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[attr="class","text"]It felt bad that he was too shamed to look at Rook properly, but somehow monumentally worse that Rook wouldn’t even look at him. It made nervous sound begin to crawl up his throat, but he stifled it and swallowed it down. Why wouldn’t he look at him?[break][break]
“Okay, that’s fine,” he muttered, looking to Lumi in silent request, before stooping to pick up Noodle. The shinx nestled into the crook of his arm, and he tried not to wince when he unintentionally knocked against the cast hung up in its sling. His xatu unfolded her wings with a coo, one curling around each of them before she TELEPORTED the location she was always tuned into.[break][break]
“Thanks Lumi,” he said quietly once they’d landed. Letting Noodle down, he recalled the xatu to let her rest properly.[break][break]
The kitchen felt so starkly clean and normal under the fluorescent shine from the light that hung over the sink. Compared to what he’d been subjected to the last few days, it was a relief to settle into in and of itself. No more ocean, no more sandy beaches and tunnels to wind through. Just home.[break][break]
The fear didn’t dissipate, though. If anything, it almost felt worse. Being subjected to battle after battle was nothing next to the anxiety this reaction, or lack of reaction? drummed up.[break][break]
“You can yell at me, if you want to.” He peeked at Rook, and then his eyes cut away toward the kitchen table. He wanted to sit, but didn’t dare. He couldn’t bring himself to move much at all. He stood, frozen where he’d leaned against the fridge to get his bearings after the disorientation of Lumi’s transportation.[break][break]
Lam didn’t want to fight, but anything would’ve been better than this silence. It was the smothering sort, heavy over him like a pillow against his face. Stifling. He was accustomed to Rook burning hot and loud in all of his emotions, not just upset. So to be met with a chill was foreign and intimidating. “Just say something, Rook. Please.”

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[attr="class","text"]Lam wanted to sink into the floor. The look on Rook’s face was one that he knew he’d earned, but also one that he never wanted to see again ever. Not leveled at him. Guilt battered at his ribs, and he couldn’t manage to hold eye contact. If he’d thought he’d been in trouble before, it was nothing compared to how it actually felt up close and personal.[break][break]
By some divine provenance, the “No hug?” that rose to the tip pf his tongue was not spoken. The fold of Rook’s arms made it clear that he wanted to entertain as little of Lam as possible, and so he made no move to inch closer to his partner. Even if all he wanted to do right then was lean against Rook and soak up the comfort he kicked off like radiating heat.[break][break]
“No, I just thought— it didn’t seem like..” It hadn’t seemed like he wanted to come here. Not that his anger had stopped him in the long run him, apparently. Not that knowing as much brought Lam much comfort just then. It felt worse in person than it had over the phone. Palpable in a way that made Lam react like a cowed dog, shoulders slumping further as he looked at his feet.[break][break]
Noodle could sense the agitation that seemed to bubble up between then, the shinx looking between the two with wide, blinking eyes. The little turncoat (or maybe he was appealing on behalf of Lam,) then chose to wind between Rook’s ankles, pawing at his pantleg with little mrrps as if that would help quell the upset there.[break][break]
“Yeah, yeah,” he finally said with a sigh, “good to go.” His eyes flit up to Rook’s and then away again, way more pitifully than he had any right to be. But he was tired and he knew he was in for it, but it wasn’t like he had the energy to fight, if that was what Rook even wanted. And he definitely couldn’t bring himself to do so in the middle of a hospital lobby.[break][break]
“Do you want to walk, or?” he gestured halfheartedly with his good arm to Lumi, who stood their silent and observing. The xatu prepared to do whatever was asked of her. Lam had never been fond of teleporting places. It messed with his stomach, but if it would get them home quicker it was an option.

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[attr="class","text"] “A vegetarian?” he asked, answer tilting up into a question. “Plus, it’s not like I can fit a tub of cheez balls in my backpack.” Even if that would invariably make him cooler with the baby hoard.[break][break]
It wasn’t like he’d had the most conventional childhood. His mom had up and left, and his dad was always packing them up and toting them off on projects. He worked so much for the tiny house with its second-hand aesthetic they’d only lived in half the time. The rest spent out in the wilder parts of Alola. So maybe he didn’t really have an idea of what day to day looked like. What steady looked like.[break][break]
Still, it wasn’t as though he’d hated it, or lacked for love. Not in the same ways Rook had been affected by his own upbringing. And he didn’t really know what it was about them, but the idea of doing something like this together made the uncertainty of it all a little more palatable. Way more palatable.[break][break]
Suddenly, it sounded nice. Comfortable.[break][break]
His truer ambitions didn’t reach as high as those of others. Not really. Maybe building a life like this was enough, whether he rose higher than gym leader or not. That wasn’t as important to him. He could have been fired tomorrow and it wouldn’t have mattered (okay, so that was not…totally true, because they needed to afford to eat, but the sentiment was there.)[break][break]
It was clear, though, that neither of them had really anticipated the sudden turn. Or what a simple volunteering project could bring about. A quiet laugh fell from his lips as Rook stammered over his words, but Lam didn’t regret that the other had asked. Finally reaching the station, the kids were turned loose on the ranger on duty for snack time. He hung back with Rook, pinkies still locked. “Yeah, of course I think so.”[break][break]
He gave that pinky a squeeze with his own. “With you, it feels right.” He didn’t know how else to put it. He looked back toward the flock of kids, all yelling and hooting. “Something I didn’t really know I wanted, until you.”

