Dom howled his way through every song that was played, less and less embarrassed with his pitch with each one (and with each cup he drank; he could've sworn he'd swapped to the punch hours ago). At some point during the singing, Lynx made his way over to Dom, face twisted in concern. He nudged the ranger's leg once, twice, then harder a third time. Blinking, Dom looked down at the Riolu, who pinned him with a stare. Snickering, he pat the little Pokemon on the head.[break][break]

"I'm not dying, I promise. It's just singing." The caroling came to a close and Dominic gave a brief round of applause to everyone gathered. He watched as the gifts began to flow, his hand wrapped around his own small gift in his pocket. Everyone else was giving such beautiful objects—hand-made, rare, treasured things. He chewed his lip for a moment.[break][break]

Working up the courage, he walked over to Eris Halla and knelt down to be (somewhat) on her level. From his pocket, he produced a small plastic box. Inside was a pristine figy berry, ripe and ready to eat. Dom grinned and offered it to Eris.[break][break]

"Merry Christmas. Your piano playing was great, thank you." He looked at the berry as he pressed it into her hands. "I grew this in my garden. It's organic, guaranteed the best figy berry you've ever had. It's actually a cultivar of Ficus carica, a little bit harder to find them around here. They're surprisingly mild if you pick them when they're just starting to ripen; the later in the season you harvest it, the spicier it gets. It actually has medicinal properties if you—" He caught himself, cleared his throat, and gave an awkward smile. "I hope you like it."

[break][break]

+ prompt: give a gift[break]
Remiel Calcifet

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

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

[break]

Nova, prancing through the sand with abandon, took a glance over her shoulder to find that the Houndour wasn't hot on her heels as she'd expected. She slowed, turning to look for him, just in time to see him shake sand off his face. She hardly noticed the new addition to their play group—not that it bothered her either way. Impatiently, she waited for Haedus to catch up, shifting from foot to foot. When he finally did, she mirrored his play bow with one of her own, growling. He reached out to grab the stick but Nova wasn't about to let it go that easily. She dug in once he'd grabbed it successfully and then tugged.

Dom could see the tears in Tilly's eyes immediately and he grimaced. He'd had an inclination that leaving the way he had would be upsetting for his friends, but seeing it in person made it all-too real. Tilly fell into his chest and Dom wrapped his arms around her. They stayed like that for a while, the waves hissing against the shore barely enough to drown out Matilda's sobs. When she finally pulled away, Dom couldn't find it in him to keep eye contact. He stared into the fire, chewing his lip.

"It was... I just needed a change." He could only briefly sit in the lie before he swallowed hard and exhaled. "No, that's—that's not true. Things were getting... dangerous for me in Kanto. I wish I could tell you everything, but I can't without putting you in danger, too."

Matilda Greenlaw

☉

Soon their little band of tree-trimmers grew with a sea of unfamiliar faces. Dom pushed away the rising anxiety that nipped at the back of his mind, the urge to run off into the woods and away from opulence and people. Instead, he offered a gentle smile to Locke Jamison and tilted his head.[break][break]

"Huh, I didn't think of it like that." But luka chêne was quick to defend their well-decorated tree. Dom grinned at her. "We are, aren't we?" It wasn't a moment later that Matilda Greenlaw appeared at his elbow, offering a glass of wine. He flinched instinctively, still not quite used to the idea of her being in Hoenn. But he flashed her an awkward smile despite himself and took the wine with a nod. "Oh yeah! This is the kind that Electric-types can light up, isn't it? Do you have someone who can help? I don't... have an Electric-type anymore." Wow, Dom, downer. He cleared his throat uncomfortably and started to explain, but soon he was, with the rest of the group, being shooed away from the tree by a small child.[break][break]

Following Eris Halla, he reached out to grab Matilda's hand with a pleading look that said don't leave me alone. It wasn't far to the piano, luckily, and—after a quick mouthful of wine to steady the nerves—Dom joined in on the caroling. Badly. Very badly. That didn't stop him from belting his heart out.

[break][break]

+ prompt: imbibe in a festive drink.[break]
prompt: join a caroling session[break]
Remiel Calcifet

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

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

[break]

Nova stood stock still, each muscle tensed against the all-consuming urge to get the stick. Her eyes flicked between the Houndour and the stick, completely unaware of the sour reunion that was happening just feet away. An opening appeared when Haedus was distracted by a Cutiefly. Nova wasted no time, diving straight for the stick with a yip. She snatched it up and bolted down the beach. Chase me!

The look they shared seems to last a lifetime but is gone just as soon as it's there. Dom had just enough time to flinch and squeeze his eyes closed as his old friend slapped him full across the face with a resounding smack—a sound loud enough to get the attention of Lotus as she drifted just offshore. The Lapras let out a warning wail, eyeballing Matilda. Dom let out a slow breath, his cheek already a stinging red. A nice match to the knot on the back of his head.

