4.0 Dedicated to its Members and Fans of Pokemon A Pokemon Sandbox RP
Pokémon Dubstep (ft. Lindsey Stirling)
W
elcome Adventurer to EPOCH! A Pokemon Sandbox Rp set in the original region of Nue. Everything you need to know will be in the Guidebook and PokeDex 101!
EPOCH uses the Manga and is built on the Original ideas suggested by our members.
We are more than just a Pokemon RP, we're a friendly community with a goal on being a memorable experience for those that look in.
Golden Rule: Treat others as you wish to be treated. If you find yourself content with being an asshole EPOCH and its members will not tolerate you.
RULES
Understand We're All Human. Respect the staffers as well as your fellow members and guests. We all have flaws, tempers and quirks. Be patient with one another, but if issues involving other members come up please don’t just grin and bear it. Contact a staff member, informing them of what's going on so they can address and resolve the situation. The staff won't know what's bothering you unless you tell them.
EPOCH is PG-13. Proboards’ Terms of Service:
Sex; When you get under the clothes, fade to black.
Violence; Do not go into extreme nauseating detail.
Cursing; This is so fucking allowed, but don't go overboard.
Suggestive Content; In avatars, signatures and templates can attract the wrong kind of attention. So be careful.
Post by Josh Dragomir on Feb 26, 2015 8:31:54 GMT -5
The blonde smirked in response to her snark. "Oh, of course you can. I've seen you eat, Zu. You put away food like a fucking vaccum" He would tease in response, giving her a playful nudge to boot. And with that, the feeding frenzy continued. Izumi was eating. Lightning was eating. Hell, even Josh settled down and put away quite a few dishes on his own once he had managed to adjust to the foreign food of Shui. Eventually, they had managed to put away most of the food like giant vaccum cleaners. Josh was... Sort of afraid to see the bill, he had to admit. He didn't expect Izumi to get carried away with spending for ordering here. Was she normally this careless about ordering out? Of course, he'd eaten with Izumi before, this was a first time... What in the world was going on? As he pondered this, Izumi would bring up meeting her mother. The blonde would smile and nod to the idea.
"Sounds like an idea" He said, chuckling. "You've already met my mother, so... Why not? Might as well, especially since we're already in town" He said, as Lightning would relax against his seat and let out an audible belch, causing a laugh to emit from the blonde.
Post by Izumi Yamamura on Feb 27, 2015 5:21:41 GMT -5
“Easy for you to say, look at who’s eating through everything without even stopping to breathe,” she initially muttered, before burying her face into the gyudon bowl. If one was to observe the insanity that was going on in one particular booth, it was two humans, one Pokémon literally eating their way through a smorgasbord of food that had been laid out and arrayed for them all to chow down on. Heh, J, you ain’t seein’ nothing yet! She thought with a triumphant smirk on her face as she continued to chow down and literally power her way through several sushi platters, the additional dumpling platters, and even helped herself to some of the remaining rice balls that her companion hadn’t managed to put away. She’d already ordered several bowls of ramen while this was going on; and pretty much by the end of what appeared to be an ‘eat all you can mini-contest’, everyone gathered was simply stuffed.
Izumi wasn’t really expecting for him to go along with her idea of dropping by her mother’s place; the better to pay a visit (and to formally introduce her roommate and somewhat steady relationship partner) to her mother, whom she guessed was feeling quite homesick at this point in time. That aside, she then reached for something inside the small clutch bag that she’d chosen to carry for the date, before groping around and finally pulling out her long, if somewhat thin wallet. “This is going to be the answer to our problem!” she said with a somewhat dramatic flourish; before pulling out a white calling card that had a single red logo seemingly etched on it. To Josh’s eyes, it would look like just an ordinary calling card; but to Izumi it was something else. After she’d called for one of the waiters in order to be able to ask for the bill, she then poured herself yet another serving of the alcoholic beverage before flipping the card around and showing Josh the back side of it.
It had several lines of text inscribed on it; the first half was in the Shui dialect, while the rest of the lines were in English (a direct translation of the first few lines, to be specific)—and it revealed the name of the restaurant that they’d walked into before proceeding to order half the things on the menu. In the same red script that comprised the logo on the opposite side of the card, the English portion of the card read out ‘Tsukishiro Izakaya’. “Now I think you know why I went wild with ordering as much as we could consume,” she began in a very embarrassed whisper, before shiftily looking around and making sure that nobody else was watching, “…this is the restaurant that’s under me and my mother’s ownership,” she ended with the still-crazed glint in her eyes.
