The past in the present

ft. Yuina Higashi

"Then refrain from the nicknames, if you'd please." He replied with uncharacteristic precision, jaw tensing further as fearful words escaped Yuina.

Just leave already.

Fingers curled and rolled as the woman drew nearer.

If she knew him as well as her words suggested— she'd know better than to come within arm's length.

Not when his beloved was so distressed at her mere presence.

"If you can't say anything yet, then please. Kindly leave." He said, frigid politeness that did not often characterize him taking hold. "Your visits are all too stressing."

---

TL;DR:
- Precise wording Doug is online.

The past in the present

ft. Yuina Higashi

"It's fine." He said, squeezing gently. "You're fine. Ya don't gotta justify any—"

The world— No, the universes themselves refuse to give them the moment, the privacy they need.

Even within what seemed like complete isolation— they found her.

"..." His arms squeezed Yuina gently, before slowly letting go as he turned to face the new voice, jaw set.

He fought to ignore the goosebumps spreading beneath his tailored uniform as the woman's voice scrapped against his senses.

It wasn't the first time he had seen her image, but it was the first time they had met in person.

And still she spoke as if he weren't there.

"... I resemble that remark." He said bluntly, standing between the woman and Yuina. "Is that what you people call me?"

He detested how it was both accurate and, admittedly, funny.

Amusing themselves with dumb monikers while planning to erase their universe from existence.

Pricks.

"My name is John Douglas Sullivan." He said. "Dr. Sullivan, to the likes of you."

---

TL;DR:
-tee up grandma, think he won't punch his mother-in-law?
-Doug for friends, Dr. Sullivan for U PEOPLE.

The past in the present

ft. Yuina Higashi

Take us home.

He took in a deep breath, spine curdling as skin crawled.

It clung to him and settled in the pit of his stomach, an almost familiar dread that refused to part with him even as he tried to push it away.

Fear. Desperation. Homesickness.

He was a young refugee once again, watching his homeland disappear over the horizon.

His teeth came crashing down on the inside of his cheek.

"Calm." He muttered, tasting copper on his tongue. "Down..."

He didn't know what Yuina was seeing anymore— no matter how he squinted, they were a wreathing mass of outpouring dread.

It didn't matter— he needed to...

The world rippled with Yuina's cry. No— it cracked. It stopped.

Surrounded by overflowing dread and misery, both external and her own, Yuina had somehow made the universe bend to her will— however desperate that will.

His eyes drifted around them. Within that small distortion, that small gap in time, the ghosts' emotions were no longer present, no longer relevant.

"What... the—" He muttered, slowly looking around himself, his gaze finally falling unto Yuina.

The wreathing mass of dread in her place, at any rate.

"... Yuina." He muttered, quickly taking a step towards her and reaching out.

The overflowing emotions slid against him like chilled water, jolting his awareness, his hand hesitating halfway.

He had done his best to avoid emotions like these since he had made his return. He wasn't sure of how he was supposed to interface with them— the memories of Petalburg City were cut off from him, ending shortly after his encounter with dorian westcliff.

What little he could remember, however, and what some reports spoke of made him... apprehensive.

But that didn't matter where Yuina was concerned.

His hand clasped her shoulder firmly, the frigid chill of her raw emotions sinking deep into his arm as he stepped closer to hug her, goosebumps spreading all over his skin as the icy sensations dug into him.

"We're still here."

---

TL;DR:
-dread bad
-dread real bad
-hug

The past in the present

ft. Yuina Higashi

Things escalated quickly.

The border had been open for quite a while— perhaps they shouldn't have been surprised the dead now roamed the earth. What else was new in Hoenn?

"I'm sorry for what befell you." He said as he pulled Yuina away from the clutching hand, stomping unto it. "But that ain't got nothin' to do with her."

The dead began to rise from the earth, and with them, came a roaring flood of negative emotions that threatened to overwhelm the senses. His jaw clamped as he tried to push it away, feeling it linger around him like stains.

He moved to stand further ahead of Yuina— he certainly did not look like he was running, however.

"If ya think I'm too afraid to punch a zombie, ya got another thing comin', buckos."

He was a Hoenn veteran. The walking dead might be somewhat new, but they did not phase him enough to to not kick their asses.

---

TL;DR:
-u wot m8
-show me ur hands

AQUA INITIATIVE V

Fashionably late.

"Jail. Was not my concern."

If he had thought for a moment Navidson was proposing they jail Yuina Higashi, he would've have turned the table between them into a mallet before the topic could even become a discussion.

But there was no time to enumerate his actual concerns— not that they could be spoken without possibly offending the sensibilities of the folk at the table — before they were interrupted.

Eyes as far as the... well, eye could see surrounded them.

On the walls. On the tables. On the chairs.

He glances down at the (presumably) Unown eye getting an eyeful of his taint, and his lip curls.

"Hope to goodness this ain't our dear visionary." He said awkwardly, trying to shift his bottom off the eye as he turned his attention to the commissioner.

