Welcome To Dragomir Ranch, Smelly Izumi!

[Josh Dragomir]

Well, today was the day. Josh smiled as he looked around the open fields. It was good to be here for the first time since they had moved to Hoenn and a brand new ranch had been built. It was even bigger then the old one! Open fields as far as the eye could see; along with lakes, rivers, rocky surfaces, even a mountain far off! The territory that was signaled as their land was fenced off, to show where the boundaries were. In the middle of all this was a largw research lab where his folks resided in, and usually tended to sleep in these days. His mom anyway. His dad went off somewhere about a month ago and nobody knew where he was.

Josh sighed and looked around. Pokemon roamed everywhere. Pokemon his dad caught. Pokemon his mom caught. Pokemon they were taking care of, pokemon they were breeding, even wild Pokemon that just wanted to live there. And best of all, even the Pokemon that Josh had caught were here! Yep, he could only hold six at a time, so the Pokemon not in the current lineup were well taken care of here until he needed them again. And they were quite happy here.

Today, though, Josh was expecting a visitor. He'd been waiting for Izumi for quite some time now...

[Izumi Yamamura]

Little did she know that today was going to be the day she’d be able to visit Josh’s family’s ranch… and she had slept in! Waking up with a start from another one of the “old nightmares” that had her seeing the redhead shot down without a fight, she then grabbed the phone that was buzzing impatiently on the side table… and then bolted up with a start, before smacking a palm to her forehead out of frustration! “Crap, that was today?!” she hissed to herself, quickly getting moving, tossing her clothes around the room before pulling into the bathroom and closing the door with a resounding thud, then the sound of shower water being turned on echoed throughout the area. Izumi had almost forgotten about the Dragomir visit; thankfully her mobile had reminded her of it! Some twenty minutes later, she had now dressed up again, before sailing down the flight of stairs and sneaking around in the kitchen (the café was closed today due to inventorying) and then snuck out one whole Lavaridge Chocolate Forest cake from the desserts fridge, before groping around and finding a box. Several more rushed minutes of cooking and packaging later, she now had a small bento tray crammed with two classic burgers with a lot of extra bacon, atop another box that was crammed to the rim with as much fries she could carry, along with a small container of ketchup and mayo; which she then placed atop a much larger bento… well, one couldn’t call it a “tray”, it was more like a “box”, that contained the cake! Knowing that she was short on time, she then dashed out with the lacquer boxes in hand, before making a mad sprint towards the Pokémon Center and quickly swapping out one of her team mates for Sora, and then giving hi the instruction on how to get to Oldale! She then rode astride him and the two took off—making up for lost time. It had taken a while, but approximately an hour had passed and she looked down, seeing that she was near the destination, she then nudged him to fly down, coming to a stop near the outskirts of the small town. After recalling him and swapping him out again for the same member she’d initially left behind in exchange for Sora, she then made a mad dash towards Littleroot, hopping over the shortcuts and finally checking her mobile in order to find the directions to the Ranch she was going to visit today. “Crap, crap, crap…” she was heard to mutter as she finally arrived near the outskirts of Littleroot, and was now looking for the path that led to the Ranch that josh called “home”. After stumbling and crashing around in the undergrowth, she finally came to a cleared space of land that had several trucks parked out; and a single, looming structure which she assumed was his house. “Well, here goes…” she muttered once more, hefting the load in her hands into a more comfortable position, before ringing the doorbell. | | | | | WORDS 512 TAGS Josh NOTES Hurrhurr, late visitor is late

MADE BY ★MEULK OF GS & THQ

[Josh Dragomir]

Well, it wasn't really his house. The actual house was back in Littleroot, but the lab was basically a house, since they spent all fucking day in there. Regardless, a woman with red hair would answer the door, looking down at her. "Hello, you wouldn't happen to be Izumi, would you?" she asked.

Meanwhile, Josh was still sitting in the open fields, watching the Pokemon graze around. He smiled as he looked up at the big blue sky.... So different from the dark sky that was in Kohaku. "Arf!" someone calls out from afar and Josh looks over, having to keep himself from being tackled by his Growlithe, Salia. He laughs a bit and hugs the Growlithe tight. "Ah, you're getting to be a big girl!" he said with a laugh as the Growlithe rolled onto her back for a tummy rub, which Josh obliged with.

Meanwhile, Josh's mother, presumably, would point Izumi to the back, to the field property and where Josh was.

[Izumi Yamamura]

She had been standing there, adjusting the load in her arms into a more comfortable position—when the door finally opened, revealing not Josh, but someone who bore a resemblance to him! Her eyes immediately noticed that she had red hair, but it wasn’t as crimson as a certain person’s, and she then scratched her head sheepishly with the other hand that was still free. “Yes… that would be me. I have some Lavaridge Chocolate Forest cake for you,” she began, stepping inside, and, out of old habit, kicked off her boots as best as she could manage—while holding a huge lacquer box anyways. Setting it down on a nearby counter, she then quickly unlaced the entire thing, and then saw that there was an extra pair of in-house slippers. Probably mine, I dunno... eh whatever, I’ll just deal, she thought to herself as she then slipped into the pair before picking up the lacquer box and then following his mother out back—and seeing that there was an even bigger patch of land, as far as her eyes could see! “Wow. Hey, Josh!” she shouted, waving her hand in order to be able to get his attention. “Sorry I’m late!” she added sheepishly, before continuing, “…I overslept. Lucky the phone reminded me I had somewhere to go today. Wouldn’t miss this visit for anything,” she added with a cheeky grin, approaching the blond, scruffy ‘hermit’ who was now apparently being attacked by a Growlithe. “So apparently someone can’t get their paws off you now, eh?” she added with a chuckle, watching as the Growlithe was indeed attempting to lick him all over the place while he was giving the canine ‘mon a belly rub. “I also brought some food over from the café. I’m sure they wouldn’t mind a missing cake or several…” she added with a sheepish smirk on her face as she then went over to join him, where the belly-rubbing was taking place. “So this entire place is your family’s huh? It’s quite huge, to be honest,” she continued with an approving nod, seeing all kinds of ‘mons out for a graze—some of them looked familiar to her, yet the others weren’t. “Are all of them yours?” she asked a few moments later. | | | | | WORDS 379 TAGS Josh NOTES large open spaces, I like

MADE BY ★MEULK OF GS & THQ

[Josh Dragomir]

The woman would smile at the affirmative as she let her in. "Ah! Josh's talked about you quite a bit. Says you're quite the Trainer" she said with a smile as she offered to take the box. "I can put this on the table and you two can eat after you've reunited" she offered with a smile before leading her out back, with or without the box.

Josh's ears would perk up as he heard someone call out before looking back to see Izumi. He smirked faintly as his mother waved before heading back inside. "About time!" Josh called over to Izumi as he motioned her over. "Yeah, this is Salia" he said with a laugh as he rubbed Salia's tummy. The Growlithe just kept wagging her tail and panting excitedly as he gave her a belly rub. "Looks like you're not the only one who can't keep their paws off me now" he teased, sticking his tongue out at Izumi. He smirked at the mention of food. "Well, looks like we won't be going hungry today" he cracked.

"Aye, it is" he said to her first question. "The fields as far as the eyes can see, up till you get to the fencing which is far beyond here, past a whole damn forest" he explained. "Nah, they're not all mine" he said with a laugh as he got up, motioning for her to follow along. Salia would quickly get up and follow along. Josh would begin pointing out Pokemon as they passed them as Josh practically gave her the grand tour of the property.

"There's Lightning, over there" he said, pointing over to the Pikachu who'd spent the day running around the property getting re-acquainted with all of his friends that Josh had caught over his journey. "Pika!" Lightning would chirp as he waved, as would the Pokemon beside him... A Typhlosion! "And you remember Inferno of course" he said with a smile. "Inferno, say hi to Izumi!" he called out. "GRAAA!" Inferno roared in greeting as he waved. Josh chuckled as he kept walking. "They'll probably start following us sooner or later. But for now, I'm just letting them get re-acquainted with their friends. It's been so long" he said with a small smile. "While I've been home once since leaving, I haven't been to the ranch yet. So this is a reunion for me and a lot of my Pokemon"

He pointed over to a Charmeleon, who seemed to be teaching two babies how to ram into a tree to get the fruit off of it, to get down the apples that were growing from it. "That's Fawkes, you remember him from Snowbelle, right?" he said. Motioning to the babies, he pointed to each one. "Turk" he said, pointing to the Rhyhorn. "Blitz" he said, pointing to the Spheal. "Buddy" he said as he pointed out the Houndour pup sitting attentively as he listened to Fawkes. "Aero" he said, showing her the prehistoric pokemon, a mere baby for now, but a fearsome force later.

