leap from his head and back towards the direction of where the Empoleon was... and landed on a face.

Or to be more precise, Jabberwocky landed on the face of human beside the Empoleon - presumably its trainer.

[itsacravat]

Edgeworth and Gregory had been prepared to carry on with their mission as if nothing had happened. In fact, the moment the sableye had disappeared Edgeworth had already all but forgotten about him. With a simple shake of his head and subsequent shrug in response to the questioning look he’d received from Gregory, he’d given the pokemon a gentle pat and turned to continue along his way. He simply wasn't the sort of man to bother questioning the actions of others when they had no direct impact on his life. Sadly, his pleasant outing was already doomed, entirely unbeknownst to him, and his life was about to be very much impacted by their unexpected offender, for he would only make it a few strides past where he had momentarily stopped before the next surprise would fling itself - quite literally - onto his face.

The noise he made was something far from any vicinity of dignified as he abruptly found a living, breathing pokemon firmly attached to his person. His cry of shock would echo through the street, drawing the attention of everyone around them to the spectacle of flailing burgundy appendages as he struggled in vain to throw the purple creature off of him. Not only was he distressed by the fact that there was a pokemon on his face, but he was entirely blinded by the creature, at that. For a few drawn out moments, poor Gregory would only be able to stare - dumbfounded - at the scene unfolding in front of him. Then, coming to his senses and realizing that his trainer was being attacked, he would do what any other loyal pokemon would have done under such circumstances: he attacked.

An explosion of water practically knocked Edgeworth off of his feet as a carefully aimed Aqua Jet was thrown in the direction of the sableye. Though the powerful attack was certainly able to find its target at such close vicinity - that being Edgeworth’s face, of course - despite Gregory’s best efforts the only discernable result at first was that the struggling researcher was thoroughly and completely soaked to the bone. Whether or not the attack would have removed the errant sableye from his face would only be revealed once the water jets died away…

[thirteenthace]

Phoenix had to blink in surprise the moment Jabberwocky landed himself right squarely upon the face of the Empoleon's trainer - that was seriously unexpected, even for him. It took the man himself a minute for the surprise to fade from his mind and half of another minute before it got into him to try and rectify this whole issue. With Felix scrabbling back up to his shoulder after recovering from having been shoved off by the Sableye, the Pikachu let out a cry of 'Pika!' as it jabbed a pointer claw at the general direction where the whole situation was happening. Even though he couldn't speak Pikachu, the man knew what the electric rodent was trying to tell him - from the stance to the cry, it was clear that the Pikachu had taken that habit from his own trainer.

Trusting himself not to smirk at that, the semi-retired trainer only quickly made his way towards where the whole thing was happening with the rest of his team following behind him (aside from Karma and Nicolai of course, they were far too big to navigate around this crowd). It only took a few moments before he found himself much closer to the source of the disturbance - easily ignoring the crowd that had gathered (he was very much used to people staring at him for his attire alone), he cast a somewhat amused smile at the sight before him before calling out to the Sableye that had somehow managed to remain latched onto human's face despite receiving the end of a rather tough Aqua Jet attack. "Here, Jabber!"

There was a sound between a snicker and a snacker at the call, and Jabberwocky the Sableye promptly detached himself from the human's face, doing what seemed to be a back leap and right back nicely onto his trainer's shoulder... knocking down Felix from his position once more. The Pikachu gave out another one of his distressed cries as the rodent tumbled down to the ground once more in a heap of yellow fuzz.

[itsacravat]

Edgeworth was completely oblivious to anything that was happening around him, by that point. All he knew was that he still couldn’t see, and now, not only was he soaking wet - his sopping clothing weighing him down and clinging to his skin in a most uncomfortable manner - but the blow he’d received from the sheer force of the Aqua Jet he’d taken to the face had made him precariously dizzy. He felt himself stagger, and knew right then that matters were only going to get worse, very quickly.

He didn’t even have time to feel relieved when the pokemon detached itself from his face, finally allowing him to see again; reason being the first thing he found himself looking at was the ground rapidly moving towards him as he fell to his knees. Gregory was by his side in an instant, placing himself between Edgeworth and his attackers, and leveling a glare on Phoenix’s entire group that clearly stated he was ready to attack again should they give him a reason to do so, despite obviously being outnumbered. Edgeworth, reeling, still had yet to register much of anything besides an idle thought that he was glad he’d managed to catch himself with his hands instead of face-planting into the sidewalk, though the knees of his suit were likely ruined.

Gingerly - almost as an afterthought - he brought a hand to his forehead, as much checking for damage as holding his head in pain.

[thirteenthace]

As warmed up as he was by the amount of care his Pokémon seemed to show for the (now rapidly-familiar) man currently on the ground, Phoenix pointedly ignored the glare that the Empoleon was seemingly giving him (being a former Ranger and all, the man could see that the Pokémon didn't seem to have the intention to attack him anytime soon) and instead took another two steps forward closer towards the other human now currently kneeled onto the ground. Felix and Léon followed behind their trainer - the Pikachu didn't exactly want to take his chances at the moment after being so rudely shoved down from his spots twice by his self-proclaimed 'eternal rival'.

Said 'eternal rival' was currently on top of his partner's head and blowing a raspberry at both the Pikachu and the other Empoleon; Phoenix had to take a moment in order to keep the mischievous Sableye quieten down with a light smack to the head (complete with sigh). Once he was sure that the dark/ghost hybrid was fully settled down on the top of his head, Phoenix looked down at the man who had kneeled (not to mix it up with keeled, which would be certainly quite disastrous) over. He allowed another smirk to cross his lips before speaking in an obviously amused voice.

"Ah, sorry about that - Jabber does love to pull pranks on unsuspecting people."