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catching larvesta // 2/4 safari balls[break]

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His eyes follow the fixation of the Elite Four’s, falling quiet as he too notices the Interdream Mist curling through the trees. What had been guessed as a Rocket initiative suddenly shifts to something else entirely.[break][break]
“Aw, geez,” he mutters—mostly to himself, at the sight of the paradox pokemon that flood out toward them. His flamigo makes the attempt to DETECT some sort of exact attack, but is too confused, too agitated to pinpoint the right opponent.[break][break]
In any case, Lam doesn’t need to be told twice, and he doesn’t think much of the shift in Greyson’s tone. For a moment he considers sending out his Slither Wing to combat the rest, but instead it’s his galarian zigzagoon that joins the fray.[break][break]
Tera orb in hand, the little creature is soon engulfed in violet light. A poison tera crown wobbles on the zigazgoon’s head, bushy fur shimmering with a dense layer of crystals. “Knock ‘em down, Jam Jam,” Lam directs, but he barely needs the cue—firing off a noxious GUNK SHOT at a nearby Scream Tail as it shrieks.

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[attr="class","text"]Lam shrugs, unbothered. Was that dig supposed to hurt? “Well yeah, one’s all I need.” It certainly would’ve been a surprise to figure out who it was behind the Neon mask. That not just a month or so ago, the very same Mint had succeeded at his gym.[break][break]
But it’s better to avoid the sting of disappointment that might inevitably follow.[break][break]
Not that it matters, getting into the details of it, when Pepper is busy savaging the bisharp she latches onto. Both feraligatr and gyarados stirred into a frenzy from their own conflict and taking it out on the other pokemon in the vicinity. “How would that be normal??” he blurts back. Obviously he doesn’t make it a habit for his Pokémon to brutalize someone else’s.[break][break]
Though, today… Pepper has proven to be pretty adept at that.[break][break]
It seems she’s met her match, though. As she discards the limp body of the bisharp with one last snap of her jaws, the gyarados pulses with shimmering light and the smashing hit from the crystallized swing of her body is enough to drop the feraligatr on impact.[break][break]
All that chaos, for what? The masked man makes his departure, and Lam scrambles after him, leaning over the rails. “Hey, wait—!” But there’s no sign of him once he hits the water, downed gyarados in tow. And Lam doesn’t really have the roster to even attempt at following.[break][break]
With a sigh he returns Pepper to her ball, and heads for the door that goes below deck to check on the stowed away crew. Crisis averted—for now, anyway.

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[attr="class","text"]“Sarcasm,” he replied cheerfully. Well, sort of. He would’ve liked to be leaving this battle for a dinner date in a timely fashion. But as far as he was aware, Lam wasn’t about to even get off this stupid island any time quick. “‘Least I have someone to go to dinner with,” he adds after a moment, trying to back step enough to avoid getting kicked in places he’d rather avoid. He still takes a boot to the knee, though, and staggers.[break][break]
Pepper, propelled back by the force of her attack, is given the breadth she needs to regroup, but is still royally pissed. The gator swims in a mad dash after the gyarados. Though not quick enough for the sudden crash of the sea dragon onto the ship’s deck.[break][break]
It happens faster than he can keep up with. In one moment, his weavile is firing off a DARK PULSE of malevolent energy at the bisharp, and in the next she is shadowed by the gigantic size of the gyarados. She doesn’t even have time to utter a cry before she is swallowed whole between the snap of gnashing jaws.[break][break]
Lam doesn’t have a clever reply to the jab. His brain is lagging as he tries to process what just happened. “Holy shit.”[break][break]
The feraligatr joins the mayhem, barreling over the ship rails, thrashing and sliding on the slick, wooden deck with ferocious energy. With Lam’s weavile out of the picture, Pepper barrels forward with jaws open, another bout of ICE FANGS looking to sink into the first pokemon she finds so that she can rip and tear with the manic force of a poochyena playing with a squeaky toy.[break][break]
He leans away from the writhing bulk of his own pokemon, a more confused “Pepper—holy shit??” following.

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[attr="class","text"] He didn’t know a lick of information about the Rocket in front of him, but she didn’t read as…instense? as some of the others he’d come against up until that point. Maybe that wasn’t the right word for it, but the verbal sparring seemed much more on point than the actual battle mechanics.[break][break]
Not that he necessarily had an issue with that (even if his wit didn’t really run much deeper than playful remarks. The second she said something, like, hella smart? He was out.)[break][break]
The unown-k moved faster than his slither wing’s bulky body could keep up with. Before it could think to twist upward, it was above Moth Man and blasting it back down toward the ground with an impressive TERA BLAST. But Lam had bigger issues to worry about—i.e. the TRI- ATTACK fired off at him. The lag gave the pair time to peel apart, his murkrow valiantly taking the hit as he tucked and dove out of the way.[break][break]
Weakened, the corvid let out a series of frantic caws, but clung onto some power before surging forward toward the mechanical pokemon in a last ditch WING ATTACK.[break][break]
“I dunno about that,” he replied with a flap of his hand, “flattering, though! I’ll take it—kinda paid to think about battle strat and be decent at it.” Lam shrugged, as if that were that, because in his mind that really was all there was to it. This and that about being a natural were never qualities in himself.[break][break]
As far as he could tell, it was luck and practice. Both in hefty dosage.[break][break]
His head tilted, though, at her addition and he lifted a hand to adjust the brim of his own baseball cap. “So you’re holdin’ out? Well, where’s the fun in that?” Maybe calling that bluff with his own bluffing confidence was a shit idea, but he kept it up.[break][break]
As the Slither Wing shook off the impact of the blast, Lam hailed it back. “Change of plans, Moth Man—send your regards, though.” The overgrown moth’s mandibles clicked and it dove in a rush toward the quick little unown-k again, aiming before flipping a U-TURN and disappearing into its pokeball again so that Lam’s altaria could take its place.[break][break]
The cloudy bird burst from her pokeball with a melodic trill, and he was already prepared for the transformation. Rather than utilize the keystone for her mega evolution, a similar tera orb was produced. Shimmering light erupted around her to encase Mallow in sparkling, blossom pink. Crowned in FAIRY TERASTRALIZATION and tingeing her pale feathers in a crystalized shine.

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MATIAS SILPH // rt: secret (2/2)[break]

MATIAS SILPH // rt: secret (2/2)[break]

onyx straub // rt: sea (3/3)[break]
(i dunk my son - i can take loss or draw?)[break][break]

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Lam should’ve known to expect the necessity of an introduction. Doesn’t make him any less awkward despite the easygoing smile and laidback wave of a clunky arm, still bound up in a cast after all the skirmishes on the island out past Dewford.[break][break]
It’s cumbersome, but by this point, he forgets it’s there half the time. “Heyo! Local gym leader, just here to join in the fun. I’m Lam, and this here’s my oldest buddy, Artichoke.” He playfully nudges the decidueye who slouches beside him casually with an elbow. “say hey, Artie.” A soft, owlish hooting follows, and the decidueye lifts a similarly bandaged wing in a mirrored gesture.[break][break]
At least between the two of them, they still have two hands…wings. Whatever.[break][break]
He lacks the flourish that some of the others have, because one: he’s neither a chef nor a contest coordinator. And two: being one arm down makes him clumsy as heck. But it’s all good— he’s just here to have a good time and rally the good mood a light hearted contest like this one can bring Lilycove.[break][break]
Plus, he loves tea. He’s a tea over coffee guy—maybe more hot tea over boba, but he’s been to Bubble, Bubble, Tea & Trouble more than once. It’s on his daily walking route to the gym. So why not support local business to boot?[break][break]
Maybe his familiarity with tea blends and flavor pairings can work to his benefit, even in an unfamiliar format. He stares down the spread of ingredients—the watchful eyes of Artichoke following. “There’s these tea cookies I had recently…maybe we can translate that.”[break][break]
He grabs a tin of earl grey and some lavender syrup. As well as some fresh grapefruit. While the tea brews and steeps, he froths milk into a light, creamy state before blending it with some of the sweetened, lavender syrup.[break][break]
“Oh, the bobas—“ Artichoke is already on it, toting over a container of grapefruit bursting boba with a single-note hoot of amusement at Lam’s forgetfulness.[break][break]
He layers them at the bottom of the glass tumbler generously before adding a scoop of ice to pour the tea over. “Citrus always pairs well with earl grey,” he says brightly as he adds the tea next, followed by the cream that seeps down to the bottom in pale swirls. “It brings out the bergemont already in the blend. Grapefruit is nice, because it’s still sweet without being too tart, but the lavender should help soften it too.”[break][break]
The top is sealed off and a straw is stuck through the product. Voila! Not too bad…maybe.[break][break]
“Hopefully it’s as refreshing as I think it’ll be!” It’s not until he sets the final product down in front of the judges that he does a double take toward Aurelie Lefevre. Doesn’t she look sorta familiar? Nah…must be one of those weird moments of misplaced Deja vu.[break][break]
He heads back to his station, flashing Genevieve Cromwell a thumbs up along the way.

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