As they walked, he noticed two Pokemon in conversation. A Croconaw and a Squirtle. "Vector, Bastilo" he said, pointing them both out. "They hated each other before, but they've slowly become best friends" he said with a small smile. He then pointed out the Combusken that Izumi knew so well from when they first met. "My first Pokemon, Vulcan" he said, smiling as he waved to his Combusken. A Pidgeotto would fly overhead and just smirked up at it. "That's Ace, one of the Pokemon I brought with me from Kohaku, and you know him from when we met as well" he said. He motioned over to a Munchlax sleeping as it lied against a tree. "That's Bowser, my Munchlax. He seems to have been enjoying himself since I dropped him off here" he said with a laugh.

A Gastly would suddenly pop up in front of Izumi before flying around them. Josh laughed a bit as he patted it on the head. "This is Charon" he said. "A nice woman gave him to me, he's a pacifist though. Wouldn't hurt a fly" he said with a smile. He noticed the Dusclops that wasn't far behind, following along emotionlessly with the Gastley as it flew off. "Skelle. They're like partners in crime. Came from the same Trainer" he explained. They would walk past a Furfrou who was sleeping, which Josh would point out. "Cooper. Also came with me from Kohaku" he said. "Really deserved the break, he did"

A Darumaka and a Wynaut would run past them, and Josh would quickly point them out. "DK and Wob. They were both sold to me awhile back" he said. "Wy? Wynaut!" Wob would call in response before running after DK. They were playing tag it seems! But not far behind were a Makuhita and an Electrike. "Goku, Tyke" Josh introduced as he pointed them out. "Looks like these guys are having fun while I'm out" he said with a smirk.

A Bunnelby would burrow it's way just under her feet, and Josh would laugh a bit as he patted it on the head. "This is Destructor. He loves digging. I bring him with me when I go to Kalos, always" he said as he leaned down to talk to the Bunnelby. "I'll see you real soon, I'm sure. I'll be heading to Kalos soon" he promised the Bunnelby. "Bunnelby!" Destructor saluted before disappearing back into the hole.

"Hey. Hey Izumi. Look over there" Josh said, pointing over to a lake. As they walked over, they would both be splashed, with Salia hiding behind them to keep from getting wet. The source was from three Gyarados, with one glistening and shining, and was a unique red color. "All three of them are mine" he explained. "Chuck, Deku, Gina" he named them off as he pointed each one out. "Hey guys!" he said with a wave. The three Gyarados would roar in response and he laughed a bit. A Treecko and Mudkip would run by them, followed by Vulcan. They seemed to be playing as well! "Terry, Dunamus, Vulcan" he said with a laugh at introducing Vulcan again. It seems he had the entire Hoenn starter lineup here.

Passing by after would be a Bulbasaur, who he smiled and patted on the bulb as it passed. "Cery" he said. "Just caught her recently, she completes my Kanto trio" he added. A Binacle was nearby, trying to wake up an Abra, but it didn't seem to be working. Josh pointed them out. "Maverick, Spagonia" he pointed out. A second, older Rhyhorn would pass by, walking with a Tropius. "Mason, Littlefoot" Josh introduced before having to keep a Spinda from knocking into him. "Sleepy" he said with a laugh as he patted Sleepy on the head and sent him on his way. A Helioptile would run along with a Corphish and Pachirisu, and Josh pointed them out too. "Naila, Trooper, Conker" he introduced.

Josh would then point her out to the Pidove in a tree. "Plucker" he said before pointing to the Scraggy trying to roll the Ferroseed on one of the branches. "The Ferroseed is unnamed right now, the Scraggy's name is Moxley" he explained. An Oddish would peek from behind the tree and Josh smiled a bit. "Ah, Cobra Bubbles. Bubbles for short. This is the little troublemaker that put me and Inferno in peril with those Dodrio" he said with a laugh. "Speaking of..." he began as he pointed out to a mini herd of three Doduo, who were grazing together as a pack, as they had been after they'd been manipulated by the gang leader before. They were used to traveling together now, no need to change that now. But the friendly environment had helped the Doduo see the error of their ways, and they had become docile, and much happier Pokemon.

