[attr="class","giada"]

[attr="class","giada b"]

[attr="class","giada i”]as feet slide to a stop, motion stilling through the body, she feels a dread creeping up. it’s subtle, slow, dulling the senses until it’s too late.

and it isn’t until he asks that familiarity bubbles up and over. her eyesight, no longer what it was, could be blamed for her ignorance but she knows better — it had been right in front of her. she simply didn’t want to believe it.

”have we?”

she keeps the act up, head tilting curiously to one side. she’s changed, can’t he see? can’t she be a different person and leave it all behind?

”where would you know me from, then?”

claws sharpen, waiting for confirmation of the sinking stone in her stomach. how could she escape this one?

Aidan Hereford

[attr="class","giada"]

[attr="class","giada b"]

[attr="class","giada i”]”no!”

she bristles slightly, the way a cat would when frightened, and digs her heels a little further in. her cheeks puff slightly, an indignant scoff following a moment later.

and yet, she has no argument to defend herself. she… really doesn’t know how to do this. her life was the streets in kanto and a stupid rocket submarine in hoenn. what else could she possibly know?

visibly, she relaxes enough to allow a more honest answer to filter through.

”actually, yeah, no i don’t know what i’m doing.”

does anyone, though? yes, a little voice supplies, they do.

”i’m not used to being the good guy, okay? it’s weird.”

Roy Aker
doubt mission.

[attr="class","giada"]

[attr="class","giada b"]

[attr="class","giada i”]”oh, i’m a volunteer too!”

she’d like to say she could possibly work at the pokemon center, but she knows that’d be inaccurate and unlikely. no matter, she can still help as a volunteer and feel like something has been accomplished.

as he begins to grab gauze and start wrapping it around the riolu’s body to cover its wounds, she steals a quick glance at his name tag. noel — a nice name, rolls off the tongue.

”yeah, okay, i can do that. i’ll be right back.”

she retreats, then, and emerges from the other side of the pokemon center a few minutes later with a container of moo moo milk in one hand and an assortment of poffins and berries in the other.

”is this good? should i have grabbed more?”

Noel Parker
pokemon home mission.

[attr="class","giada"]

[attr="class","giada b"]

[attr="class","giada i”]honestly? his reaction makes little sense to her.

sure, it’s somewhat understandable to feel a little guilt about the state of her body now, but it’s not like he had shoved the knife into her eye.

”it’s fine, cian.”

she’s fine. for now, at least. she has yet to really face the full extent of this, of what it means, of how it twists her into something ugly.

for now, she’s alive and that’s what matters.

”can we talk about something else?”

CIAN MAHER

[attr="class","giada"]

[attr="class","giada b"]

[attr="class","giada i”]her first assignment with the rangers is simple: assist at a pokemon center with whatever they need.

and yet, it feels daunting from the moment she enters through their automatic doors. pokemon are everywhere, their frantic trainers hovering as volunteers and nurses tend to various injuries.

she signs in at the front desk and places a makeshift name tag on her shirt before sliding over to a man and a riolu. the poor puppy looks frightened, pained, and all by its lonesome. she can't just... stand there and watch, can she?

"hey."

a small smile is flashed to the man as he readies the medicinal spray and her attention quickly shifts to the riolu as it winces in pain.

"you know, you're being very brave about this."

its head turns away from the medicine to stare at her.

"i'd say you're one tough cookie."

at the sight of its tail beginning to wag against the stainless steel table, her smile brightens and she takes the opportunity to regard the man once more.

"you need any help over here?"

Noel Parker
pokemon home mission.

[attr="class","giada"]

[attr="class","giada b"]

[attr="class","giada i”]"what, i can't guess?"

a hand plants itself firmly on her hip, as if in challenge.

and yet, she doesn't press it further. instead, her nose scrunches slightly in annoyance and her attention strays toward the rangers building.

"does being a ranger really require planning?"

did she pick the wrong career for her rocket free life? should she... go back to stealing again? doubt spreads like ivy across stone.

"i thought the only requirement was wanting to help and some nature shit or whatever."

truthfully, she didn't think about all of that beforehand but it's too late to turn back. she's committed to the concept now, even going so far as to lose an eye for the chance.

"do you not want to do that now?"

Roy Aker
doubt mission.

