He notices that woman from the bar (Absinthe Blackwood ), because she just posted she just happened to be nearby.

He suddenly feels very out of place, in some swim trunks and holding a baby pokemon. He turns his back to her.

fG4WJOA7

SPOILER: Click to show

1x clamperl, 1x devolution stone, 2x pokeball, 1x form change, 1x dynamax candy

He does continue to stare; for just a few beats long enough to make one think that, perhaps, it is done on purpose, like a burr that hangs on to the prow of her snake-headed ship.

“I’m here for business. For our mutual benefactor.”

Pokedollars appear from between his fingertips. “Old Fashioned. Woodford Reserve. Grand Marnier. Neat.”

He waits until after he’s become a paying customer to drop the second, woefully unnecessary bit.

“...You’re unwell.”

Absinthe Blackwood

[nospaces]


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[newclass=".hawkins-banner]border-bottom:1px solid #232323;width:475px;height:125px;border-top:15px solid #232323;[/newclass]
[newclass=".hawkins-title"]padding:15px 10px 10px 20px;box-sizing:border-box;font: 350 14px Poppins;color:var(--accent);text-transform:uppercase;[/newclass]
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[newclass=".hawkins-poke"]padding:10px 10px 0 10px;background-color:#232323;display:flex;justify-content:center;[/newclass]

He gets back up on the mantine. People are doing tricks all over the place, spraying water everywhere from their over-the-gyaradoses, and Hawkins only feels immeasurably tired in his soul. Maybe this was a bad idea.

kfUKXxoL

SPOILER: Click to show

primarina twist

2k

Because the narrator is unable to describe what a form change looks like, it is handled off-screen.

"You're doing good."

He rarely praises things, but it's good for childhood development. These are the happiny's formative years, after all.

BMdEX|8J

SPOILER: Click to show

1x clamperl, 1x devolution stone, 2x pokeball, 1x form change

No beast is as noisy as man.

Rowdy shouts and panicked cries pass uneasily through the sandstorm. By the grace of those seven eyes rising higher into the air, these love letters to a war find their paramours perhaps now, perhaps in due time.

A hand appears from the storm to grab onto the upper arm of Yamaguchi Himiko —pulling her roughly away from the crash of stone into the ground next to them that throws a spray of dirt and grass.

Hawkins releases her wordlessly afterwards, resuming his path through the storm. Pink flashes of light flicker around him, and by extension Himiko, if she chooses to join—the source of which is the worried chikorita pausing to paw at her leg, apologetic that a rebound off of its REFLECT had nearly pancaked the woman.

---

QW0uA5YJ



Location: I2
Interact: Yamaguchi Himiko
tl;dr chikorita uses reflect to cover from the stone barrage. a reflected boulder almost hits himiko. hawkins pulls her out of the way with no introduction.

Lips are, at baseline, woefully loose; and inebriated lips make the shrillest squeak as they rub together their unkind truths.

Of the owner of the Snake Pit there are plenty. One long learns to put such rumors in the pocket, ready to extract them only when needed. So when he walks in he does not assume she will rise like a phoenix ready to burn his house down.

It’s only a possibility.

Hawkins makes his way over to the counter and takes a seat. Eyes like deadened nerves slide over to the barkeep expectantly, ignoring the other rumor about making eye contact.

Absinthe Blackwood

But either way--he continues to think as the mantine flops around erratically--the past was fraught and the future teaches you to be cold and alone.

Like the water, as he wipes out and quickly breaks the surface with an exasperated gasp.

DGfo1gpR

SPOILER: Click to show

primarina twist

1k

A pokeball--pocket pieces of impossibly mystifying technology, the applications of which have somehow not really been extrapolated to other disciplines.

They even had these things in ancient times, too.

Never take for granted the wonders of the pokeball.

X4mq58_7

SPOILER: Click to show

1x clamperl, 1x devolution stone, 1x pokeball, 1x form change

[nospaces]


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[newclass=".hawkins-banner]border-bottom:1px solid #232323;width:475px;height:125px;border-top:15px solid #232323;[/newclass]
[newclass=".hawkins-title"]padding:15px 10px 10px 20px;box-sizing:border-box;font: 350 14px Poppins;color:var(--accent);text-transform:uppercase;[/newclass]
[newclass=".hawkins-text"]padding:5px 50px 40px 50px; text-align:justify;background-image: url(https://image.ibb.co/cpf8Wc/flower_patt.png);background-repeat: no-repeat;background-position: bottom right;[/newclass]
[newclass=".hawkins-text b"]color:var(--accent);[/newclass]
[newclass=".hawkins-bot"]padding:15px 10px 5px 10px;background-color:#232323;min-height:45px;box-sizing:border-box;text-align:center;font-size:11px;[/newclass]
[newclass=".hawkins-poke"]padding:10px 10px 0 10px;background-color:#232323;display:flex;justify-content:center;[/newclass]

No, that probably wasn't it-he thinks as his mantine is stabilized by a suspicious pink energy interference.

It was likely due to the missed soccer practices, missed family dinners, that time they came across their first roadkill and he tried to turn it into a science lesson...

zwTY8zoF

SPOILER: Click to show

primarina twist

1k

Ordinarily there aren't many places to put all these trinkets being collected. Thankfully, dad shorts had deep and adaptable pockets.

The happiny dives down-dives like three feet, admittedly-before returning again.

blxCjM7B

SPOILER: Click to show

1x clamperl, 1x devolution stone, 1x pokeball

The first pass doesn't go well.

When was the last time he did any sort of sport? He can't even remember the last time he physically ran. It was inconceivable.

Is this why his marriage is struggling? Did he need to hit the gym?

HjAGLdE1

SPOILER: Click to show

primarina twist

1k