WORDS 478 TAGSJosh Dragomir NOTESTrump card in play!
Post by Josh Dragomir on Mar 2, 2015 0:56:35 GMT -5
Josh was dreading it. They were going to have to pay for all of this food and his mother was going to give him a SERIOUS talk about budgets and overspending and all of that bullshit, and she was going to force him to go on a diet, and ugh.... This was not going to be good. He sort of regretted not setting a limit, but he didn't want to be rude to Izumi and forbid her, especially considering she was doing the ordering.
He took a deep breath once the food was done and the bill was served. He closed his eyes and stared down at the ground with a sense of foreboding crossing him. He couldn't look at it. He couldn't. He looked to Izumi with a "What the fuck were we thinking" look on his face... Then Izumi brought out some kind of card. He raised an eyebrow as she flashed it and the bill was waived off like it was nothing. "What the..." He muttered... And then Izumi made her announcement.
This was her restaurant.
".... What" He muttered, staring at her blankly as his mouth hung open. "Are you... Are you serious?" He managed to get out softly as this realization hit him. "Oh, you sneaky girl!" He let out with a laugh as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a playful noogie. "Did you do this on purpose? You nearly scared me half to death!" He would exclaim, shaking his head amusedly.
Post by Izumi Yamamura on Mar 4, 2015 6:29:52 GMT -5
She saw that her companion was looking at him with a worried glint in his eyes; but it was nothing, absolutely nothing to the proclamation that she’d made once she’d disclosed where they’d ended up. Once the waitress who’d attended to them took the bill to them and was met with the single, stark-white card that had the logo of a phoenix on it along with the name of the establishment printed on it in spindly writing, she then heard the scurrying of feet as the staff member made a mad dash towards the cashier; unable to believe what was on the platter that had the bill.
“Y-yeah,” she began with a sheepish look on her face; before snatching the menu that one of the servers had forgotten to take from them while they were literally unloading a feast fit for two kings on their booth and hiding her face behind it, “…how was I supposed to realize that I’d taken you to the one place I was secretly hoping to surprise you with? Well, the jig’s up,” she added with a sheepish look behind the menu as several more wait staff came scrambling over to their booth, unable to believe that the person who’d ordered almost half of the menu’s contents—their owner and manager—was eating in her very own establishment! “Oh, sorry. Let me just shake them off,” she continued with a sheepish grin on her face as most of the staff was now crowding their booth.
For a few minutes, Izumi carried on with a conversation with the staff in the Shui dialect before they’d all scurried away, looking either really surprised or just plain impressed at the bravado that their boss had just presented, she then reached for her footwear and then rotated it so that she could just flip her legs over and slot her feet in. “Come on, let’s go,” she said with another grin on her face as she wiggled her toes into the flats she’d chosen to wear for the day (and got the card back in the process as well), “…we still have to go through the city and find my mom’s house here, and we don’t have all day,” she added with a smirk on her face.
Post by Josh Dragomir on Mar 5, 2015 2:06:06 GMT -5
He raised an eyebrow, smirking a bit at her response. "I knew something seemed strange when you ordered everything on the menu" He would tease a bit. "Well, looks like you sure as hell surprised me. I had no idea that this was your restaurant. Good food though" He cracked, chuckling. He looked over at the Pikachu, who let out a loud belch from all the food he had eaten. "Looks like Lightning liked your food too" He snarked, smirking amusedly.
Once they got the staff out of the way, paid their bills, and everything was cleaned up and finished, it seemed that it was time to go. Time to go and meet Izumi's mother. It had already been quite the date. This would certainly be interesting. "Alright, lead the way" Josh said as he would slip his shoes back on. "Let's go, Lightning" He would remark toward the Pikachu, who tumbled off his seat exhausted from... Eating so much! Of course, he'd manage to get up and toddle after them.
Post by Izumi Yamamura on Mar 6, 2015 5:51:14 GMT -5
“The owner… well, co-owner of the Izakaya thanks you for the compliments to the chef, and will make sure that they get your feedback,” she began with this knowing grin on her face, waiting for him to get his feet into his footwear before they made their way down and out of the Izakaya; Izumi stopping to bow at the entrance way before closing the door as gently as she could. “Oh, boy,” she began, once they were back out in the city streets, catching sight of the Pikachu who was now…tottering, almost rolling to keep up with them; “…I think Lightning needs to take a break,” she remarked, casually pointing at the bloated-looking Lightning Mouse, who was apparently struggling to keep up.