[attr="class","giada"]

[attr="class","giada b"]

[attr="class","giada i”]she leads them through the masses as if she's been doing this all her life, slipping past unsuspecting minds and sneaking hands into their pockets. every now and then, the urge rises. she has to swallow it back like bile.

"oh, no worries! i don't mind."

she should get used to it, anyway. it's part of being a ranger... and if she didn't want to help, what the hell was she even doing masquerading in their ranks?

the mention of offering further assistance brings the ghost of a smile to her lips. it lingers as the crowd thins a bit.

"we could definitely use all the help we can get lately."

supplies continue to pour in and while slateport is a giant city, there's other tasks that are higher up on the priority list at the moment. perhaps that's why his question doesn't raise red flags, flying beneath the radar as seemingly harmless.

"not long, actually... maybe a week or two at most?"

Aidan Hereford

[attr="class","giada"]

[attr="class","giada b"]

[attr="class","giada i”]the answer, while seemingly sound and logical, doesn't quite satisfy her - not enough to stop another flurry of questions, anyway. his flourished hand does little to deter her from sinking teeth further into conversation.

"what's there to figure out if you've been wanting this since you were a kid?"

is she missing something? no, she reasons, she isn't. complications arise daily as life is messy and shitty and that shouldn't stop dreams, should it?

"me?"

she blinks.

somehow, as she sifts through memories of childhood, none come with dreams or aspirations or something... more. she had only one goal and in the end, the achievement of reaching it had its own consequences.

"nothing, i guess."

it's not rewarding. she doesn't care for it to be.

"wherever i end up is better than where i was so what's the point in planning?"

besides, she finds it hard to believe everything goes according to plan regardless.

Roy Aker
doubt mission.

[attr="class","giada"]

[attr="class","giada b"]

[attr="class","giada i”]she blinks, slowly taking in the anxiety-ridden movement of his leg. is he...?

"you okay?"

she flashes a quick smile. the gauze stretches awkwardly against one cheek and for a moment, her expression pinches with pain. it is quick lived.

"takes more to kill me than a knife to the eye, i guess, but i'm glad to still be alive."

the smile widens. this time, she doesn't flinch.

CIAN MAHER

[attr="class","giada"]

[attr="class","giada b"]

[attr="class","giada i”]no going back, apparently, as he turns. the plain response should deter her - in fact, she even wants it to - but the questions come tumbling out regardless.

"what do you want to do? like future or job wise?"

vaguely, she gestures to the ranger building beside them.

"is this on your radar?"

she's a stranger to him and he to her but there's no judgement between them with the lack of knowing. somehow it feels more... organic, she supposes, to ask with no history laid out for them to navigate.

after a moment, though, doubt begins to creep in. and with it, embarrassment.

"wait, sorry - you, uh, don't have to answer that if you don't want to."

Roy Aker
doubt mission.

[attr="class","giada"]

[attr="class","giada b"]

[attr="class","giada i”]right, they had agreed to that, hadn't they?

it feels like another life now, splattered in blood and abandonment wounds and left to rot away in dirt.

"we sure do have plenty of excuses to drink the bars dry now, don't we?"

a laugh escapes. could they survive a bar crawl? or would they throw up in the street, slurring names and silly comments until someone puts them in the car and they... stop receiving invitations back.

"okay, yeah, i'm down - we gotta scope out the places first, though."

the thought of being blindsided by rockets while they're drunk and disorderly? no thank you.

"i should be out in... maybe a week or so? i can call you then?"

Isaac Merlo

[attr="class","giada"]

[attr="class","giada b"]

[attr="class","giada i”]it's been days since her hospital stay and subsequent release but what does she have to show for it? a still foreign eye patch over a newly empty socket and seeds of doubt strewn throughout her daily life.

even finishing paperwork with the rangers in rustboro feels... off, like she's borrowing another person's life and trying to force it to fit her own.

do others feel this way too? are they also struggling to not become an imposter with every decision they make?

she has half a mind to ask as she leaves the ranger headquarters in rustboro - the first person she can find, in fact, but she gets as far as tapping an unsuspecting man on the shoulder.

when he turns, any courage mustered shrinks down to miniscule levels and she stares for a moment.

"hey," she starts with. simple, easy, totally not odd or anything. "you got a minute?"

Roy Aker
doubt mission.