It feels cheesy, like some scene in a movie. For what is entirely too long, even with people bustling around him in the crowd, Chu-e felt like the only person there. Just him and jayden cross playing that beautiful music. That evil little thing fluttered in his chest, slowly, slowly, and Chu-e wondered how, months ago now, he could look Jayden in the face and honestly think he was empty as a doll. With how he played now, with how his hands had been so gentle when he found him in his house, how he had looked when Chu-e had gifted him the Luvdisc- something. Something was there, on the edge of some fleeting realization.

Then Raziel Beckett's voice tore him from his own mind, made him blink in almost confusion as he glanced over. Pompom, his Igglybuff, was still in his pocket. She seemed to notice Razz about the same time he did, eagerly yelling out to the younger man and raising her paw above her hand to wave, excited to see him. He blinked, noticed a familiar shock of red and matching green, as well. He felt oddly vulnerable, as if by staring at Jayden he had been caught in some lewd voyeuristic act. The three of them would see something rare- Chu-e unguarded and for a moment frazzled, cheeks heating up pink and averting his eyes as he tried to gain some sense of control back over himself.

But, these were people he liked, even considered friends if you stretched and warped the definition a bit, so after taking a moment to try and smooth his expression back down he did give a little smile and wave before approaching. A quick glance over his shoulder at his Mismagius, still singing with Jayden's piano, and he stepped over to meet them.

"Hey, nice to see you!" Pompom took this as he chance, pulling out of Chu-e's pocket and floating up a bit, aiming to try and land in Razz's arms so she could give him a hug. "Razz, are you working?" He glanced at Sénon Game. "You're both rangers, right? You know each other?"

“Nice ta meet ya! I’m Eva,” she introduced and then motioned to the Machamp beside her, “And this is Syah,” a small smile twisted over the fighting-type’s thick lips. She was ready for a challenge! Things had been quite boring for the pair. Well, besides Team Rocket resurrecting itself and threatening to take over Hoenn . . . That was kind of a big deal.

Eva relished in the subtle judgment of Logan Ferris. She was small but feisty. If he knew half the crazy shit she had done in her lifetime he’d probably fall over in shock, “Alright, Syah! Let’s give ‘em a taste of pure fighting-type power!” Eva gave the female a good slap on the back before she walked forward to enter the ring with the roaring Dragonite. She rolled he four shoulders, thick, steeled muscle rippling under her blue skin. Her toes curled into the ground, steading herself. All four arms stood at the ready.

Kazimir Wynter gave the go and Syah stepped forward to meet the Dragonite head on.

YBnkF9c4

Notes: 5/15

Through all that joy, through all that excitement, Hideo didn’t even think that maybe his lucky performance could be attributed to something other than luck. His Hatterene still had a confused look to her face, and he was completely unaware that Andy was doubting his blindness at this point.

He could barely hear those fists whizzing by his face over the hustle and bustle of the festival, and the slight brushes of air were attributed to the wind. The faux assaults earned no reaction from Hideo, apart from making him wonder what was taking Andy so long to respond - or if he’d approached the wrong person by mistake.

It did get an annoyed look from the Hatterene, even if she could already tell Andy wasn’t actually trying to hit Hideo.

The question about lottery tickets was the only thing to get a reaction from the boy. “I’m...not really sure,” he said, his eyes still looking forward, his stare only broken by intermittent blinking. “If you mean festival lottery stuff, I don’t think there’s an age limit. Dunno about the official lottery, though I think we’re both too young for that.”

Completely missing the point of the question. He was still too enraptured to think things through fully.

“Why? You thinking about taking a shot at it?” Maybe that was just Andy’s way of trying to move on to something else; he did just get outdone by a blind kid, after all. “Or we can try something else if you want. See anything around here you wanna try? Or something you saw when you were scouting?”

"I don't trust the League to have a handle on anything." His tone drops low, as if he's trying to avoid being overheard by the patrolling officers. He laughs, a low sound that rasps in his throat. "Did you watch the press conference? They couldn't get through a public event without incriminating themselves and squabbling amongst each other."

He's talking, of course, about the live back-and-forth between Katherine Fairburne and @selena. He and Katherine may not always see eye-to-eye, but he'd taken a sadistic pleasure in watching her go for the reporter's throat.

