One For The Road [M]

i used to dream in the dark of palisades park

new

close tab

played by

Wanderer

The Liberator

he/him/his

April 10

Lavaridge Town

Figuring it Out

Penitent

Renegade

I've got a, I've got a

Pocket fulla sunshine

Short King height

Turned on my friends and brought them pain. I have no right to show I can change. But I gotta try!

awards

4,402 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @isaacmerlo

Isaac Merlo

One For The Road [M]

POSTED ON Jun 15, 2023 3:29:19 GMT

[nospaces]

[attr="class","skullhover"]

[attr="class","skullimg"]

[attr="class","skulltitle"]導通抵抗

[attr="class","skulloverlap"]BUT HOLD YOUR BREATH, GUESS WHO'S RUNNING THE SHOW?

[attr="class","skullbody"]"Not a word out of me," Isaac said, miming a lips-zipped-shut gesture as he returned Navy's jesting smile. "Y'know. Unless you actually sic a Garchomp on me. No promises then." Not that he'd mind a chance to throw down with Navy. If their chemistry in battle was anything like their chemistry out of it, he had a sense they'd put on a hell of a show for the crowd.[break][break]

Did he really have a lot to say, though? All he knew was that the gym was designed to toughen people up and teach them about the road ahead. Outside of that, and a joke about a Garchomp Kool-Aiding through the walls to fight him, he had no idea about any further specifics. Maybe that joke was less of a joke and more of a hint.[break][break]

Maybe he didn't want to find out. Maybe he'd want to see it with his own two eyes first and foremost.[break][break]

At the mention of championship, Isaac simply sighed. He'd almost forgotten what pot of gold lied at the edge of the gym rainbow. He couldn't think of a person less fit to represent the Hoenn region than him; tied to Rocket, and too much of a coward to do anything about the misgivings that had gnawed at his brain.[break][break]

"Destinations are fine and all. But the real point's the journey, y'know?" A winning smile and a convenient excuse. With his quick wit and poker face, Isaac always had a way out of awkward situations like this. "I've got a good few under my belt now. Minor. Major. Traditional. Off the beaten path. Figure no better way to learn than to see what's out there."[break][break]

He was at the cusp of trying, but no amount of gym badges would change that the only thing in his way was himself.[break][break]

"Y'know, most people don't ask the barman that." Most of the time, they heard stories for tips. If they did tell one, it was just a quick little crowd pleaser, and who knew how true those were? "Can't say mine's been too much of a thrill ride, though."[break][break]

At least until the last year, a lifetime compressed into just 365 days. But Navy wouldn't need to know about that part.

[break]

[break]

[attr="class","skullinfo"]MOBILE POST / Navy

[attr="class","skullcredits"]TAIKO!

[newclass=.skullhover]width:420px;-webkit-filter: grayscale(100%);filter: grayscale(100%);-webkit-transition:all 1s ease;transition:all 1s ease;-webkit-transition-delay:0.1s;[/newclass]
[newclass=.skullhover:hover]-webkit-filter: grayscale(0%);filter: grayscale(0%)-webkit-transition:all 1s ease;transition:all 1s ease;[/newclass]
[newclass=.skullimg]width:380px;height:200px;background-image:url(https://i.imgur.com/HOVZp0J.png); background-repeat:no-repeat;[/newclass]
[newclass=.skulltitle]font-family:verdana;font-weight:700;font-size:50px;position:relative;text-align:center;color:#D9B800;margin-top:-36px;margin-bottom:0px;text-shadow: -1px 0 black, 0 1px black, 1px 0 black, 0 -1px black;[/newclass]
[newclass=.skulloverlap]letter-spacing:1px;font-family:oswald;font-weight:200;font-size:12px;position:relative;text-align:center;margin-top:-0;margin-bottom:-5px;color:#e8e8e8;text-shadow: -1px 0 black, 0 1px black, 1px 0 black, 0 -1px black;[/newclass]
[newclass=.skullbody]div-align:center;text-align:justify;width:380px;line-height:15px;letter-spacing:.5px;font-size:12px;font-family:roboto;color:#d6d6d6;[/newclass]
[newclass=.skullinfo]width:380px;font-family:oswald;font-size:12px;font-weight:200;color:#767676;text-align:right[/newclass]
[newclass=.skullcredits]width:380px;font-family:roboto;font-size:12px;text-align:center;[/newclass]

[googlefont=Oswald]
[googlefont=Roboto]

close tab

played by

Teddie

Michael Navidson

He/Him

October 13th

Slateport

Heterosexual

Elite 4.

Sheriff

5'10" / 177.8 cm height

In the warrior's code, there's no surrender. Though his body says stop, his spirit cries, "NEVER!"

awards

4,008 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @teddie

Navy

One For The Road [M]

POSTED ON Jun 15, 2023 3:47:07 GMT

[nospaces]

[attr="class","arties"]

“Who tends the tenders?” Navy closes his eyes, nods sagely. He speaks the words as if there is some deeper profound wisdom housed within them, waiting to be unearthed by future generations. “Barkeeps tend to be some of the most interesting guys in a room, if you can get ‘em to open up. They hear all kinds of crazy stuff.”[break][break]
He looks away, back to the musician. Maybe the calico haired man’s set is ending, he seems to be winding down. So much for a city that never sleeps. Navy is sure another act will follow him.[break][break]
“Like…how do I say this? They’re like priests, now that most people aren’t religious. Hearing confessions.” Just observations from a man who didn’t even finish the tenth grade. What he couldn’t learn from the public library, his eyes taught him. The smile returns, impish now. Looking at Isaac like he knows something.[break][break]
“So, all that to say, I don’t believe for a second that you’re a boring guy.” He senses that his brother would like this guy, and that goes a long way. Sure, Gabe liked everybody, but Gabe would like Isaac. It’s a small difference, but his gut tells him this is a man his brother would cheer for all day, goad him into a rivalry, push him to really want that championship belt.[break][break]
“You live in Hoenn. We’ve been invaded by Pokemon from outer space, we would’ve been smashed by a meteor if not for Rayquaza. We survived the Darkest Day. No such thing as a boring man here.”

[break][break]

+ Isaac Merlo

[attr="class","pokeclass"]
Vortigern Rest/Sleep talk/Earthquake/Stone Edge/Sword’s Dance/Outrage/Poison Jab/Stealth Rock

Roland Electric Terrain/Psycho Cut/Moon Blast/Focus Blast/Thunderbolt/Knock Off

Thin Lizzy Shed Tail/Dragon Rush/Shift Gear/Quick Attack/Dragon Pulse/Rapid Spin

[attr="class","credit"]milky

[newclass=.arties]font:11px roboto;--accent:#9efffe;[/newclass]

[newclass=.arties b]color:var(--accent);[/newclass]
[newclass=.arties i]color:var(--accent);[/newclass]
[newclass=.arties a]text-transform:uppercase; font-weight:bold[/newclass]
[newclass=.arties .pokesprite]color:#32a852; background:rgba(0,0,0,0.1);border:1px solid rgba(0,0,0,0.2); margin-right:10px; margin-top:5px; padding:5px; filter:grayscale(90%); transition:0.5s all;[/newclass]
[newclass=.arties .pkspr:hover]background:rgba(0,0,0,0.2); filter:none; transition:0.5s all;[/newclass]
[newclass=.arties .pokeclass]text-align:right; width:520px; [/newclass]
[newclass=.arties .pokeclass img]background:#2b2b2b;border-radius:100px; border:1px solid #solid 1px #232323; border:1px solid #232323; margin-top:-30px; padding-bottom:12px; transition:1.5s; margin-left:8px; box-shadow:2px 2px transparent;[/newclass]
[newclass=.arties .pokeclass img:hover]background:var(--accent); transition:1s all; box-shadow:2px 2px #232323 [/newclass]
[newclass=.arties]position:relative;[/newclass]
[newclass=.arties .credit]font:bold 15px poppins; transform:rotate(90deg); position:absolute; bottom:55px; right:45px; color:rgb(65,65,65); text-shadow: -1px -1px 0 #232323, 1px -1px 0 #232323, -1px 1px 0 #232323, 1px 1px 0 #232323;[/newclass]

close tab

played by

Wanderer

The Liberator

he/him/his

April 10

Lavaridge Town

Figuring it Out

Penitent

Renegade

I've got a, I've got a

Pocket fulla sunshine

Short King height

Turned on my friends and brought them pain. I have no right to show I can change. But I gotta try!

awards

4,402 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @isaacmerlo

Isaac Merlo

One For The Road [M]

POSTED ON Jun 17, 2023 3:04:02 GMT

ana fell likes this

[nospaces]

[attr="class","skullhover"]

[attr="class","skullimg"]

[attr="class","skulltitle"]導通抵抗

[attr="class","skulloverlap"]BUT HOLD YOUR BREATH, GUESS WHO'S RUNNING THE SHOW?

[attr="class","skullbody"]"Now that's one way of saying it." The only other time he'd been compared to a religious experience was when he was with ana fell, and that was a patently different context. However, Navy's point made sense. Barmen were pretty much paid to chat without judging, all while booze loosened their patron's lips. Arceus knew Isaac heard a lot. A lot.[break][break]

"Guess we are, huh?" he said once his amusement gave way to contemplation. "Get some shit out of your system. Meet people in your community. Have a little wine. Sometimes there's a bunch of singing you can't understand. And then you give a big ol' tithe at the end. Maybe a church and a bar ain't so different."[break][break]

Okay. That little gag stalled him out enough. What was he even going to say here? He couldn't just tell Navy that he was a member of Team Rocket, and his year with a literal terrorist organization had been both the best and worst of his entire life. He was honest, but he wasn't an idiot.[break][break]

Where else could he start, then, but the beginning?[break][break]

"I was born to a man who thought he was my father. Then he learned I wasn't, and just like that he stopped caring." It was blunt, but it was the truth. One of Isaac's most formative memories of his youth was being cast aside, and it set the tone of his life up until the last year. "Pretty much learned it was best to keep to myself after that. Weird origin story for such a social butterfly, huh?"[break][break]

"I'll give myself credit. I hung in there 'til I was 18. Second I was old enough to book it without having the cops fish me back, I was out." In a way, it was the biggest mistake of his life until he joined Rocket. In another way, it had been the best choice he could ever make. "Spent a good four, five years wandering the region. Seeing the world. Roughing it on routes. Making ends meet with odd jobs and gambles. Nothing fancy. But it means by now, I know this region like the back of my hand."[break][break]

" 'Bout this time last year, I had my come to Arceus moment. Remember after the Splashfest? When that weird Mirage Island showed up off the shore of Pacifidlog?" By now, it was ancient history, a brief blip in between apocalypses. To Isaac, it was his origin story. "Lots of people went to check it out. I was one of 'em. Got to see what was on the other side. What it was doesn't really matter. League docs should get you up to speed on it. But . . ."[break][break]

"Let's just say I know what its like to lose your fight."[break][break]

Maldacena had broken him down systematically, bit by bit. He took his name and his face. He took his eye in a fit of sickening cosmic irony. Then, finally, he took his will to fight. So much of him had been chipped away that, when it came time to offer up sacrifices so everyone else could escape his cyberspace, Isaac sacrificed himself without a second thought.[break][break]

"Turns out, nothing gets your spark back more than knowing what it's like to lose it." If it wasn't for Maldacena, would Isaac even be here right now? Or would he be a grey husk of his former self, drifting through Rocket's lowest ranks without a care in the world? "So I cleaned up my act. Turned my life around. Made some friends. Got a job. Found love. Started applying myself. Y'know, all that good stuff."[break][break]

"Ain't much of a story. But it's mine, y'know?"

[break]

[break]

[attr="class","skullinfo"]MOBILE POST / Navy

[attr="class","skullcredits"]TAIKO!

close tab

played by

Teddie

Michael Navidson

He/Him

October 13th

Slateport

Heterosexual

Elite 4.

Sheriff

5'10" / 177.8 cm height

In the warrior's code, there's no surrender. Though his body says stop, his spirit cries, "NEVER!"

awards

4,008 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @teddie

Navy

One For The Road [M]

POSTED ON Jun 18, 2023 1:54:50 GMT

[nospaces]

[attr="class","arties"]

“I like that story.” Navy admits with folded arms. Soaking in the ambiance of the room, he listens. Their roles are reversed. He had never been a particularly talkative patron. His cups sapped his capacity for speech rather than enhancing it, meaning he never had much love for spilling his guts after a few sips. Some men can do that perfectly well when sober.[break][break]
“It’s a good story. Like you said, it’s yours. Only one Isaac in the world that can tell a story that crazy. Mirage Island, huh? Man…I remember hearing about that.” Kyle didn’t tell him many details, mostly because Navy knew it wasn’t his place to ask, but he was overwhelmed with curiosity then and now.[break][break]
“Seems like you can’t kick a stone in Hoenn these days without it turning out to be a shard from Regirock or somethin’.” He jokes. At least, he hopes that it’s a joke. “Sounds like you had a good time. Wandering the region, seeing all there is to see. Beats living in a shitty home, I know the feeling.” Memories surge of being sixteen, sneaking out the window. He remembers running through this city, the region in miniature. All these incessant lights, all these people. Through the eyes of a teenage boy, Slateport may as well be the whole world.[break][break]
“And it sounds to me like you know what it means to lose. Shit sucks.” He states the obvious with a soldier’s severity. “I know what that’s like, too. And I know I don’t wanna feel that way when shit hits the fan again. Something’s coming.” He doesn’t know how, nor when. He just knows that ruin is coming for the region his brother loved so much. It falls on him, the Pokemon who follow him, and the people around him to stop this calamity.[break][break]
And they can only do it together.