"Good to see you, too," he muttered, bringing a hand up to touch his face gingerly. But when he looked up at her, it was with a look of sympathy instead of pain. "I never thought I'd see you again. What are you doing here?"

Matilda Greenlaw [break]skipping spawns.

☉

Mags heard their soon-to-be companions before Dom noticed them. Her tall ears swiveled up, followed quickly by a sharp tilt of her head. She whickered, drawing her trainer's attention up to the skies. He squinted and waved as Dragapult and trainer descended upon them. Magnolia's tail swished happily at the Dragapault, but the dragon didn't seem as excited to be on a mission as she was.

"That's me," Dom said with a smile, sticking out a calloused hand in greeting. "Beautiful Dragapult." He gave the Poekmon a nod in greeting, too. No sense in being rude. Dom waited a beat for Victor to introduce himself before he turned to look down the path again. "It's just a patrol, but I'm new to Hoenn and I haven't had a chance to explore this area yet."

Victor Wexler[break]mission

☉

[break]

The one good thing that could be said for the moment when a piece of flying driftwood connected with the back of Dom's head was that it wasn't his fault. Even if he hadn't been lost in thought, he never would have seen it coming. Literally. That was only a slightly comforting thought as he clutched the back of his head and groaned.

"Damn," he hissed, feeling around with his fingertips for the knot that was already forming just under the skin. Nova bore her little fangs at the interlopers, only slightly distracted by the fact that there was a stick just a few feet away. Dom heard the apology and waved a hand, eyes still squinted shut. "It's fine, it's fine. I've had wor—" His words caught in his throat as soon as he opened his eyes. He gaped like a Magikarp out of water. It was a long moment before he found his voice again and, when he did, it was soft as a whisper. "Tilly?"

Matilda Greenlaw [break]skipping spawns.

☉

Dom shrugged his coat on tighter and pulled his beanie down over the tops of his ears. It was a good thing he'd had the piece of mind to grab his cold-weather gear when he left Kanto; he'd almost left it, having heard that Hoenn's tropical climate made for balmy winters. Sure, balmy. More than anything, he was thankful for his thick wool socks (Liepard themed, obviously). There wasn't anything worse than cold feet.[break][break]

As he stood at the trailhead of Route 120, scrolling through his phone, he frowned. Aurora stood just behind him, peering over his shoulder. "From the report, it looks like there was a hiker that took this route yesterday and they haven't contacted anyone since," Dom said. He looked out over the landscape. There were several feet of fresh snowfall, enough that the trail itself was almost completely obscured. It would be all too easy to wander off the path and be lost among the snowcapped trees. "It snowed again last night, so if there are any tracks it'll be almost impossible to see them."

[break][break]

+ @beck [break]mission: cold caravan

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

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

"You made this?" he said, taking another sip and feeling the warmth go to his head. "That's talent." He couldn't cook—or whatever alchemy you wanted to call making alcohol to spike hot cocoa—to save his life. A handful of granola and meat cooked over a campfire until it wouldn't poison him weren't exactly gourmet dishes. He was pretty good at foraging, too, but eating a plant you just yanked out of the dirt was even less romantic.

"Kalos, huh? I've never been, but I hear it's beautiful. Me? Just boring old Kanto." He waved a hand dismissively. There wasn't anything in Kanto worth it anymore. His expression went serious as Romeo spoke. "I've read about some of what happened here. It's wild." He took a beat to look around the party again. "A real resilient bunch of folks."

Suddenly reminded that he had a plate of snacks, Dom turned to stuff a cookie or two into his mouth. Damn, those were good. He nodded in agreement with Romeo before taking a sip of cocoa through his mouthful of cookie and letting the two flavors mix. One was good, but both were even better. He grinned. "You'll have to show me some good places to eat here." Shit, was that too forward? He winced but tried not to let the feeling settle.

Dom blushed a bit and shrugged. "I dunno about knowledgable. I'm still learning stuff every day. Camping and Pokemon take up most of my time, really. I used to help out a friend of mine who worked for a Pokemon breeder." He tapped his chin for a moment, taking another sip of the cocoa. "Oh I guess I used to make like costumes for Pokemon. It wasn't anything big, just something to do with my hands while I was in the city."

@romeo [break]outfit

☉

He'd been slacking. He felt it down to his bones. Dom told himself that picking up the pieces of your life and moving to another region was a good enough reason to take a hiatus from lifting. But now that he was here and (somewhat) settled and (somewhat) comfortable, he felt the siren song of lifting big pieces of metal and putting them back down again. Finding a new gym was proving easier said than done, though. He needed a place he liked, with trainers he could trust to give him the right advice.[break][break]

He'd heard good things about an establishment in Lilycove. One where the trainers were as well-versed in muscle-building as they were in Pokemon battles. That was the kind of thing he could get behind. So as he stood in front of the gym, he took a deep breath and pushed through the doors. There was something to be said for first impressions, and Dom had never gotten over the desire to fit in with the big guys. He tried not to puff himself up too much. They could tell when you did that.

[break][break]

+ andres buenaventura

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

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