Best to keep an eye on the only one present whose combat prowess was yet to be field tested.

Luckily, it wasn't rocket's resident fence sitter playing voyeur at their meeting.

It was Yuina's favorite person.

And she had a whole lotta nothin' to say before peacin' out.

"Hooo-ey... All that, just for a lil' spoiler." He said, smoothing over the hairs standing on end on his arm, trying to suppress the goosebumps.

Even with his ability for commandeering public air waves, declan walsh had nothin' on these sorts of theatrics.

Back to the most important subject—

"I'd like to perform Ms. Higashi's medical examinations myself." He interjected simply. "Wouldn't be the first time, won't be the last time. I can pass both new and old results to our head professors."

Past that, it was time for the conversation to move on— or rather, back, to the briefcase.

His gaze rolled over to the Mr. Rhyme, eyeing the briefcase whilst considering the triad's words. A sign they were beyond saving...

"This oughta be good."

---

TL;DR:
-says something.
-hopes to god nomi ain't the one behind the unknowns peeking at his ass.
-oh thank god, it's Yuina's favorite person!
-cryptic-ass-lines.jpg
-says he wants to be the examiner for Yuina.
-one-liner.jpg

The past in the present

ft. Yuina Higashi

"Ya better hold onto me tight, then." He said, grinning cheekily whilst squeezing her against his side.

If the world tried Back to the future'ing him, he'd drag her along for the ride.

But man, she sure knew how to butter up a guy.

"Nothing too terrible, I reckon'." He snickered, pecking her head as he lead them into the deep, dark and creepy forest ahead, puffing up his chest slightly as he brushed off his... misgivings.

At the mention of the underground, he raised his flood flashlight, the thing turning on like a flashbang and illuminating the path forward.

"Alright. Onwards eastwards." He said, holding the floodlight in reverse grip over his head as he began his advance. "Ghost-types, yeah. Probably. These really ain't their sorts of habitats, though."

Probably what gotten those stories going in the first place.

"I'm willin' to bet it's some invasive species tryin' to find its place in Hoenn. Lots o'those." He said, before freezing as Yuina's gaze suddenly snapped upwards. "Hn?"

The floodlight snapped up towards the tree canopy above, blinding lights drowning the leaves in inky shadows. Nothing.

"Can't see anything. Should I—?" He felt the presence before he saw it.

A large mass of misery had suddenly popped into his senses as if from the ether, drawing his attention to it like a magnet.

A man stood before them— and for a moment, Doug held his arm before Yuina, his heart beginning to beat faster in his chest. The man had appeared from seemingly nowhere. A triad—?

"Who?" He said, his gaze snapping back over his shoulder and to Yuina, his surprise evident for a moment before it was pushed away by concern. "Yuina?"

He glanced back at the man for a moment, before turning his attention fully to Yuina.

"You okay?" He whispered softly. "Should I get rid of this guy?"

---

TL;DR:
-What the
-WHAT THE

The past in the present

ft. Yuina Higashi

"The juxtaposition ain't lost on me." He said, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Think I'm getting a trip to the future soon?"

His gaze moved slowly over the surrounding scenery.

"Primal and Z-move energy were both related to rifts and wormholes, I believe." He said, stepping closer to peer over her shoulder once more.

He didn't know enough about either of the aforementioned terms to make any sense out of the machine's readings— if it was even reading anything at that point.

More stuff for her to busy herself with.

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, his careless words dredging up a harrowing subject from nearly a year past.

"Sorry." He mutters, squeezing her shoulder gently while leaning his head onto hers. "I shouldn't be makin' jokes 'ere."

Rolling and squaring his shoulders, he stepped forward before turning back and holding a hand to her.

"I'll lead the way; ya can keep yer eyes on the reader." He said, scratching at his cheek for a moment. "If you, uh... just wanna turn back at any point, let me know. We don't gotta be impatient; we can afford to be leisurely, I think."

He made a show of looking around, nose twitching about.

"Think I've heard a few rumours 'bout the place recently. Mostly from the kids." He mused, before rolling his eyes. "Well. Just a buncha ghost tales hoo-ha, really."

---

TL;DR:
-hanging out, watching her work.
-keeping guard subtly.
-chatting.

For Once

ft. Eris Halla

He smiled. "Hooo... Real glad to hear that."

Always nice to see the kids being kind.

And not getting into fights with war criminals.

"Let me know if you feel any more pain or odd sensations, sir." He said as he finished his work on the injured soldier, looking over him one last time. "Rest for a few more minutes; then I'll send ya home with the latest batch. Ok?"

Rising back to his feet, he turned to Eris, reaching out to pat her head.

"Good job out'ere, Eris." He said with a grin, scanning her for bruises or awkward postures. "These guys may've not made it back home without'cha.

Seemed like he would need to step back into the open field soon.

"How're ya feelin' right now?" He asked. "Need a rest?"