"If I thought their real concern was keeping people safe, I wouldn't have a problem with it."

Conscription seemed a convenient excuse to leash potential dissidents. They'd denounced Balder Schwartz once before, avatar of Solgaleo; no doubt they'd have preferred to keep the steel-skinned strongman within their ranks, supporting their ideals. Though much of Gavin's small-talk was directed toward disparaging the League on principle, he possessed a very real concern for what they might use their allied avatars for — with Rocket's reveal, they'd been offered the perfect screen of keeping the public safe.

Serena Malcolm laments their grim discussion, and Gavin's canines flash sharp with a grin. "Who says we're not having fun?" His amber gaze follows hers to the array of games. "I'm down to try whatever."

tl;dr
Post #6 / outfit
Hanging out with Adrian Malcolm and Serena Malcolm.

Hideo nodded. He did really well with that last game; maybe his luck would last and he’d do really well with the next. “Haven’t really done much basketball,” he said, “But it can’t be that much different from throwing a Pokeball, right?” Wouldn’t even need much luck in that case, though a basketball was bigger and weighed more than a Pokeball.

He waited for a moment, expecting Andy to guide him along again...and was disappointed when he didn’t feel a hand or elbow-tap again. Probably still miffed by that loss, huh? But that was fine; his Hatterene grabbed one of his hands, leading him towards where he assumed Andy was going. His free hand was occupied with holding the stuffed Golduck - which he wasn’t aware was a Golduck yet.

Along the way, Hideo closed his eyes again; he only needed them open to trick the worker, and they starting to hurt a little. The little group stopped by another stand, this one also fairly modest; just a small area with a pair of basketball hoops, surrounded by netting.

Hideo smiled when offered to go first. “Gotta get my luck in while it’s still strong!” he exclaimed, handing off the stuffed toy to his Hatterene before walking forward until he felt the wooden stand. The worker at this stand gave him a quick lookover and shrugged, pressing a basketball against the boy’s hand.

“Alright, kid: you got ten throws. You start when I tell you to. No help from your Pokemon with your shots, alright?” A smaller explanation than the last game, but throwing a ball wasn’t as complex (or risky) as using a BB Gun.

Hideo nodded, waiting for the cue. Which was a pretty blatant “go!”.

And he already ran into his first problem; he didn’t know where the basket was. He knew it was forward - where else would it be - but he didn’t know how far or how high it was. He took his first throw, tossing it forward with two hands. A clean miss, undershooting the basket by a good distance.

The ball landed on some netting, rolling back towards Hideo. The netting was low enough that it wouldn’t roll right into his chest, instead hitting the wooden stand with a hard-to-miss noise. “A little higher!” the attendant said.

Hideo took another shot, same as before but aiming higher up. He heard it bounce against something wooden, but it didn’t sound like it went in a basket.

A moment later, he heard a little *thump* in front of his face. The ball had bounced back, and would have hit him right in the nose had his Hatterene not extended her head-hand and blocked it (keeping the stuffed toy she’d been tasked to hold up with her Psychic power). “Yeesh, might want to use less power there,” the worker added.

“Whoops~” Hideo whimsically said, the ball dropped back in his arms. He took another shot, hitting the wooden backboard again. The ball harmlessly fell back down into the netting, rolling back to him. He took a few more shots, each one getting nearer to his goal, but ultimately missing. And his Hatterene was ready to catch any more child-seeking balls, which there were no more of.

But his seventh throw managed to hit the mark, falling right into the basket. “Nice one!” the attendant said, clapping for the boy. Which did serve to encourage him on as he took another shot, this one just barely missing the basket.

With a good enough idea where the basket was, his next two shots were much better - both managing to score. But those were the last two shots he had; “Three out of ten ain’t bad,” the worker said, “Here, something for your good work!” Hideo felt another stuffed toy pressed into his hand: a stuffed Voltorb.

Even though a nearby sign said you had to get at least 5 out of 10 baskets for a prize.

He happily took his reward, turning towards Andy. “Guess I can't be lucky all the time!” he exclaimed with a smile, stepping back so he wouldn’t be in the way.  "Your turn, Andy!"