She’d then pause in order to allow him enough time (to either let the Pika hop up on his shoulder or recall the very full Lightning Mouse back to his containment unit, whatever was best for the Pokémon) to contemplate on what to do with his companion. Once several minutes had passed, she then stretched her hands up to the sky, before taking a look around.
“Okay… where was that…” she muttered, looking around before remembering the exact address that her mother had given her in order for her to be able to visit the modest-sized apartment where she lived in. “Come on, let’s go!” she remarked, looping her arm around his and proceeding to… drag him along. Hopefully he could keep up with her crazy walking!
“Come on, come on, pick up the pace, man!” she muttered, cutting her way through the crowd, narrowly avoiding several street vendors hawking their wares; or other people who were just walking as slowly as they deigned to—totally ignoring the fact that there were other people who were in a hurry to get to their desired destination. Several minutes of cutting through the crowd and traversing through alleyways, a bridge, and some streets later, they came to a stop in front of a regal-looking building—well, it was a tea shop. “Her place is up on the second floor, the entire building here’s for rent. Ground floor is commercial, second and third floors are residential apartments. Who knew that there are also apartments here in the city forgotten by time,” she remarked with a grin as she then entered a doorway that immediately led to a staircase going up.
Once she’d scaled the stairwell (and kicked off her flats before placing them in the shoe rack near the entrance way that led to several apartments, she then turned around in order to face her companion. “Please make sure you’re on your best behavior,” she whispered, hoping that he didn’t get into any hijinks while they were over!
WORDS 458 TAGSJosh Dragomir NOTESLe's go an' meet my mother!
Post by Josh Dragomir on Mar 6, 2015 15:05:52 GMT -5
He chuckled. "Aye, the foods good. You got yourself a good restaurant here" He would tease, giving her a small, playful noogie and messing with her hair a bit. Once they were up and out of he building, they had both noted that Lightning was having a... Bit of a hard time getting around. Josh laughed a bit and shook his head. "Oh, Lightning" He said as he would hold out his arm at Izumi's suggestion, letting the full Pikachu climb up his arm and onto his shoulder. "He'll exercise the weight off, no big. Just give it time" He said with a smirk. Once they'd been given a couple of minutes to recover, Izumi would decide to loop her arm around his and drag him along. "Whoa, calmer down there. We've got all day" He would remark with a laugh as she pulled him along. He couldn't help but look Izumi over a bit as he walked behind her despite the look, getting a good view of her... Assets, before deciding to move to walk beside her and keep going, trying to keep up despite the bloated Pikachu on his shoulder. Damnit Lightning, you're going to look like Gen 1 Pikachu at this rate.
Finally, as they weaved through Shui City and it's people, they would end up in an apartment complex. "Why is a woman who owns a successful restaurant living in an apartment?" Josh would inquire. "Hell, even you're moving up and getting a house of your own. Y'know, even if you're sharing with me" He would tease with a smirk. Once they made it up, he would nod to her words. "Yeah, yeah, alright Paranoid Wife. I'll behave" He said. Lightning would let out a full belch. I guess he'll behave as well? Hopefully, anyways. Hopefully.
Post by Izumi Yamamura on Mar 7, 2015 8:26:32 GMT -5
“I… well, my mum likes her ‘alone time’ if you may put it. She enjoys the peace and quiet. She’s actually considered moving to one of the guest rooms in one of the inns here that have hot springs; but after she found out just how… costly it was going to be, she decided to rent out instead. She can’t exactly eat, sleep and live in the Izakaya now, can she?” she began, shooting her companion a smirk and a knowing grin; before cracking her knuckles and then making sure that he (and Lightning) were keeping up. “Come on, follow me… her place is down here…” she trailed off, taking silent footsteps until she came to a stop at a door near the end of the hall before slowly rapping on the wooden frame several times and then waiting for the doorway to open.
Of course, inside the apartment, her mother was busy watching television; and didn’t hear the initial knocking noises. This then caused Izumi to stick her ear to the door in order to listen to what was happening on the other side of the door—and then heard something distorted from within. “Oy… she’s watching her drama series, again,” she said with a sheepish, apologetic grin on her face as she then rapped her knuckles against the door a little harder this time, making sure the knocking noise was heard even with the volume turned up so high. Inside the living room, a middle-aged woman who was about to go to the small kitchen had heard the loud series of knocks, and could only tilt her head curiously—who was knocking on her door.
The answer became apparent as Izumi, who was on the other side, began to speak up in her best carrying voice, “Muuuuuuum, are you in there?!” before knocking rather aggressively on the door again. “Your television’s on so louuuuud!” she continued, knocking and knocking until the door opened form the other side—revealing woman who bore most of her facial features—but instead of her eyes being that curious shade of amber that Izumi had, hers was a more warmer hue of chocolate-brown. “I… Izumi? Is that you, oh my goodness, come in, come in!” she heard her mother blurt out, before quickly opening the door to its full arc; and then finally noticing her companion. “Zumi… who’s that young man with you?Aren’t you going to introduce me?” she began, quickly giving him a once-over, elevator-look. It was one of curiosity—who knew that she’d show up with a man in tow when she made her visit today?!
WORDS 436 TAGSJosh Dragomir NOTESHow I met your... nope wrong title lol
Post by Josh Dragomir on Mar 7, 2015 16:53:03 GMT -5
"I see" The blonde would respond as the Pkachu-carrying Trainer would nod to Zu's words. That made sense, he supposed. I mean, he did wonder why she couldn't have bought herself a basic home with all the business funds she was getting. But some people just liked certain things. There was no reasoning with them, and there was no point in even trying, no matter how ridiculous it was. Once they reached the part of the apartment complex that they were seeking, they would find that Izumi's mother..... Wasn't exactly answering the door. The blonde would casually relax against the wall as Izumi tried again and again to rouse her, but to no avail, her screams getting louder and louder to the point of amusement. "Sounds like she's a serious hardcore soaps buff" Joshua would tease with a chuckle in response to the situation. Lightning meanwhile, had grown curious. He'd never been here before. Where were they? Why were they here? Who were they meeting? What was that about soap? Was he getting a bath? Arceus, the Pikachu hated baths. Hate hate hate. Why did he have to get scrub a dub dubbed and painfully washed when he was just going to go out and get dirty again? He would never understand why these humans were so hell bent on getting regular baths and showers when they were just going to go and get dirty again.
Finally an older woman with chocolate-like eyes would answer the door, and the blonde let out a breath that almost seemed like a "Finally", possible exasperation from when the novelty of this whole thing finally wore off, perhaps? But this was Izumi's mother alright, he could tell by the facial features. He wondered where Izumi got her snark from? Suppose he would just have to find out.
As they came in, the woman immediately started asking questions. He thought it was children that were supposed to be full of questions? Not people well past their prime and into senior years who should have all the answers. But he supposed everyone always looked for more, as was life. He blushed a bit, scratching his head. "Haha... Uh, I'm Josh. Zu's friend and her roommate, and this is my partner, Lightning" He would introduce respectfully, pointing to the tired out Pikachu who would let out a "Pikachu~" With a wave in greeting. "You must be Mrs. Yamamura then?" He would inquire before politely holding out his hand. "It's pleasure to meet you, I've been wanting to for quite some time. Izumi's always talking about you" He said, totally teasing the raven haired girl at this point.
Post by Izumi Yamamura on Mar 9, 2015 8:43:44 GMT -5
If Josh was to take a better look at Izumi and her mother, he’d definitely notice the resemblance—she resembled her in every single physical aspect! Well, except for the tiny fact that her eyes were a curious shade of golden-yellow, almost amber, as compared to her chocolate brown and the height difference was a bit noticeable too. Izumi then looked rather nervously at her mother; whose eyebrows then shot up so high, they were almost threatening to disappear into her hairline when Josh had introduced himself as ‘roommate’.
There was a potentially awkward silence that ensued after his introduction, so in order to be able to smooth it over, Izumi then chuckled, before continuing, “Ma, he already came over to our café in Lavaridge several times before. Just that you don’t see him when he does drop by. You can ask some of the staff over at the Izakaya, they’ll tell you that they’ve seen him already. Tends to favor the white-sauce pasta a lot, too,” she began with a sheepish chuckle.
The door was then opened just a bit winder; before it swung open all the way—and her mother then gestured to the inside. “Come in, come in! Sorry if the living room’s a mess—I wasn’t really expecting someone to drop by,” she said with a sheepish look on her face. If Josh would observe the two, the sheepish attitudes and the chuckling came from her, too—but where was the snark? She then took the proffered hand and shook it, before sizing him up. “Hmm… Zumi, is it just me or do you have a thing for tall, handsome young men?” she began with a devious smirk on her face, looking further into the apartment.