"Those three are all Doduo from that flock pack that attacked us back in Littleroot. When Inferno evolved" he explained. "And... I think that's all of mine. I think. I have some eggs in the lab too, but we can see later"

[Izumi Yamamura]

“Q-quite the trainer?” she remembered, feeling her ears burn a bit at that remark from his mother; just what exactly had he been telling his mum about her?! “Josh. What exactly have you told your mother about me? She called me ‘quite the trainer’, when I handed her the boxes with the cake and the food…” she trailed off; before getting swept up in the grand tour, trying to keep count of just exactly how many ‘mons he had with him at the moment. “Heh, of course, Lightning and Inferno I’m already familiar with,” she began, grinning in the two ‘mons’ direction—since the Pikachu and the Typhlosion were the ones who’d seen her the most. After that, it was a complete and total whirlwind; she knew some of his companions, due to seeing them in rotation, and chuckled when it was Fawes’ turn to be introduced. “Heh, I know him. He’s the one with quite the temper, right? Oh, there they are!” she said, suddenly changing tack and seeing the Rhyhorn and Spheal; before cracking a smirk in his direction. “The Houndour too,” she added, remembering all of those secret breeding requests she’d asked the ash-haired individual to take care of for her while she was out and about. At that point everything became a blur—when she noticed that he had a Squirtle, and a Croconaw who were apparently the best of chums, she couldn’t help but remember the closeness of her own Garchomp and Swampert. Even if they were of different species, the two had a bond that was thick as thieves—and it seemed that these two also had the same thing going for them. She then saw a familiar visage in Vulcan, as well as Ace, two faces she already saw in action over at Fallarbor. There was a Munchlax, lounging and apparently taking a nap against one of the trees that dotted the landscape. “That’s cute. Your Munchlax should meet mine sometime,” she said with a chortle, and then the entire thing continued. “Whoa!” she half-shrieked out of surprise as a Gastly suddenly decided to surprise the living daylights out of her, before flying around them; and she took note of her name—quite creepy since it was also the name of a moon of a certain planet! “Heh, I have two Gastly. They love scaring each other so much,” she continued, before going along with the rest of the introductions. Man, now I want to show him my… little army. But the thing is they’re all the way in Unova. I can’t just ask him to relocate all the way here to Hoenn… she thought to herself as more and more ‘mons started appearing—a Dusclops wasn’t too far behind the Gastly; and she took ntoe that they came from another individual that then ended up in his care. A sleeping poodle—which actually turned out to be Furfrou was the next encounter, before a Darumaka and a Wynaut came ambling along, apparently chasing each other down! “You have so many,” she breathed after some few moments of silence, watching the Makuhita and the Electrike chasing each other down as well. “You’ve been busy, indeed,” she remarked, seeing more and more ‘mons, the further into the Ranch they went. She gave another shriek and was just about ready to jump when she saw a bunny suddenly pop up from the ground, much like a Diglett would, and watched as he gave the little thing a pet, before it disappeared back underground. “So you also go out to the Badlands, eh?” she said in an off-hand manner a few moments later, arriving at a lake… and then seeing three Gyarados lounging in a lake! Her observation was somewhat interrupted as he saw a Treecko and a Mudkip dashing by, being chased by Vulcan, and all she could do was chuckle—everyone was just downright playful! “Heh, it’s not just you who has the entire Hoenn line,” she said with a grin on her face, before encountering a Bulbasaur, and then a Binacle who was trying its hardest to wake up a snoozing Abra. “Heh, try again,” she remarked in the Binacle’s direction—because the Abra line was infamous for sleeping almost the entire day! The next few were also chasing each other around, sparks flying, and she could only say this, “Isn’t that uncomfortable for the Corphish, at least?” before chuckling; because its two playmates were Electric-types! She thn backtracked to the Tropius—because honestly, who would call it ‘Littlefoot’? “Heh, so Tropius reminds you of the tree-star eater, eh?” she quipped a few seconds later, watching the wizened tree take off into the sky. They were now at another tree; where a Pidove would hop out before staring own at them, and she then continued, “Let me guess… the little one tried to snatch something from you?” referencing Plucker’s nickname. There was also a dozing Ferroseed, along with an Oddish that looked kid of sheepish, before her attention was brought to the three Doduo that were apparently grazing around as a group—some old habits die hard, indeed. “So… their big bad boss was responsible for the bum leg, and all those scratches on you?” she confirmed, looking at the three again. “But they look so harmless… like they can’t hurt a fly…” | | | | | WORDS 890 TAGS Josh NOTES toldja I was gonna tackle all of 'em in one go.

MADE BY ★MEULK OF GS & THQ

[Josh Dragomir]

Josh couldn't help but laugh at each of her reactions to his assortment of Pokemon. He had spent so long capturing an assortment of Pokemon, some of them having been bought or given as eggs by Izumi herself.

"Yknow, that lake back there actually connects to a beachfront they own" he revealed as he looked over at her. "It's connected by underground passages, so my Pokemon can move from the lake to beach and vice versa instantly. Even Pokemon like Gyarados" he explained.

"Care to come see?" He asked. "Would be nice to rest awhile too, after the long journey here" he offered.

[Izumi Yamamura]

“There… there’s a beach near here? Who would’ve thought,” she continue with this grin on her face; because from the looks of the lake, it looked… kind of small; but as he explained how it was structured, it began to make even more sense. “Well… let me guess, there are even more ‘mons over there?” she asked with a chuckle, before nodding at his invitation to go to the beachfront and just unwind. “Heh, let’s go there and…take a dip, maybe?” she added with this grin on her face. She knew that they’d also brought food, but sometimes, just going swimming at the beach was better as compared to eating before taking a dip. “I bet there are more aquatic Pokémon out there just enjoying the surf and the waves…” she added, gesturing for him to actually go lead the way so that they could get relaxing! While they were on their way there, she then thought of an idea—something that would rival his ‘grand tour’. “Heh, I know. When we do get the chance to travel around… why don’t we go over to Unova? That’s the location of the ‘Ranch’ where my own ‘mons run free. I have a Breeder friend who owns the place… surely you’ve heard of him… claims to own a part of Humilau’s famed beaches, since it’s a part of his ranch… ash-haired guy… Kouji, otherwise known as the ‘Pretty Boy’ because he’s particularly vain,” she offered by way of conversation—since he’d given her the tour of his place, why not show him the rest of her…armada? Well, it’s more like a freaking horde, but it’s nothing compared to what he told me… some girl named Yumi has almost twice my number of ‘mons and is still out there collecting more… she thought to herself as she tried to keep up with him! | | | | | WORDS 310 TAGS Josh NOTES Heheheh.

MADE BY ★MEULK OF GS & THQ

[Josh Dragomir]

“There… there’s a beach near here? Who would’ve thought" she had said, and Josh chuckled a bit. "Yeah, obviously the lake's a little small for Pokemon like Gyarados, but it allows them to go where they please. There's several lakes and rivers and such scattered all around, and they're linked by passages that lead to the beach, which goes out quite far but is blockaded off at a certain point in order to keep the Pokemon from going too far by accident, and keeping out intruders. But the underground underwater passages allow the sea-bound Pokemon such as Gyarados to interact with the other Pokemon and go as they please with less limitations, you see" he explained. "They really feel at home here, they've taken some serious precautions to make sure that the Pokemon have everything they could ever want here" he said with a small smile. "I kind of envy my folks sometimes. They know just what a Pokemon would want and need, and designed a massive place like this to cater to them, without spoiling them like little brats and making them housebound little pets. They have a large, open area to roam in and live their lives without care, and my Pokemon have a great place to rest when they're on the road with me so that they can get some great R&R in between traveling"

He would lead her to the aforementioned beach. It was big, it expanded quite a ways, and if Izumi looked far enough out in the water she could just barely see the barricade. But it obviously had a large amount of room that the Pokemon wouldn't mind. Speaking of which, Pokemon ran around the beach playing, and Pokemon were in the water as well. And they all seemed happy just being there. Obviously, his folks had done a great job with the place and taking care of the Pokemon.

