...I Have to Wait, Huh? (Zerne)

[Nigenteki Reikon]

I'M HERE TO WORK, NOT FUCK AROUND

SONG: The Under NOTES: Possible shipping moment avoided! ||||| The hum of machinery, coupled with the steady clacking of gears, assaulted her and her dog from all directions. Pyrite Town and the Under still had some very old technology working for them, despite both of them having more than enough time to upgrade. Didn’t matter to her, really; she was the type to accept whatever worked, and considering the role of the elevator and the fact that people kept it under very good maintenance, it really didn’t matter how high or low the technology for it was. A loud thud and a heavy jolt, though not heavy enough to shake Vesta’s or Oscar’s balance, signaled the fact that the elevator could go no lower. The gate receded, and immediately, Vesta’s instincts screamed at her to leave. Her eyes narrowed as she easily found out why simply by moving out of the elevator; nearly everyone was giving her looks of suspicion and anger simply by her presence. The redhead chose not to react; she kept her eyes forward, her hands behind her straight back as per her normal posture. They could think what they would of her; she had no plans of being here for much longer than it took to challenge the gym, which subsequently meant that she had little desire to associate with these people. As long as they stayed out of her way, they could give her all the glares they wanted. She was here on business. She strode her way through the Under, ignoring the spiteful looks as she wound through the streets, protected by her Mightyena from most potential attacks. Her eyes never wavered from the direction she walked in; with her serious look, she could accidentally provoke a fight, something she would rather save for the stronger, Steel-type specialist that resided here. For a second, Vesta’s mind wavered back to the surface, to the town of Pyrite’s Leader. Her interaction with that female leader was brief, but it would have been more pleasant to get her molars ripped out by steel pliers. As Vesta approached the Gym, she looked down at Oscar, who had the same meeting with the Pyrite leader as she did, on some level, she was hoping that the Under Gym Leader, whoever it was, would be more of a professional. Oscar barked, Vesta looked forward, and immediately stopped herself, forcibly reversing her direction in a split second, narrowly avoiding walking into a man’s chest. Taking a few steps back, the solider girl avoided walking into him, and with her new vantage point, she also managed to recognize the white-haired male. “…Mr. Romanov?”

[Zernebog Romanov]

Rise Rebel Resist I'm the one of the freaks, the faggots, the geeks, the savages, rouges, rebels, dissident devils, artists, martyrs, infidels... { tags: Vesta } { words 221 } { short notes: encounters } He did it! He won. If Zernebog had been younger, he would have been jumping and hollering for joy like a kid on a sugar rush upon winning the Hassun Gym Badge. In fact, he was still sorely tempted to do it, the propriety rules he could remember be damned. After all, it wasn’t everyday that he won a Gym battle, and with only one pokemon, no less! As Zernebog looked upon his Gabite though, a smirk found its way on his face when he realized that he didn’t have to. Achilles was doing enough celebrating for the both of them, what with him practically skipping and singing beside him despite the injuries he had gained from the two fights and the supposed fatigue that he had from fighting two consecutive battles and winning both of them. He was so amused by Achilles’ actions that he didn’t notice that he was about to collide with someone until he heard a loud bark. When he did hear the bark, he immediately stopped and turned his head towards the source of the sound. …Vesta?” Zernebog looked down and blinked in surprise upon seeing the redhead he had met in the Safari Zone some time ago. ”Oh hey. It’s been a while. What are you doing all the way in The Under?” MADE BY KIROUKO OF GANGNAM-STYLE

[Nigenteki Reikon]