She’d already snuck by the two of them and had gone right to the kitchen when she heard her mother’s dulcet tones announcing something completely embarrassing! “MUM! I just… I just like them a bit taller than me, okay? At least I know he’s not going anywhere!” she shouted form the kitchen, shaking her head as she got to washing her hands before cleaning up the kitchen itself. Over in the living room, Izumi’s mother then gestured around to the…rather glorious mess; the television was up a bit loud, and there were magazine strewn everywhere.
“Sorry if it’s a bit messy, again. And it’s finally nice to put a name to the face. Please, sit down on the couch,” the older woman gestured, moving a pile of cushions in order to let her daughter’s guest sit down.
Post by Josh Dragomir on Mar 9, 2015 17:56:20 GMT -5
Well, he certainly did notice the resemblance, that was true. She certainly was Izumi's mother. They were similar for everything from appearance right down to the personality. Of course, he did wonder where Izumi got her snark from... Her father, perhaps? Of course, he forgot about this for a moment as he realized the reaction that Izumi's mother was giving him after he had mentioned the term roommate. Oops. Had Izumi not told her? Looks like Izumi had been too busy working on the house lately for her to actually tell her mother that she was moving in with him, with a house of her own. Odd, he figured Izumi would be right on top of this kind of thing. Izumi would quickly cover her tracks, and Josh would chime in with "She's moving into a place with me that we're building. It's been in the works for awhile, but we've both been so busy, that I guess Zu forgot to tell you" He would mention with a nervous laugh, scratching his head.
Welp, there was the snark. It seemed Izumi had her mother's genes. Great. He couldn't help but blush when she said that. But it was Izumi's reaction that made his eyes widen, his eyebrows nearly fall off from going so high, and a deep blush appearing on his face. Now what did THAT mean?
"Uhh... It's.. It's okay" He said, scratching his head as he sat down. "I've been sleeping on a couch until recently, in a lab, neat quarters aren't really something I'm used to" He would add.
Post by Izumi Yamamura on Mar 11, 2015 7:09:41 GMT -5
“Yamamura Izumi! What have you not been telling me?!” the older woman began, after listening to Josh’s rather surprised-sounding revelation. Now that the cat had been set out of the bag, the girl in the kitchen could only cringe, wondering if holding back some information was a good idea. She heard him attempting to explain their way out of it; but apparently it wasn’t enough to hear it from him, at the very least. Seeing that their guest was looking rather flustered (I mean, who wouldn’t, because Josh’s face was literally a shade of red at this point) the older woman then chuckled as she then sat herself down on the other couch.
“Has she been eating well, is she taking care of herself? How about the Gardevoir?” the older woman asked, finally reaching for the remote and turning down the volume on the television, the better for her to hear him speak up. “It’s okay, no need to hold back. tell me what you two have been up to, she never lets me know about things that are happening outside of the restaurant anyway,” she whispered, stealing a glance towards the kitchen, hoping that she wouldn’t come out too early and ruin the little discussion they were having!
Erk, who knew I’d forget to tell her. Sorry, my bad! She thought to herself, cringing internally as she then proceeded to continue cleaning up the kitchen and answer the questions while she was at it. “S-sorry about that Mum,” she began with an extremely sheepish-sounding voice, hopefully it carried into the living room where the two were now located.
“Things just got out of…hand. Well, we got too busy trying to toss the entire house together, it really did…slip my mind,” she added, quickly scooping up some of the dishes and then putting them away, the cabinets opening and closing as loudly as she could make. “Y-you know what I mean by ‘he’s not going away’,” she continued with a pointed tone, hoping that she didn’t unearth that little grave she’d already buried and moved forward from.
WORDS 347 TAGSJosh Dragomir NOTESThe snark comes from the mother, evidently.
Post by Josh Dragomir on Mar 12, 2015 1:04:56 GMT -5
Yamamaura Izumi? What was he? Dragomir Josh then? Or Josh The Dragon? Or just plain Josh? What kind of hokey pokey Rapidash bullshit was this? Was she a witch or something or was this Shui culture? Oh wait, they weren't from Shui, it was just that the hokey dokey language of Izumi and the hankey pankey language of Shui were somewhat similar, enough for her to learn. Good job Izumi, he thought, for not telling her mother about their work on the house. This just got a hell of a lot more awkward, he said with a dismal sigh, trying not to draw attention to himself during this argument.
The topic would change to a variety of questions about Izumi. Most which would be answered with "Mhm", "Yep" and "Yep, she's fine". As for the last question, he would shrug. "We've gone on a few adventures. Sparred a few times. Tried to get knowledge on Mega Evolution and failed.... And now we're building a house on the ranch and rooming. Good times" He said, scratching his head, still a bit flustered. He would let Izumi speak then. He sort of got what she meant this time, the second roll around. Last time was Bunji right? Maybe she meant her best friend since her last one died. Aww.