[break][break]

+ Isaac Merlo

[attr="class","pokeclass"]
Vortigern Rest/Sleep talk/Earthquake/Stone Edge/Sword’s Dance/Outrage/Poison Jab/Stealth Rock

[attr="class","credit"]milky

close tab

played by

Wanderer

The Liberator

he/him/his

April 10

Lavaridge Town

Figuring it Out

Penitent

Renegade

I've got a, I've got a

Pocket fulla sunshine

Short King height

Turned on my friends and brought them pain. I have no right to show I can change. But I gotta try!

awards

4,402 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @isaacmerlo

Isaac Merlo

One For The Road [M]

POSTED ON Jun 19, 2023 22:48:11 GMT

[nospaces]

[attr="class","skullhover"]

[attr="class","skullimg"]

[attr="class","skulltitle"]導通抵抗

[attr="class","skulloverlap"]BUT HOLD YOUR BREATH, GUESS WHO'S RUNNING THE SHOW?

[attr="class","skullbody"]"You're right. My story. My name."[break][break]

Sometimes, Isaac forgot that Merlo hadn't always been his last name. But why shouldn't it be? Why should he have any connection to a name that was never his? A hand me down from a father that never cared, it always felt a size too big for him. Now, five years and a thousand lifetimes removed from home, it felt a size too small.[break][break]

Navy's tone was jovial, but Isaac knew all too well how true it was. Since he woke up and started paying attention to the region around him, he'd been sucked into a digital world, conscripted to fight the League on the eve of the apocalypse, and ventured through a parallel universe so Team Rocket could claim a key to Arceus' prison. These were but the start of his troubles, and they were far from the last. He'd lost an eye, lost his innocence, and lost his faith in his path.[break][break]

But what he gained was beyond compare.[break][break]

"Yeah," Isaac agreed, letting out a thoughtful hum. "Something's always coming. Brave of you to treat that like a challenge, not a threat." Many would run screaming from the path they'd been put on. Navy looked towards it as an opportunity, even as the apocalypse bore down on him while he shielded a League he loathed.[break][break]

Isaac wished he was as brave as Navy was. He wished he wasn't such a fucking coward. He wished he could flip Rocket the bird and walk backwards into freedom. But there were people he cared about too much to hurt. There were risks he feared too much to take. There was a precarious balance he'd constructed, and one little tip could send the whole thing crashing down.[break][break]

"I know it's too late to change those shitty homes and bad losses," Isaac said, offering Navy a sympathetic smile. "But . . . for every life you change to get someone else out of that same mess, you're making that past you proud. Never forget that, alright?"[break][break]

Maybe one day, he could do the same for himself.

[break]

[break]

[attr="class","skullinfo"]MOBILE POST / Navy

[attr="class","skullcredits"]TAIKO!

close tab

played by

Teddie

Michael Navidson

He/Him

October 13th

Slateport

Heterosexual

Elite 4.

Sheriff

5'10" / 177.8 cm height

In the warrior's code, there's no surrender. Though his body says stop, his spirit cries, "NEVER!"

awards

4,008 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @teddie

Navy

One For The Road [M]

POSTED ON Jun 21, 2023 5:34:23 GMT

[nospaces]

[attr="class","arties"]

“I’ll do my best. Only thing I can do.” He offers that solemn promise. It’s getting late, even by this city’s standards. It’s probably time to get home, make his apologies to the kid for getting here so late, get some rest. Lots of arrangements to make with the movers, what with moving across an ocean lane. At least the League is comping everything.[break][break]
“I think life’s all about attitude, you know? Something outside our control’s coming. It’s either a challenge to be overcome or something that’ll turn your head gray. Thinking about it that way’s how I stayed sane doing a bunch of dead end jobs.” And what a pain in the ass those were. He’s better now. Found his footing. He’ll never go back to doing that again.[break][break]
“I should probably get home. Don’t think I’ll get jumped.” Like every decent detective, Navy carries a small notebook. Pulling it out, he jots down his number and slides it to the other man. “Don’t be a stranger, you’re an interesting guy.”[break]
He stands up, realizes he didn’t even order anything. It’s a testament to the patience of the owner that they were never thrown out.[break][break]
“Take care of yourself.”

[break][break]

+ Isaac Merlo