"Even you and I could relax here" he said with a laugh. "Even my folks go here for R&R when they need a break. Or, did anyway. Mom never has time ever since dad left" he said, frowning a bit. "She has to do this singlehandedly now, so she's... Yeah. It takes a lot more time and energy and she just has no time to rest or relax"

[Izumi Yamamura]

Izumi then squinted out towards the horizon—and then thought she saw a few floating buoys that were the demarcation point of where the barricades had been set up. “Wow. That… that sure is a lot of land your folks have,” she muttered, seeing the faintest outlines of the barricade he’d mentioned, marked by the little floating things that were bobbing up and down in the surf. “Constructing the underground waterway leading to the lake sure takes a lot of time and effort… this definitely isn’t man-made,” she added with another grin on her face, before looking down and seeing that there was white sand underfoot! “Heh, you could totally have a beach party here if given the chance…” she trailed off, squinting into the distance and seeing some overhanging trees that were brimming with fruit, along with several makeshift piers that could only hold a Pokémon’s weight—as opposed to one that humans used for fishing. After following him to where they were going to bask for a while, she then asked, “…have you ever thought about looking for your father? I’m pretty sure that your mom’s worried about him. When I met her earlier, she did look surprised to see me, but one can only hide their real emotions for too long… she’s got this weary look on her face…” she trailed off, scooping up a handful of white sand and then letting it run through her fingers. “He… your father can’t keep hiding forever. He has to come back… not even all the grief can be enough to make him just up and disappear… trust me, I know, because I’ve been there,” she said with this grim look on her face, before she sighed and picked up another handful of sand which she let run through her hands once again; enjoying the feel of the grains against her skin. “He can’t be all angry at the world forever. Nobody can be mad all the time,” she added a few moments later. | | | | | WORDS 334 TAGS Josh NOTES Talkin'

MADE BY ★MEULK OF GS & THQ

[Josh Dragomir]

He chuckled a bit at her observations about his folks and their land. "Aye, they make a lot of money doing what they do with the breeding and research, and they were big shot Trainers back in the day, so they won and saved up quite a bit of tournament money to start a business like this" he explained. "So they have quite a bit of leeway to make a place like this. But really they don't do it for the money. They do it because they love Pokemon. They love what they do" he said with a small smile.

He laughed a bit. "Well, maybe soon enough we can have some rest, eh? Prop up some beach chairs, relax under the sun with some cold drinks and some food, and just chill for awhile" he suggested with a smirk. "I'm sure the Pokemon would join us too" he added with a chuckle.

“…Have you ever thought about looking for your father? I’m pretty sure that your mom’s worried about him. When I met her earlier, she did look surprised to see me, but one can only hide their real emotions for too long… she’s got this weary look on her face…” she suddenly trailed off. Josh frowned and looked down, his eyes dead staring at the ground. "We've tried..." he whispered, clenching his fists. "She's worried, I'm worried... We've tried to find him, but he left no means to contact or get in touch with him... All he did was take a few Pokemon with him and just... Leave. We've been scared he might have gotten himself killed, or worse, killed himself..." he said quietly, trying to fight back his emotions just thinking about it. "He was so depressed after losing his partner... It was only a matter of time before he acted out, I suppose..." he whispered.

[Izumi Yamamura]

“Oh, come here. Let me give you a hug,” Izumi said a few moments later, unable to resist the urge, plus the air of things was getting pretty heavy again…! At this time, she had a suspicion that they were followed by some of the ‘mons…and from the corner of her eye, she was not surprised to see that Inferno had taken the lead, and was being followed by some of the others as well; before the Typhlosion gave a wicked grin in her direction! At this, she felt her ears burn red, before trying to shoo the ‘mons away—the ones that had followed them, at least—but the look on Inferno’s face was absolutely beaming at this point! “Heh, looks like you’re right… we were followed after all,” she said a few moments later, pointing behind Josh—there was quite an assembled crew that had snuck after them towards the beach. “Well… can’t be just your ‘mons having all the fun. Let me send out mine, at least have my companions relax too while I’m here…” she muttered, fumbling around and then reaching for six unique PokeBalls; although the Love Ball stood out the most. “Come on out, guys,” she said, tossing all six towards the sky, and all of them burst open and flashes of red light landed on the ground, revealing her current batch of companions. “Heh, here’s Zira, and Vincent… Gabriel, antsy little Bagon… of course you know Momo, and there’s Haya, my Turtwig, and of course, Ishi, otherwise known as Ishtar,” as the little Noibat quickly made a beeline for her and started circling around the both of them. “Go, guys. Have fun. Relax. We’re here to unwind!” she shouted, and the other five gave their own roars of approval, before quickly scurrying off in all directions; followed by the Noibat. | | | | | WORDS 307 TAGS Josh NOTES look more 'mons

