gabe closes the flip-phone, and pushes it down into his pocket. only just last week his father had announced the rite of succession. gabriel, not any of his other, more qualified siblings, would take over the company. he suppresses the sigh that threatens to bubble up, instead, turning a smile onto his daughter.
[break][break]
"but buggggg, i'm so tired!" he rolls his eyes sarcastically, and stretches both arms into the caricature of a yawn. at its peak he stops, and he cracks one eye noticeably open to look at her. then, quickly, he continues the motion.
[break][break]
"daddy is pooped! but if his little girl wants to go out...."
[break][break]
he suddenly perks, rushing in her direction to toss her over his shoulder like a captured maiden, "then we have no choice! on-ward we go!"

[attr="class","ooc"]Jessica Manner[break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-pyroar"]

A frown was plain on her lips, pursed as her father began to say something about being tired and pooped. She put her hands on her hips, mustering up the biggest "daddy, please" eyes she could...

Until he picked her up, swinging her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

With a laugh of glee, she smacked her small hands against his shoulder, squealing.

"Daddy! Put me down! I have to be on the ground to catch something!"

But it was a success! They were going Pokemon hunting!

"I want a fire-type. Just like you."

GABRIEL BLACK

☉

"whaaat? does someone hear some strange squeaking?" with one arm safely wrapped around her, he places his hand like a visor over his eyes, turning and looking about like lighthouse with shoulders. he didn't let up, until she mentions the pokemon-type. he brings her back in-front of him, facing him.
[break][break]
"a fire-type? i don't know sweetie, they're dangerous." a figure brushes against his leg and he looks down to see aurum, his m-pyroar, rubbing against his side like a proper cat. an idea thrumming in his mind, he places the girl on the back of his pokemon.
[break][break]
"well, aside from aurum, of course."

[attr="class","ooc"]Jessica Manner[break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-pyroar"]

Jessie was set on her father's PYROAR, stroking her small hands through his mane with a smile. However, she looked confused, her smile turning upside down as she looked up at Gabriel.

"What do you mean? You have a lot of fire-types, and they are all nice," she said, ignorant to reality.

"I want to be like you. I want a fire-type," she insisted with a pout.

On the back of the PYROAR, they were set to go out. Jessie couldn't contain her excitement, almost wiggling off the lion Pokemon's back.

@gabriel

☉

the scar over his eye twitches, and he remembers back when he'd been haughty enough to think fire-types were meant to bow down to him. he learned that day. luckily, his own daughter's temperament was a stark difference to his own, but...
[break][break]
"look, sweetie. fire-types are... proud creatures," he sends a cautious look at his own pyroar, who despite the hands tugging through his fur, didn't seem bothered, "just be careful, okay?"
[break][break]
with a sigh of defeat, he goes along with his daughters wishes, and they depart.

[attr="class","ooc"]Jessica Manner[break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-pyroar"]

Jessie looked at him as spoke, her eyes wide and curious. Proud creatures? She knew what that meant but... how did that make them dangerous?

But she nodded, smiling brightly.

"I'm always careful."

It doesn't take long for them to reach an area where several Pokemon were sprouting. Jessie was picky, of course. She needed the perfect one.

"Daddy, what was your first Pokemon?"

GABRIEL BLACK

☉

he holds back the sarcastic look that twinkles in his eye. always careful? how many band-aid has she been solely responsible for using? how many burn ointments? she was taking after him, surely.

and he wasn't sure that was a good thing.

"you're sitting on him, sweetie." he could tell that the pyroar was paying special attention, ensuring that both his flames were harmless, and his stride careful.

"aurumn was a gift from my father to me." and the reason the flesh around his eye was so marred. that and, gabriel's foolish pride.

Jessica Manner

Jessie looked down at the PYROAR, her mouth forming a tiny "o" shape as she realized what her father meant.

"So you got Aurum first? He must be old," she said with a giggle.

It wasn't a jab, just a childish observation from a young girl. However, she gently ran her fingers through his mane, humming to herself.

"That's cool. It's sorta like what we're doing, right? Except we're catching mine!" Jessie chirped excitedly.

GABRIEL BLACK

☉

"well..." the great pyroar beneath her growls deep enough to send vibrations up and through her small form, and gabriel gives the beast an apologetic smile. "let's just say he's wise. yeah, wise."

he knew that the lion wasn't actually bothered by the sentiment, but he was built to rule his own pride. he needed a little but of stage presence.

"exactly," he says with a smile, "exactly like that."

he doesn't let her into the fact that the scar on his face was a consequence of his encounter, and that he'd learned a lesson that day.

up ahead something stirs in a brush and lion and trainer stop, giving each other a knowing look. from it, a small fennekin emerges.

Jessica Manner

Jessie didn't really pay attention to the bushes, wondering why exactly the PYROAR and her father had stopped. She gave a confused look at Gabriel, puffing her bottom lip out and opening her mouth to complain when she spotted it.

A FENNEKIN.

The little fox peered up at them curiously, his eyes wide as he looked between the lion and the two people. Then he began to chitter, a nervous sound because he was alone. Of course, he felt threatened.

"Daddy! This one! This one is it!"

GABRIEL BLACK

☉

it was so small compared to gabriel and pyroar, so the CEO takes a moment to step back and force himself to be smaller.

"this one? are you sure, sweetheart?" though, he already knew that answer. kneeling in front of her, he places an empty pokeball into her hand.

"aurum will listen to you, if you need him too."

Jessica Manner

Was she sure? Jessie was absolutely sure!

"Duh, Daddy! He's perfect. He looks a lot like me too. We have the same hair color, but his is red on his ears," she pointed out, pointing at the small, fox-like Pokemon.

The empty Poke ball was placed in her hand. It felt powerful to her, like a new power she just obtained. She smiled, looking back at her father.

"Are you ready?"

She tossed the ball. Waiting to see if it'd catch.

GABRIEL BLACK

☉

he could only smile down at his daughter. he understood the excitement that bubbled up in her chest now; he understood it too much. he was just glad he could be here for this moment, and with luck, every moment down the road.

how wrong he would be.

"nice throw!" his hands balled into excited fists, gaze falling onto the orb as it collapses the fennekin into light. it shakes, and stirs, keeping gabriel on a bated breath.

then, it clicks.

"you did it! arceus, you did it!" too excited to contain himself, gabriel lifts jessie into the air, spinning her small form in his massive hands.

Jessica Manner