---

TL;DR:

The past in the present

ft. Yuina Higashi

He hummed thoughtfully, his hand on his chin as he considered the facts.

Not Celebi was there, but it didn't feel like him... usually, he applied Occam's razor to anything he knew little about, but he trusted Yuina more than his own gut.

"I don't think I've the vocabulary I'd need to explain." He said, hand sliding off his chin as he shrugged. "It's been there for longer than I've actually' been alive now."

It 23 or so years, what with Galar and what not.

"It's hard to remember what it was like for it to not be there."

There was a reason he seemed infinitely patient with his irresponsible matron.

His gaze returned to the machine she fiddled with. Residual energy...

"What sort of energy do distortions output?" He asked as he peered over her shoulder, leaning his chin atop her traps. "Not primal or infinity?"

So many types of power sources running around these days.

His lips stretched into a grin at the last comment, before he poked at her side.

"What. There something scary in the swamps?" He had heard a few interesting rumors from Lucia Aldrete...

The nonsense random kids on the internet would make up.

---

TL;DR:
-hanging out, watching her work.
-keeping guard subtly.
-chatting.

The past in the present

ft. Yuina Higashi

"Sounds like a big ball of wibbly wobbly, timey wimey stuff." Doug said as he approached the machine, staring at it with absolute confidence in his inability to comprehend its output. "But it was Celebi who gave ya yer new powers, no?"

"So what's this thing doin' for ya?" He asked, bending slightly at the waist as he eyed the console, tapping at his chin thoughtfully. "Gonna spit out a buncha numbers and graphs?"

What would any of it mean, he wondered? How did one look at numbers and graphs of space and time and make any sense of it?

He didn't like acting like a bad movie's take of the layman, asking 'what' and demanding her to 'speak hoennian' any time she said something vaguely eggheaded— but he really didn't have much of a choice when it came to matters like this.

This shit may have been reality now, but it had been basically science fiction less than 2 years prior.

---

TL;DR:
-hanging out, watching her work.
-keeping guard subtly.
-chatting.

Island Hopping

ft. Yuina Higashi

"You already did." He claimed, sticking his tongue out at her, very tempted grab her and run back into the water again.

At her question, he shook his head, turning his gaze to the many small islands doting the horizon. Hoenn was an archipelago of its own— though its many tiny islands had nothing on Alola's main four.

"Nope." He said with a shrug. "Been curious 'bout it since meeting Lele, but haven't really had the time to go there."

That reminded him!

"There was a brief time after I met her, were I got to travel around a couple o'regions." He said. "Just brief visits; couldn't stay far from Hoenn for long, you know?"

Much as he'd have preferred to at the time.

"'twas shortly after I won the HsT. I got a few opportunities to battle professionally abroad." He said, scratching at the back of his head with an eyeroll. "Honestly, pretty bad timing if you ask me. Couldn't really dedicate myself to it."

Which was a little disappointing— as a kid, he had all but dreamed of being a Pokemon Battling Pro.

"Didn't get to swing by Alola, though— they didn't really have a Pokemon League at the time; no stadiums to battle in."

---

TL;DR: Beach Doug

REDEEMING

BATTLE OF PETALBURG LOOT!

STEEL TYPE for PREMIUM GACHA, please.

REDEEMING

MANTINE SURFING 2024

-AUGUST 1: 2, Pokeball
-AUGUST 2: 30, Level tutor
-AUGUST 3: 10, Pokeball
-AUGUST 4: 35, TM/TR
-AUGUST 5: 18, pokeball
-AUGUST 6: 97, Dynamax candy
-AUGUST 7: 31, level tutor
-AUGUST 8: 59, blue shard
-AUGUST 9: 75, form change
-AUGUST 10: 40, move tutor
-AUGUST 12: 65, gachapon (please roll)
-AUGUST 15: 55, Clamperl +100 PD

HARVESTING

be sure to visit the pretty petal flower shop near rustboro!

3X salac berries (they were for september 9th, 2 for John Sullivan, 1 for Gwyar Wledig.)

BUYING

be sure to visit the pretty petal flower shop near rustboro!

3X salac berries (for november 9th)

TOTAL

do come again!

50 PD (-100 from Clamperl)

All is Found

ft. Yuina Higashi

Tapu Lele just laughed.

Then swung her hand casually, as if throwing something at Yuina.

A bubbly, bouncy potato sack unceremoniously landed on Yuina Higashi, bouncing off her to sprawled out on the ground, drool dripping out of the mouth of this...

Strange, little abherration.

A cartoonish, magenta snot bubble inflated and deflated with his each breath.

It looked odd. Light refracted off its skin oddly, the shadows casted upon it sharp and clear cut, like cel-shading. Its features were round, cute and... appealing —in a very 'The illusion of life by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston' kind of way. It almost seemed flat, if one were to stare at it from a single angle for long.

Taking a step back, it seemed like a... living, breathing, adorable caricature of Doug.

And it was most definitely him.

---

TL;DR: