“That’s because I’m a lucky person,” she purred, though that could only be truthful in the latter half of her life. As opposed to a lying person.[break][break]

Her hand trailed along the wall as they entered, leaving a wet, glistening trail.[break][break]

“...Or maybe not so lucky. All I do is mining these days. They don’t even let me demolition!”[break][break]

Since arriving in Hoenn her excadrill had gotten swole and her eyes had spontaneously mutated to low-light conditions. How bothersome—but she was determined not to let it get in the way of the precious scant moments with Ollie.[break][break]

Voices and footsteps echoed sevenfold. “So? Tell me what’s been going on in your life, master ranger.”

He is a weather beaten man that sleeps outdoors, always scheming, always in want for the object of its desire.[break][break]

She opens her mouth, and then closes it. She is a woman of science; she is not well-versed in literature, or music for that matter, but something about that final line reminds her that even the soft subjects can still a soul.[break][break]

“I’m afraid not,” is all she can say before he plays lightly against her skin, eliciting a contented giggle. Now enveloped in the warmth of the blanket, her hands travel across his chest dutifully to stave off the cold he’d sacrificed himself to. “I’m not good with the arts. You’ll have to translate for me.”[break][break]

And so he did.[break][break]

His character unfolded slowly and steadily, ink on the page, chapters fluttering by. It had been a gamble as to whether they’d see eye-to-eye. Strangely, it made her happy. She was tired of breaking unassuming hearts.[break][break]

“Then, supposing this is all true, we’d be equally guilty. But we’re both adults, and we both stand to win. Nothing wrong with that, right?”[break][break]

A nibble on his ear. “Especially if we’re honest with each other…”

She didn’t get it.[break][break]

Yujin knew sign language to a degree, as well as a few crucial languages and their dialects—but never braille. A constellation of bumps that somehow turns into a tapestry was a strange thought; were all pieces by this artist simply an interpretation of the world from the gaps between nodules?[break][break]

She scratched at her head in consternation. Art and philosophy was really not her thing! Maybe she’d ask Callan.[break][break]

“I’m more curious than ever as to what you create,” she admitted as they strolled through the chaos. Sane people avoided the machomp. The less sane ones were casually pushed to the side by Yujin, with just enough deniability as to not seem aggressive.[break][break]

“You’re not actually famous, are you? I won’t see your things in a museum somewhere?”

Whatever courage is gained from the commissioner’s words, is only borrowed from the other side.[break][break]

Feeling young and alone is not a pleasant experience for Yujin. Two decades is a long time for the mind, but the body remembers an imprint.[break][break]

“I do think about going back, but not because I miss anything.” By the time Yujin entered modern schooling, she had been years behind and with a debilitating language barrier. “I wish I could change things. But then I think, what if this is already the best possible outcome?”[break][break]

The forest had taken an ethereal quality. Yujin hurried the last few steps towards the small timber structure and the plain-steel box seated like a sore thumb against it, glittering in the gloom.[break][break]

“But I think I knew similar people at the universities. Career students? They would have loved to keep learning all their lives if they could.”

One moment this man was downplaying his acts, the next he was casually name-dropping the most important people on the continent. “Hmph! Of course I know the Silph!” How could he act like he was just some rando ranger taking it easy, ‘saving meowths in trees’? He was off fighting space paradoxes and meteors and alter egos and cozying it up to megalomaniac (apparently) CEOs![break][break]

“Yes, you mentioned Registeel at the bar. But…”[break][break]

The sounds of drilling pervaded the atmosphere. Yujin turned off the screen to her PDA, and then frowned at Derek in the resulting dim red atmosphere.[break][break]

“We, ah, we don’t have to keep talking about serious stuff.” Yujin was being awkward about it, but that’s because she was a touchy person and Derek had reacted poorly the last time she touched him. Morose moods hadn’t been common among Yujin’s (girl)friends, but when they appeared, they had been dispelled with a hug.[break][break]

“It sounds like you’ve been through a lot. Sorry—you don't need to air it all out just because I'm new.”

[attr="class","bottom"]DEREK HOFFMAN [break]

“...Oh.”[break][break]

She sounds genuinely surprised. Dracophiles were a dime a dozen; the opposite was as rare as a discontinued two-pokedollar bill. His reasoning was both sound and strangely childish. [break][break]

Yujin isn’t sure how to respond to such a curt yet telling statement. Stranger still, she had a feeling she knew the place in particular.[break][break]

So she drank.[break][break]

“Callan Young is one of the first people I met in Hoenn. He was assigned to me, and one thing led to another.”[break][break]
She pouted, but watched Derek’s expression critically. “Tell me honestly, Mr. Hoffman. Is he a playboy?”

“Right.”[break][break]

Thick, vaguely sanguinous fluid whipped against the nearby wall in a trailing arc.[break][break]

Yujin put her foot against the corpse and pulled at the insectoid head. Whatever filaments hadn’t been snapped by the clean cut of a catch-moon sword did so now, and the woman grunted as she pushed the trophy over to her excadrill’s ill-equipped claws.[break][break]

“Right,” she breathed again, smoothing down her hair and speckled it with a few blots of blood. She picked up her pack, leapt atop the waiting arcanine, and threw her arm around the other man’s waist. “It’ll be worth it. Promise.”[break][break]

---

[break]
chose a curio

[attr="class","bottom"]Michael Navidson [break]

“A momma’s boy… truly a classic.”[break][break]

She sighed wistfully, as if he wasn’t standing right there and she wasn’t equivocating him to some romance novel male lead.[break][break]

Gunner’s gang proceeded to round up the pirates. Yujin’s yes-mon proceeded to help the ocean-bound passengers onto the ice and slowly make their way back to the ship, rubbernecking at the wailord that was beginning to turn belly side up in a bleak show of its demise.[break][break]

As Gunner spoke, Yujin would nod, brushing her hands together as if they had been physically sullied. The plot had spiraled out of control but they pulled it back together, as heroes(?) do.[break][break]

“...Fraternization.”[break][break]

She pulled out her phone, already beginning to contact their handler. Luckily, it wasn’t for the purpose of tattling—they just needed to report a mission complete.[break][break]

“Why, I would love to fraternize this Sunday! Schedule’s all open, who knew.”

[attr="class","bottom"]Gunner Graves [break]

Fighting is a responsibility. Yes, she could understand that.[break][break]

“I’m an engineer. I make inspections on a circuit across Hoenn.”[break][break]

The days of CAD-modeling in an office somewhere had existed but they had been brief, the tick of the hand for the second against the minute sprawling upon the hours of the day. For her latest job, most would take her for a mechanic; higher skills weren’t utilized as much when trying to repair things on the road.[break][break]

The next contender was an ungulate. Like an oiled machine, rave-guy swapped out his partner while keeping the conversation going.[break][break]

“Oh~! How philosophical. I’m sorry to say that my job frequently requires me to stamp down nature. Does that lower your opinion of me, Dylan?”[break][break]

The dough dog did not need to be fought. Yujin simply took some berries out of her backpack and let it approach. In no time at all, she was holding a delicious-looking fidough in her arms.[break][break]

---

[break]
capture attempt on fidough

“Fair enough. Surely not all is catastrophic; sometimes you must rescue the meowth from the tree.”[break][break]

That being said, almost a week into her visit to Hoenn and she had already been tasked with investigating a rip in space-time a la the ultra deep sea. [break][break]

Speaking of which, there was a thread in the wind that yearned to be pulled.[break][break]

“So you’ve met a legendary beast, at least the one.” Were they just that common, or did she meet all the right people? “Was it not awe-inspiring? Is that why you like steel types?”[break][break]

Despite saying so, her voice was flat. Such a creature had already tempered her childhood in a most extraordinary, unfortunate way.[break][break]

And in an unwise decision for a light-weight, the beer was finished in record time. Yujin signaled over the bartender for another, ignoring Derek’s casual mention of yet another name she did not know. She grew tired of not knowing.[break][break]

“By the way, do you know a man by the name of Callan Young ?”