MADE BY ★MEULK OF GS & THQ

[Josh Dragomir]

Josh sighed as he would accept, wrapping his arms tight around Izumi and pulling her close, closing his eyes. It was here that he noticed that his Pokemon had followed him, and he smiled faintly. "It's like they knew" he said quietly, with the smile only brightening.

He looked on in interest as Izumi brought her Pokemon out. Just as he had; she had caught more powerful Pokemon over time. He watched with a smile as Pokemon around them tried to play with them.

But he frowned as he thought for a moment... "... What if he doesn't come back? What if he's dead?" He whispered.

[Izumi Yamamura]

Once the entire drove (read: army) had scattered in order to start lounging on the beach, that’s when Izumi suddenly felt Josh come in really close and gave her a hug! Heh, sometimes people just need a few hugs here and there to keep going… she thought to herself as she wrapped her own arms around him, going into full-out “comforting” mode. “Don’t think too much of the negatives… how can someone like your father just go and disappear, I ask you? If ever he did—let’s hope not—who would take care of your mother, asides from yourself? You’re not home all the time, since we’ve made so many plans… but all the same…” she trailed off, still trying to find the right words to say as she started rubbing his back—she knew that a back rub in these kinds of situations would work, because she knew this from experience. “Besides, there’s also something else… who would continue funding this if one of your folks just suddenly disappeared? Your mom looks terribly haggard by this point, and… if she keeps working herself she might end up just collapsing due to overwork. That’s a no-no… we need our parents to survive. Even if we’re already at our age—hell, I just turned twenty—they would still want to lean on us until we’re old enough to truly ‘leave the nest’ and live on our own. So… buck up, okay?” she continued, suddenly realizing that she’d gone into “overprotective younger sister” mode. She then saw that some of the ‘mons (who had not decided to go off and play) were watching the two, and her ears started to burn a very deep shade of red. “Oh. Crap. Look. They’re watching us,” she said with an embarrassed chuckle a few moments later. | | | | | WORDS 301 TAGS Josh NOTES our 'mons are srs voyeurs

MADE BY ★MEULK OF GS & THQ

[Josh Dragomir]

He let out a sigh as he stared down at the ground during the hug. He allowed himself to listen to Izumi's words, trying to hold the tears back. It wasn't often he cried. Although his last fit of tears, and first since losing Raichu came quite recently with Inferno, Josh was generally very cool headed with these sort of things. He didn't let them take him down too hard. Here? He had a hard time stopping it. He was trying as hard as he could, try as he might, but losing his father, not knowing if he were still alive or not, but too much to bear. 

"I know.... I don't think he was in the right mind when he left..." he replied quietly, closing his eyes. "He was just so depressed after losing Raichu. It was like half of his soul had been ripped out of his chest. I know how he feels... I would feel the same way if I lost Lightning..." he whispered. "He walked as if he were a zombie himself. His eyes were soulless, he had no will to live. That's why when he left, we feared suicide. He just wasn't the same anymore. We'd catch him spending hours just staring at the picture on the wall of our family, along with Raichu. Once, mom tried to remove it so he would stop, and he suddenly perked up and went absolutely ballistic and screamed at her. I was scared he was going to hit her" he explained quietly. "Then not long after I left, so did he. We haven't heard a peep from him since..." he whispered.

"We have money for quite some time, but I know mom can't keep doing this herself" he agreed, sighing. "And if I stay to help her, I'll never leave again. So I can't. It's.... A hard call to make" he admitted, sighing as he noticed his Pokemon had gotten concerned about him.