Post by Izumi Yamamura on Mar 12, 2015 8:19:41 GMT -5
“Please make sure to take care of her. Sometimes she can get herself into a lot of trouble and not realize it…” the older woman trailed off, a look of concern temporarily clouding her vibrant face for a few moments. She then continued to ask in an undertone, “…so how is she, really? You know, ever since what had happened in Lumiose? I was a bit surprised to find out what had happened when some shady-looking individuals turned up and introduced themselves as agents of Interpol, before they told me the whole thing,” she remarked, shooting a rather pointed look at the kitchen before rising in order to search for something, making sure that the raven-haired girl wasn’t going to be coming out of the kitchen anytime soon.
Meanwhile, in the kitchen…
Izumi was now wondering why the sounds coming from the living room had stopped, she then shrugged and could only guess if her mother was now showing the baby… “MUUUUUM! Not the baby pictures!!!” she shouted, very nearly dropping the stack of dishes she was now transporting to one of the cabinets in order to keep them. Truth be told, her mother had done just that—and one better; for she’d not only found all of the pictures of Izumi from way back then, she’d also brought out the album containing the really embarrassing pictures to boot! “Here, take a look if you want,” her mother remarked, silently pushing two of the three albums chock-filled with pictures Josh’s way.
If he cared to look, the first album was full of baby pictures; while the second one had the raven-haired girl growing up. First day of school, first time in the hot springs, and for the hell of it, first time Izumi had worn one of the wait-staff uniforms for the café back home! Who knew that she was a thin, scrawly-looking little girl that had grown up into a thing of beauty?!
“She wasn’t that beautiful when she was a kid. Used to think that she was one of the boys. Always hanging out with them and climbing up all over the rocks, the trees, and the mountainous paths back in the Jagged Pass,” the older woman continued to reminisce with a grin on her face. If he’d also notice, there were nearly next to no pictures of her father in them—just her and her mother, growing up, and getting on in years.
WORDS 406 TAGSJosh Dragomir NOTESThe snark, the sass.
Post by Josh Dragomir on Mar 12, 2015 11:30:17 GMT -5
"Oh, I know she can" He said with a laugh. "But she's a great girl. Smart, funny, fun to be around. A great cook too. I found this out when I first started traveling with her" He would remark with a laugh. "You have no idea how different it was to go from eating canned foods and instant dinners all the time, to suddenly having good tasting, filling meals. Your daughter is quite the cook" He would reveal, knowing that somewhere nearby, Izumi was probably overhearing this and blushing to high heaven as he heaped praise upon her. "She's a workhorse, in that division. Ever since the ranches got merged and she ended up moving in, she's helped my mother with the cleaning, she's helped her with the cooking. She's shocked my own mother, who's a super mom and workhorse in her own right, by how dedicated she is. You brought her up right" He would remark with a laugh.
Bringing up Lumiose brought a frown to his face, and he looked down. He didn't really want to talk about it. Sure, Interpol had cancelled their interrogation with him, but the memories of what had happened, especially with Izumi... They still haunted him. He would only relax again when she brought out the baby pictures, to Izumi's dismay seeing as he could hear her screaming from the kitchen. He could only help but laugh as he would look through them, with her mother providing commentary.
How did Izumi go from such a scrawny thing to having the craziest curves in all of mankind?
He couldn't help but wonder though... And his curiosity got the better of him. Trying to speak softly so Izumi didn't hear, he would cautiously speak to her mother with a tone that told that he didn't want to offend. "I... Apologize if this topic upsets you, Miss Yamamura, as I have really appreciated your hospitality, but... Was her father.. Never there?" He would inquire, motioning toward the fact there were pretty much no pictures of him at all. Izumi had vaguely mentioned them having issues, but this was on a whole 'nother level. "I mean... I guess I should consider myself lucky, if so... I lost mine recently" He would admit, his eyes staring down to the ground.
While Izumi was worse off in a way, Josh's wasn't really sugarplumbs either. Sure, he had his dad his whole life until now... But did he really? His dad was so busy with work, that he never spent time with his son. This was why Josh grew up around Pokemon. He didn't have anything else... Sure, he loved his father, but just as he was finally starting to get to spend time with him, in his adult life after coming to Hoenn... He disappeared soon after.
