☀ 04

[hispalette]

Do Americans celebrate Christmas for this long? The tree's back up in our house. [and of course he's suspicious, who wouldn't be after all of what happened? of course, Red being Red, his curiosity overcomes him. he relents after a few minutes, frown pursed across his lips, and gently sets the phone receiver on the kitchen counter. you can hear his

Comments

C

[a_gentle_boy]

[Lucas is shopping, too. But the sight of the yellow (adorable) mouse creature is enough to cause him to almost drop his basket of eggs and juice and milk. Chimera, his brain screams instinctively, before . . . ]

Is that . . . a Pokemon?

[hispalette]

[being a much more perceptive creature than its trainer, Pikachu's ears perk up and it cranes its head in Lucas' direction, studying him with some amount of interest. Red looks only marginally more curious.]

[a nod] You've seen them before?

[a_gentle_boy]

[Lucas nods back in response and relaxes somewhat, particularly as he recognizes the voice as well.]

Yes. I've heard a little about them from some of the others here. I guess I fought a . . . a Pacho? Patch-something. An electric squirrel. It looked a lot like this one.

[hispalette]

[electric squirrel, huh. none that he's heard of. electric rodents seem to be a trend.]

Doesn't sound like a Pikachu. There are loads of species that have yet to be discovered; that's probably one of them.

[Pikachu climbs out of the backpack and onto Red's shoulder. it's been awful restless and jumpy since Red found it under the tree this morning, but that's to be expected - who knows how long it was in that box?]

Ah - Lucas, right? Do you train any? [do you hear the hopefulness in his voice?]

B!

[hangedhourai]

*I am a seventy year old youkai and what is this.*

... Is that small yellow animal your familiar?

[hispalette]

My what?

[he raises his voice so as to be heard over the loud bang as Pikachu's tail slams into one of the bucket heads, hard enough to leave a very deep dent that renders the bucket warped.]

[hangedhourai]

Your familiar!

*Alice raises her voice to match Red's.*

[hispalette]

[BLINKS] Of course I am. We do live together.

B

[noneed_2worry]

[And here comes Dawn with Piplup cheerfully riding on top of her head.]

"Wow, another Pikachu! And it knows all the same attacks as Ash's!"

[hispalette]

[at the sight of the new Pokemon, Pikachu looks up and begins to scamper back to Red, hopping into his arms and onto his shoulder where it studies Piplup.]

It isn't uncommon. Volt Tackle and Thunderbolt are essential moves for a Pikachu.

[rather conspicuously, he also begins to stare at the little blue penguin on Dawn's head.]

[noneed_2worry]

[Dawn notices the staring and blushes a little in embarrassment.]

"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't even introduce myself! My name's Dawn, and this is my Pokemon Piplup!"

[Red receives a cheerful little 'pip pip' and a wave from the penguin atop her head~]

[hispalette]

[if he had his old hat, he'd tip the brim to her. instead, have a polite nod.]

Red. [he wags a thumb at the electric mouse on his shoulder, who is by this point leaning forward and chirping a Piii~ at Piplup in greeting.] I've never seen a Pokemon like that before. Is it an Ice type?

C

[infinitemars]

[She'll be sort of staring back and forth between Red and the Pikachu. She's only see one Pikachu and that was with Ash. There's more than one?]

[hispalette]

[he doesn't mind an audience. actually, he doesn't even notice Kira over there.]

Again. Thunderbolt.

[Pikachu rears up, bluish electricity crackling from its cheeks.]

"Piii...kaaa...CHUUU!"

[a terrific bolt of lightning shoots across the lawn and consumes the scarecrow, leaving behind charred, smoking remains that only barely resemble the materials that made it. Red nods, satisfied.]

[infinitemars]

There's more than one Pikachu?

[She'll sort of speak up so she can be heard]

[hispalette]

[he glances over his shoulder. hi there.]

They're a species, common in only certain parts of Kanto.

[come to think of it, it's strange that one wandered so close to Pallet Town, but that's probably one of the least weird things Red has seen over the years.]

A

[perfectvoice]

[And here comes Miku, with a leek in hand. She's happy, and why shouldn't she be? She got her leeks back, after all.

...Hey, isn't that the kid she met back while the Christmas thing was going down? What's he doing?

Maybe she should offer him one of her leeks.]

Ah, do you like leeks?

[hispalette]

[and isn't that the girl he bumped into several days ago? he opens one eye upon recognizing the voice, then the other when he sees that she's carrying something - green.]

Leeks?

[parrot-mode is go! tbh, he's a little spooked that the same girl would seek him out again purposely. Himeno is the only other one who's done that, and he's not sure of what to make of that either.

it's kind of strange, but not in a bad way.]

[perfectvoice]

[Which is good, because Miku sometimes acts like that. It just means she thinks you're nice. STALKING AND GIVING LEEKS IS HER WAY OF SAYING SO, OKAY?]

Yeah!

[hispalette]

[after a bit, he shifts a little so he can sit up. Pikachu stirs and yawns but doesn't wake up.]

What's a leek? Don't you use 'em for cooking?