I'M HERE TO WORK, NOT FUCK AROUND

SONG: NOTES: Not a Sherlock Scan, but not bad, eh? ||||| With the temporary adrenaline going down, Vesta was able to quell her instinctual reactions, quickly settling into her normal standing posture. While she heard his question, she was studying him. He was soaked to the bone and covered in sand at the same time… almost like he just came from the beach or escaped some quicksand pit. Oscar was approaching him, investigating his scent more than his appearance. “Well,” Vesta stated, as she looked at Zerne’s Pokémon, “I was planning on challenging the Gym…” The redhead didn’t recognize the Pokémon, but the signs of battle were clear. Damage across its entire body, not to mention water, sand, and even dirt and debris, told of a difficult battle, but with that said, the grin on its face and its foolishly joyful movements did not imply a loss. “…but it seems that you not only battled her, but won,” she finished as she looked back up at Zerne. She stood at attention, clicking her boots together as she straightened her posture as much as possible, her subtle congratulations to him. It was good for him that he won, but at the same time it meant that, most likely, his victory would get in the way of her planned challenge in some way. Still, she gave him a respectful look; it was a somewhat annoying change in plans, but it wasn’t significant enough to spawn spite.

[Zernebog Romanov]

Rise Rebel Resist I'm the one of the freaks, the faggots, the geeks, the savages, rouges, rebels, dissident devils, artists, martyrs, infidels... { tags: Vesta } { words 267 } { short notes: encounters } It looked Vesta figured it out. Well, it wasn’t really hard to put two and two together considering that Zernebog and his pokemon look like they went through some natural disaster or weathered through a storm in the beach and that he went out of a building instead of into it. He wasn’t hiding the fact either though. Still, a chance to make himself look good was one he wasn’t about to drop. ”Of course I did~! I wouldn’t go in unless I’m fairly confident about my chances of victory.” He boasted, grinning widely while wondering why she was standing so straight. If he didn’t know any better, he might even say that she was standing at attention. But that couldn’t be it because there was no reason for her to be doing that, right? He wasn’t about to mention that he wasn’t sure that he was going to win with one pokemon alone, of course. The evolution was unplanned but very much welcome, as the added power, speed, and reach allowed his pokemon enough of an edge to win over Arthur and win the badge, but it might make him seem dependent on his pokemon’s evolution or something and that’s just not cool. ”You might want to hold off your challenge for a while though.” Zernebog added with an embarrassed chuckle. ”Gwyneth’s gonna need time to repair the gym from all the damage Achilles did to it. No offense Achilles.” The Gabite in question just nodded, knowing that his trainer wasn’t blaming him from the extensive damage that was wrought on the structure. MADE BY KIROUKO OF GANGNAM-STYLE

[Nigenteki Reikon]

I'M HERE TO WORK, NOT FUCK AROUND

SONG: NOTES: ||||| ”You might want to hold off your challenge for a while though.” Zernebog added with an embarrassed chuckle. ”Gwyneth’s gonna need time to repair the gym from all the damage Achilles did to it. No offense Achilles.” Slowly, Vesta let a soft breath go out her nose in a long sigh. She expected as much; these two were in awful condition, so it stood to reason that the inside reflected the same damage. It would have been surprising if it wasn’t, really, especially considering that he at least owned a Gyarados; he was not a trainer to scoff at. “I figured as much sir,” Vesta replied as she looked back towards the main part of the Under, towards all of the glares that focused on her as she came here, a small, barely noticeable glare forming on her own countenance as she remembered them. She had hoped to only have to deal with those twice – once going to the gym, and once again to leave it – but it seemed that that wasn’t the case anymore. More than that, she had set aside this day specifically to challenge the gym and test her strength, only to hear that she would have to wait. Judging from the condition Romanov was in, it would be awhile, too. Vesta turned away from Zerne, twirling on her left heel as is the norm of about faces, tone still holding respect despite her disappointment, “Congratulations, sir. Since I no longer have a reason to be here, I will be on my way.” No battling the Gym Leader did throw her schedule through a bit of a loop, but there was always the option of more training.

[Zernebog Romanov]

Rise Rebel Resist I'm the one of the freaks, the faggots, the geeks, the savages, rouges, rebels, dissident devils, artists, martyrs, infidels... { tags: Vesta } { words 238 } { short notes: encounters } Even though the adrenaline surge of winning his second honest-to-Arceus badge was a real treat, Zernebog couldn’t help but feel a little guilty about leaving the Gym so damaged that it would probably take weeks to repair everything Achilles did on his orders for that epic battle. Even though the redhead was only an acquaintance at best, he still felt like he owed her something for basically hogging the awesome experience he had with battling Gwyneth. ”Yeah, sure.” Zernebog replied with an oddly thoughtful look on his face as he watched the woman begin to walk off to parts unknown. After a few moments of watching her start to move away though, he got an idea. ”Hey, wait!” Zernebog called out and waited for her to turn around before continuing. ”You came here for a battle, right?” Zernebog paused for another moment, waiting for her response again before continuing. ”It would if you went all the way here for nothing, so how’s about a battle?” At those words, Achilles actually looked at his trainer incredulously. Another battle so soon? He just got out from one! At Achilles’ look though, Zernebog just chuckled and patted his Gabite on the head. ”Not with my Gabite of course, since he’s still beat from the gym challenge earlier. But I still have pokemon who are itching to have a good fight. Whaddya say? You up for it?” MADE BY KIROUKO OF GANGNAM-STYLE

[Nigenteki Reikon]

I'M HERE TO WORK, NOT FUCK AROUND

SONG: NOTES: Not great, but it'll do. ||||| ”Hey, wait!” Vesta stopped and blinked, turning around instinctively towards her acquaintance. ”You came here for a battle, right?” “Ah… I suppose so, sir?” He was right, really; she had come here to challenge a powerful trainer to test the levels of her Pokémon’s power. ”It would if you went all the way here for nothing, so how’s about a battle?” Vesta’s golden eyes widened slightly in surprise, but they almost immediately narrowed as she put it to thought. Again, she came here to challenge a powerful trainer; she came to the Gym just to battle; she had absolutely no interest in its badge – she really didn’t know anything about them anyway – but Gym Leaders were strong trainers. Romanov was certainly a strong trainer; skilled enough at least to train a Gyarados, and apparently enough to win against a Gym Leader. He was certainly qualified enough to give her a challenge… and in all truth, she was excited about testing Howi, now that he was both fully evolved and learned all the moves he could. Vesta stood at attention. Whatever Pokémon Romanov would throw at her, she would meet it. “Very well, sir, I will accept your challenge. Care to lead me to an area we may battle? I am not familiar with this city, and this area is not optimum for a battle.” She neglected to ask what he was going to use (though she knew at least one Pokémon that he wasn’t going to use); it didn’t matter significantly.

[Zernebog Romanov]

Rise Rebel Resist I'm the one of the freaks, the faggots, the geeks, the savages, rouges, rebels, dissident devils, artists, martyrs, infidels... { tags: Vesta } { words 303 } { short notes: encounters } Zernebog grinned. Two battles in one day? Score~! ”Alright.” Zernebog turned to look at one of the side streets, leveling a sharp glare to make any bystanders looking in their direction scram or at the very least look away from him. It wasn’t his fault he looked like a drowned Rattata. ”I saw a good place to battle a few streets over. Looked like an abandoned part of the mines, so few people are probably gonna be mulling about there.” Zernebog gestured at the path he was looking at. ”Follow me.” Without bothering to see if Vesta had agreed or not, Zernebog began walking down the path he had been looking at earlier, with Achilles following behind them. It was a good thing that he had scouted out the place when he had first arrived a week prior while he was making his final preparations for his battle against Gwyneth, or else he would have probably gotten lost as he navigated through the numerous tunnels that made up the underground city. It seemed as if Zernebog was moving around in circles at first through the convoluted pathways that made up the place, but it soon became apparent that he did have a path in mind when he turned one final corner and started walking towards a large opening. Upon entering the large opening, one would treated to the site of a massive cavern, with its sides held up by metal pillars and wooden beams. On the sides were broken down carts and a couple of empty barrels, as well as pieces of track that seemed to have been pulled out of the ground if the fading marks on the cavern floor were any indication of what had happened. ”Here we are.” Zernebog gestured towards the cavern. ”Good enough?” MADE BY KIROUKO OF GANGNAM-STYLE

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